A student recently told me how much yoga has changed her life. She confided that she not only feels physically better, but that she seemed to be handling so many things in her life in a calmer, more efficient manner. She told me that she was able to just let go of so many of the things that usually drove her crazy – that she would close her eyes, breathe, and just let them go.

It is difficult to maintain a regular yoga practice, but even more challenging is taking that practice off the mat and into our daily lives.  How do we do it?  How can we live our yoga?

According to Patanjali, a 5th century yogic sage credited with penning the Yoga Sutras, one way we can take our yoga off the mat is through the path to enlightenment.  The word sutra literally means thread, and Patanjali’s guidebook to enlightenment is divided into four portions:  the portion on contemplation, the portion on practice, the portion on accomplishments and the portion on absoluteness.  One of my favorite aphorisms, Sutra 1.33, is known as the Four Locks and Keys.