• Concept: Yoga is defined as the stilling / regulating of the fluctuations of the mind-field (citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ).

• Vicāra relevance: This is the core definition of “healthy mental process” in yoga: not suppressing mind, but stopping compulsive spinning so intelligence can operate clearly.  

• Where: Yoga Sūtra 1.2.

The Five vṛttis

1. pramāṇa – correct cognition

2. viparyaya – misperception

3. vikalpa – imagination/fantasy

4. nidrā – sleep as a mental state

5. smṛti – memory  

• Vicāra relevance: This is literally a taxonomy of mental processes – thinking accurately, thinking wrongly, conceptual spinning, unconsciousness, and recall. Patanjali also says each vṛtti can be painful (kliṣṭa) or not (akliṣṭa) depending on how they’re colored.  

• Where: Yoga Sūtras 1.5–1.11.

Vṛttis are either kliṣṭa (leading to suffering, distorted by afflictions) or akliṣṭa (not leading to suffering).

• Concept: Mental quietness comes through practice (abhyāsa) and non-attachment (vairāgya). Practice = repeated effort to stay established; it becomes firm when done long-term, without break, with devotion. 

• Vicāra relevance: This is the method for reshaping mental processes: repetition plus letting go of clinging to thoughts and experiences.

• Where: Yoga Sūtras 1.12–1.16.

• Concept: Patanjali lists mental strategies for clarifying citta: cultivating friendliness, compassion, joy and equanimity; using breath regulation; focusing on inner light; contemplating passion-free minds; using dream/sleep as meditation objects; or any chosen object.  

• Vicāra relevance: These are concrete mental-process tools for emotional regulation and attentional training – essentially a full menu of classical “cognitive-emotional practices.”

• Where: Yoga Sūtras 1.33–1.39.

• YS 1.33 — Emotional cultivation

  • maitrī — friendliness toward the happy

  • karuṇā — compassion for the suffering

  • muditā — joy toward the virtuous

  • upekṣā — equanimity toward the non-virtuous

• YS 1.34 — Breath regulation

  • Calming the mind through regulated exhalation and retention.

• YS 1.35 — Subtle sensory perception

  • Concentrating on subtle inner sensory experiences.

• YS 1.36 — Inner light

  • Meditating on a luminous inner state beyond sorrow.

• YS 1.37 — Contemplating a purified mind

  • Reflecting on the mind of someone free from passion/attachment.

• YS 1.38 — Dream and sleep awareness

  • Using knowledge from dream or deep sleep as a meditation object.

• YS 1.39 — Chosen meditation object

  • Concentration on any object that stabilizes the mind.

• Concept: Five fundamental mental afflictions: avidyā (ignorance), asmitā (ego-identification), rāga (attachment), dveṣa(aversion), abhiniveśa (clinging to life/fear of death).  

• Vicāra relevance: These are the root lenses through which vicāra operates: they bias perception, thought, and emotion. Clearing mental process = working through these.

• Where: Yoga Sūtras 2.3–2.9.

Meditaion 

• Concept: When vṛttis are still “colored” by kleshas, meditation (dhyāna) is given as the method to reduce and dissolve them – dhyāna heyaḥ tad vṛttayaḥ.  

• Vicāra relevance: This is a direct statement that mental practices change mental patterns at the root, not just at surface behaviour.

• Where: Yoga Sūtra 2.11 (and 2.10)

In yoga, tapas is the principle of disciplined effort and “inner heat,” named as both part of kriyā-yoga and as a core niyama in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra (II.1, II.32). Traditionally it refers to the steady, sometimes uncomfortable effort that purifies and strengthens us—whether in practice, lifestyle, or attitudes.  

• Concept: Actions and experiences create deep impressions (saṃskāra) linked with memory, forming a unique configuration that persists across time.  

• Vicāra relevance: This is the yoga explanation of conditioning and unconscious bias: past mental processes “prime” present perception and reaction. Even samādhi leaves a saṃskāra until the very end.  

• Where: Yoga Sūtras 1.18; 4.9–4.11.

• Concept: Pratyāhāra is defined as withdrawing the thinking principle (citta) from wherever it wanders – sights, sounds, praise, criticism, tastes, smells – leading to calmness and control of the mind.  

• Vicāra relevance: This is essentially attention training and stimulus control: deciding where your mental energy goes, rather than being dragged by triggers.

• Concept: In the prāṇāyāma chapter, nāḍī purification is of two types: Samānu (mental process) using bīja-mantrasinternally, and Nirmanu (physical process) using kriyās like neti, dhauti, basti.  

• Vicāra relevance: Here the text literally uses your language – “Samanu (Mental Process)” – to describe using thought/mantra as a tool to change subtle physiology and, indirectly, mental states.

• GS Chapter 5

• Concept: Gheranda states that Jñāna (wisdom) is the friend; ahaṅkāra (egoism) is the enemy, explaining that training begins with the body but is meant to liberate the mind from māyā (illusion).  

• Vicāra relevance: This is a value statement about mental process: thought aligned with insight is supportive; thought driven by ego-clinging becomes the inner saboteur.