In This Chapter

V Yoga don'ts

V Yoga do's

V Body and breath control

V Detachment and concentration

V Meditation and pure consciousness

If you're the kind of person who likes a nice, clean set of rules to live by, this is the chapter for you! In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, the eight limbs of yoga are enumerated. These limbs provide a structure for your yoga practice and your daily life. They are designed to help you along the yoga path. One very important thing to remember about the eight limbs of yoga: They are not commandments or laws! They are more like guidelines for living. But if you don't follow the guidelines, it doesn't constitute any sort of "sin." The Yoga Police won't come to your house and arrest you. Success with your yoga practice will simply be easier if you live your life according to Patanjali's suggestions.

However, if you don't want to meditate, give up meat, or even relinquish your materialistic nature, don't pressure yourself. Remember that yoga is not only a practice, but something that happens to you. As you progress and grow, you may find that you're naturally less materialistic, you lose interest in eating meat, or you become drawn to meditation as the next logical step in your journey. Maybe those things won't happen. Maybe for now, you just want to tackle the suggestions one at a time. No hurry!

And for those of you who want some commandments and want them now, it's also fine to view Patanjali's Eightfold Path more stringently. It all depends on who you are and what kind of thinking you're most likely to respond to.

Yoga Don'ts: Just Say No (Yamas)

First we'll talk about Patanjali's suggested abstinences. This is a difficult category for a lot of people who want to do yoga but don't want to be bound to any restrictions. Again, the abstinences, or yamas, aren't rules meant to limit you. They are suggestions meant to help you grow by purifying your body and mind. Practicing them can teach you self-discipline. You may also find that you already live by many of them.

Do No Harm (Ahimsa)

The first yama is about nonviolence. "That's an easy one," you say? Well, nonviolence means more than keeping yourself from beating up your obnoxious neighbor when he won't turn down his stereo. We can be violent in many ways, often without realizing it.

Ahimsa involves nonviolent actions, nonviolent words, and nonviolent thoughts. Nonviolent actions involve the obvious—don't physically hurt people. (Not even when they hurt you first.) Nonviolence isn't exactly about turning the other cheek. It's more like dodging the punch. For some, nonviolent action also means vegetarianism, because meat was once an animal, bird, or fish that was killed. Killing is violence. But if this step is too big for you, don't worry about it for now. Concentrate on eliminating violence in other ways. You'll come to understand the full range of opportunities for nonviolence at your own pace.

Nonviolent words are also important. Nonviolent speech means refraining from words that slander, degrade, or hurt another person. A good rule of thumb is to "honey-coat" your words, because you may have to eat them later! But that doesn't mean lying. You needn't tell your Aunt Maude that her polyester pantsuit is the most lovely outfit you've ever seen—she may give you one for your next birthday! And what if she asks you what you think about it? "Aunt Maude, that outfit is definitely you!"

Nonviolent thoughts are equally important. Aunt Maude can't hear you thinking, "If I had taste like that, I would never leave my house!" The trouble with your thoughts, though, is that they pervade your entire being and are notoriously difficult to control. Having nonviolent thoughts means refusing to wish harm to anyone, even if you really think they deserve it. (Oops! That's bordering on a violent thought right there!) Let your negative thoughts go, wish your enemies well (even in the privacy of your own brain), and your heart will lighten. According to yoga, we are energy, and our thoughts can be sensed on an energetic level, so they are impossible to hide completely. People sense what you're thinking, so you're better off transforming your

negative thoughts than trying to hide them. The beautiful thing about yoga is that your awareness becomes heightened and you perceive the thoughts of others more clearly, too (of course, that could reveal some things you'd rather not know, but in the service of truth, we say it's worth it).

And one more thing about nonviolence: Engaging in negative talk and thoughts about yourself ("I am ugly," "I am lazy," "I can't do anything right") is doing violence to yourself. It counts—don't do it!

Tell No Lies (Satya)

The second yama involves truthfulness. But what is the truth? You and I have different truths, so isn't truth changeable? According to yoga philosophy, truthfulness is the result of our mind, speech, and actions being unified and harmonious. According to yoga philosophy, truth does no harm. This results in personal integrity and strength of character.

