1 of 196: yoga sutras for liberation
I'm starting a new series, another journey of becoming, centring yogic wisdom and applying it to activism.
Last week I posted talking tarot 54, can you believe it? I have loved writing these posts and my love for tarot grew each time I sat down to write. I am eternally grateful for the practice of tarot and it will continue to be part of my personal practice.
In my spiritual practice currently I am tuning into yoga philosophy and specifically contemplating what it teaches us for our activism today. How do these ancient texts help us find the answers we struggle with as activists? A key issue many of us struggle with is how to include everyone, and I mean everyone, in this liberated world we dream of. My intention with these sutras is to explore without attaching too much expectation of solving things, however I am opening myself to messages that we may receive on this journey.
I begin this new series with the Yoga Sutras, there are 196 sutras, therefore a potential of writing for 196 weeks which is around 3 years and 9 months… That feels quite overwhelming and existential, I can feel the adrenaline pulsing through my body as I feel into the length of time in my bones. An almost four year commitment, that’s going to take some discipline and a seriously dedicated yoga practice.
I would love to include your commentaries on the sutras. Therefore if you would like to share with me your commentary for an upcoming sutra please let me know. If there’s a sutra you’d like to discuss please email me theteapotcollective@gmail.com or DM here or other social media platforms.
What are the yoga sutras?
In yoga, or what people refer to as classical yoga, we are gifted with four chapters of sutras. Each sutra is short, only a few words, written by Patanjali approximately second century BCE. It is said that Patanjali organised the learnings from prolonged spiritual practice, mainly meditation, and arranged learnings from various faiths and spiritualities he was exposed to at the time. He organised the knowledge he divinely accessed through ishvara. Ishvara is the concept that all the knowledge in the world, past, present and future, already exists in this cosmic library of everything. As people we access this library and organise it in many different ways. I love this concept, I feel wildly connected to everything and everyone. I feel like it connects me to ancestors and to the folks living in our futures.
The sutras are written in Sanskrit, an ancient language that communicates in vibrations. The sutras themselves are short and open to interpretation. These two things combined have meant that many people over the centuries have translated and given commentary on the sutras, we are lucky enough to witness the sutras journey of becoming, becoming many different things to people around the world. For our exploration here, therefore, I will use a range of translations to help us build a picture of the sutra’s shapeshifting qualities.
There are 196 sutras which are split into the following four books (translations by Sri Swami Satchidananda)
Samadhi Pada: Portion on Contemplation
Sadhana Pada: Portion on Practice
Vibhuti Pada: Portion on Accomplishments
Kaivalya Pada: Portion on Absoluteness
These four chapters explain how we get free. They are step-by-step instructions taking us to collective liberation. Yoga is a practice with the end goal of freedom. Therefore I’m sure we, together, will find tips and tricks that we can apply to our movements now.
Samadhi Pada
This first portion Samadhi Pada is named after the end goal of yoga which is to reach Samadhi - a state where we withdraw from Prakriti (all matter of the external world including our physical body) and join with Purusha, collective consciousness or Spirit. It is here that we find liberation. I believe this portion is about contemplating the ideas and concepts that will help us begin our practice toward our goal of liberation.
Sutra 1
atha yoganusasanam
Translations
Now, we begin our practice - Kelly Dinardo & Amy Pearce Hayden
With humility (an open heart and mind) we embrace the sacred study of yoga - Nishala Joy Devi
Now concentration is explained - Swami Vivekananda
Now the instruction of yoga is being made - Swami Satchidananda
In his commentary Swami Satchidananda shares
anusasanam means exposition or instruction because it is not mere philsophy that Patanjali is about to expound but rather direct instruction on how to practice yoga. Mere philosophy will not satisfy us. We cannot reach the goal by mere words alone. Without practice, nothing can be achieved.
In their commentary Kelly & Amy write
It is a practice, an ongoing effort. A pianist doesn’t start with Chopin. A runner doesn’t start with a marathon. It takes one note, one step at a time.
I must note here that in Kelly & Amy’s book they provide reflective questions for each of the sutras along with their interpretation. I have a second-hand copy and I’m gifted with the reflections of a previous yogi who wrote their reflections in pencil. Perhaps I can include some of these reflective questions as well as some of the reflections beautifully documented in pencil.
In pencil they ask themselves the following questions (which are not included in the book)
Why do I practice yoga?
What do I endeavour to achieve through a yoga practice?
What path have you been using so far?
How has yoga changed you off the mat?
How do you stay on the path?
Visualise your path
And in answer to this final invitation the following words are written in pencil
be brave and teach
I feel my shoulders softening and a warm sensation in my heart centre. I send this person loving energy as I also take a moment to visualise them teaching.
Feel free to answer these questions yourself - these seem to be foundational questions that will help us set the tone for our exploration of the sutras for liberation moving forward.
What does this sutra teach us about our activism?
I think this sutra affirms our commitment to practicing liberation now, in each moment, rehearsing liberation (as Healing Justice London say) and not waiting around for something to free us. We practice liberation by firstly being the change we wish to see and creating the world that we want to exist.
