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Posts Tagged ‘Raja Yoga’

What is the Foundation of Yogic Philosophy?

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

The foundation of Yogic philosophy is based on a number of ancient Indian Vedic scriptures dating all the way back to 2500 BC, and possibly earlier. One of the early Hindu scriptures is the Rig Veda, a spiritual text, which was handed down over hundreds of years, orally, from generation to generation, until these scriptural teachings were written down in the early Vedic Period.

The Upanishads are a continuation of Vedic knowledge and are one of the primary sources of Yogic philosophy and instructions. These sacred scriptures date back from 1000 to 400 BC. The Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita (God’s Song) contained within, are also seminal Hindu scriptures that teach Yoga students how to incorporate the practice and wisdom of Yogic philosophy into everyday life. These scriptures date back to approximately 200 BC.

Maharishi Patanjali was a very wise Indian sage who compiled many of the prominent points from Holy Scriptures and formulated them into aphorisms, or tersely-phrased summaries of information (sutras). Maharishi Patanjali laid out a very comprehensive, orderly, and systematic way to achieving health, wellbeing, and oneness with God, through Yoga’s practices and the incorporation of Yogic philosophy into one’s daily life. The Sanskrit word “Yoga” means to yoke, or enter into union, and become absorbed into the divine essence of all creation. A Yogi or Yogini is a deeply committed student of Yogic philosophy and practices.

There are nine major branches of Yoga with slightly different approaches toward Yogic philosophy and practice. Some of these different branches emphasize entirely different aspects of Yogic philosophy, such as the practice of Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of devotion to the divine, and Karma Yoga, the practice of attaining oneness with God through service to others.

The branch of Yogic philosophy, under which Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras fall, is known as Raja Yoga, or the Royal Path of Yoga. His Yogic system incorporates many of the elements of the other major philosophical Yogic branches. Ultimately, Patanjali’s Yogic philosophy is a system to control, or temper, the thought-waves of the mind.

In order to control the vrittis or thought-waves of the mind, so that the Yogic aspirant may enter into the essence of his or her own heart, Patanjali systematically enumerated eight limbs, or branches, of Raja Yoga in his Yoga Sutras. These branches include the practice of Yoga asanas, meditation, pranayama, behavioral restraints, dharmic guidelines for ethical living, pratyahara, dharana, and ultimately, resting in a state of pure bliss, or oneness with God, in Samadhi.

If a dedicated Yoga student follows Patanjali’s prescription toward samadhi, his or her life will be filled with divine love, wellbeing, and robust holistic health. Reaching a state of Samadhi, or complete absorption with God, may not be possible for many of us; but following Patanjali’s system of Yogic philosophy is sure to support a Yoga student in becoming lighter, happier, more peaceful, and healthier, in the meantime.

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Tags: karma yoga, Raja Yoga, rig veda, royal path of yoga, The Upanishads, vedic scriptures, yoga of devotion, yogic philosophy
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Self-Mastery with Raja Yoga

Monday, April 11th, 2011

By Faye Martins

Self-mastery through the practice of Raja Yoga is possible with a sincere and consistent effort on the part of the student. Raja Yoga is a scientific process of spiritual development through the practice of meditation. The system was defined by a great sage, Patanjali, in his Yoga sutras or aphorisms.

The essence of Raja Yoga is the stilling of the thought-waves of the mind in order to allow the mind to come to rest in the clear light of inner bliss. Classically, Raja Yoga is practiced sitting on a deer or tiger skin while repeating a sacred mantra. Today, an ergonomically-designed meditation cushion or a straight-back chair works just as well! The repetition of a sacred mantra is still a core element of the practice of Raja Yoga.

When you first begin your meditation practice, you may become aware of many thoughts floating through your mind. Yogic wisdom recommends that you do not become attached to these thoughts. Just let them float by like cumulus clouds in a soft-summer sky. One way to do this is to allow your mind to focus on the repetition of a mantra.

Gradually, you will find that number of different thoughts start to become less and less. After a period of time, the vrittis or thought-waves in your mind will start to fade away. As your mind settles, your consciousness is able to shift to the unchanging divinity within the core of your own being.

In order to obtain self-mastery through the practice of Raja Yoga, a student should practice meditation on daily basis, preferably at the same time and in the same location. If you have the space, you can set up a meditation room or dedicate a corner in your home to your Raja Yoga practice. When this space is dedicated to the practice of meditation, the spiritual energy or shakti that you generate through your spiritual practices will become very strong. This energy will then help support your meditation practice going forward.

Meditation practices are most effective when they are done daily. If you are pressed for time, even fifteen minutes a day, every day, will make an enormous difference over time. One of the keys to a successful Raja Yoga practice is regularity.

Even though it may not seem like much, fifteen, or twenty minutes, a day will help your mind to settle much more quickly than an hour of meditation on a sporadic basis. Eventually, the dedicated practice of Raja Yoga will help you to live in the awareness of the inner presence of God.

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Tags: practice of meditation, practice of raja yoga, Raja Yoga, raja yoga is, raja yoga practice, Self Mastery, yoga practice
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What is Raja Yoga?

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

By Faye Martins

Raja Yoga is considered to be the royal road of meditation that leads a student towards a state of oneness with the divine. A student who primarily practices Raja Yoga does so in order to attain enlightenment through the art of meditation. There are many different Yogic paths from which to choose. A student whose nature is contemplative will do particularly well practicing Raja Yoga.

A student engages in the Yogic practice of meditation in order to quiet the mind and become immersed in the divine energy within. A Raja Yoga student will often practice japa, or the repetition of a sacred mantra that is imbued with spiritual power. A mantra that has been given to a student from a living master will have significantly more power than a mantra that a student has adopted on his or her own behalf.

The goal of Raja Yoga is to still the thought waves or vrittis of the mind. When our minds are still, we are able to experience a state of blissful awareness and deep tranquility. We will also be able to experience the unchanging and ever present nature of the soul.

One of the skills that is important to develop when practicing Raja Yoga is dharana. When a student becomes adept at one-pointedly focusing on a single object or goal, his or her mind will become much less agitated and steadier. This is a wonderful ability that will nurture your meditation practice. A strong and regular practice of meditation will allow you to drop into a conscious state of restful awareness that will ultimately reveal the essence of your soul to you.

Raja Yoga is said to lead to enlightenment faster than other Yogic practices. Of course, this will depend on the nature of the student who is practicing Raja Yoga. One of the reasons that Raja Yoga is so powerful is that it stills the senses and the mind, so that we can stop identifying ourselves with our limited physical bodies, and instead become identified with our eternal souls.

As a student who is sincerely following any path of Yoga, including the path of Raja Yoga, it is important to understand that the unfolding of deeper states of meditation, bliss, and knowledge, will take consistent practice time to come to fruition.

It is also important to live an ethical and dharmic life based on truth and love. A life that is filled with mindfulness, good-will and service, will help to truly enliven your soul and support your spiritual unfolding.

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Tags: path of yoga, practicing raja, practicing raja yoga, Raja Yoga, what is raja yoga, yogic practice, yogic practices
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The Yogi’s Journey

Monday, February 14th, 2011

By Marc Titus

I have experienced in the 11 years that yoga has been a part of my life Yoga as Unity and also a pathway to Unity Consciousness. It has been a personal journey, one of many discoveries and profound insights; the mat has brought me to Spirit. In a world filled with negativity, stress, environmental toxins, and other energy sapping temptations Yoga brings a lifestyle and practice that reconnects mind, body and Spirit. Rooted in traditions thousands of years old, Yoga Science is a proven and complete system of health and wellness, desperately needed by a disparate society whose predominant nature is very self-destructive. Yoga has turned back the clock for me; a 42-year old male whose body began to fail him in his late 20’s and at 30 was told he might never walk again without a cane.

