Psychology of Yoga
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
-Viktor Frankl
At its core, beyond the physical postures and the trappings of studios and classes, the practice of yoga is a psychological practice of self-study. It is about coming back into contact with what presently is as opposed to what we wish would be present. In many ways, yoga is about understanding our nature-- observing the fluctuations of the mind and emotions without becoming identified with them. It is a practice that involves surveying and re-establishing the landscape of the mind. It is, as Dr. Chris Chapple writes, “the process of taking us back home to our unobscured true nature.”
Our minds can become troubled by waves of emotion, story, past traumas appearing present, and cravings for things to be different than they are. Our perception of reality, of who we are and where we belong in the world can become muddied. We become lost and identify as our struggles. The practice of yoga is about observing the waves of the mind without being swept away by them. It is a practice of calming these waves so we can see through to our source and ground ourselves into reality as it is rather than how we might perceive it to be.
As humans, we are blessed with the capacity for meta-cognition, that is the ability to witness the process of the mind as it unfolds. It is from this witness standpoint that find the key to liberation from identifying with the waves of the mind. When we become witness to the mind, rather than identified with it, we can note the feelings, emotions, sensations and patterns that arise in every moment and choose our response accordingly. In this way, we can establish a sacred pause of awareness in between stimulus and response.This is why, whether in the therapy room or on the yoga mat, we are frequently called to bring our awareness to what is arising in the here and now. This is the practice of mindfulness-- returning awareness to the present moment as it is.
One of the yoga’s most famous texts, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, speaks to this power of the practice in the first few verses:
Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah
Tada Drashtuh Svarupevasthanam
Vritti Sarupyam Itaratra
Yoga is the control of the fluctuations of the mind. When the practitioner maintains contact with the present moment, resting in her true nature, self realization occurs. At other times when she is not in self energy, the practitioner takes on the forms of the waves of the mind.
How many of us can relate? When we experience depression, we may say to ourselves “I am depressed.” When we experience anger, we commonly tell others “I am angry.” Our identification with our emotions helps us express what we are feeling, however more often than not, we become swept away into the emotion-- it becomes the totality of our experience rather than a temporary and fleeting experience.
According to many philosophies contemporary with the yoga sutras, much of our suffering in this human life comes from misidentifying ourselves with the impermanent facets of life. We may find ways to construct our identities around our physical bodies, only later to come to the realization that we all grow old, we all get sick, and we all eventually die. We may construct our identity around our financial status and possessions, only to find that cost of living increases, materials break or get lost, and the job economy changes. We may construct our identities around our personality, only to realize that we may become different people in different contexts, that our experiences may change us and not always for the better. We want the good things to last forever and the bad things to disappear forever. We want what we don’t have, and have what we don’t want. When we get caught up in believing that the impermanent is permanent, we get lost in our own cravings, aversions and fears, and lose touch with what the yogis call our true nature. This sensation of loss creates and perpetuates suffering.
According to the yoga sutras, there are 5 specific mental afflictions or obstacles, also known as kleshas, that hinder our ability to remain a witness of the mind: Avidya (ignorance), Asmita (egoism), Raga (attachment or craving), Dvesa (aversion or hatred), and Abinivesah (clinging to life and fear of death). Each of these hinderances can build off of one another, and manifest in different ways in our lives to prevent us from maintaining contact with our authentic selves and seeing things as they truly are. Like soot accumulating on a window, the kleshas obscure and distort our vision of ourselves and the world around us-- things become unmanageable and overwhelming.
It may become tempting to strive for perfection in an attempt to conquer these hinderances, however it is important to note that these are natural human tendencies that cannot become completely eradicated. Afterall, it is not the presence of hinderance itself that is the problem, but rather our relationship to it that causes suffering. As we begin to cultivate a mindful life, we learn to greet the arrival of the kleshas without becoming them. The practice of yoga helps us learn to maintain balance when difficulties inevitably arise, granting a bit more ease as we walk the mindful path.