This is my favourite yoga sutra in the first chapter, mainly because of the way it sounds when it is chanted. It’s got a great rhythm to it and for me really stands out. But it’s meaning is also really special, especially at this time of year when we may be feeling a bit tired and jaded, and this year even more so.

Here is the translation: “Disease, dullness, doubt, carelessness, laziness, sensuality, false perception, failure to reach firm ground and slipping from that ground gained. These distractions of the mind stuff are the obstacles (to practice and Samadhi)

It all makes sense really, if you are unwell, you won’t have the energy to practice  and a dullness goes with that illness, you know those mornings when you have a brain fog and just can't concentrate!

Doubt creeps in sometimes when you wonder “what am I doing here?” “why am I doing this?” “all these people are far more advanced than I am?” – and yes I have these doubts all the time…  you are not alone … It’s perfectly normal, we’ve all been there, It’s your mind trying to stop you from controlling it and doing what is good for you.

Carelessness, when you lose the awareness and get distracted, not really paying attention, it can lead to injury and that becomes an obstacle in itself.

Laziness , no need to say any more! There is a famous saying by Patthabi Jois that goes something along the lines of ‘everyone can do Ashtanga yoga except those who are lazy’ and it is true! Laziness will definitely stop you from stepping on your mat in the morning.

Sensuality , My Yoga Sutras book links all of the previous obstacles together and states that when you have lost interest in reaching the higher consciousness, then the mind has to go somewhere so it tends towards the senses and the sensual enjoyments. Then your practice is difficult to maintain.

False perception, failure to reach firm ground and slipping from ground gained these can all be linked together. On any spiritual path, we begin with an intense interest and see improvement at the start which makes us enjoy the practice and keeps us interested in continuing. But we all reach a plateau, where we just don’t seem to be moving forward. This is where the false perception comes in, “ooh I’m no good at this” “I’m not progressing, therefore this can’t be for me” etc… It is only your perception, if you continue in your practice, you will see the improvements even if only tiny improvements.

This is also failure to reach firm ground . You hit that initial plateau and if you are not completely committed to your practice this will become an obstacle   and cause you to give it up. And falling from ground gained , “oh I could do that posture last week and now I can’t“ It could lead to you becoming disillusioned, and stopping your practice.

These points also come into play when doing any spiritual discipline, meditation is an example for all the same reasons. We always start off with enthusiasm but it doesn’t take much to throw us off course, and before we know it we have given up!  

The Ashtanga sequences are full of challenging postures that everyone struggles with. Marichiasana D is one of them! It takes many people a long time to ‘master’ this posture only to find that further along the line you lose it. I have been practicing Ashtanga for 23 years and after initially gaining Marichiasana D in my first year of practice, lost it when I became pregnant 5 years later, only because I had to give it up. It took me a long time to get it back only to lose it again a couple of years ago due to a dodgy knee. Once that was sorted out it’s come back again.  I’m sure I’ll lose it again over the next few years of my life.

I have found the same with back bending. It took me a long time to learn the correct technique for dropping back and standing up, after initially rushing into it in a fast dash to second series. Over the last ten years or so I have learned new techniques to optimise my back bending. I think I have learned and relearned how to drop back at least three times now and wish I’d listened to Rolf 20 years ago when he told me to work on the wall, as I’d have learned it correctly from the start.

But this is one of my patterns of behaviour. Rushing ahead to do something in my own way as quickly as possible without taking the time to do it correctly. The practice has helped me to recognise this pattern and I am now better at slowing down and taking the necessary steps to do things with the correct technique. This has followed through into daily life as well – I can now actually follow instructions and recipes!

So, these are the distractions that the mind throws up as obstacles to stop us from gaining control and equanimity.   

This next sutra follows on nicely from the one before, giving us the accompaniments to the mental distractions that are the obstacles to practice.

Distress, despair, trembling of the body – ever experienced this in Navasana ? Disturbed inhalation and exhalation, distraction and confusion . In fact, all of the above can be applied to Navasana!! These will all prevent meditation and concentration and this is why I like the Ashtanga method so much. We always practice the same postures, day in, day out, there is no escape. Eventually your body gets used to the postures. I remember starting Primary series. It was hard. I more than likely experienced all of the above states while practicing, but after some years it became easier, it flowed better, there was some grace, my breath became slower and calmer, it became a meditation. Then I began second series! Back to the beginner again. It was so messy! So clunky and no grace whatsoever! But, over time, even though I am still working on some postures, the clunkiness has gone, the flow has arrived and it has also become a meditation and there is a level of flow and grace there…

I know when I first learned about equanimity and being the best version of myself, I thought it would be so hard to do, but it is actually really easy and mainly because it makes you feel so good! I was actually really shocked when I began to look at myself and my actions. I did not like what I saw at all and thought it would be so hard to change, but with the help of firstly, Vipassana meditation and then Ashtanga yoga I am hopefully getting there. It is a constant journey though and you cant let your guard down, the mind will take over if you let it, always finding some reason to make you stop your practice!

If you are not reacting to everything that life throws at you, if you can change your thoughts into positive ones, and if you can cultivate a level of gratitude, then you will be happier. If you can manage to live completely in the moment you will not react, you will act instead, usually from a place of good and you will always do what is the right thing for you and those around you.