This week, I finished the first portion of the Yoga Sutra Study course with my 2024 group in the program! The Yoga Sutra Study is an eight month program with regular discussion groups. It is a 100 Hour course which can either be done alone, or as part of the 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training course that I lead.
This week, I finished the first portion of the Yoga Sutra Study course with my 2024 group in the program! The Yoga Sutra Study is an eight month program with regular discussion groups. It is a 100 Hour course which can either be done alone, or as part of the 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training course that I lead.
After teaching the course for the last three years, I feel I finally have a good grasp of the structure of the text, and I want to share the breakdown of the different sections of the text and what their general focus is. If you want to learn more about each section, I have various Yoga Teacher Training courses which can introduce you to the text more in depth (see bottom of the blog post!)
Sutras 1.1 - 1.4: What is yoga?
Yoga Sutra 1.1 Atha yoga anusasanam
Yoga Sutra 1.2 Yogas Citta Vritti Nirodhah
Yoga Sutra 1.4 Vritti Sarupyam Itaratra
Simply put, these four first sutras are all about: what is yoga? We learn that yoga begins in the now, yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind, when we practice yoga we can see the world with clarity, and when we don't practice yoga, we get swept up in our thoughts.
Sutras 1.5 - 1.11: The Five types of Thoughts
Yoga Sutra 1.5 Vrttayah pancatayyah klistaklistah
Yoga Sutra 1.6 Pramana Viparyaya Vikalpa Nidra Smrtayah
Yoga Sutra 1.7 Pratyaksa Anumana Agamah Pramanani
Yoga Sutra 1.8 Viparyayo Mithya Jnanam Atadrupa Pratistham
Yoga Sutra 1.9 Sabda Jnana Anupati Vastu Sunyo Vikalpah
Yoga Sutra 1.10 Abhava Pratyaya Alambana Tamo Vrittir Nidra
Yoga Sutra 1.11 Anu Bhuta Visaya Asampramosah Smritih
This section of the sutras introduces us to the five vrittis, or five thought spirals: right knowledge, wrong knowledge, sleep, memory, and imagination. It shows us how our thoughts can take us on a journey from true to untrue, from truth to imagination, to memory, etc. When we learn how to discern our thoughts, we can learn how to realize what is actually observed in truth, and what has been imagined. We can see how we harm ourselves via these thoughts, as we cause ourselves suffering. During my sutra study course, I teach an exercise for my students to witness their thoughts and distinguish them from one another, which I learned from my amazing teacher Anvita in Mumbai.
Sutras 1.12 - 1.16: Practice and Nonattachment
Yoga Sutra 1.12 Abhyasa Vairagya Abhyam Tan Nirodhah
Yoga Sutra 1.13 Tatra Sthitau Yatno Bhyasa
Yoga Sutra 1.14 Sa Tu Dirghakala Nairantarya Satkara Adara Asevito Drdhabhumih
Yoga Sutra 1.15 Viparyayo Mithya Jnanam Atadrupa Pratistham
Yoga Sutra 1.16 Tat param purusa khyati guna vaitsnyam.
These sutras introduce us to the concepts of abhyasa, practice, and dispassion, vairagya. We learn these as the two fundamental aspects of our practice and learn about different elements regarding practice and letting go. We learn about the lower and higher form of vairagya, the three types of abhyasa, and more.
Sutras 1.17 - 1.18: An Introduction to Samadhi
Yoga Sutra 1.17 Vitarka vicara anada asmita rupa anugamat samprajnatah
Yoga Sutra 1.18 Virama pratyaya abhyasa purvah samskara seso nyah
In Sutras 1.17 - 1.18, we are introduced to the higher and lower forms of samadhi, or consciousness. We understand that lower samadhi has four stages and we learn what they are.
Yoga Sutra 1.19 - 1.22: The Effects of Effort
Yoga Sutra 1.19 Bhava pratyayo Vvideha prakriti layanam
Yoga Sutra 1.20 Sraddha virya smrti samadhi prajna purvaka itaresam
Yoga Sutra 1.21 Tivra Samveganam Asaannah
Yoga Sutra 1.22 Mrdu-Madhya-Adhimatrat-tato-pi Viseah
This selection of sutras speaks to a few concepts. The first speaks about the death and rebirth cycle, according to yoga philosophy. The belief here is that when we die, not all effort towards consciousness is lost. We will be reborn closer to samadhi than we were born in the previous lifetime. This is why some children appear to be more enlightened then their peers. We learn about the five step process that the rest of us must take to work towards samadhi. Then, we learn about the two different building blocks of developing blocks towards samadhi. And finally, we learn about the three different types of practitioners on their way to samadhi.
