Join Root Director Jessica Patterson for this 5-part series, pulling the threads of what has become a central text within contemporary Yoga, the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali (PYS). We will first explore the philosophical history of the text in its sociopolitical and cultural contexts and trace the events and individuals responsible for presenting it as THE text in Yoga.

While this grounding will push back against the presumed privilege and authority of the PYS (and challenge the modern practitioner’s assumptions about the purpose and practice of Yoga), we will also explore how these teachings can be understood through later traditions and in our own lives as both relevant and meaningful. This course will move through each of the four books (or pada), allowing us to both recite the verses and untangle them a bit so we might then thread them through our own lived experiences and understand them in a real way.

This course is for anyone, and it is particularly relevant to those who wish to better understand “Classical Yoga” both in context and content. The goal will be to de-mystify the text a bit, making it accessible for each individual to engage with the ideas and teachings that have shaped a lot of modern yogic thought. Having a deeper understanding of the text in its own historical context enables us to both recognize the tensions it presents with modern assumptions about Yoga AND offer generative insights applicable to our oh-so contemporary lives.

JOIN FROM ANYWHERE: The series will be offered in-person at Root, livestream via Zoom, and all recordings will be available to registrants for 3 months.

Session Dates: All sessions are on Wednesdays 4pm-6pm MT

• Dec 3, 2025 : Intro to YSP and Samadhi Pada
• Dec 10, 2025: Samadhi Pada con’t
• Dec 31, 2025: Sadhana Pada
• Jan 7, 2026: Vibhuti Pada
• Jan 28, 2026: Kaivalya Pada

Course investment: $225 before Nov 30, $275 after

Purchase your Real World Sūtra Pass and register HERE

More about the series:

Each Real World Sūtra session is devoted to an in-depth exploration of one of the 4 chapters that comprise the complete Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali. We will chant and explore selected sutras, unraveling the threads to make the text accessible and MEANINGFUL in your own life and practice. Making it real is the goal. Discover the beauty and power of chanting these teachings and follow each thread as it entwines with your real actual everyday life experiences. You will come away with a deeper, richer understanding of the relevance and resonance of these ancient and essential teachings in your life on and off the mat.

Now this is yoga as I have observed it in the natural world.

With this most auspicious opening word, atha (NOW!) Patañjali gave us the essential practice of yoga—presence. We can realize (make real) Yoga now, in this moment, exactly as we are. Join us as we delve deeper into this authoritative text and discover its practical, poetic, and thoroughly modern relevance in your own life. From the definition of yoga to the eight-fold path; from the obstacles we encounter to the supernatural powers we may realize…the Yoga Sūtra is a dazzling, dynamic, living work of art that beckons the artist in each of us to create our lives consciously.

The Sanskrit word sūtra can be understood as a thread that crosses over (and helps us stitch things together, make connections, and move beyond mundane thinking). Each elegant aphorism of PYS provides us with a thread—succinct, raw material that we are invited to embellish with our own experience as we weave the teachings into our daily lives, and weave our lives into the larger tapestry of Yoga, the oneness of being and the dissolution of separateness.

Bring a journal or paper and a pen to write notes. Selected sūtra will be handed out, but a complete text in translation is recommended to augment the study. Recommended texts will be sent to registrants.