practicing, feeling, understanding – from inside
“Calling our way of practicing Vijñāna Yoga is but giving recognition to something that has always been there, something that is at the core of our discipline: practicing, feeling, understanding – from inside.”
Sources
Vijnana Yoga was founded in 2003 by Orit Sen-Gupta, a student of Dona Holleman, in collaboration with longtime yoga teachers, and continues the yogic tradition of Sri Krishnamacharya and his students BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois.
A natural continuation of the long tradition of yoga, Vijnana Yoga is not new: The yogic concept of vijnana – ‘understanding from inside’ – expresses the spirit of our practice and the principles guiding it.
Shankara, the father of the Vedanta school of yogic thought, explains that vijnana is an understanding or knowledge arising not from external information learned from a teacher or tradition, but from an an inner clarity revealed by personal experience.
Ramakrishna continues this interpretation by saying that the knowledge and certainty that fire is burning wood is jnana – knowledge. But to cook rice on this fire, to eat the rice, and to be nourished by it, this is vijnana – to know, experience, and understand from inside.
Just Practicing
Practice is the heart of yoga and therefore we emphasize personal daily practice – a regular time devoted to looking inwards, to searching for our center.
In practice we meet ourselves, our bodies and sensations, our minds and thoughts, our hearts and tangle of emotions. Practice takes us a step back, granting us the space from daily life that we need to look inward, be cleansed of the superfluous, and connect with what is beyond.
Practice improves our technical ability as well as our ability to observe, to be aware.
As we see ourselves more clearly over time in the protected framework of practice, we can change our patterns. If we work in an exceedingly strenuous manner to reach a desired result because that is our inclination, we can work more softly. If we escape when we are afraid, we can attempt to face fear and overcome it.
Proper, steady, long-term practice has meaning – the many hours of practice have a cumulative effect. Practice has tremendous power.
Japanese Zen Master Dogen says: “Practice is enlightenment.” Thus the most important instruction we can give is simply – Practice!
A man who doesn't have an hour a day for himself is not a man.
Our practice has four components: Just sitting, Pranayama (breathing exercises), Asana (postures) and the Studying of texts. These strands of practice create a complete and integrated practice that works on different levels of the body and mind.
There is no "right" or "wrong", there is no need to do anything. As part of the posture and attention, everything is allowed.
Meditation - Just Sitting
In the Vijnana tradition the directives for sitting touch only upon posture: Sit with your back straight, without leaning sideways, forward, or backward.
To begin one should pay attention to posture and breath, and then just continue to sit. In sitting everything is okay.
We have no instructions or goals, and therefore it is impossible to “succeed” or to “fail.”
Zen master Suzuki Roshi said that if you tie a cow to a pillar, the cow will simply eat all the surrounding grass, but if the cow is free to roam the pasture the cow will find the very best grass.
It is thus with the mind when sitting: there is no need to tether the mind to anything. No matter what happens, everything is okay.
Slowly things will happen. We sit on the mat or on a cushion, take notice of the body and breath, and just sit.
Breathing - Pranayama
The literal meaning of the word pranayama is control of prana (Sanskrit: life energy), and is usually translated as breath control.
It is not known how the first yogis
developed pranayama. We hypothesize that these yogis first examined the natural breath and gradually discovered its rhythm, various stages, and tendencies.
They understood the importance of the cycle of breath – exhalation, inhalation, and the pauses between them. Out of these observations and insights, over time, possibilities of directing the breath were created.
These techniques allowed the practitioner to control prana in the body.
Pranayama practice is a subtle yet very powerful practice. We must proceed in a measured manner and do less than we think should be done.
One who controls his breath also controls his mind
The asana [posture] is stable and pleasant. By relaxation of effort and by samapatti [merging] with the infinite
Asana - Keeping the body connected while moving
Practice that integrates mind and body can create a clear field of vision that may be less accessible when concentrating on the mind alone. Mind and body are similar.
Both have fears, both have fantasies. An integrated practice takes place within a space where our fears and fantasies are clearly visible, yet not driving or activating us.
In this way they slowly weaken until they disappear. Then something happens in both mental and physical dimensions: the ability to perform the poses improves and the ability to observe and be aware sharpens.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra it is written that the asana is whole when two conditions are fulfilled: exertion eases so that the body finds true rest; and consciousness unites with infinity.
Studying Texts - Studying the written tradition
Studying the written tradition of yoga is an integral part of our training. From the ancient classical texts and traditional commentators, to the writings of teachers from the latest editions, we delve into the written tradition in order to continue to rediscover the yogic path.
