When we balance, we are exploring, and equalizing, the relationship between parts. We may be balancing something visible and external, like our body, but as we do so, we must be attentive to the invisible fulcrum. Balancing helps us do more than just discover our center. Balancing creates the center. The more precarious the balance, the more we must refine our center.

Benefits of practicing balance

Balancing builds strength, especially to the postural muscles of the torso. When we stand and walk, we are balancing, but it’s not too difficult. Most of us have habits that inhibit balance but so slightly that we generally don’t notice, at least not while we’re healthy. But when we try to hold ourself upright in an upside down position, say head balance, we find it is not so easy. We have to reorganize ourself around a narrower center, building new strength and flexibility.

Balancing teaches us to orient with self references more than external references. Try standing in tadasana, gazing at the horizon, and notice your ability to balance. Then close your eyes. Most of us sway and waver much more with the eyes closed. Vision is an important part of how we balance. But when we go upside down or sideways, we may become disoriented; vision can actually confuse us. Practicing these disorienting poses teaches us to think not so much in universal terms like up and down but in relative subjective terms like shoulders away from the ears or tailbone towards the feet. This is a fundamental pattern of all yoga practice: we learn to find our bearings from self rather than external references, from our understanding of immediate circumstances rather than general belief. Then, we are not so confused or frightened by unfamiliar territory.

Physical qualities of balance

The philosophy of Patanjali believes there are three basic energies in the universe. These are called gunas. They consist of tamas (mass, inertia), rajas (energy, change) and sattva (often translated as illumination). If we take two coins and lay one flat on the table and set the other on its edge, most of us would say the flat coin is at rest and only the coin that is on edge is balancing. The flat coin is tamasic, still but unlikely to change barring strong external force. The coin on edge is precarious. It is still but it won’t take much to cause it to fall. It has the inertia of mass but also a high potential for change. We might say it is in a sattvic state -balancing tamas and rajas. Further, the balance is rare, unlikely to happen as a result of chance. When we come across a coin balanced on edge, we’re pretty sure it got there through purposeful action.

Meditations on Balance

Observe yourself in light of these basic energies. Do you feel tamasic? Rajasic? Or sattvic? That is, intelligently and dynamically balanced between the two? As we observe these qualities in our lives, our attention brings them into meaningful relationship. What effect, if any, does this have on our idea of our center?

Join us Wednesday Feb. 10 from 6-8pm for an informal discussion on balance.

As my horse picked up speed and found her rhythm, my body drew in, concentrating toward the horse’s center of gravity. I could feel her lungs moving rhythmically as her hooves beat a faster tempo. Then, to my astonishment, two barn swallows flanked us. In a tag team kind of relay, they took turns diving beneath the belly of the galloping horse. And so the four of us rocketed through the evening until we ran out of meadow. As the world flew by, as the swallows dove and hooves thundered and my heart pounded, we moved together in a bubble of stillness, an organized engagement of symmetry and rhythm.

The experience was exhilarating, but also enlightening. We three species played together spontaneously, with shared goals and understanding. And shared responsibility. We needed one another for our game. The horse expanded my physical range and power far beyond my own species’ potential. My planning mind gave structure and rhythm to the power. And those clever swallows recognized what was going on and added their own embroidery.

We three species shared two things – the desire to play and a recognition and appreciation for rhythm and symmetry. We were all willing (eager!) to take some risk to create harmony. Why?

Symmetry and rhythm (which is symmetry through time) are aspects of balance and balance is fundamental to how we animals negotiate this heavy world.

This winter session, our philosophy discussions will explore the idea of balance. What does physical balance require? What, exactly, are we studying when we practice balancing? When we learn to balance in a difficult asana, how does that experience inform other positions?

We use balance metaphorically as well. We know what we mean when we speak about a balanced meal, for example, but what constitutes a balanced life?

Please join us Wednesday evening January 20 from 6-8 pm.
We’ll talk about balance and reflect on its presence in our lives.

Is there something you would like to change about your life?

Yoga is a practical science, designed to increase satisfaction and enjoyment of life. As such, we come to understand its true power through application rather than theory. This fall, we will apply our understanding of yoga in an effort to improve some aspect of our lives.

To prepare for Sundays meeting, think about what you might like to alter in your life. Be as specific as you can. Observe the problem and consider possible alternatives. Through lecture and discussion, we will explore how the science of yoga understands the problem of behavior change. Following the practical recommendations of those yogis who have gone before us, we will experiment with different methods for initiating change.

Goldilocks did not set out on a quest for porridge. She happened upon the porridge, some too hot and some too cold, before she discovered that there was porridge that was just right, and ate it all up. Most of us are like Goldilocks, not looking for anything, in particular, sampling what comes our way. Yoga would say we are wise in our ignorance, that we cannot know what is right for us. But we can tell what is wrong. Too hot. Too cold.

So, finding our way in yoga is like traveling down a dark hallway. We cannot see the way (which is faultless, infinite and indescribable); we follow it by bumping into the walls. Too hot. Too cold. All the philosophy of yoga is based on this idea of duality. Physically, in asana we move parts of the body in opposition to other parts to understand their relation, their range and connection. Emotionally, we negotiate our path between sukha (comfort or softness) and sthira (steadiness or firmness) to understand our nervous system and connection to action. We proceed on the two wings of practice, abhyasa, and renunciation or detachment, vairagya. Yoga supports us with layers of opposites. I suggest that all these pairs of opposites are reverberations of the fundamental dichotomy of purusha (consciousness/energy) and prakriti (nature/matter).



Tapas, svadyaya, ishvara pranidhana

The day to day advice the yogis leave us is very simple. We must be attentive to three things. The acts of yoga consist of tapas (effort), svadyaya (reflection), and ishvara pranidhana (surrender or non-attachment to outcome). This is the total of our responsibility. We balance action and reflection. Ishvara pranidhana is the context for our activity, a deliberate surrender to the inevitability of change, neither grasping at the past nor the future.

This month, use the skills of tapas, svadyaya and ishvara pranidhana to explore the second of the five yamas: satya or truthfulness. As we discussed before, any meditation yields understanding on at least two levels. We learn about the object of our meditation and on a deeper level, we also learn about the subject of our meditation. The deliberate attention to action and reflection (regardless of the object of our focus) develops self awareness. This awareness itself places us firmly in between the great dichotomy: subject and object, observer and observed (purusha, consciousness and prakriti, nature). For this reason, awareness itself is transforming. Experiment with the following exercises.

• Spend some time thinking about the second yama, satya (truthfulness). If you spent a day, working scrupulously to be entirely truthful, what sort of results do you expect? Imagine this clearly. Make some specific predictions (maybe even make a list). Then spend a day of regular activities focusing on truthfulness so that you are engaged in action as well as reflection. Did it turn out exactly as you’d expected? What, specifically, happened as you’d anticipated? Did anything surprise you?
• How did you recognize truthfulness? What is truth? Do you find that you recognize it clearly or do you find some grey areas?

Come to class (6/14/09) prepared to discuss your experiences. Also, give some thought to how these discussions will be of most use to you. We will not meet over the summer, but we can continue an on-line conversation if that is helpful. Are there specific questions or ideas you would like to investigate? I welcome all your thoughts and suggestions.

{Download this Preparation as a PDF}

The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali tell us that anyone can reach their full potential with dedicated practice. The Sadhana Pada lays out a methodical sequencing of skills to master in order to achieve this. These are the eight limbs of yoga. This month, we will begin to experiment with the first limb, Yama, meaning restraint.

Review sutras II.29- II.39. Think critically about what you read and experiment with these ideas in your asana practice and life.

• The yamas are presented to us not as virtues, but as effective means to achieve certain results. We commonly consider non-violence, truthfulness, etc. as virtues. What changes when we take a more pragmatic stance?
• Our first task is to establish ourselves in ahimsa, non-harming. My dictionary defines harm as damage or injury. How do we do that? Everything we eat, with the exception of some minerals, must die when we consume it. Our ancestors had to die to make room for us, just as we will die to make room for our children. Should we swat flies? Kill infections? How do we assess harm?
• In your asana practice, do you ever stray toward harmful action? Practice a couple times meticulously avoiding what feels like it may be harmful. How does this change your experience?
• The Sutras tell us that as we become established in ahimsa, we will not meet with resistance or hostility. As you experiment with these actions, do you find this result?

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This spring we will use our time to experiment with the ideas in the Sadhana Pada, the second chapter of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras. Sadhana means practice and this chapter deals with the practical tools we use to refine awareness. The Sutras tell us that discriminating awareness, viveka, will destroy ignorance, the source of pain (II.26).

To prepare for our discussion, please read Sutras II. 26- II. 45. Also review the preparations for the three winter meetings as well as the accompanying exercises.

In what ways might these exercises develop viveka? Choose one or two exercises to work with so that you can speak from immediate personal experience.

How do you experience viveka?

Last month we discussed the importance of discomfort for learning. As you practice, consider the role discomfort plays in your experience. If you are lucky enough to have a little pain (sore shoulder? knee? neck?), test Sutra II.26. In this limited experience, does viveka have an immediate positive effect on your experience of pain or discomfort?

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As we discussed last month, the klesas are the 5 related afflictions that disturb consciousness: avidya means spiritual ignorance. Because of the circumstances of our perception and existence, we identify with changeable nature rather than unbounded consciousness, causing us to feel vulnerable and alienated. This misidentification engenders asmita, egoism, where we confuse the seer (consciousness) with the instrument of seeing (the human self). Asmita gives rise to the feeling states of raga and dvesa, attraction and aversion, and abhinivesha, clinging to life, or as Mehta’s commentary suggested, desire for continuity.

Avidya and asmita are abstract and difficult to understand. What is spiritual ignorance? How do we understand egoism when it seems the ego is asking the question? How do we achieve the necessary perspective?

Last month we discussed why we practice yoga. We found that it is common to have more than one motivation. We may practice yoga because we have come to believe it is beneficial for our health, but in the moment, we may be practicing because the teacher tells us to and it would be awkward to refuse. We often have both theoretical and circumstantial motivations. By examining our immediate circumstantial motivations, we come to understand our theoretical premises. We practice because the teacher makes us but we put ourselves in front of the teacher because of our belief that learning yoga will benefit our health.

Sutra II.10 tells us that by going back, a process Mr. Iyengar calls “involution”, we will understand the basic afflictions. By observing the circumstantial motivations – raga, dvesa and abhinivesha we can come to see the fundamental misunderstanding.

For our next meeting, consider the following in your asana practice.

• As you practice, observe attraction and aversion as they arise. What effect do they have on your actions? What effect (if any) does your observation have on your actions?
• We usually translate raga and dvesa as attraction and aversion but that is not quite what the Sutras say. Study the translation and commentaries of II.7-8. Notice in your own practice whether attraction always follows happiness and aversion always follows unhappiness.
• We understand our experience through sensation (and reflection). Observe the role of sensation in your practice. What happens when you practice in such a way that you minimize sensation? What happens when you maximize sensation?
• Read as many translations of II.10 as you can find (try a bookstore or the library if you don’t have a collection of translations). How do different translators describe prati-prasava? Experiment with this idea in your practice.

Read Sutras II.12-II.25 to prepare for our next discussion on March 8, 2009 (2:30 – 4:00pm). Read with a questioning and critical mind. (I will be disappointed if no one protests!)

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Last month, as we used our asana practice as a laboratory, we observed that we play dual roles. We are both the experimenter and the subject of our experiments. The philosophy of yoga tells us that this experience of duality is fundamental to existence and is characterized as purusha (the seer, or awareness) and prakriti (the seen, or nature). Consciousness, or citta, is reflective of both purusha and prakriti. As we observe citta, we recognize pure awareness and we recognize the impermanence that is characteristic of nature, for example irritability or despair caused by fatigue.

Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah. Yoga is the process and result of stilling the fluctuations of consciousness. Tadah drashtuh svarupe avasthanam. Then we dwell in our own true splendor. We are practicing yoga when we train consciousness to remain aware but unmoved by the impermanence of the world.

The individual can be seen as both the musician (purusha) and the instrument (prakriti). In an unexamined life, we may age and observe the decay of the instrument without ever fully understanding its potential. Or we may develop clear awareness but lack the power or organization to manifest our vision in the world. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras teach us how to strengthen and coordinate the musician and the instrument so that we perceive clearly and act with harmonious power. The second chapter, the Sadhana Pada, gives us specific and practical instructions on how to proceed.

Sadhana means spiritual practices. This month, we’ll begin our investigation of the practical means for developing the self. Begin by reading the entire chapter. Read it a couple times without the commentary so you gain an idea of its logical organization. Dedicated students may want to create a synopsis of the chapter; it will help your understanding now and serve as a resource for you in your studies.

For our next meeting read Sutras 2.1 – 2.11 with the commentary. Consider the following in your asana practice.

• Why do you, personally, practice yoga? In general? Right now?
• Observe the qualities of tapas, svadyaya and ishvara pranidhanani in your asana practice. Are they discernable? Are they present in equal measure? Is their presence consistent from day to day? If not, is there a pattern to the changes?
• Become familiar with the klesas. The sutras tell us that all problems stem from these five fundamental (and related) obstacles. Does that make sense based on your experience? Why? Why not?
• To resolve and attenuate these obstacles, we are told to begin at the end with abhinivesha, fear of death. That’s a pretty dramatic emotion for asana practice, but can you discern any element of abhinivesha in your asana practice? How might you use asana to resolve this klesa?

2-4 could be practiced off the mat as well as on. I encourage you to consider these questions in regard to your life beyond your yoga practice. However, asana practice gives us an opportunity to dedicate a limited amount of time to intense scrutiny. Notice, does limited, intense scrutiny yield different insights from longer-term general awareness?

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Our first meeting will focus on ideas from the Samadhi Pada (first chapter) of the Sutras. We will discuss the meaning of yoga and examine how the philosophy of yoga understands the human condition. To prepare, read Sutras I.1-6 (these are translated below if you don’t yet have a Sutra book). In addition, use your asana practice for the following explorations. You may find it useful to confine your meditations on the following ideas to a limited part of your practice. Often, limited but focused concentration will yield greater insights than general intentions.

• Using asana practice as laboratory, we find ourselves both the subject and the object of our experiments. As you practice asana, you are both directing and receiving instructions. Observe the nature of these dual roles.
• Emphasize your role as director and observe the effects of your asana practice. Emphasize your role as receiver and observe the effects.
• In your practice, do you discover times when you are neither directing nor receiving? What are you doing then?

Reflect on how your experiences inform your understanding of Sutras I.1-6.

Sutras I.1-6 (Translations from BKS Iyengar’s Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)

I.1 atha yoganusasanam With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga.

1.2 yogah cittavrtti nirodhah Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness.

1.3 tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam Then, the seer dwells in his own true splendor.

1.4 vrtti sarupyam itaratra At other times, the seer identifies with the fluctuating consciousness.

1.5 vrttayah pancatayyah klista aklistah The movements of consiousness are fivefold. They may be cognizable or non-cognizable, painful or non-painful.

1.6 pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah They are caused by correct knowledge, illusion, delusion, sleep and memory.

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