Punk rock born out of hating ego
Whole new worlds of music(k)?
Showing posts with label poses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poses. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2026
PUNK ROCK music be all like...
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Yoga Expo Los Angeles, Pasadena (Feb. 7)
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| Yoga is |
Join in on Saturday, February 7th, 2026, at the prestigious Pasadena Convention Center for the nation’s largest yoga-inspired gathering.
Now in its 8th year, The Yoga Expo LA is evolving to highlight the future of yoga, wellness innovation, and conscious community building. This all-day immersive event welcomes 3,000+ attendees and features:
🌟 World-Renowned Headliners: Practice with Travis Eliot and Lauren Eckstrom, co-founders of Inner Dimension TV, as they lead powerful, transformational sessions designed to inspire and elevate.
🧘 Yoga for Every Body: Experience diverse styles and new modalities—from vinyasa and restorative to trauma-informed practices, sound healing, and next-generation yoga hybrids.
🌱 Wellness Innovation: Explore the latest in holistic living, biohacking, functional wellness, mindfulness technologies, and sustainable lifestyle solutions.
🛍️ Curated Marketplace: Discover eco-conscious brands, yoga apparel, clean beauty, superfoods, supplements, and regenerative wellness products.
🎤 Presentations and Workshops: Engage with teachers, healers, and facilitators offering classes, talks, and practices to deepen this journey. Each exhibitor receives a 50-minute presentation slot to connect directly with attendees.
🤝 Community and Connection: Network with studio owners, retreat leaders, conscious entrepreneurs, and fellow seekers who are shaping the future of wellness.
✨ Opportunities to Participate: Presenters, Teachers, Facilitators: Share gifts on stage.
Exhibitors and Brands: Showcase products and services.
Sponsors and Partners: Align with a trusted platform and reach a highly engaged audience.
The Yoga Expo LA 2026 is more than an event—it’s a movement of forward-thinking wellness and conscious connection. Be part of a day that inspires, educates, and uplifts.
👉 Visit TheYogaExpo.org to register as an attendee, presenter, exhibitor, or sponsor.
- Saturday, Feb. 7th, 2026
- 10:00 am-6:00 pm
- 9:00 AM VIP early entry
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| Enter the healing salon pyramid. |
Yoga and Movement: From energizing vinyasa flows to restorative practices and cutting-edge new modalities, there’s something for every body.
Move, breathe, and expand practice while exploring the future of yoga. Expect classes all day long led by a diverse lineup of teachers, plus live music, movement, and community networking.
🧘🏾♂️ Meditation and Mindfulness
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| What would Patanjali do? (Yoga Sutras) |
Discover accessible yet powerful meditation practices rooted in ancient wisdom and adapted for today’s world. Learn tools for stress relief, resilience, and clarity from teachers blending tradition with modern insights.
💡 Keynotes, Panels, and Wellness Innovation: Join inspiring talks, panels, and forums led by industry leaders, exploring yoga philosophy, integrative health, wellness tech, biohacking, longevity, and conscious business. This is where movement meets personal and professional growth.
👩🏼👦🏼 Family and Little Yogis: Yoga is for all ages! Kids can explore yoga, mindfulness, breathing techniques, and creative activities in a safe, playful space—making The Yoga Expo a family-friendly experience.
🛍️ Marketplace: Explore over 125+ conscious brands from local artisans to global innovators. Discover yoga apparel, retreats, clean skincare, wellness products, cultural crafts, and sustainable solutions—all curated to inspire conscious living.
🌿 Organic Food and Beverage Sampling: Fuel the day with delicious, health-focused food and drinks. Enjoy tastings and options ranging from vegan, organic, gluten-free, and non-GMO to innovative wellness snacks and beverages.
✨ Community and Connection: Beyond classes and products, The Yoga Expo LA is about connection—meeting teachers, practitioners, conscious entrepreneurs, and seekers who are shaping the future of wellness. Be Part of a Transformational Experience Step into a day of yoga, movement, and mindful living, hosted by Arianne Traverso and Sandra Tribioli. Together, they bring decades of expertise in yoga, wellness, and transformational community experiences, curating a space where ancient yogic traditions meet modern innovation.
