Tag: atman

Atman

KathrinLeave a comment

When I was a child, there was a time I was thinking about who I am. It was very clear to me, that there is something I struggled explaining or finding the right words. I called it my “coenesthesia”. This feeling of “I”, which I believed would not die with my body. This special feeling when saying “I”, this is my true self.

I kept this belief my whole life, but many years later yoga philosophy taught me the right terms of what I already knew since a young child. In yoga this true inner essence, our inner self is called Atman. A kind of fragment of the Divine (Brahman), which exists in every one of us, and which is the very core of our being. We easily mistake it with our ego and identify with our body and mind, instead of going beyond intellect, ego and emotions.

Realizing this false conviction and identification with the ego, the mortal body and mind is called liberation (Moksha), which eventually leads to freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth (Samskara).

Frankly spoken, even if I had this insight already as a child, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to live by. To translate and implement it into daily life is where we struggle most. Knowing, understanding is one side of the medal, get it on the driver seat of life is the other side.

This is what a meditation and yoga practice helps with, no matter what style, on or off the mat. Yoga is the sum of all paths on inner development, the goal of which is to realize and experience your Divine true inner self, and thereby transform life.

This short dispatch is nothing but a very high level glance at the yoga philosophy, which is so worth a deep dive!

Union

Kathrin1 Comment

You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.

(Sharon Gannon)

I love this.

In the yoga sutras, the most acknowledged text about yoga, Patanjali states about 2000 years ago the yoga path, the so called ’eight limbs’:

  • Yama (self discipline)
  • Niyama (self observation)
  • Asana (posture)
  • Pranayama (breath control)
  • Pratyahara (withdraw of the senses)
  • Dharana (concentration)
  • Dhyana (meditation)
  • Samadhi (contemplation)

All of them together is what yoga is made of. What we usually call yoga nowadays is asana, the physical part, but it’s just one of 8. Sometimes we add a bit of pranayama and dhyana, meditation, but most of the times it’s split into different classes.

In times of high stress levels, lots of burn outs, the interest of different practices arise. Mindfulness is a term we here more and more and health is getting more attention. Not just the body, but also the mind. Yoga is a spiritual practice, even if you practice asanas only. The goal isn’t fitness oriented (a nice side effect, I know!), but a moving meditation. Yoga means union. Union between our ego (ahamkara), who is the owner of thoughts, the inner voice talking non-stop, and our true self (atman).

The yoga sutras state: „The essence and purpose of yoga is to calm the turbulence of the mind, so that we can see our true nature.“

Next time you’re practicing asanas, think of it. Bing you full attention to your breath, make it strong and go internal. Do the postures, but don’t care about them too much. Start the journey to your true self!