Check out these scenarios and see if any of them are familiar:

Someone confides in you and you promise you won't tell his or her secret, but then you don't "count" your spouse or your best friend. You've said the words, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but

You receive an extra $10 bill with your grocery change or at the bank and walk quickly away. After all, you need the $10 more than that big corporation!

You occasionally bend or creatively interpret the rules on your income taxes just a little.

You tell poor Aunt Maude you aren't feeling well and can't possibly visit her this week, even though you're actually feeling just fine.

Most of us have had at least occasional instances when it seemed more convenient, easier, or even kinder to bend the truth (or just snap it right in two!). It isn't easy to suddenly wake up one morning, vow to act completely truthfully, and then stick to your vow. You can start by becoming more aware of what you're doing. Ask yourself, "Is this harmonious with all parts of me? Does this do no harm?" If you aren't sure, maybe you should hold back. Dig deeper for the real truth in your daily life.

Just like everyone around you, you are so much more complex than your outward appearance, your job, the face you show the world, or the opinions others have of you. What seems to be the truth—what is obviously the truth, what you know is the truth—often is not the truth at all. Truth is tricky, but it's out there, buried under layers of misrepresentations, grudges, low self-esteem, unfortunate experiences,

negative input, and discomforts. Striving for truth and bliss in your everyday life will help those layers fall away. Living truthfully takes some effort, but you can do it!

There are absolute truths that one perceives in the stillness of one's being. We're all searching for truth, and it's within everyone's grasp.

No More Stealing (Asteya)

So you think you don't steal? Just because you've never shoplifted a candy bar or a car radio doesn't mean you don't steal. The concept is simple, even if the implications aren't: If it's not yours, don't take it. (We assume we needn't mention that this yama includes no robbing banks or holding up armored cars!) That means no shoplifting, and no taking credit for someone else's creations or ideas (plagiarizing), or for anything else anyone has done or said. Don't interrupt people and steal their center of attention. Don't steal your child's chance to do something on his own by doing it for him. Your actions affect this world—don't forget that.

Cool It, Casanova (Brahmacharya)

Brahmacharya is about chastity. No, don't close the book and toss it aside! This yama doesn't mean telling your spouse the fun is over and you now need separate beds. Brahmacharya is about virtue, and not just when it comes to sex. Many great yogis are householders, which means they are married ... with children.

Brahma means "truth," and car means "to move," so brahmacharya essentially means "to control the movement of truth." Lust and desire, in their many forms, obscure truth. Developing the inner strength to control our lusts and desires helps us to see truth more clearly. In other words, brahmacharya is a movement toward responsible behavior and a higher truth beyond the physical, the force of "I want" in life. The Bhagavad Gita describes this yama in the following way:

"While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment, lust develops, and from lust, anger arises. From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion, bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool."

Being virtuous means holding the opposite sex in high esteem and nurturing respect for someone you love. It also means holding yourself in high esteem and refusing to let your body be swayed by its every whim, desire, and want, whether that desire is for a person or for power or for a pound of Hershey's Kisses. Refusing to let your body be swayed by desire certainly doesn't preclude sex, a good promotion, or chocolate, for that matter. Instead, this yama encourages the kind of restraint and attitude towards those things we tend to desire that will help keep our minds clear and focused.

The brahmacharya yama is often described as being about sex, and technically, it does preclude sexual lust—the one-night stand, using people sexually (including yourself), and all the other things we typically associate with the word "lust." Letting your desire for sex consume you is no way to become self-aware or calm and centered! But brah-macharya also encompasses lusts and desires of all kinds. At the very heart of this yama, desire itself, no matter its object, is what keeps us from seeing truth. To master our desires is to gain self-awareness.

Don't Be Greedy fAparigraha^

Go to your closet and count the pairs of shoes lined up in there—or the red sweaters or white shirts or ties. Or maybe you can't even open the closet because it's bursting with stuff. It isn't easy to abstain from greed in this materialistic world. With television, radio, and billboards continually telling us what we want and what we must have, it's hard not to believe some of it. But are you familiar with the feeling of buying something you've always wanted, then feeling strangely dissatisfied, as if the fun was in the wanting, not in the actual possessing? That is greed's payoff—emptiness.

Nongreed means living simply, possessing only what is necessary, and recognizing that possessions are merely tools to use in life. Accumulations, whether material things or unnecessary thoughts, tie you down to this world. Simplify your life as you simplify your thoughts.