That stark reality I faced some 12 years ago and was eventually guided by Spirit to my first Yoga class. Little did I know that first class would change my entire life and lead me to the place of becoming a certified Yoga Instructor. Nor could I imagine that the Yoga System, of which that first class only taught the asana or bodily postures, was in fact such a full and rich Science dedicated to leading the Yogi on a path to intuitive enlightenment or Samadhi. The Science provides the methodology to the proclaimed outcome, Truth, which can only be experienced when the mind releases to become still, allowing body and Spirit to unite in that stillness and become One with All that Is.

Coming off the mat, where posture and breath are studied and specific techniques employed, or Hatha Yoga, brings clarity and awareness drawn from personal experience within the practice. It becomes a deep meditation that draws awareness into the body and breath, leaving the mind to still. As the asanas strengthen over time and the initial shock and subsequent cleansing of the entire body systems wears off, a deeper awareness begins. Insights are drawn from the stillness of a posture, body understanding arises and every cell comes alive to the vibration of the Universe. One begins to sink into the infinitesimal vastness that comes from a still mind and one day, the elusive appears, total bliss, a fleeting moment but certain in your experience of it, the Journey begins…

There are many “categories” of Yoga, the aforementioned Hatha Yoga that supports the deeply healing and introspective Raja Yoga, or Union by mental mastery. Raja Yoga is known as Royal Yoga, as one who masters this practice becomes the “ruler of the mind”. Could that possibly be of assistance in today’s day and age? When one is able to master thoughts and to still the mind at will then the energetically chaotic and physically draining world that many share as reality becomes an entirely different experience all together. With the ability to stop a thought and replace it with another comes a radical shift in the way one participates in the world. The benefits to all of humankind are enormous when the consideration is given to stilling the human mind enough to see that there is more to the picture than meets the eye.

The wonderful thing about a Yogic practice is that it is through direct personal experience that one comes to these understandings. Complementing perfectly with my Shamanic training in Journey and Soul Retrieval, it has been an invaluable system that has brought deeper access to my Shamanic tools. It was Raja Yoga, meditation, that brought me to see non-ordinary reality and it was Hatha Yoga that brought me to meditation. A broken body and mind, combined with a life devoid of Spirit, brought me to the mat, so the system does work!

Meditation, at the heart of Royal Yoga, is a proven stress-buster, our purported #1 killer in the United States, working at subtle energetic levels upon the nervous system and other physiological processes to provide a lasting calm that stays with the yogi for great lengths of time. One begins to experience the Loving Timeline as reality, when meditation is focused on Love and Kindness and Devotion to Spirit, or Bhakti Yoga. Cohistency, A consistent and cohesive experience of Conscious consciousness and compassion on the Loving Timeline, begins and Love spreads forth into this new, enlightened understanding through thought, word and action. Meditation brings about a peaceful life experience, as the calming effects of the practice relax the entire being.

In the Shamanic Journey, a meditation with intention to see the Highest Truth about a situation, one begins to see how the Universal Karmic Laws have affected them over the course of their energetic life. By taking total personal responsibility for all thoughts, words and actions one has ever created in any lifetime, dimension or state of consciousness one begins to heal and see the fruits borne of their actions. This can lead to the practice of Karma Yoga, selfless action and service without thought to outcome. Letting go into the very kindness of one’s actions is another blessing to humanity in these times of change.

The benefits of a meditation practice go far beyond the physical, as science is now beginning to reveal new understandings about the relationship between intentions, thoughts, words and actions and the reality that we see before our very senses. Knowing that I am participating in my reality, also personally experienced through Raja Yoga, has caused me to look at the deeper experiences that molded me into the person that comes to the mat to practice asana each day. By incorporating Shamanic Soul Retrieval into my meditation I have been able to heal the past by calling back lost pieces of my energetic experience that fractured off as a result of some traumatic situation. The Royal Yoga was my entrance onto the path of Spiritual knowledge and wisdom, or Jnana Yoga, and from the fount of Universal Knowledge also came the experience of non-ordinary reality and the Cosmic connection to Source where I was finally able to pierce the veil of illusion and experience the Truth.

As I said, it all began with that first Hatha Yoga class all those years ago. I remember thinking that Yoga was just “stretching” and even when my Tai Chi Instructor suggested I try it to enhance my energy practice, I declined. It wasn’t until I had spent 6 months in agony, with a severely traumatized lower back and the neurologist telling me I would need 3 surgeries, minimum, the worst of which would require 9 months bed-rest to recover, that I decided to change my life and somehow, at that time, I knew that I created the problems and that I could heal them myself. That is when I went to my first Yoga class.

I remember distinctly the teacher, John, was very peaceful and serene every time I saw him. He was kind and compassionate in a deeply comforting way. I was so out of touch with my body that I couldn’t even bend at the waist or touch my knees. I told him about my situation and he said, no problem, I will let you know which poses not to do and help you with the others if you need it. He taught the whole class right in front of me that day and I remember laughing so much at my inability to even approximate most of the poses that seemed to come so easily to the others in the class. But, I stuck with it and continued to go 3 times a week for about 6 months. Along with walking and reducing my beer consumption, these changes were the only ones I made in my life at that time. Within 2 weeks the pain was reduced to a 4 when it was a 14 (10 point pain scale) and my mental health, well-being and physical fitness were all much better as well. After 7 weeks, I was pain-free 90 percent of the time and my neurologist told me I was a medical miracle. “Keep it up,” he said… So, I did and 9 months later, I joined a Helitack Wildland Fire Crew as a helicopter crewmember and performed at the arduous level required for such duty for a 2-week detail. I turned my life around and Hatha Yoga saved me from a life-altering series of surgeries. It works…

The postures, asana, and breath-work, pranayama, comprise the core of Hatha Yoga, albeit, difficult for the Western competitive sports trained mind to grasp that this is a practice to be worked towards, so anyone regardless of age or fitness level can come to the mat; as described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Yoga begins now, we come to the mat who and what we are in that moment and begin… working towards the depth of the posture where the opening to Samadhi exists. The postures are designed and have the effect of stilling the mind, as well as exercising, in a well-designed sequence, every part of the physical body, including organs, glands and the nervous system. It is a complete system of moving stillness and meditation as to bring tremendous calm on and off the mat. For the first timer, the best advice is to take it slow and steady, rest often, move fluidly without bouncing or jerking and don’t go into pain. If it hurts in the least, best to back off and ask your teacher. Also, as you look around the room or study a video, remember… Look to see how the posture works, but don’t succumb to the competitive urge.

