The

Essence
of the
Yoga Sutra
Digital Workshop

Digital Workshop Guide

Lecture and Practicum Resources

“As soon as the mind reaches
the lotus of the heart, it becomes
established in concentration,
meditation, and focus.
Then the trail of joy itself becomes
our guiding force, leading us all the way
to the core of our being.
And when that experience matures,
automatically it turns into samadhi:
the place of our true power and perfection.
It is something very natural.”
— Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra
The Essence of the Yoga Sutra
Workshop Guide Instructions
This Workshop Guide is designed to help you along the way. As
you watch each lecture, you’ll see quotes, Sanskrit terms, practice
tips, and other information occasionally pop up on the screen.
You will not need to jot these down; they are all in this booklet
for your reference. Below, you’ll see the Takeaways, Tweetable
Wisdom (great to share this wisdom with your friends on Face-
book and Twitter!), along with a Lecture Snapshot or summary.
We advise that you refer to the Snapshot after watching the lec-
ture video. You may wish to keep it beside your bedside table or
meditation cushion when you need inspiration to do your prac-
tice. For each of the practicums, you’ll find a list of practice tips,
along with a list of helpful further resources: articles, video, and
audio that will reinforce the asana and pranayama techniques
presented in this workshop. The Sanskrit terms are all included
as a glossary at the end of this Workshop Guide. Here again, you
will not need to worry about writing these terms down as they
flash on the video screen.
We suggest that you start by reading the preface to The Secret
of the Yoga Sutra, and that you read the relevant sutras that
are associated with each lecture (listed in the video lecture as
“Homework”) in between each Essence of the Yoga Sutra ses-
sion. This will reinforce the content as you build the foundations
of your study and practice. As you put the techniques you learn
in this workshop into practice, The Secret of the Yoga Sutra will
continue to guide you, providing depth and insights for years to
come.
Enjoy this exciting journey!
Digital Workshop Guide 1
Workshop Overview
This digital workshop is designed to introduce you to Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutra, one of the core texts of the Yoga tradition, in a practi-
cal and experiential way. In today’s fast-paced world, we often find
ourselves with too little time, too little energy, and too much stress.
Yoga—the wisdom of the ancient sages—teaches us how to reclaim
our clear, calm, and tranquil mind so that we can apply it to whatever
spiritual and worldly pursuits we wish. Inner freedom and fulfillment
is our birthright, and the Yoga Sutra teaches us a precise method for
reaching this goal.
Lecture 1. The Secret of Being a Yogi
Tweetable Wisdom
o “We are always connected to our source. That's the
only reason we are alive, healthy, happy, motivated,
and creative.” @YI_mag #yogasutra
o “Self-luminous joy is what constitutes our core. The
human body is perfectly designed to reach samadhi.”
@YI_mag #yogasutra

o “Yoga sadhana is the journey of life itself.”

Yoga is a living tradition. For millennia, yogis have studied and prac-
@YI_mag #yogasutra
ticed the timeless wisdom that is contained in the Yoga Sutra. Each
sutra (which means “thread”) is short, which means it is easy to
memorize and portable, but this compactness means that further
Takeaways
explanation is necessary to put the wisdom into practice. For this
Takeaway #1
reason, teachers have explained and clarified the cardinal points of
Ultimately, what we are looking for is a qualitative change
the sutras. And generations of students have integrated the wisdom in our personal life—to enjoy life in a much more profound way.
into their practice, using their bodies and minds as laboratories in
the process of self-transformation. This is part of Yoga as a “living Takeaway #2
tradition.” To follow the path of being a yogi, the most important thing is to
understand life’s purpose. Life has a purpose, and we have the
Pandit Rajmani Tigunait has distilled the wisdom of the Yoga Sutra ability to find it.
and the living tradition into a format that is useful for today’s modern
seeker. The Secret of the Yoga Sutra offers a storehouse of informa- Takeaway #3
tion and inspiration. This digital workshop is designed to comple- Life’s purpose can be put into two words: fulfillment and
freedom. When we come to realize this, everything in life
ment your book learning and give you tools and knowledge to take
becomes a wonderful Yoga sadhana.
your current practice to the next level. You’ll learn, in a step-by-step
way, techniques of asana, pranayama, and meditation that will point Takeaway #4
the way toward the ultimate goal of yoga: samadhi. You will also Yoga sadhana helps us recognize our own weaknesses and
have the chance to engage in dialogue with your yoga teacher and habit patterns—those subtle yet potent obstacles—so we can
fellow students, and with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait in a live Q&A ses- overcome them.
sion and guided practice.

