Practicing Yoga Means Practicing Austerity and Purity All of the Time

When we think and say that we “practice” Yoga, what we really mean is what aspects of Yoga we understand and are engaged in at the present time.

This could consist of just doing postures once a week or a daily attempt at meditation.

But as we make a commitment to Yoga and evolve and grow through it, our concept of practice will also undergo a transformation to the point where we will think of it as being all of the things that we think, say and do each day.

It will be something that we are practicing when we are around and with others, and it will be something that we do when we are alone.

It will be something that we will do when we are at home or at work.

It will be something that we will do throughout the seasons of the year and days of the week, whether we are in our own country or travelling abroad.

In practicing Yoga is such a way, we are applying a set of teachings that involve all aspects of our life.

Two of the most important of these teachings are austerity and purity.

When we do our postures each day we are practicing these things.

When we engage in the breathing techniques that are known in Sanskrit as pranayamas we are practicing these things.

When we relax in the corpse posture or do meditation, we are practicing these things.

When we exert greater mindfulness about what and when we eat, we are doing these things.

When we pay more attention to our habits and routines as regards sleeping we are doing these things.

When we make changes in how we use our leisure time and energy, perhaps in drinking less or stopping drinking all together or cutting back on how much we watch television, we are doing these things.

When we practice austerities, we are engaged in a “perfection of the sense organs and body” (Yoga Sutras 2:45). When we practice purity we are cultivating “cheerful-mindfulness, one – pointedness, control of the senses and fitness for vision of the self” (Yoga Sutras 2:41).

Austerities and purity are what we are doing when we practice Yoga.

They work together at times and function independently in order to bring about each other. As we become mindful about these two teachings, and make progress with our practice, we can start to see the benefits of doing such things.

We see that we do not need a lot of food, or a big house, or a new car in order to live well and feel satisfaction with life.

We start to rejoice in the joy of our consciousness and the awakenings within.

We find satisfaction and contentment in seeing things with greater clarity.

Soon these disciplines or austerity and purity and what is involved in practicing and applying them are no longer a challenge or pose any kind of difficulties to us. In fact, we welcome them because we have made them a habit and have experienced the benefits of them.

Our commitment to practicing them has started to bring about dividends in ways that money or fame or status can not bring us. That is, we have a greater sense of purpose in all that we do.

We find satisfaction in the big and small activities of the day.

We are more patient, and at peace with ourselves.

We find that with the practice of austerities and purity, our body, our personal vehicle for life and living functions and works more efficiently.

We find that with the practice of austerities and purity, those disturbed and disharmonized states of consciousness that once overwhelmed us are weakened and replaced by something greater.

We find that with the practice of austerities and purity we become free from the desires and burdens that sensuality brings to us and rejoice in the practice of loving kindness, compassion, joy in another’s joy, success and virtue and experience balance throughout our waking hours.

We find that with the practice of austerities and purity we experience a growth in will power and cultivate discriminative knowledge in all things. Our lower nature is brought under control and our character is developed.

We find that with the practice of austerities and purity that the state of our body and mind and their desires and former unskillful needs and tendencies are no longer a hindrance to us in making progress in Yoga.

We understand that the self – discipline and mindfulness in living that austerities and purity teach us is important for healthy and joyful living.