To understand the foundations of Yoga Therapy
To understand the foundations of Yoga Therapy, we can use the model of a structure supported by four pillars:
- Yoga Chikitsa Darshana – The vision of Yoga Therapy
- Yoga Chikitsa Marga – The path or process of Yoga Therapy
- Yoga Chikitsa Sadhana – The tools, techniques and methods of Yoga Therapy
- Kaivalya – The result of Yoga Therapy
Yoga Chikitsa Darshana – The Vision of Yoga Therapy
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali form the basis of the Yoga Therapy vision and the first four sutras are the essence of Integrative Yoga Therapy for health and healing. The translation of these sutras below reflect the Yoga Therapy perspective:
- The teaching of Yoga begins when we become conscious of the unsatisfying and destructive nature of a life out of balance;
- Yoga is a process of harmonizing all that is out of control and confusing in our lives, including fears and desires, so that we can stop walking in circles;
- We may therefore rest in our true nature when we experience the peace and joy that provide us with abundance and a deeper sense of living;
- We will continue our search and our effort without encountering true satisfaction and, in the process, create stress patterns and suffering that lead us to imbalance and illness. The rest of the sutras in the first chapter expand upon this darshana, or general vision.
In the second chapter, there’s a clearer approach on health and illness according to the Model of the Five Kleshas. The Kleshas describe the process of illness that occurs when we’re not in a yogic state. The Kleshas can be understood within the context of Yoga Therapy as the following:
- Avidya – lack of understanding of our true nature. Avidya, or ignorance of the truth of unity, is the source of all forms of illness. Ignorance refers here to a lack of understanding that all of life is interconnected and that each one of us is an integral part of the web of life. Avidya is the inability to perceive the larger dimension in relation to oneself, one’s relationships and the world as a whole.
- Asmita – egoism, a natural consequence of avidya, a way of thinking and acting in which the individual is the center of the world and the world revolves around him/her.
- Raga – Desire, wanting to achieve, obtain, secure, attach.
- Dvesha – Aversion, displeasure, anger, the act of avoiding all that represents a threat. Attachment and aversion are a natural consequence of the individual ego that resides in separation, which on the one hand, results in competition and attachment and on the other, fear and anxiety.
- Abinivesha – Fear of death, underlying existential anxiety. Abinivesha is sometimes defined as “fear of death”. In a larger sense, it’s the existential anxiety that accompanies life without a clear sense of meaning and purpose. Abinivesha is the feeling of falling into a trap, of being on a narrow cliff and falling between life and death, with disaster looming.
The Yoga Sutras offer an integrated analysis of health and disease:
- Heya – the source of disease is samsara, or a life lived as separation.
- Hetu – the cause of samsara is avidya.
- Hanopaya – the solution is self-knowledge through the practice of Yoga.
- Kaivalya – the final cure is self-knowledge.
Yoga Chikitsa Marga – The path of Yoga Therapy
The path of Yoga Therapy is based on Ashtanga Yoga or the 8 Steps of Yoga. Each step is essential to the Yoga Therapy process so that complete healing is achieved. In relation to Yoga Therapy, these steps, or limbs, can be defined as:
- Yamas – The understanding of the importance of ethics, of values and qualified actions in the creation of holistic health.
- Niyamas – Precepts that emphasize the importance of aspiration and fundamental spiritual practice for the health of the body-mind-spirit.
- Asana – Appropriate structure, posture and corporal attitude that promotes health.
- Pranayama – The function of breath and the flow of vital energy (prana) with relation to health.
- Pratyahara – Abstraction of the senses in relation to the external world to make space for internal observation of the states of balance and imbalance and the removal of disease-causing patterns.
- Dharana – The practice of training and directing the mind toward states of health and balance.
- Dhyana – The experience of the whole being resting in its true nature as harmony and balance.
- Samadhi – Integration of the individual with the Whole. State of total health because the Whole is complete by nature; by aligning with this state, there is health on all levels.
Yoga Chikitsa Sadhana – The Practices of Yoga Therapy
Many of the practices of Yoga Therapy are founded on the ancient Hatha Yoga texts, such as the Hatha Yoga Padipika (1300 B.C). These texts are considered a preparation and foundation for Raja Yoga, a reference to the Yoga Sutras, and emphasize the therapeutic benefits of various Yoga practices.