2 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra Digital Workshop Guide 3

 Lecture 2. Yoga:
Lecture Snapshot Power to Change, Power to Prosper
The Yoga Sutra is a guidebook for how to live with meaning and
vibrancy. Although day-to-day human lives have changed in the Tweetable Wisdom
past 2,200 years, we all desire essentially what the ancients desired: o “Peace and tranquility are our innate nature. There is no
peace, joy, inner freedom, and fulfillment. This takes us to the heart commotion and no chaos at our core. It is a joyful place.”
and goal of Yoga: samadhi, which is the focus of the Yoga Sutra and @YI_mag #yogasutra
something we’re all intrinsically equipped to experience. But what
exactly is samadhi, and how can we experience it? According to o “Being in that state of freedom and joy which is not
dependent on anything is called Yoga.”
Yoga, samadhi is a perfectly clear, calm, and tranquil state where
@YI_mag #yogasutra
we are free from all doubts, fears, disturbances, and distractions. In
samadhi, we are in the state of joyful luminosity which is our core o “We need a one-pointed mind not just for yoga and
being, our birthright, and Yoga is the way to reclaim it. To start, we meditation but also to be successful in any aspect of life.”
need to realize that life has a purpose, and then we must work to @YI_mag #yogasutra
achieve that purpose. We begin by turning our gaze inward, examin-
ing who and what we are. Takeaways

First, consider our strength—the inherent power of our own intrin-
sically self-luminous mind. Then consider our weaknesses—the
acquired conditions of our mind that arise through our thoughts,
speech, and actions. Over time, these solidify into habit patterns,
veiling the mind’s intrinsic brilliance. The Yoga Sutra teaches system-
atic ways to recognize and work with these habit patterns to regain
our pristine mind, filled with clarity and joy. To fully experience the
promise of Yoga, we must commit ourselves to the path of prac-
tice which will bring life-affirming changes. By integrating the twin
cornerstones of Yoga sadhana—abhyasa (practice) and vairagya
(non-attachment) (SYS 1.12–1.14)—into our daily activities and culti-
vating a mindset that supports our journey, we will find balance in all
aspects of our life. With sustained practice, we will experience pow-
erful, positive changes, and can create a new reality of our choice.
That is the promise of Yoga, and will lead us to our ultimate goal.
Takeaway #1
That the mind is a mystery is no secret. Nothing is a greater
mystery than our own mind.
Takeaway #2
Yoga is:
o mastery over the mind’s roaming tendencies
o understanding the dynamics of the mind
o transforming disturbances into vibrant energy
Takeaway #3
Yoga practice helps us break the vicious cycle of samskaras
(subtle impressions) and their actions.
Takeaway #4
Through deconditioning our mind, and disentangling ourselves
from what does not serve us, vairagya (non-attachment) changes
ordinary yoga practice into “precision yoga practice.”

Takeaway #5
We gain access to a vast pool of power and wisdom through the
manipura chakra (navel center).