Yoga Sutra 1.23 - 1.29: The Role of Faith
Yoga Sutra 1.23 Isvara Pranidhana
Yoga Sutra 1.24 Klesa karma vipaka asayiah aparamtrstah purusa visea isvarah
Yoga Sutra 1.25 Tatra niratisayam sarvajna bijam
Yoga Sutra 1.26 Sa esa purvesam api guruh kalena anavacchedat
Yoga Sutra 1.27 Tasya Vacakah Pranavah
Yoga Sutra 1.28 Taj Japah Tad Artha Bhavanam
Yoga Sutra 1.29 Tatah Pratyak Cetana Adhigamo Py Antaraya Abhavas Ca
This selection of sutras speaks towards the role that faith plays in our journey. We must have some kind of spiritual devotion to bring into our practice, but it doesn't matter what it is. Whether we believe in Allah, Buddha, Krishna, God, Human Potential, Source, The Universe...it doesn't matter. But we do need to bring faith into our practice. We learn that this is within all of us. There is an inner guru. It's not external. There are three characteristics of this inner guru. We need to make sure to never confuse our teachers for being our gurus - they just lit the match, and we carried our own torches without them. And chanting om via japa is like, as my teacher Anvita said, "an elevator to God."
Yoga Sutra 1.30 - 1.32: Obstacles
Yoga Sutra 1.30 vyadhi styana samsaya pramada alasya avirati bhrantidarsana alabdha bhumikatva anavasthitatvani citta viksepha te antarayah
Yoga Sutra 1.31 duhkha daurmanasya angamejayatva svasa-prasvasah viksepa sahabhuvah
Yoga Sutra 1.32 Tat pratisedh artam eka tattva abhyasah
There are nine obstacles to our spiritual path, which Patanjali outlines here. I find this comforting - because we realize that we are not alone, and distractions are a universal human experience. There are four symptoms that arise from these distractions, which are outlined in this section, too. There is one solution, which is also explained here.
Yoga Sutras 1.33 - 1.39: Examples of Practice
Yoga Sutra 1.33 maitri karuna mudito upeksana sukha duhkha punya apunya visayanam bhavantah citta prasadanam
Yoga Sutra 1.34 Pracchardana Vidharana Abhyam Va Pranasya
Yoga Sutra 1.35 Visavayati va pravrtti-rutpanna manasah sthiti nibandhini
Yoga Sutra 1.36 Visoka va jyotismati
Yoga Sutra 1.37 Vitaraga visayam va cittam
Yoga Sutra 1.38 svapna-nidra jnana-alambaman va
All of the sutras in sections 1.33 - 1.39 explain some different ways that we can practice meditation. They include sensory withdrawal, meditating on an object, etc. One of my favorite points is sutra 1.33 which discusses the need to heal animosity - because if we harbor any animosity, we're unable to arrive in a state of meditation. I also enjoy how after listing many meditation strategies, the last sutra, sutra 1.39, says "or, you can meditate on anything you like." Essentially meaning - I will give you many examples, but you need to find out what works for you.
Yoga Sutras 1.40 - 1.51: What Practice Does
Yoga Sutra 1.40: Paramanu parama-mahattva-anto-sya vasikarah
Yoga Sutra 1.41: Ksina-vrtter-abhijatasy-eva manerghitr-grahana-grahyesutatstha-tadanjanata samapatih
Yoga Sutra 1.42: Tatra sabdartha-jnana-vikalpaih samkrina savitarka samapattih
Yoga Sutra 1.43: Smrti-parisuddhau svarupa-sunyeva-arthamarta-nirbhasa nirvitarka
Yoga Sutra 1.44: Etayaiva savicara nirvicara ca suksma-visaya vyakhyata
Yoga Sutra 1.45: Suksma-visayatvam-ca-alinga paryavasanam
Yoga Sutra 1.46: Ta eva sabijas-samadhih
Yoga Sutra 1.47: Nirvicara-vaisaradye-dhyatma-prasadah
Yoga Sutra 1.48: Rtambhara tatra prajna
Yoga Sutra 1.49: Sruta-anumana-prajna-abhyam-anya-visaya visesa-arthatvat
Yoga Sutra 1.50: Tajjas-samskaro-nya-samskara pratibandhi
Yoga Sutra 1.51: Tasyapi nirodhe sarva-nirodhan-nirbijah samadhih
The final section of the samadhi pada, chapter one, is all about the effects of practice. We gain everything from the ability to focus on the smallest and largest of objects, to manifest and attract into our lives what we desire, and more! There are eleven effects of the practice which Patanjali explains.
Curious About Learning More?
200 HOUR YOGA TEACHER TRAININGS
The Yoga Sutras are briefly touched on, in two lessons as an overview, in my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training. If you are someone who wants to be a yoga teacher, this is the option for you. The next 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings are:
200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training - ONLINE
Join me June - December online. Save your spot here.
200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training - IN BALI
Save your spot for Bali 200 Hours here.
July 1st - 21st, 2024 SOLD OUT
September 23 - October 3, 2024 HYBRID HALF ONLINE, HALF IN PERSON IN BALI
January 5th - 26th, 2025
300 HOUR YOGA TEACHER TRAININGS
The 300 Hour Training course is an advanced program, which looks at many of the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training concepts in depth. Part of this program is a 100 Hour Yoga Sutra Study, which you can sign up for online here.
I'm also offering the Yoga Sutra Study course live in Bali in later 2024. Join us here.
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