Become One Living
Welcome to the BecomeOne Living Podcast. While yoga maybe the entry way into a deeper understanding of self, we invite you to dive even deeper into your practice. Here we will explore the transformative power of yogic philosophy, anatomy, and mindfulness.
In each episode, we embark on a journey through the rich
tapestry of yoga, drawing from various traditions and perspectives. From the ancient
teachings of The Gita to the mystical insights of the Akashic records, we delve
into the timeless wisdom that has guided seekers for centuries.
We bridge the gap between science and spirituality, exploring
the fascinating intersection of neuroscience and anatomy with yoga. Discover
how understanding your body's inner workings can enhance your practice and
overall well-being.
We also explore cutting-edge techniques like Internal Family
Systems and Neurosculpting, offering practical tools for personal growth and
self-discovery. Our goal is to equip you with a holistic toolkit for navigating
the complexities of modern life.
We’ll share our endless hours of study and insights, providing
you with a deeper understanding of yoga's core principles and how they can be
applied in today's world. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or just
beginning your practice, there's something here for everyone.
Delve into the world of challenging entrenched beliefs, welcoming fresh perspectives, and unraveling unnoticed habits through our podcast. Join us while we discuss a wide range of topics and how yogic principals can weave its way through all facets of life. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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and personal transformation. The BecomeOne Living Podcast is your guide to
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Become One Living
The Definition of Yoga: Unlocking Sutra 1.2
Yogasūtra 1.2: yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Continuing the journey as we look at yoga through the lens of Yoga Sutra 1.2, which emphasizes mental stillness over physical postures. You'll discover the true essence of yoga, exploring the meanings of "chitta" (knowledge) and "virti" (modifications), and learn why traditional practices prioritize inner calm over outward exercise. This episode challenges you to shift your focus from asanas to achieving a serene and quiet mind, redefining what it means to practice yoga authentically.
"Yoga is attained when the ceasing of modified consciousness happens."
In the second part of our discussion, we continue the dive into self-discovery and mindfulness through yoga, sharing insights on how to live more intentionally. We reflect on the power of self-awareness and the significance of recognizing our role in life's conflicts. We illustrate how slowing down can lead to deeper introspection and transformative changes. By modifying thought patterns and embracing mindfulness, we guide you towards making life choices that resonate with your true self, encouraging a harmonious and authentic way of living. Tune in for a compelling exploration of both yoga and life, designed to inspire and transform your approach to both.
We would love to hear from you! Email us at becomeoneliving@gmail.com or reach out to us on Instagram at BecomeOne Living.
Hello once again and welcome back to Become One Living. I'm here with my wife, jo. We're talking yoga. I'm Dan. We're talking about the sutras hello everyone. Ah the yoga sutras would you say the one that you're about to say is the most important one? Or like, like, like a clarifying one, or like a key one?
Speaker 2:how about? It is the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1:There we go.
Speaker 2:Yoga Sutra 1.2 is known as the definition of yoga.
Speaker 1:Cool.
Speaker 2:The Yoga Sutras we discussed in prior episodes, multiple episodes, multiple episodes, so feel free to go back and listen to 1.1 and what the actual Yoga Sutras are. And here today I would like to share on and discuss with Dan 1.2.
Speaker 1:Yoga.
Speaker 2:Yoga chitta verti nerodaha Yoga, chitta verti nerodaha Yoga. The mind, the body, one communication, union. Chitta is knowledge and chitta can be broken up into multiple aspects of the mind, which we will do in a later episode, but for now you have yoga, now you have yoga chitta. Knowledge Virti is the modification, modification, nirodha, ceasing or stopping. So what is the definition of yoga? Yoga chitta virti, nirodha means yoga is attained when the ceasing of modified consciousness happens, when the modified rippled, tumultuous thoughts twirling thoughts cease, naroda, that is when yoga occurs.
Speaker 2:That's what yoga is. I'm going to say that again. Yoga in its truest state and form is when all of the ripples in the water cease and there is peace. It's when the thoughts and the stories and the dialogue inside starts to loosen its grips on the mind and you stay steady in peace, neroda, ceasing the modified stories, the distorted stories, aka lies, that we tell ourselves and that have been produced through safety.
