Yoga Is About Wholeness, Not Fixing Ourselves

As the New Year begins, we are surrounded by messages encouraging us to fix, or reinvent ourselves. New resolutions often carry a quiet assumption that something essential is missing or broken, and that with enough effort we might finally become whole.

Yoga offers a radically different starting point.

Rather than asking us to become someone new, yoga invites us to remember who we already are.

The Teaching of Innate Wholeness

At the heart of yoga philosophy is the recognition that our true nature is already complete. This wisdom is beautifully expressed in the opening invocation of the Īśa Upaniṣad:

Pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁpūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyatepūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāyapūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate.

“That is Whole. This is Whole. From Wholeness, Wholeness arises. When Wholeness is taken from Wholeness, Wholeness alone remains.”

This teaching reminds us that Wholeness is not something we acquire through achievement, discipline, or self-improvement. It is the ground of our being. Nothing needs to be added, and nothing needs to be repaired.

Why Wholeness Feels So Distant

If we are already Whole, why does it often feel otherwise? Yoga explains that suffering arises when we identify too closely with the movements of the mind (vrittis) - our thoughts, identities, fears, and habitual patterns. Patañjali names these sources of suffering as kleshas in the Yoga Sūtras:

“Avidyā asmita rāga dveṣa abhiniveśāḥ kleśāḥ”

"Ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and fear are known as kleshas"

These patterns create a sense of separation- from ourselves, from others, and from life itself. Wholeness becomes obscured, not lost.

Yoga as a Process of Remembering

Yoga is not a system for self-repair. It is a practice of clearing away what veils our true nature.

When the fluctuations of the mind settle, something simple and profound is revealed. Patañjali describes this clearly:

“Tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe’vasthānam.”

“Then the seer abides in its own true nature.”

In moments of stillness - through breath, movement, and meditation. We experience ourselves not as fragmented or lacking, but as grounded, present, and complete.

Practice as a Gentle Return

The path of yoga asks for commitment, but not force. It invites steady practice paired with non-grasping:

“Abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ.”

“Through practice and non-attachment, stillness is cultivated.”

Practice becomes a return rather than a striving. We are not trying to become better versions of ourselves; we are learning to listen more deeply and trust what is already here.

Beginning the Year from Wholeness

As we move into a new year, yoga offers a quiet but powerful reframing. Instead of asking, What do I need to fix?  We might ask, What happens if I begin from Wholeness?

From this place, intentions arise not from lack, but from care. Growth unfolds through presence rather than pressure. Yoga reminds us that we are not on a journey toward wholeness. We are learning to see that it was always there.

Visit aartiyoga.com/immersion for my signature program that seeks to guide practitioners towards that inner knowing.