Sutra Sunday
Sundays, Maggie Reagh presents a series of blog posts on one of Patanjali’s key Yoga Sūtra-s (YS), encouraging you to reflect on how it relates to your current life situation through a Yoga Sūtra Journal Question.
The sacredness of Sun (Surya)-day, the day that the Sun is honoured in many cultures, is a brilliant day to do Sva-dhyaya (Self-reflection) through the vehicle of the YS, which like koans, can break your head open, revealing the wisdom of your inherent shining Heart.
Maggie honours her great Yoga-acharya, DV Sridhar of Yoga Rakṣanam, Chennai, India for teaching her the YS for more than 10 years. This blog is dedicated to him and her other Yoga Masters, Radha Sridhar and Viji Vasu with great gratitude.
While what she has learnt from her Masters is the starting point of her Sūtra reflections, Maggie’s blogs include her own insights and interpretations from 20 years of Yoga practice both on and off the mat.
She requests your indulgence for any mistakes unintentionally made and would appreciate any feedback.
Latest on Sutra Sunday
How to Make your Yoga Practice Stable and Strong
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra-s (YS) I-13
Tatra sthitau yatno’byāsaḥ There (tatra) in that centred and grounded state (reached in YS I-12 = tannirodhaḥ), we must practice (abyasaḥ) with constant effort (yatno) to stabilize it (sthitau).
Stay on it – Keep Practicing! Patanjali warns us that the benefits of our Yoga practice cannot be maintained without constant vigilance. It is human nature to take our healthy balanced state of mind-body for granted after we have been practicing a while. We start to lose the motivation to practice when things are going well.
Indulgence Rules When I started practicing Yoga daily in 1995, my neck and back would start to hurt again if I didn’t practice for even a day. Pain was a big motivator to get me to the mat every day. Now I have days and weeks when my body and mind feels great, even with my severe arthritis in my neck and my history of anxiety-depression. Why should I practice when I feel so good? I have to remind myself that if I don’t continue to practice, I will lose the benefits. I will regress and not progress.
As one of my Capilano University Yoga students told me today, “I almost didn’t make it to class again today. I have so much work to get done. Each week is the same. But after I come to class, I remember how good I feel and how much more efficient and focussed I will be all afternoon. Why do I always forget?”
How can I Strengthen my Yoga Practice?
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra-s (YS) I-14 Sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkāra ādarā āsevito dṛdhabhumiḥ
And (tu) that (sa) abhyāsa (practice - YS I-13) only gains a strong (dṛdha) foundation (bhumiḥ) when it embraces (āsevito) these four qualities:
• Dīrgha (long) kāla (time) We need to practice over a long period of time. It can take years to get a strong practice established. Now in about 5-15 minutes, I can drop into a yogic state. It used to take 2 hours, 20 years ago! I hope one day I will be able to stay in it continuously!
• Nai (nothing) rantarya (in between) We need to practice without a break – every minute of the day. Ideally, practice is not limited to our mats. We are practicing being present both on and off the mat.
• Sat (truth) kāra (action = practice) We need to believe that in truth our committed practice will help us reach somewhere we have never reached before. Otherwise, where is the motivation to keep practicing?
• Ādarā We should adore (ādarā) our practice! We should enjoy it! This intrinsic motivation is key to finding the will to keep practicing.
Practicing Self-Care is a Yoga Practice Practicing Yoga is not just about doing postural, breathing, and meditation practices. It is also about developing more discernment in all aspects of our lives, so that we can identify which lifestyle practices bring us more Joy and less dis-ease.
For example, I generally eat very healthfully, watching food quality, amounts, and meal timings. When I am satisfied with my weight, energy levels, and health, it is easy to start indulging in poorer eating habits. How quickly we forget that we feel good today because of our disciplined self-care choices that have been keeping us healthy and happy!
Think about other lifestyle/self-care practices such as sleeping hours, exercise routines, work-life balance, and time for social support (see Tools of Support, October 20th). How can these practices be strengthened and stabilized to promote more Joy and less dis-ease?
Yoga Sutra Question How can I make my Yoga and other self-care practices stable and strong? Which of the four strengthening qualities can I implement right now?
Letting Go
Abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyām-tannirodhaḥ That centred, grounded state (tannirodhaḥ) can be reached both by letting in something new (abhyāsa) and by letting go of something old (vairāgyābhyām).
Letting Go – Vairāgyābhyām Letting go of something or someone we are attached to is one of the hardest human endeavours. The power of attachment, which we often call love, can blind and bind us, creating much suffering for ourselves and others.
Vairāgyābhyām means to cut away (vai-) any desires or attachments (-rāgyābhyām) that are not allowing us to practice being present (abhyāsa) and fully experience that centred, grounded state of Being (tannirodhaḥ), the precursor to experiencing Yoga (YS I-2).
Attachments in themselves are not the problem The Yogic tradition uses attachments and relationships as practice tools (abhyāsa) for healing and transformation. Whatever we link to, we become like for better or worse. It all depends on whether the attachment centers or distracts us from bonding with our authentic Selves.
For example, nourishing relationships (sat-sanga) with friends, family, and Spirit can provide us with much strength and Joy. They can also be the source of much transformation since we often attract friends into our lives with qualities we admire and hope to own within ourselves.
