7 Yoga Myths Examined

Summary

In the video, Aruna Kathy Humphrys and her team explore seven common myths about yoga, delving into historical and philosophical contexts. They aim to clarify misconceptions, offering a deeper understanding of yoga beyond just physical postures. The video emphasizes that yoga is not solely about asanas, isn't founded solely by Patanjali, and is more about separating the mind from the true self than union. It also debunks myths around the purpose of yoga in achieving samadhi or a satvik state. The discussion is aimed at promoting a more accessible and comprehensive perspective of yoga.

Highlights

• Debunking the myth that yoga is only about physical postures. 🧘‍♂️
• Clarifying Patanjali's role in yoga history and philosophy. 📚
• Exploring the meaning of yoga as union and its actual philosophical aims. 🔗
• Understanding Patanjali's eight-limb path within a broader context. 🌐
• Explaining the balance of gunas in the yogic lifestyle. 🌀
• Distinguishing between knowing the self and being immersed in it. 🧘‍♀️
• Discussing the stages of samadhi and beyond. 🚀

Key Takeaways

• Yoga is more than just physical postures; it's about meditative practices and broader philosophies 🧘‍♀️.
• Patanjali is not the founder of yoga; the philosophy predates him by hundreds of years 📜.
• Yoga isn't solely about uniting body, mind, and spirit but about separating mind from true self for deeper realization ✨.
• The eight-limb path by Patanjali is one among many systems, not the definitive structure of all yoga 🕉️.
• Achieving a satvik state isn’t about eliminating all other qualities; balance is key ⚖️.
• Knowing the self in yoga is about being truly immersed in it, not just understanding it mentally 🧠.
• The objective of yoga is not just reaching samadhi but progressing beyond it to a deeper consciousness 🔍.

Overview

Yoga is often misunderstood as being all about physical poses and postures, but Aruna Kathy Humphrys clarifies that there's much more to it. In this engaging video, she discusses how yoga is fundamentally about meditation and understanding the broader consciousness, not just performing intricate poses. This opens a doorway to a deeper practice that's accessible to everyone, regardless of physical ability.

The video also tackles the misconception that Patanjali founded yoga. While his contributions are significant, yoga's history stretches back even further. This conversation helps unravel the rich, historical tapestry of yoga, showing how diverse and inclusive its philosophies truly are. By understanding these foundations, practitioners can appreciate the depth of yoga much more.

Finally, the session explores some deeply ingrained myths about the objectives of yoga, like achieving a perfectly satvik state or reaching samadhi. It becomes clear that the true aim is a balance and understanding of consciousness that transcends mere physical forms. By dispelling these myths, the video invites both current and aspiring yogis to explore yoga's true essence.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Yoga Myths In the chapter titled 'Introduction to Yoga Myths', trainers Zaruna Claire and Putnam Preet guide the 200-hour Ambassador Yoga online training. They address common myths about yoga, which often arise from yoga classes, social media, and various media sources, causing misconceptions about the practice.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Understanding Yoga Myths The chapter titled 'Understanding Yoga Myths' explores common misconceptions surrounding yoga. It mentions that a 200-hour yoga teacher training program can clarify these myths, which are crucial for deepening one's understanding and practice of yoga. The chapter sets out to debunk seven myths, starting with the misconception that yoga is solely about physical postures. As it progresses, it addresses more subtle myths, providing a broader perspective on the true essence of yoga.
• 01:00 - 06:30: Myth 1: Yoga is about Physical Postures This chapter focuses on debunking the myth that yoga is solely about physical postures, known as asanas. While many yoga teachers and trainers understand the broader scope of yoga, the general public might still perceive yoga as mainly physical due to media portrayals. The chapter emphasizes that yoga encompasses much more than just physical exercises, and in fact, the idea that yoga is only about physical postures is entirely contrary to its true essence.
• 06:30 - 09:00: Myth 2: Patanjali as the Founder of Yoga This chapter debunks the common myth that Patanjali is the founder of yoga. It highlights that even in Patanjali's central text on yoga, asanas or postures are mentioned only in three out of the 196 sutras, all of which appear in the second chapter. The first mention in Sutra 46 simply refers to the act of sitting down. The chapter therefore challenges the perception of Patanjali's role in the development of yoga, suggesting that his contribution is often overstated in the context of physical postures that are now widely associated with yoga.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Myth 3: Yoga has Eight Limbs The chapter addresses the myth that yoga consists of eight limbs. It highlights that Patanjali's focus in yoga was primarily on meditation rather than physical postures (asanas). It mentions that Patanjali provided minimal instruction on asanas, emphasizing their role in facilitating good meditation.
