The impressions I discussed in last month’s blog post are all made up of the same ‘stuff’. That stuff is made up of the three primal elements or gunas.

The three gunas are rajas, sattvas and tamas:

• Sattvas: light, illumination, harmony and clarity.
• Rajas: activity, motion, energy, movement, forever changing.
  
• Tamas: darkness, dullness, heaviness, obstruction and veiling.

Think of the gunas as the ink used to print a photo. When the photo is printed we do not seem them separately but as one picture. The gunas exist, and there is a constant fluctuation between them – up and down through the levels.

The objects which veil the Self are constructed via the interplay of the three gunas. To be free of the three gunas is to be free of all of their manifestations. This is not merely about practising non-attachment from physical objects, but moving to a subtler level and unattaching oneself from the subtlest building blocks of the mind.

The objects themselves

Throughout the sutras, we are taught about ‘colouring’, where our own unique set of circumstances ‘colours’ everything from thoughts to actions. Here in this chapter, we are shown again that minds will always perceive objects differently. So, while the object can exist without the mind, it is the colouring of the mind that determines our perception of the object. Once more we are instructed to reduce the colouring to see clearly.

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.

Mahatma Gandhi

Purusha

The mind is not self-illuminating, in fact, the yogi is seeking to have an experience of pure consciousness (purusha). So while it may appear that the mind has its own light, this is because purusha is shining upon it.

In this next section of the chapter, the highest stage of discrimination is explained. While we have already discussed the power of discrimination in previous sutras, here we are honing in on the perception between the most delicate aspect of mind and individuality, and pure consciousness (purusha).

We are instructed here that the mind is powered by pure consciousness. Think of your mind as an iPhone and pure consciousness (purusha) as electricity. You cannot use the iPhone without the electricity stored within its battery, can you? Yet electricity can exist without the iPhone, just as pure consciousness exists without the mind.

Do your practice and all is coming.

K. Pattabhi Jois

My first experience with Ashtanga yoga was, well, like most, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought I’ll give it a try and to be honest I found it really, really difficult. I found it immensely challenging because many of the poses in the practice, my body’s not skeletally structured for.
But there was something about the rhythm and the movement of the breath and the precision and purpose of the practice that I fell in love with. For someone who doesn’t have the right structure biomechanically for Ashtanga yoga, I still embraced the challenge and I always welcomed the personal growth that comes from doing something that you’re not naturally good at. So essentially my first Ashtanga experience was a love-hate relationship.

It wasn’t something that came easily, but I also loved it for that, and I loved the opportunity to stretch myself (sorry about the pun!) in a way that didn’t come effortlessly, and I could get a tremendous amount of growth. Even though it didn’t always reflect in the way that I was practising or expressing my body, it reflected in my humility. There was a lot of having to ‘let go of the ego’ and a lot of having to accept where I was at. The practice truly taught me to let go and to practice ultimate acceptance of where I am, which is one of Patanjali’s teachings is to accept myself.

Ashtanga has given me the foundation of vinyasa flow (did you know Ashtanga is the mother of vinyasa flow?) and I love the precision of the Vinyasa Krama (see this post for more), that wise progression of moving with the breath with purpose, with precision and with high awareness.
It creates a massive amount of power for the practitioner. I feel like Ashtanga is a super ‘clean’ practice. It’s precise. It’s biomechanical. It’s logical. It has inspired the way that I teach now.

This is fundamental to how I also train all new yoga teachers because I think it’s essential for all modern day vinyasa teachers to understand the roots of where modern vinyasa comes from. To know that it is a breakaway from Ashtanga, that vinyasa is made up of the rebels of Ashtanga, that didn’t want to conform to the set sequence each time. But I think it’s essential for people to understand where vinyasa, this movement with the breath, traditionally came from and to dip their toes in it and to have this incredible depth of systematic experience.

I love Ashtanga yoga for that very reason because it’s honouring tradition and it’s a beautiful cleansing practice. I think it really does focus the mind and once you learn the sequence by heart, what I love about it is you can essentially let go of your mind and lose yourself in this rhythm of movement, especially when it’s not geared around mastering the next posture, but rather about being present.

