Pr(act)ice Makes Perfect? (YS 1.12-16, redux)

Pr(act)ice Makes Perfect?

Before moving on to what could be considered some slightly more esoteric sections of the Yoga Sutras, it is best to stop a while longer on the concepts of abhyãsa (practice/praxis) and vairãgyam (devoid of desire for possession/disinterest), two sides of a balancing scale, that when in alignment can help us calm the whirlwinds (vritti’s)of our Mind (citta), bringing us one step closer to the challenge of samãdhi (a very tricky word that we shall deal with in detail in due time).

As we saw in previous Sutras (1.12-14), abhyãsa is no quick fix to our mental, nor physical maladies. In order to have a strong Yogic practice according to Patañjali, it must not only be a strong foundation, grounded by a reverence for uninterrupted effort, but it must also be diligent, regular and over a long period of Time. Now, for the Brahmin man of 2000 years ago, sitting around navel gazing for hours at a stretch every day of the week was merely de rigueur, just another day not at the office so to speak. For the 21^st century person who has not checked out of society to live in a cave of the foothills of the Himalayas, this is not the case, by far.

We have to make Time…and that is not always easy, and sometimes, not entirely possible. We can always make a few minutes, to be sure, to quiet ourselves and bring our breath into focus, even if it is literally for just a few minutes in silent contemplation or meditation, but the trick is that when we need that most is when it feels most difficult to do.

Ideally then, we want to try and carve out a portion of time in our schedules to take care of the mind’s fluctuations on a daily basis, over the course of our life’s time. As Socrates hints at though at the end of Plato’s Republic, to actually encounter the Ideal in this physical world is nothing short of a Noble Lie we tell ourselves. And, we try to counteract that with the Noble Truths of the Buddha (or chose your flavor of precepts to follow, even if your own), to help us combat or mollify our sufferings in life, which are generated by none other than a-vidyã, or ignorance.

With this quest in mind, there are many studios that have the well-known saying by Shri Patabi Jois that  “Yoga is 99% practice, 1% theory” printed on the walls or elsewhere. I would like to pick that apart a bit more with respect to abhyãsa and vairãgyam. 

Something very common in ãsana-based Yoga (which on the grand face of the history of Yoga clock only arrived at 5 to midnight to be fair), we see a familiar phenomenon—way too zealous practice that ultimately, and always, results in two things: injury and/or burnout. (Having gotten into Yoga 25  years ago because of injuries as I overdid abhyãsa with swimming and water polo, and having gone off the deep end with Yoga abhyãsa some years ago, I again write from experience. It can happen.) Often when people discover the magical mystery tour of Yoga, whether it be via meditation, ãsana, kirtan or Yoga retreats, teacher trainings and workshops, there can be a highly zealous, shall we say even, obsessive approach that emerges by gunning for that 99%. Going to 2-3 classes a day, every day, watching countless Yoga Youtube clips, posting sexy ashtavakrasana (apparently one cannot be a “true” yogi/ni without doing this pose…) pics of one’s self on FB or Instagram, one then becomes addicted to the abhyãsa.

What follows is seldom good.

Whereas one can say that this leads to a “better” life or stronger Yoga practice, often it begins to highlight the one thing that increases our suffering, our Ego. Trying to outdo the last amazing pose, it becomes a mere posturing of the Ego. In other words, don’t make an ãsana out yourself by becoming a Yoga poser. As we see in the forthcoming Sutras, the asmitã, or self/ego-aggrandizement, can be a very powerful pitfall in our practice. We may well listen to our inner guru, but often it takes an outside observer to remind us of just how far our asmitã has gone. The abhyãsa can take over if we are not careful, and this is where vairãgyam plays a balancing role.

Making an ãsana out of myself with asmitã: thinking, my leg is not perpendicular

As we looked at with the Bee in the Rose, vairãgyam is not the disconnection or total withdrawal from the world, but rather it is experiencing Life directly, without the intermediacy of the senses. Seeing and experiencing things as they are, without filters, prejudices and aversions or attractions, and moreover, going beyond the concept of the gunas, or qualities in things, that is the vision of vairãgyam, hardly shutting oneself off from the world, but quite the opposite. Then, we may actually see the world as IT IS, not as we want it to be.

The gunas, brushed over quickly in the Sutras, are generally considered three in number: sattva (true/authentic), rajas (zealousness) and tamas (sloth, inertia). Taken in various combinations, these three gunas will give flavor or taste to people, places and things. Vairãgyam is the concept of not being swayed by this taste, but to have direct, unmitigated experiences. No matter how refined one may be in this area of disinterest, eventually taste, flavors, and the filters will kick in; it is inevitable. We could not get out of bed if they did not, for we would not even know what a bed is.

However, we can still appreciate what this can do, and a prime example then is with our abhyãsa. Can we practice with diligence, regularly and over a long period of time without falling into the trap of becoming attached to that practice? Without giving it a quality of sattva, tamas or rajas or some combination thereof? Without judging ourselves and others when that practice may fall short, or overly compromising when it is going so well? That is the key, and the challenge. Does our inner guru tells us when enough is enough in time, or is it usually too late, after the burnout, the crash or the injury? Honestly.

By practicing vairãgyam then with our practice of abhyãsa, we can see how we can bring the scales into balance. Finding how much praxis is enough is, in fact, part of the theory. I have long believed in this balance in all aspects of life. Simple action is useful at times, but fools do rush in where angels fear to tread. However, the flipside is that if we have our nose stuck in the books, our heads in the clouds, and cannot touch our toes in bent-knee uttanasana, yet claim to ardently practice (modern) Yoga, then something is out of whack. We need to balance the physical and mental ledger.

Finding and making the time for our abhyãsa is paramount in the world we live in. A simple look around tells us the world is indeed sick, and if we do not take time to heal ourselves, then it shall only get sicker by proxy of our negligence. Yet, in order to create and engage an efficient and effective praxis, a healthy dose of theory does neither a body, nor mind, harm; so long as it too is taken in moderation.

Get on the mat (and then off again), get off the couch (and back on again), meditate, chant, bend and breathe, but also, take a moment to nourish the Mind and Soul. It’s not just physical, nor mental, but a union, it’s Yoga.