Courage to Explore. Wisdom to Know the Way.
As autumn colors the world with leafy vibrance, it’s the perfect time to reflect on surrender. As natural beings, our bodies and minds move eagerly to the rhythm of the seasons. In the natural world, the trees break down the chlorophyll to free up nutrients. Once that's complete, plant hormones send messages each leaf stem …
Continue reading "Letting go the Autumn Leaf of Approval Seeking"
Everything moves to a rhythm. From the revolution of galaxies and stars to the vibration of atoms. The equinoxes and solstices offer us a chance to reflect on the rhythm of the seasons. You might have noticed that yoga instructors tend to bring up these seasonal events, as well as the monthly pulse of the …
Continue reading "Autumnal Equinox: Transitioning with Curiosity and Joy"
No Pain, No Gain. You've heard it. Heck, you've probably grown up with it. The steady stream of Nike ads and fashion magazines tells you over and over: "If you don't go hard, go home." Extremism is built into a capitalist society because it depends on people not ever having or being enough. This is …
There is alchemy in the season, an alchemy we kindle in our hearts, burning away the dross of our own limiting beliefs to let our genuine selves radiate outward.
Again and again in the literature, the mind is compared to a lake reflecting reality. The smoother the surface is, the more pure the reflection. By analogy, the vritti ruffle the surface with eddies, making it harder to understand ourselves and our place in the universe at any given moment in our brief lives.
Vrttayah Panchatayyah Klishta Aklishtah "There are five kinds of fluctuations in the mind and they can be painful or painless." Vrittayah = modifications/fluctuations (of the mind-stuff); Panchatayyah = five kinds; klishta = painful; aklishta = painless. The precise list of the "five kinds" comes up in Sutra 1.6. For now, though we get the two categories of pain …
Continuing from the sutra 1.3, in which the writer sums up the whole goal of yoga (to abide in one's true nature), we come to 1.4: Vritti Sarupyam Itaratra "At other times, [the Self seems to] identify with the mind's fluctuations" Vritti = "modifications" (of the chitti, mind-stuff, mentioned in sutra 1.2), sarupyam = "assumes the forms …
If you've been attending yoga classes for a while, you may have been exposed to several types of pranayama, or breathing exercises. With the sanskrit names and the various translations, it might be hard to keep some of them straight. Throw in the fact that even some yoga teachers use the various titles interchangeably, and the …
Tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam Tada = "then", drastuh = "the Seer", svarupe = in one's own nature/form (sva--in one's own, rupe--form/nature) avasthanam = "abides/resides" "Then the seer [Self] abides in its own true nature" Aaaand... we get to our first verb: abides. [Who can hear the word "abide" and not think of the Big Lebowski? Anyone? Dating myself here?] With "abide", …
[This is a series of commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a classical text compiling yogic wisdom. The author may be a single figure (the sage Patanjali), or may be various sages using the same title. Claims date the writing anywhere from 5000 BCE to 300 CE. It is often regarded as a core …