• 12:00 - 18:00: Myth 4: Yoga is about Union The chapter titled 'Myth 4: Yoga is about Union' delves into the idea of yoga in the context of consciousness and understanding one's relationship with a larger existential reality. It challenges the oversimplified notion that yoga is simply about union by discussing its deeper philosophical implications. The text references traditional Indian scriptures like the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita to illustrate how yoga is historically viewed not just as a physical practice, but as a means to connect a person's individual consciousness with a larger, universal consciousness.
• 18:00 - 22:00: Myth 5: The Objective of Yoga is to Become Completely Satwik This chapter addresses a common misconception about yoga, specifically the belief that the goal of yoga is to become completely Satwik (pure, calm, and balanced). It highlights how ancient texts mention yoga frequently but give little emphasis to specific postures, which are often associated with physical practice in modern interpretations. The chapter cites the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, an old text that references some basic postures, contrasting with the contemporary focus on a variety of complex asanas. This suggests that the original intention of yoga emphasized meditation and inner transformation over physical perfection.
• 22:00 - 27:00: Myth 6: The Aim of Yoga is to Know the Self In this chapter titled 'Myth 6: The Aim of Yoga is to Know the Self,' the focus is on dispelling a common misconception in modern yoga practice. The chapter emphasizes that the popular belief associating yoga primarily with physical postures is a modern evolution. Historically, yoga was not centered around these postures. This modern view that yoga's aim is physical flexibility is considered a myth by the author.
• 27:00 - 30:00: Myth 7: The Aim of Yoga is to Attain Samadhi This chapter discusses the common misconception that the aim of yoga is solely to attain physical postures, like being able to do the splits or touch one's head to their legs in a forward fold. The author reflects on personal experiences and observations of people sharing these achievements on platforms like Instagram, suggesting that these feats are often mistakenly seen as virtuous accomplishments or the ultimate goals of yoga. The chapter likely critiques this narrow view of yoga, emphasizing that yoga's purpose goes beyond mere physical achievements to include mental and spiritual growth.
• 30:00 - 36:00: Possible Myth 8: By Doing Yoga, You Can Liberate Your Mind This chapter discusses the misconception that yoga is solely about liberating the mind. It highlights that the practice of Asana is just a fraction of a broader yoga lifestyle. The narrator reflects on realizing this over time, especially past the age of 50, emphasizing that yoga encompasses more than just physical poses—it involves a holistic lifestyle approach that connects the mind and body.
• 36:00 - 39:00: Conclusion In this conclusion chapter, the author reflects on the evolution of yoga practice, emphasizing that true virtue in yoga doesn't stem from achieving specific physical poses. The chapter highlights the common misconception that yoga is predominantly about postures, which often leads to injuries in both teachers and students. As a yoga instructor and trainer, the author notes a significant shift in understanding this aspect of yoga.

