July 22, 2024 • 36 mins
Yogasūtra 1.2: yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Continuing the journey as we look at yoga through the lens of Yoga Sutra 1.2, which emphasizes mental stillness over physical postures. You'll discover the true essence of yoga, exploring the meanings of "chitta" (knowledge) and "virti" (modifications), and learn why traditional practices prioritize inner calm over outward exercise. This episode challenges you to shift your focus from asanas to achieving a serene and quiet mind, redefining what it means to practice yoga authentically.
"Yoga is attained when the ceasing of modified consciousness happens."
In the second part of our discussion, we continue the dive into self-discovery and mindfulness through yoga, sharing insights on how to live more intentionally. We reflect on the power of self-awareness and the significance of recognizing our role in life's conflicts. We illustrate how slowing down can lead to deeper introspection and transformative changes. By modifying thought patterns and embracing mindfulness, we guide you towards making life choices that resonate with your true self, encouraging a harmonious and authentic way of living. Tune in for a compelling exploration of both yoga and life, designed to inspire and transform your approach to both.
We would love to hear from you! Email us at becomeoneliving@gmail.com or reach out to us on Instagram at BecomeOne Living.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello once again and welcome back to Become One
Living.
I'm here with my wife, jo.
We're talking yoga.
I'm Dan.
We're talking about the sutrashello everyone.
Ah the yoga sutras would yousay the one that you're about to
(00:34):
say is the most important one?
Or like, like, like aclarifying one, or like a key
one?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
how about?
It is the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yoga Sutra 1.2 is known as the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
The Yoga Sutras we discussed in prior episodes,
multiple episodes, multipleepisodes, so feel free to go
back and listen to 1.1 and whatthe actual Yoga Sutras are.
And here today I would like toshare on and discuss with Dan
(01:23):
1.2.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yoga.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yoga chitta verti nerodaha Yoga, chitta verti
nerodaha Yoga.
The mind, the body, onecommunication, union.
Chitta is knowledge and chittacan be broken up into multiple
(01:52):
aspects of the mind, which wewill do in a later episode, but
for now you have yoga, now youhave yoga chitta.
Knowledge Virti is themodification, modification,
nirodha, ceasing or stopping.
(02:14):
So what is the definition ofyoga?
Yoga chitta virti, nirodhameans yoga is attained when the
ceasing of modifiedconsciousness happens, when the
modified rippled, tumultuousthoughts twirling thoughts cease
(02:42):
, naroda, that is when yogaoccurs.
That's what yoga is.
I'm going to say that again.
Yoga in its truest state andform is when all of the ripples
(03:05):
in the water cease and there ispeace.
It's when the thoughts and thestories and the dialogue inside
starts to loosen its grips onthe mind and you stay steady in
(03:26):
peace, neroda, ceasing themodified stories, the distorted
stories, aka lies, that we tellourselves and that have been
produced through safety.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
For the sake of safety.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But there are nevertheless lies.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Protection.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yes, a lie means distortion of reality and
neurologically, the human brainwill distort reality if it will
help somebody to live with ease,even if it's dysfunctional,
(04:22):
even if it's dysfunctional.
I want to go back a little andjust say this again the
definition of yoga 1.2, on whichthe whole rest of the book of
the yoga sutras is based on, isabout the mind, not the body.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
That's pretty important.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
There is only three asana sutras.
There's only three sutras aboutasanas in the book 195, 196
yoga sutras.
There's only three about thebody.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I mean, if you think about it, asana really only
became popular in ourgreat-great-grandfathers, like
in the last 300 years.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It was always about stillness without pain in the
body or restriction, because ifthere's pain in the body, you're
distracted.
You will be distracted.
(05:31):
My knee hurts I'm thinkingabout my knee and making up
stories about my knee.
You aren't able to focusbecause the body is pulling you
away from the focal point.
But coming back again, how havewe veered so far away from this
purpose?
How has yoga become a yogaclass and that's it?
(05:54):
I'm going to go to yoga classand for some people that means
they get their yoga mat, theyget dressed, they go to class
and work out.
Some see yoga as a workout,which is fine, which is fine.
But here the yoga sutra saysyou're working out your mind,
you are inner, your innerworkings.
(06:15):
You're not only working outyour mind, you're actually
redirecting your senses.
Redirecting your senses,remember, in the eight limbs
which we had discussed in priorepisodes.
The eight limbs one is calledpratyahara.
(06:39):
Pratyahara means to turn awayfrom and to turn towards to
something else.
Pratyahara is also known assensory restriction, saying to
your senses come back home,focus here.
How has yoga become more aboutthe body in this era, during our
time, the body has almostbecome a distraction.
(07:02):
The body has almost become adistraction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah Well, it's certainly the obsession with
yoga being synonymous with asana.
To say the physical part istruly revealing a lot of
neuroses, is truly revealing alot of neuroses, many of which
(07:32):
can be calmed in some way,addressed by stillness and the
pursuit of equanimity.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, yeah, yes.
If we approach our yoga from aplace of the mind and breathing
deliberately as we move in andout, and using that to
understand ourselves and ourthinking, yes, then we can use
the body as an instrument toknow ourselves.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We can use the body as an instrument to know
ourselves, but it has to becomeimportant enough to each person,
or it has to become importantenough so that it takes a lead
of sorts.
