Sanskrit

In The Yoga Sutras, Patañjali lists abhyasa and vairagya as the two key elements in producing a calm, clear mind.

Abhyasa requires us to keep holding on to our goal or vision (a peaceful mind, a healthy body) and to keep working towards that day after day. Vairagya requires us to be keenly aware of what's pulling us off course — usually our own mental noise — and to keep letting that go, over and over again.

To hang on and to let go. It can feel like a contradiction. Yet abhyasa and vairagya work together. To hold onto one thing, we often need to let go of other things.

Abhyasa means that we know the WHAT and the WHY — what we are aiming for, and why it's important — and we take consistent steps towards our goal. Vairagya means letting go of the HOW and WHEN and WHERE.

So, we're clear about what we want and set our sights high, with full faith in ourselves. We show up and take consistent actions towards our goals — small steps every day. At the same time, we accept life as it unfolds, trusting that it's for the best — even if we can't see or understand it. We let go of the inner noise and outer distractions, make the best decisions we can in the moment, and step boldly forward.

AUM is a movement of breath and sound through the body, connecting the heart and head.

It is a physical vibration that starts in the chest with the opening AHH sound. This vibration rises through the throat with the OOO sound, and lands in the bridge of the nose with its closing MMM, which rattles the entire head and resets the mind. A vast silence follows.

It's as if the sound AUM reveals the silence that was always there, hiding just beyond our perception.

AUM also hints at the great pleasure and wonder of life — combining all our universal sounds of delight, AHH, OOO, MMM. It reminds us that this joy and love are always there, though sometimes concealed by the illusions of life (called 'maya' in Sanskrit).

By nature, prakriti has a form, which is always changing, inherently limited, and with a defined beginning and end. By nature, purusha is formless, unchanging, unlimited, and eternal.

These two concepts — prakriti and purusha — actually refer to all of life, not just human life. Even rocks and plants consist of prakriti and are infused with purusha, the formless spirit and intelligence of the Universe.

Today, let's consider how prakriti and purusha are present in us.

Have you ever seen those anatomy books that show the human body in layers? Each body system — musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous, digestive — is depicted on a transparent page. You can look at the pages separately to understand each system, and layered all together to see how the systems fit.

The human being, though, is more than just the body. There are at least two more layers not shown in our anatomy books: the mind and the higher self.

The mind consists of all our thoughts — about past, present and future — about self and others — about right and wrong.

When this layer of our being is busy and noisy, the 'transparent sheet' of the mind becomes opaque — full of words and images — and it obscures the other layers of our being. As a result, we have a harder time noticing and feeling the body and higher self.

When the mind is calm and clear, we can 'see' and connect with our physical body (as we do during asana practice) and our higher self (as we do in meditation).

The physical body — when we take good care of it — allows us to move and act in the world, and to play various roles in our lives. The higher self — when we stay connected to it — gives us a sense of deep peace and clarity.

So, we are both matter (prakriti) and consciousness (purusha), and yoga allows us to fully experience and enjoy both.

Prana can be understood as the energy that coalesces into matter, creating and pervading all things; the life force that flows in all living things and carries out vital functions; and the breath. It is equivalent to the ancient Chinese concept of chi.

In the context of yoga practice, pranayama refers to specific ways of controlling the breath in order to enhance and guide the flow of life force.

In the context of yoga, this refers to the daily routines and habits - both physical and mental - that help us live our best life.

Over the years, I've developed a most wonderful morning sādhana! I start the day - outside if possible - with a short series of spinal movements, two forms of pranayama, and a brief meditation - all in all, about half an hour.

I’ve also built in little practices throughout the day that centre me back within my Self - for example, a simple gratitude journaling practice. This is also part of my sādhana.

What is your sādhana? You likely have one already - your own health and wellness practices that keep you grounded and inspired. To make them even more effective, be clear about your intentions, and consciously infuse your practice with these intentions. In other words, don't let them become mechanical!

The best sādhana is simple, intentional and consistent! Onward and upward!

There are many ways to understand — and more importantly, to experience — this 'yoking together' in our yoga practice.

At the most fundamental level, we yoke together the body and mind. How often is your body in one place, and your mind in another? Even after years of yoga practice, I often find myself in this conundrum. Thankfully, yoga is there to guide me back into a state of presence and grace: body and mind yoked together, working together, resting together.

We experience this very clearly when we bring our awareness (mind) to the breath and body during our asana practice. In fact, that is one of the main intentions of yoga postures — to bring our awareness to parts of the body we don't usually notice.

This body-mind integration continues off the mat, as we notice and attend to the body throughout the day: the body anchors the flighty mind in the HERE and NOW, and the mind guides and cares for the body. A beautiful partnership indeed.

On another level, yoga practices help us to yoke together our human self (body and mind) with our higher self (soul). All forms of yoga — postures, pranayama, meditation, mantras — work towards this goal. With the body steady and relaxed, and the mind calm and clear, we can feel the presence of the higher self. First, we sense the higher self as our own inner silence and stillness. With consistent practice, we grow ever closer to our higher self and begin to feel its divine qualities — love, peace, joy, wisdom, power. Ultimately, we get to live our lives as the higher self, who moves and acts in this world through our bodies and minds.

Paramahansa Yogananda, a yoga master of the early 1900s, also speaks of yoking together the individual soul with the universal Spirit, or God. This is the ultimate and inevitable progression of a dedicated yoga practice: seeing our individuality as an illusion, and realizing the one-ness of all life. We all arise from and return to the same source, like waves rising from and falling back into the same beautiful, boundless ocean. We are made of the same 'God-stuff' — unique, finite expressions of one universal, infinite consciousness.