Yoga Sutras by Swami Rama

Yoga Asanas are Purification

Yoga is unity and harnessing energy. Yoga is about unity. The enemy of unity, is ‘me, me, me’ thinking.

Asanas (poses), pranayama (breathing) and dhyana (meditation) are ways to clean the body of ‘me, me, me’ so there is more of ‘thee, thee, thee’.

Who is ‘thee’?

The ‘thee’, in this circumstance, is the will of nature, of tao, of the way, of ‘what is’, mindfulness, of the universal consciousness – what ever you’d like to call it.

Every experience we have, every thought, ever action, every moment, we create. The act of creation causes a consequence, repercussions, even if we can’t see it right now. The mind takes in so much information at a moment’s glance, at a moment’s rise or fall in emotion, in an idea – we leave traces of the past where ever we go.

Yoga helps to clean us from the out side in – by releasing the hold the past has on our body tissue. There is a school of thought that suggests the body holds the memories of the past. Not the mind. Our body freezes when we hear certain noises. The ‘feeling’ we have is from our body. The mind is quiet, waiting, while the dinosaur walks past the cave.

Yoga is purification of the mind and body, so that we can move the self aside, and reside in the Self that is unity.

Cleansing Processes

Yoga Journal – purification

Blue Yoga

Energy Centres in the Body

Hello Everyone,

I've recently been writing about the chakras in the human body. Kind of filing information for myself and you.

If you'd like to learn a bit more about them, take a look here -

Chakra Basics - beginners questions answered.

Root Chakra - about grounding, your tribe and belonging.

Sacral Chakra - about creativity, sexuality.

Solar Plexus Chakra - about feelings of self esteem and control.

Heart Chakra - about love and forgiveness.

Throat Chakra - about communication and will power.

Brow Chakra - mental abilities and vision.

Chakra Reading List - want something more to read?

Hatha Yoga - a definition

a

Hatha Yoga refers to the physical based yoga that is predominant in the west.

Hatha Yoga includes the practices of asanas (poses), pranayama (breath control), dhyana (meditation), yama and niyama (behavior guidelines based on action and non-action).

These practices have developed over time to help students of yoga reach their goals.

The original and ultimate goal of traditional yoga is described in the word – samadhi.

As far as I can understand*, it infers union with, or a merging consciousness, with the supreme consciousness.


The supreme consciousness
The supreme consciousness is one. The goal to merge with it, infers that we are not part of it now, but after practicing the philosophy of unity (as described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras), we are able to unite with the one.

The one can be called many names, but, it is not any of these names. Labels help us to conceptualize an idea, but they can become a hindrance to understanding also.

The practices of yoga are as diverse as there are people who practice. This is the nature of humanity. We have similar goals, but we use different paths to get there. The path you take can be chosen for you (you were born into it), it can be recommended (by a guru, a friend or any out side influence), or you can try to find your own way.

All paths are valid, if the goal of unity is the same one.

Unity
The concept of unity is broad. It is, as with the practice of yoga, as diverse as there are practitioners. Your unity maybe expressed in devotion and submission to a guru. It maybe just trying to feel your body as one living whole. It maybe to merge yourself with the one consciousness (regardless of what you call that one consciousness). All practices of yoga (unity) are valid.

Asana-based yoga
Today, most of the people in the west practice hatha yoga. Although there is a growing interest and study in addressing traditional yoga goals, most people study yoga for fitness and health. This type of yoga, I call asana-based yoga.

Living yoga off the mat
On the other side of the pendulum, we have people who want to explore the very nature of yoga in all aspects of their life. This practice, I term, ‘Living yoga off the mat’.

We are all yoga practitioners. We are all drawn to some aspect of yoga. For the sake of unity, let us allow each and every one of us the same respect in their chosen path, whether its asana-based, or you have immersed yourself in the philosophy of yoga.

* I am not a scholar of Sanskrit, so rely upon other people’s translations of ancient texts.

Namaste
q