If I teach a series of movements involving lunges, twists, balances and stretches, those movements don't become yoga because I give some of them Sanskrit names and finish the class with everyone lying in Savasana. Without a philosophical and ethical framework, we may have created an intelligent, enjoyable and beneficial movement practice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But is it yoga?I don't think it necessarily is.

Since words have a power that surpasses all thought, from words alone come direct realisation. Just as one who is asleep is woken by sound, so one in ignorance is enlightened only by words. sabdasakteracintyatvâcchabdãdevaparoksadhih I prasuptah puruso yadvacchabdenaivavabuddhyate – Sadācārānusandhānam (Advaita Vedanta 19) Over a thousand years ago, Advaita Vedānta recognised something modern movement science is rediscovering: language does not merely describe experience,

I started yoga when I was nineteen. Now, with my fiftieth birthday in sight and thirty years of daily yoga practice behind me, I have anxiety, stiffness, joint pain and knees that sound like Rice Krispies when I walk up the stairs. Yet, I need my yoga more than ever—and what’s more, I feel better in my body than I did when I was younger.

After more than thirty years of practice, I think I can say with some confidence that yoga absolutely can become boring. Even the most skilful of practitioners’ yoga can lose its lustre from time to time.