The Yoga Sutras are yoga’s foundation. The tradition goes back thousands of years where “yoga” is first mentioned in ancient Vedic scripture known as the Upanishads. Early practitioners were not necessarily interested in better health but were interested in making sense of a limited life in a limited world of form. With fewer distractions than we have today, they wanted to give deep meaning to a lifetime. They wanted to know why!
Fortunately, today’s practitioners can still tap into the ancient wisdom of yoga’s founders through Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, 196 aphorisms that have become the discipline’s most important text. Available in many interpretations, the Yoga Sutras are available to all of us—but too many yogis have yet to tap into them. Here’s why.
The Yoga Sutras redefine the practice of yoga as you know it.
Yoga means “to join.” It’s not necessarily about becoming a better body, its about becoming a better person…a better mind. It does not mean “to stretch till you’re blue in the face.” It does not mean “to hone the body till you look like a rock star.” No, it means, “to join with your highest Self” or “to join with that in which you are already joined.” 
As such, yoga is both practice and goal. If yoga means “to join,” then what are you separate from? In truth, the answer is a resounding “nothing!” If you never left true Self, then yoga is the practice of realizing this as heartfelt truth.
The false self is any notion of special love or fear that upholds a separate individual self. This false self is what seems to reside just behind your eyes. It makes up the separate self-identity that we are taught to develop and nurture from day one (which can make it difficult to unlearn). Letting go of false self is terrifying because we are afraid we will lose our identity (which includes all our fears, along with any worldly demands, desires and expectations). But our real fear is of the higher unlimited potential we would find if we were to truly pierce the thin veil that upholds our false self-identity.
It must be worth the effort, though! How many sages have advised us? From ancient souls like Patanjali, Jesus, Socrates, Buda, Confucius and Lau Tsu to more resent greats like Shakespeare, De Vinci, Michelangelo, Rumi, and Einstein, these individuals lived by example and shared their inspired truth through their 
work. I’m sure every one of them would tell us that we each have this inspired truth already shining within. We just need to access it. As amazing as it is, don’t get caught up in the detail of these great sages work. Read between the lines, go beyond the form and tap into their demonstration of inspired, timeless creativity. What is Mona Lisa’s gentle, knowing smile telling us? How can you embody it?
Yoga points the way, but to some degree try considering it something more than exercise. Yoga has amazing physical benefits that should be thoroughly enjoyed, but begin looking beyond its physical advantages. Join in your body’s own oneness as a way to gently join in your mind’s higher shared oneness. If yoga is your chosen path, make a commitment to a practice that goes beyond its worldly benefits.
Intrigued? Pick up a copy of The Yoga Mind today. It may not be easy, but it is clear and concise. Study it. Let it be a guide that gently challenges your perception of yoga as you have come to know it. It will bring more purpose and joy to your life than you ever thought possible.
How could Patanjali be wrong? The Yoga Sutras are timeless for a reason!
