bandha-kāraṇa-śaithilyāt pracāra-saṃvedanāc ca cittasya para-śarīrāveśaḥ
bandha-kāraṇa-śaithilyāt pracāra-saṃvedanāt ca cittasya para-śarīra-āveśaḥ
“Due to the release of the ties that bind [and limit perception] and due to [the ability] to go forth and experience feelings, [it is as though] citta enters another’s body.”

How do we practice power with, not power over? Power with requires, first, that we know we have power, we have agency, and, second, that we grant others their power. The culture we are raised in and the circumstances of our lives may make this difficult. Our upbringing shapes our relationship to authority, affects how we influence others and are influenced, how we comply and how we might attempt to dominate (see III.36).

Today’s sūtra again brings questions of autonomy and empowerment to the foreground. On one level, sūtra III.39 describes the supernatural ability (siddhi) to “enter another’s body” (para-śarīra-āveśaḥ). The yogic tradition is rich in stories about accomplished ones who can do this (see the example of  Śaṁkarācārya, as told by B.K.S. Iyengar in Light on the Yoga Sūtras, p. 220), yet there is a less literal, more common, level of meaning here, a marvelous power in its own right, that many of us–especially those of us who teach yoga or do body work–are familiar with. This is the ability to understand, to feel, another’s physical experience, almost as though our consciousness had entered into their body. We may sense the joint that is painful, the muscle group that is held, the block in the flow of energy, the sorrow, the fear, the anxiety.

An increase in sensitivity inwards can lead to a greater intuitive sense of others. (See III.19.) As a society-wide trait, this is invaluable. It is the way to live into the four great principles Patañjali describes in chapter one: maitrī (friendliness), karuṇā (compassion), mudita (joy), and upekṣa (presence). See sūtra I.33.

With different language than he has used before, Patañjali describes the yogic process. The ties that bind release (bandha-kāraṇa-śaithilyāt), he says. Bandha means binding, and we can understand the bandha here to refer to citta vṛtti (I.2), the patternings of thought and feeling that limit imagination, possibility, accurate perception of what is. Śaithilya is relaxation. A beautiful image–our bindings release, relax, maybe they are not gone, just relaxed. Even this allows movement. We gain freedom. We go forth and experience feeling (pracāra-saṃvedana). Pracāra is movement, literally “walking forward” (from pra, “forth,” + car, “to walk”). Saṃvedana is feeling, perception (from sam-, “together with,” + vid, “to know”). Similar to the word samādhi, it suggests a connection to what is known, a kind of fellow-feeling. Friendliness. Compassion.

The ability to enter into another’s experience (cittasya para-śarīra-āveśaḥ) carries inherent pitfalls, and it behooves teachers, body workers, therapists–really, anyone with strong intuition–to know this. The potential for misuse of power is real, and so also is the tendency to lose oneself, perhaps to comply in situations that might demand resistance.

In her remarkable book Defy, the Power of No in a World that Demands Yes (published this year), Dr. Sunita Sah tells of going to the emergency room with a pain in her chest that she does not recognize. The doctor listens to her heart, conducts an electrocardiogram, and finds nothing amiss. Dr. Sah is reassured, her symptoms begin to subside, and she assumes the doctor will now discharge her. Instead, the doctor orders more testing–a CT scan. Dr. Sah, a medical doctor herself, knows this additional test is unnecessary, yet something prevents her from refusing it.

How fascinating! Dr. Sah ponders this question in her book: Why does she, a knowledgeable, trained doctor, go along with a costly and not-harmless (because of the exposure to radiation) additional test?

Why do many of us comply in situations that call for us to speak out? Whether that means accepting medical procedures we don’t need,  getting talked into a purchase we don’t want, or standing by when elected officials pass bad laws (or take unlawful actions).