🌟 Exhibitors and Sponsorships: For exhibitor and sponsor opportunities, connect with: Sandra Tribioli | sandra@theyogaexpo.co
WHAT ATTENDEES SAY
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- "There was a great variety of classes offered and lots of different vendors to shop with. It was a fun-filled day, and well worth it! I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next one!"
- "Amazing experience. Tried so many classes—there were endless choices. All the instructors were inspiring and unique!"
- "Spent the entire day at the expo and was able to enjoy four different classes. The marketplace was out of this world. Already planning for next year!"
- "Such a beautiful event filled with amazing people and conscious vendors. As a beginner, I felt so welcome—I explored so many styles of yoga. Best weekend ever!"
- "It was a day full of laughter, joy, and unforgettable memories. The kids were glowing with happiness exploring yoga life."
WHERE TO STAY
⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
Hotel Dena (formerly the Sheraton Pasadena) 📍 Right inside the Convention Center 303 Cordova Street, Pasadena, California, USA, 91101 📞 Toll Free: +1-800-457-7940. Why? Exclusive discounted group rate with breakfast included. (Call hotel directly for updated rates if needed.)
WHAT TO KNOW
💵 Cash-Friendly — Please support vendors. Discover innovative yoga mats, tools, clothing, jewelry, travel destinations, and more.
🎟 VIP & Ultra VIP (High Life) Passes — Enjoy early entry, skip the lines, receive a premium gift bag, and access extra perks.
🧘 Classes — First come, first served. Arrive early to secure a spot.
🚫 Ticket Policy — All ticket sales are final. No refunds. 🌦 Rain or shine — the event will go on regardless of weather.
✨ Learn more or subscribe at TheYogaExpo.org. Thanks to sponsors and partners! Holistic Wander Global Sound Bath and Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Yoga: 108 Sun Salutations, Round 2 (1/21)
Ambassador Stella "Yogihantas" Han (kinshipyoga.com/events), Instagram. YogaGivesBack.org, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Cody, Jen (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
New Year's Yoga Mala: 108 Sun Salutations with Stella Han
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| The 14 moves in one salutation |
Practice yoga for a cause:
50% of proceeds go to the charity Yoga Gives Back.
In Eastern philosophy (and other spiritual traditions such as Catholicism), 108 is considered an auspicious number that represents a complete cycle (an alpha and omega, an ultimate beginning or ending phenomenon).
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| Stella Han, MSW (@yogihantas) • Instagram |
This Hatha Yoga practice may be modified, which is encouraged to make it healthy and assure completion.
Feel free to do any number that feels safe in this body. The Sun Salutation yoga series is a beautiful moving ritual that connects mind and body.
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| The "Sun Salutation" series is 14 yoga poses. |
Set an intention or use the salute to practice, honor, and respect the healing nature of ancient wisdom. Sign up: Kinship Studios (mindbodyonline.com)
- RSVP: Yoga Moving Meditation: 108 Sun Salutations, Round 2, Sun, Jan 21, 2024, 3:30 PM | Meetup
- Yoga Gives Back (@yogagivesback) • Instagram
- Charity helping girls in India: yogagivesback.org
Friday, December 15, 2023
Mindfulness vs. cell phones in yoga class
Yoga Teacher Erin Bidlake (erinbidlake.com); Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Uncomfortable with discomfort
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| Cell phones in yoga: compassionate approach |
As a meditator and long-time yogi, I’m fully aware of how the discursive nature of my mind often keeps me from engaging with the present moment (being where we are, doing what we're doing, remaining mindful of this very moment).
The internal chatter of “pick up some greens for dinner, her comment felt judgey, should I change jobs?” is relentless and often painful.
The human desire to avoid pain and get comfortable is at the root of every addiction. We over-eat, shop, drink, and get high to numb the pain of our situations.
And more recently, we scroll and scroll through our social media feeds, looking for something to validate our lives, even as our lives are happening around us.
In this way, discursivity (the habit of letting the mind wander endlessly in search of something to amuse it and satisfy its cravings) is just one more thing we’ve outsourced to our cell phones.
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| No, it's okay, I can talk. What's up? |
Knowing this, compassion seems like the only thoughtful response to students checking cell phones in class. (Who needs mindfulness? I mean, I thought that was why you came to moving-meditation of the postures, but I guess not.)
As a yoga teacher, I want to encourage my students to work with their vulnerability, discursivity, and addiction, so I hesitate to take a hard stand on cell phones in yoga class.