Greed can also surface in less obvious ways. Talking too much, interrupting others, and dominating conversations while barely showing a flicker of interest in the participation of others are all ways greed creeps into our lives through language. Think before you speak, and consider how your words will sound and what effect they will have. Practice listening and being truly present in a conversation, absorbing everything other people are saying.

Thoughts can also be a source of greed. How come the Smiths have a swimming pool and a fancy two-level deck, while you have to sit on the back stoop under the sprinkler? Why did your best friend get diamonds for her birthday when you only got a

toaster? Envy and jealousy clutter the mind and can become obsessions. How much better it is to turn those feelings around and feel truly happy for the person who has something you don't have! In fact, once you start to be happy for someone else simply because of their joy, you may become so fulfilled by your happiness that you lose your desire for whatever they have. How much simpler your life becomes when you can be happy due to something beyond your own needs!

Yoga Do's: Just Say Yes (Niyamas)

And now for the fun part! Niyamas are Patanjali's observances—what to do, as opposed to what not to do. The first niyama cleanses the way for all the others.

Be Pure (Shauca)

Purity is achieved through the practice of the five previous yamas, so the yamas and niyamas work hand in hand. The abstentions clear away negative physical and mental states of being, leading you straight to purity. Purity can apply to various aspects of your life. Cleanliness is very important to yoga. Keeping yourself clean by bathing; dressing in fresh, clean clothes; and keeping your surroundings clean are all part of pure actions.

What you eat is also important. Fresh, natural, and healthy foods are best. Foods obtained through nonviolent means are ideal because they can be eaten with full, unadulterated joy; this is why yogis traditionally practice a vegetarian diet. Of course, if you want to get "yoga-technical," vegetables are alive, too (all life is to be respected, revered, and appreciated, and all life is interconnected), so respect each meal for the life given to sustain another.

Be Content (Santosha)

Just saying the word santosha invokes a feeling of calm. Practicing contentment means finding happiness with what you have and with who you are. Of course, you can always work toward improvement, but that doesn't mean you can't be content while you're improving yourself! Contentment helps you see that you're exactly where you're supposed to be right now. It doesn't mean you'll be happy when you can finally stand on your head, get that promotion, or find a soulmate. It means happiness in this moment, as you are.

Contentment means learning to reevaluate obstacles as opportunities. Limitations are learning experiences. Easier said than done, we know! If you feel unhappy with your life, you may find it especially difficult to cultivate contented thoughts. Practicing contentment involves taking full responsibility for your life and the situations you're in. Find the positives in life's lessons and choose to grow from them. You're in charge of your own destiny, but that also means not beating yourself up for the "mess"

you're in. Thank yourself for it. Laugh! Know that every situation or challenge presented is a doorway to greater growth.

Wise Yogi Tells Us

Feeling discontented? Try this exercise. Create a list of everything that makes you discontented. Then rewrite your list, finding a way to see each source of discontentment in some positive light. For example, rewrite "I hate my job" to say "My job has taught me I am more creative than I thought." When you're finished, throw away that first list—you don't need it!

Be Disciplined (Tapas)

For all the yamas and niyamas to be truly effective, you'll need a little self-discipline. Not your strong point? If self-discipline were easy, what would be the point? It would hardly be discipline.

Anyone who exercises daily is showing self-discipline. Dedicating a specific time each day to your yoga practice is self-discipline. But how many times have you started an exercise program, only to abandon it as soon as it got boring or tedious? Learning how to stick to something even when you don't feel like it will build your strength and wisdom. You probably manage the self-discipline to brush your teeth twice every day. Just extend that discipline, bit by bit, to other aspects of your life, one step at a time. Maybe tomorrow you'll brush your teeth and have a healthy salad for lunch. Maybe next week you'll be brushing your teeth, eating salads, and doing 10 minutes of yoga. By next year, there's no telling what you can accomplish.

Disciplined words mean speaking gently and sincerely, not angrily or hurtfully. Act rather than react, because you cannot control the actions of others. Self-disciplined thoughts replace the negative with the positive, resentment with forgiveness, violence with peace, and unhappiness with joy.

The yamas and niyamas themselves provide an excellent opportunity to practice self-discipline.

