Sutra 1.4

At other times, we identify with the rays of consciousness, which fluctuate and encourage our perceived suffering. I can't tell you how I identified with this sutra over the years. First it took me a long time understand it, let alone recognize the rays of consciousness affecting me in my daily life.

It is a training of our conscious mind to begin to pull our selves away from the everyday fluctionations of being happy one moment, sad, angry, frustrated or negative the next and it is all affected by what we are doing at the time and who or what we are coming into contact with.

For me, my yogic mind or energy keeps myself in the moment with out attachment or distraction. Great example is driving, instead of just driving, the mind can wander, the cell phone rings, someone cuts us off and then we think about them and why they did that to us and so forth. How about just driving.....and nothing else. I do a great deal of driving to my places of work, and it can be very tedious. I have found ways to make me relax and focus so that I can stay present and just get to where I am going safely.

In my yoga practice, especially if done at home, early on when I began practicing on my own, staying on my mat was the hardest, I could be very distracted by other things or thoughts, I could start in Easy pose or Sukasana, and my mind would wander till I had been sitting for 10 minutes and not realize time was passing because I was so aborbed in my thoughts. Now it is great to be able to recognize what is happening and bring myself back to the present moment.

I know I am practicing yoga when I can consistently bring myself back to the present, change my attitude on a dime and have gratitude through out my day.
Joy to you and Namaste'

Sutra 1.1

Sutra 1.1 With humilty (an open heart and mind) we embrace the sacred study of yoga.
Everytime I read the sutras I re-embrace the study of yoga. I think of where I came from when I began yoga, stressful lifestyle filled with many ups and downs, I craved balance. Which is what I received when I attended my yoga class once a week. I was still exploring many differant avenues to find that one thing that would hold it all together, I didn't realize until I took teacher training, that the answer was yoga. I was drawn to it more and more often, going to more classes reading books and trying to practice at home. All these things added up to little by little I found more balance and more peace on a daily basis, and I continued to weave it into my life. My teacher training year was profound, I experienced growth but I gained more about who I wanted to become and yoga sent me on that path. So when I read this sutra Nischala begins by noting where we started and where we have come. I love the path, the many aspects of it, the differant styles and people I have met. This sutra is circular, as we embrace the study we become more open in our heart and mind and then we embrace it more. namaste' Denise

Yoga Sutras

I wanted to take the time to sit down and go through many of the sutras that were meaningful for me on a particular day. What ever inspiration comes to me. I, like many yoga practioners read and reread the yoga sutras finding new wisdom each time I go through the book. I have several sutra books the newest being "The Secret Power of Yoga" by Nischala Joy Devi. I wanted to use this book as my inspiration in blogging about the sutras. I hope anyone who reads this feels inspired by the sutras and to read and reread them to find daily inspiration. namaste' Denise