A Framework for Self-Study

In yoga, there are at least four developmental stages to the process of self-study. Following is a framework for studying yourself and for carrying you through the day.

1. The first step involves recognition, attention, and knowledge. Accurately assess your present situation and condition. Know where you are so that you can know where you are going. Before you begin any exercise, always take a few minutes to recognize the place from which you start. You can also do this in the morning before you start your day. Each day will be entirely different, because you will be different.
2. The second step involves regulation, willingness, and practices. Determine your direction and clarify what steps you need to

take in order to get where you are going. This observation process becomes the platform for the path you are willing to take. Practice is a plan of action.


3. The third step involves reflection, discovery, and insight. Reflect and meditate on the effects of your experience. Discover and identify new things. Notice if you feel different – stronger, happier, or more stable – and adjust your actions accordingly.
4. The fourth step involves experience, integration, and inspiration. Begin to integrate these experiences into the whole of your life. Work with yourself again. Inquire, test, study, and rediscover. This will make any practice you do more meaningful, deeper, and inspiring. Let it lead you on a lifelong path of self-discovery and wisdom.

Self-study is like exercising. It isn’t a momentary excitement and it doesn’t come with only one session. It has to be sustained. But the longer you do it and the deeper you go, the closer to yourself you get.

(Excerpt from: Emotional Yoga: How the Body Can Heal the Mind by Bija Bennett)