On the right, there's a quote from Patanjali's yoga sutras: «Yoga
chitta vritti nirodha,» which translates to, «Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.»
Learn the meaning behind Patanjali's famous «yogas chitta
vritti nirodha» and how it applies to your yoga and meditation practice.
Only when you apply all the things in your daily life will
citta vritti nirodha happen.
While the Sanskrit word yoga is commonly defined as «to join» or «to attach», many scholars have posited that in fact the paramount definition comes from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (1:2, chitta
vritti nirodhah): «The cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.»
According to it, Yoga is — «Yogah
Chitta vritti Nirodhah», which means that Yoga is control of the fluctuations of Chitta or it is the control of the mind.
The tantric descriptions include the relevance of each petal on each chakra, which control
specific vrittis (mental / emotional tendencies).
The path to controlling your mind chatter — your chitta
vritti in Sanskrit — isn't achieved by restricting your external environment or by breezing all thoughts from your mind as quickly as they enter.
Can you expect to calm the mind by reading
citta vritti nirodha (the second sutra of the Yoga Sutras)?
According to the Yoga Sutra, yoga is citta
vritti nirodha; cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.
Ruminating over what happened in the past and feeling anxiety over the future creates what yogis call «
chitta vrittis,» or monkey chatter in the brain.
Establish Sama Vritti Ujjayi (and for this example,
the vritti count is 6 OMs).
Practice of pranayama and meditation reduce the fluctuations (or
vrittis) of the mind.
The Yoga Sutra defines yoga as «the quieting of the mind» (yogas chitta -
vritti - nirodha).
They match
the vrittis of lust, fraud, indecision, repentance, hope, anxiety, longing, impartiality, arrogance, incompetence, discrimination and defiance.
To bring
the vrittis, or the fluctuations of the mind under control you must have stability found in a practice.
My secular yoga teacher quotes Sage Patajanli as she describes «chitta -
vritti - nirodha,» or complete mental calmness / stability, to be the goal of yoga.