Quantum Yoga?

The universe is self-aware through us. – Amit Goswami


Is it possible to understand the deeper teachings of the Yoga tradition through the discoveries of quantum physics? Remember that Yoga is about revealing the true nature of consciousness. The physical disciplines, or postures, are really a preparatory stage for deeper self-investigation. Quantum physics, while ostensibly about investigating the minutest aspects of “matter,” has revealed that consciousness is an integral feature of the equation. “Consciousness,” writes physicist Amit Goswami in The Self-Aware Universe, “is the agency that collapses the wave of a quantum object, which exists in potentia, making it an imminent particle in the world of manifestation.”  Consciousness, it seems is ultimately responsible for the material world.

From the perspective of Yoga, the world is a product of the interaction between consciousness and energy. We might say, between basic awareness and the quantum field. While physics is most interested in investigating the underlying energy, Yoga practitioners are interested in investigating consciousness itself. Science, per se, cannot truly investigate consciousness. It is not something that is measurable, observable, or quantifiable. It cannot be objectified because it ever the subjective aspect of experience. However, without a subject there can be no objective reality. As Robert Lanza, MD, writes in Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe, “Some may imagine there are two worlds, one “out there” and a separate one being cognized inside the skull. But the “two worlds” model is a myth. Nothing is perceived accept the perceptions themselves, and nothing exists outside of consciousness.”

Yoga psychology teaches that the biggest obstacle we face in realizing the true nature of consciousness is ego-identification. Rather than the psychoanalytic ego, here we are talking about our most basic sense of identification with our individual physical beings and our internal thought processes. Remember that the physical body, as an object, comes about as result of the collapse of the quantum wave due to consciousness. The true “self” of consciousness is non-physical, nonlocal, non-temporal. Because we fixate on the objective world we forget that we are not ourselves objects within that world. Desire, aversion and fear help to keep us fixated. The goal of yoga is to awaken to ourselves as interconnected and immortal beings of consciousness.

Awakening is a process, however. Yoga provides a step-by-step path towards spiritual realization. Patanjali outlined eight stages on this path in his Yoga Sutras. It culminates in the practices of meditation. Meditation is a means of releasing both the cognitive and emotional bonds that keep us attached to a falsely limited identity. In Meditations from the Tantras, Swami Satyananda Saraswati gives us a number of approaches to meditation practice. Ultimately meditation is not just practice but the awakening of a new consciousness, a new mind and a new reality. As Swamiji states,

“One normally sees oneself as a small, insignificant part of the universe, as a small cog in a large wheel, a small particle in unending space and time. One often feels completely isolated and often alienated from other parts of existence. One feels, alone and very mortal. One never even suspects that one can overcome this situation. Most people merely shrug their shoulders and fatalistically accept their fate. Meditation changes all this. One realizes through meditation that one is a necessary, intimate and important part of the universe. One starts to relate deeply to everything that exists. They are no longer separate entities. You are That.” (p. 48)

The discoveries of quantum physics have taken us beyond the mechanistic, materialist paradigm of the 19th century - although many people still adhere to it. We now know that instead of living in a blind mechanical universe in which our consciousness is a meaningless epiphenomenon, we live in a universe in which consciousness is a central feature. Thus quantum physics has opened the door to an understanding and validation of age-old Yogic teachings. Still, it is up to us to adopt the practice relevant to our level of psychological and spiritual development in order to realize our true nature.

What Is Mindful Yoga?

Awareness is the beginning of yoga.
- Paramhansa Niranjan Ananda Saraswati

     “Mindfulness” or “mindful awareness” is a term commonly related to Buddhist meditation practices. It is actually a very simple concept. It means having an open awareness of body and mind. It is present centered, prejudgmental and nonconceptual. In other words, it is about being aware of “what is” before we begin to impose an overlay of thought about it. It sounds simple but it is often difficult to practice. We tend to leap into thoughts, into memories or concerns about the future. We analyze and compare our present experience with what we have learned, either through experience or from books, tv, social media, or some other source. We worry about the future and fixate on the past. People who come to meditation classes often complain, “I just can’t turn my thoughts off.” In reality, it is nearly impossible for any of us to actually turn thoughts off. However, we can start to become aware of our thought processes. We can start to present with our thoughts without being controlled by them.

