related to yoga world
The first three sections of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali lead the yogi to the understanding that yoga practice — especially deep meditation — will give him or her amazing powers. The powers themselves are not the important thing, though. It’s the ability to transcend time and illusion that is a yogi’s true reward. In […]
I remember the first time I heard the term spiritual egoism. A master yogi I greatly respect was giving a talk on meditation. He warned that seasoned yogis—especially those we sometimes refer to as “rock star” yoga teachers—are just as in danger of being slaves to their ego as anyone else. In the Yoga Sutras, […]
When you think of the concept of bodily perfection in yoga, what comes to mind? If you’re like many Westerners, you’re thinking of toned abdominal muscles, flexibility, and maybe even a cool designer wardrobe that shows off that yoga body. According to the Yoga Sutras, yogis can achieve bodily perfection in yoga. But for a […]
While a dedicated yoga practice can give us super-physical powers, those powers can become obstacles. At least that’s what Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras (sutra 3.38). I can think of at least one way this would be true. If we become attached to such superpowers, we may lose site of the fact that we […]
Samyama, you’ll recall, refers to practices that help us understand ourselves and how we fit in the universe. It is a process of coming closer to truth. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives us many ways to gain self-knowledge. With Self-Knowledge, We Can Obtain the Strength of Elephants! By samyama on the strength of elephants […]
Who am I? (Or who are you?) What is the meaning of life? What is time? If you’ve wondered about questions like these, you may want to explore the yogic practice of samyama. Samyama helps yogis understand who we are and how we fit into the world as we know it and as we have […]
In the third section of the Yoga Sutras, we see that human being struggle with the goal of yoga, which is samadhi, or union. For me, this is encouraging. Knowing that samadhi is a state we may only glimpse in this lifetime means I don’t have to give up when distractions turn my attention from […]
Yoga means “yoke.” We practice yoga to connect with our higher selves. One benefit of this is that our yoga practice can help us function better on a daily basis. For example, we can practice yoga to improve memory and concentration. Being more alert in turn helps us us to look inward as well as […]
A yogi’s ability to achieve union with the source of consciousness goes hand-in-hand with developing nirodha. Nirodha, as we learned in the previous post, is both the practice of withdrawing the senses and the state of being in union with the divine. There are three verses in the third section of the Yoga Sutras that […]
As you may know, there are eight limbs of classical yoga. The first seven help prepare yogis for the final limb: union with a higher power, or samadhi. Samadhi can also be called union with all that is or union with God. Whatever you call it, the goal is the same. Reaching samadhi means shedding […]