Wise Yogi Tells Us

Self-discipline is difficult for almost everyone, but changing your attitude may help keep you on track. The best way to do this is to focus on the positive: "I will spend 30 minutes practicing yoga today." "I will relax with deep-breathing exercises tonight before I go to bed." "I will have a soothing cup of herbal tea this morning." Focusing on the positive makes being disciplined more fun. Because really, discipline isn't deprivation, it's self-care.

Be Studious (Svadhyaya)

Svadhyaya doesn't just mean you should read a lot of books. It means studying yourself through introspection. Do you act according to your beliefs? Do you say what you mean? Are you walking your talk? Studious action means paying attention to your physical self. How are you sitting, standing, or walking? Do you feel graceful or

stilted? Do you look the way you feel? If not, why not? Studious words and thoughts involve the study of various sacred texts—whichever are relevant to you— to inspire and teach you. Through self-study, you can see which thoughts, actions, words, and experiences actually make you happy, and which block your happiness. Dedicated, nonviolent introspection will fill your life with clarity.

Be Devoted (Ishvara-Pranidhana)

The last niyama involves devotion. Focus on the divine, whatever that means to you—how it is in you and part of you and all around you. Ishvara-pranidhana is an observance that works beautifully with any religion. Whether you're devoted to God, Buddha, or the Force, this niyama reminds you to relinquish ego and center on your highest ideal. Positive energy will flow from the divine into all areas of your life.

Eightfold Path At-a-Glance

1. Yoga Don'ts (Yamas) No violence

No lying No stealing

No pursuit of lust/desire No greed

2. Yoga Do's (Niyamas) Purity

Contentment Self-Discipline Self-Study Devotion

3. Yoga Poses (Asanas)

4. Breathing Exercises (Pranayama)

5. Detachment (Pratyahara)

6. Concentration (Dharana)

7. Meditation (Dhyana)

8. Pure Consciousness (Samadhi)

Are You Wearing Your Walking Shoes? More Yoga Pathways

But what about the rest of the Eightfold Path? Technically, so far we've covered only the first two limbs. The remaining limbs of the Eightfold Path are also important and complete the framework for the modern practice of yoga.

Growing with yoga's Eightfold Path.

Body Control (Asanas)

We've already talked about body control, or the asanas, as both an important part of yoga and its most well-known component. Remember that body control is not the only path, but merely one path yoga offers. Yet body control is very important and makes a great starting point for any aspiring yogi. Asana literally translates as "posture" and is derived from the Sanskrit root as, which means "to stay." Patanjali describes an asana as having sthira and sukha, or steadiness and the ability to remain comfortable. Remember these two qualities when practicing your postures, keeping in mind the very important yama of ahimsa, or nonviolence: Never work to the point of pain, because that is doing violence to your body.

Breath Control (Pranayama)

Pranayama is another important path. Prana refers to the life force or energy that exists everywhere and is manifested in each of us through the breath. Ayama means "to stretch or extend." Prana flows out from the body, and pranayama teaches us to maneuver and direct prana for optimal physical and mental benefit. After all, breathing is life. You can go for months without food, days without water, but only moments without breath. Breathing affects all our actions and our thoughts, too. Mastering your breath is an important step toward mastering the rest of yourself!

Detachment (Pratyahara)

The fifth limb of yoga is sense-related. Pratyahara is the practice of withdrawing the senses from everything that stimulates them. Normally, we live by our senses. We are drawn to look at beautiful or even ugly things. We listen, we taste, we touch, and we smell. This is the ordinary state of things, but it's also a state we can temporarily suspend in favor of a deeper awareness. Pratyahara cuts off the connection between the senses and the brain. This can happen during breathing exercises, meditation, the practice of yoga postures, or any activity requiring concentration.

But what is the purpose of detaching ourselves from our senses? Aren't the senses good? They help us appreciate beauty, as when we watch a sunset, or warn us of danger, as when we smell smoke or spoiled food, and they permit us to communicate with each other. Unfortunately, our senses can also become so pleasurable that they control us instead of us controlling them. Maybe you enjoy your sensation of taste so much that you have

become a little too obsessed with food. Maybe you love to talk but often talk so much that you forget to listen. Maybe you're addicted to television, caffeine, or sex.

