YOGA FOR TRANSFORMATION

Yoga Leaflet 12

Last year I mentioned 3 main concepts taken from the yoga traditions which can deepen our practice as well as enhance its purification effect on our physical emotional and mental bodies. The notes which I will share with you are mainly taken from Yoga for Transformation by Gary Kraftsow (2002) who is a well known American yoga therapy teacher in the Desikachar tradition.

The Classical Yoga tradition developed in the context of the spiritual traditions of India. It evolved as a means of recognising and ultimately eliminating the root causes of suffering, which have plagued humanity since beginningless time. Suffering is seen as the result of a fundamental misapprehension (avidya) about who we are and what is going on in our life. Many of us have a basic confusion about our own identity and are not always aware of this confusion. We may adhere to patterns acquired in childhood which are not made conscious. The science of Kriya Yoga developed primarily as an antidote to the basic problem of human misperception(s) and the resulting ignorance. It grew out of the realisation that patterning is basic to everything we think and do. As human beings we are constantly involved in activity that can affect our lives in two basic ways. It can either reinforce our basic conditioning or serve as the ground for positive change. These are the bases for Yoga practice.
Within each of us lies the potential to reduce and ultimately to eliminate undesirable characteristics, dysfunctional patterns and impurities from our systems to awaken our inherent potential, discriminative awareness and the wisdom-mind, in order to experience a still, quiet, untroubled, calm, joyous and expanded consciousness(Kraftsow p.18).

From the point of view of the elimination of suffering Kriya Yoga can be understood as a threefold practice- based on Tapas or purification; self reflection (svadhyaya) and recognition of and dedication of our source (isvana pranidhana).
I chose, when I spoke to you last year, instead of the dedication to our source, the idea of "surrender" in relation to the energy flow and the breath in our body. This practice leads to an increase of awareness of movement of the breath and energy flow in postures. It helps to integrate the mind and body. This practice of tracking energy movements leads us ultimately closer to our source and the most subtle manifestation thereof. For Kraftsow the emphasis is on the heart and this can obviously be included as well for the breath and the heart are closely related.

Tapas or "purifying heat" leads to the purification and mastery of the body and senses. It is not so much a specific action as it is the concerted internal effort that accompanies the action. Whenever we perform our actions with full determination and effort, they are performed with tapas. Far from the mindlessness of heavy-handed discipline, true tapas generates ardour and enthusiasm. (Mastering the Basics. Sandra Anderson; Rolf Sovik, Psy.D. p. 228) It can also translate as "austerities", meaning that the practice of tapas (effort) is linked to deprivation and renunciation. This comes about as we resist our habitual patterns and this resistance enhances a kind of internal heat that purifies, strengthens and transforms. Tapas is primarily a process of getting rid of something undesirable in our system- from chronic subliminal muscular contraction, to toxicity in the colon, to deep-rooted emotions and behaviours. Tapas when applied, leads to the ability to observe the quality of our attention to any given activity. It helps us to become aware of tensions and other preoccupations which can divide our attention. Tapas helps us to cut through distractions and brings our full attention to the present moment.

The reflecting mirror (svadhyaya)
(To return to oneself-discover the Divine)
Svadyaya means to move toward or return to oneself: to come back to who we are. Tapas and svadhyana exist in mutual relationship. Tapas being the means by which we purify and refine our systems, svadhyaya being the means of self-reflection through which we come to an increasingly deeper level of self-awareness and self-understanding. By cleaning the vessel (body), self-reflection and self-examination help us to know where we should concentrate our practice of purification. We learn to see our deeper motivation(s). For example if we overdo a posture without being adequately self-reflexive, we may end up destabilising our hips, creating vulnerability in our lower back or ruining our knees.
If we are the slow moving more sluggish type we may opt for a gentle relaxing practice while we may need a more stimulating practice. In short we may need to avoid reinforcing existing patterns and use our feedback mechanisms to ensure a transformational activity as opposed to mindless application of technology.
In the Indian tradition chanting is a way of mind training and learning which is not part of our culture and hence not further addressed here. Chanting is another way of awakening the spiritual dimension in life or a return to one-self. The same applies to the reading and contemplation of inspiring spiritual texts.

For us another important aspect of yoga practice is the surrendering to that which sustains us and this can be symbolised as the energy field and the breath as it informs us in each new posture and transition from one movement to another. This activity of tracking the breath and subtle energy flow has a devotional component to it and it integrates the body and the mind as they begin to inhabit the same space and overlap in a sense. It takes us deeper into the integrated experience of the present moment. What does it feel like? Where am I in this position and how do I manage it with awareness, eloquently even playfully?
It is always a special experience when the inward activity of all those present is palpable in a class practice and is sustained for a while enhancing the energy field and experience of the postures for all concerned to a deeper level of unity and belonging. It becomes a moving together with focus quite spontaneously and is (for me) transformative.

Individually this sense of surrendering (giving over to) grounds us as it brings us continually back to our practice and experience of it in all its nuances. We surrender not in the sense of defeat, but rather a self-realisation through the attending to our inner life. It can be seen as a contrast to our basic four instinctive urges: food, sleep, sex and self-preservation. Self-surrender becomes a way of giving ourselves to a higher purpose. It leads us to transcend the limitations of our attachments and sense the presence of inner stillness and wholeness. I am sure you can find a lot more information on these three aspects of yoga practice. It is helpful to re-mind ourselves of what we are aiming to achieve on several levels!
Namaste.
Marjolein 03 01 2016.