Recently I have been working with the statement
I am a commitment to being the change I wish to see.
Note: I was introduced to the statement ‘I am a commitment to’ by a friend who attended Staci Hanes Politics of Trauma course.
I have written, spoken and thought about this a lot. The fact my activism has moved from a place of dismantle and destroy to a place of create and transform. We cannot only rely on the tactic of destroying and dismantling the current violent systems we find ourselves in, we need to find the energy to create the world we wish to see. That begins with ourselves, our immediate communities and the environment around us. We start to build mutual aid networks in our localities. We don’t begin these processes from scratch, we listen and learn from our elders, our beloved spiritual & activist ancestors, as well as leaning into ishvara as our cosmic source of knowledge.
atha yoganusasanam is inviting us to get going, don’t let doubt, despair and hopelessness stop us from practising and building. We will make mistakes and this journey will last for multiple lifetimes, therefore we may as well get going with our practice. Faith is required for this work. We don’t truly know whether this will work and we are invited here to make a choice. I choose to have faith in yoga and the fractal approach to activism. I have faith that if I change my ways of being, create and transform myself, that changes the world. I think that the fractal approach and yoga are one of the same thing, both requiring faith, commitment and recognition that this work is for multiple lifetimes.
Note: The fractal approach is shared by adrienne marie brown in their book emergent strategy. They share that how we are on the small scale is replicated on the large scale. Small scale = large scale. The sacred fractal pattern occurs naturally across the universe and it is here that we learn our fractal approach to activism. Just like this cauliflower below, the small parts of the cauliflower is the same as the overall shape. Small scale = large scale.
atha yoganusasanam invites us to work out how we can begin our practice within the context of our current life. We live under capitalism and a violent decaying empire. This impacts how we begin our practice. We are not told that we need to do everything all at once. We are invited to be creative with how we can embed liberatory or yogic practices into our life. As Kelly and Amy say
It takes one note, one step at a time.
What could a yoga or liberation practice look like?
This question will be different for each and every being. Here’s a list of some of the things I do to embody atha yoganusasam
Slowing down: know this work is for multiple lifetimes I give space for integration. Sleeping more, resting more. Intentionally closing down my eyes for rest even if it’s for a few seconds.
Consume less - resist capitalist desires to buy more. I have enough.
Believing that I am enough.
Notice the Divine in everything and everyone. We are all a manifestation of the same energy. I strive to notice beauty in the mundane and magic in the everyday. Nishala Joy Devi shares that seeing the Divine in everything is paramount for living the sutra atha yoganusasanam. The chant so ham, means ‘I am that’', meaning that I am you, you are me - I strive to approach all situations from this intention.
Decentring my ego: inquiring as to whether my actions are fulfilling my ego desires or whether they are in alignment with my values e.g. letting go of the need to be right or competitive
Accountability: gently holding myself accountable for when I have caused harm or acted out of alignment with my values centring love and compassion in this process.
Reading and contemplating yoga philosophy and reading books more broadly both fiction and non fiction
I attend 2 yoga classes per week: practicing in community
Being part of a community that centres mutual aid - giving and receiving care. This teaches me to make decisions for the collective not the individual.
Learning about struggles from around the world and drawing connections between them.
Writing and creative practice.
Embracing anti-perfectionism. We live under a violent empire and I cannot do all of these things perfectly. I strive to embody what I have listed and that is enough. I will fall short, however I will return and try again keeping myself aligned to liberation.
What are some of yours?
A practice
An invitation to listen to this audio to chant Sutra 1 alongside me. I’m guiding this practice at Out & Wild this Saturday 14th June 9am GMT. I forgot to say it in the recording but please feel free to listen to me chanting, chant in your mind or chant aloud alongside me. It is your choice.
What are your thoughts about this sutra? Would you like to share your commentary on this sutra or a different sutra? I’d love to hear your perspective and include it in a Teacups article. Send me a message!
In solidarity with love & care
Amy
Teapot Collective News
The Sitting Circle - Thursday 12th June 11:30am-12:30pm - Chair yoga with Amy at New Earswick Folk Hall - Just turn up, £5!
Contemplate & Embody Online - Sunday 15th June 10am-10:45am - Meditation and Energy work with Charmaine - Book here
Teapot Solidarity Space - Sunday 15th June 5pm-6:15pm - Yoga in the park with Lauren, Homestead Park - Book here
Chair Yoga - Tuesday 17th June 2pm-3pm - class with Amy in Pocklington Arts Centre - Just turn up, £5!
Mixed Up Healing Online - Tuesday 17th June 7pm-8:30pm - Creative and embodied practices for folks with mixed ethnicities.
Gentle Strength Online - Wednesday 18th June 6pm-7pm - Yoga class (chair or mat based) with Charmaine
Reshape your downward dog: A free yoga workshop Online - Saturday 12th July 10am-11:30am GMT - Join us to deconstruct the traditional cues of Down Dog and rebuild it in a way that truly supports your body centring care and safety - Book here