In our Western cultural climate, we are mythologically lost at sea. We pride ourselves on being a society without myth, as we consider ourselves grounded in reason, fact, and rationality.
The teachings are mystical, magical, practical and popular. There is so much wisdom embedded within the Vedas, the Upanishads, the six orthodox schools of thought which include Yoga.
Attributed to Patanjali, the Yoga Sutras were compiled a few hundred years before the Common Era and are essentially the bible of yoga.
This practice of reflection has created a space between the emotion caused by a stimulus and the action that follows that emotion.
Abhyasa is difficult, but vairagya is a bitch.