Sutras means verses, or sometimes they are referred to as aphorisms. Patanjali was the author of the text, a mythical figure who is revered as one of the founders of the yoga tradition as we know it today. This text was written about 400 CE and is considered to be one of the main works on yoga by modern yogis in the west.
We’ll look at one verse in each post, along with one yoga pose or practice which I choose to explore the themes of the verse. I will also suggest a phrase to use with EFT that you can say while tapping along with the points.
1:1 Atha yoga anushasanam
Now begins the instruction in yoga
This verse serves the same purpose as “once upon a time” – it says, “listen up, folks! We’re going to begin. Turn off your phones, stop the chit chat, get settled and ready, the class is about to start.
The instruction starts NOW. Not tomorrow, not next week, not some time when you might find a moment to pick up that Yoga Sutra text, or unroll the yoga mat, but right now. Drop everything and sit down for a few minutes.
The instruction comes to us from a long line of venerable yogis. We listen with humility, gratitude and respect for the wisdom that the ancient sages gained through their years of hard effort and patience. Each verse of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is very concise and each word has been chosen very precisely to convey a great deal of meaning. Although the text is attributed to Patanjali, it is likely that he is a mythical rather than a historical figure. Whatever the case, the text summarises a great deal of older knowledge about yoga. Let’s respect that scholarship and learn all we can from the few words there are.
Yoga is the topic of the sutras. We will discover during the course of the text that it is no simple matter to define it. It is a small word with a huge weight of detailed meaning, and at the same time conveys a simple truth, that of the union of all things.
Yoga pose: Vajrasana (Diamond Pose).
In this pose we sit upright and alert, ready to be attentive and listen. By the act of sitting, we express humility and respect: we can imagine sitting humbly at the feet of the yoga masters to listen to their teachings. It is a simple pose compared with Lotus Pose, and quick to get into and get up from. It’s easy to do it right now, without changing into stretchy yoga pants, and it’s easy to get up quickly from Vajrasana to continue with more practice.
Practise EFT:
Tap around the points a few times with this phrase:
Even though there are a lot of things competing for my attention, I choose to focus on one thing right now.
Learn EFT here!