So if you're just kind of likeplanning your day and you're
like, okay, I got class from9.30 to 10.30, and then I got to
(08:25):
get out of here because at10.15 I got lunch or I got to go
be here or I got to go there,it's counterproductive.
If you're rushing around Ifyou're rushing, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Well, this goes back to all of the limbs of yoga.
If yoga is defined as theceasing of the modifications of
the thoughts, if that's thedefinition of yoga, then yes,
what Dan is sharing is true.
Am I rushing my yoga like Irush my life?
(08:59):
Is yoga just something to do?
Is it a workout?
We have to know how we'relooking at it and we have to be
willing to reflect on that andthen change course Goes to the
attitude.
What's my attitude about this?
What's my engagement?
(09:19):
The whole book of the YogaSutras is based on this one.
1.2, yoga Chitta Vrti Narodaha.
We live in a body that iscontrolled by the mind.
(09:40):
It is controlled and expressedthrough a nervous system.
The nervous system is informedthrough the brain and thoughts
happen in the brain.
Are you with me y'all?
Do you get that?
Do you understand what I'msaying?
We need to move the body inunison and mindfulness, with
(10:02):
deliberate intent, with thebreath and the mind, to make a
change.
It can't be I'm moving my body,I'm going to exercise and then
I'm going to breathe, or I'mgoing to flow gracefully in and
out of every pose, even at thecost of my body.
That doesn't say nowhere in theYoga Sutras does it say buckle
(10:26):
up, my friends.
Nowhere in the Yoga Sutras doesit say move through your yoga
practice breath by breath,linked up with movement and
postures.
It doesn't say that anywhere,that anywhere.
(10:52):
What it shares is deliberatemovement.
Breathing and movement are twoimportant aspects.
Asanas is important to knowyourself, but are you really
knowing yourself and themodifications?
If you're doing your practicethe way you do your life, the
modifications if you're doingyour practice the way you do
your life, if we do asana theway we live, then we're not
changing anything, then nothingchanges.
(11:13):
So Yoga Sutra 1.2 is aboutceasing these modifications and
eventually you need to getreally quiet and really still
and start to witness yourselfand your behavior, to even know
(11:37):
that you want to change it.
So if we approach yoga like weapproach everything else in our
lives, we will be reinforcingthose habits and that way of
living which, hey, it may bewhat you want.
(11:57):
I want Yoga Sutra 1.3.
Yoga Sutra 1.3 Tadah drastusvarupe vastanam.
Tadah drastu svarupe vastanam.
When the modifications in themind cease, the seer will abide
(12:34):
in their true nature.
1.3 is the promise that if youcease these modifications, you
cease these stories, that youwill feel what it feels like to
abide in your true nature, in astate of equanimity, in
(12:58):
neutrality, in peace and ease.
That's why I practice yoga isto learn how to maintain that
state longer and longer, how toabide in my true nature
(13:21):
compassion, kindness, love,connectedness.
To abide in that place forlonger and longer.
Because the mind, the humanmind, seeks difference for
safety.
So neurologically we're wiredto look for differences, to
(13:46):
judge safe or not safe and thenact on that.
Well, dan's bad and I'm good,so I'm out of here.
Yoga chitta virdi narodaha.
Ceasing those stories of goodand bad allows me to sit in my
peace, in my equanimity, and say, hmm, perhaps Dan isn't bad, he
(14:12):
just doesn't work for me.
So Yoga Sutra 1 we haddiscussed is Ata yoga
anushasanam.
Now you're about to embark onthis journey of yoga, this
(14:34):
exposition of discipline in thesystem, and the system is all
about ceasing the modificationsof your thoughts, then, and only
then.
Ramifications of your thoughts,then, and only then, when you
stop feeding the stories of whoyou think you are, of who you
(14:55):
think you have to be, of whopeople told you you were or how
people treated you and youthought that you were something.
Out of all those things.
It reminds me of this conceptthat I got.
(15:18):
I was Velcro and things juststuck to me and stuck to me and
stuck to me and I was lost.
I was just big and puffy andexpansive and filled with
everyone else's concepts andideas, and not mine.
And, one by one, I had to peelthem off, peel the pieces off
the Velcro, off and off and off.
(15:39):
And what was there was thisfragile, vulnerable, raw being,
and I felt like I didn't evenknow how to live because I lived
according to the outside worldfor so long, according to who
they said I was or according tothings that happened to me.
But when I eventually stoppedthe stories and I'm still doing
(16:04):
that, by the way, and I'm stilldoing that, by the way that will
be an ongoing practice till Iam no longer here.
When I cease these modifications, I get to be in peace and
realize that there's more ofthat available.
No matter what happens outsideme, I can only control me.
(16:28):
I only am entitled to myactions.
That's what the Gita is about.
Stay tuned for that.
And this is an example of howthe philosophies all weave into
one and work off of one another.
(16:48):
We're only entitled to ouraction.
How do you want to act?
How do you want to behave?
How do you want to participatein yoga In the mind and the body
, communicating.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You can almost say how do you want to yoga?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, how do you want to yoga?
The yoga citta virti nirodhasometimes can be interpreted as
stop thinking.
So if any of you have everheard that, please know that's
not possible.
You cannot stop thinking.
(17:31):
So chit isn't about controllingyour thoughts, Because if I'm
having a thought I can't controlit.
Sometimes it's here.