The postures also afford time and breath to go inside, looking into the depth of our being as the mind begins to still. And it will still, eventually, there will be quiet and you will hold a balance pose for the first time without teetering spastically and falling in a heap like I did the first time I tried Half-Moon Pose or Tree Pose. As your practice continues, you will begin to understand and hold a higher consciousness regarding your body and how it works. Your health and vitality will improve and you will experience greater joy in your life. Your mind, body and Spirit will unite and you will be far more resilient to the vagaries of life’s ebbs and flows. Yoga often becomes an integral part of life and as the deeper meaning begins to follow you from the mat there begins to be that peaceful experience that my first teacher exuded every time I saw him, regardless of where he was or what he was doing. That is what I was looking for and in Yoga I found it. From this Yoga Journey, I now carry forth peaceful vibrations into my relationships, my career, my community, my family and friends. My unified identity, as a vibrational signature is far purer than ever before and I have turned back the clock on my physical fitness, health and wellness. Mental clarity and resiliency are the norm and the practice continues to take me ever deeper into the experience of me. And in that, I find the greatest treasures of life’s experience, mined from the vast abundance that pervades the Loving Timeline. The System, experiential by design, works on so many levels and has inspired me to become a certified teacher. It has brought about a humility and understanding that I am merely a guide, as those who have gone before me to lead the way, I dissolve from the experience as it becomes yours and you make of it what you will. I am only with you for a short time; the rest is up to you…

Love and Kindness on your Journey,
Rev. Marc A. Titus
Little Hawk
The Buffalo Diaries
References: http://buffalodiaries.com and http://heroesofthenow.com

Tags: categories of yoga, path to intuitive enlightenment, Raja Yoga, yoga as unity, yoga class, yoga system, yogic practice, yogis journey
Posted in Yoga Lifestyle | 3 Comments »

CONTROL DEPRESSION THROUGH YAMAS AND NIYAMAS

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

By Dr. Rita Khanna

The Yamas and Niyamas are described by the great Saint Maharishi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. He describes the eight steps of Raja Yoga, which are known as Ashtanga Yoga. The Yamas and Niyamas are the first two steps of Ashtanga Yoga. The Yamas are meant to harmonize the social and external interactions in one’s life, whereas the Niyamas create a sense of discipline in one’s inner life. Maharishi Patanjali has given five Yamas and five Niyamas, which are as follows:

YAMAS (SOCIAL CODE)

1. Ahimsa (non-violence)

2. Satya (truthfulness)

3. Asteya (honesty)

4. Aparigraha(non-possessiveness)

5. Brahmacharya (celibacy)

MEANING

Yoga certification The meaning of Ahimsa is absence of the violent nature in our personality. Satya refers to the awareness of what is correct, right, and true – that manifests from within and the ability to express it. The meaning of Asteya is being honest with ourselves, where the true nature of the personality is seen and experienced. Aparigraha means non-attachment. The meaning of Brahmacharya is control over the sexual desire. These five disciplines constitute the Yamas, which are generally translated as ‘moral code of conduct’ by the layman, but actually mean ‘Yogic self-control’.

NIYAMAS (PERSONAL CODE)

1. Saucha (cleanliness)

2. Santosha (contentment)

3. Tapas (austerity)

4. Swadhyaya (self-study)

5. Ishwara Pranidhana (surrender to God)

MEANING

The first Niyama is Saucha, and apart from meaning physical cleanliness and cleanliness of one’s living area, Saucha is also geared to creating the feeling of cleanliness within the mind. Santosha means to be happy with whatever one has, to enjoy living in the present moment, without craving or desiring anything more. Tapas means seeking out the pure essence of matter, like the process of firing gold to remove the impurities and extract the pure gold. Swadhyaya means the analysis and knowledge of our own personality, being aware of our individual qualities, strengths, and weaknesses. Ishwara pranidhana means belief in a higher reality and surrender to God.

DEPRESSION

Depression is a mood disorder. Our mood is mainly determined by our emotions. Emotions are positive and negative, and play an important role in our personality. In some circumstances, we wish to eradicate negative emotions from our personality, but we cannot. Whenever we feel our negative emotions are giving trouble or creating a problem, we need the ability to manage them because uncontrolled negative emotions result in different disorders – among which is depression. A basic cause of depression is the lack of discipline in life. Yamas are external disciplines and Niyamas are inner disciplines. Through these two steps, we can learn to develop our personality in a better way, and can eradicate depressive symptoms.

CAUSES OF DEPRESSION

1. Low stress tolerance

2. Dependence on support and sympathy

3. Poor ego function

4. Bereavement

5. Guilt feelings

6. Pre-morbid personality

HOW CAN WE CONTROL DEPRESSION THROUGH

YAMAS AND NIYAMAS

LOW STRESS TOLERANCE (SATYA AND SANTOSHA)

The first cause of depression is low stress tolerance. Man is a social human being. He is living in society, and he has to have contact with different types of personalities and situations, and must try to adjust to them. Adjustment must happen, whether the situations are difficult or not. Through the practice of Satya, we can increase our tolerance level, because through the practice of truthfulness, we can know and understand our limitations and weaknesses and accept them – thereby releasing the built-up tensions within us and increasing our physical and mental energy. Through this increased energy, we can find more creative ways of overcoming or adjusting the negative traits of our personality. Also, we have to be ready to accept any negative condition, any type of sad or bad event we experience. Through the practice of Santosha, we will be able to face any unpleasant or negative situation.

DEPENDENCE ON SUPPORT AND SYMPATHY

(APARIGRAHA AND SWADHYAYA)

The second cause of depression is dependence on support and sympathy. Why do we need support and sympathy? If we are very attached to our family, and they overdo the support and sympathy that they give us at different times, then we may gradually convert the receiving of support into an obligation – thereby demanding that this support should be given whenever we find ourselves in a difficult situation, expecting that it is our parents or family’s duty to deal with the situation. In fact, these two things create a weak personality.

Through the practice of Aparigraha, we learn to live with our family, without undue attachment, and with acceptance. Through the practice of Swadhyaya, we can understand our own self in a better way. By the process of self-analysis, we come to know and accept our limitations, habits, potential, etc., and accept them. With this clearer understanding of ourselves, we then know how to act appropriately in any situation, according to our abilities and needs. This avoids dependence on the decisions of others for our well-being, which, in general, are based only on guesswork or an estimate. Hence, through the practice of Aparigraha and Swadhyaya, we learn to live our lives with independence and without the need for support and sympathy.

POOR EGO FUNCTION (ASTEYA AND TAPAS)

The third cause of depression is poor ego function. The ego is an important component of the mind. The main work of the ego is to maintain good adjustment and control between the id (unconscious ego) and super ego (conscious ego). If the ego does not have a good and strong control over these aspects, then there will be an imbalance in our personality, which will give more emphasis either to the social needs or the biological needs. Through the practice of Asteya, we can develop a strong ego function. The practice of Asteya gives the confidence to make an honest decision in the adjustment and control between id and super ego. Also, through the practice of Tapas, we can destroy the negative traits in our personality, and replace them with pure and positive traits, which give strength to the personality; then there is no question of poor ego function.

BEREAVEMENT (AHIMSA AND ISHWARA PRANIDHANA)

The fourth cause of depression is bereavement. Everyone who is born – will die; and we cannot stop that death. Every person, who dies, has some relations with other people, so definitely those people will feel sad because they loved that person. But the intensity of the sadness will not be the same for everyone. The intensity of sadness will be higher, when the death is one of our family members or our beloved. In this situation, a person may experience intense anger towards himself and also towards God, which expresses itself through violent behavior.

We have to think how violent action manifests in our behavior. There are definitely some violent traits in our personality, which express themselves when situations arise, which we feel we cannot manage, which overpower us, or when things are not happening as we have planned. So in these situations, when violent actions manifest in our behavior, we are affected by them.

Through the practice of Ahimsa, we understand the process of these intense reactions within us; and gradually, we can decrease or eradicate violent traits from the personality. Through the practice of Ishwara Pranidhana, we can increase our positive energy. Whatever happens, it was God’s decision. We have surrendered to God. We have to think in this way, that any positive or negative event, which takes place in our life, was God’s order; and we should surrender to God. In this way, we can balance and control ourselves in any kind of problematic situation.

GUILT FEELING (BRAHMACHARYA AND SAUCHA)

The fifth cause of depression is guilt feelings. In fact, every human being feels guilt in his life. During our life, we will definitely make mistakes, which will cause us to feel guilt. Depression is mainly experienced between the ages of 20 to 50 years. As we know, the age of 12 to 22 years, is the progressive development stage. In this period, our physical, mental, emotional, and moral development takes place. So, it is obviously the time when the chance of making mistakes is high.

