Demystifying The Yoga Sutras - Lesson I

Many people can get lost in the many styles of yoga offered in this country.  However, once they find The Yoga Sutras they have found the basis of all yoga. The Yoga Sutras are threads of wisdom offered by the Indian sage Patanjali more than 2,000 years ago.  These sutras or threads are still regarded as the authoritative wisdom in yoga.  As mentioned by Yehundi Menuhin in the forward of BKS Iyengar’s, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, “The Sutras were the earliest – and are still the most profound and enlightening – study of the human psyche.”  Iyengar Yoga instructor, Kquvien DeWeese has been an avid student of The Yoga Sutras for many years and integrates her knowledge of the subject to enhance the lessons she offers in her yoga classes.  She recently held a workshop that engaged us all in some very enlightening discussions.

A gaggle of us sat around the wooden floor of a yoga mate’s house with book upon book of interpretations of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras by BKS Iyengar, Edwin Bryant, SwamiPrabhavananda, and Christopher Isherwood  just to name a few. “The purple Sutra book is more accessible,” we hear one student say referring to Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study and Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras by Jaganath Carrera. I.K. Taimni’s The Science of Yoga is another book brought to the mix to answer questions.

One question you may have is what does some guy over 2,000 years old know about my life?  Well, more than you think. The basic human problems haven’t changed.  We still face doubts, fears, and loss of hope.  Of course, when most of us begin reading The Yoga Sutras, we immediately think, “no way can I live up to all of that”.  However, Kquvien points out that we shouldn’t look at these 196 aphorisms as some impossible feat or imposing justice. Instead, we should consider them a source of comfort.  

Kquvien is an expert at demystifying The Sutras and helping us ward off our fear of their strange language: Sanskrit. She studied Sanskrit with scholars from Emory, so she can breakdown the mechanics of the words and make them more palatable -- for people like me who never imagined ever being able to make sense of any of it. In the workshop, we talked about how when the language was born it was not written.  It was spoken. The construction of The Yoga Sutras is designed for singing and chanting.  The sounds alone create a resonance in the body. You don’t even need to know the meaning to gain access to the wisdom.

What a relief right?  The funny thing is once you start chanting them and the resonance of the words start to work on your body, you actually want to understand the deep effect they’re having on you.  Just like how you are compelled to move deeper into your yoga asana practice – the more you do it the more you want to learn about it. The sounds become ingrained before the meaning. The first five Sutras basically introduce the idea of yoga:  Now we begin the practice of yoga.  Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. When this is accomplished you’ll be in bliss. Of course, those other times you will identify with the fluctuations of the mind and that isn't fun - no matter if the thoughts are good ones or bad ones.

There are four padas or chapters in The Yoga Sutras. The Cliff Notes version: the first chapter talks about Samadhi or the ultimate union of your mind, body and spirit with its source, the second, Sadhana talks about how to get there through the practice of the Yamas, Niyamas, and asanas.  The third chapter talks about Vibhuti, the super powers that you can attain from rigorous practice of yoga, and the final chapter is the supreme kiberation or Kaivalya that can be attained through diligent and sustained effort.  Needless to say, there is not a Cliff Notes version of The Yoga Sutras. You actually have to do all the work to attain the goal. Most folks give up before they even get started.  Patient diligent effort is what is called for. However, Kquvien makes a great point: what appears to be miniscule gains in the practice initially, become monumental the more you understand them.


The cool thing you begin to realize is Patanjali knew what he was talking about – the process works and it has for thousands of years. Consider it a guidebook on how live a compassionate life; free from pain. For example: Asana can be considered vritti replacement. Vrittis being the fluctuations of the mind that are and forever will be part of our nature. However, Patanjali gives us ways to still the constant chatter.  He first tells us about the five states of chatter:  Pramana, valid knowing, Viparyaya, contrary thoughts or inverted thinking, Vikalpa, doubt, imagination, or fantasy, Nidra, sleep and Smrtaya, memory.  Each thought is a seed and he teaches you to burn the seed through tapas. Tapas is rigorous discipline, which ultimately becomes simplicity. 

Don't laugh.  It's true. It’s been said it takes 21 days to form any habit. If you choose to make that habit yoga, you will spend 21 days in a tapas state of commitment to the practice that will soon become a simple part of your day. You will begin to replace your vrittis with asana.  You will practice living compassionately towards yourself and others.  You might even crack a book on The Yoga Sutras and lo and behold the words start making sense.  You begin to make connections externally then internally then shazam!  You’re on a path you don’t want to get off of because you know it’s leading you to a better place (a simpler place) within yourself.

Thanks Kquvien.  Looking forward to our next lesson. Namaste. 

For more information about Kquvien visit her website at http://kquvienyoga.com/