Yoga and psychology : the Bhavas

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Yoga and psychology have more than one thing in commun : they describe the composition of the mind in the same way. The mind is divided into 3 parts as : conscious mind or everything we are aware of, the sub conscious mind or the storage of memories, thoughts and emotions or the storage of the subtile. And unconscious mind, or the storage of all traumatic experiences. The sub conscious represents the bridge between the 2 others and allows so the "Chitta", (the 3 components togheter) to be healthy. Chitta is, in psychological terms, the conscious and unconscious psychic field or the entire personality. Yoga is defined as "Chitta Vittri Nirodha" by Patanjali, which means "cessations of the mental modifications of the personality complexe".

In Yoga, the sub conscious is composed of 4 Bhavas and their opposite. The Bhavas are attitude adopted by the individual, this is the largest camp of possible behaviour for humans, from positive to negative attitude. We are composed of the 2 possibilities, positive Bhavas or negative Bhavas, that's what we also call the "dark side" inside us. The 4 positive Bhavas are : Dharma, Jnana, Vairagya and Aishvarya. This are progressive healthy attitudes bringing harmony and prurpose. Their opposite are  : wrong conduct, Ignorance, attachment, low self-reliance. What are the 4 positives Bhavas composed with ? How to understand it in our day life ? (The answer to this question will be developted in the second part of this article) the first one is : 

1) DHARMA : It is a physical disposition as it is seen as the self right conduct, or any action. An action is right if there is acceptance in it, or genuiness or faith, or if the action is seen as a support, a duty or a discipline. If the Yamas and Nyamas ( restraints and observances, see last article) are followed we can be certain that an action is right. This are the same positive concepts we find in a psychotherapy : a healthy routine will be asked in Yoga as by the psychologist. A deep acceptance in anything will fill the gap between what we want and what we have. To progress in the psychoterapy and in Yoga l should ask myself : "Do l have an healthy routine ?", "Do l accept my situations ?"

2) JNANA : It is a mental disposition that is bringing us to discernment : knowledge. To develop this Bhava we will use technics such as awareness of the body and emotions, mindfulness observation or positive thinking. Without knowledge, we remain very agitated. Therefor, poeple develops psychological difficulties in their life because they cut or reject important parts of themselves like strong emotions or any thing hard to face. They avoid contact with others as well, which can develops into paranoid or borderline neurotic personality. For exemple, if someone is fighting with everybody around him, he will start to think that all poeple around him are wrong and getting with time into paranoid thinking. That's the result of the reject due to lack of knowledge in one self. With JNANA, l have the possiblity of becoming aware of all this, to understand that there is a natural cycle which does not depend on us. Awareness is the primary step in the scale of personal changing, in Yoga or in a psychoterapy or in the day life as well. What is denied cannot be cure. To progress, l should ask myself : "Do l am aware of my body posture and mental posture ?" "Am l an optimistic person ?".

3) VAIRAGYA : It becomes naturally the following step in the human personality : it is detachment, which is an emotional disposition. The reason why is that knowledge allows the mind to feel calm and secure to finaly let go things. To not feel too much emotions anymore. This Bhava is composed by healthy inputs (food and emotions) or relationships, humility, surrender and objectivity. That means the ego is kept under control and for that l can only have knowledge (Jnana) about myself and about who l am. To progress on this attitude or Bhava l should ask myself : "Do l am humble enough ?" "Do l am detached from sensual pleasures ?"

4) AISHVARYA : Self Efficacity. It's a spiritual disposition. This are the very fondamental concepts of psychological health like self esteem, confidence, will power, or ability to bring results. This qualities bring the self to the highest using subtile considaration on our self. We finaly give the best from our self to the internal and external world. And we can give the best from ourself only by practicing detached actions due to our knowledge and to our devotion on it. This prossess brings contentement of the soul. To follow all and progress l have to ask myself : "Do l have the will to bring the change in my life ?"

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