We can start with a review of the Samasthiti.
I want to include sitting practice every morning; about 30 minutes. It will also be a time to orient us towards Internalizing Practice.

Slowly, and thoroughly we will explore what is Alignment. It is a word that is used in yoga but do we understand it? Why is it important? We can simplify our understanding of the purpose of alignment to create a natural felt sense of it.

We learn to Stabilize those alignments with Actions and Counter Actions, which is what creates Bandha.

We create bandhas from the Root Causes rather than chase the effects. We allow the effects to happen, at their own speed as a result of our focus on developing ever closer to the root causes.

This sets us up for the magic and importance of Elongation to create space and length, the victory of the ability to uplift ourselves, the Ujjayi force.

We will use yoga models like PanchaMayaKosha model to focus our intention, Sankalpa, to “Internalize our Practice.”

Let us bring to life the philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga.

Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama are called the external practices.
Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi are called the internal practices.

The philosophy informs and guides our practice, as the physical practices also give meaning and helps us to understand the philosophy.

Recognizing the Natural Priorities that exist, like Breath, Roots and Core, we can cultivate concentration, Dharana, which is an invitation to return to our chosen point of focus.

Dharana extended, prolonged, becomes Dhyana, an unbroken stream of effortless concentration.

This is the origin of Samadhi.

We also recognize other natural hierarchies like the spine and adjust our effort to protect the vulnerable and to challenge the strong stubborn habitual patterns, what we call Samaskara-s. We can put the hands and feet, arms and legs to work in service to the spine. This changes the way we practice, changes our direction and ambition in our practice to bring it into alignment with what is real.

We can develop a stronger Moral Compass to guide not only our practice on the mat but also how that becomes our guide in our life in the world.

As we investigate our selves on the mat we naturally observe patterns of behavior and get the opportunity to decide if they serve us or if we would like to make changes. This is the deep benefit of practice.

This is how our practice helps us to help change the world.

One breath at a time.

– Chuck Miller