Speaker 1:For the sake of safety.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:But there are nevertheless lies.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Protection.
Speaker 2:Yes, a lie means distortion of reality and neurologically, the human brain will distort reality if it will help somebody to live with ease, even if it's dysfunctional, even if it's dysfunctional. I want to go back a little and just say this again the definition of yoga 1.2, on which the whole rest of the book of the yoga sutras is based on, is about the mind, not the body.
Speaker 1:That's pretty important.
Speaker 2:There is only three asana sutras. There's only three sutras about asanas in the book 195, 196 yoga sutras. There's only three about the body.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you think about it, asana really only became popular in our great-great-grandfathers, like in the last 300 years.
Speaker 2:It was always about stillness without pain in the body or restriction, because if there's pain in the body, you're distracted. You will be distracted. My knee hurts I'm thinking about my knee and making up stories about my knee. You aren't able to focus because the body is pulling you away from the focal point. But coming back again, how have we veered so far away from this purpose? How has yoga become a yoga class and that's it? I'm going to go to yoga class and for some people that means they get their yoga mat, they get dressed, they go to class and work out.
Speaker 2:Some see yoga as a workout, which is fine, which is fine. But here the yoga sutra says you're working out your mind, you are inner, your inner workings. You're not only working out your mind, you're actually redirecting your senses. Redirecting your senses, remember, in the eight limbs which we had discussed in prior episodes. The eight limbs one is called pratyahara. Pratyahara means to turn away from and to turn towards to something else. Pratyahara is also known as sensory restriction, saying to your senses come back home, focus here. How has yoga become more about the body in this era, during our time, the body has almost become a distraction. The body has almost become a distraction.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, it's certainly the obsession with yoga being synonymous with asana. To say the physical part is truly revealing a lot of neuroses, is truly revealing a lot of neuroses, many of which can be calmed in some way, addressed by stillness and the pursuit of equanimity.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yes. If we approach our yoga from a place of the mind and breathing deliberately as we move in and out, and using that to understand ourselves and our thinking, yes, then we can use the body as an instrument to know ourselves.
Speaker 1:We can use the body as an instrument to know ourselves, but it has to become important enough to each person, or it has to become important enough so that it takes a lead of sorts. So if you're just kind of like planning your day and you're like, okay, I got class from 9.30 to 10.30, and then I got to get out of here because at 10.15 I got lunch or I got to go be here or I got to go there, it's counterproductive. If you're rushing around If you're rushing, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, this goes back to all of the limbs of yoga. If yoga is defined as the ceasing of the modifications of the thoughts, if that's the definition of yoga, then yes, what Dan is sharing is true. Am I rushing my yoga like I rush my life? Is yoga just something to do? Is it a workout? We have to know how we're looking at it and we have to be willing to reflect on that and then change course Goes to the attitude. What's my attitude about this? What's my engagement? The whole book of the Yoga Sutras is based on this one. 1.2, yoga Chitta Vrti Narodaha.
Speaker 2:We live in a body that is controlled by the mind. It is controlled and expressed through a nervous system. The nervous system is informed through the brain and thoughts happen in the brain. Are you with me y'all? Do you get that? Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:We need to move the body in unison and mindfulness, with deliberate intent, with the breath and the mind, to make a change. It can't be I'm moving my body, I'm going to exercise and then I'm going to breathe, or I'm going to flow gracefully in and out of every pose, even at the cost of my body. That doesn't say nowhere in the Yoga Sutras does it say buckle up, my friends. Nowhere in the Yoga Sutras does it say move through your yoga practice breath by breath, linked up with movement and postures. It doesn't say that anywhere, that anywhere. What it shares is deliberate movement. Breathing and movement are two important aspects. Asanas is important to know yourself, but are you really knowing yourself and the modifications? If you're doing your practice the way you do your life, the modifications if you're doing your practice the way you do your life, if we do asana the way we live, then we're not changing anything, then nothing changes. So Yoga Sutra 1.2 is about ceasing these modifications and eventually you need to get really quiet and really still and start to witness yourself and your behavior, to even know that you want to change it. So if we approach yoga like we approach everything else in our lives, we will be reinforcing those habits and that way of living which, hey, it may be what you want.
