SEPTEMBER is International Yoga Month

Photo by @jamestsandoval

SEPTEMBER is International Yoga Month!

Yoga Sutra 1.2: “The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is yoga.”

The practice of yoga helps you settle the mind so you can be in the present moment. The thoughts of the past and the concerns of the future melt away.  These thoughts are the mind-stuff. Be in the now with Yoga 💖

Inside the Yoga Sutras Book is a book with short verses written by Patanjali as the philosophy and teachings of yoga.  There are 195 sutras (short verses, threads) and they are divided into 4 padas (chapters).

The book starts out with defining yoga, the 8 limbs of yoga, self realization, self-power and then oneness with all.

It’s a wonderful book that I was introduced to in my 200 hours of Yoga Teacher Training at Yoga Works.  I will continue to reference the verses in this book throughout my practice.

Practicing asana yoga with physical postures becomes a guided mediation.  The focus on the breathe and the movement in your body creates an inner awareness.  Melting away the mind-stuff, the thoughts: what you said to a friend earlier that day, the traffic was horrible getting to the yoga class, the person next to you is wearing the same yoga pants as you, what you are going to make for dinner tonight, etc.  The whirling thoughts in your mind can finally settle and you can just be with yourself.

Our perceptions which can include our senses (mana), our process of comparing and categorizing (buddhi) and our ego (ahamkara) can cloud our minds making it difficult to see clearly.  To clearly see ourselves, others and enjoy the present moment.

Vritti means to whirl.  It’s the activity of our thoughts whirling in the mind.  If we can stop our memories of past experiences and our constant cycles of comparisons and judgment we can have a steady, clear mind.  Free to explore and appreciate the things in the now.

Nirodha is the restraint.  With nirodha we are redirecting our focus so our thoughts don’t scatter about.  Settling the mind we are able to clearly see things as they are without our minds limiting their existence by good or bad past memories, comparing them to past experiences and judging them and categorizing them.

For a simple example: eating an apple: it reminds you of a time when your mom gave you a freshly cut apple as a child.  It was the bight color red, you can remember the texture on your tongue, the taste of the sweetness with subtle tartness, the crisp sound as you bit into each slice.  You love apples that resemble this first one you ate.  One day you are at a store and purchase a red apple but it’s mushy and grainy and overly sweet and you don’t like it as much.  You are comparing your first experience with an apple to the one you are eating now.  And now you only like to eat crisp, sweet with a slight tart flavor apples.  Yu categorized apples into the only one you want to eat; based on the similarities from the very first one you ate in your life.  You judge every single apple you eat now and compare it to that first one.  But if you were given a grainy apple for the first time in your life and it was overly sweet and dark red you may always like those types of apples.  And any time you get a tart one that is too crisp you don’t like it.  This constant judging and comparing limits your contentment with any apple you eat again.  If you release the past thoughts and experiences and judgment you can enjoy the apple as it truly is every time.

With the practice of yoga we can be present and be one with everything to truly experience everything is it is, right now.