 Everything in life is vibration. - Albert Einstein Yoga Sutra 1.26 स पूर्वेषाम् अपि गुरुः कालेनानवच्छेदात्॥२६ sa pūrveṣām-api-guruḥ kālena-anavacchedāt Unconditioned by Time, Isvara Is the Teacher of Even the Most Ancient Teachers Why do we chant Om in yoga? Why chant at all? As modern science is beginning to shed light on the mechanisms behind the ancient science of yoga, we are learning that vibration - energy - is all around us and within us. After all, didn’t Einstein also determine that matter (e.g. our body) is simply a manifestation of energy in the physical plane?
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 Photo by freestocks on Unsplash Practice is the most important factor in Yoga. - Swami Satchidananda This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Want to start at the beginning? Sutra 1.14 - स तु दीर्घकाल नैरन्तर्य सत्कारा असेवितो दृढभूमिः - Sa Tu Dīrghakāla Nairantarya Satkāra-ādara-āsevito Dr̥ḍhabhūmiḥ Practice Becomes Firmly Grounded by Patience, Devotion, and Faith From Sutras 1.13-1.20, Patanjali outlines exactly what it means to accomplish what we studied last month in Sutra 1.12. As a reminder, Yoga Sutra 1.12 tells us that by practice and detachment, we will reach the goal of yoga.
Sutras 1.13 and 1.14 discuss what it means to practice. Practice of yoga is defined as continuous effort to calm the fluctuations of our mind, as explained in Yoga Sutra 1.2. Sutras 1.15 and 1.16 describe what non-attachment is. It is a state of renunciation that is achieved through the application of our willpower. (Iyengar, 65) Ultimate renunciation occurs when we are no longer affected by the qualities of nature, which are known as the three gunas in Vedic philosophy. In other words, “one is no longer controlled by the dramas of the world.” (Shoshoni, 9)  Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash Make your heart and mind friends and you will have peace of mind. - Suzy Kassem This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Want to start at the beginning? Sutra 1.12 - अभ्यासवैराग्याअभ्यां तन्निरोधः - Abhyasa Vairagyabhyam Tannirodhah Peace of Mind Comes Through Practice and Non-Attachment You may be wondering, “wait a minute…we skipped from Sutra 1.3 to 1.12!” It’s true. If I covered every Yoga Sutra in this series, it would take us 16⅓ years to get us through them all.
Luckily, these threads are so terse (and when read one after the other become like poetry) that we can conveniently condense the Sutras between those formally in our exploration within these discussions. So while we are specifically looking at Sutra 1.12, we’ll also take a look at Sutras 1.4 - 1.11. In Sutra 1.4, Patanjali mentions that when we are not experiencing yoga as explained in the first three Sutras, we are convinced that our True Self is whatever our mind thinks we are. This perception of ourselves is usually derived from our experience of the world through our senses. Sutras 1.5 - 1.11 describe the five types of thought forms the mind has which cause us to identify with our senses. These thought forms can be painful or pleasant.  Photo by mahamudul hasan on Unsplash Love is always the answer. - Sivakami Sonia Sumar This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Want to start at the beginning? Sutra 1.3 - तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम् - Tada Drastuh Svarupe Avasthanam Then the Seer Abides in Its Own Nature Now we come to the result of practicing yoga. Abiding in the spirit’s nature. What is the spirit’s nature? What is the spirit?
The spirit animates the body and mind. It uses the body and mind to participate in nature. “The spirit is like a constant light. It has no name. It does not feel pain. It has no likes or dislikes. Right now within you, there is an exuberant spirit taking delight in watching the world. Whenever you are completely involved in what you are doing, you experience the creative and timeless nature of the spirit.” (Bhakt, 7) We experience the spirit’s nature when our mind is calm. Our spirit’s nature is love. This Sutra really is as simple as that!  Photo by Rohan Makhecha on Unsplash Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear. - Lao Tzu This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Want to start at the beginning? Sutra 1.2 - योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः - Yoga Citta Vrtti Nirodhah Yoga Is Calming the Fluctuations of the Mind This is a very simple and powerful yoga sutra. In fact, Swami Satchidananda wrote, “for a keen student, this one sutra would be enough.” (Satchidananda, 23) Again, let’s break this apart word by word to understand it better.
