[1:2] Yoga is the control of the currents of mental activity.

Most westerners think of yoga as a physical discipline or style of exercise, like Pilates or Aerobics, but the stretching poses (called asanas) and meditative movements are only a small part of the overall practice of yoga. Although there are tremendous physical and mental benefits in just working with asanas, yoga offers so much more. The sense of well being, emotional stability, and spiritual empowerment that can be developed in a balanced practice of the whole of yoga is invaluable.

The yoga taught in the Yoga Sutras is often referred to as Raja Yoga (or the yoga of Patanjali). Primarily there are three types of yoga: Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of love and worship), Karma Yoga (the yoga of action), and Jnana Yoga (the yoga of wisdom and knowledge). Raja Yoga brings together the three yogas into a single unified system.

Hatha Yoga is a form of Raja Yoga with the primary focus being on physical poses (asana) and breathing exercises (called pranayama). One of the reasons that so many people think of yoga as a physical culture is that most yoga taught in studios and health clubs is some variation of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is also the yoga presented in most yoga magazines and in popular health publications. According to the Hatha Yoga Padiprika (an ancient Indian text on basics of Hatha Yoga), “Hatha is given for the perfection of Raja Yoga.”

The word “yoga” has several meanings. In reference to a state of being or an accomplishment of practice, yoga means union. Yoga is the union of the physical and the spiritual being, or the union of the mind and the body, or the union of the masculine and feminine aspects of our being, or the union of the conditioned mind with the True Self. Yoga is the complete integration of self and True Self, our ordinary mind’s direct awareness of our own Divinity.

The word yoga comes from a Sanskrit root verb that means to yoke or to control. So yoga is about control and disciple – discipline of the mind or discipline of the body (or both). Through discipline (yoga) comes union (yoga). Yoga is a practice or a discipline for developing the mental processes needed to attain a state of emotional and spiritual liberation or union with the Divine. In modern psychoanalytical terms, the goal of yoga could be considered self-actualization.

Yoga is about intentional transformation and growth. Any practice or discipline that intentionally moves you toward the transformations necessary for the spiritual liberation of union with the Divine can be considered yoga. The word is most often used in reference to the physical and meditative disciplines and metaphysical cosmologies that have evolved from ancient Indian and Tibetan traditions.

Patanjali says that yoga is control of the mind’s activity in order to recognize our own divinity, instead of suffering the delusion that the activities of the mind are the True Self. Herein lies the key principle of yogic psychology.

Usually when we speak about the mind we are referring to the conscious thoughts and ideas that float around in our brain. But this is a fairly limited notion of mind. The mind consists of our feelings and unconscious response patterns and the thoughts we have about them. The ideas about our experiences that form in the brain are only a small part of the complex of activities that all together are the mind.

The ordinary, conditioned mind is a collection of thought movements – ideas, feelings, and habits – habit-molds that developed in order to serve us for survival. A habit-mold (Sanskrit, samskara) is a subconscious impression in the mind (or body) that provides the impetus to all of our thoughts and activities. Some habit-molds, like physical pain avoidance and procreative desire, are genetically hard wired into our bodies. Others, like the idea that a particular activity will be painful or pleasurable, are developed in the conditioned mind through life experience. Most of these habit-molds are accidental, the result of our initial life condition and our life’s experiences (karma).

All of our actions, physical and mental, are an expression of these habit-molds. The chain of ideas in the conscious mind, the words we choose in a conversation, our attraction (or aversion) to certain kinds of relationships, even our likes and dislikes of certain foods, are all expressions of our habit-molds. (A powerful transformational exercise is to meditate on these habit-molds, their origins, and how they drive our behaviors.)

But the conditioned mind is not our True Self; it is meant to be a tool for the True Self. Because of the nature of these “currents of mental activity”, we tend to misidentify the activities of the mind as being our True Self. We don’t recognize the actions of our conditioned mind as being nothing more than habit-molds – conditioned responses to internal and external stimuli. We believe the mind to be the ruler of the house of self and fail to recognize the true king, the True Self.