7 Yoga Myths Examined Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi it's zaruna Claire and Putnam preet and we're your trainers in the online training of the Ambassador yoga 200 hour training today we're going to talk about some of the myths of yoga that people learn through yoga classes or social media or even the media that you might get a mistaken idea about what yoga is all about and that's what we're going to look at today these are
• 00:30 - 01:00 of the things that we can get clarified in a 200 hour yoga teacher training program these are the things we look at when we deepen our understanding and study of yoga today we have seven myths that we're going to look at and we're going to start with from uh well the kind of myth we're going to start with the first one and then move on to more and more subtle myths so that's going to be fun so possible myth number one yoga is about physical postures or also
• 01:00 - 01:30 known as asanas now most yoga teachers and especially teacher trainers know this is not true but often in the general conception of you know people may think if they're just watching as Aruna said TV commercial or what they've heard about it they might think that yoga is about physical postures and that is not true in fact the exact opposite
• 01:30 - 02:00 is true even in the very Central text yoga patanjali only talks about Asana or posture in three out of 196 sutras and they're all in the second chapter and the first one is verse 46 Sutra 46 asanum which basically is saying uh sit down in
• 02:00 - 02:30 a very easy and steady pose and the following verses talk about how the point of that is so you can have a good meditation and that's pretty much it for patanjali's direction on Asana because at the time of patanjali yoga was mostly about meditation mostly about
• 02:30 - 03:00 understanding what your body mind was in relation to something bigger than you then it was about the connection of your specific Consciousness we can say to a bigger Consciousness even if we look at the text other than patanjali like the Mahabharata which is the source text for the Gita the Gita bhagavad-gita is just a small part of the Mahabharata it
• 03:00 - 03:30 mentions yoga hundreds and hundreds of times but it only mentions asan or Asana a couple of times and again it's in preparation for meditation now there is one old text that mentions more asanas and that's the hata yoga pradipika that one mentions postures but they're just really basic postures nothing like the multiple postures that
• 03:30 - 04:00 we have in modern yoga and that's what we really want to get across modern yoga is full of hundreds of postures they're very helpful but that is a modern version of yoga the original version of yoga was mostly not about postures I think that is a very common myth that yoga is about physical postures and I I myself have believed that as
• 04:00 - 04:30 well I remember thinking that there was some virtue that came with being able to touch my head to my legs in a sitting forward fold like I remember the moment I first was able to do that thinking that was some kind of virtuous act on my part and I see that all the time on Instagram like people like oh I can finally do the splits I can finally do put my toe to my
• 04:30 - 05:00 head or something that I I feel like that connection to the body it's it feels like some like some part of the path of yoga but in my journey of yoga I think I realized at some point that the the Asana was just one little piece of whole lifestyle that goes along with yoga and and that you know now that I'm over 50 my
• 05:00 - 05:30 practice has changed a lot from when I first started doing yoga and that their The Virtue does not come from whether your body can go into a certain shape and whether your toe can reach a certain body part and now we're seeing in yoga that actually that creates a lot of injuries for for teachers and students when they fall for that myth that yoga is about postures as a yoga teacher and trainer of course
• 05:30 - 06:00 we see these myths a lot I find that in social situations once people find out I'm a yoga teacher one of the most common responses is I love yoga I go every day or I'm not flexible enough to do yoga or yoga is too slow for me and I really think it is a disservice to not properly understand that yoga is
• 06:00 - 06:30 not all about the postures because it can be a Gateway for people to begin a yoga practice but it can also be a deterrent for people to start a practice which has a lot of benefit because they feel like they can't do certain things with their body so we are really excited to be here dismantling these myths to make yoga more accessible to everybody and get to
• 06:30 - 07:00 the truth of what yoga is and what it is not yeah no I like that because that idea that yoga is about physical postures can actually deter someone from starting the practice possible myth number two patanjali is the founder of yoga or we might think that the teaching of yoga begins with patanjali in the yoga sutras well yes patanjali is a central figure
• 07:00 - 07:30 in yoga philosophy but yoga philosophy Itself predates patanjali by hundreds of years he's not the founder of yoga because it was a meditative practice even more ancient than him it goes back to The Vedas it goes back to the upanishads and even the Buddhist sutras talk about yoga as a meditative practice
• 07:30 - 08:00 we talked about the Mahabharata earlier in the Mahabharata we learned that it is actually hiranya Garba who is the founder of yoga this is a story about how the world was created and how one of the first beings that was created out of uh vishnu's Naval was the teacher of yoga so there's that story so we know