I'm worrying, I'm worrying, I'mworrying.
It's about distracting andfocusing on something else.
So you turn away from the worryand say I'm going to focus on
(17:52):
this instead.
So our thoughts, they nevercease.
We're trying to stop themodification of them.
I also like to think about itlike a recipe.
When something happens, if Idon't like it, or if I do like
it, I start to add some spice toit.
(18:16):
I add a little cumin and alittle nutmeg and a little
paprika, and I add this and thisand it gets bigger and more
flavorful and more colorful.
Yoga says stop that, Take allthat out and just be present
with what's here.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yoga says stop that Take all that out and just be
present with what's here I wasgoing to say.
Crucial tool is simplyawareness, or consciousness, or
being present.
So it's not a matter ofwitnessing yourself thinking
about what you're going to havefor breakfast as you do, asana.
(18:47):
It's not that that's bad.
It's about cultivating theawareness that that's what
you're doing.
As you're doing that and moreand more, you can hone in,
withdraw from that outside, allthose processes outside, and go
deeper inward as awareness,awareness, you know it's just as
(19:11):
being present.
You'll realize how lessimportant things that you're
putting importance on are whenyou can just be present.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, when you slow down enough to be present.
Yeah, deliberate, yeah.
I come back to this Yoga Sutraoften and as we were starting
this podcast today, dan said tome wow, that's really your
favorite one, isn't it?
That's really the one youalways go to, and it is because
(19:45):
I want to remember that I ampart of the conflict in my life,
I am part of the problem in mylife because I'm the creator,
and when I remember that, it'snot to bully me, it's not to
shame me, it's to say what doyou want in your life?
(20:07):
Do you want what you have?
Because those are the decisionsyou made.
Is it working?
If it's not working, then whatdo you want and are you willing
to change them?
Modifications we have to modifythe way we think if we want to
change our life.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, you start me thinking about how much can be
entertained when you do theserituals and come to a better
place.
I mean, for instance, it may bealong any particular person's
journey that they may have togeographically move, or they may
(20:52):
have to make a big decisionthat what they're currently
doing with their life is nottheir truest path, and it could
be a monetary change that'scrucial.
So it's not about rushing tothe change.
It's about cultivating lots ofthings, lots of knowing about
(21:18):
yourself, so that you canmindfully, like, almost like,
migrate towards the change.
You know, this year I'm gonnaum, um, you know, just just keep
revisiting the idea or thenotion of maybe having to
geographically move, and and you, and then you put it into, you
(21:40):
set sail with it and you knowit's going okay.
So what do I have to do in orderto support that thing?
Okay, so maybe I'm going tohave to see if I can get this
job over there.
Maybe I could see if I can dothe job wherever I am.
Maybe I have to tell my familythat this is a requirement for
my soul.
Maybe I have to tell my friendsthat I can't be their friends
(22:03):
in this way, because I need moreenergy to concentrate my effort
in towards my truer self, ofwhere I need to go to fulfill
the potential that inside eachof us there's a knowing within
your heart of things that youare to be or to just be.
The knowing of how you are tobe, the knowing of how you are
(22:24):
to be, the knowing of how youare to live, the knowing of how
you are to be, the knowing ofhow you are to live, the knowing
of where you need to be, theknowing of how you want to
interact with people.
Like all of this, it's like atreasure trove of offerings, all
taking you back to the self.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, where self becomes unavailable due to the
modifications.
On the contrary, yeah, all is.
It is a process, and a processactually has an end goal and
steps in it that you take.
Now, why do I share that?
(23:19):
Because some people I talk toare like oh well, I'm processing
it for 30 years, you'reprocessing it for 30 years.
So if you aren't hittingmarkers or milestones in this
process, then it can becomespiritual, bypassing or
bypassing.
But a process has an end goaland if the end goal is to know
oneself, to know your fullestpotential, there may be a
(23:42):
process and an unwinding and anunfolding into that.
Wow, that's powerful.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Yeah, I mean, and if you're stuck in something that
you're you, you and, and that'syour, where your mind always
goes to, I come to believe thatthat's that's not the route.
To to to go, that's not theroute, that's not the R-O-U-T-E,
(24:09):
that's not the way to go.
The way to go is inward,because as you change, just like
the reflections in nature, asthings come into being in nature
and change, everything elsegives way.
There's an efficiency, there'san organic nature to things and
our mind can get in the way.
And if we can get back in touchwith the organic flow of the
(24:30):
nature of being, then then youdon't have to, you perhaps may
not have to make a decisionwhere, like I'm breaking up here
, the breakup will just happenby the course that you're taking
.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Organic flow of nature.
We're so far away from nature.
Yeah, that's way too far we havemoved so far away and what I
felt when you were saying thatis this idea of robotic living,
mechanical living.
I do this, I get this, I dothat.
That's what I was sharing aboutthe yoga.
(25:08):
I'm just going to do asana, I'mjust going to move my body.
I got to go to yoga class.
Come home, hurry up and do allthese things.
That's mechanical.
Where's the organicness?
And, by the way, I was the oneDan is speaking on.
I am the one who would get upand leave before Shavasana.
(25:30):
I would stand up and say Idon't know how you all have time
to lay down, but I don't.
And as if I had more importantthings to do, I would leave
during Shavasana and it was myfirst teacher who grabbed me by
the arm as I went to walk out.
