I was lucky enough to spend my weekend taking an Iyengar yoga retreat led by Shirley Daventry French at the Salt Spring Centre for Yoga. As well as teaching us techniques to go further in poses, Shirley discussed the concepts of abhyasa (repeated practice) and vairagya (renunciation, detachment, non-identification) as the key to finding stillness. Most Iyengar yoga students are very familiar with Patanjali’s sutra 1.2: citta vritti nirodhah (Yoga is the cessation of fluctuation of consciousness.) At the Easter workshop with Birjoo Mehta, he referred to this sutra as the mission statement of yoga. Patanjali wrote in sutra 1.12: abhyasa vairagyabhyam tan-nirodhah which translates to “Stillness develops through practice and renunciation.” In teaching us this sutra, Shirley was giving us the method or strategy to achieve the mission statement.
After our retreat, I visited my favourite Salt Spring island bookstore and picked a new guide to Patanjali’s sutras by Ravi Ravindra, Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University. His guide to sutra 1.12 reinforced the lessons I had learned over the weekend.
Ravi writes, ” Spiritual practice requires and creates a movement contrary to the usual tendencies of the mind. We need to make efforts to be present, to let go of distractions and we need to be willing to search for a stronger and steadier attention again and again. Any worthwhile goal requires undertaking efforts, seeing what is required, and actively engaging with the process.”
One of the many great advantages of being at a yoga retreat is that you are forced to practice renunciation - there are no work/home distractions, there is no cellphone signal or internet connection ( I admit I did miss the internet for a few minutes). The retreat allows you to focus on what is at hand, whether it be the asana you are trying to get into or maintain, pranayama practice or meditation.
Iyengar Insight: By restoring the body, yoga frees the mind from the negative feelings caused by the fast pace of modern life.
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