Adult Psychological Development and the Practice of Kripalu Yoga: A Jungian Perspective

From an Eastern viewpoint, the psychology of Yoga is clearly explained in Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra. According to Patanjali, Yoga is the stilling of the thought waves of the mind, a process that occurs over a long period of sustained practice. Through discrimination (viveka), we are able to disengage ourselves from identification with changing emotions and experiences. Our progress in Yoga is furthered through practicing the "limbs" of the eightfold path: yama (moral discipline), niyama (self-restraint), asana(posture), pranayama (breath expansion), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana(concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (ecstatic absorption). According to Patanjali, the fruit of these practices is the "seer," the witnessing Self, residing in its true nature (see Stoler Miller 1995).