Spring Insights March 2022

Patañjali's Sūtra Wisdom

प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम्॥४७॥

II.47 Prayatna śaithilyānanta samāpatti bhyām

Slacken the tension born of your effort, and fuse yourself with the current of life force. Reconcile yourself with the realization it is an endless process.

Trust, relax, redouble your efforts, and keep going…

Pra means “to bring forth”, yatna means “effort”, and shaithilya means “to slacken”. Whenever we make an effort, it is natural to experience some level of anxiety. Patañjali recommends that we relax, and cut ourselves some slack, by locating the edge of our composure, and then backing off respectfully. If we persist in pushing, we are bound to induce more resistance. Our boundaries will recede once we are no longer aggressive, and practice with patience and care. Correct attitudes allow us to maintain enthusiasm and integrity in our approach, and to relax the tension born of our efforts. 

In samāpatti bhyām, we can relax to such a profound degree, that we tune into the cranial sacral wave, tap into the pulse of life, and feel the wonderful inner dance and rhythm of our own evolution. We experience creation as a state of eternal response that is never static. Within the still point of nirodha, we sense that everything is in a dynamic state of resonant vibration, and that nature is pulsating with vitality. 

                                                                        Excerpt from my book "The Yogī's Roadmap"