Yoga - Mind, Emotions
Yoga for the Mind & Emotions, by Karen Kinnard
How does it work? We keep hearing about yoga being a mind/body exercise. It stills the mind, it calms the emotions. But. . . how does it work?
It works by giving us the "tools" that we can practice to shift our attention. Think about when you are in a yoga pose, let’s take downward facing dog for an example. In the beginning, it is struggle. Kind of like what we do with our mind every day. After a few weeks of practice, when you become stronger, there is less struggle and you begin to notice more subtle sensations. Sensations of the body, like the hands & wrists might be uncomfortable, the back of the legs are tight, the shoulders are struggling to hold you up. After practice, the mind is calm for awhile.
After a few more weeks of practice, you begin to notice more. You realize there is an imbalance in the strength on the right and left sides of your body. You notice your breathing is becoming deeper and calmer. You begin notice a more subtle realm of physical sensation. Long after practice, even the next day, you realize that you are less attached to the drama of life around you – you don’t get upset as easily. You are thrilled you are making progress!
What about after a few years of practice? When the practice is part of your body, your mind, what happens then? You notice then that you can shift your attention at will. You notice that you are not your body. You are not the pain in your left shoulder. You are not the bad mood that you woke up with. Then another exploration begins.
If I am not my body, if I am not my emotions or thoughts, then what am I, who am I? This is the deeper yoga practice. When you sit in meditation, with eyes closed, observing the breath, the thoughts, then turning your attention on who is observing it all.
When you can begin to turn your attention there, it is another long journey but the destination is here and now and it takes practice. Masters of meditation say that it takes many lifetimes to get it. I have been meditating for a few years. I can see how that is true. I don’t really get it, but I am learning. I have learned how to shift my attention. I have learned that we live in a balanced world of “good things happen” and “bad things happen”, “good people” and “bad people”. That it is all another part of the “whole” and that all I have to do is choose where I put my attention. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task. That is why it takes practice.
In Patanjali’s yoga sutras he says: : “These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment” (1, 12) (the sutras are written in Sanskrit, this is one English translation*)
“Of these two, effort toward steadiness of mind is practice” (1, 13)
“Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.” (1, 14)
So how long does it take? “a long time”. Have I practiced without break and in all earnestness? Not always, sometimes, for short times. How will I know when I have achieved this steadiness of mind? Again an answer from the yoga sutras: “The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment”. Well, I do have a ways to go, I think. I have cravings all of the time and give in to them. However, I am not discouraged about that. My years of practice and life have shown me that all I have to do is shift my attention – if I am feeling discouraged; I shift my attention to the progress I have made. I look with gratitude at my life filled with friends, family, people I love. I pray that I can keep doing that as long as I am breathing. I realize when I look elsewhere that there is much suffering in the world, my heart is open and rather than grieve and be frustrated about this suffering, I shift my attention to what is right in front of me… what is right in my hand. There is a keyboard underneath my fingers. Here is a home to care for. There is a yoga business to take care of… a place people can come to where they can practice alleviating their own physical pain or emotional pain. It is my small piece of the planet. I can practice making it a place of healing, peace and nurturing.
Here you can begin to look – right where you are. My meditation master, Ishwar Puri, quotes Rumi. (I paraphrase here) If you want to know the will of God, look at your own circumstances: if there is a pen in your hand: write; if a shovel is in your hand: dig. That is where to start. Right here, right now. You can choose to focus your attention on what you can do.
How does it work? We keep hearing about yoga being a mind/body exercise. It stills the mind, it calms the emotions. But. . . how does it work?
It works by giving us the "tools" that we can practice to shift our attention. Think about when you are in a yoga pose, let’s take downward facing dog for an example. In the beginning, it is struggle. Kind of like what we do with our mind every day. After a few weeks of practice, when you become stronger, there is less struggle and you begin to notice more subtle sensations. Sensations of the body, like the hands & wrists might be uncomfortable, the back of the legs are tight, the shoulders are struggling to hold you up. After practice, the mind is calm for awhile.
After a few more weeks of practice, you begin to notice more. You realize there is an imbalance in the strength on the right and left sides of your body. You notice your breathing is becoming deeper and calmer. You begin notice a more subtle realm of physical sensation. Long after practice, even the next day, you realize that you are less attached to the drama of life around you – you don’t get upset as easily. You are thrilled you are making progress!
What about after a few years of practice? When the practice is part of your body, your mind, what happens then? You notice then that you can shift your attention at will. You notice that you are not your body. You are not the pain in your left shoulder. You are not the bad mood that you woke up with. Then another exploration begins.
If I am not my body, if I am not my emotions or thoughts, then what am I, who am I? This is the deeper yoga practice. When you sit in meditation, with eyes closed, observing the breath, the thoughts, then turning your attention on who is observing it all.
When you can begin to turn your attention there, it is another long journey but the destination is here and now and it takes practice. Masters of meditation say that it takes many lifetimes to get it. I have been meditating for a few years. I can see how that is true. I don’t really get it, but I am learning. I have learned how to shift my attention. I have learned that we live in a balanced world of “good things happen” and “bad things happen”, “good people” and “bad people”. That it is all another part of the “whole” and that all I have to do is choose where I put my attention. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task. That is why it takes practice.
In Patanjali’s yoga sutras he says: : “These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment” (1, 12) (the sutras are written in Sanskrit, this is one English translation*)
“Of these two, effort toward steadiness of mind is practice” (1, 13)
“Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.” (1, 14)
So how long does it take? “a long time”. Have I practiced without break and in all earnestness? Not always, sometimes, for short times. How will I know when I have achieved this steadiness of mind? Again an answer from the yoga sutras: “The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment”. Well, I do have a ways to go, I think. I have cravings all of the time and give in to them. However, I am not discouraged about that. My years of practice and life have shown me that all I have to do is shift my attention – if I am feeling discouraged; I shift my attention to the progress I have made. I look with gratitude at my life filled with friends, family, people I love. I pray that I can keep doing that as long as I am breathing. I realize when I look elsewhere that there is much suffering in the world, my heart is open and rather than grieve and be frustrated about this suffering, I shift my attention to what is right in front of me… what is right in my hand. There is a keyboard underneath my fingers. Here is a home to care for. There is a yoga business to take care of… a place people can come to where they can practice alleviating their own physical pain or emotional pain. It is my small piece of the planet. I can practice making it a place of healing, peace and nurturing.
Here you can begin to look – right where you are. My meditation master, Ishwar Puri, quotes Rumi. (I paraphrase here) If you want to know the will of God, look at your own circumstances: if there is a pen in your hand: write; if a shovel is in your hand: dig. That is where to start. Right here, right now. You can choose to focus your attention on what you can do.