There is an aspect of our consciousness that is pure awareness, or pure consciousness. This is the point of reference that is aware of our being, aware of our ideas and feelings. This pure consciousness is not the discriminating, conditioned mind, but is something else entirely. It is our divine self, our True Self.

We allow the True Self (the divine self) to take its throne and rule over the conditioned mind by clearing away our maladaptive and destructive habit-molds and developing the habit-molds that allow us to control the activities of the mind. This process begins by developing a clear awareness of the nature of our habit-molds and the processes of the mind. When we develop direct awareness of our divine nature the ordinary mind becomes our faithful servant. Otherwise we continue to live in the illusion that the ordinary mind is our Self and that the mind’s interpretation of its perceptions is reality.

A persistent, consistent effort to keep the mind steady will lead to a steady mind. It is just like training a pet. Be loving and nurturing, but firm. If you occasionally let the pet do things you don’t want it to do the pet will continue doing them. If you firmly discipline the pet every time it tries to misbehave the pet eventually will stop trying to test its boundaries. The same is true for the conditioned mind. If you are constantly vigilant, and whenever the mind reacts in ways that you do not want it to react you reel it in and encourage it to respond in the manner you have chosen, eventually the mind will become steady and responsive to your will. Otherwise the mind will remain reactive to circumstance and accidental habit-molds.

The Sanskrit word “vairagyam” is usually translated as “non-attachment”. I prefer the term “un-coloredness” because I believe it more clearly describes the intention of the word in this context. We become emotionally “colored” by things and ideas. Un-coloredness is the attitude of a mind that is not affected by perceptions of “things seen or heard about.” It is the attitude of a mind that is not attached to objects or ideas.

When we see something beautiful we are “colored” by our seeing it and we are drawn toward it. When we see something disgusting we are “colored” by it and repulsed away from it. Advertisers create ads to “color” us to crave their product. Politicians send us messages to “color” us to join with them. Un-coloredness (or non-attachment) allows for a clearer discernment of the true nature of our reality.

The word "kriya" means, "basic action".  Patanjali's kriya yoga is the basic action of tapa, svadhyaya, and Ishvara-pranidhana. 

“Tapas” literally means, “to create heat”. A common traditional translation is “to perform austerities”. In the context of the basic practice of yoga, tapas are the activities that purify the body and the mind. What does that have to do with heat? First of all there is the metaphorical connection. To purify metal it is heated until the impurities melt out of it. Secondly, the activities that purify the body and the mind have a heating aspect to them. Physical exercise will create heat in the body. Mental exercise creates a mental friction that can be compared with the heat of physical exercise.

The physical body is the vehicle that moves us through the world. It is our means of interacting with the world. Physical conditioning is the proper care and maintenance of the material body. Along with avoiding unhealthy habits and lifestyles, physical conditioning includes eating healthy foods, maintaining a balanced state of mind, and doing exercises that maintain physical strength and flexibility.

Physical conditioning involves regular physical exercise, cleanliness, eating a balanced and healthy diet, and avoiding self-destructive lifestyles. Physical conditioning also includes control of the senses and physical cravings. Physical conditioning leads to a healthy and vital body, which in turn leads to a clear and steady mind.

The mind is a collection of habit-molds, physical and mental response patterns to external stimuli. It is the pilot of body. Mental conditioning is the work of purifying the mind. It involves developing mental and emotional stability and self-control. Mental conditioning builds self-awareness and understanding. Identifying the self-contradictions and maladaptive response patterns that our habit-molds express, and then replacing those habit-molds with intentionally chosen desirable ones, is a very difficult undertaking that can create a lot of temporary emotional distress (heat).

Self-study is about developing a deep awareness of the inner being; the part of you of you that is always constant, never changing. Think back for a moment; as you remember your past you know that there is an aspect of your consciousness that has always been watching the drama of your life. Whatever has changed about your views or habits, the part of you that has been aware of you has always been the same. You may call this your Soul, or your “True Self”. The ancient yogis called this Drastuh (“Looker”), Purusha (“Soul”), or Atman (“Over-Soul” or “Universal Soul”).