We’ve already discussed yoga extensively in the previous sutra. It is both the process and the end result. But Patanjali defines yoga further than that in this sutra.  Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Just where you are – that’s the place to start. - Pema Chodron This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Want to start at the beginning? Sutra 1.1 - अथ योगानुशासनम् - Atha Yoga Anuśāsanam Now Is the Guide for Yoga The reason the Yoga Sutras take a lifetime (or even longer!) to understand fully is that many of the Sanskrit words contain multiple meanings. The richness of this approach means both that the essence of Yoga is expressed as succinctly as possible and that the process of understanding their meaning is the path toward Yoga itself. In that way, the Yoga Sutras are both philosophy and instructions (Satchidananda, 23); they give both the why and how in one breath.
To truly understand a Sutra, the student must devote successive readings to it. There is an unfurling process, as the student deciphers its meaning over time in conjunction with the student’s lived experience. This is why the aphorism, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears,” also applies to the Yoga Sutras. The lessons to be learned from this text develop in the student’s mind over time, finally becoming fixed when life gives the aspirant a chance to practice and then comprehend their meaning. So let’s start on the most surface level - the literal meaning of the Sanskrit words - and then delve deeper.  Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash If there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet...maybe we could understand something. - Federico Fellini This blog post is part of our Yoga Sutras series. Each year, I will select Sutras from the four, successive Padas (with January's - February this year - dedicated to an introduction to a specific Pada). Although every one of the 196 Sutras could lead a person to transcendence, I will be limited to 43. In these 43 Sutras, I will attempt to cover most of the important themes within the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as a whole, by referring to other important Sutras within the discussion. I invite you on this exploration with me. To discover the heart of yoga: what yoga is and how to master it. Want to start at the beginning? In 2023, we will cover Pada One. The first Pada is for Patanjali’s most advanced students (Stiles, xvi), intended for “those who are already highly evolved to enable them to maintain their advanced state.” (Iyengar, 4).
But in Patanjali’s brilliance, this Pada also serves as a sort of introduction to Raja Yoga. Specifically, why practice yoga? What benefits develop from steady, continued yoga practice? And generally, how to get there?  Photo by Slashio Photography on Unsplash Within the space of these two hundred short sutras, the entire science of Yoga is clearly delineated. - Sri Swami Satchidananda This month, I begin a daunting, multi-year project outlining key Sutras from the original yogi guidebook, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I don't pretend to be a Yoga Sutras expert, especially after reading commentary from some of the great translators and interpreters who have tackled this approach to yoga philosophy. And this project won't be able to comprehensively explain all 196 Sutras of Patanjali's explanation of yoga, even over the course of four years.
In the past, we’ve hosted Yoga Sutra book clubs, which produce rich discussions arising from our common understanding of the ideas Patanjali expounds. These discussions have inspired me in this effort. It is amazing that although the Sutras were written centuries ago, the ideas are so universal that they always resonate as contemporary. I also take inspiration from the dharma talks my teacher, Sonia Sumar, has led on these Sutras. Although we often return to a Sutra repeatedly in these talks, each new group of students brings its own perspective and illuminates the often dense and esoteric knowledge contained within the terse threads of wisdom. Since we have plenty of blog posts for those just getting started practicing yoga (Our Approach to Teaching Yoga to Beginners, The Beginner's Mind, and Meditation for Beginners), I thought it was time to dive into the more philosophical components of our beloved practice of Patanjali’s yoga for those students advancing. Studying these Sutras clearly shows that our role as yogis is much more than attaining mere physical fitness. Our goal as advanced practitioners of yoga is spiritual fitness. I enter this discussion humbly, as a student myself, and welcome your comments and insights throughout this process. If you enter your thoughts as comments below each post, we are all benefitted by your experience and the project will be enriched.  Photo by OPPO Find X5 Pro on Unsplash No matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still. - Sophocles Those of you who know me (or have just been avid readers of our blog), know that this year was very special for my family, as we welcomed the birth of my son this spring. So I’ve had a lot of time to think about what it means to create a yogic family and home environment.
