I just completed a course with my teacher: “Yoga – Then to Now.” I wanted to share some of my reflections from this course. There were many thoughts I had from taking this course and I tried my best to keep thing succinct, splitting it up between three posts.

Participating in a recent Yoga History course helped me sort out a dilemma I’ve been having in my mind for some time. This dilemma is: Where do I “fit in” in modern culture’s definition of yoga.  I finally realized I don’t have to fit myself into the current definition of Modern Yoga, I just need to be clear about what I teach and let those students who are seeking more than a physical exercise come to me.

Yoga Darshana – Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

As a Yoga-based counselor, what I offer is an alternative way to heal mental health issues that, I feel based on experience, is more empowering and lasting.  The focus is on learning tools that promote an inward process and connecting with our own innate wisdom.  Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (PYS) is a ‘yoga-based’ guidebook in meeting these goals.

I have found that Western Psychology focuses on giving power to an “expert” in order to be ‘fixed.’ It focuses on decreasing ‘symptoms’ quickly rather than addressing the root of the problem. It is focused on external coping rather than internal tools.  

Yoga Darshana (vision, seeing) as defined in PYS, takes a more holistic view of ‘mental health.’ Instead of pathologizing mental health struggles, PYS normalizes it by stating the goal  “is restraint of mental modifications” which we are all struggling with. PYS draws on the philosophy of Sankhya, which gets more at the root of all of our “mental afflictions” as simply “false identification of the experiencer with the object of the experience,” meaning identifying ourselves as our thoughts, emotions, reactions and body which is actually not truly who we are (PYS 2:17). Again, this normalizes human suffering because it is at the root of all human suffering.

As I have moved into using PYS principles to work with people, the results are significant.  Internal changes are lasting. Over and over again, my clients report feeling more empowered. They see positive mental health state as an ongoing process, not something to quickly.  This is different from what my experience has been with western mental health practices, which emphasizes external tools and short term treatment.

The Past as a Guide for the Present

PYS, as are all ancient Yogic texts, is a remarkable guide that one can keep going back to, each time gaining new insight, inspiration, and understanding depending on where one is at that moment. I don’t have to have an understanding of all of what is being presented in PYS in order to teach about it. (A perfectionist mind limitation). I do directly know that having these ‘guides’ from past yoga masters is important to stay clear about what is true in the midst of a world filled with easily accessible distractions, reinforced social belief structures, and current definitions of yoga that are watered-down. 

In my own experience, thus far, I have found clarity that I can’t do it on my own.  Having a spiritual guide or teacher, interacting with like-minded individuals on the path of Yoga, and revising what has been taught over the centuries, has been essential in my learning process. It has kept me motivated when my mind tells me to give up. It has kept me inspired when I feel despair from the state of the external world. It has provided me with the tools I need to keep using every day to help me stay focused.

To be continued…