I love Ashtanga yoga because it’s always the same every single day; the only thing that is changing is you, not the poses, not the music, not the teacher.
It’s you.

So for me, this practice is the best mirror we have to see where we’re genuinely at, not the one that’s in your bathroom or your bedroom, it’s this practice of doing Ashtanga yoga. Doing the same sequence every single day, you get to see where you’re really at. You get to see, some days you feel light, some days you feel heavy, some days you feel strong, some days you feel weak. Some days your mind is busy. Other days, the mind is quiet. Sometimes the breath is good. Sometimes the breath is not so good. But Ashtanga itself is neutral; it’s the same. So we are the element of change, and that’s an excellent opportunity for self-reflection and inquiry.

Michelle’s tips for an Ashtanga beginner:

• You will be humbled! Ashtanga yoga isn’t supposed to be easy, and it isn’t. Part of the lesson in this practice is that you will fail (a lot!) and that’s okay, you just need to keep practising. Especially as a beginner, you may feel overwhelmed in your first practice (or your tenth… or fiftieth!), but things will start to make more sense after a time. Have patience and keep coming back to your mat.
• Don’t compare yourself to others. Traditionally in the Ashtanga practice, you are given more poses as you master each of them. But “collecting” poses is not the point! It’s the challenges that the poses give you that are your greatest teachers. Consider that the further you advance through the sequence, the further you need to travel each time to find your “edge”. As a beginner, your edge is much closer so you won’t need to journey to the more intense poses to find it.
• Keep breathing! No matter the pose you find yourself in, know that it is only there as an opportunity to breathe. Once you lose the breath, you’re no longer doing the work. If you need to pull back a little to keep a full and consistent breath, do so.

Ready to dive into Ashtanga?

Join me on a 5-day Ashtanga intensive to discover what Ashtanga can show you about yourself!

3-7th June 2019 | 5.30am – 7am | Monday – Friday | Tallebudgera Valley Studio

Cost $100 for the whole week or $20 a day

To reserve your spot, pop into the studio, call 07 5526 6600 or click here.

This is the sixth part of my Yoga off the Mat series. Read part one, Yoga off the Mat: Contemplation, here, part two, Yoga off the Mat: Concentration, here, part three Yoga off the Mat: Method, here, part four Yoga off the Mat: Practice here and part five Yoga of the Mat: Progressing here.

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some ideas and practices written about in 3.17 to 3.56 of Patanjali’s yoga sutras.

We are still working through chapter three, with some final insights around how samyama is used as the finer tool to remove the subtler veils of ignorance.

As I mentioned in my previous post, many shy away from exploring this chapter as we’re talking about some pretty esoteric stuff. Superpowers! Supernatural experiences! But these things are not our goal. In fact, they are a test of ego. Let’s be honest, if you gained a superpower, how easy would it be for your ego to get out of control? Exactly my point. This test of ego is a sticky point in the journey.

The other thing which makes this an easy place to get stuck is FEAR. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the supernatural. It is important here to have faith. Faith you will be looked after, that you will not be given something you are not equipped to handle.

Let’s quickly recap. We’ve worked through the first two rungs of samyama (concentration and meditation) and we’ve now dipped our toes into samadhi (enlightenment).

This is where we lose the small self and gain access to the BIG Self. We realise the vastness of the whole universe resides within us. And we can now use this universal knowledge (the veils of ignorance have fallen away) as an opportunity to pose a question. Note: often the question itself is much more important than any answers we may get.

Experiences from samyama
I’ve hinted at supernatural powers (siddhis), so let’s look a that a bit closer. While some people see the coming of siddhis as an opportunity to further the ego identity, the true aspirant sees that they are to be encountered, experienced, understood, and set aside. The true yogi knows that they can become distractions from the realisation of Self.

It is also essential to know that you do not have to attain all of these experiences to continue progressing on your journey. And also know that while some are born with abilities, others will find them the further they hone the tool of samadhi.