Because many of these developments are closely related to our sexual development, many of our guilt feelings will be related to our sexual feelings and desires. Therefore, the practice of Brahmacharya can be taken up to help control this cause of depression. Through the practice of Brahmacharya, we learn to understand and control our sexual desires; and due to this understanding and control, we can save ourselves a lot of guilt feelings.

However, if we make mistakes, which bring guilt feelings, we can use the practice of Saucha to clean the mind. We always keep our negative thoughts in the unconscious part of the mind; and these unconscious thoughts try to find irregular channels to the conscious level, creating problems. Through the practice of Saucha, we have to throw out those thoughts, not only from the unconscious, but also from our personality, in the same manner as we throw out useless matter from our computer files.

PRE-MORBID PERSONALITY (ALL YAMAS AND NIYAMAS)

The last cause of depression is the pre-morbid personality. In every personality, there are some morbid traits, which will manifest in behavior when suitable situations arise. Through the practice of all the Yamas and Niyamas, we are able to control our morbid traits. For the healthy development of the personality, these two steps of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga are very important. We can sow these two seeds in our personality, as a daily or a life routine. What is necessary is the commitment to prepare oneself to understand and follow the Yamas and Niyamas.

Although it will be difficult, in the beginning, to incorporate the Yamas and Niyamas into your personality, with practice, it will become easy. When you start any new work, you think it is very hard; but when you go through the correct process, you find it is easy. In this manner, you have to start following the Yamas and Niyamas, by first bringing them into your behavioral patterns, and allowing your understanding of them to grow deeper. Gradually, they become a part of you. Suddenly, in your heart and mind, a voice will come, “Oh! It is so easy.”

AUM SHANTI

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Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna’s Yogashaastra Studio.

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Dr. Rita Khanna

Dr. Rita Khanna is a well-known name in the field of Yoga and Naturopathy. She was initiated into this discipline over 25 years ago by world famous Swami Adyatmananda of Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh (India).

She believes firmly that Yoga is a scientific process, which helps us to lead a healthy and disease-free life. She is also actively involved in practicing alternative medicines like Naturopathy. Over the years, she has been successfully practicing these therapies and providing succour to several chronic and terminally ill patients through Yoga, Diet and Naturopathy. She is also imparting Yoga Teachers Training.

At present, Dr. Rita Khanna is running a Yoga Studio in Secunderabad (Hyderabad, India).

Tags: ashtanga yoga, control depression, Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, Raja Yoga, Saint Maharishi Patanjali, yoga teachers training
Posted in yama and niyama, Yoga Therapy | 3 Comments »

The Popular Forms of Indian Yoga

Monday, January 10th, 2011

By Gopi Rao

There are many styles of Yoga from India. Most are not nearly as well known as Hatha Yoga, but all are important and have significant relationships to each other. Although there are many styles, the article below will cover the Nine main styles from India.

A. Jnana Yoga, which is known as union by knowledge, is a practice comprised of primarily study and meditation. Jnana Yoga is an intellectual practice.

B. Bhakti Yoga, which means union by love and devotion, is a practice that centers on devotion to God or a guru. Bhakti Yoga is a practice of the heart.

C. Karma Yoga, which is union through rightful action. Karma Yoga is a practice that is defined by right action and selfless service. Karma Yoga is also giving without regard for personal gain.

D. Mantra Yoga, which is union by voice or sound, is the practice of repeating (out loud or within) certain syllables, words or phrases (mantras). Mantra Yoga is a practice, which stems from the throat.

E. Yantra Yoga, which means union though vision. Yantra is the practice of meditating or contemplating on visual objects, which have the power to bring enlightenment to the contemplator.

F. Kundalini Yoga, which is union through arousal of a latent psychic nerve force, is best practiced with a qualified Kundalini Yoga teacher and involves the use of Hatha Yoga and intense meditation to awaken the “sleeping serpent” within. This serpent power is drawn up the spine to the crown of the head to produce enlightenment. Kundalini Yoga is a practice of the unseen, but very powerful, energies that exist within us and surround us.

G. Tantra Yoga, which means union through harnessing the sexual energies is both a term to distinguish physiological systems of yoga with those that are non-physiological and a Yoga practice in which control of sexual energies and union of male and female (literally or imaginatively) play a part.

H. Hatha Yoga, which is union by bodily mastery is the best known and most widely practiced from of Yoga. Sivananda, Iyengar, Bikram, and Kripalu are just a handful of the many Hatha sub-styles. This practice consists of pranayama, meditation, and asanas. Hatha Yoga is a practice of physical and mental mastery.

I. Raja Yoga, which is union by mental mastery involves direct work with mastering consciousness and stilling thought through meditation and Hatha Yoga. Raja (royal) Yoga is said to be the highest form of Yoga. This practice is tied to the Yoga Sutras and particularly, the eight limbs of Yoga.

That defines the main forms of Indian Yoga. The distinctions may still be unclear to you, for good cause. Though each Yoga has a unique and distinguishable emphasis, they are necessarily intertwined. It would be difficult to practice only one type of Yoga without delving into others to lesser and greater degrees.

They are not outlined here or anywhere to represent a list of choices of which a person can only choose one, but to show the doctrine that comprises a practice that has existed for many centuries and takes many forms.

Tags: Hatha Yoga is, Mantra Yoga, popular yoga, Raja Yoga, Yantra Yoga, yoga practice
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Yoga Styles – Trying to Sort Through the Confusion

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

By Amruta Kulkarni

The many different styles of Yoga can be confusing. Most Yoga teacher training programs spend a fair amount of time deciphering the differences. It takes time to realize the subtle differences between these classical styles of Yoga. The most common form of Yoga is Hatha.

Sivananda, Bikram, Iyengar, Kripalu, Restorative, Viniyoga, and Yoga therapy are branches of the Hatha Yoga tree. Even Vinyasa can be a combination of Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is one of the physical branches of Raja. Raja is the mother of modern day Hatha and Ashtanga Vinyasa.

The main Yoga styles are: Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Yantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and Raja Yoga. The Yogas and their specific path may be different, yet their techniques may be intertwined into each other in any non-specific yoga practice.

For example Jnana Yoga guides the Yogini towards seeing her true self, through meditation similar to Raja Yoga, which teaches awareness of the mind through concentration. Bhakti Yoga teaches loving kindness towards one’s self, allowing you to combine it with Karma Yoga, not focusing on the rewards or results of kindness towards all sentient beings, expanding Bhakti (love) outward.

Your practice can deepen by utilizing the techniques of Mantra Yoga, reinforcing the “oneness” through chanting, to your self (in silence) or out loud. Creating awareness of the self, the mind, through sight, could be defined as Yantra Yoga, while performing the postures of Hatha Yoga, incorporating Laya and Kundalini Yoga and their breathing techniques. In other words: It’s hard to be a purist and mixing Yogic techniques has been in practice for thousands of years.

A similar methods in Yoga practice is taking energy from the lower part of the spine all the way up to the mind and Sahasrara chakra. Ending with the same drawing of energy through the chakras as in Tantra Yoga, which gives us the awareness of the “factors” that influence our thinking, the WHY? Tantra Yoga, as traditionally taught in Tibet is one of the paths to Brahman and the absolute (truth).

Amruta Kulkarni is a certified Yoga teacher and an exclusive author for Aura Wellness Center.

Click here for more information about Yoga teacher certification courses by Aura Wellness Center.

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Tags: bhakti yoga, hatha yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Raja Yoga, Tantra Yoga, Yantra Yoga, yoga styles
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Yoga for Children

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

By Candida Vassallo

For this essay, I will show how Yoga for Children will and can work in schools and how it can be included as part of the school curriculum, thereby giving our children opportunity for improved health and wellbeing, and a very valuable life tool. As it is an account of an actual Yoga program I designed and implemented, I have found it important to give a brief history of how the idea evolved, before implementation and design. This, I believe is relevant to the topic of Yoga for Children, and fits with several aspects of Yoga philosophy (ie Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga and some Raja Yoga). It is this preliminary thinking and preparation, I believe, which contributes to the (Yogic) essence of the completed program and its delivery.

