What are the Kleshas? Klesha translates as poison, affliction, impurity, and distortions of perception that cause suffering. There are 5 kleshas that are obstacles towards reaching your spiritual potential. They have also been described as veils that cloud our seeing... like beer goggles. They are not bad, we just need to have a look at them so that we can understand ourselves and grow.

Avidya (Ignorance)

This one is about misunderstanding the nature of reality which is ever changing, and not being able to see clearly. Ignorance may come from our experiences and beliefs that we hold such as believing we are worthless when we are in a self-loathing state. It is not the truth, but we believe in that perception and are therefore ignorant. Ignorance and ignoring are similar words in that we can turn away from truth such as I don't want to read the news and I ignore it because it's too much to look at, so I remain ignorant and in the dark about whats going on, and basically apathetic. I have heard that ignorance is the root of all evil, and sometimes that lands uncomfortably inside of me. There is also another kind of ignorance which is to be completely not in the know such as I am ignorant of what its like to grow up in another country. That type of ignorance is not our fault and is unconscious but also good to notice. The yoga practice is to unravel and reveal our ignorance so that the lens in which we see reality is clearer. We might also be ignorant in ways that we forgot to understand the nature of change, like when we are holding onto something we thought was going to last but it didn't. Ignorance comes in many ways. Awareness is the spark of knowing.

Asmita (Ego)

This one is about identifying with a sense of self that we have created. When this sense of "I" is completely central to our lives, it is overpowering and causes suffering like fear and insecurity. We can see this and remember this in teenagers where it first develops. We create a self image to figure out who we are in this world and how we might fit in, and then we start creating more stories and beliefs and preferences as a way to navigate through the world. So then what happens is that we start to project our sense of self outwards and see everything through our judgements. If we, even for a moment, let this sense of "me" melt into the background, perhaps we can recognise that we share this union with everyone and are not so different after all. So the yoga practice is a spiritual journey to remind us that we are not who we think we are, and we can get really quiet and shift our focus from a small sense of self to the universal Self, or life force that is present in all humans. We share something unnameable and divine, but we accidentally get caught up in divisive thinking such as "me" and "you", so we just have to remember to see this when it arises, and maybe laugh at ourselves?

Raga (Attachment)

This one is about our cravings and desires. We can cling onto anything, like our bodies, our relationships, our possessions, our experiences, our intelligence, and the list goes on. There is nothing wrong with attachment, like how you attach to your family and your career and your belongings because it means you are actively participating in life... but its when they take over and we feel lost without them that it causes suffering. There can be an attraction towards certain pleasures that we might end up mindlessly creating habits towards fulfilling these desires. Some actions do not serve our wellbeing, and we can get caught in a wheel of endless searching for pleasure that leaves no lasting positive impact, like gambling. We are not trying to avoid our attachments and become a recluse, but to use our awareness to see when something has got us hooked and make a choice to let go of our grasping nature. So much easier said than done when there's an ingrained pattern like an addiction. They are usually born out of a coping strategy that we had to use to emotionally deal with ourself at some stage... eating, shopping, and drinking are big ones in our culture. No need to judge ourselves though, because we try to do the best we can with the knowledge we have at the time and we are just whoopsy daisy creatures by default and let things slip and get out of hand. But can we catch things before the next cycle of whatever new attachment begins?

Dvesha (Aversion)

This one is the opposite of attachment, so it is our tendency to avoid and move away from something or someone or some experience we don't want. This is largely based on our dislikes and an unwillingness to face what we consider to be unpleasant. Both attachment and aversion come out of our judging mind, categorising things as good or bad. This creates division and disharmony. Consider what or whom you push away or procrastinate on and then do some digging and ask yourself why. I avoid conflict because it feels uncomfortable to have to admit a wrong doing. Some people seem to be masters of avoidance, to the extent that they don't even know what their own feelings are anymore because so much is pushed away. I have also been there too. Some triggers go really deep and the yoga practice is here to let all the unconscious shit bubble to the surface and then we can hopefully skim away the scum that doesn't serve us. We avoid because we get uncomfortable and we don't like that feeling. But this great wrier, Viktor Frankl, who was a holocaust survivor and author of the book Man's Search for Meaning, writes about logotherapy which I understand is about going into whats challenging and finding meaning inside of suffering. Can we find a meaningful attitude amidst unavoidable suffering?

Abhinivesha (Fear of Death)

This one is the ultimate fear, which is the fear of losing our life. Of course we know theoretically that it will happen to us all, and we will all lose everything we love, so to create a fear around it causes suffering. In reality, knowing that nothing lasts forever and we will all die should make us be grateful for all that we have and that we even get to experience being on this planet at all. But we forget to see clearly, and we get clouded by fear and worry and let it dominate our mind sometimes. Perhaps this one isn't just about the fear of physical death but about the fear of all uncertainty, impermanence, unfairness, and losing something/everything. So it can show up as more subtle "deaths" like the fear of being outside of our comfort zones and not knowing whats next to expect. So this fear can manifest as panic and anxiety and worry and dread, which is suffering. Alternatively, we can learn to be comfortable with the unknown and let go of our gripping mental state so that we can be present in each event as it unfolds. The yoga practice is there to make us slow down and feel and listen to what is really happening in each moment and to remember that you are alive and here right now.