Joe T, of course.
(25:50):
She grabbed me by the arm andshe said where are you going?
And I said I got to go, I haveto go to work.
And she said you will go backand you'll lay down on your mat.
Right now Nobody leaves earlyand I was very angry.
I remember getting up and neverforgetting that and asking
(26:13):
myself why was I leaving early?
Why did I feel I could skipthat part of the process and it
became so mechanical my lifethat when I eventually had to
slow down, my friends, myslowing down wasn't a choice.
(26:33):
That's why I want to share, dan, and I want to share this
podcast with you.
The slowing down was because Icontracted a rare staph
infection and had five boneamputations, cardiac arrest and
almost kidney failure andchronic illness bedridden.
The slowing down was my bodyslowed me down and when I wasn't
(26:59):
healing, I had to ask thesedeeper questions what were the
modifications of the mind thatwere keeping me in?
This Went to the best doctorsin the world, zoomed thement,
thousands of dollars onsupplements and medicines,
anything to try to heal.
When it wasn't working, I hadto look in.
(27:26):
I didn't realize that all theseyears of yoga and still was
looking out, looking out, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So if you are fortunate enough, you know,
honestly, let's face it it'sit's it's it's a privilege to
have the time to be able to dothat Right.
So if our audience is by andlargely afforded that
opportunity, it's worthy to takea pause and consider that you
(28:00):
actually have that privilege totake an hour, an hour and a half
out of your day to get to youryoga class, to take it and leave
, and, you know, let's give itits true due in terms of how it
can support your life and, bysupporting your life, support
(28:21):
the ones around you.
You know, it's like get toclass and stop thinking like I
got to be here, I got to gothere and I got to do this and I
got to do the next thing.
It's like just be there.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, just arrive and breathe and settle in to your
body and let the breath informthe movement and let the breath
support and sustain the pose,and pausing, being deliberate
(28:56):
and settling in the nervoussystem will start to
down-regulate and in thedown-regulation what rises is
all that we have pushed aside,is all that we have pushed aside
(29:22):
.
So ceasing the modificationsmay feel risky or scary, because
in yoga and Buddhism we use theword ego.
We have this ego and I like tothink of the ego as all these
stories.
The ego is the modified virtis,okay, and if the ego has been
ruling my life, my protectorsand firefighters that's from IFS
(29:43):
, internal Family Systems thatwas created by Dick Schwartz.
We'll talk about that onanother episode.
But in IFS we talk about theseparts that rise a protector to
keep us safe, a firefighter tokeep us safe also.
Well, if these parts are comingup and they're ruling our lives
(30:05):
, and now I say to you sit still, my friend, breathe and be
quiet, close your eyes, donothing, be bored.
That could induce panic in some, that could induce fear,
(30:28):
because we have all these otherparts, this ego, running and
ruling our lives.
That's why I ask you who isdoing yoga?
Is it the ego doing yoga?
Is it your stories doing yoga?
Is it the bully doing yoga?
Is it the mushy mush the gummybear Like?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
oh.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I can't feel.
That's too.
Oh my God, that hurts.
Or I'm going to sit into achair so deep that I'm going to
pop a hamstring right.
Who, my friends, is showing upfor the physical practice?
We won't know unless we add thebreath and we be with ourselves
(31:07):
.
Who is being the pose, who'sdoing it?
So the ego is these stories,these parts, these emotions that
rule our lives, and then we buyinto them and we think that's
who we are.
Oh, I'm a yoga teacher.
And if someone's like well,what do you do for a living?
(31:28):
Well, I'm a yoga teacher.
That's who I am.
We're none of those.
We're so much more.
We're none of those.
We're so much more.
But if we don't do yoga chittavirti narodaha if we don't cease
these modifications, then wewon't be able to let go of the
(31:50):
egoic thoughts that are keepingus stuck in this pattern that
keeps us far away from ourpotential and our true nature.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'm just thinking that all of what we're
discussing, joe, is.
It's really fun for me to bewith you in a sense of seeing
how the progression happened andthe rituals feed us, I mean,
even in our day-to-day it's likeall right.
(32:28):
So here's what I really wantedto say is arriving at
approaching asana functionallyfunctional yoga.
It's amazing to me how little,how few number of poses I need
(32:51):
to bring me to a state, andmentally, that's balanced and
fair and at ease.
I don't need a handstand, Idon't need a chin stand, I need
probably about six poses and Ican accomplish ease and feel
(33:18):
good and calm and clear in themind.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
The Become One Method is a functional, therapeutic
yoga method that I havesynthesized over 30 years.
I've taken what has worked forme and what I've used to heal,
and what Dan is sharing is thefirst 20, 30 minutes.
(33:48):
The first 20 to 25 minutes ofthe class will put you, and has
put many people, in an inducedstate of prefrontal availability
, which means downregulation andwitnessing, and after the first
20 minutes most people have mettheir true nature, and what I
(34:11):
mean by that is ease and peaceand calm.
So there is a way and we'lltalk about this in other
episodes that classes can besequenced neurologically, and I
created something calledneuro-sequencing.
So the class is neurologicallydesigned to go with Sutra 1.2,
(34:36):
yoga Chitta Verti Narodaha, andyou don't need heat and you
don't need music, you just needto be present with your body.
Yes, you don't need anything,but to be present with your body
.
(35:01):
I invite you all to think aboutthat, to think about your
modifications.
