Classical Yoga · compiled by Patanjali
Yoga Sutras 1.12
Practice and non-attachment — the two wings
अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः॥
These mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment.
What this verse points to
Abhyasa and vairagya: sustained effort in one direction, and the loosening of grip in the other. The sutra names both, and the tradition is consistent that either one alone fails.
Practice without non-attachment turns into grim accumulation. Non-attachment without practice turns into a philosophy that changes nothing. They correct each other.
Sit with it
Ask which wing is currently weaker for you — the showing up, or the letting go — and give this week to that one.
About the Yoga Sutras
The Yoga Sutras are 196 terse aphorisms compiled by Patanjali, organised into four books: samadhi (absorption), sadhana (practice), vibhuti (attainments), and kaivalya (liberation). The style is deliberately compressed — each sutra is a memory-thread meant to be unpacked by a teacher — and the text is the foundational statement of the eight-limbed (ashtanga) path.
References to this text are given as book.sutra — here, 1.12.