How to Choose a Yoga Training: Information vs. Knowledge
Why do so many people want to know everything? Does it make our lives easier? Does it help us move through our days with more grace and dignity? Does it give us a sense of power and certainty? We are living in times where information is abundant and our ability to access it is unprecedented. We are able to have expert level information on almost any topic imaginable, and somehow, it isn’t making our lives easier nor is it making us feel more stable and secure. I would argue that it is creating just the opposite. The buzzwords of the moment are overwhelm, anxiety, uncertainty, insecurity (all of which I gathered by scrolling my IG feed). When will we see that information alone is not providing what we seek? If we desire to know more, we must metabolize the information we receive and convert it into knowledge. We must be able to break down the information into digestible parts, take the nourishment from it, and dispose of the waste. Otherwise, information becomes toxic, unusable, and reinforces the very fears that led us to seek it out.
The difference between information and knowledge is notable, but not easily recognized in our modern world. Perhaps due to an education system that instills the acquiring of information as achievement, but so many have forgotten what it means to be in relationship with the information we receive. We have lost the ability to assimilate data and emerge with a unique and personal experience of the application of what we collected, i.e. knowledge. We no longer feel as if we have the time to put the information to the test, and instead, seek more information to make sense of the previously attained details or give the authority to outside sources. As a society, we are on the quest for more without ever stopping to see that the acquiring itself doesn’t actually quench our thirst for knowledge, but rather makes us more parched and desperate for relief.
One definition of the word knowledge is "capacity for knowing, understanding; familiarity.” It implies an intimacy or at least relational association with the subject in question. It means that we engage with what we are exposed to, we take the time to roll it around, feel it in our system, observe how our body responds. Knowledge is not a blind trusting, but rather a courageous questioning and experimentation that may result in a rejection of the claim that we originally took as expertise. It is daring to say the least; it takes willingness and the most valuable commodity, time. It requires an internal understanding, and the inclination to stretch the boundaries of assumption and familiarity. It requires building inner capacity, rather than acquiring external data. Knowledge requires time and commitment, things that lack validity in today’s culture.
How does this relate to Yoga? In the text so often referenced by modern Yogis, The Sutra of Patanjali, it is stated frankly, that Yoga should be attended to for a long time, with reverence and without break. The text is telling us the steps needed to convert information into knowledge. Patanjali says that to practice this path of Yoga, you must have commitment, discipline, and humility, the exact tools of digesting information. These are the same traits of processing and digesting information that result in knowledge. We must build our practice to support and sustain inquiry of the information we receive. We must become aware of our internal experience and be willing to test out our experiences of the information we take in, and trust our inner compass to determine its validity. We must recognize the desires that propel us to acquire more information as distinctly different from the experience of knowledge, and most importantly, we must develop a trust that can guide us to understanding that is irrespective of external authority.
And this is what makes Vira Bhava Yoga stand apart from the crowd. Yes, you receive information. In many ways, you receive the same information that you receive in every other teacher training. But, information is only a fraction of what we provide. We believe that information is only as impactful as it is meaningful, so we spend the majority of our time helping your convert the information into knowledge. We offer a community with whom we can communicate our individual experiences, share our insights and struggles, and ask our questions in real time, together. We provide support through mentorship and leadership that help to hold space for your own exploration of the information. In our advanced trainings, we provide accountability partners that are touchstones to the assimilation of information, and mentors who have all been through the process themselves. We are in the process with you every step of the way, encouraging you to transform the information into knowledge for yourself, in your way, through your system. This is also what makes all VBY teachers so unique. They teach as they themselves have experienced the material, they stand on a foundation of true knowledge and share through their unique lens.
If you are looking for a training that provides more than information, check us out. If you want to become your own authority from a firm foundation of information and the freedom to explore and experiment in unique and individual ways, join us.