The Listening Space: July Gathering
July 13, 2025 @ 12.30
🕊️ Free and open to all yoga students — within our community and beyond.
Attachment & Aversion
In our yoga practice—and in life—we are constantly dancing with preference. Drawn toward some things, pulled away from others. Craving what feels good, avoiding what doesn’t. These movements of the mind are known in yoga philosophy as rāga (attachment) and dveṣa (aversion), and they offer a powerful lens through which to observe how we engage with practice.
Rāga and dveṣa are two of the five kleśas, or afflictions of the mind, described in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra:
Sutra 2.7: sukha-anuśayī rāgaḥ — attachment is that which follows pleasure.
Sutra 2.8: duḥkha-anuśayī dveṣaḥ — aversion is that which follows pain.
Neither attachment nor aversion is inherently wrong—but when we act from them unconsciously, they shape our experience and limit our freedom. In practice, this might look like reaching for the postures that feel strong and satisfying, while avoiding the ones that bring up frustration or vulnerability. It might look like craving stillness or effort depending on what we identify with, or checking out mentally when something becomes too confronting.
But yoga is not about comfort—it’s about clarity. And that clarity often requires us to stay present with a bit of friction.
Some questions to reflect on:
What kinds of postures, sensations, or practices are you drawn to? Why?
What do you tend to avoid—physically, mentally, emotionally? What might that reveal?
How do you relate to discomfort in practice? Do you push, retreat, resist, freeze?
When has something felt challenging or unpleasant in the moment, but led to insight or growth?
What helps you stay present when you want to avoid or cling?
How can noticing rāga and dveṣa lead to more freedom in practice?
How do your likes and dislikes shape other areas of life—your work, relationships, habits?
Recognizing these patterns with kindness—noticing without judgment—is itself a powerful practice. It invites us to make choices not just from habit, fear, or craving, but from deeper awareness. And that’s where yoga really begins.