“Why are you so upset? You’re a yogi, should’t you always be calm?”
Most of us have heard at some point something along those lines. Maybe it was a friend, parent or partner thinking we must be above and beyond human flaws and emotions since we practice Yoga. Or maybe it was our inner voice telling us once again we’re doing it wrong.
As if Yoga is supposed to magically transform us into supreme beings that cannot be disturbed by mundane troubles.
These big expectations do not only come from other people. Very often they come from ourselves. Not only we expect to become fit, flexible and healthy through Yoga, we also want all our worries, anxiety, anger and fears wiped clean by our spiritual practice. It sounds idyllic: who wouldn’t want to be calm all the time, immune to other people’s wrongdoings and to life’s unpredictability?
Is this something realistic to expect and work towards? Is it even remotely likely that we might achieve undisturbed peace in this lifetime? Or are we hopelessly beating ourselves up for not being good Yogis?
Let’s look into the ancient texts for some answers.
Patanjali’s ideal
In the Yoga Sutras it is being made clear from the very beginning that “Yoga is the cessation of the mind’s fluctuations”. (YS 1.2)
According to Patanjali, the reason behind practicing Yoga is steadiness of mind; a mind that is not disturbed by dualities, desires, aversions or ego. A mind that - through sustained effort and practice of the 8 limbs of Yoga - surmounts the obstacles (“Kleshas”) that stand in the way of achieving a higher consciousness.
We need to keep in mind that Yoga according to Patanjali is not just asana. This is just one of the 8 limbs. Not much is being said in the Sutras about asana. It is just defined as a steady and comfortable posture. The reason is that the role of asana is to steady the body and prepare the practitioner for pranayama, concentration and deep meditation, moving from the gross to the subtle. Asana has not a value per se. The body is seen as an obstacle to liberation and something to be stilled and transcended.
The undisturbed state of mind that is the definition of Yoga according to the Sutras is therefore achieved only after one has mastered all 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga.
We should also not be blind to the fact that Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras were not addressed to common people but to monks. Back then, only monks and renunciates were practicing Yoga. So this text that encourages transcendence of the body and the mundane was not meant for everyone but only for people who had dedicated their life to those endeavours.
Where does this leave us then?
Modern Yoga for common people
The popularisation of Hatha (physical) Yoga that started at the beginning of the last century with Krishnamacharya, not only made Yoga accessible to everyone but it also changed dramatically the reasons why we practice. The body stopped being considered as something to transcend and became an undeniable part of us that deserves to be made healthy and to be cared for. Hence the emphasis on asana practice for its own sake and not merely as a preparation for meditation.
So if we now practice Yoga mainly to be healthy, flexible and pain free, is there a space for Patanjali’s teachings in our modern era?
In my opinion there is, as long as we put them in the right context.
Since most of us are not aspiring to become monks, we need to come to terms with the fact that the ideal of the undisturbed Yogi cannot be attained. We live in a messy world, we have our own wounds to heal and we are surrounded by equally broken, flawed humans. So there will be triggers and reactive behaviours, anger and hurt, craving and aversion, expectations and disillusions - all these “non yogic” traits that everyone struggles with.
The goal of our practice is therefore not to eliminate those from our lives but to become more aware of our patterns and weaknesses, more present in our day-to-day life, more understanding and compassionate and hopefully better humans.
It’s up to us to make sure that the qualities of presence and attunement we cultivate in our asana practice, permeate our entire life.
It’s up to us to take Yoga beyond the mat.
This doesn’t mean that we will completely overcome the obstacles. We won’t, for as long as we live in society. But we can get better at dealing with them. Anger might still arise but if we’re attuned to it, we’re less likely to respond to it in a reactive, explosive and thoughtless way. Fear and anxiety might still be there but our ability to let go and surrender to what we cannot control will increase over time. Disappointment will often come - as long as we have expectations. But maybe we can manage to become less attached to our desired outcomes, more open to the unknown and more comfortable with the unpredictable.
It is about progress. Not perfection
To get there, we first need to accept and embrace our humanness and let go of unrealistic expectations. There is no point beating ourselves up every time we fail to measure up to some ideal that only exists in our mind.
It’s a given that we will fail, many times. But if immediately after we fail we become aware of our failure and examine it with clear and open mind, this is progress.
Returning to awareness after a moment of absence is Yoga.
Our practice is not about perfection or reaching a goal or destination. It’s about progress and everything we learn on our journey towards a deeper awareness.
Yoga will not make our problems go away for good. Still, the longer we practice, the more there will be moments of clarity, peace of mind and one pointed awareness. And when - momentarily - those are gone, when darkness, doubt, fear and uncertainty prevail, we will be better equipped to ride through those wild waves and reach a safe shore again.
