Yoga Sutras for Everyone

I find that when I clean my bathroom on Thursdays, I turn into a fembot. Ok, so I am exaggerating, but my mind wanders just to one place, that of resentment and anger. Thanks to the tools I have learned from ashtanga yoga, I have been able to curtail these thoughts of destruction and ire and channel them towards enlightenment. My sweet trick, you may ask?

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yep, I listen and chant the YS of Patanjali while I clean, while I cook, while I do wee chores around my home so that I am in a state of meditation and concentration. A few hours go by and I am surprised how shiny my bathroom looks and amazed that I didn't turn into a demon.

Adding spiritual study to your yoga practice - Svadyaya - is a key component - in fact it is the backbone that supports niyama - the second limb of ashtanga yoga. Having svadyaya in your practice arsenal will allow you to access a greater part of yourself that may be hidden or covered up. 

One translation of svadyaya means studying sacred texts. Which sacred texts should you be reading as a keen yogi? Two for sure: the Bhadgavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. They specifically bring our lessons from practice and show us how to bring them into our day. This is especially important when we are having an adult meltdown.

One great way to begin studying the yoga sutras is to find a teacher who you like. Do some research online and search for an online teacher. I recommend learning from the Mohan family and with Nitya Mohan at the Yoga Sutras Online website. This gives you the opportunity to listen to detailed philosophical insight on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and learn how to properly chant the sutras.

I recommend just like an asana practice, only chanting as far as you can remember. So when you begin, you don't learn the first twenty. You learn the first two. You get those two down to memory, then you add one more. Just like an asana practice, you don't go do the entire primary and see how it goes. You learn it one asana at a time so that you fully learn the postures before adding another one on.

Another way to study the sutras is to get a practical book that you like. Edwin Bryan't book, "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali' is as in-depth of a book as you can get and for the beginning student, it may be a bit much. Mind you it is perfect if you are a seasoned YS buff, because it goes into great detail of commentary from Vyasa, the wise-expert on the Yoga Sutras. Dive into this book with a bit of courage as it will give you many perspectives on the sutras. 

A practical and all levels book which is great for beginning as well as intermediate students is B.K.S. Iyengar's book, "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjal". This book is a gem; it is filled with easy-to-read descriptions of the sutras, but unlike Bryan't book, does not have much commentary from Vyasa. What Iyengar's book will offer you is a simple outline of the sutras and a roadmap of them too - you can trace how and which sutras relate to each other. And this is always good if you are trying to bring the wisdom of the sutras into your daily practice.

Here are two videos of me chanting Book 1 and Book 2 of the sutras. It took me a few years to memorize these two chapters. So remember, take your time and read, study and repeat. And notice, I am a novice, still just learning! 

In the second book, you'll see I have made a mistake - and I repeat the sutra I fumbled at the end. Can you hear which one is a miss? This sutra is a landmark sutra of Book 2 and this is why I must get it right.

I always thank Timbo, my sweet husband for introducing me to sincere sutra chanting; now, it is just as important as the asana practice. 

May your chanting be filled with Joy!

Book 1 Samadhi Pada

Book 2 Sadhana Pada

The Misfits of Ashtanga

This past month I have been teaching heaps and meeting new yogis in the Aberdeen community, sharing a simple message: practice the misfit asanas, the challenging ones. Don't skip them.

If you practice every day, approach what you have been taught with genuine effort and the practice in turn will take you all the way towards understanding the last three limbs of ashtanga - dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). 

Patanjali calls these last three limbs of ashtanga, a complete form of integration, Samyama. 

The last three limbs come when there is no more wondering or questioning what we are doing in the asana. It is required that we have already done all our work and research and we are able to invite a quiet depth to seep into our practice.

If you are not practicing every day or very often, the misfit asanas will urge you to quit and fidget and fumble instead of experiencing samyama. 

One of the ring leader misfits in the primary series - Janu Sirsasana C - is the posture that most people who are learning ashtanga simply skip. Others are a trifecta of difficult lotus-based asanas - Marichyasana B, D and Garbha Pindasana. These also get specifically left out because they are not easy, nor do they feel good for the first few years of practice.

Work on the difficult asanas that you may want to  overlook. If we are incapable of disciplining ourselves to attempt the challenging asanas, then there is no way that we will understand samyama. 

Without daily effort, how can we expect to advance or be more comfortable in the asanas that are alarming, if we don't go play with them every day?

Daily practice is the backbone of ashtanga yoga. Place practice as a priority over theory and study. You can do all the research you want - watch youtube and videos of pros all over, take workshops and go see famous yogis talk and demonstrate. But if you don't get on your mat and try, by yourself in your kitchen or in the Mysore room - samyama will definitely not happen.

I urge practitioners - whichever asana you are working on - first and foremost, try it every day. Why not spend a little bit more time working on what you are NOT good at and master that challenging misfit asana that is giving you grief? It may be giving you the right lesson you are needing to learn.

Here is my misfit asana - Sayanasa. Don't be fooled, I am not quite there, here I am falling out of it. Maybe in a few more years it will be easier. Well it took four years for that other misfit asana, Janu Sirsasana C to feel good, why would this one be any easier?

Patanjali outlines a perfect remedy for us on 'how-to' attain the riches of yoga. The crux of this method is practice: practice done for a long time, without a break, and with effort. If we can practice the feel-good asanas along WITH the misfit asanas with effort and with devotion, then one day we will understand all of the limbs of ashtanga yoga, including samyama. 

Thank you Aberdeen, for inviting me to teach at the The Yoga Spot, Love Yoga, and at Mo Yoga. A huge thank you to Michele, Rebecca and Mo for inviting me into the community and giving me the opportunity to share my love for ashtanga. And may samyama seep into your practices, dear Aberdeen yogis! And to the yogis beyond Scotland, too!


*Teaching Update:

5 October Chanting and Philosophy class Yoga Spot - 10:30 am

Week-long Mysore intensive at Love Yoga October 14-18

Ashtanga Yoga Edinburgh week intensive October 21-25.