Yoga, a Practice of Not Closing

If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience yoga.
Patanjali (from The yoga sutras of Patanjali, Satchidanada, page 3)


If one really wants to understand Yoga in a very applicable and non threatening  way, one just needs to pick up a book by Michael Singer entitled The Untethered Soul or listen to him speak.  He puts the whole universal teaching of the Sutras into a very easy to understand format that can be so easily applied to everyday life.

Put simply Yoga is about knowing what you really want and then seeking it in a daily practice.

Knowing what you really want

In a video entitled What do you really want?,  Singer teaches that yoga is all about making the distinction between what we 'think' we want and what we 'really' want. Unlike other teachings out there now, yoga is not about manifesting abundance or attracting the 'things' we assume will make us happy from the world around us; nor is it about getting rid of all the things that are not so pleasant in our lives that we assume are making us unhappy.  It isn't about chasing, controlling, getting, fixing or avoiding  people, places, things or circumstances. It really isn't about the world around us at all.  It is about what is inside. 

What we really, really want from life is something that can only be found inside, something that is already there, has always been there and will always be there.

It is not that soul mate, or that perfect house in the perfect neighborhood you really want.  It is not the Porsche or that great 6 figure salary job either. Of course, for most of us, those are the types of things we would list if we were asked to compile a list of things we would like to 'manifest' in our worlds. If I asked you right now, what do you want from life, you would likely give me one of those external things right?

What if I told you, you  could have anything on your 'want to manifest' list but that it would not make you happy?  In fact, you will be depressed, unfulfilled, and more miserable than you are now when you get any of those things. Would you still want it then?

No.  Because you do not want to be miserable, do you?  What you really, really want is to be happy, to be at peace, to be joyous and fulfilled. You assume these things on your list will take you there.

Not Wanting

Our wanting also comes with a lot of not wanting.  Many of us may actually have on our manifesting lists things like:  "I want to be free of debt."  "I want my pain to go away."  "I want an end to this loneliness." etc.  Debt, pain and loneliness are obviously things that belong in a "not wanting" list, right?

What if, however, I could guarantee you that these three things will make you remarkably happy in a little while.  What if I promised you that if you accepted a lack of money, partner and physical pain into your life you will suddenly feel joy and peace and love and happiness; that you will wake up each morning to look out at the world before you and be so thrilled with everything about it ?  Would you still want to avoid them then ?  Or would they become things you would excitedly ask for?

What the heck am I getting at?

The point is what you really, really want is not the external thing, the circumstance or the person. It is not the removal of the so called 'unwanted' or unpleasant  from your life, either.  It is the condition you mistakenly attach to it.  What you really want is the peace, joy, freedom, excitement and fulfillment you erroneously assume these things will bring you .  What you really want is something you already have that cannot be found "out there".  What you really want is inside you where it has always been. Seeking fulfillment, wholeness, joy and love in outside 'stuff' is an indirect, challenging and often unsuccessful approach to getting what you really want.

Say what, crazy lady?

What yoga offers is a union with your inner world where peace abounds.  It connects you to your true Self that is happy, joyful, peaceful, whole, well and enthusiastic already. What you really want is in you now. Yoga keeps your Life open to that flow. Yoga can show you that  you already are, you already have what you want.

The mind, however, with all its 'mental modifications'  gets in the way of yoga.  It allows its streams of thought and conditions, established beliefs and emotional reactions to 'block' this open flow of well being that is in all of us. It is not the world or  the circumstances, out there that is making our lives less than what they are intended to be...it is our minds.  And we are totally responsible for whether our hearts and minds are open or closed; whether or not we are open and closed to Life.

If you are not feeling joy and bliss and love and peace all the time...then you are closing up  to what Life has to offer with your thinking, believing, reacting etc. You are closing and responsible for that closing.  Anytime you find yourself complaining about the way things are or aren't; anytime you find yourself chasing or wanting more; anytime you are fighting and struggling against what is in the given moment; anytime you find yourself in a heated argument with another or suddenly judging or disproving of another ...you are closing.  You are blocking the flow with your mind.

So What do we do?

We practice yoga. I don't care if you call it yoga or doing the hula...the point is you partake in a spiritual practice that involves  seeking this truth from within rather than chasing outwardly for what you think you want.  Know the difference between what you 'think' you want and what you 'really' want. 

Choose to take the direct route to happiness. Go to the mind, not the outside world,  to fix the so called 'problems' with your life. Clean up the mess the mind has made, remove all plaque and scar tissue from the vessels that spiritually feed you so you are completely open to the flow.  Singer stresses that we do not focus on staying open in our yoga practice, we focus on 'not closing."

Don't Close: a true yoga practice

The question isn't how do I stay open to life, according to Singer.  The question is, how do I stop closing? Here are some steps that might help:

1. Know the difference between what we "really want" and what we think we want.  Once we make that distinction we will become aware of our closing tendency.
2. Make a commitment to practice. Our practice will be to "Don't Close." It will be a practice of yoga or whatever else you want to call it that involves turning our attention inward rather than outward.Without practice, nothing can be achieved. (Satchidananda, page 3)
3. Observe the little self in action. We need to be vigilant and aware in our practice.  Most of us walk around unconscious or semi-conscious, so lost in our monkey minds, believing  all they tell us that we do not see how we are shutting down from this wonderful flow of life within us. We need to recognize when we are closing.  What things in the outside world  makes us cringe, back away, react, want to numb or avoid?  What and who  are we complaining about? When do we get angry, irritated or annoyed?  Watch yourself as you travel around in this physical world.  Catch yourself closing.
4. Take responsibility for your own mind and what it does. Know that every time you choose the need to be right over the need to be kind, you are choosing to close.  Every time you complain about how things are, you are choosing to close.  Every time you decide to focus on a shortcoming in a loved one's personality or behaviour rather than to stay enveloped in the experience of love, you are choosing to close.  Every time you snap at someone else or at life for being the way it is, you are choosing to close.  Every time you get lost in mind stuff rather than  presence, you are choosing to close. Every time you struggle against, resist or avoid something in Life, you are choosing to close. You are doing all this to yourself.  Own that.
5. Repeat to Self: I am not going to let the outside world [or my mind] close me. Singer suggests we  repeat that mantra to ourselves when we make a conscious decision to stay open or when we  recognize we are beginning to close.  We need to be committed to the practice of not closing.
6. Accept.  Learn to accept, honour and appreciate the experiences unfolding in front of you. (Singer; ) Instead of struggling against life which equates to closing, we need to be open and receptive to all Life offers us. By not closing, we will stay open.

I know it seems so easy and it isn't.  But it is a lot easier to find what we are looking for by directly going to the source, than going indirectly around in circles to find it, right?

All is well in my world.

References

Sri Swami Satchidananda. (2011) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga Publications

Michael Singer (2007) the untethered soul. New Harbinger Publications.

Michael Singer (October, 2018) What do you really want? New Harbinger. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73-2PggJJW0