Dr. Sah observes that we all do feel a pull to group norms and to maintaining harmony. We may feel strong uneasiness about disagreeing, especially if that disagreement signals a negative opinion about another person to that person. She calls this insinuation anxiety:

We do not want to insinuate that we think the other person may be biased, corrupt, or plain incompetent.  So we often comply with a suggestion, keep silent, or accept a bad piece of advice, just so that the very person who is hurting us, costing us, or putting us at risk can save face. (Dr. Sunita Sah, Defy, the Power of No in a World that Demands Yes, pp. 55-56)

Dr. Sah believes defiance to be key to the political process and to our social connection to one another. She is intrigued by her own conditioning to consider compliance “good” and defiance “bad.” She proposes a definition of defiance that uplifts its importance:

Defiance means acting in accordance with your true values when there is pressure to do otherwise. (Deny, p. xxv)

Defiance is not a one-time, out-of-the-blue event, according to Dr. Sah. It comes in stages, recognizable and common. The first stage is Tension. When something does not sit right with us, we may not know what to do, we may not be able to do anything, but we feel a tugging, a pull, an unease–it is the tension of being out of alignment with our values. I have long hated this feeling, have found it very painful, but reading Dr. Sah’s book, I feel a new appreciation for it. It is the first step of a process! The second is Acknowledgement (to oneself), third, Escalation (voicing to another person), fourth, Threat of non-compliance (or planning the action), fifth, the Act of defiance.

In many years of research, Dr. Sah has found that those who do defy a norm–like corporate whistleblowers or climate activists–even when they suffer difficult consequences for their act, feel good about what they did. They feel fulfilled–aligned.

Dr. Sah has no agenda per se, other than encouraging us all to take seriously the power of yes, to consider what is true consent, and the power of no, particularly the process of locating the values that sustain us. She describes the first stage of Tension not as a problem but as potential power:

Defiance can be brave, but it does not require world-renowned bravery. Defiance can lead to extraordinary change, but it does not stem from only extraordinary people. Defiance simply means knowing exactly who you are and acting in alignment with those values. (Deny, p. 205)

It is always possible, Sah says, to go in, to affirm one’s values and sense of identity, to find one’s voice and activate the potential for defiance:

It can take years, and it is not always easy. Along the way, there may be pushback and setbacks. It must be learned, practiced, and learned again.  (Deny, p. 205)

Yoga has taught me to appreciate repetition. The small steps, the pushback and setbacks, can lead to big things.

I am committed to the values of power with and not power over. Though I don’t always know how to align my actions with those values, I am encouraged by Dr. Sah’s book and the thought that the tension, the discomfort, is a good sign.

—–

“Letting go of the structure of personality and refining perception of movement awakens the faculty of influencing another’s mind and body. … Personality takes its shape gradually under many influences, those of parents notably. Accepting our character and making peace with the influences that shaped it (for example, society, religion, parents, or past actions) constitute the first condition of liberty that will enable us to influence another. The second condition is refining our perceptions until, gradually, we can perceive previously invisible movements that give life to the physical body.” –Bernard Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga, commentary on III.39

“When a teacher teaches, his mind penetrates, that is he projects his mind into the bodies of his students. Penetration is an eternal law of mind….Everyone understands others according to the quality and quantity of their penetration. When the quality of penetration is not pure, one has misunderstanding, delusions, and paranoid ideas about others.” –Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati, The Textbook of Yoga Psychology, commentary on III.39

“Considering all aspects associated with this siddhi, it is better for all to keep away from it.” –Rohit Mehta, Yoga, the Art of Integration, commentary on III.39

Questions:
• Has knowledge of the movements and organization of your own body, and of the patterns of your own mind, given you more awareness or understanding of others? Has it given you the ability to influence others?
• Has the practice of the four essential virtues–friendliness, compassion, joy, presence–helped free you from internal struggles or constraints? Has it affected how you relate to others? Is it a guidepost for you?
• Which of the yamas–non-harming, truth, non-stealing, connection to source, non-acquisitiveness (see II.30)–speak to you most powerfully? Which do you resonate with as a core value of yours?
• What is an occasion when you were given an instruction or directive that was wrong for you? Did you comply? Did you delay or pause? Did you defy? What did it feel like?