The relationship between the True Self and our conditioned mind, and the conditioned mind’s personalities, is the subject of Self-study. Self-study involves the regular practice of meditation to look beyond the process and habits of the ordinary (conditioned) mind in order to experience your unconditioned awareness. Self-study also includes the study of sacred writings and the study of works by others about the nature of being. Through Self-study you develop understanding and control of the mind’s ideas and emotions.

Attentiveness to God is the development of the direct awareness that all things emanate from the Divine Light, surrendering all things (actions and the results of those actions) to the Divine Light, and the honest recognition of your own divinity. The world that we perceive is a direct projection of the consciousness of the Divine Light shaped and molded by our own divine consciousness. By tuning our minds to the awareness of this continuous creative activity we can develop much wisdom and understanding. From this grows a clear understanding of the nature of our present circumstances, awareness or our probable future circumstances, and the power to shape and create those circumstances.

Attentiveness to God involves prayerful meditation to heighten the awareness and mindfulness of the Divine Light and our own divinity. Attentiveness to God also includes the study of sacred writings and the study of works by others about the Divine and our relationship to divinity. Continuous mindfulness on the Divine Nature of all things will lead to a sincere love and worship of the many aspects of the Divine Light.

The ashtanga of Patanjali is a detailed technique, a series of practices that lead to meditation and Samadhi. It is difficult to explain exactly what Samadhi is. We can say it is “Divine Absorption” (whatever that means) or “union with the absolute” or “transcending the conditioned mind”.

These descriptions (and others) are woefully inadequate. The truth is, if you have experienced Samadhi you know what it is and if you have not then there isn’t any explanation or description can help you understand the experience. For this reason it is best not to worry about it nor attach to its attainment as a goal. Rather, just focus on the process (the ashtanga) and have faith that at some point you will slip into an alternative perception of reality.

Yama is the rules of ethical restraints. Yama is often translated as “abstinences”, but I prefer to think of yama as “ethical restraints”.

[2:30] Yama consists of five admonitions: 1) Ahimsa (Non-Violence or Non-Injury); 2) Satya (Truthfulness); 3) Asteya (Non-Stealing); 4) Brahmacharya (Sexual Restraint); 5) Aparigraha (Non-Greed or Non-Hoarding).
[2:31] These great vows are for all occasion, and not exempted by life-situation, place, time, or circumstance.

In other words, there is no excuse or exception to living ethically. The natural animal in us seems to be drawn to spiritually destructive behaviors – causing harm to those we chose to have power over, lying to meet our own desires (or just to impress others), taking what we want, satisfying our lusts, and to wanting to accumulate what ever we see. It is easy enough to find justification for disregarding ethical behavior from time to time; after all, we do seem to live in a selfish and evil world. Sometimes it seems that we should act selfish and evil just so that we can maintain our place in the milieu. But this is a self-destructive illusion.

We act in the world through habitual responses and reactions to our environment (habit-molds). If we allow ourselves to respond to the evil of the world with evil we will develop the habit of evil and evil will grow in our hearts. If we respond to the world with love and compassion we will develop the habit of love and compassion and love will grow in our hearts. Love and compassion cannot exist in a heart while it expresses evil. Evil cannot live in a heart filled with love and compassion.

If we exercise the little bit of control necessary live by these basic ethical restraints, we will never have a need to defend the appropriateness of our actions or thoughts. By controlling our actions and thoughts to always embody Yama we will develop un-coloredness (non-attachment), calm the activities of the scattering conditioned mind, and move toward the spiritual balance necessary for this yoga.

While yama is restraint from behaviors and thought patterns that discourage spiritual growth and balance, niyama is proactive – positive actions that lead toward spiritual growth and perfection.

[2:32] Niyama consists of five observances: 1) Saucha (Cleanliness); 2) Samtosha (Contentment); 3) Tapas (Physical and Mental Exercise); 4) Svadhyaya (Self-study); 5) Ishvar-Pranidhana (Attentiveness to God).

Notice that three of the five observances (Tapas, Svadhyaya, and Ishvar-Pranidhana) are what was earlier described as the basic practice of yoga (“physical and mental exercise, Self-study, and attentiveness to God”). The other two observances, cleanliness (or purity) and contentment, complete the basic practice.