Yoga for Children is a topic very close to my heart and as such in early 2002 I began work on designing a program for children to be used in schools.

I called this program Heart Matters. This name, to me, is most appropriate for such a thing, as having worked in a school since 1988, I have seen many children troubled and handicapped by physical, mental and emotional problems, and at the same time, saw many teachers troubled and handicapped in those three ways, but for different reasons than the children. This is on top of the usual everyday school and life stresses which trouble children and teachers and indeed all of us. There was (and is) very much a need for children (and indeed for us all) to feel better in order to be and do better. I realized from the often-times horrors that I saw (drug overdoses, attempted suicides, self-harming as in self-cutting etc., as well as extreme behavior issues stemming from mental/emotional stresses to ADHD and other problems) that no amount of rationalization on its own, was going to penetrate the hearts and minds of these children, and so no positive change could occur. My thinking was and is, that unless one feels better (as opposed to feeling bad for whatever reason) one could not be or do better. The mental aspect was not enough to push through the dark clouds of emotional/mental stress, depression and the like, hanging over these children, to make a positive difference to their behavior, their health or their learning.

I felt strongly that I was in a position to offer a way to make this difference, given my background of study with a spiritual teacher – a Yogacharya (Yogacharya Devidasan Giri, affiliation with Gitananda Ashram, Pondicherry, India) (as of present day my study with him has spanned 12 years, mostly weekly and lately fortnightly, without a break except for 4 weeks over Christmas-times); my teaching diploma and also my deep motivation and passion to pass on my knowledge and experience, particularly in an area such as this, the educative system, with which I was so familiar.

So how does one feel better? To me the answer is clear – through the heart. So I set about to design a program that would connect with the heart of both students and teachers, and be practical for both parties as they influence each other in normal everyday school life, so for this program to work, it also needed to be a tandem effort. It would create a kind of unity within the minds and hearts of students and teachers individually and would also unite them as a group. What better way than through Yoga – the ultimate union.

What then, were the key aspects needing to be taught through this Yoga program? As I said earlier, Heart Matters evolved with the main focus being “feeling better”, in order to ‘do’ and ‘be’ better. My belief is that this can be done by teaching children the necessary skills for the enhancement of calm, mental alertness, focus, physical and emotional resilience, correct posture and general wellbeing – skills that are essential not just in the classroom, but throughout life – and that was another of my aims, to equip students with some fundamental life skills – through Yoga. Unfortunately, in this part of the world, the student is still only seen as an academic/mentally based being, and not much teaching if any, goes into the other aspects of the person, as in the emotional and spiritual. Even with the physical, often this is only looked at from a surface view as in providing physical education and sports programs without considering or integrating any other influences to physical wellbeing, as in emotional and spiritual.

From there a lot of thinking time transpired as to how I would actually implement the program, before I had even thought of the aspects of Yoga I would put in the program. I realized that for me to deliver this in classrooms would be a more than full time occupation, without even thinking of the obstacles of the Education Department accepting and employing me for this project. In 2002, as indeed I believe it is still so now, although not as strongly, there was much more thought by authority powers, given to why this sort of inclusion into the school curriculum couldn’t/shouldn’t be, rather than to why it could/should. No one really wanted to touch such a thing because it was different and new (to this part of the world), it would arouse questions by certain religious groups and parent groups (which it did, to me personally) and I believe these authority powers just didn’t have the insights or expanded vision, or courage to give such a project at least some serious consideration. Although I certainly did try to get them on board.

At the time I was working my own health business on a part-time basis and a part of that was teaching relaxation, meditation, stress management and Yoga to staff members of schools (and was also being asked to run the odd one-off 6-week program and single sessions for students). As well I was being asked to do the same for various other workplaces, from a wellbeing and occupational health perspective. So I realized that people generally were interested and open to participating in this sort of thing in this way – as they would not be held accountable in any way – only I, as the private facilitator/presenter would be. So it became clear to me that if I could offer Heart Matters out of school hours, and as part of my personal business, train teachers to present it to their students, which meant that teachers paid me and they could claim the cost and the hours as Professional Learning, that this would be my and the program’s best chance. From this perspective I would not need to get the whole of the Education Department on board, just my local school Principal and the teachers, and from there other schools would come on board – and this proved not to be too difficult, as I had been in the school system for many years, was known and thankfully trusted. So emerged Heart Matters, for which I am very grateful to the people who trusted me.

I set about designing a program of Yoga for teachers to present to students. This program would need to fit into the school curriculum both for content and duration (so as not to take up set curriculum time during the day, as this would make it unworkable for teachers to include in their day). Whilst teachers were permitted and willing to present the program, they still were not given the time for it, within the curriculum – they had to fit it in – so this narrowed the coverage down a bit as not all teachers were willing to make this effort.

The content of Heart Matters would focus on mental, emotional and physical resilience, physical strength and wellbeing.

My teacher alerted me to an excellent text, which I very gratefully used as a reference, entitled Yoga Education for Children, by Swami Satyananda Saraswati (founder of the Bihar School of Yoga). This book is written as “a guideline for teachers of Yoga to children and based on a considerable number of years of experience and takes into account requirements of children of different ages, abilities and disabilities, as well as some of the constraints imposed by the teaching environments”. It is excellent in many ways, not the least of which is that Swami had been a teacher of English in France, and used Yoga extensively in his classroom. So for me to train teachers and to be able to say my references were from a teacher, who understood classroom demands and accountability, made my job so much easier, in terms of credibility. This was a very important aspect, because if the teachers didn’t believe (and feel for themselves) what I was teaching, then they could not effectively teach it to their students. Also, most if not all schools in South Australia, have a Special Education program catering for children with physical and mental disabilities. My school had the largest of these programs in the state, and I was very keen to make Heart Matters available to both the teachers and students of this program, as Swami Satyananda wrote a special section for children with disabilities, and likewise, when I designed Heart Matters, I devoted a special section, a whole term, to Yoga for the disabled.

Yoga for disabled children (and adults) works very well as it connects them to their heart, their inner self, which is not disabled and is most often the place from where these children shine. It becomes something they look forward to and it brings them joy. Also because they can be like all the other children in the class and not seen to be different. This assimilation of course, occurs for children who are not severely physically or mentally disabled. For those who are, it still works as I have said above, except that I would work with them as a group separately from the mainstream.

As I said earlier, my focus was for children to feel better in order to be better, and I knew that Yoga would do this even if it was in a seemingly small way (although I knew there would be nothing small about it). As well, my aim was to visibly engage the whole person, that is body, mind and spirit (which naturally occurs with Yoga practice but perhaps is not so visible to the novice teacher and student). In order to facilitate this, I knew that firstly, at least improved breathing needed to occur, then the physical body needed to be strengthened, and for mental calm and clarity, relaxation in the form guided imagery needed to also occur – the integration of these three aspects would then engage the spirit to some degree at least.

To that end, Heart Matters Yoga program is specifically for teachers to present to students for the purpose of teaching skills to enhance calm, mental alertness, focus, physical and emotional resilience, correct posture, and wellbeing. The three aspects I speak of above (which comprise the whole Heart Matters session) I broke down for the information of teachers, students and parents as follows:

• Yoga poses for physical wellbeing, flexibility, resilience, posture and balance

• Breath awareness for wellbeing, mental alertness, focus, concentration and clarity

• Relaxation – guided imagery – to enhance calm, clarity and wellbeing

These three segments work together to give the student the above skills and allow the reconnection with the Heart – so that the Heart and Mind can work together.

