The teachings of Yoga and Buddhism is being practiced on the middle path. It's neither leaning towards indulging oneself in pleasurable enjoyment nor intentionally torturing oneself in difficulties and painful suffering, but it's living a life of simplicity without drowning in greed/discontentment/stress towards achieving higher success/achievement/enjoyment/comfort/security in life, and without struggling under insufficiency of daily needs to be looking after the well-being of the body and mind while living in the world, independently and self-sufficiently, as much as possible.
The path of renunciation is indeed the middle path, though many people would categorize it as one form of extremity. One can renounce the worldly life consisting of worldly passionate social relationship, connection, interaction and activity without torturing one's body and mind in painful suffering, while living a modest simple way of life, being in seclusion and solitude most of the time, where one would perform necessary actions and dealing with other people/beings if necessary, but without engaging in worldly social interaction and activity, and without attachment or clinging towards worldly relationships and connections as well as pleasurable enjoyment of the senses.
No doubt that everyone needs to 'work' or performs action to be looking after the life of the body and mind, but for the yoga practitioners, one doesn't need to spend entire life time and energy into achieving worldly success and achievement in 'working' to be more wealthy, successful and secured financially, but after spending some time and energy into 'working' to acquire enough livelihood, one can spend more time and energy into looking after the well-being of the body and mind, which isn't about building relationships and connections by engaging in worldly social interactions and activities, just like what most people, including mental health professionals would think and believe that active engagement in passionate social interactions and activities to be building relationships and connections is essential for mental and emotional health.
For the yoga practitioners, looking after the mental and emotional health is more about retreating from all those worldly relationships, connections, interactions and activities to quiet the restless activity of the mind, mentally and emotionally, understanding that all joy and happiness deriving from engagement in pleasurable, desirable and agreeable relationship, connection, interaction and activity, will change and disappear eventually. Impermanent changes might not affect or disturb the minds that have developed strong foundation in dispassion and non-attachment, but most of the untrained passionate minds that attached strongly onto names and forms that are pleasurable, desirable and agreeable would be determined by impermanent changes, and be affected and disturbed mentally and emotionally.
It's neither right nor wrong in the two contradicting approach towards looking after the well-being of the mind mentally and emotionally, it's just different understanding or realization towards what is suffering and the cause of suffering.
The worldly passionate minds think and believe that the lack of social relationship, connection, interaction and activity is the cause of mental and emotional illness/suffering, and thinking that the solution is through seeking comforts deriving from active engagement in passionate social relationship, connection, interaction and activity, to feel good and better.
While the dispassionate minds stop empowering or gratifying the desire of craving and clinging towards passionate social relationship, connection, interaction and activity that might make the mind feels good and meaningful momentarily, but then the mind would suffer very much mentally and emotionally if the pleasant enjoyable agreeable social relationship, connection, interaction and activity is not available for some reasons. And so, they work diligently to root out egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, which is the root cause of all restlessness and suffering, to allow the mind to realize unconditional peace that is nothing to do with momentary pleasant good and meaningful feelings deriving from engagement in pleasant/desirable/agreeable passionate social relationship, connection, interaction and activity.
The mind is peaceful as it is, regardless of the impermanent condition of life, the body, the mind and the world.
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