Yoga and Subtraction

Spring 06 Article for Space


For two days in a row, I saw the same green eighteen-wheeler truck on my way to school on the Mass Turnpike – what a coincidence! It was a milk truck with an advertisement on its sides. The interesting message got me thinking; it said, “The key to life is what you add to it. Add something.” Presumably it served to remind consumers to add the company’s full line of milk products to their shopping lists. The key to life is what you add to it – what a modern western concept that is not too uncommon, right? However, as I thought more about it, the message didn’t quite agree with me. Personally, as I reflected my yoga practice, I realized that the key to my life might just be what I can let go or subtract from it.

When we first start practicing yoga, like any new hobby, it can feel like an addition game – new mat, new outfits, new environment, new routine and friends. Yoga certainly added a lot to my life and opened up new possibilities. However, as I continued to practice at a deeper level, yoga began to help me shed away some unnecessary habits and thought patterns such as fear and anxiety. Habits like smoking and drinking alcohol had less and less of a grip on my life. On the mat, as I discovered and touched the core power of my heart over and over, my life began to simplify. It is true for me personally that yoga had lessened my obsession with the material world as well.

What is this subtraction game that comes so naturally as a part of our practice? In the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this idea is categorized as a Aparigraha, the restraint of nonhoarding, and Santosha, the observance of contentment. In our modern life, these two concepts can still be applied. We have the opportunity to practice non-hoarding when we are in the mall – do I really need another pair of jeans? We can also observe what we think makes us happy – am I ever really happier because of the accumulation of material things? When we reach deep into our hearts, we realize that the answers to those questions are no. We can also extends into the nonmaterial world as well, by saying no to and letting go of negative thought patterns of fear, anxiety, anger, and envy just to name a few.

The practice of yoga doesn’t necessarily mean we have to relinquish or renounce everything. However, we need to consciously examine our relationship with things or thoughts, as well as practice clearing space and cleaning house for something better both inside and out.

Our modern world does not encourage the practices of nonhoarding and contentment. But we must not forget the real answers lies within ourselves, and our yoga practice serves to align us with the truth. Ghandi once said, “The essence of civilization consists not in the multiplication of wants but in their deliberate and voluntary renunciation.” This is a hard thing to do, but it certainly rings true.

So next time when we are busy seeking new teachers, workshops, clothing, etc in our modern yogic lives, pause for a moment and consider the deeper work of subtraction. Connect with the teachings of Aparigraha and Santosha. You may be pleasantly surprised that in this modern world driven by consumerism, there are ways to simplify and return to a quieter, more aligned and conscious way of living, especially through our yoga practice on and off the mat.