It's not because I condone them, but because I see them as symptomatic of a much larger issue: a widespread and almost pathological aversion to discomfort of any kind.
Learning to stay
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| I don't have to do what craving says? |
We practice staying, breath by breath, mindful moment by mindful moment. We stay with the discomfort, the itch, the burning, the agony of not reacting to everything in our habitual ways.
In this way, we cultivate resilience; we cultivate an ability to hold our seat (asana, posture) when things get uncomfortable. (What do we do when things get tough? We get going.) Stay. More
- Mindfulness practice takes courage. It’s contrary to how most of us live our lives! But where better to nurture the seeds of resilience and non-reactivity than on our yoga and meditation mats? Once we’ve practiced sitting with "benign discomfort" on our mats, we can take the qualities of attention, presence, non-reactivity, and resilience off the mat and into the world. Who would we be in our daily lives if we actually stayed present? We might hold our position when things really matter: when we’re with our partner, kids, friends, enemies, the boss or stuck in traffic.
- Intention? Cell phones in yoga class (elephant journal)
Saturday, July 8, 2023
"Yoga Hosers" w/ Glam-Thrax (free movie)
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| We were not inspired by Kevin Smith of all people, not at all. We love yoga for yoga. |
Yoga Hosers (free movie with ads
PG-13)
It's the second film in Smith's True North Trilogy, which world premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
PLOT: Colleen Collette and Colleen McKenzie are two 15-year-old girls who spend their days studying yoga with their guru, Yogi Bayer, and working an after-school job at a Manitoba, Canada, convenience store called "Eh-2-Zed."
They are also in a cover band called Glam-thrax with their tattooed 35-year-old drummer friend Ichabod. The two are invited to a party by popular senior Hunter Calloway, who is the object of Colleen M's affections.
The next day at school, the girls' history teacher informs the class that the Nazi Party once had influence in Winnipeg. Led by the self-proclaimed "Canadian Führer" Adrien Arcand and his right-hand man, Andronicus Arcane, the Canadian Nazis were once a great force of terror. Arcand was later arrested by Federal authorities, but Andronicus Arcane was never found. More
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Sedona Yoga Festival (March 10)
Sedona Yoga Festival, Accessible Yoga; Meg, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
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| Sedona Yoga Festival 2023 |
Like #SYF, AY prioritizes inclusivity and diversity and holds space for conversations that move the #community forward.
Join AY Founder and Director @JivanaHeyman -- as well as #SYF2023 presenters @oreggieglobal, @shannasmallofficial, and @pranascience -- for a morning of #mindfulness, #accessible #asana, #yoga philosophy, #soundhealing, and #pranayama.
There will also be special giveaways offered of one (1) All Access Pass* to the Sedona Yoga Festival and one (1) free pass to the Accessible Yoga Online Studio. All attendees will additionally receive a 10% discount code to SYF tickets and a special discount to the Accessible Yoga Online Studio.SYF Presents: Spring Renewal Mini-Retreat: A Fundraiser for Accessible Yoga (Friday, March 10
9:00–11:00 am MST
(11:00 am–1:00 pm ET // 10:00-11:00 am CST // 8:00-10:00 am PST // 4:00-5:00 pm BST).
The mini-retreat will include:
🌱 Accessible Asana with Jivana Heyman
🌱 Yoga Philosophy Lecture with Shanna Small
🌱 Sound Healing with Reggie Hubbard
🌱Accessible Pranayama Practice with Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian
🌱 Closing with Jivana & Reggie (including a giveaway)
- Sedona Yoga Festival on Instagram: #SYF + AY
- Registration starts at $15. Link in bio to save a spot
Monday, March 6, 2023
Chris Rock; Cheerleaders meditate after win?
Andrew Holleran, The Spun via MSN; Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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Chris Rock [mocks the h*ll out of] Jada Pinkett Smith during a new comedy special. On Saturday March 4th), the comedian historically performed a live set for Netflix, titled Selective Outrage, during which he roasted Will Smith for slapping him at the Oscars in March 2022.
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| Cheerleaders dare to sit meditation-style in easy pose after victory? (Getty Images/The Spun). Where's the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers to show them how it's done for the whole team to make winning a regular thing? |
[How can we prepare the American population and our exuberant youth for an endless war economy? Robber barons have an idea: Let's make them rabid for organized sports!]