Another thing to note is that the aspirant does not need to be “100% pure” to gain access to siddhis or powers. This is not a linear journey after all!
To give you a taste, here are some of the siddhis explained in this chapter:

• Knowledge of past lives
• Knowledge of another’s mind
• Ability to remain unheard, untouched, untasted and unsmelled.
• The strength of an elephant
• Knowledge of objects unseen

Remember: The spiritual aspirant must neither chase these powers or shy away from them! They are simply a part of the journey.

This is within your reach
Especially when delving into this later chapter of the sutras, many people will start thinking that this stuff is out of reach or not for them. Untrue! While some of the things I’ve talked about in today’s post might seem pretty out there, if we simply follow the path illuminated for us by Patanjali, these experiences are available for all of us. It’s about coming back to our daily practices and walking the path consistently with an open heart.

Homework: How can you enhance or edit your daily practice?

A quick story: The other day, sitting at the emergency vet (puppy Hercules is healthy and well now!) I glanced over at the stack of magazines in the waiting room. On the cover was something about the latest rumours on Brad and Angelina’s divorce. I didn’t’ pick up the magazine. In fact, I looked away straight away and didn’t think anything more of it.

The next day I was sitting in my daily meditation practice. What pops up? Brad and Angelina! It just goes to show how easily something can enter your subconscious and get caught there. I’d only glanced at the cover, and yet it stayed with me. With that in mind, think about editing both what you’re consciously consuming as well as what you’re unconsciously consuming!

This is the fifth part of my Yoga off the Mat series. Read part one, Yoga off the Mat: Contemplation, here, part two, Yoga off the Mat: Concentration, here, part three Yoga off the Mat: Method, here and part four Yoga off the Mat: Practice here.

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some ideas and practices written about in 3.1 to 3.16 of Patanjali’s yoga sutras.

While many talk about and study the first two chapters of the sutras, often the third chapter is left unexplored. Why is this?

I think it’s because we start to delve into some esoteric philosophy and many are scared to come off as a bit “woo woo”. Yes, over the next few posts we will be delving into supernatural powers and experiences. But I think it’s essential that we do discuss these concepts because so many of us have had these supernatural occurrences and have felt alone in our experience. I want you to know that although we call it ‘supernatural’, it’s normal!

In the sutras, Patanjali outlines a systematic approach for us to access samadhi. The great sage has drawn us a roadmap, and we need only follow it to find our way! So let’s dive into samyama, the final three rungs of the ladder.

Dharana (Concentration)

Dharana is translated from Sanskrit to ‘perfected concentration’. So, how do we perfect our concentration? We make our way through the five stages of the mind!

The five stages of the mind:

1. Disturbed – this includes mental health challenges
2. Dull – a stagnant state with no forward movement, no inspiration!
3. Distracted – a state of over-inspiration, too much is coming in, little to no focus (did you know it’s said that most of us only have a 7-second attention span now?)
4. One-pointed – ‘perfected concentration’, focus on one thing and focus on it well (I’m calling BS on multitasking!)
5. Meditation – the enlightened mind, samadhi

Homework: Can you pinpoint the state your mind is currently in?

Dhyana (Meditation)

The next rung is immediately attained once you master your one-pointedness, your perfected concentration. You will slip into meditation automatically. Let’s talk about how you can make your way through the stages of the mind.

The tools in your spiritual toolbox

Not only are we given a map, but we’re also gifted with tools to help our journey!

I have four tools to share with you today, start at number one and work your way through:

1. Breath – the sweet inhale and exhale is always the best place to start.
2. Nada – listen for your ‘inner sound’. Your inner sound is sacred and unique, once reached it will open your chakras (energy centres). Listen for a steady hum that doesn’t change in vibration if you were to turn your head to the side.
3. Prana – feel your ‘inner vibration’. Like nada, your internal vibration in sacred and unique. Our prana is our lifeforce, and sometimes this flow of prana is experienced as a feeling sensation in the body.
4. Inner Light – the true inner light is pure, luminous and colourless light. If you are experiencing colours, this may be associated with blocks in your chakras. When you truly tap into your inner light and ‘ignite’ from within you have reached samadhi. When you become the light, the knowledge of the whole universe becomes available to you!

What happens then?

We will be exploring samadhi further in next month’s blog.

This is the fourth part of my Yoga off the Mat series. Read part one, Yoga off the Mat: Contemplation, here, part two, Yoga off the Mat: Concentration, here and part three Yoga off the Mat: Method, here.