Wise Yogi Tells Us

If the yamas and niyamas seem like a lot to remember, make yourself an abbreviated version of them—as plain or fancy as you like (framed calligraphy? computer graphics?)— and hang it up in your bedroom, bathroom, or wherever you'll see it each day. Or make a copy of the "Eightfold Path in Brief" chart in this chapter. Soon you'll have them memorized and they'll become a part of you.

Pratyahara wipes the sensual slate clean.

Detachment is also a great technique for pain control and an excellent way to deal with uncomfortable symptoms or chronic conditions. Try this technique for attaining sense withdrawal:

1. Sit erect. Place your thumbs on your ears, closing them off. Your eyes should be closed. Place your index fingers near your eyelashes to hold them gently shut and prevent movement of your eyeballs. (This assists the eyes in staying focused on the sun chakra or third eye. See Chapter 20, "Chakras, Mudras, Mantras, and Mandalas.") Each middle finger rests on the nasal passages. Your ring fingers are set on your upper lip and your little fingers on your lower lip.

2. Take a deep breath and gently press all fingers so your sense organs are suppressed. Turn inward, tuning out the external world. Focus your attention on your sun chakra.

3. When you can no longer comfortably hold your breath, release your fingers.

4. Exhale slowly. Inhale slowly. Repeat this gentle pressure for deeper reflections.

Concentration (Dharana)

Dhri means "to hold," and dharana, yoga's sixth limb, is all about learning to concentrate. Concentration involves teaching the mind to focus on one thing instead of many, as is our usual state of mind. Dharana is an exercise that can help with meditation. The goal is to become aware of nothing but the object on which you are concentrating, whether it's a candle flame, a flower, or a mantra you repeat to yourself.

The purpose is to train the mind to ignore all the extra, unnecessary junk floating around, to learn to gently push away superfluous thought. Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) is often the result when dharana is achieved, and both assist with more productive meditation, or dhyana.

Meditation (Dhyana)

Concentration is the exercise that leads to the state of meditation, and meditation techniques are, in essence, purity techniques. Meditation occurs when you've actually become linked to the object of your concentration so that nothing else exists. It's keen, heightened awareness, not nothingness. Your mind is completely focused and

quiet but awake and aware of truth. Many methods exist to bring you to this state, but oneness with the object of your meditation, and subsequently, oneness with the entire universe, is the objective. And don't forget the wonderful fringe benefit of a calm and uncluttered mind able to think more quickly and see more clearly in all daily activities!

Pure Consciousness (Samadhi)

All the limbs of yoga lead to samadhi, the final limb of the Eightfold Path. Samadhi means "to merge," and this state of pure consciousness means just that: a complete and total merging with the object of your meditation.

When in a state of samadhi, you understand not only that you and the object of your meditation are one, but that you and the universe are one. There's no difference between you and everything else. How does this feel? Like a loss of identity? Yes, identity is meaningless in samadhi, but you won't be sorry. Who needs an ego when you have samadhi? Samadhi is pure, total bliss.

The Least You Need to Know

^ Yoga offers guidelines for living.

^ The five abstentions are nonviolence, not lying, not stealing, not lusting, and not being greedy.

^ The five observances are purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study, and devotion.

^ Yoga also involves body control, breath control, detachment, concentration, and meditation.

^ The goal of yoga is a deep, blissful oneness with the universe, which leads to liberation and self-realization.

In This Chapter

V The universal energy of prana

V How prana makes you feel better

V Using pranayama to control prana in the body

V How to sit for optimal pranayama

V Some great pranayama techniques

Of course you can breathe ... or can you? Maybe well enough to get by without collapsing, but are you using your breath optimally? Probably not. Most people don't breathe as fully or deeply as they could, because it takes practice and concentration. Once you've learned the fine art of breath control, however, you'll certainly feel the difference.

An integral part of Hatha Yoga and other forms of yoga is pranayama, or breath control. In fact, the manipulation of breath to control the physical manifestation of prana in the body is Hatha Yoga's realm. People in all cultures have learned to manipulate prana, either consciously or unconsciously. Faith healers, hypnotists, prophets, shamans, and spiritualists may use prana, although they may use another name for it. Yogis learn to use prana purposefully to push the mind to a higher state of consciousness. Speech can be charged with prana, which is why some people captivate us when they talk.