      My training is actually more related to the Vedantic tradition which is very closely related to Buddhism. My primary teacher, Swami Niranjan, constantly coached us in developing a present-centered awareness. Despite our cultural infatuation with the physical performance of “yoga,” it is more truly understood as a discipline of awareness. It is about becoming aware. If we are practicing “postures” without opening to this deeper awareness, we are not really practicing yoga. We are just “exercising.” Yoga is a discipline for transcending our limited attachment to our mental constructs and neurotic emotions. It is about becoming aware of our authentic Self. Hatha yoga is a wonderful means of achieving a state of relaxation and healing many physical problems. It is even a way of looking more attractive! However, there is a deeper purpose. The physical yoga practices were originally developed to help us prepare for meditation. In fact, if practiced with full awareness, they are a form of meditation.

     The whole point of a yoga “workout” is to let go of tension, anxiety, preoccupations, etc. and to be present. At the end of a yoga class we always practice relaxation and inner awareness. The physical practices help us to go deeper within ourselves to become aware of and let go of unconscious conditioning. It is a means of liberating ourselves. Our deeper, authentic Self shines forth when we are able to relax both body and mind. It takes repeated practice, but eventually we will become established in that authentic being. Of course, we can’t leave the practice of awareness behind when we finish our “practice.” The real point is to wake up within our lives, to be open and present to each moment whether we are at work, having coffee, taking a walk or resting on the couch.

Some Resources

The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being

Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha/2008 Fourth Revised Edition

Yoga Darshan

Body-Mind-Spirit Yoga

I find it frustrating at times when I talk to people about yoga. (I know yogis are not “supposed” to get frustrated.) It is common for people to immediately equate yoga with the physical postures of hatha yoga and to miss its wider scope and meaning. There are actually many definitions for yoga representing different facets, perspectives and levels of understanding. One of the most central understandings, though, comes from the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. Rishi Patanjali states “Yoga means bringing the mind into complete stillness so that consciousness rests in its own nature.” When the mind becomes quiet one is able to go beyond, or perhaps beneath, names and forms, inner dialogue, imagination, cultural conditioning, etc. to experience one’s own essential being. Yoga is a methodology for answering the question “who am I?” Now, there are various “answers” to this question. Whether we identify ourselves with our name and life circumstances, or with our strengths and vulnerabilities, etc., or whether we identify with some concept of “cosmic consciousness;” they are all equally beside the point. We can only know ourselves truly when we go beyond all mental constructs to experience ourselves as pure being. In the terminology of yoga, this is known as Samadhi. However, Samadhi represents the culmination stages of the yoga path. There are steps and stages leading up to it.
Body Yoga

The physical postures or asanas of hatha yoga, as well as the breath practices, pranayama and internal cleansing practices known as shatkriyas are actually preliminaries to the interior practices of meditation. They are a good place to start but not the place to finish. In our current cultural climate it is easy for people to be fixated on their physical beings. Hatha yoga practices help relieve stress, improve circulation, hormonal balance and more. And yes, they do help to reduce weight and improve one’s appearance. They can also be very helpful in physical competitions. However, if we don’t go beyond these meanings and motivations we have not glimpsed the possibility of spiritual awakening. As Marshall Govindam writes in his commentary on the Yoga Sutra, “When divorced from its purpose, postures (asanas) serve the values of contemporary culture: looking good, competition and individualism.” From the yogic perspective these physical practices help to balance the energies of body and mind so that true meditation becomes more possible.

