Obstacles to practice

ByAaron Fleming March 13, 2015

All practitioners, either seasoned or just starting out, are well aware of the many things that get in the way of a regular and consistent practice. Patanjali outlines 9 obstacles to practicing. They are:

Vyadhi: disease
styana: lack of interest / mental laziness
samsaya: doubt
pramada: carelessness
alasya: idleness
avirati: sense gratification / over indulgence
bhrantidarsana: living under mistaken notions
alabdhabhumikatva: missing the point
anavasthitatvani: backsliding

International Yoga Day, June 21, 2015
ByAaron Fleming June 19, 2015

Sunday, June 21st, will be celebrated around the world as the first International Yoga Day sponsored by the United Nations. Geeta Iyengar is encouraging us to use this day to honor yoga and our teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar. There are many ways that you can honor this day, whether it is through your own personal practice…

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In Memory of Geeta Iyengar
ByAaron Fleming December 20, 2018

Dr Geeta S. Iyengar, daughter of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, and the senior most teacher in the Iyengar community passed away today morning. She had completed 74 years on December 7. Sister to her five siblings but a mother figure to the whole community of Iyengar yoga practitioners which now spans 59 countries across the world,…

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Getting started
ByAaron Fleming April 24, 2015

In the 2nd chapter of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Patanjali states that in order to get started in your practice one should follow the path of Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga is the yoga of action and is comprised of three parts: Tapas (burning zeal / excitement), Svadhyaya (self-study) and Isvara Pranidhana (surrender of the…

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Physical vs. mental obstacles
ByAaron Fleming March 22, 2022March 22, 2022

Are you experiencing an obstacle that is keeping you from practicing? Is your obstacle physical, mental intellectual or spiritual? And how can you know which one it is? Over the years I have experienced a huge list of obstacles to practicing. Most of the time I wasn’t able to name the obstacle until it had…

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Yoga helps you make decisions
ByAaron Fleming November 5, 2019September 9, 2021

A friend of mine years ago used to always say “if it’s urgent, it’s not spiritual.” She meant that if you are pressuring yourself to make a decision too soon you might not make the right decision. Some decisions do require urgency: Should I call the police or my spouse after a fender-bender? Don’t delay…

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Yoga as Therapy
ByAaron Fleming May 18, 2017June 7, 2017

The practice of Iyengar Yoga is diverse; there is a wide variety of approaches within the method itself. This variety in approaches is important because people are varied. People within the same age group are varied compared to each other — for instance, some people are fit and some are not. And a person will…

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Physical vs. mental obstaclesMarch 22, 2022
Are you experiencing an obstacle that is keeping you from practicing? Is your obstacle physical, mental intellectual or spiritual? And how can you know which one it is? Over the...
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A vast majority of people, even those of us who are not that stiff, are stiff to some extent. We ALL have tight spots but some of us have to...
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I have been writing a bit in other articles (and this one too) about how the pandemic has impacted my practice. Specifically, the stress of the pandemic has impacted my...
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Back in December of last year I wrote that I thought the stress of the pandemic had shown that my mindset needed improving. I am writing now to give an...

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