♥ About Yoga
Yoga citta vritti nirodhah. “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuating patterns of the mind.” ~The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
What many people consider to be “yoga” is actually asana, or the physical practice of poses. Asana is only one limb (the third to be exact) in the eight limbs of Classical Ashtanga Yoga as first transcribes around 200CE by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. The word Ashtanga directly address this eight-fold path. Ashta is the sanskrit word for eight, and anga translates as limb.
The goal of yoga is to illuminate and disrupt the subconscious memory patterns that drive the personality. Yoga offers the practitioner access to a profound innermost awareness of what he/she is holding onto and a sense of what their inner work is in this lifetime. Yoga Sutra 3.18 lays it out beautifully: “Samskara saksat karanat purvajati jnanam.” Through sustained focus and meditation on our patterns, habits, and conditioning, we gain knowledge and understanding of our past and how we can change the patterns that aren’t serving us to live more freely and fully.”
♥ The Eight Limbed Path
The Yamas and the Niyamas are the first two limbs of Classical Yoga. Yama is the Sanskrit word for “abstinence” and the five Yamas are a set of external disciplines we can apply in our lives to help align more harmoniously with the Universe. Niyama translates as “observance” and the five Niyamas are a set of internal observances that help us align more fully with our highest Self.
The third limb, Asana means “seat.” The physical practice of yoga is aimed at strengthening the body and quieting the mind through physical release to prepare one for seated meditation. Most of the modern asanas, or poses, evolved over time, long after Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. To mistake asana alone for the whole of yoga is to confuse a single grain of sand for an entire shoreline. In his seminal book Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar wrote, “Without the practice of the principles of Yama and Niyama, which lay down firm foundations for building character, there cannot be an integrated personality. Practice of asana without the backing of Yama and Niyama is mere acrobatics.”
The fourth limb, Prañayama, addresses the various practices of breath control that assist a practitioner with harmonizing the hemispheres of the brain, facilitating meditative peace and establishing a calm center. Prañayama is made up of two words. Praña means “life force” “vital energy” or “breath.” Ayama means “to extend” or “restrain.”
The fifth through seventh limbs (pratyahara, dharana, dhyana) deal with the increasing levels of meditative absorption.
The eight and final limb, samadhi addresses the state on enlightenment one may achieve by continually practicing all the other limbs.
- Yama: “External Controls” Disciples that help bring us in alignment with the Universe
- Niyama: “Internal Controls” Disciples that help bring about a deeper realization of our essential nature or true Self
- shauca: purity of body, mind and thought
- santosha: contentment
- tapas: self-discipline
- svadhyaya: study of oneself
- ishvara pranadyana: placing oneself near the Creator; the divine ideal of pure awareness; surrender from individul self to universal self
- Asana: “sitting” refers to all forms of the physical yoga postures
- Prañayama: breath control; mindful breathing
- Pratyahara: withdraw or mastery of the senses; turning inward
- Dharana: firmness or concentration
- Dhyana: meditation
- Samadhi: reunion with cosmic consciousness; oneness with the universe; self-realization (state on enlightenment one may achieve by continually practicing all the other limbs)
♥ Branches of the Yoga Tree
“What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?”
~Pablo Neruda
Karma: – Path of Service
Karma (pronounced kahr-mah) is the yoga of self-transendent action with a goal of performing our individual dharma, or duty in line with the cosmic order, selflessly without attachment to the fruits of one’s labor. Karma means “action.”
- seva (selfless service for altruistic purposes to positively benefit the community)
- volunteer work
- care taking
- random acts of kindness
- acceptance
- selfless-action preformed with integrity
- action performed with full attention/ awareness
Bhakti: Path of Devotion & Love
Bakti (pronounced bhuk-tee) is yoga of the heart through seeing the divine in all of creation. Bhaj means “to serve.”
- prayer, worship & ritual
- chanting & singing
- creative writing
- practicing devotion, acceptance, tolerance & selfless love in everyday life
- making flower offerings & creating alters
- identifying & celebrating your gifts and strengths
Jñana: Path of the Sage or Scholar
Jñana (pronounced gyah-nah) is yoga of the mind through meditation and intellectual study with the purpose of developing a non-dualistic awareness of everything being one with the universe. The goal of Jñana yoga is to become realized through direct experiences of higher inner awarness about who we really are. Jñana means “wisdom” or “knowledge” and refers both to the simple act of knowing and vinjñana or “realized knowledge” or “consciousness.”
- introspective journaling & quiet reflection
- studying sacred text
- self study to gain knowledge from one’s essence
- attending workshops & dharma talks
- direct self inquiry, i.e. “Who am I?”
- contemplation of spiritual questions with one pointed awareness
Hatha: Path of Physical Discipline
Hatha (pronounced haht-ha) is yoga of precise physical discipline through extreme forceful action designed to purify the body and balance one’s energy. The various modern styles of “yoga” are just branded variations of hatha yoga. Hatha means “force.” Ha means “sun,” tha means “moon.”
- asana – practice of yoga postures
- pranayama – breath regulation techniques
- shatkarmas – (six processes) physical & mental cleansing techniques:
1. Neti “nasal wash”: purifying the air passageways in the head
2. Dhauti: purifying the stomach – full length of the digestive tract along with respiratory tract, external ears & eyes
3. Nauli “intestinal cleansing”: purifying abdominal region – digestive organs & small intestine
4. Basti: purifying of the lower abdomen, especially the colon
5. Kapalabhati “skull shining”: pranayama (breath control) practice to purify the respiratory organs & cranial sinuses
6. Tratak “to gaze”: purifying the mind through gazing at an external object - mudras – hand seals
- bandhas – body locks
Tantra: Path of Ritual
Tantra (pronounced tahn-trah) is yoga of sacred ritual to bring the practitioners into deep communion with all life, all experience as sacred. Tantra is a wildly creative religious path with practice that extend far beyond the range of familiar social norms. In the West, Tantra is often inaccurately understood exclusively as a set of “sex-practices.” While everything is hallowed in tantra, sanctified sex to unify one’s soul with the divine is a part of tantric philosophy and practice but certainly not the focus. (If fact celibacy is a predominant tantric practice throughout the world.) Tantra means “weave” or “woven together,” and is occasionally translated as “to expand.”
- performance of rituals and ceremony aimed at expanding one’s awareness in all states of being
- tapping into cosmic love
- experiencing everything as sacred, finding divinity in every aspect of life
