The first spiritual law of of yoga is the Law of Pure Potentiality, which states that at the core of your being you are pure awareness. This is your essential nature, your true Self. Your ego is not your essential nature. It is not who you really are. Your ego is your social mask, the roles you play in your life (ie. friend, child, parent, spouse, boss). Your ego thrives on approval, strives to control, and is sustained by power. It lives in fear of losing all these things. But your true Self is completely free of these things. It is immune to criticism, fears no challenge, and feels neither beneath nor above anyone.
Some ways that we can work with the Law of Pure Potentiality on our yoga mat include the following:
1) Cultivate stillness in our body and mind. By bringing attention to the quiet stillness within you, you will learn to directly experience the field of pure awareness.
2) During your practice, shift into a witnessing mode of awareness. Observe from the inner stillness what is going on within and around you.
3)Practice nonjudgment. While performing your yoga postures, relinquish the need to judge your ability. Nonjudgment cultivates silence in the mind, which gives you direct access to the field of pure potentiality.
Finally, since we know that the principles that underlie our yoga practice also support our life, we can take these 3 practices off our mat and practice them out in the real world.