4 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra Digital Workshop Guide 5

 Lecture 3. Samadhi:
Lecture Snapshot The Power and Perfection of Yoga
The mind is our greatest secret, our greatest mystery—and our
greatest gift. We all desire an undisturbed mind. More often than Tweetable Wisdom
not, however, we find ourselves anxious or fearful about the future,
o “Nutritious food sustains our body. Positive thoughts feed
dissatisfied with our present situation, or stuck in the past. Yoga
our mind. But pure, self-luminous joy feeds our soul.”
teaches us how to recognize what destabilizes our mind, and then @YI_mag #yogasutra
how to transform this agitation into vibrant energy. According to
Patanjali, Yoga is mastery over the roaming tendencies of our mind o “When the knot at your heart center is cut asunder,
(SYS 1:2). Our goal is to attain and maintain a crystal clear, tranquil the doubts will disappear and you will become
completely fearless.” @YI_mag #yogasutra
mind that is under our control. But this can be a challenge, since the
causes behind our inner unrest are hard to detect. Every thought we
think, word we speak, or action we perform creates a subtle impres- Takeaways
sion (samskara) in our unconscious mind, which keeps propelling the
Takeaway #1
wheel of karma (karma chakra) to remain in motion: every thought
The hallmarks of an authentic asana practice are sthira (steadiness)
leads to more desires, which in turn creates more action (karma) and
and sukham (comfort).
fresh desires. There seems to be no way out of this vicious cycle. But
Yoga wisdom tells us differently: we can cultivate our power of will Takeaway #2
and determination (sankalpa shakti) and prioritize what we need to Awaken the shakti (power and wisdom) of your body and mind,
work on first. Practice and nonattachment help us erase past nega- become energetic and radiant, and then use that vibrancy to
discover deeper aspects of yourself.
tive karmas to create a new reality: freedom from undesirable habit
patterns and a way to “live in the world while remaining above it.”
Takeaway #3
Our body, mind, and nervous system are all designed to work We experience vishoka (pure, sorrowless joy) and jyotishmati
(inner luminosity) at the lotus of our heart.
together in perfect harmony. We can learn to tap into the vast reser-
voirs of wisdom such as the manipura chakra (the vortex of energy
at the navel center) to ignite our body’s healing power. When this
center is blocked, we feel mentally and physically dull or sluggish.
Working with the manipura chakra to clear the blockages is essential
to shake off inertia so we can gain access to the deeper dimensions
of our being. In the upcoming practicum, we will learn some spe-
cialized yogic techniques for activating the power that resides here.
When we learn to harness this vital energy, we can begin to direct it
to our own center: the lotus of our heart.

6 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra Digital Workshop Guide 7

 Practicum 1.
Access to the Heart Center Through
Lecture Snapshot the Gateway of the Lower Chakras
Samadhi is the heart of Yoga, and the gateway to samadhi is via
the heart center. For millennia, yogis have preserved a particular
technique called “meditation on the lotus of the heart.” This tech- “No matter where you are in your life,
nique, when practiced with the right prerequisites and with the right
frame of mind, leads us all the way to samadhi. Here resides our in- you need clarity, vibrancy, and focus.
ner guide: an unfailing resource filled with unsurpassed wisdom and
infinite power. The practices described in the Yoga Sutra, and fur-
That’s what you get at the heart center.”
ther elaborated on in this digital workshop, help us create a bridge
between our outer world and our inner world. This integration takes — Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
place at our heart center (SYS 1:36). There we experience the unique The Secret of the Yoga Sutra
properties of our heart: vishoka (sorrowless joy) and jyotishmati (in-
ner luminosity). Yoga teaches that in order to be happy, we don’t Practice Goal
need anything external. All we need is to undo the knots that block
the passage to our own inner space. As soon as the knots at our o The goal of this practice is to lift the veil of darkness
heart center are cut asunder, all doubt disappears. We become en- that covers the self-luminous nature of our mind by
thusiastic, motivated, and fearless.
working with the lower chakras. This allows us to
enter the lotus of the heart, experiencing our
How do we reach this center when our lives have become so convo-
intrinsic joy and peace.
luted: toxins in our body, choppiness in our breath, disturbance and
o Major techniques: agni sara and variants.
distraction in our mind? Yoga gives us a methodical system. First, we
prepare our body and mind with diaphragmatic breathing, asana,
Practice Tips
the proper balance of nutritious food, exercise, and sleep, and an
attitude of positivity. Next, we learn a specific set of techniques— 1. Women who are pregnant or menstruating should not
agni sara and pracchardana-vidharana pranayama — to unblock the practice agni sara.
energy at our manipura and ajna chakras (SYS 1:34–1:35; see Practi-
2. Let the breath and body become fully united before starting
cums 1 and 2). These practices clear the passages to our heart, redi- agni sara.
recting the energy here. Then we can learn meditation on the lotus
of the heart (SYS 1:36; see upcoming guided practice). Through this 3. Agni sara is deeper than what you see on the surface
(muscular effort). It's more mental than physical.
practice, the mind becomes one-pointed and calm, allowing us to
apply it to whatever spiritual or worldly endeavors we wish. We 4. The more relaxed you are, the more perfection you will gain
become grounded and come to know ourselves at every level. Our in this practice.
life becomes infused with a newfound sense of purpose and free-
dom. When this experience matures, it automatically ripens into the
place of our true power and perfection: samadhi.

