Yoga Philosophy

In my teacher training, we studied Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali’s definition of yoga it is the calming and stilling the movements or fluctuations of the mind. We can achieve this through meditation by quieting the mind of the vrttis. The vrttis are types of thoughts. The types of thought are right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep, and memory. Our thoughts can usually be categorized by one of these five vrttis. The vrttis, or fluctuations of the mind, are regulated through practice of the asanas and non-attachment. Practicing the asanas helps still the mind in order to be in a meditative state with non-attachment to the thoughts. Asana is the physical practice of yoga poses.

We are all brahman. Brahman is everything, it’s the divine, “God”, pure consciousness, collective, oneness, the “ocean”. Because we are in separate physical bodies, we sometimes perceive ourselves as entirely separate or composed of some different form from another and our collective whole. This is misperception is called Atman. Our senses perceive Prakrti and often believe sometimes that is all that we are. Prakrti is matter, our senses, an illusion. Prakrti can also be called maya and is constantly changing. We often experience pain when we attach to Prakrti because of its constantly changing nature. Brahman does not change, it is what we truly are. Atman is the individual soul that misperceives itself through the senses and the illusions of maya that it is something different than Brahman. Atman is like perceiving ourselves as a drop in the ocean vs see that we are an ocean in a drop.

Prakrti is consisted of 3 primordial forces called the gunas. Guna means rope and can be thought that there are 3 strands composing this rope. The 3 forces are Sattva, Tamas, Rajas. Sattva is yellow and is bliss, peace, good energy, clear, health, and is associated with the morning. Tamas is blue and is inertia, dull, murky, doubt, sadness, depression, rest, sleep, slow, and is associated with the evening. Rajas is red and is goal oriented, movement, fast, action, anxiety and is associated with midday.

Our individual bodies have different layers called energetic stealths or koshas. There are 5 koshas starting from the most gross body, the one we can physically touch which is the annamaya, the physical body. The physical body is associated with food, asana, and stability. Then there is the pranamaya kosha, the breath body. Prana is life force and this is the energetic body associated with air, prana, and vitality. The next body is the manomaya kosha, the thought body. This body is associated with the mental mind, active thinking, concentration, and the brain. It can be thought of as our “lower mind”, led by the senses. Then there is vijnanamaya, the wisdom body. This body is associated with the higher mind, intelligence, knowledge, and meditation. The last energetic body which is the most subtle and inside of us is the anandamaya kosha, the bliss body which resides in our heart. This body is associated with knowing the truth, being yourself, pure awareness.

Prana, or life energy, flows through the physical body’s energy channels called the nadis. It is believed there are at least 72,000 nadis that energize and sustain all parts of the body. There are 3 most significant nadis to yogis and they all originate in the root chakra located at the base of the spine. The Susunna nadi is located along the spinal canal and flows up and down the spine starting at the root and ending at the crown. Ida starts on the left side of the spine and sequences in and out through the 7 chakras ending through the left nostril. Pingala starts on the right of the spine and sequences the opposite way of the Ida ending through the right nostril. Ida and Pingala flow through the 7 major chakras and make a DNA-like sequence through and up the body, like a spine. Some characteristics of Susumna are central, neutral, yellow, balance, sunrise and sunset, unconscious mind, knowledge, wisdom, Sattva, central nervous system, awareness. Some characteristics of Ida are left, feminine, night, yin, moon, negative, cold, intuition, internal, subconscious, subjective, passive, parasympathetic, blue, Tamas. Some characteristics of Pingala are right, masculine, sun, yang, day, positive, hot, logic, action, conscious mind, external, objective, sympathetic, red, Rajas.