In the introductory sutras, the text reaffirms its intention: “Hatha Yoga is the sanctuary for those who suffer from all types of afflictions.” Hatha Yoga is the foundation for the practices of Yoga Therapy. As the student progresses, meditation comes to play an essential role.
The Yoga Sutras describe the nature, process and techniques of meditation, as well as spiritual experiences that occur during meditation. A central point that’s explored in the Yoga Sutras is that the spiritual experiences aren’t the goal of Yoga, which, in truth, consists of self-knowledge.
Therefore, health and healing are biproducts of the integral process of transformation that occurs through the practice of Yoga. For a technique to have the desired benefit as therapy, it should be firmly anchored in the vision of the path of Yoga Therapy without losing sight of its goal.
Kaivalya – The Result of Yoga Therapy
Vision, path and technique come together to produce the integration of mind and spirit which is the fundamental basis of Yoga Therapy as healing.
Within this vision, specific areas or systems in the body receive special attention, but the health and cure as a whole occur when all the steps of Yoga are integrated in a program for transformation that embraces every aspect of the individual: physical, energetic, psycho-emotional, intuitive and spiritual.
Samkhya Philosophy, Foundation of Yoga
As a philosophical system, yoga has its basis in a philosophy called Samkhya, which means “list” or “enumeration.” Samkhya is a description of the universe and gives a detailed account of 24 different elements from which it is composed. Some of the elements contained within this description of the universe are the five great elements that make up all matter: earth, water, fire, air, and space.
Samkhya also lists the different levels of mind as elements within the created universe. These include citta, which could be defined as consciousness in the broadest sense. Next comes buddhi, which is our faculty of discrimination and higher wisdom. The conventional mind of thought and emotion is called manas, and that part of ourselves that identifies us as an individual being is called ahamkara,which can be related to the ego.
The Samkhya view of the universe corresponds well to the description of the universe found in modern physics. Both see the universe as essentially energy that has the appearance of matter in differing compositions, and both believe the universe originated from an initial unified source. In the case of physics, the beginning of the universe is the Big Bang. The same idea is found in Samkhya, but the essence of the universe in Samkhya philosophy is seen as a unified consciousness or cosmic intelligence from which all matter evolves.
When we begin to explore Samkhya philosophy together with the insights of quantum physics, we come up with some interesting possibilities. From this perspective, we are the universe. Each of us is a living cell within a living organism, which is our Earth. This means that we have always been here in some form since the beginning of the universe and will also continue to exist indefinitely.
When we extend these ideas to the history of yoga, we come up with a completely new approach. Rather than the history of yoga being a series of dates and names of spiritual texts and spiritual teachers, it becomes the story of our own lives. Each of our lives becomes a microcosm of the creation and evolution of the universe. In this way, the universe story, including the development of spirituality, becomes our own life story.
*extracted from the Teacher Training manual
Samkhya Philosophy for Children of all Ages
Once upon a time, there was a planet called Purusha. You could say that Purusha was a perfect place to live. Everyone was happy and there was a sense of timelessness and limitlessness. In fact, the people of Purusha were absolutely complete in every way. The only problem was that in all that vast kingdom there wasn’t a mirror to be found. Without a mirror, the Purushans couldn’t see themselves, and in fact, couldn’t know themselves at all, because in Purusha there was no sense of separation
One day the Purushans heard about a far away planet called Prakurti, where it was possible to know one’s self in a world of duality, with the world out there and a separate “me” to experience it. This world of duality could be experienced through sound, touch, sight, taste and smell, so it was like having a mirror for all five senses. By traveling to Prakriti, the purushans would be able to have all of the limitless peace and joy of planet Purusha and also to know themselves as joyful, a journey of learning of exploration and learning, to return to Purusha enriched and more self-aware.
To make the journey to planet Prakriti, the Purushans needed spacecraft that could withstand the atmosphere when they arrived, so they built their ships from the same five elements that composed planet Prakriti – earth, water, fire, air, and space. Each ship was hand-crafted and had individual characteristics, but overall they fit into three basic models: the kapha ships were dense and solid, the pitta ships were fiery, with powerful engines, and the vata models were light and quick.