Emotional Yoga

Emotional, or actually devotional, yoga is known as bhakti yoga. It is a process of letting go of ordinary emotional attachments and bonding with a greater conscious being often referred to as God. Borrowing from the 12-step program we could also call it “surrender to a higher power.” People often argue about which “form” of “God” is the best or the “right” one. This is the unfortunate, divisive power of the world’s religions. In yoga the particular symbolic form used in meditation and visualization is known as “Ishta Devata.” The Ishta Devata is a personal preference. It is a way of relating to something which is beyond name and form. A powerful practice of devotional yoga is to chant the name of the Ishta Devata while visualizing the form. However, if we get too attached to the form we might risk becoming religious fanatics. Devotion however is a powerful energy for taking one beyond ordinary mental constructs including one’s “ego.” Ultimately, according to Swami Satyananda, bhakti cannot be taught. It must awaken within us as we develop love and faith on the yogic path. As Neem Karoli Baba is quoted, “The best form in which to worship God is every form.”

Wisdom Yoga

The path of wisdom is known as jñana yoga (pronounced “gyan”). Jñana is the path of deep inquiry: into truth, reality and the nature of one’s true self-being. It is sometimes referred to as the philosophical path. In fact philosophy literally means “the love of wisdom.” The Greek word for wisdom or higher level of knowledge is gnosis which is etymologically related to the Sanskrit term jñana. Ultimately, jñana transcends ordinary rational or logical thought. It starts with reasoning and analysis but it goes beyond. In fact, it represents a realization that reasoning and analysis are limited by what we can conceptualize and symbolize. Hermann Hesse, in 1943, wrote a wonderful novel called “The Glass Bead Game.” The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A NovelIt is a depiction of an intellectual elite who are trapped within the limits of their own intellectual “game.” This realization is where true jñana starts. However, it is a path which demands a high degree of intellectual rigor. It is not an easy path meant for the intellectually lazy. In my opinion, one of the greatest contemporary “jñanis” is Ken Wilber. Dive into “A Brief History of Everything” A Brief History of Everythingif you are so inclined. 

The Yoga of Action

Eastern thought in general is often criticized as being too passive. Karma yoga is an antidote to this alleged passivity. Karma yoga might be summarized as enlightened activity in the world. It means bringing awareness, sensitivity, compassion, wisdom and love into the activities of daily life. It is often translated as “selfless service.” However, it might be better understood as doing one’s best within each moment without regard for future rewards. It really means being mindful in all of our activities; being present and being aware. Ordinarily we perform work in expectation of a paycheck of one sort or another. It is perfectly okay and even necessary to be paid for one’s work. On the job, however, it is important to be focused, aware, dedicated and present. Accidents at work happen when people are distracted, daydreaming, or otherwise unengaged. True karma yoga might mean going above and beyond the work of one’s occupation. In the yoga tradition it means spending some time and energy helping at the ashram, it could also mean doing volunteer work or even cleaning up at home without expecting any special recognition.

Mind Yoga

Meditation, or dhyana, is central to all of yoga practice. It is a systematic way of turning inward, not to withdraw from life, but to examine and transform the instrument with which we relate to life known as the mind. A huge percentage of the “outer world” (some would argue 100%) is actually a projection of our own psyches. What we see as “out there” is actually “in here.” Meditation helps us to recognize and reduce the ways in which we distort, deny, dramatize, dream and/or desecrate the reality of ourselves and our experience. It is central in the process of waking up to who we truly are. Meditation is more than a practice. Practice is a way of cultivating an evolved state of consciousness. It is a way of developing our higher potentials, our “Buddha Nature.” Ultimately, it is an awakened state of consciousness. There has been a great amount of research into the effects of meditation practice. To name a few: it helps relieve stress, helps one to influence others positively and contributes to psychological and spiritual development. As Jack Kornfeld, Ph. D., puts it, “it catalyses and accelerates psychological development.”

Yoga is centered on this process of awakening through meditation. In my estimation it is essential for our survival and growth as a species and as integral aspects of our planet. Change involves politics, technology, social movements, etc. but more essential is inner change. If we have not truly cultivated peace within ourselves, for example, we will not see peace in our world. It is like looking into the mirror and trying to clean one’s face by wiping the mirror. Yoga is an ancient science of awakening and it recommends that we practice asanas and pranayama, devotion, inquiry, selfless activity and meditation as an integral means of waking up and of healing ourselves and our world. Yoga is about evolving our collective consciousness.