• 08:00 - 08:30 yoga existed before patanjali Krishna in the Gita in the bhagavad-gita he talks about various types of Yoga he talks about Karma Yoga he talks about Guyana yoga Raja yoga bhakti yoga and in fact each of the 18 chapters in the Gita has the word yoga after it so this is all to say yoga existed long before patanjali but patanjali did bring
• 08:30 - 09:00 together a lot of the ideas that existed around his time and formulate them into his yoga philosophy system that's why the very first Sutra talks about Atta so Atta is the very first word saying now we're going to talk about yoga and he assumes you already know a lot about it but now he's going to talk about yoga it already existed as a teaching and as a practice okay possible myth number three
• 09:00 - 09:30 yoga has eight limbs and it's also known as Ashtanga eight limbed now we just talked about patanjali not being the founder of yoga but one thing he did do he created a yoga system that had eight sections or eight steps and that's what the word asht means it means eight and Anga means Lim so it's actually
• 09:30 - 10:00 Ashtanga are the two words I know we say Ashtanga or Ashtanga and think that it's Ash and Tanga but no it's actually Ashtanga and both Before patanjali's Time and after patanjali's times there were other limbed systems other step systems some of them had six steps some of them had 10 steps some of them had 15 Steps so yes he created the eight limb
• 10:00 - 10:30 system but that doesn't mean yoga itself has eight limbs some yoga systems leave out the niyamas and yamas and add other things in so that's something also that can be investigated there are more types of Yoga than eight limbed yoga systems so when we study the eight limbs that patanjali taught about we are studying one system that is a valuable study and we want to understand that this is in the context of
• 10:30 - 11:00 many different systems that existed in yoga one of the things that we see happen in our yoga teacher training programs the journey that the students take they do follow this eight limb path which we understand is not the only path to understanding yoga but it is methodical and it is systematic and it does essentially provide an outline or a guide to help people understand themselves understand life cope with life and make it through this system
• 11:00 - 11:30 little by little study by study practice by practice so it's very beneficial in in my experience definitely I would say it it is a central system now because uh of how well patanjali arranged it so it's an important system and it definitely leads to a deeper understanding of self so it's an important system and that's why it's used and that's why it's become
• 11:30 - 12:00 popular so I know Claire you've talked about that how when people come out of the 200 hour training they really feel like they've experienced the depth of themselves they hadn't experienced at the start of the training when we talked earlier about the disservice of not knowing what yoga is not only is Justin yoga or the Atlanta system of yoga but I know in the west some people do confuse it with a style of yoga a very
• 12:00 - 12:30 rapid moving style of yoga with a certain set of postures and sequences and that's where I think people get confused and where these myths come from is really understanding the truth of these words that we hear is Ashtanga a type of yoga or is it a mythology yeah I know I think that's a really good point uh that uh Ashtanga Yoga as a brand is very different from
• 12:30 - 13:00 the words Ashtanga which just means yeah no it just means eight limbs that's all that means and it's very important what you're saying yeah which is why I was told I was taking an Ashtanga yoga teacher training where I never did the primary series but I did learn the eight limb path so like which one is it possible myth number four yoga is about Union and the purpose is to unite Body Mind and Spirit
• 13:00 - 13:30 the first part of this that yoga is about Union Yes the word yoga is related to the word to yoke which means to unite to come together but in patanjali's yoga sutras and in yoga philosophy the purpose is not to unite Body Mind and Spirit it's exactly the opposite
• 13:30 - 14:00 I know shocking the point is to separate the body and mind from your true self so you can be immersed in your true self and that self is known as purusha or pure consciousness in the third Sutra patanjali talks about the Seer which is us
• 14:00 - 14:30 our true nature of asthanam we become that we become immersed in that we are that so yoga is actually not about Union it's about separating whatever you might consider to be you your mind and body and immersing yourself in that true self and your mind and body is just put aside right now in the meditative state
• 14:30 - 15:00 so how do we do that well that's where the eight steps we talked about earlier come in through the yamas through the niyamas by pushing away distractions of the world and through Diana dharana shamadhi which are through concentration through meditation through contemplation until we arrive at that absorption stage so we're trying to tune
• 15:00 - 15:30 out the world we're trying to tune out our senses we're trying to quiet down our mental activities and we're doing the opposite of uniting with them which to me is actually interesting because when I guide yoga classes it's all about the coordination of the breath with the movement and the focus of the mind so it's almost like you have to like the sub layer is to have the Union