(VOID) LYRICS: "Organized Sports" Blah, blah, blah, organized sports! They just leave me in the dust!
Duke, in Year 1 of the Jon Scheyer era, swept the regular season series against North Carolina.
The Blue Devils topped the Tar Heels to finish out the regular season on Saturday night.
Duke's cheerleaders were pretty excited with the victory.
- Penises: Bigger isn't always better. Researchers are concerned about how men are 'growing' (msn.com)
- Duke cheerleader photo goes viral after win over UNC (vizaca.com)
- Sports world reacts to the Duke cheerleader photo | Flipboard
- PHOTOS: Duke Cheerleading on Instagram: “Our blue”
Chris Rock strikes back -- with humor
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| I drove Will to this. He's my little b*tch-boy. |
However, he also used the set to make a claim about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett. According to Rock, the Girl’s Trip actor attempted to force Rock to quit hosting the Oscars in 2016 because her husband didn’t get a Best Actor nomination.
That year, Smith was being tipped for a possible nod for the drama Concussion, but he ultimately failed to make the list of nominees. “And then he gives me a concussion,” Rock quipped. In 2016, Pinkett Smith, alongside many Hollywood stars, boycotted the 2016 ceremony due to the lack of diversity among that year’s nominations.
This lack of diversity prompted the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. The Independent has contacted Pinkett Smith for comment. Rock added in the special: “I’ve rooted for Will Smith my whole life. And now I watch Emancipation just to see him get whipped.”
Monday, February 13, 2023
I don't know how to meditate!
Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Wikipedia edit asana
When that doesn't work, we can get meticulous and fall back on the long tradition of India and proto-India, which describes YOGA ("union" of breath/spirit, body, and mind) as ashtanga or "Eight Limbs" or arms or factors of union:
Postures, along with breath work, are the physical movements of yoga. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras describes asana as a "steady and comfortable posture" [19], referring to the seated postures used for breath work and meditation, where meditation is the path to samadhi or the transpersonal realization and stillness of a coherent mind/heart.
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| The initial effort becomes ease. |
How does one meditate? "It's natural; it just happens" is one popular answer one almost never hears. It should be said out loud because the meditation instructions are usually so feeble that they amount to next to nothing to do: Just sit down. Close the eyes. Breathe. Don't fall asleep. When the mind wanders, and it will because that's the nature of the mind, bring it back. Start again. Do not scold it. Love it like a wayward child that can't relax. Stroke it like a nervous chicken that will, before long, settle down. Don't ruffle its feathers. If its feathers are ruffled all day, don't be surprised if when sitting down its feathers take a long time to settle. Be calm most of the day and, hey, whaddyaknow, it settles sooner.
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| What are the Eight Factors of Raja Yoga? |
The Eight Limbs or "Factors of Union" are, in order, the:
- codes of social conduct (yamas)
- self-observances (niyamas)
- postures (asanas)
- breath work (pranayama)
- sense withdrawal (pratyahara or non-attachment)
- concentration (dharana)
- meditation (dhyana)
- coherence (samadhi or union with Brahman).
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| Yoga Teacher Nina Mel (Kennguru) |
The Yoga Sutras do not mention a single seat or asana by name, merely specifying the characteristics of a good one: स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥
sthira sukham āsanam. "Seats" [should be a balance of] "effort and ease" or "Seat means a steady and comfortable posture" (Yoga Sutras 2:46).
The sutras (threads, sutures, aphorisms, or terse sayings) are embedded in the Bhasya commentary, which scholars suggest may also be by Patanjali [23]. It names a dozen seated meditation postures, including lotus pose (padmasana), hero's pose (virasana), bound angle pose (bhadrasana), and accomplished pose (svastikasana) [24].
An easier way to meditate?