Speaker 2:I want Yoga Sutra 1.3. Yoga Sutra 1.3 Tadah drastu svarupe vastanam. Tadah drastu svarupe vastanam. When the modifications in the mind cease, the seer will abide in their true nature. 1.3 is the promise that if you cease these modifications, you cease these stories, that you will feel what it feels like to abide in your true nature, in a state of equanimity, in neutrality, in peace and ease. That's why I practice yoga is to learn how to maintain that state longer and longer, how to abide in my true nature compassion, kindness, love, connectedness. To abide in that place for longer and longer. Because the mind, the human mind, seeks difference for safety. So neurologically we're wired to look for differences, to judge safe or not safe and then act on that. Well, dan's bad and I'm good, so I'm out of here. Yoga chitta virdi narodaha. Ceasing those stories of good and bad allows me to sit in my peace, in my equanimity, and say, hmm, perhaps Dan isn't bad, he just doesn't work for me. So Yoga Sutra 1 we had discussed is Ata yoga anushasanam.
Speaker 2:Now you're about to embark on this journey of yoga, this exposition of discipline in the system, and the system is all about ceasing the modifications of your thoughts, then, and only then. Ramifications of your thoughts, then, and only then, when you stop feeding the stories of who you think you are, of who you think you have to be, of who people told you you were or how people treated you and you thought that you were something. Out of all those things. It reminds me of this concept that I got. I was Velcro and things just stuck to me and stuck to me and stuck to me and I was lost. I was just big and puffy and expansive and filled with everyone else's concepts and ideas, and not mine. And, one by one, I had to peel them off, peel the pieces off the Velcro, off and off and off. And what was there was this fragile, vulnerable, raw being, and I felt like I didn't even know how to live because I lived according to the outside world for so long, according to who they said I was or according to things that happened to me. But when I eventually stopped the stories and I'm still doing that, by the way, and I'm still doing that, by the way that will be an ongoing practice till I am no longer here.
Speaker 2:When I cease these modifications, I get to be in peace and realize that there's more of that available. No matter what happens outside me, I can only control me. I only am entitled to my actions. That's what the Gita is about. Stay tuned for that. And this is an example of how the philosophies all weave into one and work off of one another. We're only entitled to our action. How do you want to act? How do you want to behave? How do you want to participate in yoga In the mind and the body, communicating.
Speaker 1:You can almost say how do you want to yoga?
Speaker 2:Yeah, how do you want to yoga? The yoga citta virti nirodha sometimes can be interpreted as stop thinking. So if any of you have ever heard that, please know that's not possible. You cannot stop thinking. So chit isn't about controlling your thoughts, Because if I'm having a thought I can't control it. Sometimes it's here. I'm worrying, I'm worrying, I'm worrying. It's about distracting and focusing on something else. So you turn away from the worry and say I'm going to focus on this instead. So our thoughts, they never cease. We're trying to stop the modification of them. I also like to think about it like a recipe. When something happens, if I don't like it, or if I do like it, I start to add some spice to it. I add a little cumin and a little nutmeg and a little paprika, and I add this and this and it gets bigger and more flavorful and more colorful. Yoga says stop that, Take all that out and just be present with what's here.
Speaker 1:Yoga says stop that Take all that out and just be present with what's here I was going to say. Crucial tool is simply awareness, or consciousness, or being present. So it's not a matter of witnessing yourself thinking about what you're going to have for breakfast as you do, asana. It's not that that's bad. It's about cultivating the awareness that that's what you're doing. As you're doing that and more and more, you can hone in, withdraw from that outside, all those processes outside, and go deeper inward as awareness, awareness, you know it's just as being present. You'll realize how less important things that you're putting importance on are when you can just be present.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you slow down enough to be present. Yeah, deliberate, yeah. I come back to this Yoga Sutra often and as we were starting this podcast today, dan said to me wow, that's really your favorite one, isn't it? That's really the one you always go to, and it is because I want to remember that I am part of the conflict in my life, I am part of the problem in my life because I'm the creator, and when I remember that, it's not to bully me, it's not to shame me, it's to say what do you want in your life? Do you want what you have? Because those are the decisions you made. Is it working? If it's not working, then what do you want and are you willing to change them? Modifications we have to modify the way we think if we want to change our life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you start me thinking about how much can be entertained when you do these rituals and come to a better place. I mean, for instance, it may be along any particular person's journey that they may have to geographically move, or they may have to make a big decision that what they're currently doing with their life is not their truest path, and it could be a monetary change that's crucial. So it's not about rushing to the change. It's about cultivating lots of things, lots of knowing about yourself, so that you can mindfully, like, almost like, migrate towards the change. You know, this year I'm gonna um, um, you know, just just keep revisiting the idea or the notion of maybe having to geographically move, and and you, and then you put it into, you set sail with it and you know it's going okay.