• 15:30 - 16:00 and then once you get past that you can separate yourself from the Mind Body it's complex this is why we need 200 hours to discuss this no I think that's a good point I mean certainly you have to become in contact with and understand and like Unite with aspects of yourself to better understand them so that's definitely layers as you said in steps
• 16:00 - 16:30 to it so you know when you're doing a pose you want to be fully in connection to the different parts of your body so you can better understand them and the reason for that is okay this is my body I get it this is what's happening with it it's stable now as we talked earlier uh it's stable in the pose now I can move on so yeah there is that aspect of the Union but uh the final end result of patanjali's yoga philosophy we have to
• 16:30 - 17:00 keep in mind we're talking about yoga philosophy as instructed by patanjali is to put that aside and move on from that I I think one of the ideas of Union is or yoga as Union is that when I see students thinking about the union of Body Mind and Spirit like I can see them think like oh I feel
• 17:00 - 17:30 my spirit in my body right here you know like often around their heart or something not usually their head um then I think the idea of Union is that not that you're finding your spirit in your body but finding your body in your spirit like the body dwells in the spirit yes the body is a part of reality but it
• 17:30 - 18:00 would be inaccurate to say that your body is in spirit or that everything is Spirit uh United there is an aspect of Consciousness that underlies everything but the material world and the mental world are of a different nature in yoga philosophy than Borussia or the
• 18:00 - 18:30 Consciousness world so um it would not be accurate to say that they're like the same together one thing at any point or time but it's actually not accurate to say everything is Spirit uh technically in patanjali philosophy it is to in other philosophies but not in patanjali philosophy okay possible myth number five the objective of yoga is to become completely satwik
• 18:30 - 19:00 now what this refers to is that the material world and the mental world is full of three types of things or three gunas they're called qualities that is satva rajas and Thomas and the idea is in the yogic lifestyle you want to be purely satwik full of satwa and just eliminate all rajas and Thomas this isn't quite accurate because you
• 19:00 - 19:30 can't completely eliminate rajas and Thomas you need them to exist in a body the body is formed of them you know just like we can't completely eliminate stress from the muscles we need them to sit we need them to stand we need them to move and we need them to do yoga when we're in any yoga pose yes there's aspects of our muscles that are completely relaxed but if a muscle is completely relaxed it also means some
• 19:30 - 20:00 other muscle is under stress or not necessarily tight but active and it's the same thing with Rogers and Thomas in the body Thomas refers to something heavy something dense Rod just refers to some activity some fire so we need activity and fire in our stomach to digest food you know we need Thomas we need heaviness otherwise we just like float
• 20:00 - 20:30 off into the ether you know we need to be slowed down with Thomas otherwise we couldn't sleep so yes we want to maximize in ourselves in our body mind but we can't completely eliminate rajas and tamas we have to have some of them in order to exist so in a short form we need to maximize satwa and idealize at the ideal
• 20:30 - 21:00 amount of rajas and Thomas I think that speaks to the point where sometimes the perception is if you are a yogi you are calm and peaceful and Blissful at all times I'm not true for me no right so I think that's right we need to have the other motivating factors the rajas and the tamasic qualities
• 21:00 - 21:30 um that help us one thing that I have found is that in an effort to be more peaceful there are still elements of having a human life and a human lived experience that are not peaceful but because of that awareness when we have those unpeaceful experiences they motivate us into action which would be a regassic quality and that's not a bad quality we have to move through the action to get
• 21:30 - 22:00 to the peace same with automatic quality it's often described as heavy and dark and lethargic but sometimes we need to stop and rest yeah I think that's a really good point you know there's that old aphorism or something sometimes you need to use a thorn to take out a thorn and I think that is very true that we need the rajas and Thomas as a means to appreciating and understanding the
• 22:00 - 22:30 satwik aspect of us because the fact is I mean we have a body and what you said is like they're not bad we need them they help us function in life it's just that once they start to dominate it becomes an issue like yes Thomas is an aspect of helping us sleep but we don't want too much of it because we don't want to sleep 15 20 hours a day we want to sleep an ideal amount and the rest of the time we want to be of light
• 22:30 - 23:00 clear mind so yes they're not bad they're just can't predominate and of course yoga in a healthy balance how to recognize them how to notice them be aware of where they're sitting in your body mind and then it gives us the tools to keep them in check and keep them in a balanced way which is what I love about yoga it doesn't just tell you what the
• 23:00 - 23:30 problem is it also gives you the solution possible myth number six the aim of yoga is to know the self now earlier we talked about Sutra III being [Music] this year is immersed in their true nature or in their true self which is true but here's the issue when you are
