It was January 2013, and we’re all sitting in a circle learning about the psychology or mind aspect of yoga from the Yoga Sutras— the most foundational or referenced book in yoga school. The student next to me says, “it’s so refreshing to be able to identify certain thought patterns and behaviors.” And I couldn’t agree more. I had no idea what I was signing up for in my first 200-hour training but I for sure did not expect this depth.

The second paragraph, sort to speak, in the 252-page book says,

“yoga is the cessation of the modifications, or fluctuations, of the mind.”

Another way to put that, yoga puts a pause on the up and down feelings of our mind. The nature of our mind is pretty wild and I think that’s one reason why some people say they can’t do yoga or sit still in meditation.

Understanding the nature of your mind can help to see the details of your thoughts and how that impacts your words and actions. It also shows that we all have these aspects of our mind and getting familiar with them is the start to giving yourself grace or giving your mind grace when it feels like it can’t stop running or thinking.

Yet something I’ve noticed throughout the years is that not many 200-hour, continuing education programs, or even 500-hour speak about these 4 parts of the mind, at least not in this succinct way. When I traveled to India and also started working with a therapist based on Vedic Psychology, this is how it was explained and taught to me.

These are the Four Parts of the Mind you may not know about according to yoga or Vedic philosophy.