In traditional Yogic meditation practices, we likewise link with objects that have qualities we hope to mirror. For instance, TKV Desikachar in 2002 asked me to pick a mountain to meditate upon to create more stability and groundedness in the face of life’s many changes and challenges. I picked holy Mt. Kailash and to this day, this is one of my main objects of meditation. As a result, over time, I have become more grounded, less shakable, and more committed to whatever direction I have chosen. Another example is the Sun. I meditate on the Sun daily to remind myself of the light (jyoti) shining in my heart (YS I-36). Patanjali says by meditating on the Light in our hearts, our minds become light and clear. We become like that object to which we attach.
So when is it important to let go or detach from our attachments? When an attachment takes you off course or makes you ungrounded and uncentered, you know it is getting in the way of you experiencing tannirodhaḥ (grounded, centered mind-body). You know it is time to let it go because it is keeping you from being able to practice being present (abhyāsa). It is keeping you from living the life that you are being called to live in this moment. It is keeping you from following your Bliss!
Think about your daily Yoga practice (sādhana/ abhyāsa) What keeps you from getting to your Yoga practice or other commitments of self-care? For me, it is email, Facebook and Twitter first thing in the morning. I have to use discipline (tapas,YS II-32) to cut this impulse because it is interfering with my daily self-care.
Think about your relationships After four months of us trying to let go of a deeply attached relationship, we are both finally ready to make the final cut (vairāgyābhyām). We have both realized that the relationship in its present form has been throwing us off course. We need to let it go to get centred and real with what is true in this moment.
Letting in and Letting go are a process. They do not happen overnight just because we decide to do so. It takes time to develop new healing habits and relationships so that we can let go of old ones no longer serving us.
Next month, we will discuss how to stay grounded/centered (tannirodhaḥ) (YS I, 13-16) and what that transformative process looks like over time (YS I, 17-18).
Yoga Sutra Question What do I need to let go of right now so that I can get more centred and grounded in my Truth, my Heart?
Tools of Support
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra-s (YS) I-12
Abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyām-tannirodhaḥ That centred, grounded state (tannirodhaḥ) can be reached both by letting in something new (abhyāsa) and by letting go of something old (vairāgyābhyām).
Tools of Support - What Yogic Tools of Support can we Let In to Let Go?
- Yoga Practices (abhyāsa/sādhana) – A daily Yoga practice is a dress rehearsal for our lives. The more we practice being present on the mat, the more we are present to all that shows up in our lives, which leads to radical love of self and others.
- Accepting What Is (Īśvara pranidhānā – see YS II-1) – On the road to accepting what is, we often experience anger (dveṣa kleśa– see YS II-3) as a means of detaching from what isn’t. Both sadness and anger help move us out of unhealthy clinging to what was (rāga kleśa– see YS II-3) to equanimity (upekṣa – see YS I-33) and acceptance of what is (Īśvara pranidhānā – see YS II-1).
- Self-care (Niyama) - Part of practicing Patanjali’s the eight-limbed path (aṣta anga-s, YS II-29) of Yoga is self-care (niyama-s, YS II, 32), which also carries us to self-love.
- Śauca – Cleanliness – How can I freshen up my body-mind as well as my environment to promote self-care?
- Santoṣa – Contentment – How can I feel at peace with myself and others? My teacher DV Sridhar said to me one day 10 years ago, “Live as if everything in your life is perfect. See what happens!” – radical acceptance of self and others.
- Tapaḥ - Purification – How can I purify my body-mind right now through lifestyle changes that challenge me to grow? How do I commit to these disciplines?
- Svādhyāya – Self- study – What can I learn from this situation to take responsibility for my emotions, thoughts, and actions moving forward?
- Īśvara pranidhānā – Linking with what is Highest for you such as human values, family, and spirituality/Īśvara (Divine Love) – How can I link to Divine Love for support as I learn to let go and let be?
- Social Support (satsanga) – True (sat) community (sanga) heals our hearts with endless Joy (Ānanda) and fulfills our essential need for social support. Healing, loving relationships are prime transformers in our lives. The more intimate the relationships, the more healing their potential. We need to let down our guard on a daily basis with our loved ones to keep our hearts soft and open to receiving Life’s many transformative lessons.
- Mentor/Teacher/Counselor (Gu-ru) – In the Yoga Sutra-s (YS), IV 3-4, Patanjali emphasizes the role of a mentor/teacher in removing “gu” (darkness/obtacles) so that “ru” (light/new energy fields) can flow in. The power of an outside reference, guide, counselor, mentor, or teacher is crucial, especially when our minds are veiled in darkness (āvaranam, YS, IV-31) and cannot see clearly.
In my case, I have the support of both my teachers in India as well as my counselor in Vancouver, who have all helped me transmute life’s many challenges into lasting personal transformation, step by step. As DV Sridhar once wrote me, “You are being purified into gold by the fire of your life experiences. Go through them and trust the process!”
That centred, grounded state (tannirodhaḥ) can be found by practicing (abhyāsa) these tools of support that help us let go (vairāgyābhyām)of whatever is no longer serving us.
Yoga Sutra Question
What tools of support can I practice to get grounded and centred?
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