In the physical culture of Hatha Yoga the word, “asana” refers to physical poses and meditative movements.  The use of the word “asana” to refer to the physical exercises most people think of in association with yoga, is not what Patanjali was referring to. Patanjali used the word to describe a steady meditative seat.

For Patanjali, asana is sitting for meditation. There are a lot of opinions about what is the “right” way to sit for meditation. How to sit depends on what works for you, so long as it is “steady and comfortable”. Generally you want to sit upright, rather than reclining. A relaxed, reclined pose tends to trigger our sleep response. This is not conducive to meditation. Meditation is not sleep. Meditation is a focused, alert state of mind. If we start to drift off to sleep we are not alert.

A cross-legged pose is traditionally encouraged for meditation. The Hatha Yoga Padiprika recommends a Full-Lotus Pose (Padmasana) as being the best way to sit. Padmasana interlocks the crossed legs, placing each ankle on the opposite thigh. This is great for stability, but if you're not accustomed to the pose it will place a lot of pressure on the knees and quickly becomes very uncomfortable. The discomfort will make it difficult to sit very long without distraction. Unless Padmasana is very natural and comfortable you should try something else. A Half-Lotus or just a simple cross-legged posture may be more appropriate for you.

It is important that the spine be comfortably erect. This may require you to place a blanket or small pillow beneath you, lifting your sit-bones slightly. Some people find it difficult to sit erect comfortably on the floor. There can be a tendency to curl forward in order to maintain a sense of balance. A small pillow can help with that.

If cross-legged on the floor doesn't work for you, try sitting on a firm straight-backed chair, like most people have at the kitchen table. A popular way to sit in a chair for meditation is called Egyptian style. In a straight-backed chair, sit with both feet flat on the floor, hands folded in lap, spine erect, head balanced on neck (not too far forward or too far back). When I meditate in a chair I like to cross my ankles in order to create a closed circuit for the energy that flows through the legs. However you choose to sit, keep your spine erect and “be steady and comfortable”.

Yoga is control of the activities of the mind. Pranayama is control of the breath. The physical and emotional response to that control will depend on exactly how you choose to control the breath, both the timing of the breath and the physical mechanics of how you breath. Depending on the length of the inhalation, the length of the exhalation, and the length of the hold between, the breath will be energizing, relaxing, or balancing. The length of the pause after the in-breath can be different than the pause after the out-breath. Breathing with the chest will be different than breathing with the abdomen (diaphragmatic breathing). The body is stimulated differently if the breath is through the nose or through the mouth. Some exercises call for breathing through one nostril at a time.

Some caution should be exercised when experimenting with the breath. Depending on your health, some exercises may have undesirable side effects, such as elevating your blood pressure or over carbonating the blood. Anything beyond the basic control of the breath should only be done with the guidance of an experienced teacher.

For our sake here, we will begin by developing a slow, steady, and even diaphragmatic breath. This will cause the body to slow down and feel balanced. Once this technique has become automatic you can either stay with it (for there is really no necessary reason to develop exotic breathing techniques) or, if you are so inclined, find new ways to further develop your breathing.

First, find your seat (asana). Let the body be balanced and comfortable, the spine erect with the head evenly balanced on the neck. Fold your hands in your lap or place them on your knees. Next, prepare for pranayama. Exhale completely by drawing up your diaphragm (contracting your abdomen), then squeezing your upper lungs by contracting the ribcage and slightly hunching the shoulders forward as you force every last bit of air out of your lungs. Inhale through the nose as you fill your lungs completely by first drawing down the diaphragm (expanding the abdomen) then expanding your ribcage, lifting up the chest, and then finally lifting up the shoulders to pull in the maximum amount of air possible. Relax the shoulders, but don’t release any of the breath yet.

Now, lift up through the spine then slowly exhale through the nose by drawing up the diaphragm as you contract you abdomen. Keep your chest broad and open; don’t contract the ribcage. Squeeze all of the air out of your lungs by lifting up the abdomen, drawing up the diaphragm. Once the lungs are completely emptied, pause for a moment, and then inhale through the nose by relaxing the abdomen and drawing down the diaphragm. Pause for a moment, and then exhale completely through the nose again, using only the diaphragm. Pause for a moment, then inhale again.

