Yoga: What it is and What it is Not

The ability to stop at will the fluctuations or modifications of the mind which is acquired through constant practice in a spirit of renunciation is called Yoga. True Yoga is practiced with a view to attaining salvation. The stoppage of the fluctuations of the mind or its modifications implies the art of keeping only one idea before the mind's eye and shutting out all other ideas or thoughts. In an advanced state of practice, it is possible to suspend all ideation. The two important features of Yoga to be noted are(i) that there is the suppression at will, of the modifications of the mind and (ii) that it is not casual but has been developed into a habit through constant practice, not for gaining a personal end, but in a spirit of renunciation. If without any effort, independently of any volition there is at any time a quiescence of the cognitive faculty of the mind, that is not Yoga.
In the Yogic concentration, where only a single item of thought is kept in the mind to the exclusion of others, there are stages. When the same item of thought can be kept constant in the mind for some length of time, the Yogic process is known as Dhyana(meditation). When the meditation becomes so deep that forgetting as it were even one's own self, the mind is fixed only on the object contemplated upon, such voluntary concentration is called Samadhi. Ignorant people think that any form of quietness of the mind or trance or loss of consciousness of external objects is Samadhi; but that has nothing to do with Yoga.
If one occasionally gets such a feeling spontaneously, i.e., without any practice, but cannot get it when he desires it, then it is of no particular use for purposes of Yoga. The coming of such a feeling does not necessarily mean that Dharana (fixity of thought), Dhyana(meditation) and Samadhi(intense concentration) have been attained; because even on getting such blissful feeling or a feeling of pervading space, such minds continue to rove in many directions and are not occupied with only one idea.
The fruits of Yoga are the cessation of the three-fold misery. When one can control the cognitive faculty fully and rise at will above the perception of externals and attachments to the body and the senses, then only can one rise above all afflictions.


From Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali by Samkhya-yogacharya Swami Hariharananda Aranya

Faith and the Yoga Vitamins

Over there on the right under Links of Interest a new article has been posted.  Read it.

Aum ~ Om ~ Aumkar, originally uploaded by Amrit Vismay.

Sequences

The sequences are now organized into categories according to poses. Over on the side there is a section for Sequences, click on the heading underneath and you will go to the chosen page. This is a process I have yet to complete since it requires me to sift through all the old posts, then label them. More sequences will be appearing soon. Thanks for all your support.

Thank you

IMG_0185, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Thanks to Scott, Chris, Patricia and Chiara for making donations to PAWS! I will be driving stuff over there next week, most likely Tuesday. Thanks!!

A few of my cats

DSC00619, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Donations

Sometime in the next 2 weeks I will be loading up my SUV and trucking over to PAWS Atlanta with some supplies. PAWS Atlanta is a no-kill animal shelter. We got our goof ball dog Dingo there. They are a great bunch of people who donate their time, money and energy to keeping that place the wonderful shelter that it is for all the animals that get dumped in their parking lot.
They are in need of basic supplies. Paper towels, toilet paper, copy paper, laundry and dish soap, bleach, pens and markers,newspaper and trash bags. They also need any kind of supplies you can think of for dogs and cats from toys to leashes and collars to bedding and blankets. If you would like to donate something, please feel free to bring it with you to class and you can be sure they will put it to good use.

Natarajasana

DSC00689, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana

DSC00685, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

I have been working on deeper actions in backbends. My work is delving deeper into the inner edges of the scapula to move them in deeper, and bring them away from my neck before I start digging them, along with the back ribs in, in, in. To keep my lumbar longer, I have been focusing on certain surfaces of my sacrum. The result is astonishing and overwhelming. It exhausts my brain, as if I have just completed an Algebra problem. This tapas and svadhyaya has made my time in the poses shorter until my endurance builds.

Urdhva Dhanurasana

DSC00681, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Sequence

So far, I have not figured out anyway to organize the sequences that have been posted in the history of this blog. Right now, the only thing you can do is go to Archives over there on the right an search by month through the posts until you find a sequence. when yo do find one, print it out or write it down so you have it.  That stated, here is the sequence from 2 Mondays ago that was requested.

Baddha Konasana
Upavistha Konasana
Supta Padangusthasana 1
Tadasana
Uthitta trikonasana
Ardha Chandrasana-2x
Uttanasana- classical pose
Uthitta Parsva hasta Padangusthasana- balancing
Uttanasana- classical pose
Parsvottanasana- full pose w/ hands in Paschima namaskrasana
Virabhadrasana 1
Virabhadrasana 3
Uthitta Hasta padangusthasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Adho Mukha Vrksasana
Sirsasana
Salamba Sarvangasana
Savasana