This applies to us all, whether or not we have children and whether our family is biological or chosen. The way we set up our family and home environment has a profound impact on our sense of security and well-being. In a way, setting up a yoga family and a yoga home, nurtures our own inner child as well. If you’ve ever attended a class at our studio before, you know how precisely we care for the space. It is tidy and uncluttered (okay, at least most of the time…) We aim to create an environment that is conducive to the inner work that yoga does: creating security, peace, and a space for contemplation. In setting our physical space up this way, it is our goal to attract and retain people who have similar values. In that way, we collect a community that can support one another and lift each other up. It is no surprise that some of our closest friendships have developed in this space. None of us are able to be at a yoga studio all the time. In fact, this year I was unable to be at the studio as much as I am used to, being so tied up in my new familial obligations and joys. So it makes sense that we consciously curate a space at our home that works in tandem with our time spent in reprieve at our hOMe away from home. Here are some ways I have been working to create the same stability and quiet I find at Five Keys Yoga, when I am away.  Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. - Aristotle If you want to learn yoga, you might start out (as I did) looking up yoga poses online, getting a book on yoga, or even attending a class for beginners. A few decades ago, it might have been difficult to find a yoga class nearby and so, whatever kind of class you found, well…that’s what you got.
These days, there are so many options, the problem is now one of overwhelm. “Which kind of yoga should I do?” “How should I start practicing yoga?” “What is the best kind of yoga for me?” are all questions that arise from beginners approaching our studio. The truth is, do whatever kind of yoga makes you feel best and that you can do consistently. As I mentioned, I started practicing yoga with poses I found online and in books. Eventually, my curiosity brought me to classes. Finally, I met my guru, who has taught me what yoga is really about. The process unfolded naturally over time. With kids of all ages returning to school, we are reminded of the importance of continual learning and education. One of the things we love most at 5KY is bringing yoga into schools. Although what the kids learn in their classrooms about math, literature, history, and science is essential, yoga brings an education on something slightly different. Whereas our schools educate our children’s bodies and minds, yoga nurtures their hearts. This is why bringing yoga into the classroom is so important. Yoga for children is not a type of play but a true education. In the method we use, we are not simply teaching our kids cute animal poses or telling a story with yoga poses interspersed. When taught correctly, this method of children’s yoga is a serious practice that can teach children how to calm themselves, regulate their emotions, and tune into the messages that their body, heart, and mind transmit. It works on all aspects of the child. Not just the physical or even mental aspects, but their spirit - their heart - as well. We are starting to understand that it is not just the IQ that matters. There are multiple types of intelligence that we ought to be developing. Yoga works the mind and body, yes. But it disciplines the body to be calm and the mind to be silent, so that the heart can speak. When we teach our kids emotional intelligence - empathy, compassion, wisdom - we prepare them to live in a world filled with other beings and all the joys and challenges inherent in that. This world, rich with the experiences of loving others, is what I want to prepare my child for. But we have all been children before and retain (deeply buried as it may be) some of that childlike wonder and vulnerability. Yoga is a gift to that inner child, as it nurtures the emotional intelligence that this world so desperately needs. So I’d like to give a different kind of primer on yoga. Not one like I sought out when I first began; full of flashy poses and not much substance. I’d like to suggest some tips for the beginner that I wish I would have received when I started practicing yoga. This is a primer for beginners on the heart of yoga. |
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