World-renowned spiritual teacher, public speaker and author Deepak Chopra has dedicated his life to helping others. At the age of 76, Chopra is practicing yoga, breathing and meditation every day. His personal practice and modern interpretation of yoga philosophy form the basis of his new book, “Living in the Light,” which will be released in January.
In his book, Chopra presents a 30-day program that uncovers the eight pillars of Raja or Shahi Yoga. Each principal is accompanied by exercises to put these principles into practice. The book is co-authored by Chopra’s yoga teacher, Sarah Platt-Finger, who organizes a set of 50 yoga postures, their benefits, and how to practice them.
Candid chat with Deepak Chopra
Here, Chopra explains his purpose for writing this book and shares his personal thoughts and yoga routine.
What does your own yoga practice look like?
I start at 6 in the morning. I spread a yoga mat. First I meditate for half an hour. Then I do breathing, pranayam for half an hour. Then I do asanas (postures) for a full hour in the morning. And that’s a whole two hours. Then in the evening, before I go to sleep, I meditate for another hour. My practice is about three hours a day in total, which is fine. I usually work from 11 am to 5 pm only. And I don’t work weekends, but I’m flexible. I can change that too.
There are about 50 asanas in the book. I follow him. Then I have another teacher in New York who has a studio near my house, and I visit him from time to time to do an hour’s worth of breathing exercises, and I find him very deep. I don’t do it for any result. I just do it because it’s fun.
Why did you write this book?
I have been doing yoga as a daily practice for the past 30 years. I am very, you might say, addicted to the physical aspects of yoga. And I have a wonderful teacher who co-authored this book. She has a studio in New York City right next door to where my apartment is, so I can easily pop by for a yoga session anytime.
When I turned into my seventies, I was like ‘What is reality?’ and ‘What is the biological basis of consciousness?’ I wrestled with these questions for a long time. Ultimately realizing they are the wrong questions. The universe is not made of anything. We don’t really see a physical world. We only see our perception. And I realized that through yoga, both as a physical practice but also in its totality.
Yoga has eight limbs, as originally described by Patanjali, the first author of yoga. The first two limbs are related to Yama and Niyam. They are social and emotional intelligence. Third are the body postures, which are places of awareness. The fourth is breathing and its role in controlling biology. The fifth is something that no one talks about, interoceptive awareness, which is how you perceive what is happening inside your body. Because if you do this, then you know how to control your body. You know how the autonomic nervous system is controlled. And then six, seven and eight are all connected. They are about focused awareness, intention, focus and transcendence. That is the complete description of yoga.
Most people don’t know this. They go to yoga class and they like it, which is great.
But I realized that there is not a single book that I could find in modern times that really goes into the depth of what yoga brings you to the knowledge of ‘what is reality’? conditioned mind.
No matter how good your health is, eventually there is old age and death. People have worried about it for centuries. That’s why we have religion.
Do we have soul? Is it immortal? Is there something beyond this experience that is beyond the perception that we have every day?
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