Friday 13th - ooooh scarey......

Another one is coming up... should we be afraid? Should we be very afraid??? I get the impression sometimes that as a yoga teacher and energy healer that my friends expect me to more superstitious than the average Joe. Ashtanga Yoga practitioners, for example, are not supposed to practice on full moon days. Yoga practitioners in general may be heard to chant mantras containing the names of exotic Gods such as Hanuman, Lakshmi, Kali, Shiva etc. Surely we are all prone to believing in the unseen and the unproven.

While this may be the case for some, there is also a strong argument that a yoga practitioner may be in fact less prone to superstition than the average. All kinds of people with no particular religious belief will shy away from walking under ladders, opening an umbrella indoors, seeing a black cat, single magpie, etc. However, a yoga practitioner who bases their practice upon the text of the Aphorisms of Patanjali will see the world quite differently. What we experience is largely based upon 'mind-stuff', vrittis, the fluctuations within our own consciousness, and a dedicated practice of yoga helps us to look beyond these fluctuations to a state of mind that is more still, more grounded, less prone to be drawn constantly from one direction to the next. Equanimity and contentment are states of mind favoured by Patanjali yogis rather than states of fear, false expectation, excitement that are generated by superstition. There may or may not be some negative energy associated with Friday 13th, but to a Patanjali Yogi, this will not be matter of great concern, rather they will tend to the quietness and control of their own mind.

Want to learn more about yoga then please check out some of the great books I have recommended from personal experience.

Take Care,

Liam B.

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