Brittenway; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
What if there were an easier way to "sit" meditation, zazen style? In yoga, asana literally means "seat." But how we sit, how we arrange our limbs to enter meditative states, is flexible. We need not lock into full lotus. There's half lotus, easy pose, ergonomic cushions, a small bench, a sturdy chair, and even sinking into the tub. We leave the body, and turn our attention to the other three objects/subjects of meditation: feelings, mind, and mind-objects. First, to enter the first meditation (jhana, zen, chan, dhyana), we can focus on the breath. But there are other ways. For instance, there's loving-kindness meditation, focusing all of our attention on well-wishing one respected person. See more at metta bhavana. Draw a bath, get a small bench for the knees, find a support for the lower back. It's even possible to lie down when practice gets better (otherwise we risk falling asleep). This company also has a solution: BRITENWAY Bed Wedge Pillow Set: 4-piece orthopedic wedge pillow set with 45D memory foam pillows for back, neck, head, shoulders support that's ergonomic
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| The wisdom of Brad Warner (ACZC) |
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| The author of the Yoga Sutras Patanjali describes asana practice as the third of the eight limbs (Sanskrit अष्टाङ्ग or aṣhṭāṅga) of Raja Yoga. The word asana is from Sanskrit (आसन, "sitting down," from आस् ās "to sit down"), a sitting posture, a meditation seat. |
Friday, August 16, 2019
The "rock star" pose (The Simpsons)
The Simpsons (Fox TV) via Loudwire; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
Top 10 Rock Star The Simpsons Cameos
(Loudwire, April 25, 2019) Throughout #TheSimpsons' 30 seasons, hundreds of poser (and a few good) musicians have been "yellowfied." These are the 10 most memorable appearances by rock and metal artists.
- Go → loudwire.com
- Like → facebook.com/Loudwire
- Follow → twitter.com/Loudwire
- Follow → instagram.com/loudwire
- Newsletter → loudwire.com/newsletter
Thursday, December 13, 2018
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Ananda M. (Dharma Meditation Initiative), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
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| Ahimsa is at the heart of spirituality |
The Indian sage Patanjali's writings became the basis for a system referred to as Ashtanga Yoga or "Eight-Limbed Practice." This eight-factor concept, apparently borrowed from the Buddha's revolutionary Noble Eightfold Path, is
listed in the twenty-ninth sutra of Book 2 of The Yoga Sutras. These eight factors are:
- Abstentions or Yama refers to five things: ahimsa (non-harming other living beings, nonviolence), satya (truthfulness, non-falsehood), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (restraint, chastity, celibacy, fidelity to one's partner), and aparigraha (non-avarice, non-possessiveness).
- Observances or Niyama refers to five things: sauca (purity, clearness of mind, speech and body), santosha (contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances), tapas (persistent meditation, perseverance, austerity), svādhyāya (study of self, self-reflection, study of spiritual texts), and ishvara-pranidhana (contemplation of the supreme or of the true self).
- Poses or Asana literally means "seat," and in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras it refers to the seated positions used for meditation.
- Breathing Exercises or Pranayama: prāna ("invisible life force energy") or breath [Latin spiritus] and āyāma to "stretch, extend, restrain, stop."
- Withdrawal or Pratyahara: withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
- Contemplation or Dharana: intense contemplation of the nature of the objects of meditation.
- Meditation or Dhyana ("absorption"): fixing the attention on a single object.
- Concentration or Samadhi: merging consciousness with the object of meditation. More
What about Buddhism?
While these eight do NOT correspond to Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, which leads to enlightenment and final liberation, they are compatible and helpful.
The key difference is Right View, which is missing in yoga. It is a necessary motive for taking up the Buddhism's path. There is initial or mundane right view and confirmed right view brought about through insight practices.
The contemplation, concentration, and meditation listed here would in Buddhism all come under the heading Right Concentration, whereas Right Mindfulness (defined as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness) is what leads to liberating insight called vipassana.
Zen
Rhys Davids and Stede (1921-25), in their entry for jhāna, as well as Kapleau (1989, p. 385), explain that the word zen comes from the Sanskrit dhyāna.
Pali Text Society Secretary Dr. Rupert Gethin, in describing the activities of wandering ascetics like the Buddha, wrote:
While these eight do NOT correspond to Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, which leads to enlightenment and final liberation, they are compatible and helpful.
The key difference is Right View, which is missing in yoga. It is a necessary motive for taking up the Buddhism's path. There is initial or mundane right view and confirmed right view brought about through insight practices.
The contemplation, concentration, and meditation listed here would in Buddhism all come under the heading Right Concentration, whereas Right Mindfulness (defined as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness) is what leads to liberating insight called vipassana.
