My personal yoga journey has been anything but linear. As a person who started practicing to improve flexibility and skipped out before "that fidgety nap at the end", I have come to rely on my yoga for so much more than exercise. Yoga has taught me to breathe, literally. As one who has the impulse to retort quickly in a discussion, I have learned to pause, breathe and then speak (ok, most of the time). I have come far in accepting what my body can and cannot do and understand now that no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to wrap my leg around my neck or touch my forehead to the floor in a v sit. Bottom line, I have realized, there is no reward for being able to do those things, and what really is the point? The point of yoga, at least for me, has been to achieve better self awareness and a positive attitude toward what is happening around me as well as inside myself. I practice to feel better physically and mentally and believe that those two go hand in hand; in my lifetime, I can attribute physical illness to stress and other mental challenges. As my fave, TKV Desikachar said, “The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.”
As I have done in prior years, I want to revisit the eight limbs of yoga as we start 2025. I do this for myself annually to remind myself of the rich history and purpose of a yoga practice, so much more than just physical exercise. The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali was written around 400 CE and is a collection short verses or threads (as sutra translates from Sanskrit) that offer guidelines for living a meaningful and pursposeful life. No one knows exactly who Patanjali was and if they were an actual person or a collection of writers, but the document serves as a basis for much yoga philosophy.
Just a reminder about sutra 1.2, the meaning of yoga. The translation of the Sanskrit is the “restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is yoga”. Simply put, if we learn to control our mind (through meditation, breath, asanas, contemplation) we will achieve the goal of yoga. Rather than focusing on short term goals, taken as a whole, the 8 limbs outlined in the Yoga Sutras, serve as a guidebook for exploring the central meaning of yoga and to live a life with both ethical and moral behavior as well as self-discipline. In short, a map for living our yoga off the mat!
There are 8 limbs (or pieces) of yoga outlined in the sutras, and only one, the asanas, relates to a physical practice. The other 7 relate to breath, rules to live your life by and meditation.
I propose we revisit and explore the eight limbs as we move into 2025; helping deepen our practice, our full eight limbed practice! I do not love New Year’s resolutions which are often punitive or self-serving, instead we will revisit the idea of a sankalpa, a commitment from the heart.
To give you an overview of the 8 limbs, please see below:
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Yama – Restraints, rules of moral code and include ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Bramacharya (restraint) and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
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Niyama – Rules of personal behavior, inwardly focused including saucha (purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (discipline or austerity), svadhyaya (spiritual studies), and Ishvara Pranidhana (constant devotion to God).
Asana – Posture. In Patanjali’s initial practice it referred to mastering the body to sit still for meditation. The practice of yoga asanas came about eight centuries later, which helped disciples ready their bodies for meditation.
Pranayama – Yoga Breathing Techniques designed to control prana or vital life force.
Pratyahara – Sense withdrawal.
Dharana – Focused Concentration.
Dhyana – Meditative Absorption.
Samadhi – Bliss or Enlightenment or merging with the divine.
I look forward to embarking on on this journey with you!
Our Practice – Keep On Twisting
In addition to being extremely beneficial for alleviating back pain, improving range of motion and overall flexibility, twisting postures also symbolize a wringing out (of the old, of toxins, of badness) and allowing the new (fresh oxygen, breath, joy) in. Some yoga practitioners believe that twisting postures actually “wrings out” toxins from your organs and stimulate circulation. I like the symbolism of twisting or wringing bad things out and getting things healthfully flowing.
For more on this topic, see link to article in YogaJournal on this topic.
Meditation – Blessings and Focus For a New Year
“Adere to: faith, unity and sacrifice. Avoid: backbiting, falsehood and crookedness. Admire: frankness, honesty, and large-heartedness. Control: Tongue, temper and tossing of the mind. Cultivate: cosmic love, forgiveness, and patience. Hate: lust, anger and pride” - Swami Sivananda, Indian Spiritual Leader
A Blessing for the New Year - JOHN O’DONOHUE
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behindThe grey window
And the ghost of lossGets in to you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green,
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
Nurturing With Food – New Years Black Eyed Peas and Greens Soup
I repeat this recipe every new year. I love legumes and greens combined and black eye peas are considered good luck in some regions and cultures and are eaten on New Years Day. Although we are well into week one of January, eating this "lucky" and healthy combination of healthy and delicous foods can bring us luck at any time. Great for these cold winter days!
See you on the mat!
Namaste,
Julia Anne