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some ideas and practices written about in 2.30 to 2.55 of Patanjali’s yoga sutras.

As promised, I’m going to dig a little deeper into some of the principles I’ve already touched on in this series and also in previous blog posts. These teachings are something I continually come back to, and I always get some new insight or understanding each time I do.

The Yamas and Niyamas

The yamas and the niyamas are the first and second limbs of Patanjali’s eightfold path to self-realisation.

The yamas are all about our external environment, how we treat the world around us, including our actions, speech and thoughts. There are five yamas:

• Ahimsa, non-violence. Do no harm in thought, speech or action.
• Satya, truthfulness. Being honest.
• Asteya, non-stealing. No stealing possessions, time or intellectual property form others.
• Brahmacharya, sexual integrity. Remembering the divine and honouring it.
• Aparigraha, non-hoarding. No possessiveness, attachment or greed.

The second rung is the niyamas, how we treat our internal environment, our relationship with ourselves. There are five niyamas:

• Shaucha, cleanliness. The purity of body and mind.
• Santosha, contentment. At peace in the present moment.
• Tapaas, discipline. Training the senses and devotion.
• Svadhyaya, self-study. Study and reflection through sacred texts.
• Ishvara pranidhana, surrender. Faith and letting go, trusting in a higher power (God, Goddess, the Universe etc.).

It can be a little overwhelming when you first step on to the eightfold path but take some time to assess and see how you are already living with these principles at heart. You’re probably already lovingly practising some or parts these vows, and this is your call to delve deeper.

As humans, we cannot always follow the path, and we stumble from time to time. This might mean negative thoughts, speech or actions which don’t follow the yamas and niyamas.

There are three mental states which move you off the path and away from the yamas and niyamas:

• Anger
• Greed
• Delusion

The three states can be felt in different intensities, mild, moderate or intense.

Choose to see these missteps as gentle reminders or signposts signalling that you need to return to the path.

Why do we practice the eight limbs of yoga? To develop and finetune our discriminative knowledge so we can walk in the right direction, letting go of what does not serve us. The yamas and niyamas are the foundation for the other limbs, so our focus starts here.

Want to look deeper? Learn more about the yamas and niyamas.

Asana

The third limb of the eightfold path is asana. This might be the limb you are most familiar with as most yoga classes are actually ‘asana classes’.

The word asana comes from the root ~as, which means ‘to sit’. And true to form, this was the first yoga pose—a seated meditation posture.

It is essential for this posture to be both steady and comfortable, which means we let go or loosen tension from the body and allow our attention to merge with the infinite.

Go deeper with another post I wrote about asana.

Pranayama

The fourth limb of the eightfold path is pranayama. Pranayama might also be familiar to you as it is practised in many asana-based yoga classes.

Prana translates to ‘lifeforce’ and yama to ‘restraint’ or ‘control’, meaning pranayama translates to something like ‘lifeforce control’. Our prana travels on the breath within the body, so pranayama practice is often called breathwork.

Posture is essential to a successful practice, see the instruction above on a steady and comfortable seat. Pranayama is part of the prep-work for successful dharana or concentration (the sixth limb).

Learn more about pranayama in this post.

Pratyahara

Pratyahara or sense withdrawal is the fifth limb of the eightfold path. Mastery of the senses is a difficult task which takes much practice and discipline (tapas). It also means a letting go of attachments we have to the senses (I like warm, I hate cold, I love spicy, I hate sweet etc.). Start your practice by beginning to soften these attachments.

“The willingness or unwillingness to withdraw attention from sensory experience is a significant dividing line between those who experience true meditation and those who experience only physical relaxation.” – Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

I wrote further on this limb in this post.

Samyama

Proficiency in the yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama and pratyahara set the foundation for moving on to the final three limbs of the eightfold path. Collectively, the last three rungs are known as samyama. We’ll be covering samyama in next month’s post.

This is the third part of my Yoga off the Mat series. Read part one, Yoga off the Mat: Contemplation, here and part two, Yoga off the Mat: Concentration, here.