8 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra Digital Workshop Guide 9

 Practicum 2.
Access to the Heart Center Through
the Gateway of the Ajna Chakra
Practice Goal
o The goal of this practice is to awaken the vibrant
energy at the soft palate and eyebrow center.
By directing this energy to the heart center, we will begin
to experience inner tranquility, sorrowlessness, and joy.
o Major techniques: anuloma, viloma, pratiloma, bhastrika, o
pracchardana, and pracchardana-vidharana pranayamas.
Practice Tips
1. Anuloma: Exhale and inhale from the same nostril,
then switch to the other.
2. In the pranayamas in this practicum, movement is driven from require signing up for a free Basic Membership.
the navel center. Mental focus is at the eyebrow center.
3. Viloma: Exhale strongly from one nostril, inhale strongly
from the other.
4. Pratiloma: Exhale and inhale twice from the same nostril,
then switch; vigorous and quick.
5. Bhastrika: Vigorous exhale, vigorous inhale through both nostrils deeply. Bonus: download to your phone or music player so you can
at once, driven from the navel center.
6. Do 15–20 seconds of pracchardana daily for about a month
before adding vidharana.
10 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra
Practicum Further Resources
Practices to activate the healing power of the navel center:
o kapalabhati
o bhastrika
o eka pada rajakapotasana (pigeon)
o agni sara
o gorakshasana
o mayurasana (peacock)
ganesh asana
o yogini mudra
o vajra yogini mudra
Online Resources
As a Basic Member of YogaInternational.com you get 10 free
articles a month. Viewing some of the following material may
Guided Diaphragmatic Breathing Practice
Rolf Sovik
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Practice > Relaxation Practice
This short, guided audio practice will help you establish deep, even,
and smooth diaphragmatic breathing. With regular practice, you’ll
begin to sense that you're the quiet observer of your body breathing
and that your nervous system, mind, and whole body are relaxing
practice diaphragmatic breathing on the go!
Sandbag Breathing: 30 Days to a Stronger Diaphragm
Rolf Sovik
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Pranayama > Breath Training
Diaphragmatic breathing allows our major organs—heart, lungs,
stomach, liver, kidneys—to function properly and relaxes our nervous
system so we can experience less stress, and more tranquility and
energy. Rolf shows you a simple technique for establishing diaphrag-
matic breathing. With a sandbag or other similarly weighted object,
you can effectively train your diaphragmatic muscles to breathe in
a natural, healthy way—not just while actively practicing, but all day.
Digital Workshop Guide 11
 Bhastrika Pranayama: The Bellows Breath
Sandra Anderson
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Pranayama > Energizing
Bhastrika (bellows breathing) is a vigorous, dynamic, and vitaliz-
ing pranayama that clears obstructions in the respiratory system,
strengthens the nervous system, increases physical vitality, and
enhances clarity of mind. Learn to do this practice safely and
effectively: take your practice to the next level.
Anuloma Pranayama to Enhance Your Meditation
Shari Friedrichsen
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Pranayama > Cleansing
Anuloma pranayama is a practice to sensitize your nostrils to the
flow of the breath so that you can actually follow the breath to the
center of the mind. It works on clearing the channels to allow your
focus to be at your center, ultimately resting your awareness in the
pranic field that you have created in the mind.
Surya Bhedi Pranayama: Video Practice.
Activate and expand the pranic body.
Sandra Anderson
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Pranayama > Energizing
Like bhastrika (bellows breathing), surya bhedi (otherwise known
as pratiloma pranayama) strongly activates and expands the pranic
body from the navel center.
Guide to Agni Sara
Sandra Anderson
YogaInternational.com > Yoga > Pranayama
“In hatha yoga, there are a few indispensable master practices—agni
sara is one of them.” This “master practice” transforms your asana
and meditation, strengthens your abdominal area, improves your
digestion and mood, and infuses you with vibrant, radiant energy
all day.
12 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra
Sanskrit 101:
Essence of the Yoga Sutra Key Terms
abhyasa • practice, along with effort. Training the mind to flow
peacefully inward, and then retaining that state. Abhyasa and
vairagya together form a complete system of Yoga sadhana.
agni sara • "essence of fire" The practice of capturing the energy
of fire, which is the foundation for all the healing forces of our body,
through a combination asana-pranayama that targets the lower
three chakras, especially the manipura chakra (navel center). This
practice awakens and purifies the channels that lead from the lower
