“Yogas citta vrtti nirodhaha.” - The restraint of the modifications of the mindstuff is yoga (translation Swami Satchidananda).
I have written about this before. The word vrtti means wheel. Like the wheels of thoughts that spin and spin in our minds. Have you ever caught yourself worrying about something, and imagining all of the possible outcomes, what could happen, what could be said, what ….
When we stop the spinning and the building on the ideas that are spinning in the mind… when we just let the mind rest… this is yoga.
To gain the ability to choose when to think on problems is a discipline. It is possible to develop this discipline, with consistent effort. To let the mind or thoughts run away with us is not an unusual problem, but it is an undisciplined mind. All minds require discipline to function at their best. It is not a bad thing if you have an undisciplined mind. It is just what is.
We do not have to add ideas to understand yoga.
We don’t even have to think to understand yoga. Not really.
You cannot understand yoga by thinking about it. Though thinking can be a part of yoga.
We drop what is unnecessary. Stop adding to the ideas in the mind. Let the ideas and thoughts pass through. Strip them to the simplest form and see what they are. Pick and choose from them. Just find what isn’t working and let it go. Let it go again, and again, and again.
* * * * *
I adored Maria Tallchief as a child. I had a book about her life I begged my parents for in second grade. I danced all the time, and watched ballet every chance I got. Little did I know, there was something of a yogini in my choice of childhood mentor from afar…
Look at this quote I found over the weekend. I couldn’t believe it!
“In anything at all perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.” – Maria Tallchief, prima ballerina, in response to a request for an ‘important quote.”
Yojimbo (1961)
(Source: littleplasticthings, via branduponthebrain)
Pose of the Day: Dancer – Natarajasana
Yogic Concept of the Day: I don’t need to add any new ideas (to practice yoga). Instead, I let go of some that no longer help me.