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some ideas and practices written about in 2.1 to 2.29 of Patanjali’s yoga sutras.

In this second chapter of the sutras, Patanjali introduces methods on how to reduce both gross and subtle colourings which veil the true self. These are things we need to minimise to continue our mastery of the fluctuations of the mind (the whole point of yoga!).

Let’s begin with reducing the gross colourings which are called kleshas. The five kleshas are the causes of our suffering and include:

• Ignorance (avidya)
• Ego (asmita)
• Attraction (raga)
• Aversion (dwesha)
• Fear of death (abhinivesha)

Spiritual homework: Grab your notebook and write each of the five kleshas at the top of a new page. Under each klesha start writing down the thoughts you have which could fit into that category. Be honest and transparent. And do this without judgement! Once you’ve begun this process you’ll move onto the next step: reducing the gross colourings!

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” ~ Confucius

Putting philosophy into practice

To reduce the gross colourings of the mind, we use what it called kriya yoga. There are three parts to kriya yoga:

Tapas: Training the senses or discipline
Svadhyaya: Study of the self through spiritual texts
Ishvara Pranidhana: Surrender or faith (letting go of coloured thoughts)

We will be talking more about these three principles in next month’s post.

Once the gross colourings are dealt with through kriya yoga, or at least weakened enough, they are brought back to ‘the seed’. The seed form is of potential only and, with practice, these seeds can be burned away so they may not grow again within our minds.

Once we’ve worked through these more obvious thoughts, we turn our attention to the subtle thoughts. We do so by following the eight-limbed path of yoga (more on this next month too).

The key to breaking down our unhealthy thought patterns is ‘discriminative knowledge’.

Razor-like attention is our best tool for discrimination and the first five rungs of the yogic path sharpen this metaphorical razor. They are all about honing the edge of the blade, and then the finer sharpened tool is the last three rungs. Collectively the final three levels are known as samyama.

The eight limbs or rungs of yoga are:

• Yamas: restraints
• Niyamas: observances
• Asana: posture
• Pranayama: harnessing of prana
• Pratyahara: withdrawal of the senses

The final three rungs are collectively known as samyama:

• Dharana: concentration
• Dhyana: meditation
• Samadhi: oneness

Why do we hone our razor-like attention and develop attention as the tool for discriminative knowledge?

Put simply, we do so to separate the seer and the seen, to break the alliance of karma and to move past ignorance.

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” ~ Anton Chekhov

Discrimination in this context allows us a subtler level of introspection. A focused or one-pointed attention on examining and exploring our thoughts. It is in this reflective process which we discern and remove the colouring of our thoughts and move closer to our true nature.

This is the second part of my Yoga off the Mat series. Read part one, Yoga off the Mat: Contemplation here.

In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some ideas and practices written about in 1.19 to 1.51 of Patanjali’s yoga sutras.

Patanjali writes that there are two kinds of aspirants in the world, those who have made tremendous advancement in previous lives and others who have not and must follow five types of effort or commitment. Don’t worry, most of us are in the second category!

Five types of effort

The types of effort and commitment or attitudes are:

• Faith you are going in the right direction
• Committing the energy to go there
• Cultivating memory and mindfulness
• Seeking the states of Samadhi
• Pursuing the higher wisdom

If you’re here, reading this post, chances are you’ve already committed to one or more of these attitudes. As with all things, there are different level of commitment to a practice. And Patanjali gets specific when outlining these and they range between having mild practice with mild conviction, all the way to having intense practice with intense conviction, and all areas in between.

For those with intense practices and intense conviction, there are three more subclasses of practice:

• Mild
• Medium
• Intense

For most of us on the yogic path to mastery of the mind’s fluctuations, these categories or divisions make it crystal clear that there are levels of practice and we can move between them. While in some seasons of our lives we might be intense in practice and conviction, in other seasons life will push and pull at us meaning we don’t have the same commitment. However, there is nothing to say that we won’t be there again. This is a practice of a lifetime!

Travelling through OM

If you’ve practised at my studio Essence of Living, or with me elsewhere, you will know practice always opens with a chant of OM. While on a surface level this acts as a signpost signalling the beginning and end of the practice and a way to join the class together in community, the OM is so much more than this.

