Is Yoga practice selfish or is it service?
Yoga practice can look selfish, it’s often a quiet, personal practice. You roll out your mat, or sit for meditation and hope to not be disturbed for a while. But can this really be a way to resource ourselves to serve others better, or to cope with the cruelties of the world?
The Buddha Described Suffering as a Basic Fact of Life
One of the first things the Buddha taught was that dukkha — often translated as suffering or dissatisfaction — is a part of life. It’s not just dramatic pain or loss, but that underlying feeling that things aren’t quite right. That itch we can’t scratch. The sense that life isn’t lining up with our expectations and whatever we do, we still find ourselves grasping for the goal just beyond reach.
The Buddha described different kinds of suffering:
The pain of birth, illness, aging, and death.
The stress of wanting what we don’t have.
The discomfort of having what we don’t want.
Even the subtle unease of knowing things change — and we can’t hold on.
He taught that suffering comes from craving, resistance, and misunderstanding who we really are. The good news? He also offered a path out of that cycle — through mindfulness, ethical living, and seeing clearly.
Yoga Talks About Suffering Too
Buddha trod the yogic path & in turn Patanjali’s yoga sutras respond to the Buddha’s teachings. In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali describes yoga as a path away from suffering:
"Heyam duḥkham anāgatam" — Future suffering is to be avoided.
Like the Buddha, yoga philosophers said the root of suffering is ignorance — specifically, forgetting who we really are. When we mistake the surface-level self (body, roles, thoughts) for our true nature, we get tangled in ego, fear, desire, and resistance.
The practices of yoga, especially pranayama and meditation can help us see more clearly, reframe our thoughts & ultimately change our thought patterns.
Is Yoga Selfish?
Sometimes I wonder this myself. I take myself off on yoga retreat or spend hours practicing and ignoring the family! But what I’ve come to realise is this: yoga helps me show up better in the world. When I’m grounded and less reactive, I’m more available to other people. That benefits everyone around me.
Yes, yoga starts with the self — but that is also a way to get to know others, because as yoga describes, we are all made the same way! It’s not selfish to take care of your nervous system. It’s not selfish to develop self-awareness. In fact, when we neglect that inner work, we’re often less able to support others — or even to see them clearly.
If your practice is rooted in curiosity, compassion, and connection, it becomes a way to reduce suffering — not just for yourself, but for others too.
Five Ways to Alleviate Suffering — Yours and Theirs
You don’t need to be a monk or a full-time yogi to make a difference. Here are a few small, real-world ways I try (and sometimes fail) to ease suffering, both mine and other people’s:
Really listen
Not just waiting to talk — but actually listening. It’s a powerful gift we can give each other. This one can be really hard!Give without needing credit
Offer help, time, or attention without expecting anything in return. This is described in the Bhagavad Gita- as not seeking reward. It doesn’t mean not earning or gaining, but it does mean realising it is not all “about me”. Giving credit where it’s due to privilege or support of others or good luck!Pay attention to what I consume
Not just food, but news, conversations, even social media. What I take in affects how I feel — and how I treat others.Send kindness in all directions
I love loving-kindness meditation and even a short version works well: “May I be well. May you be well. May we all be safe and free.” Even if I don’t feel it at first, saying it softens something inside.What can I do. Despite things seeming impossible often, there is usually some organisation you can support that is doing something good. Either with time or money. Finding a way to stay connected also support mental health so we can continue to do more.
Final Thoughts
Yoga isn’t selfish when we use it to become more awake, more steady, and more compassionate. In times when we see hate speech against so many, refugees blamed for their plight, sex & sexuality being policed, a rise of racism and fascism; anything we can do that engenders love and kindness is worth it.
In India all yoga teaching in particular comes under the role of seva or service to others, one reason if you teach to also take time to replenish at these times that are so exhausting emotionally already, before we even get to our own lives!
The Buddha didn’t promise that life would be easy — only that we could relate to it differently. And yoga gives us a way to start practicing that.