Yogis! It doesn't matter what your pose looks like. We are all subject to different conditions. You're driving around in a different car than me and I'm driving around in a different car than you. The asana is just a tool to be used to go beyond the mind and the ego.
One definition of yoga from the Bhagavad Gita is that, "yoga is skill in action". This refers to karma yoga. This is the yoga of action. What is karma yoga? Karma yoga is offering your actions to the Divine. Not focusing on the fruits of the actions or the results. How does this translate on our mat? Do your best. Your effort and the quality of your effort is far more important than the results you obtain, which are largely out of your control.
There are three types of karma:
Parabdha karma which is the karma that is playing out for us in this life. We don't have control over this right now. We did in the past. My actions in previous lives led to the manifestation of the Garth-body and my current life.
There's new karma that I'm creating in this life with every new action. This karma is called agami karma. I can control this karma. I can choose my actions. I can put forth my best effort and not worry about the results or focus on the goal, which is out of my control.
The third type of karma is called sanjita karma and this is the karma that is stored in my sub-conscious, waiting to play out in the future, later in this life or in a future birth.
The idea of replacing old patterns in yoga with new patterns and eventually replacing even positive samsaras (mental impressions) with samadhi is the journey of yoga and addresses the cause and effect principle found in the karma theory. If you do something positive there will be a positive effect. If you do something negative there will be a negative effect. What are you doing by offering your actions to the Universe? You're really practicing focusing on the Divine. You're creating a pattern of shifting your awareness to the pure consciousness part of yourself. You're moving beyond the ego and mind. Offering your practice is another tool to go beyond the ego and mind and reach a state of Samadhi.
Do your best. Put forth your best effort. The quality of your effort is the most important thing. Don't worry about the results. Judgment and criticism are products of the ego and the mind. Move beyond your ego. Make everything you do an offering. Let the Universe move through you. Trust your intuition. Move with "skill in action"!