In fact, the sound vibration of OM (or AUM) is like a shortcut, which takes us directly to the heart of the practice. The vibration has the ability to remove the obstacles which normally block our path to self-realisation.

OM represents pure consciousness, and for it to have the piercing effect you must chant with deep feeling and full knowledge of its meaning.

Jumping hurdles

I mentioned above that there are obstacles on our path, and I’m sure that comes as no surprise to you, dear reader. There is comfort to be drawn from knowing that these obstacles are natural and a part of many of our lives. They are to be expected. And with faith an conviction we can overcome them.

With obstacles like doubt, laziness, instability or illness comes consequences within us. We could suffer from mental or physical pain, grief, frustration, tightness in the body and a shortness of breath.

How do we overcome our obstacles and move through the consequences? A principle known as one-pointedness.

One-pointedness is another way of saying focus or concentration. Do you see how we’re circling back around to what yoga is? Yoga is mastery of the fluctuations and activities of the mind.

Putting philosophy into practice

Preparing for meditation

There are things you can do to prepare yourself for meditation, including stabilising and clearing the mind. The sutras suggest particular methods:

Lovingness, compassion, happiness and acceptance in our attitudes towards others. And to cultivate focus internally, practising breath awareness, concentrating on sensation or inner luminosity, contemplation on a stable mind, and focussing on the stream of the mind.

These practices might sound too simple, or not enough, but they build a strong foundation for any student of meditation. Without these practices, any other practice can be difficult, fraught with whirring thoughts or frustrating.

In fact, many will not go beyond the basics. The effects and consequences of these more basic practices are enough for them.

Meditation

Meditation is painful in the beginning but it bestows immortal bliss and supreme joy in the end.
– Swami Sivananda

When the mind is focused on one thing (one-pointedness) it is much less likely to get tangled up in obstacles or consequences. The ‘one thing’ could be anything: an object, mantra or affirmation. To begin, choose your ‘one thing’. Choose with thought, wisdom and sincerity.

There are four levels of meditation on an object. You will experience these in order:

• Gross thoughts – surface level thoughts
• Without gross thoughts
• With subtle thoughts – connotations, implied or inferred thoughts
• Without subtle thoughts

Whether you know it or not, you will also be discerning three parts of your object while you meditate:

• Word – the name
• Object – the object itself
• Knowledge – the essence

It is our practice to go beyond these three things, allowing the essence to shine through. This takes plenty of practice, so don’t be disheartened—it starts by simply knowing the three parts and beginning to differentiate between them.

With persistent practice meditation on objects will lead to higher wisdom and clarity and perhaps, one day, samadhi.

In this post, we have touched on Patanjali’s yoga sutras 1.19 to 1.51, and I’ve outlined some tried and tested practices for you to get to work on. Next month we’ll be going deeper into Method.

Today we begin a new series of posts on the blog. This series delves into the yoga we ‘do’ off the mat. I use the term ‘do’ loosely as I believe yoga is both a noun and a verb—we both ‘are’ and ‘do’ yoga.

The philosophy I’ll be examining in this series is from Patanjali’s yoga sutras, which I am confident I have written about before. The sutras are a brilliant spiritual and practical text I suggest you add to your reading list. Till then, I hope you find my posts enlightening and helpful.

One last note before we get started, these posts are based on talks I gave at my studio Essence of Living earlier this year. I love to share more than just the physical asana and pranayama practices at Essence to serve my community at a deeper level.

To begin, let’s get back to basics: what is yoga?

At its heart, yoga is mastery of the fluctuations and activities of the mind.

You read that correctly and I’ll say it again: Yoga is mastery of the fluctuations and activities of the mind.

Yoga isn’t headstands, the splits of any other pose. Although they’re great fun and may make up a part of your yoga practice. When it comes down to it, yoga is a simple idea, but as with many simple ideas, the application of yoga is sophisticated, beautiful and challenging.

So if yoga is mastery of the mind, it makes sense then that the ability to focus attention is the primary skill of samadhi, the eighth and final rung on Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga. Samadhi is often translated as integration, self-realisation or bliss (more on this later).

