An Interview with Jen Whitney

Interested in the Yoga Sutra study series with Jen?  Read below to learn some more…

1. You interweave the Yoga Sutras into most of your classes. How did you get interested in the yoga sutras?

Jen: I became interested in the Yoga Sutras when I was introduced to them during Jivamukti Teacher Training. We would study them everyday, and they would not only impact me in that moment of learning, but would reverberate throughout the days. For me they were the most life changing aspect of the process of becoming a yoga teacher. For the first time I had not only clear practical ways of looking at my self, but also concrete tools for evolving. They continue to guide my yoga study, and practice.

2. Why are these ancient texts relevant to modern American yogis?

Jen: It is this very question that I hope the fall workshop series will answer for participants. I would like to quote from BKS Iyengar’s Yoga Sutra translation: “The sutras were the earliest – and are still – the most profound and enlightening study of the human psyche.” I believe this is possible because Patanjali (who set down the sutras) was very focused on the topic at hand – stilling the citta vritti in order to come into a deep understanding of the self. The sutras do not seek to explain God, life after death, the nature of free will, or other similar concept. This allows the sutras to be perennially relevant to anyone seeking to understand the self – from ancient Indian Hindu to modern American atheist, and anyone in between.

3. What would you say to a skeptic to get them to attend your workshop?

Jen: For any yogi that is serious in his/her study, yoga sutras are the next natural layer of the practice to explore. The first Yoga practices are those outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and only second, much later, did they incorporate asana (yoga poses). To fully practice yoga, is to practice both the sutras and the asanas. That being said, I wouldn’t try to convince anyone to take my workshop who is resistant. Everyone’s path evolves in its own time, and the Yoga Sutras are there whenever a yogi is ready to explore them. Plus, most yoga practitioners nowadays are studying the Yoga Sutras, they just aren’t necessarily aware that’s what they are doing. Most yoga teachers will discuss some aspect of the Yoga Sutras during their classes. This workshop is an opportunity for students to explore for themselves.