Millions worldwide are experiencing the benefits of Yoga as a group stretch class. But Yoga’s long past (and hopefully its near future) is as a highly individualized, holistic healing art. This science of self-care uses the tools outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Yoga’s source text, to explore the relationships between body, breath and mind, This 2200 year old work describes two vital components of Yoga, and a four-step process for healing.
Yoga’s first requirement, according to the Sutras, is the student-teacher relationship. Traditionally this was exclusive and one on one. Each student had one teacher, and the teacher taught one student at a time. This prevented the student from receiving conflicting, confusing information, and also helped to insure that the practice was right for each student.
The second essential element is confidence, in Sanskrit, ‘sraddha’. The student must begin with confidence in something: the teacher, the self, a higher power, nature, God, gods. Sraddha creates a strong foundation for healing and energizes the practice. The teacher’s job is to transform whatever spark of confidence the student possesses into a blazing flame, one that can consume all obstacles. It is in the context of this confidence-building, student-teacher relationship that we find Yoga’s four-step process to healing. Though, it takes a great deal of study with a qualified teacher to master their subtleties, the four steps are: observing the symptoms, finding the cause of the problem, setting a goal, and choosing the tools.
Identifying the symptoms (Heyam) First, one must first admit to oneself (and eventually to another person) that there is a problem. The Sanskrit term for the problem is duhkha, literally, a constriction, limitation, lack of space.
The sutras give four general symptoms: unpleasant emotions, negative thinking, physical discomfort (or sudden changes in the body) and irregular breathing. Interestingly, the entire catalogue of physical and psychological maladies in the Western medical model is experienced as some combination of these four symptoms.
The next step is finding the cause (Hetu). Identifying the vast network of causes and effects in a person’s life is a complex task, requiring guided reflection and trained observation. Simply put, however, the Sutras suggest that the root cause of human discomfort is good habits gone bad. These habits of body, mind, and senses were established and maintained because of their once pleasurable, once positive effects. Life is change, however, and the very habits that once served us now result in duhkha, suffering and disease.
Self-destructive habits include everything from how we communicate to who we befriend, from diet to livelihood, from holding the breath to rounding the back to guard the heart, from sedentary behavior to perfectionism, from self-criticism to judgment of others. The very things that once supported us now serve to limit and bind: tools turned into crutches turned into shackles.
Next is setting a goal (Hanam). Usually accomplished by the student with the teacher’s help, this can include short or long term goals, and may be in any area, including relationships, lifestyle, body, breath, or mind.
One of the most powerful tools for goal setting is visualization or ‘bhavana’. This precise, vivid, imagining or ‘seeing’ of an improved condition serves to inspire, enliven, and shape a practice. A student with debilitating back pain who can visualize himself someday snowboarding with friends is far more likely to commit to and benefit from a practice than a student with no clear picture of what progress looks like.
Bhavana provides a key element in healing…something to heal to. Unhealthy, unhappy students often come to Yoga unclear as to what wellness and joy would look like. For these students, the first bhavana is to someday have a bhavana. This is important, considering the direct relationship between one’s ability to visualize health and happiness and the ability to experience them.
Only after working the first three steps do we choose the proper tools, (Upayam). Just as fixing a leaky pipe requires different tools than refinishing a cabinet, so the nature of the problem and desired goals determine which of Yoga’s many strategies and techniques will be most effective. Again, this is a complex science, the art of which requires study with a trained teacher to master. But again, there are some general tools and specific guidelines.
Asana, correctly practiced, helps at the gross level of the physical body. Appropriate postures are chosen, sequenced and modified for the particular student to achieve the desired results. Using slow, deep breathing as a guide, the qualities of relaxed attentiveness, firm softness, are maintained throughout the poses. Practicing Asana in this manner often brings increased stability and comfort into the practitioner’s daily life.
Pranayama, or breath control, works at a more subtle level. Due to Yoga’s central connection between the breath and the mind, making the breath long and smooth stabilizes the mind and brightens the emotions. Because pranayama works so deeply, the entire metabolism is affected. The results are often dramatic, and include quicker healing and a more positive attitude. Consistent focus on the breath ultimately links the practitioner to the very source of wellness, to that which heals. About this phenomenon little more can be said. It must be experienced.
Another effective tool in Yoga is sound, which, when correctly applied, is unsurpassed at strengthening the physical core, lengthening the breath, focusing the mind and creating an overall sense of confidence and well being. Whether the sound is mantra (meaningful phrases), Vedic chanting, chanting the Sutras, or some other system of sound technology, there is much to be gained by appropriately implementing sound into a practice.
Again, bhavana is a powerful meditation tool for visualizing an object that possesses qualities in which the student is lacking. Therefore, a person with a high fever can visualize, and therefore manifest, the coolness of a snowy lake. A weak or unstable person who visualizes a mountain or inspiring individual can become stronger and more stable. Taking on the qualities of the object of meditation is one of Yoga’s core concepts, expressed by the word, ‘samadhi’, literally ‘absorption’ or ‘to absorb’.
While posture, breathing, sound and bhavana are four of Yoga’s most common, accessible tools, they are but a fraction of what is actually available. Yoga is one of the oldest holistic healing systems on the planet and therefore, many of its tools resemble what the modern, compartmentalized West perceives as psychotherapy, religion, vocational guidance, nutritional counseling, or life-coaching.
For instance, over the years I have either been advised by my teacher, or advised my students to: get a massage, drink more water, take a vacation, get a hobby, change jobs, go back to school, get a new car, go for walks, attend a 12 step meeting, start a journal, get a dog, ask for praise, give praise, buy flowers, build an alter, cry, laugh, rage, feel the pain, move on.
Implementing these changes in one’s life it not always easy, but it IS Yoga. Far more than a group stretch class, this is Yoga in full flower. A Yoga that celebrates positive change in all forms and embraces that which reduces discomfort, expands our awareness and makes us free.
Text from KHYF.
www.khyf.com