• 23:30 - 24:00 immersed in your true self there is no mind and body so you can't know anything you won't know anything you are completely purusha you are pure Consciousness Beyond body and mind the objective is to be in your true nature not to know your true nature
• 24:00 - 24:30 what we think yoga is and then we have just a statement like that which takes us so far from the postures what people think yoga is into a comment like that where it's just almost too much to comprehend so it does take deep study and and it takes an experienced teacher I think to guide us through these deep Concepts
• 24:30 - 25:00 these are really subtle differences like to to know the self then someone is the knower of the self whereas to be yourself um you just are like it's a very subtle difference but it's an interesting distinction to Ponder and meditate on and I think that's an important Point uh yes it's a very subtle distinction and
• 25:00 - 25:30 it's important to talk about it because it may seem technical but if you ponder it you'll realize that you know there's other layers or other places you can go with these ideas that might deepen your understanding of these ideas and that's really what the point of explaining all of these ideas in this video is right now just to make you aware of these subtle differences possible myth number
• 25:30 - 26:00 seven the aim of yoga is to attain samadhi this one is kind of true actually to be honest uh it's not completely true but it's kind of true that's why I'm putting it under the myth category so patanjali tells us when our mind becomes satwik it becomes more and more pure the difference between purusha our
• 26:00 - 26:30 Pure Consciousness and prakriti our matter and Mind Body becomes more and more clear and as we go through the eight steps of Asana dharana dhyana the next step is shamadhi so when we're in that first stage of shamadhi and experiencing it in the body that's called
• 26:30 - 27:00 samadhi which we can think of as samadhi with understanding you understand you are more than the body you are more than the mind so yes we are attaining samadhi but that's not the final stage and that's why this is a myth you have to go beyond that stage to another level of samadhi and this awesome prajinata samadhi which is samadhi without
• 27:00 - 27:30 understanding now that seems like a weird thing to say samadhi without understanding it doesn't mean you don't understand samadhi it means as we talked about in the earlier myth you are beyond your mind so there's no sense of understanding there's no sense of knowing there's no sense of oh look at me I figured it out so you are Beyond those categories so first you have the samadhi with understanding then you have
• 27:30 - 28:00 the samadhi without understanding the Great to know that you don't know and that that is okay and we've been seeing a lot of unlearning in the last couple of years so it's like you have to learn enough it's like the more you learn the less you know I think that's the saying but
• 28:00 - 28:30 it's not in a way of not knowing it's in just not you're just you're just transported to a whole different level of being in an earlier myth you talked about uh uniting with the asanas the poses Claire so we can kind of have that as an analogy again where you know when you're first doing a pose you have to understand all aspects of that pose the alignment the pressure points the grounding and you have to know all of these things but at
• 28:30 - 29:00 some point you have to let go of that and just be the pose you're not supposed to be like thinking these things every single time you're doing the pose you're just becoming the pose so it goes back to what you're saying that's sort of like a good analogy for what's happening in samadhi as well it reminds me of that whole draw when you first learn to drive a car you're thinking about everything and then once you drive a car for a long time you you don't have to think about
• 29:00 - 29:30 it you just do it yes and unfortunately when you're driving a car then you can start to think about other things and you're still safely driving your car but now your mind is elsewhere and you know what you need then you need patanjali's eight steps to get to shimadi but not while you're driving yeah because we've talked a lot about patanjali which talked about Ashtanga Yoga eight limbed yoga I felt like we
• 29:30 - 30:00 had to have a bonus with a myth number eight and that myth is by doing yoga you can liberate your mind unfortunately this is not true according to yoga philosophy our true nature is covered by two types of body a physical body which is here our senses our body of the senses and a mental body a subtle body which is our mind
• 30:00 - 30:30 and the intention in patanjali yoga is to separate that body mind body so to speak and just put it off to the side and immerse yourself in your true nature so at that point you are permanently immersed in purusha you can be liberated from the body mind
• 30:30 - 31:00 from your physical existence from your mental existence and be completely at one with pure Consciousness but at that point as we've discussed earlier your mind does not exist your mind is not there to be liberated and I have a good example of this you know a while ago I needed a new computer mouse so I went out and bought the mouse it came in one of those ridiculous hard
• 31:00 - 31:30 plastic cases where you think you can open it just by with your hands but you can't you're gonna end up cutting yourself so I went and I got a small pair of scissors and that didn't work those were paper scissors so finally I had to go and get some box cutters from the toolbox and I use those to cut open the plastic and take out the mouse now once I have the mouse in my hand I did not say hey I liberated the plastic like