How does this feel to you?
Did you know that this was thedefinition of yoga and that the
whole sacred text, the YogaSutras, is based on this?
And about that I'm curious.
Please reach out to us atbecomeoneliving at gmailcom, and
you could follow us atbecomeoneliving on Instagram and
(35:23):
I just want to say, with all myheart, thank you for whoever is
listening.
This has been 30 years in themaking, and to be able to share
yoga is an honor and a gift.
30 years in the making, and tobe able to share Yoga is an
honor and a gift.
(35:44):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Till next time, okay.
Hello once again and welcome back to Become One
Living.
I'm here with my wife, jo.
We're talking yoga.
I'm Dan.
We're talking about the sutrashello everyone.
Ah the yoga sutras would yousay the one that you're about to
(00:34):
say is the most important one?
Or like, like, like aclarifying one, or like a key
one?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
how about?
It is the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yoga Sutra 1.2 is known as the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
The Yoga Sutras we discussed in prior episodes,
multiple episodes, multipleepisodes, so feel free to go
back and listen to 1.1 and whatthe actual Yoga Sutras are.
And here today I would like toshare on and discuss with Dan
(01:23):
1.2.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yoga.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yoga chitta verti nerodaha Yoga, chitta verti
nerodaha Yoga.
The mind, the body, onecommunication, union.
Chitta is knowledge and chittacan be broken up into multiple
(01:52):
aspects of the mind, which wewill do in a later episode, but
for now you have yoga, now youhave yoga chitta.
Knowledge Virti is themodification, modification,
nirodha, ceasing or stopping.
(02:14):
So what is the definition ofyoga?
Yoga chitta virti, nirodhameans yoga is attained when the
ceasing of modifiedconsciousness happens, when the
modified rippled, tumultuousthoughts twirling thoughts cease
(02:42):
, naroda, that is when yogaoccurs.
That's what yoga is.
I'm going to say that again.
Yoga in its truest state andform is when all of the ripples
(03:05):
in the water cease and there ispeace.
It's when the thoughts and thestories and the dialogue inside
starts to loosen its grips onthe mind and you stay steady in
(03:26):
peace, neroda, ceasing themodified stories, the distorted
stories, aka lies, that we tellourselves and that have been
produced through safety.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
For the sake of safety.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But there are nevertheless lies.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Protection.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yes, a lie means distortion of reality and
neurologically, the human brainwill distort reality if it will
help somebody to live with ease,even if it's dysfunctional,
(04:22):
even if it's dysfunctional.
I want to go back a little andjust say this again the
definition of yoga 1.2, on whichthe whole rest of the book of
the yoga sutras is based on, isabout the mind, not the body.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
That's pretty important.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
There is only three asana sutras.
There's only three sutras aboutasanas in the book 195, 196
yoga sutras.
There's only three about thebody.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I mean, if you think about it, asana really only
became popular in ourgreat-great-grandfathers, like
in the last 300 years.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It was always about stillness without pain in the
body or restriction, because ifthere's pain in the body, you're
distracted.
You will be distracted.
(05:31):
My knee hurts I'm thinkingabout my knee and making up
stories about my knee.
You aren't able to focusbecause the body is pulling you
away from the focal point.
But coming back again, how havewe veered so far away from this
purpose?
How has yoga become a yogaclass and that's it?
(05:54):
I'm going to go to yoga classand for some people that means
they get their yoga mat, theyget dressed, they go to class
and work out.
Some see yoga as a workout,which is fine, which is fine.
But here the yoga sutra saysyou're working out your mind,
you are inner, your innerworkings.
(06:15):
You're not only working outyour mind, you're actually
redirecting your senses.
Redirecting your senses,remember, in the eight limbs
which we had discussed in priorepisodes.
The eight limbs one is calledpratyahara.
(06:39):
Pratyahara means to turn awayfrom and to turn towards to
something else.
Pratyahara is also known assensory restriction, saying to
your senses come back home,focus here.
How has yoga become more aboutthe body in this era, during our
time, the body has almostbecome a distraction.
(07:02):
The body has almost become adistraction.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah Well, it's certainly the obsession with
yoga being synonymous with asana.
To say the physical part istruly revealing a lot of
neuroses, is truly revealing alot of neuroses, many of which
(07:32):
can be calmed in some way,addressed by stillness and the
pursuit of equanimity.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, yeah, yes.
If we approach our yoga from aplace of the mind and breathing
deliberately as we move in andout, and using that to
understand ourselves and ourthinking, yes, then we can use
the body as an instrument toknow ourselves.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We can use the body as an instrument to know
ourselves, but it has to becomeimportant enough to each person,
or it has to become importantenough so that it takes a lead
of sorts.
So if you're just kind of likeplanning your day and you're
like, okay, I got class from9.30 to 10.30, and then I got to
(08:25):
get out of here because at10.15 I got lunch or I got to go
be here or I got to go there,it's counterproductive.
If you're rushing around Ifyou're rushing, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Well, this goes back to all of the limbs of yoga.
If yoga is defined as theceasing of the modifications of
the thoughts, if that's thedefinition of yoga, then yes,
what Dan is sharing is true.
Am I rushing my yoga like Irush my life?
(08:59):
Is yoga just something to do?
Is it a workout?
We have to know how we'relooking at it and we have to be
willing to reflect on that andthen change course Goes to the
attitude.
