Reading Reflection
There are five kinds of changing states of the mind, and they are either detrimental or nondetrimental [to the practice of yoga].
[The five vrttis are] right knowledge, error, imagination, sleep, and memory.
Right knowledge consists of sense perception, logic, and verbal testimony.
Error is false knowledge stemming from the incorrect apprehension [of something].
Imagination consists of the usage of words that are devoid of an actual object.
Deep sleep is that state of mind which is based on an absence [of any content].
Memory is the retention of [images of] sense objects that have been experienced.
These are the next seven sutras in the book of sutras. I decided to begin with this again since I enjoyed starting my last blog with a few sutras to delve into.
Continuing on form the first four sutras, these are the five changing states of mind that you are supposed to still while practicing yoga, and they're all things that everyone has to deal with on a daily basis, whether they help you in life or not. They're pretty self-explanatory, and you can see how each of them can be detrimental or not to you and to yoga. Sleep is something that you want enough of but not in excess, and in yoga, well...don't fall asleep. Yoga is not meant to put you to sleep. It's meant to help you de-stress, relax, focus, and seek your inner self.
Imagination, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing. Imagination is a place for dreams and aspirations to develop, and it's the creative spark behind so many books, movies, games, and more. However, there's having a good imagination, and then there's being deluded about yourself, others, and situations, and that's what you have to watch out for. Delusions are harmful distractions from reality and self-awareness.
Something else rather self-explanatory: Right knowledge is good, error is bad. Error is false and biased thoughts. It could be talking about when we think about things the wrong way or let our human bias and emotion sway our opinions or distract us from acknowledging the truth.
So far, I think I've been doing a pretty good job letting go of these distracting changing states of mind and simply focusing on yoga (but then again, ironically, maybe I'm being deluded...). Either way, yoga is meant to be a time where I focus inward and still these chaotic and constantly changing states of mind, so I intend to try my best to do so. Have to say, I'm rather proud of how relaxed and clear-minded I can be, or get close to being, during times such as the corpse pose, what with my ADD and all. My mind is almost always at a constant whirl. It's a work in progress.
[The five vrttis are] right knowledge, error, imagination, sleep, and memory.
Right knowledge consists of sense perception, logic, and verbal testimony.
Error is false knowledge stemming from the incorrect apprehension [of something].
Imagination consists of the usage of words that are devoid of an actual object.
Deep sleep is that state of mind which is based on an absence [of any content].
Memory is the retention of [images of] sense objects that have been experienced.
These are the next seven sutras in the book of sutras. I decided to begin with this again since I enjoyed starting my last blog with a few sutras to delve into.
Continuing on form the first four sutras, these are the five changing states of mind that you are supposed to still while practicing yoga, and they're all things that everyone has to deal with on a daily basis, whether they help you in life or not. They're pretty self-explanatory, and you can see how each of them can be detrimental or not to you and to yoga. Sleep is something that you want enough of but not in excess, and in yoga, well...don't fall asleep. Yoga is not meant to put you to sleep. It's meant to help you de-stress, relax, focus, and seek your inner self.
Imagination, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing. Imagination is a place for dreams and aspirations to develop, and it's the creative spark behind so many books, movies, games, and more. However, there's having a good imagination, and then there's being deluded about yourself, others, and situations, and that's what you have to watch out for. Delusions are harmful distractions from reality and self-awareness.
Something else rather self-explanatory: Right knowledge is good, error is bad. Error is false and biased thoughts. It could be talking about when we think about things the wrong way or let our human bias and emotion sway our opinions or distract us from acknowledging the truth.
So far, I think I've been doing a pretty good job letting go of these distracting changing states of mind and simply focusing on yoga (but then again, ironically, maybe I'm being deluded...). Either way, yoga is meant to be a time where I focus inward and still these chaotic and constantly changing states of mind, so I intend to try my best to do so. Have to say, I'm rather proud of how relaxed and clear-minded I can be, or get close to being, during times such as the corpse pose, what with my ADD and all. My mind is almost always at a constant whirl. It's a work in progress.
Class Reflection
Class has been fun and successful at de-stressing me so far. I really do appreciate the small number of us and how we're all comfortable and cheerful around each other. The balance between talking about yoga and the readings and then actually practicing has been really nice as well. This could just be me and my preferences talking, but I find this yoga class much more enjoyable than the yoga class I have earlier. I'm not exactly sure why. It could be that I have to rush to the earlier yoga class since it's right after my psych class in the BSB, and that it's much larger in number, and nobody talks with anybody. I just like the atmosphere of this yoga class more. I can't get into the other one, even though the instructor is a very nice lady. It's probably just my preference for smaller numbers of people, and friendlier, more familiar surroundings.
