Philosophy—the foundation of it all
I had always heard that yoga was meant to steady the mind. The body proved it. The text confirmed it.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are where the philosophy lives—the framework beneath the postures and the breath. They're also where my coaching work meets my yoga practice. The questions Patanjali asks—about attention, about clarity, about what gets in the way—are the same questions Co-Active coaching asks. Different language, same inquiry.
The below is how I sit with one sutra at a time.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a foundational collection of yoga philosophy—196 aphorisms across four chapters. Defining yoga as yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah, or the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind (1.2), the sutras map what gets in the way of a clear mind, and what helps to unclear it.
Some sutras will steady you. Some might provoke you. We need both.
Directions:
Choose a pada (chapter) from the panel on the left, or stay with the full collection. The middle panel will offer the sutra. When you're ready, sit with the journaling inquiry in the right panel and hit “Pick a sutra” to receive another. Let the teaching lead—if a sutra asks more of you than you can give today, return to it tomorrow.
Disclaimer: These are interpretive renderings, not scholarly translations—inspired by Edwin Bryant, B.K.S. Iyengar and Swami Satchidananda, with journaling inquiries shaped by the Co-Active coaching methodology. For deeper study, go to the source texts.
Select a pada
to begin
We were all designed to move. breathe. be.