• 31:30 - 32:00 that's not what happened you know now I have the mouse that's what I was looking for the plastic was put aside I didn't need that I did all that hard work for the mouse I didn't do all that hard work to get the plastic similarly in yoga we do all the hard work of the yamas and niyamas and the awesome and the concentration and the contemplation we do all of that in order to allow
• 32:00 - 32:30 ourselves to be immersed in our true nature it's not to like drag the Mind along with us one understanding that if sort of trying to get my headrest like the mind can only understand so much I think purusha and this greater Consciousness like the mind has limited ability to understand that so like we spend our whole life trying to understand our purpose and connect but we can only understand with the limited resource that we have like
• 32:30 - 33:00 it's just like it's uncomprehensible what is actually true and I think that's what the whole point of patanjali's yoga is what the point of all of those steps are is that the mind is a limited thing and it can't take us to that final place to that final resting place of um of purusha of pure consciousness
• 33:00 - 33:30 uh it can't we need to use it we need to use the mind just like we need to use the all the gunas to take us to the point at which we can push forward beyond the mind and again this is specifically for the patanjali yoga philosophy style this doesn't mean that in modern times just like in modern times we've added a lot more asanas you know we've added a lot more complex
• 33:30 - 34:00 things into yoga in terms of physical movement it doesn't mean we can't change things for ourselves because the mind is super important it's necessary it's necessary for us to discriminate it's necessary for us to understand and while we're in the body we have to understand its power and its usefulness so this is not to put the Mind down it's just historically what patanjali was talking
• 34:00 - 34:30 about we can't Liberate the mind in the final stages of yoga it sounds like the idea of liberating the Mind means like your mind will never worry again or your mind will never think a wrong thought or an unhelpful thought again or maybe or maybe respond in an overacting way or
• 34:30 - 35:00 something that that would be the liberation of the mind and we've talked about this before about you know when someone meditates and embarks on a meditation practice that their mind still does all those things I mean those are reactions of your natural reactions in your body's nervous system the fight flight response all of those are programmed into us the mind is going to do all those things when we meditate
• 35:00 - 35:30 we can we can choose we put a little space there to choose whether we want to accept what the mind is offering us or whether we want to choose something differently so I think the idea of liberating the Mind might be confusing people for people that it means like you would never ever worry again and that's not going to happen either yeah and I think that's a really good point because it becomes very harmful that way I think if we understand
• 35:30 - 36:00 what the place of the mind is we can truly understand its usefulness and its importance rather than putting it off to the you know as in oh yeah uh I can absolutely let go of all worldly things in my head well no you're you're in the world if you're in the world all those worldly things are always with you including your mind so let's see how we can use these discipline tactics these
• 36:00 - 36:30 discipline techniques to use the Mind best so I think that's a really important Point yeah we don't want to think that yes I'm my mind is liberated I'm satwik I don't have to worry about a thing and that's the objective because that's not possible if you okay if right now you're watching this video and you have a body and a mind it's not possible for you if you're watching this video without a body of the mind okay that's a different story but right now whoever's watching it's not possible
• 36:30 - 37:00 [Laughter] so it's like that understanding of how to use the mind right like so you don't have reactions or you do have reactions because you have experiences if you're a human being you have experiences therefore you can have reactions but having control over the Mind helps you with those reactions there you have it those are the seven plus one bonus myths
• 37:00 - 37:30 of yoga that sometimes people believe and oftentimes many people believe this because they haven't been exposed to the depth of yoga philosophy both historically and also in the yoga sutras themselves as taught by patanjali I think it's important to understand these myths highlight that they exist and get to the core of what is and is not true
• 37:30 - 38:00 if you're a yogi but also if you're a human having experience there's so much in yoga that can offer us coping mechanisms and strategies to help us lead a more peaceful life so whether you're a yogi or not I think these concepts of philosophies are important to contemplate and study further I agree Claire no matter how long you've been doing yoga you can sometimes slip back into
• 38:00 - 38:30 believing these myths because we're living in the world so it's great to re-examine them as part of our practice so if you are interested in diving deeper into yoga philosophy we have a 200 hour yoga teacher training coming up it's live online with pot and parade with Claire with myself and with you you'll be in here and we'll be talking
• 38:30 - 39:00 about all these philosophies and really getting into the core of understanding them more deeply so we invite you to check that out on the website in the links below