What is consciousness?

To be conscious is to be aware. I prefer to use the word ‘awareness’ over ‘consciousness’ as it’s more practical. Awareness itself is a constant flow which never stops. When you are awake, your awareness is fixed on thousands of different objects throughout the day (thoughts, visuals, ideas, past memories, future hypotheticals, physical touch, sounds, tasks etc). When you are asleep, awareness is fixed on the weird and wonderful world of dreams. After 24 hours, the result is a scattered stream of awareness, constantly changing direction with little control, like mist from a water spray.

The practice of Yoga involves harnessing the dormant power of this water spray and transforming it into a singular uniform stream that can flow in any direction of our choice, like a powerful water jet that can pierce through even the toughest of elements. After all, even diamonds can be cut with water.