Patanjali and Everyone Else

Jul 28, 2011 | Wisdom, Yoga practices | 0 comments

To me, the fun of yoga practice and teaching is to find associations between what we notice when we are on our mats or meditation cushions and what comes up in everyday life.
The sage Patanjali, in his pithy sutra sayings, is really talking about all of our lives, not just what occurs in the quiet of our yoga spaces.
So, for instance, when we read the sutra “yogah citta vritti nirodhah” – yoga is to quiet the fluctuations of the mind, we might think of how we fall short of a peaceful mind when dealing with teenage kids. Or, our spouses when we’re driving with them in a congested city setting and get lost – which is my particular scene for getting agitated.
I have a few techniques for meeting my mind in a more detached way when I’m caught in its eddies. One is simply breathing. Incredibly powerful – another is thinking of how someone who I think is pretty evolved would handle a difficult situation.
Also, I have a few wise quotes up my sleeve:

My life is my practice. – Ram Dass, One Liners
A feeling of aversion or attachment toward something is your clue that there’s work to be done. – Ram Dass
Your thoughts can’t bully you around if you don’t empower them by believing they are real. – Peter Rengel, Living Life in Love 

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