The First Four Yoga Sutras

Apr 27

At the beginning of Tristan's Iyengar yoga classes we chant the first four of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

We do this to remind us why we practice yoga, and what the point is.

We join centuries, even millennia, of tradition when we practice, and yet each time we begin we begin anew, in this moment now.

(1:1)

It's always best to practice with intent, whatever you practice, and our intent as yoga practitioners is to quiet the mind.

(1:2)

When we manage this, even for a short time, we become aware of our true nature, which is timeless splendor.

(1:3)

At all the other times, we identify with the thoughts or impressions in our minds, what Anne Lamott calls the 'thinky thoughts,' and what feels like an endless "To Do" list. (1:4)

“My mind kept thinking its harsh thinky thoughts, but I would distract myself from them gently and say, 'Those are not the truth, those are not trustworthy, those are for entertainment purposes only.' Eventually I had quieter thoughts.”
― Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

You're always welcome to join in as you feel able or simply enjoy the vibrations.

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Leslie Freyberg kindly made the transcription of the sutras (download below), with the Devanagari and English transliteration complete with diacritical and chanting marks.

The translation comes from BKS Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

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Tristan Boyer Binns

Tristan Boyer Binns has been practicing yoga since she was 14, when she stumbled into an eye-opening Breath of Fire workshop. Yoga has been a big part of her life throughout her travels, office work and pregnancies, and in coping with a young family. Tristan was a children’s book publisher and author and had reached the end of her patience with writing books on the Vikings. Deciding to become a yoga teacher was like a curtain lifting—it suddenly was the right thing to do, the only thing to do and was great fun as well as some of the hardest work she had ever done.