The four qualities of the mind that allow for progress in practice

This goes back to something I posted on Facebook a while back, but the bhavans are at the very root of progress in our practice! Take some time to read and observe your practice.

The Bhavanas – these are the four qualities of the mind that foster growth in your yoga practice.

Have you ever heard that inner voice telling you “I can’t do that”, “I don’t deserve that” or “This I don’t like”? Chances are high that you have. These doubts are exactly what nourishes and feeds our inner obstacles to growth. These doubts, or unadventageous inner orientations, act sabotaging to our practice, as they lead us to not practice compassionately enough and make our energies dissipate and get distracted. If we want to cultivate progress in our (yoga) practice, we need to learn to substitute those unadventageous inner orientations with beneficial ones – and this is where the bahavans, the four qualities of the mind for progress, come into play: 

1. Empathy – for your own progress and that of others 
2. Friendliness – Towards yourself and others 
3. Encouragement & Passion – for the path of progressing 
and 4. Allowance or patience – having patience and trusting the progress and that things take time…

When we don’t allow the cultivation of these qualities, progress in our practice is difficult. If we want to much and force things, we stay our own’s worst critics, let perfectionism sabotage our progress, and possibly get injured along the way. If we slack and don’t want enough, we will always find excuses and reasons why we cannot practice and our progress will stop.

(posted 9 August, 2013)