Finding Freedom
I often ask myself around this time what it really means to be free. Not just as an American celebrating our country’s independence, but also in an effort to guide myself to more inner freedom and peace by breaking down small, but powerful, chains of self doubt and fear.
But feeling free isn’t the same for everyone. Each person does not share the same attachments, experiences, and self-affirming beliefs. I believe freedom universally, however, often means breaking away from what we think we need so desperately in our lives and instead, finding contentment in the here and now.
“This moving away from comfort and security, this stepping into what is unknown, uncharted and shaky--that’s called liberation,” Pema Chodron said.
In the fourth and final chapter of Pantajali’s Yoga Sutras he mentions “kaivalya” which means liberation. This was his shortest chapter--only 34 verses--but captures the essence of the practice which is connecting with the true Self and consciousness for absolute freedom.
In sum, the Sutras were a way to understand and deepen our practice, almost a guide to freeing ourselves from the constraints of the mind. The first chapter of the Sutras discusses this ultimate goal in detail, stating that studying yoga is a way to liberate ourselves. The second chapter outlines the practices of yoga, focusing on the first five limbs of yoga—Yama (attitudes toward our environment), Niyama (attitudes toward ourselves), Asana (physical postures), Pranayama (restraint or expansion of the breath), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses),. The third chapter describes the last three limbs Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (complete integration). And the fourth chapter focuses on bringing our consciousness from I-ness, the “me” of ego, to self-realization or freedom from living in a narrow, “small mind”.
Okay but how can you use yoga practices and holistic healing in modern society to break out of this small minded thinking to get closer to your true Self and feel more alive?
To breathe most effectively and activate our parasympathetic nervous system (our natural calming response), our torso needs to be able to move with the breath – not just the upper chest. The belly needs to relax and distend with the contraction of the diaphragm, the ribs need to float, and the back needs to expand with the breath. Read more and try belly a breathing practice here.
Chanting mantras is a great way to loosen the false ego and embrace the fullness of the true Self. Physiologically, the vibrations can tone our vagus nerve which can make us more fully experience the true nature of our being here and now.
Intense spiritual practices such as prayers, fasting and rituals may allow for direct experience of the divine to feel more in tune with everything around us.
Absorption into spirit, or meditation, as described in the Yoga Sutras, is another way to reach self-realization.
Part of the magic of yoga is that we can directly experience our own fullness at our own pace, in the depth and breadth of our own understanding, and at our own level. It can help us alleviate suffering and give ourselves the self-compassion we need, a key for inner freedom.