The ship itself was called Body. At the center of each ship was the main occupant, called Spirit, which carried the essence of limitless joy, the hallmark of planet Purusha. Each ship also had a pilot called Mind. Only through the integration of Body, Mind, and Spirit would the journey be possible.
At the beginning of their journey, the Purushans installed a powerful transmitter in space so they would always be in touch with planet Purusha. This transmitter to and from Purusha was called Mahat, which means “the great.” Each spacecraft also had an ultra-intelligent on-board computer, called Budhi, to make sure that signals coming from Purusha were received. In this way, the pilot of the ship would always be in touch with planet Purusha.
All the ships left Purusha together, but each had a unique journey. The kapha crafts were heavy and slow, but made steady progress. The pitta craft excelled in perfect performance, but when things went wrong, time was lost going over details again and again and looking for who to blame. The vata craft had the most exciting journey, exploring different universes and planets, but more than once forgetting where they had left the keys to the spaceship and losing time. In the end, all the spaceships arrived at the same time.
As they neared Prakriti, the pilots prepared the sensing devices they would need for exploration. One set of sensing devices was the jnanendriyas, or instruments for knowing, such as ability to hear, touch, see, taste, and smell. The others were instruments for action called karmendriyas, such as ability to speak, touch, move, grasp, eliminate waste, and even to procreate little Purushan ships.
As the ships neared planet Prakriti, they encountered a series of unexpected storms that form part of its atmosphere. There were storms of tremendous energy and turbulence, called rajas. There were also doldrums, called tamas, in which nothing moved at all. These cycles of rajas and tamas were interspersed with moments of perfect balance, called sattva, when the journey flowed smoothly and effortlessly.
All the ships managed to reach planet Prakriti, but the journey was a costly one. Most of the pilots arrived traumatized and suffered from chronic recurring amnesia, in which they forgot their original mission of exploration and self-knowledge in order to return to planet Purusha. They became mesmerized with the sense experiences on planet Prakriti, and came to believe they were there just to experience their equipment and drive their spaceships around in circles. This pattern of driving their ships around in circles, comfused about their mission in life, was called Samsara.
There were a few, however, who remembered their true identity and purpose. These were called the Rishis, or seers, and Gurus, the ones who could lead the people from the circular trafficpatterns of planet Prakriti, back to the light of Purusha.Those that decided to make the trip back first needed to repair their ships from the chronic stress from sensory overload common on planet Prakriti. These repair stations, used a science called Ayurveda to put the five elements the ships were made from back into balance. Sometimes all of the ships’ systems had to be completely cleaned out, in a process called Panchakarma. Once in balance, the ships needed to have a path laid out for their journey home, and one of the clearest of these was compiled by a Sage named Patanjali. A manual on return to Planet Purusha in 8 steps, called Ashtanga Yoga.
The first two steps, called yama and niyama, were guides for conduct and behavior on the journey home. The third step, asana, was for keeping the ship stable and comfortable to ensure its structure along the way. The fourth step, pranayama, involved having adequate energy for the journey and using this energy wisely. The fifth step, pratyahara, involved removing the attention of the pilot from all of the distractions on planet Prakriti so they could re-focus on their true mission. The sixth step, dharana, involved setting a course and staying that course all the way home. The seventh step, dhyana or meditation, is the journey itself, with all the ship’s systems (Body, Mind, and Spirit) functioning in an integrated way, guided by Budhi in contact with Mahat to maintain a continuous communication with the energy of peace and joy from planet Purusha.
Through this system, many of the ships were able to return home, and once there, reassume their true identity as citizens of planet Purusha and return to a state of perfect happiness called samadhi, the final step, but not the same as when they left. Now they had with them the mirror of knowing. They knew planet Prakriti and the world of duality and now by returning to planet Purusha they were complete and whole and knew it to be so.
The final and deepest learning from this journey is that planet Purusha and planet Prakriti are actually one and that the world of matter and the world of spirit are not opposed to to each other, but that our own version of planet Prakriti, called Earth, is calling out for us to treat her with love and reverence so that Purusha and Prakriti may live together in peace and joy happily every after.