What's my attitude about this?
What's my engagement?
(09:19):
The whole book of the YogaSutras is based on this one.
1.2, yoga Chitta Vrti Narodaha.
We live in a body that iscontrolled by the mind.
(09:40):
It is controlled and expressedthrough a nervous system.
The nervous system is informedthrough the brain and thoughts
happen in the brain.
Are you with me y'all?
Do you get that?
Do you understand what I'msaying?
We need to move the body inunison and mindfulness, with
(10:02):
deliberate intent, with thebreath and the mind, to make a
change.
It can't be I'm moving my body,I'm going to exercise and then
I'm going to breathe, or I'mgoing to flow gracefully in and
out of every pose, even at thecost of my body.
That doesn't say nowhere in theYoga Sutras does it say buckle
(10:26):
up, my friends.
Nowhere in the Yoga Sutras doesit say move through your yoga
practice breath by breath,linked up with movement and
postures.
It doesn't say that anywhere,that anywhere.
(10:52):
What it shares is deliberatemovement.
Breathing and movement are twoimportant aspects.
Asanas is important to knowyourself, but are you really
knowing yourself and themodifications?
If you're doing your practicethe way you do your life, the
modifications if you're doingyour practice the way you do
your life, if we do asana theway we live, then we're not
changing anything, then nothingchanges.
(11:13):
So Yoga Sutra 1.2 is aboutceasing these modifications and
eventually you need to getreally quiet and really still
and start to witness yourselfand your behavior, to even know
(11:37):
that you want to change it.
So if we approach yoga like weapproach everything else in our
lives, we will be reinforcingthose habits and that way of
living which, hey, it may bewhat you want.
(11:57):
I want Yoga Sutra 1.3.
Yoga Sutra 1.3 Tadah drastusvarupe vastanam.
Tadah drastu svarupe vastanam.
When the modifications in themind cease, the seer will abide
(12:34):
in their true nature.
1.3 is the promise that if youcease these modifications, you
cease these stories, that youwill feel what it feels like to
abide in your true nature, in astate of equanimity, in
(12:58):
neutrality, in peace and ease.
That's why I practice yoga isto learn how to maintain that
state longer and longer, how toabide in my true nature
(13:21):
compassion, kindness, love,connectedness.
To abide in that place forlonger and longer.
Because the mind, the humanmind, seeks difference for
safety.
So neurologically we're wiredto look for differences, to
(13:46):
judge safe or not safe and thenact on that.
Well, dan's bad and I'm good,so I'm out of here.
Yoga chitta virdi narodaha.
Ceasing those stories of goodand bad allows me to sit in my
peace, in my equanimity, and say, hmm, perhaps Dan isn't bad, he
(14:12):
just doesn't work for me.
So Yoga Sutra 1 we haddiscussed is Ata yoga
anushasanam.
Now you're about to embark onthis journey of yoga, this
(14:34):
exposition of discipline in thesystem, and the system is all
about ceasing the modificationsof your thoughts, then, and only
then.
Ramifications of your thoughts,then, and only then, when you
stop feeding the stories of whoyou think you are, of who you
(14:55):
think you have to be, of whopeople told you you were or how
people treated you and youthought that you were something.
Out of all those things.
It reminds me of this conceptthat I got.
(15:18):
I was Velcro and things juststuck to me and stuck to me and
stuck to me and I was lost.
I was just big and puffy andexpansive and filled with
everyone else's concepts andideas, and not mine.
And, one by one, I had to peelthem off, peel the pieces off
the Velcro, off and off and off.
(15:39):
And what was there was thisfragile, vulnerable, raw being,
and I felt like I didn't evenknow how to live because I lived
according to the outside worldfor so long, according to who
they said I was or according tothings that happened to me.
But when I eventually stoppedthe stories and I'm still doing
(16:04):
that, by the way, and I'm stilldoing that, by the way that will
be an ongoing practice till Iam no longer here.
When I cease these modifications, I get to be in peace and
realize that there's more ofthat available.
No matter what happens outsideme, I can only control me.
(16:28):
I only am entitled to myactions.
That's what the Gita is about.
Stay tuned for that.
And this is an example of howthe philosophies all weave into
one and work off of one another.
(16:48):
We're only entitled to ouraction.
How do you want to act?
How do you want to behave?
How do you want to participatein yoga In the mind and the body
, communicating.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You can almost say how do you want to yoga?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, how do you want to yoga?
The yoga citta virti nirodhasometimes can be interpreted as
stop thinking.
So if any of you have everheard that, please know that's
not possible.
You cannot stop thinking.
(17:31):
So chit isn't about controllingyour thoughts, Because if I'm
having a thought I can't controlit.
Sometimes it's here.
I'm worrying, I'm worrying, I'mworrying.
It's about distracting andfocusing on something else.
So you turn away from the worryand say I'm going to focus on
(17:52):
this instead.
So our thoughts, they nevercease.
We're trying to stop themodification of them.
I also like to think about itlike a recipe.
When something happens, if Idon't like it, or if I do like
it, I start to add some spice toit.
(18:16):
I add a little cumin and alittle nutmeg and a little
paprika, and I add this and thisand it gets bigger and more
flavorful and more colorful.
Yoga says stop that, Take allthat out and just be present
with what's here.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yoga says stop that Take all that out and just be
present with what's here I wasgoing to say.
