"Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence." The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
If you notice there is no mention of chatarungas, triangle pose or even close your eyes and say "OM". Often when I meet a new student I'll ask them why they chose yoga and often they'll say they want to learn to relax. One way to do this is to quiet that continual inter- dialogue in our head and most the time that dialogue is a repeat of the same old song. So often we do start the class with a few chants of "OM" to help us settle the mind from those thoughts such as..."I really need to lose five pounds, should I stop by the supermarket after class or maybe the cleaners first, if I stop by the cleaners first I might get caught in the after work traffic on Main Street, then there will be smaller lines if I go the supermarket first, gee I got to lose weight, maybe I don't have to stop by the cleaners today, do they yoga pants make my butt look big , I really need to lose five more pounds..." And the beat goes on. So we start with the sound of OM because you can't hold two thoughts at the same time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Wow, that really sounds like my internal monologue! Especially the pants part, LOL. I have that voice going inside my head while I'm trying to sleep (I have a major sleeping disorder) and I like to slowly chant a Sanskrit word in my head like "ahinsa" or "arogyam" which helps.
Thanks for visiting! I hope it cools down where you are too.
We all have inner monologues and most are rather silly. The best thing to do is to meditate and chant and silence those inner voices. Thanks for visiting my site! Love and shanti.
Sounds interesting!
yesterday was the first day that i really realized how tense i always am, and i had a sudden shock of understanding about what is causing my incessant headaches and stomach issues. stress. i truly could use some 'settling of the mind'.
Post a Comment