The path of discipline and patience

In and for our yoga practice we need a method in order to train our minds as we do with our bodies. This seems obvious to most of us, I think. Nevertheless, this "training" should not be accomplished by stilling/muting nor by trying to calm down the mind or by applying unnatural or compulsory constraints to it - but rather simply by adopting some discipline.

And where does our spirit stand? How do we train it? Should it be trained at all? If so, is there some kind of drill or coaching that can teach the spirit - the soul if you will? Is there any kind of methodology that could assist us in this process of "molding and fitting" our spirits by setting (or rather, looking for) personal rules or principles?

Though, in our Western contemporary first-world way of life, isn't mind and spirit one and the same? To be honest, this puzzles me.

Regardless, this sort of mind training is probably best achieved through Vairagya - detachment. Our minds must grasp the fact that Ashtanga is not about performing postures or striving for them. Led classes, where there is no time to adjust, should make this quite obvious. It is about breathing consciously and focusing the gaze while performing our sequence, whatever that may be.

Props, for instance, should be avoided because the intent is not the pose itself... we have to detach from that - from our desire (need) to perform. Our practice is neither a challenge nor a competition, and neither is life. We will likely complicate matters a lot in both if we cannot accept that.

However, our lust for performance dies hard, which is why patience is the second ingredient in our training.

Hence, a disciplined and patient approach (with a lot of self-tolerance), keeping in mind that, unless we intend to be ascetics or hermits, vairagya is to be applied with moderation. As always, we might want to use a minimum of smartness and reasoning.

A few more ingredients are needed, but that will require another post.