Speaker 1:So what do I have to do in order to support that thing? Okay, so maybe I'm going to have to see if I can get this job over there. Maybe I could see if I can do the job wherever I am. Maybe I have to tell my family that this is a requirement for my soul. Maybe I have to tell my friends that I can't be their friends in this way, because I need more energy to concentrate my effort in towards my truer self, of where I need to go to fulfill the potential that inside each of us there's a knowing within your heart of things that you are to be or to just be. The knowing of how you are to be, the knowing of how you are to be, the knowing of how you are to live, the knowing of how you are to be, the knowing of how you are to live, the knowing of where you need to be, the knowing of how you want to interact with people. Like all of this, it's like a treasure trove of offerings, all taking you back to the self.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where self becomes unavailable due to the modifications. On the contrary, yeah, all is. It is a process, and a process actually has an end goal and steps in it that you take. Now, why do I share that? Because some people I talk to are like oh well, I'm processing it for 30 years, you're processing it for 30 years. So if you aren't hitting markers or milestones in this process, then it can become spiritual, bypassing or bypassing. But a process has an end goal and if the end goal is to know oneself, to know your fullest potential, there may be a process and an unwinding and an unfolding into that. Wow, that's powerful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, and if you're stuck in something that you're you, you and, and that's your, where your mind always goes to, I come to believe that that's that's not the route. To to to go, that's not the route, that's not the R-O-U-T-E, that's not the way to go. The way to go is inward, because as you change, just like the reflections in nature, as things come into being in nature and change, everything else gives way. There's an efficiency, there's an organic nature to things and our mind can get in the way. And if we can get back in touch with the organic flow of the nature of being, then then you don't have to, you perhaps may not have to make a decision where, like I'm breaking up here, the breakup will just happen by the course that you're taking.
Speaker 2:Organic flow of nature. We're so far away from nature.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's way too far we have moved so far away and what I felt when you were saying that is this idea of robotic living, mechanical living. I do this, I get this, I do that. That's what I was sharing about the yoga. I'm just going to do asana, I'm just going to move my body. I got to go to yoga class. Come home, hurry up and do all these things. That's mechanical. Where's the organicness? And, by the way, I was the one Dan is speaking on.
Speaker 2:I am the one who would get up and leave before Shavasana. I would stand up and say I don't know how you all have time to lay down, but I don't. And as if I had more important things to do, I would leave during Shavasana and it was my first teacher who grabbed me by the arm as I went to walk out. Joe T, of course. She grabbed me by the arm and she said where are you going? And I said I got to go, I have to go to work. And she said you will go back and you'll lay down on your mat.
Speaker 2:Right now Nobody leaves early and I was very angry. I remember getting up and never forgetting that and asking myself why was I leaving early? Why did I feel I could skip that part of the process and it became so mechanical my life that when I eventually had to slow down, my friends, my slowing down wasn't a choice. That's why I want to share, dan, and I want to share this podcast with you. The slowing down was because I contracted a rare staph infection and had five bone amputations, cardiac arrest and almost kidney failure and chronic illness bedridden. The slowing down was my body slowed me down and when I wasn't healing, I had to ask these deeper questions what were the modifications of the mind that were keeping me in? This Went to the best doctors in the world, zoomed thement, thousands of dollars on supplements and medicines, anything to try to heal. When it wasn't working, I had to look in. I didn't realize that all these years of yoga and still was looking out, looking out, yeah.
