your home practice

THE INVOCATION:

A prayer honoring and respecting the sage Patanjali.

yogena cittasya padena vacam
malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena
yopakarottam pravaram muninam
patanjalim pranjaliranato'smi

abahu purusakaram
sankha cakrasi dharinam
sahasra sirasam svetam
pranamami patanjalim

TRANSLATION:

Let us bow before the noblest of sages,
Patanjali, who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind,
grammar for clarity and purity for speech,
and medicine for perfection of health.

I salute Adisvara (the primeval Lord Siva)
who taught first the science of Hatha
Yoga - a science that stands out as a ladder
for those who wish to scale the heights of Raja Yoga.

EIGHT LIMBS OF ASHTANGA YOGA

1. Yamas – moral principles
2. Niyamas – personal disciplines
3. Asana – pose
4. Pranayama – breath
5. Pratyahara – Sense withdrawal
6. Dharana – focused attention
7. Dhyana – meditation
8. Samadhi – self realization - enlightenment

YAMAS and NIYAMAS

Yamas Moral Principles

1. Ahimsa: Non-Violence/Non-harming This applies to yourself or to anyone else
2. Satya: Honest/truthful It’s about speaking and living from the heart
3. Asteya: Do not steal. Live simply.
4. Brahmacharya: Self-control/Self discipline Harness your primal forces into spiritual energy.
5. Aparigraha: Unselfishness. Do not be attached to things.

Niyamas Personal Disciplines

1. Saucha: Cleanliness/Purity Take care of yourself outside and in.
2. Santosha: Contentment/Acceptance Accept things, knowing you still have a choice in how you relate to them.
3. Tapas: Effort/Self Discipline A conscious effort to practice.
4. Svadhyaya: Self Study. Know yourself.
5. Ishvara Pravidhana: Faith Surrender to the flow. Let go. Trust.

OM

“This eternal word is all, what was, what is and what shall be”.
-the Mandukya-Upanishad

The Sanskrit letter and it’s general representation.

• lower curve represents the dream state
• the upper curve the waking state
• the curve coming from the center deep dreamless sleep
• the crescent shape stands for “Maya” the veil of illusion
• the dot for the transcendental state

When the individual spirit in man passes through the veil and rest in the transcendental state, he is liberated from the other three states and their qualities.

These four elements are directly related to the symbol and the four states of:
• Consciousness
• Waking
• Dreaming
• Sleeping
• Turiya or Transcendental self beyond the mind

the Mandukya-Upanishad/Yoga Sutras of Patanjali I.27

OM is humming or pranava connected to prana the basic vibration or life-force that exists in all of us at all times.

OM was designated as a universal name for God not belonging to one country or religion.

OM  is the entire process of sound and all other sounds are contained in it. It exists in all other words.


RECOMMENDED READING

1. Light on Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar
2. The Tree of Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar
3. Light on Life: B.K.S. Iyengar
4. Yoga Explained: Mira Mehta
5. Health, Healing and Beyond, Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya: T.K.V. Desikachar
6. Light on the The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: B.K.S. Iyengar
7. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda
8. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Sanskrit Svatmarama English translation Brian Dana Akers
9. Yoga for Cats: Christienne Wadsworth
10.Yoga for Children A Complete Illustrated Guide to Yoga: Swati Chanchani and Rajiv Chanchani

RECOMMENDED DVD's

1. Yoga the Home Study Course with Manouso Manos
• Standing Poses Volume I
• The Inversions Volume II
• Forward Bends Volume III
• Backbends Volume III


2. Patricia Walden
• Yoga Practice for Beginner’s
• Yoga Practice for Relaxation
• Yoga Practice for Flexibility