For this breathing technique, use only the diaphragm (abdomen) to draw the air into and press the air out of your lungs. As you inhale, check your body’s alignment; be sure that your spine is still erect, your head balanced on your neck, and that your body hasn’t caved-in to a hunch. At first this will seem very forced and unnatural, but with practice diaphragmatic breathing will seem quite natural and automatic.

You may want to regulate the pace of your breath by counting in your mind as you breathe. As you inhale count to six. When your lungs are full, count to two as you hold your breath. Exhale to a count of six, and when your lungs are empty pause for a count of two before you inhale again. A count of six is not necessarily six seconds (though it may be). It could be four seconds, or it could be twelve seconds, depending on how long it takes you to completely fill your lungs with a slow, steady breath. The exact time for the in-breath or the out-breath is not as important as the ratio of time during the breath and between breaths. Again, this will seem forced in the beginning, but with a little practice you will develop an even breath without the crutch of counting the pace.

Work with this exercise until it is automatic and effortless. While you practice breathing think of nothing else, except to occasionally check your body’s alignment during an inhalation. This is called, “following the breath.” When other thoughts come to mind, dismiss them. Say to them, “I’m busy now, I will deal with you after I am done with my exercise.” Return your thoughts to your breath.

The first challenge to overcome with this exercise is the mechanics of technique. This is probably not how you normally breathe, but with practice both the physical motion and the pace of the breath will become automatic. The next challenge will be maintaining focus on the breath and only the breath. At first you may find it difficult to maintain the focus for only a minute. If you stick with it you will soon find that five or ten minutes has passed without a distraction.

Stay with the practice until you can comfortably follow the breath for five minutes without distraction. Developing this skill is one of the most important things you can do as you develop your meditation and spiritual practice.

Habit-molds (samskara) are the subconscious impressions and complex processes that underlie our responses to internal and external stimuli. One of the major sources of stimuli are the signals that come into our body-mind through the gateway of the senses. That gateway must be closed in order to meditate effectively without distraction. Once the body and the breath are brought under control through asana and pranayama the senses need to be subdued through pratyahara.

There are four basic types of pratyahara. The first type can be considered disregard of the senses. The signals are coming into the consciousness, but the mind is ignoring its responses to the experience. The next type is total disregard. The signals are still coming into the consciousness, but now the mind is not responding to them at all. The third type is where the signals are not coming into the consciousness at all and the mind is only aware of the sockets of sensory awareness (indryas). The fourth type is like the third, but the mind determines the sensory experience independently from any external stimuli.

The brain is constantly bombarded by so many sensory messages, dozens of different types of specialized signals sending a nearly constant input to the brain, that it only pays attention to a small percentage of the messages. For every distracting smell or noise or itch that we notice there are hundreds of other sensory messages that we are completely ignoring. If we tried to consciously notice every single sensory message to the brain – if we could notice every single sensory message – we would go insane for the distraction.

For most sensory phenomena we are already in the second or third type of pratyahara without even trying! Our conscious mind is either not responding to most of the sensory input, or the signals are not even getting to the indryas (sockets in consciousness that receive sensory input). If we can understand why this is we may find it a little bit easier to develop personal strategies for intentionally withdrawing from the sensory messages that are finding their way to our consciousness.

There are three factors that affect how our conscious mind chooses to notice sensory phenomena. The factors are intensity, change, and attention. Although attention can be directed intentionally, intensity or change usually draws attention.

An intense stimulus always attracts the consciousness. An intense pain or discomfort, intense pressure, or a very loud noise will draw the focus of the mind. Intense feelings also take a priority in our thought processes. Intense signals from the nervous system are very difficult to ignore. The best that can usually hoped for in sensory withdrawal from intense stimuli is to disregard it after it is first noticed. If it is steady, not changing much, it can generally be ignored after it has become a steady stimulation. This is because of change (or the lack of change), the second factor relating to sensory attention.