Crucial tool is simplyawareness, or consciousness, or
being present.
So it's not a matter ofwitnessing yourself thinking
about what you're going to havefor breakfast as you do, asana.
(18:47):
It's not that that's bad.
It's about cultivating theawareness that that's what
you're doing.
As you're doing that and moreand more, you can hone in,
withdraw from that outside, allthose processes outside, and go
deeper inward as awareness,awareness, you know it's just as
(19:11):
being present.
You'll realize how lessimportant things that you're
putting importance on are whenyou can just be present.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, when you slow down enough to be present.
Yeah, deliberate, yeah.
I come back to this Yoga Sutraoften and as we were starting
this podcast today, dan said tome wow, that's really your
favorite one, isn't it?
That's really the one youalways go to, and it is because
(19:45):
I want to remember that I ampart of the conflict in my life,
I am part of the problem in mylife because I'm the creator,
and when I remember that, it'snot to bully me, it's not to
shame me, it's to say what doyou want in your life?
(20:07):
Do you want what you have?
Because those are the decisionsyou made.
Is it working?
If it's not working, then whatdo you want and are you willing
to change them?
Modifications we have to modifythe way we think if we want to
change our life.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yeah, you start me thinking about how much can be
entertained when you do theserituals and come to a better
place.
I mean, for instance, it may bealong any particular person's
journey that they may have togeographically move, or they may
(20:52):
have to make a big decisionthat what they're currently
doing with their life is nottheir truest path, and it could
be a monetary change that'scrucial.
So it's not about rushing tothe change.
It's about cultivating lots ofthings, lots of knowing about
(21:18):
yourself, so that you canmindfully, like, almost like,
migrate towards the change.
You know, this year I'm gonnaum, um, you know, just just keep
revisiting the idea or thenotion of maybe having to
geographically move, and and you, and then you put it into, you
(21:40):
set sail with it and you knowit's going okay.
So what do I have to do in orderto support that thing?
Okay, so maybe I'm going tohave to see if I can get this
job over there.
Maybe I could see if I can dothe job wherever I am.
Maybe I have to tell my familythat this is a requirement for
my soul.
Maybe I have to tell my friendsthat I can't be their friends
(22:03):
in this way, because I need moreenergy to concentrate my effort
in towards my truer self, ofwhere I need to go to fulfill
the potential that inside eachof us there's a knowing within
your heart of things that youare to be or to just be.
The knowing of how you are tobe, the knowing of how you are
(22:24):
to be, the knowing of how youare to live, the knowing of how
you are to be, the knowing ofhow you are to live, the knowing
of where you need to be, theknowing of how you want to
interact with people.
Like all of this, it's like atreasure trove of offerings, all
taking you back to the self.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, where self becomes unavailable due to the
modifications.
On the contrary, yeah, all is.
It is a process, and a processactually has an end goal and
steps in it that you take.
Now, why do I share that?
(23:19):
Because some people I talk toare like oh well, I'm processing
it for 30 years, you'reprocessing it for 30 years.
So if you aren't hittingmarkers or milestones in this
process, then it can becomespiritual, bypassing or
bypassing.
But a process has an end goaland if the end goal is to know
oneself, to know your fullestpotential, there may be a
(23:42):
process and an unwinding and anunfolding into that.
Wow, that's powerful.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Yeah, I mean, and if you're stuck in something that
you're you, you and, and that'syour, where your mind always
goes to, I come to believe thatthat's that's not the route.
To to to go, that's not theroute, that's not the R-O-U-T-E,
(24:09):
that's not the way to go.
The way to go is inward,because as you change, just like
the reflections in nature, asthings come into being in nature
and change, everything elsegives way.
There's an efficiency, there'san organic nature to things and
our mind can get in the way.
And if we can get back in touchwith the organic flow of the
(24:30):
nature of being, then then youdon't have to, you perhaps may
not have to make a decisionwhere, like I'm breaking up here
, the breakup will just happenby the course that you're taking
.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Organic flow of nature.
We're so far away from nature.
Yeah, that's way too far we havemoved so far away and what I
felt when you were saying thatis this idea of robotic living,
mechanical living.
I do this, I get this, I dothat.
That's what I was sharing aboutthe yoga.
(25:08):
I'm just going to do asana, I'mjust going to move my body.
I got to go to yoga class.
Come home, hurry up and do allthese things.
That's mechanical.
Where's the organicness?
And, by the way, I was the oneDan is speaking on.
I am the one who would get upand leave before Shavasana.
(25:30):
I would stand up and say Idon't know how you all have time
to lay down, but I don't.
And as if I had more importantthings to do, I would leave
during Shavasana and it was myfirst teacher who grabbed me by
the arm as I went to walk out.
Joe T, of course.
(25:50):
She grabbed me by the arm andshe said where are you going?
And I said I got to go, I haveto go to work.
And she said you will go backand you'll lay down on your mat.
Right now Nobody leaves earlyand I was very angry.
I remember getting up and neverforgetting that and asking
(26:13):
myself why was I leaving early?
Why did I feel I could skipthat part of the process and it
became so mechanical my lifethat when I eventually had to
slow down, my friends, myslowing down wasn't a choice.
(26:33):
That's why I want to share, dan, and I want to share this
podcast with you.