The dialogue between studying the scriptures and sitting quietly, practicing breathing and performing yoga poses, turns the training into a complete fabric, which deepens and expands the practitioner's vision. In the end, yoga is not a philosophy, sitting quietly, being aware of breathing or performing poses - but a way of life rooted in a thousand-year-old tradition.
It strives for clarity, clear vision and an expanding heart - and the right action that results from all of these. In-depth learning of the yogic tradition as part of Vijnana yoga training helps us to stabilize in this way.
Stability in the concentration of the senses - this is what they call yoga. So the yogi must be attentive, as yoga comes and yoga goes.
In the beginning, relax the body.
Inhale, and with the exhalation release tension. Inhale, and with the following exhalation scan the body from top to bottom and from the bottom upwards.
Wherever there is gripping or tension – relax. The mind is looking at the body with a parental eye. With time one can observe tense areas releasing and embracing space.
If areas of weakness are noticed, inhale into them with courage and enliven them with energy. Let excess leave the body; relax. Thus the body becomes stable and quiet.
When we position ourselves on the mat we distance ourselves from our responsibility to react to the world.
The eyes look inward to catch the inner mood, the state of mind. Whether we are concentrated, dispersed or nervous; happy, sad or angry; whether we are afraid, tired or energetic – the eyes are positioned at the back of the head.
We observe ourselves and our practice from an inner silence. With each inhalation the eyes sink deeper into the back of the head. With each exhalation there is an intensification of concentration. Empty mind intensifies itself in practice.
Now the body and mind are at ease and stable, quiet and concentrated.
From this place we see our objective – sitting, pranayama, asana – and direct ourselves towards it.
The mind directs itself to the practice; the body awaits the practice; the heart embraces the practice with all its might. With each inhalation there is an intensification of intent, with each exhalation the sharpening of its direction.
By visualizing ourselves sitting, breathing, moving, or by imagining another person in that practice we devote ourselves wholly to it. With each breath, with each pose we reaffirm our intent.
The mind rests at the place where the body touches the earth.
Let the weight of the body sink into this place – for example, the feet. Intensify the weight pressing down, as if the foot would like to sink into the earth, and then feel the power of that downward movement flowing through the body.
As the roots of a tree deepen and widen into the earth, so the branches above expand into the sky.
It is easy to understand the idea behind rooting, yet surprisingly difficult to execute it in every movement and posture. As rooting is mastered, the body becomes light and loose and moves without effort.
Always be conscious of two opposite directions that are connected to each other.
To go up, go down. To go forwards, shift into the back. Wishing for the left side, steady yourself on the right. Wishing to expand, come from the core.
The first direction is the arrow, the second direction is the bow; the thread which binds them is connecting.
In each pose the farthest limb from the ground connects to that which is rooting into the ground. Every single body part in between is whole in itself, a distinct, functioning unit. All the parts are balanced and work together in harmony.
Like a chain floating in space, the rings that make up the chain never touch each other. The more each part is distinct, the more the connection between them remains steady – the body in any situation moves in oneness.
Be aware of inhaling, of exhaling. Inhale – go deep within; exhale – connect to the world. Inhale – accept what is; exhale – give yourself to the earth.
Inhale along the body, exhale, and root. Inhale and connect the farthest parts, exhale and move into the final pose. While inhaling the body elongates and widens, while exhaling it steadies itself in rooting and connecting.
At times the breath is sweet and soft, at times it is deep and long.
Sometimes the exhalation lasts longer than the inhalation, sometimes it is short and decisive. At times only in the background, at times the source of action, breath is always present.
When there is rooting while exhaling, inhaling brings about elongation and widening.
Or perhaps the elongating and widening that occur as a result of rooting allow for inhalation.
When elongating and widening occur, not one ring touches another as the chain called body moves in space.
Then there is no sagging into the joints, no effort in the muscles. The skeleton shields its coverings; the coverings create space for the skeleton. Thus the body moves about – relaxed and connected – one.
Finally all the principles coexist and need to be applied at all times, yet it is difficult to oversee their functions simultaneously.
In order to deepen our understanding of the principles, we need to choose one that attracts us and work with it constantly until it is mastered.
Many times we can work with one or two principles for a few years until these penetrate and become second nature to us. This while remembering that it is only when all the principles coexist simultaneously in practice, that the practice is whole.
Therefore when we practice yet feel “stuck” we need to look carefully and find which principle is neglected, and then revive it.
from The Little Yoga Book, Orit Sen-Gupta.