chakras to the heart center, preparing us to meditate on the lotus of
our heart.
anuloma pranayama • a breathing practice of a strong exhale, then
a smooth and extended inhale from the same nostril. The movement
is driven from the navel center; the mental focus is at the eyebrow
center.
bhastrika pranayama • “bellows breathing.” A breathing practice
of a vigorous exhale, then a vigorous inhale through both nostrils
at once. The movement is driven from the navel center; the mental
focus is at the eyebrow center.
chiti shakti • the power of consciousness that infuses every cell.
ekagra • one-pointed, focused. One of the five states of mind.
guna • one of the three attributes of Primordial Nature, which per-
meate the existence of the manifest world (see sattva, rajas, and
tamas).
jyotishmati • inner luminosity; experienced at the lotus
of the heart.
karma chakra • the cycle of karma, or action.
karuna • compassion. One of the four properties that bring positive
change.
Digital Workshop Guide 13
 kshipta • disturbed. One of the five states of mind.
maitri • friendship, especially toward the successful. Lack of jeal-
ousy. One of the four properties that bring positive change.
mudha • dull, stupefied, inert. One of the five states of mind.
mudita • happiness toward those who are spiritually advanced. One
of the four properties that bring positive change.
nadi • one of the 72,000+ energy channels of the body.
niruddha • perfectly controlled, still. One of the five states of mind.
Pracchardana–Vidharana pranayama • a highly specialized
breathing and concentration practice that energizes the space of
the talu chakra and ajna chakra (third eye), allowing us to gather
and work with the energy there. While exhaling and inhaling through
both nostrils forcefully and rapidly, the breath is directed to strike
the soft palate region. This is step 1: pracchardana. Step 2, vidha-
rana, should only be done once pracchardana has been mastered.
In vidharana, the breath is retained after the inhalation and directed
to the soft palate area and the mental space above. Pracchardana–
vidharana activates the brain, limbic system, hypothalamus, and
pituitary gland. By clearing the pathway to the heart from the higher
chakras, it prepares us for meditation on the lotus of the heart.
pratiloma pranayama • a breathing practice of a vigorous and
quick exhale and inhale twice from the same nostril. The movement
is driven from the navel center; the mental focus is at the eyebrow
center. Also known as surya bhedi (piercing of the sun).
pratyahara • systematic relaxation; gentle withdrawal of the
senses.
rajas • the force of pulsation and activity. One of the three gunas.
rasa • sap, vital essence, elixir of life.
sadhana • a well-defined and structured method of spiritual prac-
tice.
samadhi • a unique space in us that is full of vibrant, self-luminous
14 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra
energy, tranquility, and joy. A perfectly still state of mind—the mind’s
natural state. The heart and goal of Yoga.
samskara • subtle karmic impression created by any thought or
action. Every thought or action produces samskaras, which are stored
in the mind and which in turn produce more thoughts and actions
(see karma chakra). To gain self-mastery—and reach samadhi—we
need to understand, work with, and eventually eliminate these sam-
skaras which keep us tied to our karmas. When karmic impressions
cease, we will be free.
sankalpa shakti • the power of will and determination.
sattva • the force of clarity and illumination. One of the three
gunas.
sthira • stability, steadiness. One of the hallmarks of an authentic
asana practice.
sukham • comfort, ease. One of the hallmarks of an authentic
asana practice.
tamas • the force of dullness, darkness, heaviness, inertia. One of the
three gunas.
talu chakra • the soft palate; base of the brain. When we access
this chakra through pracchardana-vidharana pranayama, we remove
dullness from our mind and increase sharpness and clarity.
upeksha • seeing without judgment; not looking for faults in others.
One of the four properties that bring positive change.
vairagya • decoloring or deconditioning of our mind; non-attach-
ment. Vairagya enables us to disentangle ourselves from the binding
forces of our thought patterns, behaviors, and habits. When, through
practice, these forces cease to exert influence over our mind, the
mind becomes peaceful and stable. This allows us to progress toward
samadhi. Abhyasa and vairagya together form a complete system of
Yoga sadhana.
viloma pranayama • a breathing practice of a strong exhale from
one nostril and a strong inhale from the other. The movement is
driven from the navel center; the mental focus is at the eyebrow cen-
ter.
Digital Workshop 15
 vikshipta • distracted. One of the five states of mind.
About the Author
vishoka • pure, sorrowless joy; experienced at the lotus
of our heart.

