Though human beings have the potential to experience boundless joy, most people would admit that suffering and sorrow are facts of life. According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Yoga’s foundation text, this distress comes from the mind, specifically from our habits.

As long as we are alive, we are creating habits or samskaras, both consciously and unconsciously. These patterns are interconnected and exist in all areas of our lives. Our tastes, emotions, attitudes, beliefs and behavior are all linked to habits of body and mind. Samskaras are essential, as they help create a sense of identity, stability, and control. Therefore, habit making serves an important function.

For instance, the habit of standing with the upper back rounded hides the chest and protects the heart, holding the breath stops the flow of unpleasant emotions, overeating serves as a reward for a difficult day, drugs and alcohol can help us cope with daily stress and pressure. These various habits have one thing in common: They actually help us feel better… for a while.

THINGS CHANGE
Life, however, is constantly changing. Eventually, even our best habits can stop working. Responses to present time challenge from past experience are often inappropriate and inadequate. The result is suffering and constraint (duhkha) in daily life. When any habit persists over time in spite of continuous or increasing duhkha, It is full-blown addiction.

Eventually, a rounded back can lead to back pain and low self-esteem. Shallow, irregular breathing can contribute to asthma and depression. Drug addiction and alcoholism present a variety of psychological, social, and behavioral problems. Overeating is a contributing factor in numerous health issues. Simply put, yesterday’s solutions become today’s problems.

This is our dilemma. A mind that is totally free of habits would be unstable and overwhelmed by life’s infinite choices; but years of unconscious conditioning confine us to a life of servitude to our habits and life threatening addictions. This eternal tug of war between the urge for freedom and the need for security is, according to Yoga, the human condition.

THE YOGA SOLUTON
Yoga’s strategy for solving this age-old problem is simple, elegant and brilliant. Rather than insisting that we stop creating habits, Yoga encourages us to become fully involved in the habit making process. Through Yoga, we can begin to create patterns consciously, becoming healthier, more positive versions of ourselves.

To aid in this process, Yoga recommends finding someone with the perspective and detachment to see us clearly, and the experience and skills to help us change. In psychotherapy, this is the role of the therapist. In the 12-step program this person is the sponsor. In Yoga, we have the teacher.

As with therapists and sponsors, traditionally, each Yoga student had only one teacher, and each teacher met with one student at a time. As each student represents a complex network of interconnected habits of body, breath and mind, yoga recognizes need for individualization. Therefore, ALL adult yoga was taught one-on-one. Furthermore, the Yoga teacher was responsible for supporting positive change, not just in the physical body, but also in every area of the student’s life. The entire range of classical tools, visualization, relationship counseling, lifestyle guidance, breath work, meditation, sound, ritual, reflection, service and study, as well as posture, were employed, and adapted to each individual as needed.

Since the Yoga teacher teaches largely by example, we need a teacher who is equally committed to self-transformation, and who has a teacher. In other words, we need a teacher, who is also a student. Thus, lineage, ( every teacher being a student to a teacher who was, himself a student to a teacher) was essential to traditional Yoga practice.

For many of us, committing to a teacher is itself a new pattern. The old habits of stoic self-reliance and keeping our options open by not committing (which once worked), will now keep us from progressing on the Yoga (or recovery) path.

THE DYNAMICS OF TRANSFORMATION
The Yoga Sutras describes several components of conscious habit making and guidelines for smooth, positive change. These include:
Abhyasa: a new practice/habit/pattern. It can be in any area of existence, including body, breath, mind or behavior. Technically, the practice is implemented gradually, and done over a long period of time, without interruption, and with enthusiasm and conviction.

Viragya: or detachment. This is letting go of old patterns, the results of old patterns and the emotions attached to both the patterns and the results.

Tapas: Refinement. Taking contrary actions to have a new experience of oneself and the world. Yoga describes this as “cooking out the impurities”.

Svadhyaya: Reflection, usually with the help of a teacher, guided self-assessment to reveal the correct pattern to change and the best way to change it. Svadhyaya is also an aid in measuring progress.

Isvarapranidhana: Release, surrender, willingness to change, teachability, emphasis on the quality of behavior, letting go of the results.

The last three, Tapas, Svadhyaya, and Isvarapranidhana are collectively known as Kriya Yoga, the Yoga Sutras’ model for dynamic transformation. Interestingly, this same model is also expressed as the Serenity Prayer, a mainstay for persons recovering from addiction.

Refining and replacing outdated patterns through daily practice is the principle behind Yoga’s three most popular and most recognizable tools:
asana, pranayama, and meditation.

Asana: Yoga postures replace our old, limiting neuromuscular patterns with better ones. Continued practice reshapes the spine and improves the body’s overall flexibility and strength.

Pranayama: Breathing techniques are designed to replace short, shallow, irregular breathing with slower, deeper breath. Over time, pranayama vitalizes the system, stabilizes the mind, and brightens the emotions.

Meditation: Visualization and other meditation techniques replace negative mental patterns with more positive ones. A distracted, dull or agitated mind is transformed into one that is focused, attentive and relaxed. As the mind becomes more stable, an inner light begins to shine through for all to see.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Yoga is a process of constantly refining our habits and continuously improving our lives. With the help of a qualified teacher, we can choose the appropriate tools and practice regularly to create mind that is stable, comfortable, and free from addiction. Such a mind can achieve any goal, gross or subtle, large or small.

Robert Birnberg studies with Kausthub Desikachar in South India and throughout the world. Robert works therapeutically and trains teachers internationally. He specializes in Yoga for Addiction, and has designed Yoga, Meditation, and Spirituality programs for Clearview Treatment Centers, Promises, and Beit T’ Shuvah.

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