Namaste All, Fall is a lovely time to sense the transition of yoga. It is a time of new beginnings (especially in our academic town); letting go of the past, while delving into our studies, our work and our commitments with new interest and perseverance. It is a time to settle down again and focus on renewed dedication and spiritual growth. With the golden colors and fiery shades of red forming a natural backdrop to the fiery tapas (commitment) to our practice, I am reminded of our ability to change and to access the transformational power we all have within us. This power to transform through yoga gives our bodies strength and flexibility, but even more importantly it can transform our viewpoint. The process of yoga is truly about broadening the awareness so that it that transcends the limits of the mind. From the yogic perspective, the mind is made up of layers… the chittam, ahamkara, manas and buddhi. The chittam is the totality of the individual layers of the mind. We find reference to it early in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in sutra 1:2 where Patanjali defines yoga as: yogaschittavrittinirodaha, or yoga is the stopping of the fluctuations of the mind. Within the chittam we have several distinct layers of the mind: 1. The Ahamkara (literally, the "I maker") or "ego," which separates us from knowing our wholeness and connection to everything in life. 2. The Manas is the distractible mind that also gives rise to desires and attraction to sense objects. 3. The Buddhi is the intellect or discriminative awareness, the part of the mind that has the ability to recognize, name and discriminate information. Activity within the layers of the mind can lead to disturbance of peace. Effective technique in yoga sets up the conditions not to squelch the mind, but to transform the energy of the random thoughts into a form that feeds our higher witness consciousness. We take care of our bodies and our actions to set up the conditions for peace, so we can access it through the body, breath and mind. In doing so, distractions begin to sublimate, the sense of isolation due to the ego dissolves, and the intellect is directed to higher consciousness. The mental state becomes not one of desiring or constant worry, but one of experiencing the peace of bliss. Thus, power to overcome the chitta vrittis is the transformational power of yoga. So how do you accomplish this? We link the breath, body and mind so that the work we do on one layer carries over to the other layers. This is why the breath is so important in the physical practice. It gives you three for one—strength and flexibility of the body, breath and in overcoming the mind. You can work all you want on the body, but if it does not carry over to taming the mind, you will not make yogic progress. Yogic progress is the true delight of yoga. The tool we use to transfer the work from the body to the progress in taming the mind is the breath. So what do we get when all of this happens? Peace, harmony and freedom. Whether you are bound or free is a matter of your own mind. The outside world neither binds nor liberates you; only your attitude toward it does that. If you control your mind, nothing from the outside world can control you. Once we control the mind we realize the unity among all things. The experience of universal unity gives us happy and harmonious lives. The drive to compete dissolves. That´s why yoga is a Self realization practice. Yoga changes your attitude toward others. Others´ acts are seen with acceptance rather than competition. Through the eyes of yoga we see the world in a new way. And the peace you find extends to others. The teachings are simple and timeless, but to take place on the multiple subtle levels, practice must be regular, firmly grounded and dedicated. This is where the transformation comes in, through repetition, practice and non-attachment. In the yoga classes, we use breath, asana, mantra, and mudra as tools for transformation and broadening awareness. This journey of transformation creates awareness of the Self and the connection with our wholeness. Our changeable nature is necessary for us to see ourselves and to recognize the vastness of our unchanging selves. The union of the two causes powers of them both. When you practice yoga, you are on top of the world, the knower and known. The experiencer and the experience. You are connected to your inherent wholeness and everything is right in the world. Wishing you all blissful peace and inspiration in your practice and your lives, Hari OM, Sondra