YOGA
THE FREEDOM
To Be Whole
F
reedom has recently become my personal mantra. The word itself beckons me to exhale – to let go and release the constriction in my body and mind, as fear, my go-to
form of personal suffering, tries with all its might to entangle me in its illusions.
As humans we all experience various forms of suffering. While caught in the midst of our
universal patterns of suffering we have a tendency to get stuck in states of mind that
decrease our ability to process what is happening. If, however we can train ourselves to
allow the experience of unwanted emotions or states of mind to serve us, we can use
these states as an entry point through which we can attain authentic freedom. Allowing
ourselves the freedom to lean in to the entirety of our experience – suffering and joy alike
– affords us the opportunity to become whole, fully realised human beings.
The Yoga Sutra teaches that the five Kleshas, the universal afflictions that bind us, are the
root cause of our suffering and ultimately keep us from experiencing inner freedom and
wholeness. The five Kleshas: Ignorance (avidya), Ego (asmita), Attachment to pleasure