Focusing the mind

There are five thought waves, types or patterns which either move us towards self-realisation or away from it and we call them vrittis. They are:

• right knowledge
• incorrect knowledge
• imagination
• dreamless sleep
• memory

All thoughts will fit into these types, and when we begin witnessing our thoughts, we will notice they may be ‘coloured’. A coloured thought is shaded with something, whether it’s past experience, imagined experienced, context or something else. Coloured thoughts are therefore classed as ‘incorrect knowledge’.

There are ways to attain clarity though. Three steps to determine correct knowledge, absolute truth:

• direct perception: you’ve seen it yourself
• inference: deduction produced rationally
• reliable testimony: you are told the facts from a reliable source

Begin to observe your thoughts, which of them are useful to you? Which of them are not helpful to you?

We call the process of uncolouring our thoughts abhyasa vairagya. Abhyasa translates ‘practice’ and in application is a persistent effort to maintaining a stable, tranquil and still mind called sthitau. Vairagya translated to ‘non-attachment’ and in practice is a letting go of fears, falsehoods, aversions and any other attachments we’ve collected which are colouring our thoughts and mind.

Pairing both practice and non-attachment together leads us in the direction of mastery of the mind.

Putting the philosophy into practice: Abhyasa

Carve out a chunk of time. Pour a big glass of water or brew a chai tea. Grab a notebook and pen or pencil. Sit comfortably. Open yourself to the practice and be vulnerable. Here we go.

Begin by drawing two columns. One is what actions, words and thoughts lead you towards sthitau (a tranquil mind). The other is the actions, words and thoughts which push you away from sthitau.

Be honest, open and let go of attachments. Be devoted to uncovering truths.

Putting the philosophy into practice: Vairagya

Set yourself up as you did for the previous exercise. This time your columns will be a little different.

In the first column list beliefs, ideas, people, opinions etc. which you are attracted to but you know are not useful to you. In the next column list aversions which are not serving you. These columns will then become a list of things to LET GO of.

The four levels of concentration

Let us now build upon abhyasa vairagya by moving further inward, making our way through the four levels of concentration on an object, and ultimately progressing to the stage of objectless concentration.

• Attention (broken/separate)
• Concentration (less broken/separate)
• Meditation (unbroken/separate)
• Samadhi (unbroken/collapsed)

The object of your concentration can be anything, a lotus flower, a colour in your mind’s eye or a mantra. Begin by letting your attention come to the object. Concentrate on it by taking it in at the gross level. What does it look/sound like? Concentrate on the details. You enter meditation when the lines between the gross and the subtle start to blur. You move deeper and perhaps enter samadhi, the bliss level of concentration where the object and yourself are no longer separate—you are one.

In this post, we have touched on Patanjali’s yoga sutras 1.1 to 1.18, and I’ve outlined some tried and tested practices for you to get to work on. Next month we’ll be going deeper into concentration.

“Make now the primary focus of our life.”
― Eckhart Tolle

Have you read Eckhart Tolle’s brilliant and acclaimed book “The Power of Now”? There’s a reason it’s so popular and well regarded: its wisdom and simplicity are profound.

I want to share some of my takeaways from the book and practices I use in today’s post.

Let’s begin with ten simple tips to live in the NOW.

Focus on your breath

Focusing on the breath is so simple, yet it is so useful. You can do it anytime and anywhere. Take a few moments to pay attention to your breath. Breathing consciously and with intention. You can do this in line for your morning chai, at the traffic lights or while you’re cooking dinner!

Smile

Another simple trick you can do anytime. When we smile we trigger feel-good endorphins in our bodies so get grinning.

Active listening

Next time your chatting with a friend or family member, avoid waiting for your chance to reply, coach or tell your own story. Be present and listen carefully, and don’t multitask!

Connect with nature

Get outside! Whether you visit the ocean, go for a hike or just hit the back lawn for some earthing in the grass, it’s all great for being in the now.

Focus

Quit multitasking and focus on one thing at a time. If you find keeping centred problematic, try setting a timer for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break before getting back to your task.

