Beyond Asana Blog

Bags packed and coconut offered, tomorrow I will embark on what will certainly be one of the most meaningful adventures of my life. I am leaving for Africa to launch the World Spine Care Yoga Project. This is an initiative that will bring the healing gifts of yoga to people suffering from back pain in rural villages in Botswana.

I am privileged to be working alongside super-dedicated, hard-working and highly-skilled colleagues Erin Moon of Vancouver and Geoff Outerbridge, WSC’s Clinical Director. We will be presenting yoga as a tool for pain management at the Botswana Spine Care Conference next week in Mahalapye. Then we travel to Shoshong to give a 10-day teacher training to 10 brave souls who will teach free weekly yoga classes to patients of the WSC clinics.

This is the first program of its kind in the world. We will be taking what we learn and experience in Botswana into more such trainings in the future.

The abundance of well-wishes and blessings from...

The attainment of the Samadhi state involves the elimination of all-pointedness [i.e. wandering] of the mind and the rise of one-pointedness [i.e. concentration].

Yoga Sutra 3.11, trans. Edwin Bryant

Under the appearance of thought, there is really an indefinite and disordered flickering, fed by sensations words, and memory. The first duty of the yogin is to think-that is, not to let himself think. This is why Yoga practice begins with ekagrata, which darns the mental stream and thus constitutes a 'psychic mass,' a solid and unified continuum.

Mircea Eliade

When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.

Bhagavad Gita, 6.19-20

Ekagrata, one-pointedness, is yoga’s solution to taming the restlessness of the wandering mind. Closely related to the practice of dharana (concentration), it is the practice of focusing the mind into a single stream of perception.

Just as the mind has the ability to go outward in a centrifugal...

That devotee who looks upon friend and foe with equal regard,

Who is not buoyed up by praise nor cast down by blame,

Alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain,

free from selfish attachments,

The same in honor and dishonor,

quiet, ever full, in harmony everywhere,

firm in faith – such a one is dear to me.

 Bhagavad Gita 12.18-19

Do thy work in the peace of Yoga and, free from selfish desires, be not moved in success or in failure. Yoga is evenness of mind — a peace that is ever the same.

Bhagavad Gita 2.48

You climb the mountain to be able to look over the whole situation, not bound by one side or the other.

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching

Equanimity, or Upeksha, is evenness of mind. Like the = sign, it denotes sameness. It is the ability to hold a vision of life’s ups and downs on equal footing.

Derived from "aequus," a Latin adjective meaning "level" or "equal", the word comes from the combination of "...

We all know that the mind affects body, for example, “You look down in the dumps,” or “He was crestfallen.” Why not, suggests yoga, try the other way round…we are going to try to use asana to sculpt the mind.”

BKS Iyengar, Light on Life, page 11

Using asana to sculpt the mind, a brilliant observation and a powerful understanding that adds infinite depth to our practice.

It’s the idea that not only do asanas have certain inherent qualities that are revealed when we practice them, but that we can actually choose to cultivate what we want to experience more in our selves.

We can choose to sculpt courage in the face of vulnerability (i.e. backbends), one-pointed focus in the face of distraction (i.e. longer holdings), or resilience in the face of challenge (i.e. arm balances).

When we consciously join our experience of the asana with a chosen attitude, alchemy happens.

Here’s how it works: Each time we meet...

In yoga, we often talk about the practice of living life “from the inside out”. This can mean different things. It might be that we practice living with intention, striving to hold a certain expanded or enlightened perspective as we move through our day. It might mean finding ways to be in touch with our selves and the moment, and bringing that sense of presence to our activities. It can also imply a life lived as a result of consciously made choices or nurturing our ability to bring a chosen inner state to situations in our lives.

In yogic understanding, over-simplified as this statement might be, we recognize that ultimately we may not have so much power over what ‘happens’ to us. Situations we find ourselves in, challenges we face, obstacles we must maneuver through both internally and externally arise, seemingly beyond our ability to control them. Yoga teaches that while this may be true, it is equally true that we have free reign over how we act in...

My first yoga teacher would sometimes ask us at the start of class:

What’s the inner weather report?

This was (and is) a brilliant question because it accomplished two things:

1. It immediately created a distance from whatever was occupying my mind at that moment and my predominant mood on that day.

For someone new to yoga, the notion that my mind (thoughts, feelings, moods, fantasies and ideas) was somehow distinct from who I actually was seemed foreign and revolutionary. Yet answering this question made it feel natural, even obvious.

2. It allowed me to recognize that like weather patterns, the inner environment is always changing. No one mood lasts forever. Whatever pattern is dominant won’t necessarily last for too long.

Again, this awareness was at once plainly evident and at the same time held groundbreaking implications for my relationship to my mind.

Both of these understandings are crucial if we are to develop a healthy detachment from our thoughts and nurture...

In the second part of our interview, Bill offers guidance on how to approach the study of yoga philosophy and concrete suggestions about choosing what to study. And, he shares his reflections on how yogic wisdom can offer us a valuable perspective on understanding and responding to the tragic events of our times.

Is there something that Westerners approaching yoga philosophy often misunderstand about it?

I might mention two general misunderstandings. One is that students may feel that the philosophy will be too hard to understand and may not be relevant to their practice. Yes, traditional yoga philosophy draws from a long and respected history of inquiry and commentary by sages in the tradition that itself may seem rather abstract or subtle. But I also feel that people sometimes don’t give themselves enough credit for their ability to understand subtle yet important and influential philosophical perspectives. And those perspectives can be so illuminating and inspiring!

The...

Bill Mahony is known in yoga communities around the world for his insightful, compassionate and engaging approach to the study of yoga philosophy. In his workshops, seminars and retreats, Bill integrates a deep knowledge of yoga philosophy with insights refined over nearly five decades of his own yogic practice. 

Currently a professor of Religion at Davidson College in the United States, Bill holds academic degrees from Williams College, Yale University and the University of Chicago. His most recent book, Exquisite Love: Reflections on the Spiritual Life based on Nārada’s Bhakti Sūtra consists of Bill’s extended commentaries on a 10th century Sanskrit text on spiritual love. His other books include The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Bill a few questions about yoga philosophy.  In this first of this two-part interview, Bill shares his own personal journey and the...