Shanti and welcome
Perhaps one of the most important parts of a strong yoga practice is the practice of tarka or reflective journaling. Reflection upon your inner and outer life is essential if you wish to progress along the path. These reflections on your life can help you see your mind more clearly. Your relationship to yourself, the world, and others is revealed in each journal entry. We can sometimes be blinded by our own beliefs or trapped in a cycle of thinking that is unhealthy for us. Tarka can help us to illumine the way before us, discard old beliefs, and change our attitudes and ways of thinking.
This blog is designed to help you reflect upon your life and examine your mind so that you may travel the path of enlightenment with greater ease and harmony.
Today's Tarka Practice
For today’s reflection, I have chosen Satchidananda’s translation of Patanjali’s first teaching in Book 1 of the Yoga Sutras.
“Now the exposition of Yoga is being made”
Here, Satchidananda’s emphasis is on the “practice”. He tells us that yoga is not something you just think about but something you do. He is not talking about only the physical practice (asan) but the entire practice of yoga (all 8 limbs – yamas, niyamas, asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi).
He believes that one will not reach the goal by philosophy and words only; instead, if we wish to reach the goal of yoga, we must practice.
For today’s tarka in your journal consider the way you practice each of the eight limbs of yoga. If you are not practicing all 8 limbs, think about how you could incorporate this practice into your daily life.
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