Zen
Pali Text Society Secretary Dr. Rupert Gethin, in describing the activities of wandering ascetics like the Buddha, wrote:
- "...[T]here is the cultivation of meditative and contemplative techniques aimed at producing what might, for the lack of a suitable technical term in English, be referred to as 'altered states of consciousness'. In the technical vocabulary of Indian religious texts such states come to be termed 'meditations' dhyāna/jhāna) or 'concentrations' (samādhi); the attainment of such states of consciousness was generally regarded as bringing the practitioner to deeper knowledge and experience of the nature of the world" (Gethin, 1998, p. 10).
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
YOGA: poses are only 1/8th of the path
Patanjali (Wikipedia edit); Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Finally, Fatso Griffin starts a yoga regimen...but does it while driving for Uber (Family Guy). |
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Yoga is an eightfold path that, like the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, tries to formulate a path to liberation (moksha), but here it twists "liberation" to mean "rebirth with Brahma." This was later corrected or expanded to mean "merging with Brahman." Brahma is the God of the Brahmins, whereas Brahman is the ultimate reality, GOD, or Godhead (godhood). Sadly, the majority of Westerners think "Yoga" means postures, poses, and pretzel twists...and really cool pants. What are the Eight Limbs of Yoga trying to formulate a teaching as popular and effective as the Buddha's Path?
1. Yamas (rules)
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| Om is the universal sound |
These are the ethical rules or moral imperatives. The five yamas listed by Patañjali in The Yoga Sūtras (2.30) are:
- Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): nonviolence, non-harming other living beings.
- Satya (सत्य): truthfulness, non-falsehood.
- Asteya (अस्तेय): non-stealing.
- Brahmacārya (ब्रह्मचर्य): chastity, marital fidelity, or sexual restraint.
- Aparigraha (अपरिग्रहः): non-avarice, non-possessiveness, non-grabbing, non-hoarding.
Patanjali, in Book 2, explains how and why each of the above self-restraints help in the personal growth of an individual. For example, in Verse II.35, Patanjali states that the virtue of nonviolence or non-injury to others (ahimsa) leads to the abandonment of enmity, a state that leads the yogi or yogini to the perfection of inner and outer amity with everyone, everything.
2. Niyama (obligations)
The second component of Patanjali's path, which includes virtuous habits, behaviors, and observances (the "dos"). Sadhana Pada Verse 32 lists the niyamas as:
- Śauca: purity, clearness of mind, speech, and body.
- Santoṣa: contentment, acceptance of others, acceptance of one's circumstances as they are in order to get past or change them, optimism for self.
- Tapas: persistence, perseverance, austerity.
- Svādhyāya: study of the Vedas, study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self's thoughts, speeches, and actions.
- Īśvarapraṇidhāna: contemplation of the Ishvara (GOD/Supreme Being, Brahman, True Self, Unchanging Reality).
As with the yamas, Patanjali explains how and why each of the above niyamas help in the personal growth of the individual. For example, in Verse II.42, Patanjali states that the virtue of contentment and acceptance of others as they are (santoṣa) leads to the state where inner sources of joy matter most, and the craving for external sources of pleasure ceases.
3. Āsana (postures)
Patanjali begins discussion of asana (आसन, posture) by defining it in Verse 46 of Book 2 as follows स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥:- Translation 1: an asana is what is steady and pleasant.
- Translation 2: motionless and agreeable form (of staying) is asana (yoga posture).
—Yoga Sutras II.46
Asana is thus a posture that one can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable, and motionless. Patanjali does not list any specific asana, except the terse suggestion, a "posture one can hold with comfort and motionlessness."Āraṇya translates Verse II.47 of The Yoga Sutras as, "asanas are perfected over time by relaxation of effort with meditation on the infinite"; this combination and practice stops the quivering of body. The posture that causes pain or restlessness is not a yogic posture. Other secondary texts studying Patanjali's sutra state that one requirement of correct posture is to keep breast, neck, and head erect (proper spinal posture).
Later yoga school scholars developed, described, and commented on numerous postures. Vyasa, for example, in his bhasya (commentary) on Patanjali's treatise suggests 12:
- Padmasana (lotus pose)
- Veerasana (heroic)
- Bhadrasana (decent)
- Swastikasana (the mystical sign)
- Dandasana (staff)
- Sopasrayasana (supported)
- Paryankasana (bedstead),
- Krauncha-nishadasana (seated heron)
- Hastanishadasana (seated elephant)
- Ushtranishadasana (seated camel)
- Samasansthanasana (evenly balanced)
- Sthirasukhasana (any motionless posture that is in accordance with one's pleasure).
