(First published 21/3/2010) As some of you might recall, during last week’s classes I mentioned one of the verses from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – one of the major source texts of yoga, and many say, the principle text for yoga. TKV Desikachar puts it simply: “Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is the heart of yoga.” Written about 2,500 years ago by Patanjali […]
more >(First published 5/10/09) In the second chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, called Sadhanapada, the yoga master describes the “qualities necessary to change the mind effectively and gradually from a state of distraction to one of attention.” Patanjali’s short aphoristic sentences are designed to guide the student, to stimulate reflection and inquiry into the practice and our relationship with it. The […]
more >(First published 16/9/09) “Asana will make the body light, Pranayama strengthens prana, Dharana purifies the intellect, Dhyana purifies the mind.” These words were written by T. Krishnamacharya, a renowned and influential yoga teacher, who lived for 100 years – dying just a few days short of his 101st birthday in 1989. He taught his son, TKV Desikachar, and also BKS […]
more >(First published 27/7/09) Here are some thoughts about yoga and practice for you to contemplate and explore during the sultry, stormy and changeable summer months. TKV Desikachar, renowned yoga teacher based in Chennai (Madras), India, was asked “Can anyone practice yoga?” He responded: “Anybody who wants to, can practice yoga. Anybody can breathe: therefore anybody can practice yoga. But no […]
more >(First published 7/3/09) Following on from the last chapter of Inside Yoga, about the mind, I want to speak about the heart, not the physical blood engine that sustains us, but the emotional heart. “Chitta also means the heart and dwells in the heart. This is not the physical heart but the central core of deep feeling and profound knowing, […]
more >(First posted 23/2/2009) “The mind is the vital link between the body and the consciousness,” says BKS Iyengar. In my classes, I often refer to the mind, in connection with the breathing and the physical body. But what is the mind? The mind is the collection of our thoughts on one hand, and on the other, it is where our […]
more >(First posted 17/1/09) One of the most important principles of a yoga practice, and specifically, asana yoga practice, is the teaching of “sthira” and “sukha”. In the foremost yoga text, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, he describes an asana (yoga posture) as having two important qualities: sthira and sukha. Sthira is steadiness and alertness. Sukha refers to the ability to remain comfortable […]
more >(First published 10/11/2008) The body is mentioned frequently in yoga, in relation to the breath, and in relation to the mind. There is a vast selection of postures available in yoga, from gentle resting positions to complicated athletic positions that seem impossible to get into. But is it all about the body? It is possibly not surprising to discover that […]
more >(First published 27/6/2008) All of us, to varying degrees, are aware of the different stages of the 24-hour daily cycle: there is dawn, the morning, afternoon, dusk or sunset, and night. But how many of us notice how the levels of energy fluctuate through this daily cycle, how there is a rhythm both outside of us, in the world around […]
more >(First published 25/5/2008) In this chapter of Inside Yoga, we turn to the final three aspects of Hatha Yoga’s eight limbs: dharana, dhyana and samadhi. As a reminder, the first five parts were yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara. The sage Patanjali, author of the yoga sutras, groups dharana, dhyana and samadhi under the word, samyama, which translates as the […]
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