Oh well.
The poses are having pretty much the same effect on me, leaving me a little wobbly and stiff and in need of a shower, but I'll still feel satisfied at the end of it. I don't really mind the downward-facing dog as much as I used to. The worst time I've had is doing the plank and other similar poses, in both this yoga class and the other one. I think I'm a little more limber when it comes to poses that involve bending over than I originally gave myself credit for. Those eye pillows are wonderful, definitely the best thing so far about the yoga class. But, hey, that's just me. I've secretly been calling dibs on the purple ones every time. Also, I think my yoga mat is finally getting a little less slippery than it kind of started out as.
Oh well.
The poses are having pretty much the same effect on me, leaving me a little wobbly and stiff and in need of a shower, but I'll still feel satisfied at the end of it. I don't really mind the downward-facing dog as much as I used to. The worst time I've had is doing the plank and other similar poses, in both this yoga class and the other one. I think I'm a little more limber when it comes to poses that involve bending over than I originally gave myself credit for. Those eye pillows are wonderful, definitely the best thing so far about the yoga class. But, hey, that's just me. I've secretly been calling dibs on the purple ones every time. Also, I think my yoga mat is finally getting a little less slippery than it kind of started out as.
Outside of Class
Like before, I've had to get mini-projects and other things out of the way in my other classes, so I still haven't much time to try yoga outside of class.
I'm still working on sitting and standing a little straighter, even though my back is determined to be lazy and resist the whole way.
However, I was able to give some of the poses a try over the Labor Day weekend. I did a lot of the basic ones, like the downward facing dog, the mountain pose, the tree pose (I'm still just as clumsy on one foot as I ever was, unfortunately, even when I tried rooting my foot to the ground), and other poses that I can't quite remember the names of but remembered how to do them. I also did the warrior pose (hopefully that's what it was called).
I even told my family about yoga, since they were really interested in seeing if liked it. My grandmother even told me she wishes there had been places for her to do yoga back then, since all she did was go work out for a while. She suffers now from crippling back problems that leave her unable to walk or stand for lengthy periods of time (can't remember the exact name of it), and she wonders if yoga might have been able to help her even a little if she had tried it before she got to this point. It just wasn't something everybody knew about back then. My dad has started having similar problems, though he's a lot more stubborn about it and tries to carry on like normal. Seeing things like this happen to people tends to make me a little melancholy.
I do have to wonder what yoga could have done for them if they had tried it and kept it up long ago. I wonder what fun things they would try to do now if physical limitations didn't get in the way. I'm glad I get to try yoga now and see how it works for me, along with other things. I don't know how many regrets my grandmother (and maybe even my father) has at this point in life, if any, hidden away amongst all the wonderful good times they've had, but I don't want to have any regrets. There are a lot of things I want to try and do before I get too old to do them, and I want to be able to do them without anything holding me back, physically or otherwise.
I'm still working on sitting and standing a little straighter, even though my back is determined to be lazy and resist the whole way.
However, I was able to give some of the poses a try over the Labor Day weekend. I did a lot of the basic ones, like the downward facing dog, the mountain pose, the tree pose (I'm still just as clumsy on one foot as I ever was, unfortunately, even when I tried rooting my foot to the ground), and other poses that I can't quite remember the names of but remembered how to do them. I also did the warrior pose (hopefully that's what it was called).
I even told my family about yoga, since they were really interested in seeing if liked it. My grandmother even told me she wishes there had been places for her to do yoga back then, since all she did was go work out for a while. She suffers now from crippling back problems that leave her unable to walk or stand for lengthy periods of time (can't remember the exact name of it), and she wonders if yoga might have been able to help her even a little if she had tried it before she got to this point. It just wasn't something everybody knew about back then. My dad has started having similar problems, though he's a lot more stubborn about it and tries to carry on like normal. Seeing things like this happen to people tends to make me a little melancholy.
I do have to wonder what yoga could have done for them if they had tried it and kept it up long ago. I wonder what fun things they would try to do now if physical limitations didn't get in the way. I'm glad I get to try yoga now and see how it works for me, along with other things. I don't know how many regrets my grandmother (and maybe even my father) has at this point in life, if any, hidden away amongst all the wonderful good times they've had, but I don't want to have any regrets. There are a lot of things I want to try and do before I get too old to do them, and I want to be able to do them without anything holding me back, physically or otherwise.
Great posts, Lindsey. Krishna says, even the smallest effort on the path is never wasted. I think the benefits of early yoga practice are abundant.
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