I’ve got a new project. I’m creating practical ways to make the ancient wisdom of yoga’s most influential ancient text work in the modern world. Yes, I love a bit of a challenge.
The Yoga Sutras is a key yoga text, written in the 2nd century BC by a sage called Patanjali. It’s the corner stone of modern yoga, but it’s far from being a ‘how to’ manual for doing yoga poses. In fact, Patanjali only gives one instruction for how to do the kind of yoga that we 21st century students practice on our sticky mats (he says we need to have a balance of strength and softness in our poses, being neither too forceful nor too cruisey). What the Yoga Sutras is really about is happiness. In fact, it’s kind of an ancient handbook for happiness.
I’ve been studying these sutras for over ten years and I’m constantly amazed by how effective they are at providing practical tools for living a happy, contented life. There’s a common theme running through all of them: Be good to yourself, do good for others. I’ve adapted that into the personal mantra: “What can I learn and how can I help?”
Like all good ideas, Patanjali’s wisdom has to be put into practice before it gets you anywhere. So, my new year resolution for 2011 is to live the Yoga Sutra’s. Over the next 12 months, I’ll be focusing on ten very simple instructions for achieving happiness from Patanjali one of the world’s greatest philosophers, and exploring practical ways to integrate his ancient wisdom into a busy modern life. Here they are:
Patanjali’s “10 Commandments”
1. Be considerate
2. Communicate honestly and kindly
3. Stop wishing you had what other people have
4. Moderation
5. Don’t be greedy
6. Be clean and tidy
7. Be content
8. Make the effort
9. Never stop learning
10. Let go
In the coming weeks and months I’ll be unpacking the Yoga Sutra’s, sharing their story and recording my journey as I find real-world ways to integrate their teachings in to my everyday life. In the next post I’ll be offering an overview of the Yoga Sutra’s and putting the above ‘Ten Commandments” into their wider context.
Do you think that our present day happiness can be influenced by the ancient wisdom of the yogis? Have you found greater happiness through any of the practices of yoga? What tried and tested wisdom do you turn to in times of difficulty?
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