06/07/2026
🌞 Summer Sunday Sutra 🌞
This might be the most popular yoga sutra because it sums up yoga’s higher purpose: to calm the mind.
Yogaś: Yoga (union, integration, or absorption)
Citta: The mind-field, consciousness, or the heart-mind
Vṛtti: The fluctuations, modifications, ripples, or thought-waves of the mind
Nirodhaḥ: Stilling, regulating, controlling, or channeling.
This sutra reminds yogis that the practice is more of a mental discipline than a physical one. Nirodhaḥ isn’t about forcefully suppressing thoughts, but rather learning to quiet these ripples so true clarity can emerge.
Nidodhah can look like a pause before responding with anger or frustration in our tone. We can also interrupt any repetitive thoughts in our minds with energizing movements and grounding breaths. The prescription may vary but the root of our suffering is the same: the mind.