Conscious Love

Conscious Love

You yourself are love.

You don’t need to seek or find love.

You are never without love.

God is everything and God

Is Love.

Yoga and Anxiety

Yoga and Anxiety


With the body still and relaxed, direct awareness to the heart

Then let the mantram become your boat to cross the river of fear.

- Swetasvatara Upanishad



Anxiety is a hidden plague of our time. It is estimated that 40 million adults in the US suffer from an anxiety disorder. There are a number of diagnostic categories under the general heading of anxiety including panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia and specific phobia.) Anxiety is a component of stress in general, is intertwined with depression and implicated in drug and alcohol addiction. Medical treatment for anxiety generally involves medications which may themselves be addictive and, or have side-effects. In any case, these medications are aimed at the uncomfortable symptoms rather than at the source of anxiety. Many people who experience periods of intense anxiety do not seek conventional help but use other coping skills to manage them.

In 1948 the poet W. H. Auden published “The Age of Anxiety,” which attempted to portray human beings’ struggle to find meaning and identity in a world that is changing at an accelerated pace. It went on to become the basis for a Leonard Bernstein Opera. The reality of our time is that change continues to accelerate and that feelings of “comfort and joy” have become more difficult to capture. As physicist Peter Russell writes in Waking Up In Time:

“The faster the world around us changes, the more we are forced to let go of any cozy notions we might have about the future. No one today can predict with any degree of certainty how things will be in a year, or even in six months. When global stock markets can crash without warning, political walls tumble overnight, countries invade each other in a day, and ecological disasters shatter our illusions of control, we are increasingly forced to live in the present.”

From the perspective of yoga psychology anxiety is a basic condition of our existence. We suffer even when we are not aware from a deep feeling of anxiety which is the root of what spiritual traditions refer to as the ego. When we are identified with our body-mind egos we feel ourselves to be separate from the rest of being. We feel lonely and scared. We imagine the world to be a foreign place where we have no connections. As old traditions of communal and family ties break down we feel increasingly vulnerable. Anxiety is a “future-oriented” condition. While we are forced to let go of old concepts of certainty and security, we project this onto the future. Reality, however, only exists as the present moment.

We cannot hold onto a past which exists only as memory and we can’t grasp a future which is only speculation. Being present is all there is. Meditation is the means for calming the mind, disconnecting from our emotional involvement in both past and future. Everything that we think and believe, hope or long for exists within our minds. When the mind becomes still and quiet we experience who we truly are and what truly is. Of course, we need to learn from past experience and try to plan for the future. It’s just that we can’t try to live in either past or future. Sometimes we need to let go of all past experiences of safety and security and to allow for a future which is uncertain. These are actually the moments when we are awake and alive.

Being truly awake and alive can be a terrifying experience. Ongoing consistent meditation practice can teach us to face this experience. We hold onto our thoughts and beliefs on a subconscious level. The practice of deeper awareness allows us to see through them and to connect with the deeper reality of who we are. Ordinarily we identify ourselves with our thoughts and beliefs; with our personal narrative. Meditation practice helps us to understand this as a construct. This gives us freedom to redefine ourselves and our reality. We don’t have to wait for crises in our lives to be open to change – and to be connected with the changeless, timeless essence of our beings.

Recently a student expressed the pain of her anxiety. “I was on vacation,” she said, “but I couldn’t stop worrying.” Her complaint exposes the unreality of our anxious situations. Our minds continue to manufacture threats even when we are safely trying to relax. Although it sounds simple, even simplistic, learning to stop our thought processes with a deep breath can be extremely helpful. Even though simple it is based on practice. “Yoga,” writes Swami Sivananda Radha , “is a process of dehypnotizing and waking up.” It takes consistent effort to undo the conditioning of our minds allowing us to be truly present. The effort is more than worth it though.