You go to yoga class. You do yoga. You come home.

This is how Westerners tend to practice yoga. I cannot blame them. They are busy and they need to move on after they "Namaste."

But if you treat yoga like an isolated hour in the day, you are not reaping all of the bountiful benefits it can offer. If yoga is not changing your outlook on day-to-day life, if it is not improving your relationships and not helping cultivate healthy habits, you are not making the most of your expensive yoga studio membership.

It is hardly your fault. A yoga teacher should be encouraging and guiding you through your yoga journey. He/she should be offering one or more perspectives on different methods of meditation, different texts and different theories.

But a yoga teacher also needs work. And right now the yoga work in the United States is in the asanas.

Asanas are an excellent way to immerse yourself in yoga culture and to begin to learn how to meditate. But I challenge you to take it one step further and begin to craft your own yoga journey...one that goes beyond the mat.

Start with books. There are many. And many are inexpensive. ("The Science of Yoga" is at a lot of libraries, and it is a GREAT read.) Read an interpretation of the Yoga Sutras that weirds you out. Then maybe find one that resonates with you. Investigate how spiritual you want your practice to be. Do you want to keep it non-religious? Do you want to include a path of devotion (faith in God)? Are you drawn to the Hindu, Buddhist or Taoist influences that often go hand-in-hand with yogic theories? Try meditating on these texts with Mala beads or aromatherapy.

Once you have begun your yoga education, see how you can implement it in day-to-day life. For example, try eating a meal mindfully. Carefully prepare the food. Eat it slowly. Think about how the food was grown. Experience feelings of compassion for those who don't have food. Think about why you are eating. Are you really hungry or are you filling an emotional void? What would that emotional void be? How can you address it?

I promise. It's actually really fun. And you'll show up to your next Vinyasa class with a renewed sense of intrigue and excitement that you've never felt before.

And most importantly, talk with your yoga teacher. Maybe he/she is an asana master (and that's great!) but doesn't speak much on the other 7 limbs of yoga. I bet he/she knows someone who does.

Be brave and bold, yogi. There's so much for you to discover.