A steady state of stimulation is easy to ignore. A constant sound becomes the normal state of stimulation and soon fades into the background. Many people leave a radio or television on constantly. After a short time the noise becomes a non-distracting background. The same is true with pain or discomfort. At first, a new pain is very uncomfortable, but after some time, if the pain continues, it can become easier and easier to bear. If we don’t focus our attention on the discomfort, then after awhile we wont even notice it. If you stub your toe hard the pain makes you jerk your foot back and let out a yelp or a curse. Even though it hurts, after a short time you can almost forget that you hurt yourself – until you bump it again and are reminded of your clumsiness.

Intensity draws your attention, steady stimuli dulls your attention to the stimuli. In either case, it is your attention that draws your mind into the experience. If your attention is sharply focused on something else and you may be able to disregard the external stimuli.

If you have learned to follow the breath for five minutes there is an automatic flowing into simple pratyahara. By keeping the body comfortably still and steady (asana) and focusing on regulating the breath for an extended period (pranayama) the sensitivity of the mind to external distractions just naturally falls away.

Concentration is the effort of focusing the mind’s attention, without distraction, on just one thing. Meditation is similar to concentration, but the undistracted focus flows effortlessly from the mind. Concentration is to meditation as exercise is to strolling on the beach; the effort to develop strength, vigor, and stamina allow you to take your stroll without as much effort, you can enjoy the moment and appreciate the experience without working up a sweat and feeling winded.

Concentration exercises are efforts to discipline the mind and make it fit for meditation. Concentration exercises have little, if any direct spiritual benefit; meditation is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and personal transformation, and it is a doorway to Samadhi. Once the mind has been disciplined and can concentrate on one thing for extended periods of time it will be able to easily flow into a meditative state of mind.

Think of the mind’s consciousness as being the light from a mag-light style flashlight. By turning the lens of the mag-light the light can be spread wide or focused down to a small beam. The smaller the beam the brighter the light. Our mind’s focus is very much the same. When we are distractedly paying attention to a multitude of different things, none of those things is getting very much of our attention. When we narrow the focus of our mind down to just one thing the full intensity of our consciousness can be brought to bear on that one thing. As we work to narrow the beam of our consciousness to only illuminate one object we are focusing the mind into concentration.

Meditation is very much like concentration, but without the effort. The light of our consciousness is focused on only one object, without distraction, and without effort. If we need to work to keep the attention focused we can’t quite tap into the true power and benefit of meditation. This is why we should first take the time and make the effort to develop skill in one-pointedness of mind through concentration exercises.

The practice of “following the breath” serves as pranayama, strengthens dharana, and leads almost automatically to dhyana and samadhi.

Samadhi is difficult to describe, but if you continue in the effortless meditation, at some point the sense of being an observer just slips away. Your awareness is no longer observing the object, your awareness is the object. The distinctions between subject (the observer) and object disappears and the object becomes self-luminous. There is the sense that observer and the observed are one.

That description scarcely does Samadhi justice, and there is little point in trying to get closer to describing the experience. You can choose to concentrate, and practice specific exercises to develop concentration and you can choose to meditate and practice specific types of meditation, but Samadhi will come to the meditation when the conditioned mind is ready to receive it. No amount of analysis, effort or intention will hurry it along. When the time is right the mind will slip into the experience and recognize it for what it is. Until that time, the word Samadhi is just a placeholder for an experience that can not easily be described.

[3:4] Samyama (mind-poise) is the practice of concentration, meditation, and contemplation (dharana, dhyana, and samadhi) on one object.
[3:5] The Light of Knowledge (intuitive wisdom) comes from mastery of samyama.

[3:36] By samyama on the distinction between the mind’s activities, which exist for the sake of the True Self, and the True Self, which is totally different from the mind’s activities, comes understanding of the relationship between the mind’s activities and the True Self.
[3:56] Absolute liberation and independence, “Absorption With The Divine” (Kaivalya), comes when the conditioned mind is as pure and tranquil as the True Self.
[4:29] The highest samadhi of perfect discrimination comes when the mind is totally disinterested in the attainment of even the highest rewards and remains in constant discriminative discernment.

[4:34] When the qualities of nature have no more purpose and cease their sequence of transformation, or the power of pure consciousness settles in its own nature, then there is absolute liberation and independence.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.