Yoga is not just a physical exercise. It is not a way to stay healthy, limber, and strong, although those are the undeniable benefits of the practice. Yoga is a path to total liberation from the attachment to ourselves and the illusory perception of separateness from the whole, which causes so much ignorance and misery in our human experience. At SpiritPath we fully utilize this ancient system as apart of the universal approach to direct experience of reality beyond the mind and it’s forms.
The Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras describe the foundation and the direction of Yogic practice through the Eightfold Path, also knows as the Eight Limbs of Yoga:
- Yama: Control of the senses and mind, which includes an establishment of basic awareness of sensual and mental activity, with a purpose of gaining an upper hand on habitual patterns.
- Niyama: Establishment of positive traits, needed to traverse the field of mind and matter and transcend it. This includes living a life of integrity, purity, contentment, regulation, introspection, gratitude and surrender to the higher intent.
- Asana: Physical postures and exercises, designed to bring awareness into the body, strengthen and purify it, as well as illuminate a basic mind to body connection.
- Pranayama: Breath control, designed to balance the flow of energy or Prana, as it circulates the body, as well as move the awareness though the gates that connect conscious mind with the unconscious.
- Pratyahara: Withdrawal of the senses from the sense objects, also knows as detachment. Having gained sufficient awareness of the physical plane, the practitioner begins working directly with the mind, starting with it’s senses. The purpose here is to realize the inner workings of the 6 senses, including the sense of mind, it’s tendencies of attachment to the outside stimuli, and it’s effects on the self as a whole.
- Dharana: The ability to focus the mind on a specific object. Having quieted the mind sufficiently, through accumulating awareness of it’s activities, the practitioner begins developing a steady control of it’s movement and fluctuation. Here one can begin to practice one pointed concentration of the mind on anything, external and internal. This is where inner silence begins to develop and grow as a direct practice.
- Dhyana: Meditation – one pointed focusing of the mind upon the Transcendent. The accumulated ability to focus is transferred to the Infinite and the Un-manifest.
- Samadhi: In the Sutras, this final step is described as a perfect union between the individual soul, known as Atma, and the Supreme Soul, known as Paramatma or Bhagavan. This is the experience where all boundaries dissolve, and the meditator completely blends with the object of meditation and the act of meditation. At this point a total transformation of self occurs, and practitioner becomes an extension of the highest intent of evolution.
At SpiritPath we see the Path of Yoga as both theoretical and practical approach to the universal path of human evolution. Each of the 8 steps is a parallel representation of the stages of development, which an individual goes through in their evolutionary process. Every authentic spiritual path goes through these areas, not necessarily distinguishing them in the same manner, yet still directly or indirectly passing through them, as distinct mile stones. The retreats at SpiritPath are designed to guide each participant through these necessary steps to the experience of total liberation. The speed of progress and intensity of practice is guided by the participants’ personal intent and degree of readiness. An integration of transformational tools from other spiritual disciplines, including the Sacred Plants, allows for strong evolutionary shifts for those who are ready. For others, the retreats provide a powerful experience of higher states of evolution, that become a guiding principle to everyone traveling this magnificent journey of the Soul.