This week’s class theme is called From Changing to Changeless. I chose it for this time of year due to the significant effects on our body, heart and minds of the changing seasons a this time of year, as Summer turns to Autumn, and nights start to become longer as days become shorter. .
It is also however a theme pertinent to us as Yoga practitioners too. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga is defined as:
“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha”.
This translates as something like “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind”.
Though often lost in many modern day Yoga classes, the Yoga practices we engage with in classes are in essence devices for bringing steadiness to a mind which is ever changeful in nature.
And the reason for this?
It is so that the grip that the turbulence of the mind has upon us is loosened and with mind steadied through the practices, with the trance of the mind quelled, we are able to glimpse a dimension of our being which is beyond and untouched by the fluctuating mind and it’s beliefs and thought-processes.
The Masters have taught us that this changeless dimension of our being, that we witness and experience through our Yoga and meditation practices, is closer to who we are in truth, than any changeful concepts passing through the mind. It is an opening into our essential Self and realising this Self, as who we are in essence, is the goal of all Yogas.
Why?
Because, how can we find happiness, peace of mind and true meaning in life, if we are bound by that which is ever-changing? How can we ever know who we really are and thereby relax into ourselves and live from our highest health, potential and joy if what we believe ourselves to be is so unreliable that it could vanish or fall apart at our feet in any moment.
And yet this is the human state of affairs mostly, and this is the cause of much of our inner pain and turmoil. Would you agree?
Think about it. Maybe you too have expereinced a time/times when you have said or done something that is totally at odds with who you have been believing yourself to be. It leaves your self-image in pieces and leaves you confused and lost as to who you really are,
The teachings are that as long as we believe that we are the thoughts passing through our mind, or that they arise from us, then we are lost. There can be no lasting sense of Self if we anchor our self-knowing on that which is ever-changing.
It makes sense when you think about it, doesn’t it?
The Yoga scriptures teach us that essentially the mind is nothing more than a mix of latent impressions, memories, past experiences and conditionings. It has no real substance in and of itself.
And it’s very nature is change and fluctuation.
As Yoga practitioners, we turn to Ayurveda for extra support in maintaining that inner equilbrium and the steadiness that will help to free us from the grip of the mind and it’s changeful nature.
Ayurveda teaches us to balance the doshas or humours in the body and mind to create a state of balance and clarity. or “Sattva”.
Not only the mind, but the whole of life is a flux and changeful, isn’t it? It is as if we are set-up for imbalance, lack of steadiness and stability, for changeful-ness!. In fact, the Ayurveda term “dosha” can be translated as “fault” or “that which is unstable”.
And so when we follow the teachings of Ayurveda to balance our doshas through diet, lifestyle, right use of the senses and thinking, then we build sattva in our bodies and minds. And in a state of sattva we are better able to release ourselves from the grip of delusion or over-stimulation which usually cloud our understanding of the nature of things and of who we truly are.
In a Sattvic state, we have greater inner clarity we are happier, more balanced, more at ease in ourselves. And, if we are committed practitioners, in nurturing sattva, we are nurturing that state of being that will support success on the path of Yoga and recognition of our essential Self..
Our classes this week will look at the building of steadiness in heart and mind, within a changeful world, as we journey towards the unchanging core of our being through the Yoga posture, breath and medtitatoin. And as we counter-act the influences in our environment bringing instability to our minds and nervous systems.
And these days there is so much change in our world, isn’t there?
Let’s give thanks for the blessings of Yoga in our life and open to it;s full transformational reach, supported by the widsom teachings of Ayurveda.
For details of upcoming Ayurveda and Yoga events please click
here. to see the Calendar of Events.
.