Yoga Philosophy Week 4 Aparigraha/Letting Go
Yoga Philosophy
Limb or Principle 1, part 5 of 10 Yama/Niyama (Ethics for Life)
‘Let your concern be with action alone, and never with the fruits of action. Do not let the results of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction’. Krishna
When one is steadfast in non-possessiveness or non-grasping(aparigraha), there arises knowledge of the why and what of life.
Yoga Sutra 2.39
We are doing the Yama part of Yoga Philosophy somewhat out of the traditional order. Three of the 5 Yamas start with the letter “a” which means “the opposite of.” So it is interesting to explore all the yamas that start with the concept of doing the opposite of.
Here is the traditional order:
- Ahiṃsa — non-harming. The opposite of harming, in other words loving kindness
- Satya — truthfulness
- Asteya — non-stealing. The opposite of stealing, in other words giving
- Brahmacharya — moderation
- Aparigraha. - non-grasping. The opposite of grasping, in otherwords, letting go.
The Yamas actually have an interesting pattern: do the -opposite of this ... practice this... do the opposite of this... practice this... do the opposite of this...
What is a Yama? In the 8 limbs of Yoga there are three Yamas. The Yamas, often translated as Ethics and the Niyamas, often translated as morals, are both part of the first limb. Then there is Pranayama, often translated as breath control which is the second limb. Asana/poses are the third limb, and we will cover the rest in the future which lead to meditation and bliss.
Iyengar in his book Light on Life defines pranayama as Breath Extension and that Yama means extension. Our Yamas then are ways to extend ourselves into the world and into relation with others as well as our relation with ourself. We will get into this concept more when we cover Niyama and Pranayama.
Back to Aparigraha. "Pari" means "All sides" and "graha" means "grasping." So aparigraha often gets translated as non-grasping. In other words, "letting go."
There are many ways we can let go in our practice and in our life.
Yoga Philosophy
Limb or Principle 1, part 5 of 10 Yama/Niyama (Ethics for Life)
‘Let your concern be with action alone, and never with the fruits of action. Do not let the results of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction’. Krishna
When one is steadfast in non-possessiveness or non-grasping(aparigraha), there arises knowledge of the why and what of life.
Yoga Sutra 2.39
We are doing the Yama part of Yoga Philosophy somewhat out of the traditional order. Three of the 5 Yamas start with the letter “a” which means “the opposite of.” So it is interesting to explore all the yamas that start with the concept of doing the opposite of.
Here is the traditional order:
- Ahiṃsa — non-harming. The opposite of harming, in other words loving kindness
- Satya — truthfulness
- Asteya — non-stealing. The opposite of stealing, in other words giving
- Brahmacharya — moderation
- Aparigraha. - non-grasping. The opposite of grasping, in otherwords, letting go.
The Yamas actually have an interesting pattern: do the -opposite of this ... practice this... do the opposite of this... practice this... do the opposite of this...
What is a Yama? In the 8 limbs of Yoga there are three Yamas. The Yamas, often translated as Ethics and the Niyamas, often translated as morals, are both part of the first limb. Then there is Pranayama, often translated as breath control which is the second limb. Asana/poses are the third limb, and we will cover the rest in the future which lead to meditation and bliss.
Iyengar in his book Light on Life defines pranayama as Breath Extension and that Yama means extension. Our Yamas then are ways to extend ourselves into the world and into relation with others as well as our relation with ourself. We will get into this concept more when we cover Niyama and Pranayama.
Back to Aparigraha. "Pari" means "All sides" and "graha" means "grasping." So aparigraha often gets translated as non-grasping. In other words, "letting go."
There are many ways we can let go in our practice and in our life.
There are many ways we can let go in our practice and in our life.
Asana
In our physical practice, we can let go into our poses instead of trying to push into poses. We can let go of some ideal of what we think is the perfect version of a pose. We can let go of even our attempts to relax or quiet the mind, letting go the judgements that come up when we do or do not accomplish what we think we are "supposed" to be doing. Often in Yoga this is called non-attachment. It doesn't mean we don't care. It means we are not attached to the outcome.
We can practice letting go in our breath practice and meditation practice as well.
Pranayama
In Breath Practice, we literally let go of the breath as we exhale. Often this release can feel metaphorical for other things in life we seek to let go.
Meditation
In our physical practice, we can let go into our poses instead of trying to push into poses. We can let go of some ideal of what we think is the perfect version of a pose. We can let go of even our attempts to relax or quiet the mind, letting go the judgements that come up when we do or do not accomplish what we think we are "supposed" to be doing. Often in Yoga this is called non-attachment. It doesn't mean we don't care. It means we are not attached to the outcome.
We can practice letting go in our breath practice and meditation practice as well.
Pranayama
In Breath Practice, we literally let go of the breath as we exhale. Often this release can feel metaphorical for other things in life we seek to let go.
We can practice letting go in our breath practice and meditation practice as well.
Pranayama
In Breath Practice, we literally let go of the breath as we exhale. Often this release can feel metaphorical for other things in life we seek to let go.
Meditation
In Meditation Practice, we may seek to let go of thoughts. However, that can turn into grasping. I find it helpful to be an observer of the mind and just notice when the mind becomes very active, jumping to the future or dwelling in the past and bring it, gently, back to the present by paying attention to my breath or a mantra.
Daily Life
Daily life, we can let go of our attachments. For example, we can clean out the house of things we no longer need. Perhaps, not acquiring things we do not need in the first place. This is a good time of the year to consider what we really need. A wonderful resource for this is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. And my other favorite, Declutter at the Speed of Life. I combine these two techniques for myself and as part of the Wellness Coaching I offer. contact me kim@lifefullyoga.com for more info.
We have other types of attachments too. Attachments to our opinions, our concepts of who we are, attachments to routine. There are so many things we hold on to or cling to.
What are you holding on to that you'd like to let go?
Here is a nice article with some tips for letting go from Yoga International:
In Meditation Practice, we may seek to let go of thoughts. However, that can turn into grasping. I find it helpful to be an observer of the mind and just notice when the mind becomes very active, jumping to the future or dwelling in the past and bring it, gently, back to the present by paying attention to my breath or a mantra.
Daily Life
Daily life, we can let go of our attachments. For example, we can clean out the house of things we no longer need. Perhaps, not acquiring things we do not need in the first place. This is a good time of the year to consider what we really need. A wonderful resource for this is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. And my other favorite, Declutter at the Speed of Life. I combine these two techniques for myself and as part of the Wellness Coaching I offer. contact me kim@lifefullyoga.com for more info.
We have other types of attachments too. Attachments to our opinions, our concepts of who we are, attachments to routine. There are so many things we hold on to or cling to.
What are you holding on to that you'd like to let go?
Here is a nice article with some tips for letting go from Yoga International:
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