Historical Yoga Room newsletter — originally prepared in October 2013 and restored from the Yoga Room archive. References to past activities are retained as part of the historical record and should not be read as current Yoga Room offerings.
October 2013 was a particularly significant month for Yoga Room. Daniela had recently received very positive news following a difficult period of treatment and wrote with gratitude for the support she had received from Maurice, family, students and the wider Yoga Room community.
In this newsletter
- Asana of the Month — Adho Mukha Vrksasana
- Article of the Month — The Dawning of Yoga
- Question of the Month — What does “rise above your thoughts” actually mean?
- Patanjali Yoga Sutra of the Month
- Quote of the Month
- From the 2013 Events Archive
Asana of the Month — Adho Mukha Vrksasana
Adho Mukha Vrksasana, commonly known as Handstand, develops strength through the arms, wrists and shoulders while requiring balance, concentration and organisation throughout the body.
The original October 2013 newsletter referred to B.K.S. Iyengar’s description of the pose in Light on Yoga. Practice begins with the hands placed near a wall and the legs swinging upward into balance. With experience and stability, the pose can gradually be practised away from the wall.
The posture demands strong extension through the arms and legs together with careful control of the trunk and shoulders.
Reference: B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, p. 239.
Article of the Month — The Dawning of Yoga
By Daniela Casotti
According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, there are eight stages which, when practised with perseverance and enthusiasm, gradually restore harmony and culminate in the experience of yoga.
Yama
Yama concerns the way we participate in the world.
Every action creates a reaction. By becoming more conscious of our behaviour, we can reduce some of the mental and physical burdens created by our actions.
The Yamas are:
- Ahimsa — non-violence
- Satya — truthfulness
- Asteya — not taking that which is not given
- Brahmacharya — conservation and appropriate use of energy
- Aparigraha — freedom from unnecessary accumulation or hoarding
When these qualities become embodied in our thoughts, words and actions, our participation in the world becomes more harmonious.
Niyama
Past experiences influence the way we approach new situations.
Sometimes those old experiences are no longer relevant to our present circumstances, yet we continue to react mechanically. We can become caught in patterns that prevent us from seeing what is actually happening.
The Niyamas encourage qualities that help us approach life more clearly:
- Saucha — purity
- Santosha — contentment
- Tapas — discipline
- Svadhyaya — self-study and regular study
- Ishvara Pranidhana — devotion or surrender to the spiritual
Cultivating these qualities helps us live more fully in the present.
Asana
Asana offers us much more than a good stretch.
Posture provides an environment in which we can explore steadiness, stress, effort, resistance and release.
Through practice we begin to experience how our physical state, mental state and behaviour influence one another.
Pranayama
The breath facilitates the movement of prana, or energy.
Pranayama involves extending and refining our relationship with breath and energy.
The quality of our breathing affects both body and mind. Through sustained practice, pranayama can help create greater clarity, steadiness and sensitivity.
Pratyahara
Through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin we receive an enormous amount of information from the world around us.
Pratyahara develops our ability to turn attention inward rather than being continually directed by external stimulation.
In doing so, we begin to observe our inner world with greater clarity.
Dharana
Dharana develops concentration.
Instead of allowing attention to scatter in many directions, we train the mind to remain with one chosen object or task.
This begins to reduce the dissipation of mental energy.
Dhyana
When concentration becomes steady and continuous, a quieter quality of awareness can arise.
There is a sense of tranquillity and presence in which the mind is no longer continually pulled between competing thoughts.
Samadhi
Samadhi points towards a deeper experience of connectedness and unity — the culmination of the yogic process described by Patanjali.
The Importance of Yamas and Niyamas
I always wondered why a work as profound as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras places Yama and Niyama at the very beginning of the eightfold path.
When I first encountered the text, I placed relatively little emphasis on them. I assumed these were simply behavioural qualities that had already been instilled in me while growing up, and I focused more heavily on the other stages of yoga.
Recently I was forced to change my approach to practice.
I began using some of my yoga practice time to study the qualities of the Yamas within the controlled environment of asana.
Experiencing these qualities physically gave me a new appreciation of their importance.
The significance of non-violence becomes very clear while approaching the opening and vulnerability required in a backbend.
Awareness of the energetic body sheds light on the importance of conserving energy.
The effects of accumulation and holding can be felt before settling into restorative postures.
And truthfulness becomes central when training the mind to focus.
I have also begun using practice as an arena in which to develop the qualities of the Niyamas — purity, contentment, discipline, study and devotion.
Some qualities are easier than others.
I struggle with purity and contentment, but perhaps through discipline, regular study and devotion to spirit, progress gradually comes.
I would love to hear how others bring the concepts of Yama and Niyama into their own yoga practice.
Question of the Month — What does “rise above your thoughts” actually mean?
To understand this idea, it helps first to consider what sparks a thought.
Thoughts arise in response to stimulation. Some stimulation comes from outside us through our senses — sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Other stimulation arises internally.
We receive an enormous amount of information every minute.
To cope with this, the mind sorts and categorises information using previous experiences and responses. This is an essential function, but those accumulated impressions can also become cluttered and outdated.
In yogic philosophy, one aspect of this mental processing is described as manas.
When the mind becomes overloaded with unnecessary information and habitual reactions, those patterns can affect not only our relationship with the outside world but also our relationship with ourselves.
Managing the mind therefore becomes an important part of practice.
“Rising above your thoughts” does not mean having no thoughts.
Rather, it means developing enough awareness that we are no longer completely dominated by every thought that arises.
Asana practised with a reflective and attentive mind can develop into a form of meditation.
By training attention to become steadier, some of the pressure created by conflicting and unnecessary thoughts begins to lessen.
As that load becomes lighter, we can begin to observe thought from a different perspective — almost like gaining a bird’s-eye view of the mind.
Patanjali Yoga Sutra of the Month
Chapter 2, Sutra 41
The original newsletter considered Patanjali’s teaching that purification of body and mind, together with greater control of the senses, creates the clarity required for awareness of the inner Self.
This sutra connects closely with the discussion of Yama, Niyama and the management of mental activity throughout this newsletter.
Yoga asks us not only to work with the body but also to refine the way we perceive, interpret and respond to experience.
Reference: B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, p. 146.
Quote of the Month
“Are you resting or rusting?”
Prashant Iyengar
From the 2013 Events Archive
The following activities appeared in the original October 2013 newsletter and are retained here for historical interest only.
Bali Yoga Retreat
Dates: 24–27 October 2013
With: Maurice McCann
The retreat was presented as an opportunity to step away from the pressures of everyday life and immerse oneself more deeply in yoga practice within a relaxed environment.
The original newsletter also referred readers to a gallery of photographs from previous Yoga Room Bali retreats.
Summer Yoga Intensive
Dates: 9–21 December 2013, excluding Sunday 15 December
The Summer Yoga Intensive formed part of Yoga Room’s programme of focused practice periods at that time.
From the Yoga Room archive.
Daniela Casotti and Maurice McCann
Yoga Room, Burleigh Heads