What Distracts the Mind – the Five Vrittis

As we have seen before, yoga has been defined in yoga sutras by Patanjali as "yogash-chitta-vritti-nirodhah" or "yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind-field". Put another way, yoga is the ability to keep the mind calm and peaceful under all circumstances. In order to understand how to keep the mind calm, it is essential first to understand what distracts the mind all the time. The term used by Patanjali for these distractions or perturbations of the mind is "vritti". After providing a basic definition of yoga, Patanjali goes on to describe the five "vrittis" which cause disturbance in the mind. These five are:

1. Pramana (Right knowledge)
2. Viparyaya (Wrong knowledge)
3. Vikalpa (Imaginary knowledge0
4. Smriti (Memories)
5. Nidra (Sleep)

During the recent yoga intensive, I discussed the concept of these five vrittis and how they function in the mind. Please listen to

this audio recording from that session. I  would love to get your feedback or comments.