In everyday busy-ness it is easy to lose connection with the Heart and to operate solely from the Mind. There has been a lot of positive feedback from teachers and students about Heart Matters, as the program has resulted in many benefits for all involved.

Heart Matters is presented each day for 15-20 minutes, usually at the start of the day, but not necessarily or exclusively. It comprises the 3 segments above (Yoga Asanas, Pranayama and Guided Imagery/Relaxation), which work beautifully together, with each session fitting into no more than half an hour – ideally it can fit into 20 minutes (10 minutes for each segment) but of course, it also takes a few minutes to organise a class.

There are 4 levels to Heart Matters, one for each term of the year, and each level is sequential and progressive, so it is a program for the whole of the school year. With this, students have enough time to notice and also feel their improvement and skill growing, and teachers have the year to make assessments of their students, themselves and their teaching. Importantly, the aim is also to see these improvements in life outside the classroom, i.e., in the home, the playground, within their social circles etc., and this is re-enforced throughout the practise of the program. So Yoga becomes a living science for students and teachers, which they can live and use forever if they so wish. I also designed an assessment sheet for each term where teachers could map the improvements in their students and overall class, also their own teaching performance.

Within each term there are six separate sessions, one per week, for six weeks. So the same session is done every day for a week, then teachers move on to the next session for the following week, and so it goes. Whilst the school term is usually at least 10 weeks, I made the levels of six weeks duration, so as to make it easier for teachers to fit it in as at the beginning and end of each term, there are usually other extras they need to fit in and also so that Heart Matters could fit into school life and not take on a stress factor.

Heart Matters greatly benefits teachers as well, by the calm and focus it generates by merely presenting the program. This enhances teaching and learning with focused attention, and provides a calmer and therefore more receptive classroom and a calmer and healthier teacher. In feedback I have received over the years, particular benefits are experienced in relation to physical wellness, to study and exams and the program has specifically shown benefits in subjects including English, story writing, maths, art and physical education. Older students have reported improvements in their sleeping, as in getting to sleep and sleeping better

Teachers attend professional learning sessions (from me) for 6 weeks every term (4 terms) for one hour per week, to learn and feel confident with presenting the weekly sessions to their students. The program is progressive and spans for the whole of the school year. Each week builds on the previous week’s sessions and the program can then be presented to subsequent classes the teacher may have, year after year.

Below are some testimonials from teachers

“Students are calmer, more appreciative and aware of others; keen to discuss the sessions”

“More productive overall”

“A great opportunity for relaxation all round and hence provides improved output”

“Sensed a ‘greater calm’, more focus”

“Calmer, smoother transition into a task”

“Is an important part of anyone’s life; creates balance but needs to be practiced”

“Students much quieter, more focused”

Students ask when doing Heart Matters again, don’t like it when I say ‘not today’ “

“Of benefit to the curriculum”

“I have learned valuable skills which can be used as an extra teaching tool”

“Has helped to develop students’ physical wellbeing”

“Helps me to bring my class to order when unruly or excited by an unexpected event”

“I can use parts of it, particularly the breathing, many times during the day to refocus the class and myself”

“The calm atmosphere is almost tangible when the students are doing Heart Matters, particularly during the breathing and relaxation”

“More orderly and calmer thinking”

This last comment related to a particular incident in when a reception child brought the teacher’s attention to the ‘caterpillar’ at the door. It was regarding how children left their shoes before entering the room for Heart Matters. At first they would throw off their shoes and they would all be in a pile. After a while, the shoes were (without any prompting from the teacher) lined up, two by two in order at the door – looking like a ‘caterpillar’. This to me is Living Yoga!

I believe that my account of this program and how Yoga for Children can be implemented is a living example of what is possible for our children and indeed our future through the practice of Yoga. It is also an example of how our established and entrenched western educative system can hold us all back. I think of Paramhansa Yogananda with his Ranchi School in India, and his close disciple Swami Kriyananda with his Ananda Schools in the United States. Both amazingly dynamic and gigantic human beings and incarnated souls, who worked tirelessly for the educative system and its evolution, and I am saddened to say that it seems to me that the people who need to be listening (those with authority and power) seem not to be. However, I passionately believe it will come about, in time….. the inclusion of skills for living, at least in part, with Yoga being accepted and indeed considered necessary, in our educative systems throughout the world.

Om Tat Sat

Tathaastu: So Be It

Candida Vassallo is a Yoga teacher from South Australia.

Candida Vassallo
Isis Holistic LifeCare Development

www.ntpages.com.au/therapist/15944

http://www.massage-therapy-clovelly-park.websyte.com.au/

http://www.oneworldretreats.com/ubud_bali_yoga_retreat_candida.php

Tags: bhakti yoga, hatha yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, Raja Yoga, yoga for children, yoga for teacher, yoga program, yoga teacher
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MEDITATION… TOWARDS SELF DEVELOPMENT

Monday, January 18th, 2010

By Dr. Rita Khanna

This article is an extension of my last article – Yogic Ways of Cleansing and Seeding the Mind. Before reading this article, you must read that one first.

MEDITATION

The process of Meditation is a part of Raja Yoga. Just as Hatha Yoga is primarily concerned with the body, Raja Yoga is primarily concerned with the mind. The work you have done under the four Sessions (see my last article), will provide you with a very healthy base for Meditation. Therefore, before going on to Meditation, let me briefly sum up the work of those four Sessions:

• All undesirable thoughts have been removed from the mind. The mind has been freed from the burden of unnecessary elements. Your basic desires are now rooted in your mind.

• Steps for proper care, and protection, have been taken to ensure satisfactory growth of the symbolic seeds.

• Steps have also been taken to weed out the unwanted growth from the vicinity of the planted seeds.

• The seeds, which were planted a few weeks ago, have become plants; and they are in a very healthy condition. Their growth is satisfactory. They are well protected, getting proper nourishment, and are growing fast to become healthy trees.

CLARIFICATION OF A FEW ASPECTS

Meditation concerns your past, present, and future. The past performances are analyzed to see what improvement could be made in the future. The present problems, likewise, are considered to see what needs to be done today or tomorrow; what requires priority; and what is the best way of doing it. Everything concerning the present activities is taken into consideration and analyzed, evaluated, and planned afresh.

The future has a lot of importance in Meditation. What you have done, during the four Sessions, also relates to your past, present, and future; but the basic difference between the two phases is that the work of the previous lessons will not be repeated – unless extremely necessary. What you are going to do from now on will be repeated.

BASIC STEPS OF MEDITATION

There are three basic steps of Raja Yoga. They are Dharana (Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation), and Samadhi (Contemplation). Basically, there are only two major divisions of the steps of Raja Yoga – Concentration and Meditation. Concentration is one-pointedness of the mind. By mastering the skill of concentration, the fluctuation of the mind is controlled.

Meditation goes further. Through Meditation, the individual not only concentrates one-pointedly, but also uses his mental faculties to analyze and evaluate his thoughts, plans, and actions in a proper and desirable manner. One finds out what is right and what is wrong in one’s daily actions, and what needs to be done to improve performance. One becomes equipped to re-establish oneself on its own, when one had erred in certain situations and conditions. One masters the art of overcoming obstructions and hindrances.

FIRST SESSION (PREPRATION FOR MEDITATION)

PLACE

You can meditate in any place where you have privacy. It should be neat, clean, peaceful, with plenty of fresh air, and free from insects. You can sit on a blanket, a mattress, or a carpet. Preferably, Mediation should be practiced on a padded floor. Those who find it difficult to sit on the floor may use a chair.