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes the technique of 84 asanas, stating that four of these are most important:
- Padmasana (lotus)
- Bhadrasana (decent)
- Sinhasana (lion), and
- Siddhasana (accomplished).
4. Prāṇāyāma (breath control)
Two Sanskrit words, prāṇa (प्राण breath) and āyāma (आयाम restraining, extending, stretching).
After a desired posture has been achieved, Verses II.49 through II.51 recommend the next limb of yoga, prāṇāyāma, which is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and exhalation).
This is done in several ways, inhaling and then suspending exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period, slowing the inhalation and exhalation, consciously changing the time/length of breath (deep, short breathing).
5. Pratyāhāra (collectedness)
This is a combination of two Sanskrit words prati- (the prefix प्रति- "towards") and āhāra (आहार "bring near, fetch").
Pratyahara is fetching and bringing near one's awareness and one's thoughts to within. It is a process of withdrawing one's thoughts from external objects, things, person, situation. It is turning one's attention to one's true Self, one's inner world, experiencing and examining self.
It is a step of self extraction and abstraction. Pratyahara is not consciously closing one's eyes to the sensory world; it is consciously closing one's mind processes to the sensory world. Pratyahara empowers one to stop being controlled by the external world, fetch one's attention to seek self-knowledge, and experience the freedom innate in one's inner world.
Pratyahara marks the transition of yoga experience from first four limbs that perfect external forms to last three limbs that perfect inner state, from outside to inside, from outer sphere of body to inner sphere of spirit.
6. Dhāraṇā (concentration)
In Sanskrit (धारणा) this means concentration, introspective focus, and one-pointedness of mind. The root of word is dhṛ (धृ), which has a meaning of "to hold, maintain, keep."
Dharana as the sixth limb of yoga is holding one's mind onto a particular inner state, subject, or topic of one's mind. The mind (not sensory organ) is fixed on a mantra ["thought instrument"], or one's breath/navel/tip of tongue/any place, or an object one wants to observe, or a concept/idea in one's mind. Fixing the mind means one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind, and without discursively jumping from one topic to another.
7. Dhyāna (contemplation)
In Sanskrit (ध्यान) this literally means "contemplation, reflection" and "profound, abstract meditation."
Dhyana is contemplating, reflecting on whatever dharana has focused on. If in the sixth limb of yoga one focused on a personal deity, dhyana is its contemplation.
If the concentration was on one object, dhyana is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous observation of that object. If the focus were on a concept/idea, dhyana is contemplating that concept/idea in all its aspects, forms, and consequences. Dhyana is uninterrupted flow of awareness, train of thought, current of cognition.
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| Shiva dances with Shakti in the Himalayas (SS) |
Dhyana is integrally related to dharana, one leads to other. Dharana is a state of mind, dhyana the process of mind. Dhyana is distinct from dharana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged with its focus.
Patanjali defines contemplation (dhyana) as the mind process, where the mind is fixed on something, and then there is "a course of uniform modification of knowledge."
Adi Shankara, in his commentary on The Yoga Sutras, distinguishes dhyana from dharana, by explaining dhyana as the yoga state when there is only the "stream of continuous thought about the object, uninterrupted by other thoughts of different kind for the same object."
Dharana, states Shankara, is focused on one object, but aware of its many aspects and ideas about the same object. Shankara gives the example of a yogin in a state of dharana on morning sun may be aware of its brilliance, color, and orbit; the yogin in a dhyana state contemplates the sun's orbit alone, for example, without being interrupted [distracted] by its color, brilliance, or other related ideas.
8. Samādhi (absorption)
In Sanskrit (समाधि) this literally means "putting together, joining, combining with, union, harmonious whole, [absorption]."Samadhi is oneness with the subject of meditation. There is no distinction, during the eighth limb of yoga, between the actor of meditation, the act of meditation, and the subject of meditation.
Samadhi is that spiritual state when one's mind is so absorbed in whatever it is contemplating that the mind loses the sense of its own identity. The thinker, the thought process, and the thought fuse with the subject of thought. There is only oneness, samadhi. More
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