The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali are ancient texts that show you how to awaken to your true self. The instructions are presented in about 196 sentences called “sutras”, which translated to English means “threads”.
As it seems to go with wisdom that’s imparted from awakened masters (TAO Te Ching, Buddha, Yoda...) words are used simply and sparingly.
It can take a lifetime to understand the depth of Patanjali’s words but that’s not a bad thing. It’s kind of exciting that every time that you go back to a Sutra, there’s something new to be gleaned.
To be honest though, it can be a bit of a brain boggler to try to understand these texts!! This is why we have Ashley Zuberi on this episode.
Ashley is a yoga teacher and mentor to yoga teachers who has been studying the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali for years. She’s actually in the midst of writing her own book about the Sutras!
She gives excellent advice on how to make the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali more approachable and how to absorb the deep wisdom that’s offered.
She explains the basics of the Sutras in such an easy to understand way and shares what methods have helped her better understand them.
We talk about how to incorporate these teachings into your yoga practice and your day to day life.
I loved this conversation so much and think there’s going to be excellent takeaways whether you’re brand new to yoga philosophy or whether you’re more seasoned in your studies.
Topic Summary:
Basic breakdown of The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali
How to read the texts
Methods that you can try that will help you deepen your understanding
How to apply these teachings into everyday life and your yoga practice
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Key Nuggets:
What is the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali?
Ancient yogic texts that guide you toward inner connection and enlightenment. There are 4 books or chapters to the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali.
Book 1 is about what yoga is.
Book 2 is about how to do the practice.
Book 3 is about deepening the practice.
Book 4 is about why you should practice and what you get out of enlightenment.
Why is studying it worthwhile?
The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali is critical to the understanding of yoga beyond just the poses. It also helps in understanding your own inner connection.
How to better understand the Sutras
Here, Ashley shares with us what she did when she first started learning it. It took her 4-5 years to actually begin understanding the wisdom and when she did, it blew her mind! She read several translations side by side and that really helped.
Noteworthy wisdom from the conversation
We discussed the difference between knowledge and embodying that knowledge into wisdom. Understanding it intellectually vs understanding it within.
Huge message from this episode is that it’s not linear! “It” being life and everything that we do! This includes how you approach the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali. You don’t read it once and you’re done. It’s something to come back to over and over again. Patanjali himself revisits similar concepts throughout the books.
* This is where one of Ashley’s book recommendations is SO helpful! InThe Unadorned Thread Of Yoga by Salvatore Zambito, the author takes similar threads and puts them side by side so that you can study it based on the message rather than in the order of the Sutras.
One of Your Biggest Lessons So Far:
Letting go and surrendering. When you try to control the situation, it’s just hard. When you let go there’s growth and more ease.
What helps Ashley surrender is meditation and also making sure to practice breath in height of something crazy happening and then presence follows.
What is one nugget of wisdom that you would share with fellow seekers who are on this journey of growth and transformation?
Pay attention to the mindset that you have around the journey. There’s this IT person that she knew and he always assumed something will go wrong rather than expect it to be perfect. This is actually a great takeaway because the truth is that everything isn’t going to work and expecting for everything to go perfect is . What can I do to serve?
Resources:
Translations that Ashley loved reading:
The Unadorned Thread Of Yoga by Salvator Zambito
The Heart Of Yoga by TKV Desikachar
Links:
If you have any questions for Ashley or want to learn more, connect with her through:
Website: ashleyjosephine.com or inhalethrive.com if you are a yoga teacher looking for support in your journey teaching online.
Instagram: @yoginiashleyjosephine
Youtube: @ashleyjosephineyoga