BODY CONDITION

At the time of Mediation, the body should not be heavy with food, but neither should the individual feel hungry. A gap of two hours should be given after breakfast, and a gap of three to four hours, after lunch or dinner. The practitioner should be neat, clean, and free from the effects of drugs, alcohol, and smoking. The body should not feel tired, tense, or uneasy. The practitioner should wear light clothes and should not be in a hurry.

TIME

Practice Meditation at a fixed hour every day. Mornings and evenings are good times. However, in special circumstances, it can be practiced at any time, according to the convenience of the individual. For practicing at odd times, the body condition must fulfill the above-mentioned requirement.

DURATION

For this process of Meditation, a period of three to five minutes is quite sufficient and satisfactory. Practitioners are advised not to devote more than ten minutes of one sitting. Putting in more time is quite unnecessary. The ideal practicing time is about five minutes.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The practitioner should remain sitting in the chosen Meditative pose, undisturbed from the beginning to the end of the Session. There should be no disturbance. If for some unavoidable reason, one is disturbed while meditating, the Session should be terminated. In other words, when you sit for Meditation, remain undisturbed for a period of three to five minutes or for as long as you are meditating.

MEDITATION POSTURE SUKHASANA

Be seated on the floor – in the Sukhasana (easy pose). For performing the Sukhasana, fold your right leg at the knee and bring the foot in front. Let the thigh and the knee rest on the floor as much as possible. Then fold your left leg at the knee and put the left foot on the right leg. Your left leg should rest on the right leg. Those, who can’t sit in the Sukhasana pose on the floor, are advised to sit on a chair.

Sit erect with the spine, neck, and head in one line. The left hand should be brought to the lap first and then the right hand put on the left hand. Now, close your eyes and relax the body. There should be no stiffness in the body. Though the body is erect, it should not be strained and stiff.

GUIDELINES

Before starting the actual Mediation, practice the preparatory posture for a few days. Remain seated in the Mediation pose for about three to five minutes at one stretch. When you are accustomed to the position, and feel comfortable, your Session in Mediation begins. A practice for two to five days should be enough to acquire ease in this sitting practice.

SECOND SESSION (ACTUAL MEDITATION)

• Be seated for meditation. See that you are sitting properly. Close your eyes… breathe normally… be mentally at peace… see in your mind what you desire the most…

• Try to make a clear picture in your mind of your Desire Number One… try to visualize its shape and details as accurately as possible… this should take about half a minute… when visualization occurs, concentrate on the mental vision and say to yourself mentally, “This is what I want… This is what I wish to have…”

• Now, visualize your Desire Number Two… make a comprehensive picture of the desired object… when the visualization occurs, even for a few seconds, say to yourself mentally, “This is what I wish to acquire next… This is what I wish to have…”

• If you have a third desire, and have planted the seed for it, then visualize your Desire Number three… visualize it for a few seconds… then say to yourself mentally, “This also I wish to have…”

• After visualizing and concentrating your mental energy, to intensify the wish for the fulfillment of your long-cherished desires, let the mind perceive and think of those things which have importance in your present and future life. Let the mind consider those items, one-by-one, and meditate on them.

SOME EXAMPLES:

• Picture the mental health you wish to acquire and say to yourself, “I wish to become like this…” (Go into detail).

• Say to yourself, “I am changing. I am correcting myself. I am improving and changing myself into a better, happy, healthy, and prosperous person.”

• Say to yourself, “I do not want to harm anyone. I do not harbor any ill-feeling, hatred, jealousy, and a desire for vengeance against anyone. I do not think ill of others”.

• “I realize that I have made some errors and mistakes. I accept them. I have learned lessons from those mistakes, and I am not going to repeat them again. Those lessons have made me a better person now. I do not have any feeling of sin or guilt for those wrongs. Those were only mistakes”. “It is possible that I might make mistakes, and even blunders, in the future. When I know that I am wrong, I will correct myself. I consider making errors naturally in the process of human growth.”

• “I am going to see all these things fulfilled – some tomorrow, some the day after, some in months to come, and some in years to come. What I wish to acquire – I am going to have.”

• After meditating on these various aspects of your life, let the mind analyze, examine, and think of anything else that comes to your mind naturally… let the positive thoughts come into the mind… do not bring the negative thoughts back into the mind…

• In case, during Meditation you feel that certain elements, forces, or people are trying to create hindrances and obstacles in your way… consider them as forces of obstruction… consider them as undesirable elements… just tell them mentally to fly out or run away… they will have to run away and fly out because they can not stand against the power of the individual who is making efforts toward self development…

• When you have spent about five to ten minutes in Meditation, end the session. Slowly open your eyes. Remain seated for a while in the same position. Get up slowly after half a minute, and then walk slowly for a few steps. Your session is over.

THIRD SESSION (VISUALIZATION AND MEDITATION)

VISUALIZATION

Now, you are going to Meditate in a very comprehensive way. Carefully follow the instructions given below:

• Lie down on your back on a carpeted floor… keep your eyes closed… breathe in a normal way…let every part of your body rest loosely on the floor… now start breathing deeply…

• While breathing, you must make deep and prolonged inhalations and exhalations…your stomach should rise while inhaling… and go down while exhaling… there is expansion… and contraction… of the abdominal muscles in this deep breathing…

• Gently, bring your right hand onto the stomach… put your palm flat on the stomach, without exerting any pressure… the hand should just rest on the stomach… then inhale slowly, but deeply… take in as much air as possible… while inhaling, let the stomach expand… your hand on the stomach will also rise as an indication of the upward expansion… after you have inhaled, pause for a second…then start exhaling slowly… the stomach will contract and come down… contract the stomach as much as possible… when the exhalation is complete, pause for a second… then, start inhaling again as before… always remember to pause for a second after each inhalation and exhalation… do ten rounds of this inhaling and exhaling… In this deep breathing, the mouth should remain closed throughout. Breathing should be done through the nostrils.

• After completing ten rounds of deep breathing, put your right hand on the floor. Let the body be completely relaxed. Feel as if you are going to take a nap for a few seconds. Stay in this relaxed conditions for three to five minutes.

• After relaxing completely, for about five minutes, become mentally alert…focus your mental attention on your toes, then move gently towards the knees…the thighs… waist… spine… shoulders… neck… and move to the area of the head… now, proceed gently to the area of the mind… let the mind see the mind… let the mind visualize the transformed condition of the mind… visualize patiently and slowly… what do you see…

• You see a big change on the mental horizon… the seeds which were planted some time ago have now become plants… they look very healthy… the plants are well protected… there are no weeds around them… the whole area appears neat, clean, and decent…the fence around the plants is intact… the plants are getting the necessary nourishments… they are growing without hindrance and developing satisfactorily…

• The healthy condition of the plants generates a hope that your desires are going to be fulfilled… it shows that you have made good progress compared to what you were before… your progress towards fulfillment will be in accordance with the condition of the plants…

• Now, breathe deeply twice… then open your eyes… keep lying on the floor for a few seconds… after ten to fifteen seconds, sit up slowly for Meditation…

MEDITATION

• Sit in a Meditation pose… be quiet for a while… close your eyes… be at ease… then begin to meditate on things concerning your present and future life in a systematic and coherent way…

• Meditate on your Desire Number One first… spend about thirty seconds on various aspects of this desire… similarly spend about thirty seconds on your Desire number Two and Three respectively…

• Then Meditate on what you plan to do today and tomorrow… evaluate and analyze whether things are being done correctly… try to find out if you have made any mistake or error in your various activities… if you have made any mistake, accept it as your fault… say to yourself that you will not repeat those mistakes in the future…

• Say to yourself that you are not thinking of harming others… you have no jealousy or feelings of hatred against others… you are using your powers to make yourself a better, healthy, and prosperous individual… conclude your session by saying, “I am changing… I am improving… I am becoming healthy… attractive… powerful… I possess sound, physical and mental powers… I am going to use them in a creative and constructive way…. I am going to do wonders… I am happy to see my own progress…”

• Allow some time for Meditation on those aspects, which come to your mind, automatically and naturally, during Mediation. You can follow the pattern of Meditation, as suggested in the previous Session. When you have meditated for about five to ten minutes, end this Session, by just opening your eyes. Remain seated for about half a minute after the Meditation. Then get up slowly. The Session is over.