vyatireka • the identification of obstacles and resolution to prior-

itize: to work on the most important ones first. The second step of
vairagya.

yatamana • the realization that you are a practitioner, and applica-

tion of effort to begin the process of self-transformation. The first
step of vairagya.

PANDIT RAJMANI TIGUNAIT, PHD, is a modern-day master and

living link in the unbroken Himalayan Tradition. He embodies
the yogic and tantric wisdom which the Himalayan Tradition
has safeguarded for thousands of years. Pandit Tigunait is the
successor of Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas and the spiritual
head of the Himalayan Institute. As a young man he committed
himself to arduous spiritual practice and studied with renowned
adepts of India before being initiated into the lineage of the
Himalayan Tradition by his master, Sri Swami Rama, in 1976.

Pandit Tigunait is fluent in Vedic and Classical Sanskrit and holds

two doctorates, one from the University of Allahabad (India), and
another from the University of Pennsylvania. As a leading voice of
YogaInternational.com and the author of 15 books, his teachings
span a wide range, from scholarly analysis and scripture
translation to practical guidance on applying yogic wisdom to
modern life. Over the past 35 years, Pandit Tigunait has touched
innumerable lives around the world as a teacher, guide, author,
humanitarian, and visionary spiritual leader.

16 The Essence of the Yoga Sutra Digital Workshop Guide

Do you want more Yoga Sutra?
Take the next step…

4
Part
The Master
Secret Course
of the
Yoga Sutra

Deepen your experience of the Yoga Sutra with this 4-Part Master
Course designed to expand your knowledge and grasp of the sutras
and link your life and practice together.

Four seminars 8 hour each

Part 1 - Mastering the Mind
Part 2 - Reversing the Wheel of Karma
Part 3 - Discovering Our Luminous Joy
Part 4 - Samadhi: Freedom Here and Now

Learn more at HimalayanInstitute.org/Sutra

952 Bethany Turnpike

Honesdale, PA 18431
www.himalayaninsitute.org
153022