Sometimes I feel left behind. Someone will ask me if I know so-and-so yoga teacher and more often than not these days I have to say ‘no’. It doesn’t help if I say, ‘Well, I know the old yoga teachers.”
Some of the newer kids on the block are actually quite famous and I should know their names. They are renowned because they have invented a yoga direction, branded it, and supply it to the public with great success.
In a recent article in Australian Yoga Life Magazine, three of the “new” yogas are described: Calligraphy Yoga, Dancing Warrior, and Zen Ki. These would represent a teensy portion of all the yoga styles that have been invented in the last few years – a veritable smorgasbord.
Me, I jokingly say that I teach Eve Yoga, but scratch the surface and you’ll find quite a few layers of Iyengar influence. I guess I’m drawn to the method, not so much to its creator, B.K.S. Iyengar, which doesn’t take away from his genius.
Patanjali’s Sutra I-32 sheds a light on the benefits of stick-to-it-ness:

Tat-pratisedha-artham-eka-tattva-abhyasah

In order to counteract these [distractions] [the yogin should resort to] the practice [of concentration] on a single principle.*
Further to this, Chip Hartranft states in his commentary on the Sutra, “As long as we settle on any one principle and stay with it, consciousness can be reoriented toward stillness.”
What do you think? Should we have unlimited choice? Or, should we, as I believe Patanjali is suggesting, keep going deeper with the single practice we have selected?
*The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, translation and commentary by Georg Feuerstein.