Notice in yoga postures how certain physical sensations bring with them specific mental formations and emotions. The more we start thinking, the more agitated we become. Past impressions, associations, and memories are always lying dormant alongside physical sensations.

“greed, ill will or delusion.”

Nature refers to the biological blueprint that we come into the world with. Nurture refers to the way in which that blueprint is formed in its meeting with environment and culture. Past lives is an essential category, because not all patterns in mind and body

Along with the primary theme of letting go of our attachments, especially to self-image, this book attempts to bridge the gap in contemporary yoga between practice and theory. My aim is to not only reconcile theory and practice but to explore how both theory and practice come alive when integrated in daily life.

Posture practice is a way of noticing our tendency toward attachment (raga) and aversion (dveṣa) that cause us to repeat the patterns of not seeing things as they are (avidyā).

patience and intentional acceptance.

Twelve-step philosophy states that the “definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.”

the enemies in the heart,

impermanence, freedom, and deep kindness in our bones.