Now the teaching of yoga will begin...

 Atha Yoganusasanam

This is the first Sutra of the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali.  Pantanjali is an Indian sage who drafted the Yoga Sutras and who is rumored to have possibly drafted the Ayurvedic medical text, the Caraka Samhita.  Pantanjali is often thought of as the father of yoga because he devised Ashtangha Yoga or the "Eight Limbs of Yoga", but yoga existed long before Pantanjali.  Pantanjali is credited with codifying yoga.  There are 196 sutras that are the foundation for Raja Yoga.  Raja Yoga is the "royal path of yoga" and is the practice of the 8 limbs.  It is concerned with the health of the mind.  This practice includes right living, right action, right thinking, meditation, movement, awareness, bliss and merging with the creative force.  

A sutra is a stitch or thread.  It is depicted as a thread threading a needle.  You are the emptiness of the needle.  Once the thread is merged with your consciousness, it is part of you forever. 

Atha Yoganusasanam  is loosely translated to "and now the teaching of yoga shall begin."

• Atha means now.  If it means now, then something must have come before.
• Yoga means union.  It is union with life as we know it.  It is not union with God or Spirit.  There is no need to unite with that which is already in you.  It is simply relaxing into life. 
• Anusasanam means in the direction.  It makes you think that you are headed in a direction.  This direction is of your choosing.

Now that we got that outta the way....

Our Yoga teacher training at Elemental OM began today.  We have 16 yogis eager to devour the teachings of yoga.  Looking around the room, I was thinking of this yoga sutra.  I thought of the "now" that they are all sitting in.  What brought them to this path?  What brought them to a place where they want to immerse themselves in this rich lifestyle and to become healers and teachers?  

I thought of yoga.  Are they searching for something?  Is the beginning or the middle or an insane quest to connect with something that is perceived to be higher?   My own quest into yoga certainly was.  How do I best teach them that they have all they need, that there is no search, that they are already perfect?  How do I save them that painful step in this journey?

I thought of anusasanam.  What direction are they headed?  How do I best guide them in the direction of their own personal choosing?  How to I help them to cultivate peace or sattva in their mind so that they can organically and naturally learn to control their thoughts and fluctuations and thereby become happy on this journey?

Om Shanti, Pamela