Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga

THE BASICS

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Everything is based on the Samkhya (enumeration system or order of manifestation), a system founded on observation and experience. This is the foundation of the psychology of transformation in Yoga, and clearly describes how creation manifests through the individual soul. Taking Samkhya into account is a necessary part of any holistic approach to health, which also includes Ayurveda (the science of life), and Jyotish (the science of light or Vedic astrology). Yoga represents the practical application of this approach.

 

Yoga covers infinitely more than the purely physical aspects to which most people are accustomed, such as the postures (Asanas). This teaching, known as Ashtanga Yoga or the Eightfold Path of Unity, is expounded in Patanjali's Yogas Sutras, to which all yoga schools refer, and is not to be confused with Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

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INTERNAL PURIFICATION

 

It's certain that it won't stop there, but it's obvious that with the right practice, with the emphasis on quality rather than quantity, it creates an essential openness to a transformation of the psychology of yoga. Doing too much is often counterproductive. Breathing, posture, gaze, Vinyasa, as well as the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga described by Patanjali, make this practice a tool, worth practicing this art correctly, which will become a priceless jewel.

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An essential aspect of internal purification concerns the six poisons that surround the spiritual heart. In the yoga shastra, it is said that God dwells in our heart in the form of light, but this light is covered by six poisons: Kama, Krodha, Moha, Lobha, Matsarya and Mada. these are desire, anger, delusion, greed, envy and laziness. When yoga practice is sustained with great diligence and dedication over a long period of time, the heat generated by it burns away these poisons, and the light of our inner nature is revealed.

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QUALITIES

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Breathing is at the heart of the practice, but most students think that breathing is as simple as inhaling and exhaling with an audible sound called Ujaï. The fact is, when we ask them to focus on the breath according to their understanding, they are reminded of how demanding this process is and how much attention it requires. But is this enough? The process requires much more than saying that the breath is central to the practice. Once we put all the elements in place, we see that it's a much more involved process than it first appeared.

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It's a conscious choice to put breathing at the center of your practice. If you start out with poor-quality breathing, don't even think that it's going to improve - in fact, the opposite will happen. Because by putting the breath at the forefront, and allowing all other actions to become secondary, this creates an inner environment on which it becomes possible to approach all other aspects of the practice. It imposes a rhythm that should be slower than some would wish, but it's mainly a question of taking the time necessary to ensure that practice doesn't become enslavement, but becomes at the service of the individual, at the risk of undergoing what should in fact become a moment out of time, without expectation, of appreciating every moment and leaving space for what is.

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The posture (Asana) supports the breath, but the breath (Pranayama) also supports the posture, which in turn supports the state of mind to a quality necessary for the more subtle application of the gaze (Pratyahara) the withdrawal of the senses, which is more accurately in purpose the conscious use of the 5 senses. Together, these three elements constitute an opening to deep concentration, conducive to the quality of (Dharana). Continued support of this process (Tristana) becomes the quality point for sustaining (Dhyana) the state of meditation. This is practice, as long as the quality of each thing is carried out without one taking precedence over the other, to get to the rightness of the moment and remove any idea of attaining any kind of perfection, which would generate opposition to the meaning of practice, and which will bring to light the whole meaning of Yama and Niyama. Study means understanding our involvement in conscious actions and appreciating the process.

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The wonder and amazement we feel when we witness that, from diligent application of this method, transformation of the quality of action involves being more closely anchored in Yama principles.

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• Any unnecessary action is a source of distraction

• Any aggressive thrust is incompatible

• Staying physically in your truth

• You can't do more than your current capacity allows

• One leaves the practice full of energy

• You generally feel completely satisfied, both during and at the end of practice

 

This implies committing oneself totally, with one's whole person, to the qualities, but developing the right effort. This is achieved  

with intelligent, step-by-step application, less effort is required. In other words, effort that reduces effort.