Swadhyaya or self-study means the analysis and knowledge of our own personality, being aware of our individual qualities, strengths and weaknesses in order to know who we are. Swadhyaya is sometimes understood as the reading of scriptures. However, this is not the yogic concept because one can read and read and still have the same closed, limited mind, still maintain the same idiosyncrasies and false notions. One can read a book and say that what is written there is true. However, intellectual study is no use unless one is able to apply that knowledge in one’s life.
Without practical application, there is no logic in swadhyaya.
The word swadhyaya means self-study. Swa here means ‘self’. Therefore, swadhyaya is the study of our own personality to make our life an open book, to be able to read our life as we would a book, to be aware of each and every page that is written in the book of our life, is swadhyaya.