WHAT IS YOGA? Yoga means unification, within yourself and with the external world. It can be a powerful antidote to the suffering associated with fragmentation, disconnection and isolation.
YOGA SUTRAS Compiled around 400CE by the sage Patanjali, the Yoga Sutras are comprised of 196 compact teachings on understanding and quieting the mind. The sutras were originally unpacked and taught one-on-one by qualified teachers according to each student's particular needs.
These are the foundational sutras:
- Unification happens when the mind is quiet.This is the essential practice of yoga. All the other sutras exist to support this.
- Then, you become established in seeing. In other words, seeing (awareness) becomes your default setting rather than thinking.
- Otherwise, you'll become identified with thinking. This typically leads to suffering.
EIGHT-LIMB YOGA This is a basic system of practice, a starting point for many practitioners.
1. Nonengagement in mentally disruptive actions such as harming, lying, stealing and hoarding 2. Embodiment of mind-calming qualities such as acceptance of the present moment, willingness to endure discomfort in burning off unhelpful habits, independent study of sacred texts, and surrender to the power of the universe 3. Seated posture 4. Breath-calming 5. U-turn from sensory experience to internal awareness (a result of limbs 3-4) 6. Efforted concentration 7. Effortless concentration 8. State of nonseparation
The first two limbs are not practices but benefits resulting from meditation (limbs 3-8).
BENEFITS OF LIMBS 1 AND 2 - When established in nonharming, hostility subsides in your presence. - When established in non-stealing, a mindset of abundance arises. - When established in truthfulness, what you intend and say comes to be. - When established in non-hoarding, your true purpose in life is revealed, focusing on what you need toward that purpose. - When established in the acceptance of the present moment, joy and gratitude naturally arise. -When established in the willingness to endure discomfort in order to burn off unhelpful habits, the mind becomes clearer as it is freed of the disruptions associated with such habits. -When established in surrender, deep peace ensues.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS ( limbs 3 - 4) - Stablize your posture and get comfortable. - Relax all physical and mental effort. - You may notice that extremes (heat/cold, bright/dark, quiet/noisy) no longer disturb you. - Quiet the breath by feeling it, lengthening it, counting the duration of inhales, exhales and pauses, or counting each breath. - Allow it without force to quiet, so much so that the inhales and exhales become indistinguishable or unnoticeable.
CONSEQUENTIAL DEEPENING OF MEDITATION (limbs 5 - 8) - Then you may notice a wave of clarity, as if a veil has been lifted. - Then a U-turn of awareness inward in which you have the power to turn your senses on or off. - Then an ability to concentrate on one thing temporarily while able to return your focus more and more quickly and easily. - Then an effortless flow of focus. - Then a deep state in which your awareness as a separate being dissolves into a unified experience.