Yoga - its all in the head

Much of my yoga experience has been at gyms in Cape Town. I go to three or four classes a week, for 13 years now. We are lucky that Cape Town is pretty much the yoga capital of Africa - with a wide range of styles and some very good teachers - even at the gym. What is conspicuously absent though at gym is attention to how yoga is a mental practice as much or even more so than a physical one.

Tonight, we were doing a strong but nicely measured vinyasa class in Claremont. I know the teacher well - she is creative, sincere, knows her asana, and is aware of the mental journey of yoga. At the same time, she rarely if ever gives guidance to the students about the mental states - so key to understanding why we do yoga, what it offers us, and how the eight limbs of yoga are part of an integrated system of practice and living.

Nonetheless, tonight, about halfway through the practice, focussing my mind on the asana - a key meditative mental state is to know what am I doing, where am I, what is the intention of this position?  - suddenly my mind went still, calm and focussed. Rather than extraneous thoughts, or thinking about whether I liked a pose or not, how hot that other yogi's butt looks in those black shorts, why some people do not align their hips in Warrior 1 - or any other number of useless thoughts that have nothing to do with being focussed - suddenly I was deeply focussed - my body was the vessel for my mind to be alert, aware, present and still. It is an absorption that is at the core of any yoga practice - 

yoga citta vrtti nirodha      योग चित्त वृत्ति निरोध

One of Patanjali's most famous statements in the Yoga Sutras - yoga is the stilling of the waves of the mind. 

We experience so much in life, some of it good, some of it painful, some of it confusing, some of it seemingly against our will or interest. Yoga is the union between ourselves and the universe - it is to recognise the infinite connections in all things - I am because you are; we are because the World is - I breathe because the tree is capable of photosynthesis. 

Western culture has increasingly become attached to pleasure, which has also become a commodity - even our attention span is now part of a commodity market. We are being constantly asked to give very short, shallow bits of attention to useless or near useless bits of information by which someone is fundamentally trying to sell to us. This cannot bring peace. It cannot bring union. It accelarates a sense of dissatisfaction and uncertainty about the world - the world is fractured in this kaleidoscope of things without coherence, kindness, ritual or patience. 

When you come to the mat - it is fine to come because you want to be more flexible, to lose some weight, to get fitter, even because you think it is a nice lifestyle option. If you destress and get healthier - hey - yes, bring it on. 

Yoga is though so much more - it is a pathway to understanding your life, the universe, other beings, the Divine and mysterious aspects of life. It is a journey of union and liberation. Don't take my word for it - bring your mind to total alert stillness, unleash your deepest wave of pure bliss, allow the walls of your mind to fall back, experience the entire universe in one silent and infinite moment. Then, then you may understand why you stepped onto that mat in the first place.

Namaste....