Feel the energy internally and externally

Close your eyes and first focus on what your senses are telling you. Listen to the hum of the traffic, the sounds of music or voices, the feel of the air on your skin, the smells wafting past you. Feel the energy of the world around you. Then turn inwards. Start with the feel of your breath in your body. Then feel the beat of your heart. Eventually focus on observing your internal energy, lifeforce, chi or prana.

Forgive and let go past hurts

Hanging on to anger and grudges is only a disservice to yourself. Letting go of past hurts is a powerfully transformative action and will allow you to live in the now properly.

“…the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfilment in whatever form. Both are illusions.”
― Eckhart Tolle

Stop worrying or dreaming about the future

I call this ‘future-tripping’, where you’re continually looking to the future, worrying or imagining. While having a vision is essential, we can’t spend our time forward in time if we want to appreciate the present moment.

Press pause

When we’re always ‘doing’ it can be difficult to enjoy the now. Pause at least once a day. Pausing might look like stepping away from the computer, turning your phone on Do Not Disturb for five minutes and telling your partner to watch the kids. You might spend the time in quiet contemplation, or connect with your breath or enjoy a delicious snack – mindfully!

Declutter

Decluttering applies to both your material possessions and your mind. Decluttering is a powerful practice that will leave you feeling free, light and in the now.

Some practices you might like to try to help with living in the now, enjoying the present moment and living a fulfilling life include:

Yoga Nidra

Translates to a ‘deep dreamless conscious sleep’. If you’re new to this practice, you can look up guided yoga nidra meditations on Spotify or Youtube to talk you through it.

Move through the five koshas

Think of the five koshas as ‘layers’ or ‘sheaths’ of ourselves. Like Russian matryoshka dolls, each kosha is contained within the other.

The five koshas are:

• Body
• Energetic
• Mind
• Buddhi
• Ananda

Different yogic practices like asana, pranayama and meditation work on harmonising and moving through these layers.

Chakra meditation or visualisation

Focussing on particular chakras can be a powerful tool in our ‘power of now’ toolbox. I suggest concentrating on:

• Ajna Chakra – waking
• Vishuddha Chakra – dreams
• Anahata Chakra – deep sleep

“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.”
― Eckhart Tolle

“What you seek is seeking you.” – Rumi

Something I’ve been lucky to have all my life is supportive parents who give great advice. And as I’ve grown older, I have been careful to surround myself with people who are just as supportive, who also provide excellent guidance, but also challenge me to be my best self.
It’s not all been about those around me though, pursuing my passion is, in the end, an ‘inside job’. I’ve taken my natural talents and skills and paired them with my energy, motivation and passion ― as well as my strong work ethic ― to pursue the career of my dreams.

Naturally, there have been times where limiting beliefs have left me feeling like ” I can’t do it” or “I’m not good enough”, but my passion and drive have usually overridden these feelings!

Let’s rewind for a moment to where things started for me.

After finishing school, which wasn’t my thing, I played it pretty safe. I did what I was good at and what came naturally. But I also had a big picture vision in my head; it was just a bit blurry at the time!

I entered university to study a business degree, but it turned out that I learnt more ‘on the job’ than in the lecture theatre. I was bored with going to university and wanted to quit. So I started to make my opportunities.

“Opportunities are rarely offered; they’re seized”.” ― Sheryl Sandberg

I applied to study at San Diego State in the US, where I was eventually accepted. However, when I arrived in the US, the universe had different plans for me. Instead of making it to class, I joined Road Trip Nation, a TV show travelling the States. The mantra of the show was ‘Follow your passion and do what you love’, and I took it seriously! What my time in the US taught me was that as long as you do the work and have TRUST, the universe will support you.

“Law of attraction equals taking action.”

Let’s fast forward a few years. I leapt at an opportunity at the tender of 22 to open a yoga and Pilates studio. I said YES. Nevermind that I had to sell my car (which was owned by the bank!) to buy in, I knew it was the right move.

My mantra became ‘fake it until you become it’ and it served me well those first few years in business. Eventually, this original studio became Essence of Living, and 14 years later here we are.

My advice for pursuing and living your passion?

• Stay humble
• Keep learning
• Always be open to growth and evolution

“My recipe for success is equal parts passion, focus and adaptability”
– Michelle Cassidy