Many of us are aware of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayam, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dyana, Samadhi. The first time I encountered these was when I went for my first yoga teacher training in 2005. I remember looking at the last of the Niyamas–Ishwarapranidhana–surrender to the Divine, and feeling like I had zero capacity for that.
Just the concepts of surrender and divinity seemed abstract, and actually combining the two seemed like something St. Francis of Assisi could do, but not anyone I knew, and certainly not me. But now I see this as a very practical two step process.
Step 1: Knowing I will get what I need
Faith in God was not something I could relate to easily, but having an inner feeling of “I will get what I need” brought me an immediate sense of peace when I tried it on for size. I was doing the opposite, trying to feel at peace by controlling my life, but it was a feverish, get-nowhere tactic, like spinning my tires in a ditch. When I could readjust my mind to seeing things this way, I ironically felt much more in control and steady. Sri Sri says that this is the essence of faith.
Step 2: Letting go
Surrender is a big word, and to me it was unrelatable, but in modern spirituality you will come across the words “let go.” Actually, forget spirituality, we come across it all the time in pulp culture including when Else belts out “Let it Go.” It is possible that letting go in its ubiquity may also have lost some meaning, but letting go is definitely a less religious way of saying surrender. Many people feel it is difficult to let go, and I agree, that it is difficult without having a sense that you will be provided for. If you are holding onto something so tightly, unless you think that some benevolence will come in and fill the void created by letting go, it may just not seem logical or advisable. But it is all our desires and worries, our sense of “trying” and “doing,” bring stress and tension into our system, so what could be more freeing than packing it all up and delivering it to a wiser all pervading intelligence? You can call it whatever you like, all pervading intelligence, life, nature, the universe, God, the Goddess, or the divine.
Ishwarapranidhana is the letting go that comes with knowing that you will get what you need. Normally our minds are focused on “I need this, I want this, maybe I won’t get this, how can I get this, I have to do this?” But when we know we will get what we need, what is there to stress about? When we know that nature takes care of its creation and we surrender to the Divine, then Patanjali says, Samadhi can happen.