The chakras are energy wheels within the body, there are seven of them and are associated with the colors of the rainbow! Starting at the base of the spine is the Muladhara or root chakra. It is associated with the color red and its properties are grounding, stability, deep relaxation. It’s associated with the ages of 0-7 and the associated physical organs are the testes, kidneys, and tail bone. The chant is Lam. The second chakra is Svadhisthana or sacral chakra. It’s associated with orange and happiness, pleasure, sexuality, and creativity. It’s located bellow the navel or belly button and its chant is Vam. The ages associated are 7-14 and the organs are the bladder, prostate, ovaries, kidneys, gallbladder, bowels, and spleen. The third chakra located right below the sternum above the navel is Manipura or the solar plexus. Its chant is Ram and is associated with the color yellow. The ages are 14-21 and represents strength, courage, power, confidence. The organs associated are the intestines, pancreas, liver, bladder, stomach, and upper spine. The fourth chakra is Anahata or the heart and is associated with the color green. This is all about love, giving and receiving and accepting love easily. It’s located in the middle of the chest and its chant is Yam. It’s associated with the heart and lungs and is ages 21-28. The fifth chakra is Visuddha or the throat chakra. It’s light blue and is associated with communication and listening compassionately. It’s located in the center of the throat and its chant is Ham. The ages are 28-35 and organs are bronchial tubes, vocal cords, respiratory system, mouth, tongue, and esophagus. The sixth chakra is Anja or the third eye. It’s located in between the eyebrows and is indigo. This is intuition, dream recall and insight, and our perception. It’s associated with the ages 35-42, the chant is Om, and the organs are the eyes, pituitary gland, pineal gland, and the brain. The last and seventh chakra is Sahasrara or the crown. It’s purple/violet and is located at the top of the head. It’s associated with peace, wisdom, bliss, and connection to Brahman. The chant in silent and is associated with the ages 42-49. The organs are the spinal cord and brain stem.

Practicing asanas and pranamaya clears any blockages in these energy systems and moves energy so that it may flow easily throughout the body so that we may reach a higher state of being and connect to the Brahman through our crown chakra which is the true state or purpose of yoga.

Some other definitions of yoga is the connection between the mind, body, breath, and soul. It helps create a deeper understanding of ourselves and take time to reflect inwards to notice how we’re currently feeling each time we practice. It’s a noticing of non-judgement or attachment, just accepting and awareness of our body and mind in that present moment. We want to reduce the mental movements and be in the now, through the practice of asanas and pranayama helps us sink into a state of meditation. Pranayama is the control or regulation of the breath and meditating helps reduce the mind’s fluctuations.

There are 8 limbs of yoga. Incorporating the 8 limbs helps us achieve Patanjali’s definition of yoga, which is the calming and stilling the movements or fluctuations of the mind. Asana and pranayama are 2 of these limbs. There are 6 other limbs.

Yama is how we interact with others and the external world. There are five branches under Yama which are Ahimsa standing for non-harm and compassion, non-violence towards others and self. Satya which stands for truth, doing things because they are the right thing to do and not because you’re expecting results. Asteya which stands for non-stealing, you can steal someone’s physical possessions or energy or time. Brahmacarya which stands for confidence and sense moderation. Aparigraha which stands for non-greed or non-hoarding, over consuming, when we look outside ourself for joy and fulfillment. After incorporating Yama in our lives there is Niyama which also has five branches. Niyama stands for personal observations from the world around us. The first branch is Sauca which is purity, purifying our mind and life of people, taking in purity through our senses, pure food, listen to pure thoughts, watch pure behavior, read positive/good writing. The next branch is Samtosa which stands for contentment, no matter what is going on around us finding joy within ourselves, looking internally vs externally. Next is Tapah which is accepting pain as purification, realizing challenges or obstacles are happening for you and not to you, pain is inevitable but suffering is a choice. Svadhyaya which is study of the self, self awareness and acknowledgement. The last branch of Niyama is Isvara Pranidhana which is surrender, going with the flow and trusting the universe, surrender and trust you’ll be divinely guided.

After Yama and Niyama is the limb of Pratyahara which is the internal sense-withdraw, turning our senses inwards to reflect upon ourselves. Yama, Niyama, Asana, and Pranayama are limbs focused on the external outside world whereas the other four limbs are focused on the internal self world. After Pratyahara is Dharana which stands for concentration, training the mind to concentrate without allowing fluctuations to take over. This type of concentration is with effort as we are learning/training the mind for something new. The next limb is Dhyana which stands for mediation or concentration without effort, when our mind gets used to reduces of the mental movements. The last limb is Samadhi which is meditative absorption meaning connecting to the divine or Brahman, forgetting we are the Atman or individual soul to connection to the collective whole or consciousness, feel one with everything around us.

Samadhi is to me is Patanjali’s definition of yoga. Trying our best to incorporate the 8 limbs into our daily lives and into the way yogi’s hold and carry themselves and practicing this philosophy how we can achieve or reach this desired state of yoga! (: