The best version we can be

I have been listening to an audio book and it has some profound teaching within about yoga teachings even though it is not a yoga book at all. It reinforces the desire of all humans to be free. But reminds us being free does not come easy, as we have to realise that our mind or should I say our use of the mind is holding us bac

k. The negative voice in our head is playing out our Samskaras. Mental impressions to most folks. And we are listening to it and believing it to be true and this made up storyline is setting the tone for all our experiences, yes all of them.

संस्काराः saṃskārāḥ impression, formation, refinement, conditioning or mental imprint. From the root सम्  sam: together, completely, well. √कृ √kṛ: to make, do or form.

What do the traditional yoga texts teach?

Two particularly important sources are Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra and the Bhagavad Gītā. पतञ्जलियोगसूत्रम् Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra interpretation.

Patañjali explores how mental activity, repeated practice and deep impressions shape our experience and therefore actions and responses in this world.

Yoga Sūtra 1.18 विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोऽन्यः ॥ virāma-pratyayābhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṃskāra-śeṣo 'nyaḥ

A simple translation is the other kind of samādhi (absorption) is preceded by practice of cessation, with only latent impressions remaining. this state should not be confused with falling asleep, losing consciousness, dissociating or simply having no thoughts for a few seconds. Patañjali is describing a specific yogic state of meditative absorption, not ordinary mental blankness.

Yoga Sūtra 4.8 ततस्तद्विपाकानुगुणानामेवाभिव्यक्तिर्वासनानाम् ॥ tatas tad-vipākānuguṇānām evābhivyaktir vāsanānām

A simple translation is therefore, only those latent tendencies (vāsanās) that correspond to the conditions for their fruition become manifest. This verse distinguishes the deeper tendencies called vāsanās from the broader idea of 'normal' impressions. It suggests that not every tendency is active all the time; circumstances can bring particular ones to the surface. In lay folks terms triggers.

Yoga Sūtra 2.10 सूक्ष्माः प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः ॥ sūkṣmāḥ pratiprasava-heyāḥ

Simple meaning: Subtle afflictions are to be resolved through pratiprasava (a process of returning towards their source.)

Yoga Sūtra 2.11 ध्यानहेयास्तद्वृत्तयः ॥ dhyāna-heyās tad-vṛttayaḥ

Simple meaning: The active expressions of these afflictions are to be quietened through meditation.

These verses refer specifically to the kleśas  (the afflictions or causes of suffering), rather than every saṃskāra indiscriminately. In more accessible language, Patañjali offers us two related approaches:

·       Meditation: notice and quieten the active mental pattern.

·       Going to the source: work with the underlying cause, rather than repeatedly treating only its surface expression.

For example, if criticism repeatedly triggers defensiveness, we might first learn to pause before reacting. With deeper reflection, we may begin to recognise the fear, attachment or mistaken belief that makes criticism so painful. We take it personally. Because we have clung to something in our past.

Our aim is greater freedom in how we respond, rather than simply suppressing our feelings nor just acting on rote (which of course we all do from time to time). We need to learn to respond to the occurrence but without any conditioning. (Easier said than done eh!) Think of it like we caught/captured some energy and because we didn’t process it, it has become a blockage, and we have to release it or it creates havoc in our mind and our mind affects our actions. We need to be an empty vessel so energy can flow freely through, and then we just experience the manifestation of energy as it journeys through us without personal tendencies of repulsion or attraction and hence a holding happens...

Experience (something happens)

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Interpretation and emotion (we try to make sense of it and feel something)

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Impression — saṃskāra (the experience leaves a trace)

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Habitual tendency (a previously stored situation may awaken the stored pattern) and then we have a choice

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Experience repetition or a new response (we reinforce the old groove or we practise a new different way)

The book that sparked this week's offering posed a a great question. 'what will I do with my brilliant mind'

This is spiritual development, our human development.

This has helped me realise really why I chose yoga as my path. And why I became a yoga teacher or should I say why yoga choose me to re-share its wisdom that has and is shared with me through my practice in all its forms.  To pay it forward wherever I can in service (seva) for all.  As I believe free human beings are what this world needs more of.

We look to a second traditional yoga text for inspiration the Bhagavad Gītā. Within Kṛṣṇa describes how an ordinary mental process can develop into a repeating cycle.

Bhagavad Gītā 2.62 ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते। सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते॥ dhyāyato viṣayān puṃsaḥsaṅgas teṣūpajāyate saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho 'bhijāyate

A simple translation: By dwelling on objects, attachment arises; from attachment comes desire, and from desire arises anger.

So the simple trick is not to dwell. When our mind dwells (which it will by the way!) replace the object of our attention with something else. (This was a trick I first learnt in NLP training decades ago.) Basically, teaching us that we can and do program the mind, our gift is to program it well so our inner world is a beautiful garden. 

'We replay their words in our mind. We become attached to the thought that they should not have spoken that way to us. We want them to give us an apology or wished for a different response.'

When we do not receive an apology, when we keep replaying the scenario and different attached scenarios, anger arises and rises.

We repeat the story to ourselves, reinforcing the pattern. And we repeat it to others and over and over to ourselves. (Simply put, we scratch a groove in the records of our brain and others that we share it with and fill our brains will heavy emotions) 

The next time a similar situation occurs or a situation with something that 'triggers' the संस्काराः Saṃskārāḥ, our reaction may feel almost automatic. Like an uncontrolled volcanic eruption. 

A simple way to understand the process is:

When the surface of a lake is disturbed, the water becomes difficult to see through, the unsettled surface disruption grows and as it goes deeper and disturbs the sediment, and the waters discolour. There is no clear line of sight. When the ripples settle, the water becomes clearer and clearer as the sediment once more settles and still.

Yet the lake has not disappeared, and everything beneath its surface has not necessarily vanished. It has gone from being settled to, stirred up, to being settled once more. The sentiment is still there and needs to be cleared away. With time and effort it shall if we work on it. In sessions I sometimes talk to this as doing the work in the privacy of our own heart. Our work it is the only work we need to do really.

So yoga activity, relaxation, and meditation may quiet the active movements of the mind without necessarily exhausting all the latent impressions that can give rise to future mental activity and behaviour, and all of these tightening and tensions we also hold in the body. It sculps us quite literally in our own unique way. Therefore we have to keep practicing to do the dredging work to get rid of the debris/the sediment.  The deeper work that we need to do.

Easier said than done when we are working with a 13.5 billion year evolving super computer we call our rmind without a how to manual in our made up native language. With a reaction time of a billionth of a second. Tricky huh!!

The Gītā's teaching invites us to become aware of the process before it sweeps us up and we get carried away (quite literally in fact). It teaches us to slow down and see the process unfold (the action, the trigger, the dredging, the murkiness, our loss of clear seeing, and our blinded reaction in the stirred up sediment, then the settling of the debris, and then we can clearly see again and feel the consequence of our reaction or response if we made one before it cleared.) This consequence (action) is real and cannot be changed as it has become manifested in this world. Our shouting, our words, our fighting out. But our brain can't be wrong so then the excuses begin, we make up our story to make it right for us, "Its was your fault not mine... If you hadn't done that, said that, then I wouldn't have... I was right. You were wrong..." (Sound familiar?) We may not be able to choose what the universe presented at our door, nor our first thought, nor the feeling that arises because the deeply buried saṃskārāḥ had been triggered, but we can practise choosing what we do with it before we act. This is where our free will resides. And yes like learning any skill and any craft it takes practice practice practice. 

This being human is a guest house

Every morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness

Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain them all!

Be grateful for whoever comes

Because each has been sent as a guide

An interpretation of Rumi's poem the guest house

This work we take onto our mats with our āsana practice too. Our training ground. To find our comfortable seat whichever shape we find our body in, to help release the preferences which hold all our संस्काराः saṃskārāḥ in place blocking the direct flow of energy within our being. As the body really does keep the score. 

Importantly, not every difficult reaction comes from a saṃskārāḥ alone. Our present circumstances, relationships, physical state and environment also influence how we respond (Maslow's hierarchy of needs for the business thinking part in us) and all these things have their own patterns running. Yes the human brain is a pattern maker. And boy we run a complex pattern system that needs unpicking, and tadarh the yoga system has all the tools we need to do our inner work. This is why I choose to share the practices every week, why i will hold sangha, and why we gather to go much deeper on retreat. 

This also explains why a peaceful meditation does not automatically mean that we have resolved every habitual reaction nor an hour’s session on our yoga mats. Traditional yoga teaches us, we do not release impressions simply by trying to push them away or ignore them. We cultivate awareness, reduce the conditions that reinforce them, and practise new ways of being. As our yoga practices advances from just physical activity, as a sweetshop of all the delights yoga has to offer opens to us. Our collected practices afford us the room and time to choose our inner and outer response and therefore, the lasting impression that shapes of future. And the great thing yoga teaches us is it is never too late to do our work. In essence through regular practice, we allow the stored energy to be released gently, like slowly releasing the stop valve, without the need for the talking story, until there is no energy caught up in there anymore.  

This invitation to think about /offerings /techniques for daily practice on our mat and in the moment. 

साक्षीभावः Sākṣī bhāvaḥ

The attitude of the witness

Notice the thought or feeling without immediately identifying with it.

Instead of saying, “I am an angry person,” or "you are making me angry" try, “Anger is arising in me.” instead of saying "I don't like this pose," try "this pose will open my ankles more gifting me more balance and flexibility."

This small shift in mind narration helps create space between the experience and our response of instant like or dislike, and a chance to re-frame.

प्राणायामः Prāṇāyāmaḥ 

Working with the breath. When an old pattern is triggered, pause and breathe gently. Use one of the breathing techniques you have learnt in our yoga sessions, or just allow the exhalation to lengthen naturally, without forcing it. This can help settle the arousal, the trigger of the pattern, and enable us to make a more considered response possible. Breathwork supports awareness; though please remember it does not automatically erase an impression. But gifts us space. 

अभ्यासः Abhyāsaḥ

Steady, repeated practice

Patañjali emphasises sustained practice in Yoga Sūtra 1.12

अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः ॥ abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṃ tan-nirodhaḥ

The fluctuations of the mind are quietened through practice and dispassion.

Every time we notice an old reaction and consciously choose a wiser response, we practise a different way of meeting life. This life, this existence has been unfolding for 13.5 billion years and is not personal to you or me. It is just unfolding as a gift for us. (Subtle but profound truth and a difference in our thinking perhaps)

जपः भक्ति Japaḥ and bhakti mantra repetition and devotion

In bhakti practice, we turn towards our divine nature with love and surrender. This can help loosen habitual self-preoccupation and nurture qualities such as compassion, service, patience and trust. It is why I love kirtan such a treasure trove of Bhakti practice...

Repeating a mantra with attention and love can give the mind a more wholesome focus. We will talk about mantra more in next week's blog. 

विवेकः Vivekaḥ 

Discernment or clear seeing

Gently question the belief that lies beneath the reaction.

Ask yourself: “Is this true now? Is this an old fear speaking? What response now would reflect the person I wish to become?”

Through continued practice we learn to distinguish our immediate habitual mental interpretation from what is actually happening, they are not linked, and we have to learn to stop linking them), and then we can respond/interact as the best version of ourself to greet the moment as it purely presents itself at our door as a gift. 

A short practice. 

Arrive

Feel your body supported by the earth. Notice the natural rhythm of your breath.

Observe

Recall a mild, familiar reaction or habit. Notice what happens in the body and mind without judging yourself. Try not to get caught up in the story. Become the active witness of what is happening and how you are feeling.  

Alternatively, gently move your body mindfully and with care into a position you have recently found a little troublesome for you to remain in from one of our recent yoga sessions. 

Recognise

Ask gently: What tends to trigger this narrative? What thought, fear or desire might be involved, may be behind this programmed repeating story voice in my mind?

Make space

Take a few easy breaths. Relax. Allow the feeling to be present without needing to act upon it. Sit in the feeling. Feel it completely. Transmute it's energy. Release it. Breathe deeply and sigh it out.  

Choose anew

Ask: What would a response rooted in kindness, clarity or courage look like? 

This invitation is to choose a mild pattern for this exercise rather than revisiting traumatic experiences alone. Choose a simple yoga pose not an advanced one you can't hold or are yet to try. If difficult memories or overwhelming feelings arise, it is ok to stop, ground yourself, and seek appropriate support. If you are using a yoga pose you do not find very comfortable slowly, gently, mindfully, ease yourself out, when you need to.  

Let us remember we are not our patterns. We are the awareness that sits behind, in which our patterns become visible. We can change our patterns if and when we wish, our free will. Yoga talks into this about awakening. This is our choice. Each time we meet an old reaction with presence instead of unconscious repetition, we create an opportunity for transformation. We water the seeds of compassion, patience, courage and love, allowing these qualities to grow, to flow, through the way we live our lives.

Our practice is not to fight the past, or our reaction in that previous moment to it. We did the best we could with what we had. But our unique choice is stop letting it unconsciously determine every step shaping our future. Let us thank it for its past service and gently lay it down. I decided once I realised through my personal yoga practice that I can choose, and what I chose was I want to live in a garden of inner blooms, of light, of colour, of grace, of joy, of space and abundance. And yes I am still practicing every day. So, I invite you to come and practice with me, whatever your past is is irrelevant. Whatever your body type doesn't matter or fitness level. Traditional yoga is not a gymnastics class. Come as you are and let us practice together in community and plant the seedlings today that grow our inner gardens and see the world around us just as it is... an outpouring of love. 

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite.”

by William Blake, from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (written c.1790–1793).

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Om peace peace peace (within, around, and beyond us)

∞