Speaker 1:So if you are fortunate enough, you know, honestly, let's face it it's it's it's it's a privilege to have the time to be able to do that Right. So if our audience is by and largely afforded that opportunity, it's worthy to take a pause and consider that you actually have that privilege to take an hour, an hour and a half out of your day to get to your yoga class, to take it and leave, and, you know, let's give it its true due in terms of how it can support your life and, by supporting your life, support the ones around you. You know, it's like get to class and stop thinking like I got to be here, I got to go there and I got to do this and I got to do the next thing. It's like just be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just arrive and breathe and settle in to your body and let the breath inform the movement and let the breath support and sustain the pose, and pausing, being deliberate and settling in the nervous system will start to down-regulate and in the down-regulation what rises is all that we have pushed aside, is all that we have pushed aside. So ceasing the modifications may feel risky or scary, because in yoga and Buddhism we use the word ego. We have this ego and I like to think of the ego as all these stories. The ego is the modified virtis, okay, and if the ego has been ruling my life, my protectors and firefighters that's from IFS, internal Family Systems that was created by Dick Schwartz. We'll talk about that on another episode.
Speaker 2:But in IFS we talk about these parts that rise a protector to keep us safe, a firefighter to keep us safe also. Well, if these parts are coming up and they're ruling our lives, and now I say to you sit still, my friend, breathe and be quiet, close your eyes, do nothing, be bored. That could induce panic in some, that could induce fear, because we have all these other parts, this ego, running and ruling our lives. That's why I ask you who is doing yoga? Is it the ego doing yoga? Is it your stories doing yoga? Is it the bully doing yoga? Is it the mushy mush the gummy bear Like?
Speaker 1:oh.
Speaker 2:I can't feel. That's too. Oh my God, that hurts. Or I'm going to sit into a chair so deep that I'm going to pop a hamstring right. Who, my friends, is showing up for the physical practice? We won't know unless we add the breath and we be with ourselves. Who is being the pose, who's doing it? So the ego is these stories, these parts, these emotions that rule our lives, and then we buy into them and we think that's who we are. Oh, I'm a yoga teacher. And if someone's like well, what do you do for a living? Well, I'm a yoga teacher. That's who I am. We're none of those. We're so much more. We're none of those. We're so much more. But if we don't do yoga chitta virti narodaha if we don't cease these modifications, then we won't be able to let go of the egoic thoughts that are keeping us stuck in this pattern that keeps us far away from our potential and our true nature.
Speaker 1:I'm just thinking that all of what we're discussing, joe, is.
Speaker 1:It's really fun for me to be with you in a sense of seeing how the progression happened and the rituals feed us, I mean, even in our day-to-day it's like all right. So here's what I really wanted to say is arriving at approaching asana functionally functional yoga. It's amazing to me how little, how few number of poses I need to bring me to a state, and mentally, that's balanced and fair and at ease. I don't need a handstand, I don't need a chin stand, I need probably about six poses and I can accomplish ease and feel good and calm and clear in the mind.
Speaker 2:The Become One Method is a functional, therapeutic yoga method that I have synthesized over 30 years. I've taken what has worked for me and what I've used to heal, and what Dan is sharing is the first 20, 30 minutes. The first 20 to 25 minutes of the class will put you, and has put many people, in an induced state of prefrontal availability, which means downregulation and witnessing, and after the first 20 minutes most people have met their true nature, and what I mean by that is ease and peace and calm. So there is a way and we'll talk about this in other episodes that classes can be sequenced neurologically, and I created something called neuro-sequencing. So the class is neurologically designed to go with Sutra 1.2, yoga Chitta Verti Narodaha, and you don't need heat and you don't need music, you just need to be present with your body. Yes, you don't need anything, but to be present with your body.
Speaker 2:I invite you all to think about that, to think about your modifications. How does this feel to you? Did you know that this was the definition of yoga and that the whole sacred text, the Yoga Sutras, is based on this? And about that I'm curious. Please reach out to us at becomeoneliving at gmailcom, and you could follow us at becomeoneliving on Instagram and I just want to say, with all my heart, thank you for whoever is listening. This has been 30 years in the making, and to be able to share yoga is an honor and a gift. 30 years in the making, and to be able to share Yoga is an honor and a gift. Enjoy.
Speaker 1:Till next time, okay.
