Chitty Chatty Vritti

YOGAH CITTA VRITTI NIRODHAH

An ancient Indian sage named Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras, a book explaining what yoga is and how to use it to be free from pain and sorrow.  In Chapter 1, Verse 2 he wrote:

  Yogah Citta Vritti Nirodhah

??? Whaaaaat ???

The translation of this Sanskrit definition of Yoga is roughly: Yoga is the stilling (nirodhah) of movements (vritti) in the consciousness (citta). Through the moving meditation of yoga asanas (poses) one can begin the internal journey toward a still mind to live completely in the present moment, free from obsessions of the past or worries of the future. I call this busy mind state the “Chitty Chatty Vritti.” Anyone who has ever tried to still their mind knows that it is really tough to do. The mind always wants to be thinking.

I’m a worrier and have struggled with too much anxiety my entire life. When I found yoga I was really amazed at how that one hour in class turned out to be the most peaceful of my day. Even after only a few sessions, my mind was fully engaged in the teacher’s instruction to “turn the inner upper arm from the inside out” while keeping my legs firm, chest open, crown of the head ascending, etc. I walked into my first yoga class in pain from neck issues that made even short car trips intolerable to being able to balance on my head for five minutes. Both mentally and physically I was calmer and stronger. I was free, at least for an hour, from the Chitty Chatty Vritti telling me I needed to think too much about, well, everything.

The better I felt, the more I wanted to do yoga to keep that stillness in my mind. The more I did yoga, the longer the calmness lasted.

Free from pain and sorrow?

Not permanently … yet … but for now YES !!!

Bye Bye Chitty Chatty Vritti

Hello Yogah Citta Vritti Nirodhah