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Yoga Sūtra Chapter 2

Yoga Sūtra Chapter 2
– with analysis of Vyāsa’s commentary

Like flowers that bloom in unexpected places, every story unfolds with beauty and resilience, revealing hidden wonders. The Yoga Sūtra is such a flower and the Vyāsa commentary truly helps it to bloom and reveal its hidden treasures.

About Chapter 2

Chapter Two (Sādhana Pāda) of Patañjali’s authoritative text on yoga is a key to understanding how and why to practise. Many of the fundamental principles of yoga are presented here: the five kleśa (afflictions), the four truths of heya (what to avoid), hetu (the cause of our problems), hāna (what to relinquish) and upāya (the tools); the ethics of practice (yama and niyama) as well as practical ideas on āsana and prāṇāyāma. It is the most readily accessible of the four chapters, and provides the context and support for studying the other chapters.

This is a deep dive into the meaning, modern interpretation and also – uniquely – a word by word deconstruction of Vyāsa’s commentary on the Yoga Sūtra presented in an accessible and enjoyable way.

About This Course

This course will consist of 16 online meetings on Zoom over one year from 2-5pm (London time) on a thursday afternoon. This course will flex your intellectual, emotional and psychological muscles – in a very good way!
The course will be recorded and the recordings made available so it is possible to catch up with missed sessions, review sessions when convenient, and even to take the course at your own pace.

You will receive PDF worksheets to fill in directly, with all of the Sanskrit for the sūtra AND the Vyāsa commentary, plus recordings of each session. There will be time for discussion and questions in a supportive group. We will analyse all of the words in the sūtra and 90% of the commentary, summarising the remaining few places where the commentary is very long or obscure.

We think that this is a unique opportunity!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the course cost?

The full course cost is £695.00 with an earlybird enrolment of £645 before 15 Feb 2025.

If you are continuing on from chapter 1 and take advantage of the earlybird deadline the course is further reduced to £595.

If you have done chapter 2 with us previously in 2021 and would like to revisit it (and we have added a fair bit of extra detail), you can take the course again for £295.

Please note all payments are non-refundable. We are also happy to arrange a staged payment plan on an individual basis.

What are the course dates?

20 Mar, 10 Apr, 1 May, 22 May
12 June, 3 July, 24 July, 7 Aug
11 Sept, 25 Sept, 16 Oct, 6 Nov
27 Nov, 11 Dec, 8 Jan, 29 Jan

It is possible that we will add an additional date depending on progress so that we complete the chapter.

Is this a beginner’s course?

This course is aimed at students with some prior contact with the Yoga Sūtra as we will be going into considerable detail. However, if you are enthusiastic and happy to dive in, then why not? We will be analysing the Sanskrit words as it is helpful to open up their meaning and make links with other parts of the Yoga Sūtra, and other texts, but no knowledge of Sanskrit is required or assumed, and we are not seeking to teach Sanskrit on the course!

How can I enrol?

You can enrol by making payment by bank transfer. Please email us to confirm you have made payment.

Please contact Dave by email if you need the Sādhana Mālā bank details, or you wish to discuss a staged payment plan.