Patanjali defines Yoga as Stilling of Your Mind
By Barbara Girijananda Hess
Yoga is the Stilling of Your Mind: This is a sutra from the Patanjali yoga sutras. Sutras are short phrases like single threads of more complex teachings. They give the essence of deep teachings in short concise phrases.
So, what is the term “yoga” referring to?
Yoga is the science of human development, brought from India to America about 120 years ago. Yoga is interwoven in the writings of great literates like Emerson and Thoreau. The growth of yoga practices laid the foundation for meditation. If it settles your mind into stillness, it’s a “yoga” is a pivotal teaching in the Patanjali yoga sutras. All yoga systems say it is an inward journey to Self-discovery.
So according to this sutra, only practices that quiet your mind can be called yoga. Yet anything that quiets your mind would qualify, and you already know how to do many of these types of things. Does drinking a warm cup of tea quiet your mind? What about watching a sunset or even having a glass of wine? They all qualify as yoga.
One of my first “yogas” was swimming. As a young adult I loved to swim, and looked for any opportunity to do so. I swam for the pure joy of being in motion in an environment that was quiet and solitary. As I got older, I realized this was a great way to quiet my mind.
My mind was always so busy. When I slipped into the water, it was as if I was telling my mind and body that it was time to retreat and take a break. But relying on water as an escape is not the type of stillness that this teaching is describing.
The sutra refers to a type of stillness that goes beyond simply having a quiet mind; this stillness is a deep feeling of well-being that is expansive. It is an inner experience of peacefulness, a quiet undercurrent of joy.
What does stilling of your mind mean?
By definition still is a deep silence or calm. Free from turbulence or commotion; peaceful; tranquil; calm: similar to a lake without waves or perceptible current.
Swimming, watching a sunset, watching a bear cub sleeping in a tree or even studying or performing activity to a point of exhaustion does quiet your mind. Even in yoga poses, the goal is the quieting of your mind. You know how to exhaust your body and mind in a busy day. That’s not the stillness recommended in this sutra. The stillness referred to in the sutra is a positive feeling of wellbeing that expands into an inner infinity; a quiet undercurrent of joy.
What are you stilling? The mind.
Yoga teaches that your mind is your most powerful tool. It’s even more important than your body. Yoga says the purpose of your mind, is to block your ability to look within to see your own divinity. But how does your mind do this? Your mind does this by creating an almost constant stream of thoughts.
Yoga Sutras 1.2 Yoga”s-citta-v.rtti-nirodhah; Yoga is the stilling of your mind’s activities.
These thoughts are like ripples on the surface of a lake. When the surface of the lake is all churned up, you can’t see anything below. Your mind uses these ripples, your constant stream of thoughts, to block your ability to look deeper within yourself. Yet your mind has a unique characteristic built into its function. The mind can stay focused looking externally at the world staying caught in the ripples of your life or it can pivot to look internally. When your mind focuses inside it is like a scuba diver exploring deep under the surface of the lake. When your mind dives deep it is turning internally to your essence.
When you meditate, your mind goes beyond the thoughts, the ripples on the surface of the lake. You go to the depth of the lake, the depth of your own beingness.
In yoga-based mediation, you still your mind so that you can access the deeper dimensions within.
Something very special happens when you still your mind. When you still the ripples of your mind, it settles into a peaceful, calm, state. You can experience the vastness that you are inside. Your busy mind keeps you from seeing your own Self, just like the ripples on the lake keep you from seeing the bottom of the lake bed. But once your mind stills, you can see all the way inside – this is meditation.