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My sister tells a story about asking one of her young sons to stop doing something. He looked up with his clear wide eyes and said But Mama, it’s fun! I think of that often when I’m trying to improve some habit. The third and fourth yama (restraint) in Patanjali’s system are asteya and brahmacharya.…
Practicing ahimsa (non-harming) slows me down. In a good way. I’m not usually malicious, either with others or by being too aggressive with my practice. When I cause harm, it is usually bumbling. I had to slow down and listen for every cue. Listening, really paying attention, is an obvious requirement for doing pretty much…
The goal is sublime, to reach enlightenment, whatever that is. Patanjali’s Sutras offer a path that is pragmatic and methodical. Not the most poetic of scriptures, it is the how-to manual of the genre: start from the outer and obvious and penetrate inward to the subtle and strange by progressing through eight stages (usually called…
Really? One of the basic ideas in yoga is that humans are impressionable. Everything we experience – every movement, every thought — leaves an impression that we carry forward into the next moment. We experience this quite clearly in our bodies. If I spend a long time weeding today, my back, shoulders, and hands may…
The ultimate goal of yoga, according to Patanjali, is to quiet the disturbances of the mind. When that difficult task is achieved, “the seer dwells in their own true splendor” (BKS Iyengar translation of sutra 2.3). My own true splendor….Sounds wonderful. But what in the world does it mean? Notice, the individual is called the…
As you proceed on your yoga path, you may discover that some days you feel lazy. Other days you may feel anxious and unsettled. Don’t bother feeling guilty or ashamed, this is what it is to be alive – circumstances are always changing. Every individual is an inextricable part of nature and nature consists of…
From a single-cell amoeba to a human being, all life has a dual nature: structure (sthira) and flow (sukha). Matter and energy. Structure organizes flow (and makes it purposeful); flow shapes and animates structure (and makes it purposeful). Structure and flow are in opposition to one another. Too much flow swamps structure; too much structure…
That’s all there is to yoga. Show up. Pay attention. Don’t be attached. Over and over. You may be sitting still. You may be standing on your head. You may be executing a challenging vinyasa flow. But if you’re making the effort to realize your intention (tapas), if you’re observing the results of your effort…
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