The slowing down was because Icontracted a rare staph
infection and had five boneamputations, cardiac arrest and
almost kidney failure andchronic illness bedridden.
The slowing down was my bodyslowed me down and when I wasn't
(26:59):
healing, I had to ask thesedeeper questions what were the
modifications of the mind thatwere keeping me in?
This Went to the best doctorsin the world, zoomed thement,
thousands of dollars onsupplements and medicines,
anything to try to heal.
When it wasn't working, I hadto look in.
(27:26):
I didn't realize that all theseyears of yoga and still was
looking out, looking out, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So if you are fortunate enough, you know,
honestly, let's face it it'sit's it's it's a privilege to
have the time to be able to dothat Right.
So if our audience is by andlargely afforded that
opportunity, it's worthy to takea pause and consider that you
(28:00):
actually have that privilege totake an hour, an hour and a half
out of your day to get to youryoga class, to take it and leave
, and, you know, let's give itits true due in terms of how it
can support your life and, bysupporting your life, support
(28:21):
the ones around you.
You know, it's like get toclass and stop thinking like I
got to be here, I got to gothere and I got to do this and I
got to do the next thing.
It's like just be there.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Yeah, just arrive and breathe and settle in to your
body and let the breath informthe movement and let the breath
support and sustain the pose,and pausing, being deliberate
(28:56):
and settling in the nervoussystem will start to
down-regulate and in thedown-regulation what rises is
all that we have pushed aside,is all that we have pushed aside
(29:22):
.
So ceasing the modificationsmay feel risky or scary, because
in yoga and Buddhism we use theword ego.
We have this ego and I like tothink of the ego as all these
stories.
The ego is the modified virtis,okay, and if the ego has been
ruling my life, my protectorsand firefighters that's from IFS
(29:43):
, internal Family Systems thatwas created by Dick Schwartz.
We'll talk about that onanother episode.
But in IFS we talk about theseparts that rise a protector to
keep us safe, a firefighter tokeep us safe also.
Well, if these parts are comingup and they're ruling our lives
(30:05):
, and now I say to you sit still, my friend, breathe and be
quiet, close your eyes, donothing, be bored.
That could induce panic in some, that could induce fear,
(30:28):
because we have all these otherparts, this ego, running and
ruling our lives.
That's why I ask you who isdoing yoga?
Is it the ego doing yoga?
Is it your stories doing yoga?
Is it the bully doing yoga?
Is it the mushy mush the gummybear Like?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
oh.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I can't feel.
That's too.
Oh my God, that hurts.
Or I'm going to sit into achair so deep that I'm going to
pop a hamstring right.
Who, my friends, is showing upfor the physical practice?
We won't know unless we add thebreath and we be with ourselves
(31:07):
.
Who is being the pose, who'sdoing it?
So the ego is these stories,these parts, these emotions that
rule our lives, and then we buyinto them and we think that's
who we are.
Oh, I'm a yoga teacher.
And if someone's like well,what do you do for a living?
(31:28):
Well, I'm a yoga teacher.
That's who I am.
We're none of those.
We're so much more.
We're none of those.
We're so much more.
But if we don't do yoga chittavirti narodaha if we don't cease
these modifications, then wewon't be able to let go of the
(31:50):
egoic thoughts that are keepingus stuck in this pattern that
keeps us far away from ourpotential and our true nature.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'm just thinking that all of what we're
discussing, joe, is.
It's really fun for me to bewith you in a sense of seeing
how the progression happened andthe rituals feed us, I mean,
even in our day-to-day it's likeall right.
(32:28):
So here's what I really wantedto say is arriving at
approaching asana functionallyfunctional yoga.
It's amazing to me how little,how few number of poses I need
(32:51):
to bring me to a state, andmentally, that's balanced and
fair and at ease.
I don't need a handstand, Idon't need a chin stand, I need
probably about six poses and Ican accomplish ease and feel
(33:18):
good and calm and clear in themind.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
The Become One Method is a functional, therapeutic
yoga method that I havesynthesized over 30 years.
I've taken what has worked forme and what I've used to heal,
and what Dan is sharing is thefirst 20, 30 minutes.
(33:48):
The first 20 to 25 minutes ofthe class will put you, and has
put many people, in an inducedstate of prefrontal availability
, which means downregulation andwitnessing, and after the first
20 minutes most people have mettheir true nature, and what I
(34:11):
mean by that is ease and peaceand calm.
So there is a way and we'lltalk about this in other
episodes that classes can besequenced neurologically, and I
created something calledneuro-sequencing.
So the class is neurologicallydesigned to go with Sutra 1.2,
(34:36):
yoga Chitta Verti Narodaha, andyou don't need heat and you
don't need music, you just needto be present with your body.
Yes, you don't need anything,but to be present with your body
.
(35:01):
I invite you all to think aboutthat, to think about your
modifications.
How does this feel to you?
Did you know that this was thedefinition of yoga and that the
whole sacred text, the YogaSutras, is based on this?
And about that I'm curious.
Please reach out to us atbecomeoneliving at gmailcom, and
you could follow us atbecomeoneliving on Instagram and
(35:23):
I just want to say, with all myheart, thank you for whoever is
listening.
This has been 30 years in themaking, and to be able to share
yoga is an honor and a gift.
30 years in the making, and tobe able to share Yoga is an
honor and a gift.
(35:44):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Till next time, okay.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!