ADVICE AND CAUTION FOR REGULAR MEDITATION

• Practice Meditation, at least five days in a week, at a regular hour, unless there are some unavoidable reasons. In case your daily routine is disturbed for one reason, or another, and your Meditation is discontinued for some days, begin the practice all over again. The gap of a few days should not discourage you from continuing Meditation.

• Meditation can be performed immediately after Shavasana, if you are practicing Hatha Yoga.

• When your desires are fulfilled, your new desires should be according to your changing conditions and requirements. Meditate on them during your Meditation period.

• Occasionally, say – at the interval of few months, practice visualization of your mind by lying on the floor, according to the technique already explained. This visualization should be done just before you are going to meditate.

• Meditation can be practiced by any person, of any age, or sex, for curative, preventive, and creative purposes.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude by saying – that if you continue to practice Meditation regularly, you will always maintain sound mental health and power. In case you are faced with a difficult or unpleasant situation, Meditation will serve as a tool, an instrument, or a technique for overcoming the problem. You will be able to maintain a normal life, with the enhanced power of your mind, and the unforeseen obstructions. It would, indeed, help to maintain the excellence of both body and mind.

Om Shanti

If you feel inspired by this article, feel free to publish it in your Newsletter or on your Website. Our humble request is to please include the Resource as follows: Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna’s Yogashaastra Studio. A popular studio that helps you find natural solutions for complete health.

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Dr. Rita Khanna

At present, Dr. Rita Khanna is running a Yoga Studio in Secunderabad (Hyderabad, India).

Tags: basic steps of Raja Yoga, for Meditation, Hatha Yoga is, Meditation is, Meditative pose, part of Raja Yoga, Raja Yoga, to Meditation
Posted in Meditation, Recent Articles | 1 Comment »

YOGIC WAYS OF CLEANSING AND SEEDING THE MIND

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

By Dr. Rita Khanna

The cleansing and the seeding techniques are a part of Raja Yoga. In Yogic terms, the process of cleansing is called Shuddhi-Kriya or Shuddhikaran; and the process of seeding is called Beeeja-Dharan or Beeja-Mantra. Cleansing is a process of removing the thoughts causing disorders, notions, and erroneous perceptions from the mind. The seeding is a process of planting creative, constructive, and cherished ideas and thoughts in the mind. By the cleansing process, the mind is purified. By the process of seeding, the individual makes further positive gains. These techniques can be used by those who are mentally unwell, and also, by those who are already mentally healthy.

HOW TO PERFORM THESE TECHNIQUES

Both of these techniques are primarily concerned with the mind. Hence, in order to perform the steps of cleansing and seeding properly, an understanding of the mind is essential. So let me explain first certain peculiarities of the mind. The mind holds thoughts, which may be desirable or undesirable. Certain thoughts are held firmly by the mind. They do not fade out quickly, or easily, even when the individual has tried many times to get rid of them. A sick mind accumulates undesirable thoughts, beliefs – strange and peculiar notions – in the same way as a garbage bin. These undesirable thoughts may have been in the mind in the early childhood, and remained intact – even when the individual is fully grown. Many of these thoughts dominate the mind of the individual and prevent him from accomplishing anything new. The individual feels trapped and helpless because he cannot control them. They play a negative role in his life and destroy the health of the mind. Therefore, it is necessary to let go of all the old undesirable thoughts, in order to liberate the mind from its own entrapment.

GUIDELINES FOR USING THE TECHNIQUES

• People who cannot comprehend, and fully grasp the technique and process of this section, due to the present state of their mental health, are advised to seek the assistance of their family member or the help of some professionals dealing with mental health.

• For the healthy mind, the application of this technique does not create any problem. They can use it themselves; but they are advised to first read carefully, understand, and grasp all of the following four lessons before starting the actual practice. Just before using a particular lesson, they should read it once more. This would facilitate the application of the technique.

FIRST SESSION (PREPARATION)

• Turn off the light in the room. Lie down on your back on a carpeted floor… close your eyes until you are asked to open them… relax completely… let every part of your body rest loosely on the floor… make sure there is no tension anywhere….keep your breathing normal…

• Now, do deep breathing exercises for a while. In this deep breathing, there are deep, and prolonged, inhalations and exhalations. There is no retention of the breath. When you inhale your stomach should rise… when you exhale your stomach should come down… there is expansion and contraction of the abdominal muscles in this deep breathing exercises … one inhalation and one exhalation make one round…

• Practice this deep breathing for about ten rounds… then relax… let the whole body be loose… keep breathing normally… imagine you are going to sleep…

• After relaxing for about five minutes, become awake and alert – while keeping your eyes closed… now, direct your mental attention towards your toes… then mentally move slowly, and gently, upwards over the knee… the thighs… the spine… then the neck… now, move slowly towards the head area… stay there for a second…then move mentally into the area of the mind…enter the area of the mind and stay there…

• Now, try to mentally see the condition of the mind… visualize the complete whole…see it in detail, patiently… be quiet and attentive… see as much of the details of the mind as possible… what do you see there?…what does the mind see in your mind?… there is some accumulation of undesirable material… It might appear to you as a heap of garbage… or some waste paper… or cobwebs… covering the whole mental horizons…the mind seems to be loaded with filth and dirt… do you see it?… try to see it… try to see what is piled up there on the mental horizon in an undesirable way…locate and identify everything… stay on the spot for a few seconds…

• Visualization, for about ten seconds, is quite sufficient. Then, open your eyes slowly…inhale and exhale deeply – twice…remain lying on the floor, in a relaxed position, for a few seconds…then, slowly sit up.

ACTUAL TECHNIQUE OF THE CLEANSING PROCESS

After the visualization has been done, the cleansing process will begin by the mind itself. The mind here plays a dual role. It works as a patient – at the same time, it treats and corrects itself, as if a doctor’s mind is correcting the patient’s mind.

• Lie down on your back on a carpeted floor… close your eyes… let the body be completely relaxed… make sure there is no tension anywhere….keep your breathing normal…feel as if you are going to sleep… after you have relaxed for five minutes, become mentally alert…keep your eyes closed throughout this process… and follow the steps described below:

• Focus your mental attention towards your toes… direct your attention from the toes to the area of the thighs…then move mentally towards the waist…then over the spine…towards the neck…then move slowly towards the area of the head….now, move gently to the area of the mind…let the mental-eye visualize the existing condition of the mind for a few seconds… identify and locate the undesirable thoughts in the mind again, and consider them as dirt and filth… consider them, as if they are covering the surface of the mind like a cobweb…

• After visualizing the condition of the mind for a few seconds, prepare yourself for cleaning the filth and dirt from the mind… imagine that you are going to clean it with a brush and a piece of cloth…

• Now pick up the brush (mentally) in your right hand… start brushing and cleaning the filth with the brush, gently…imagine that you are breaking the cobwebs and collecting the filth from all the corners… after collecting it, imagine that you are throwing the garbage outside… throw it all out… keep doing this until you feel it is all out of the mind… You have completed the first round of cleansing…

• Now start the second round of cleansing… again, use the brush for cleaning every nook and corner of the mind… do not rush… work patiently at your ease… keep cleaning until you are fully satisfied… collect whatever filth is still left and throw it all out…

• After the brushing has been completed start the polishing… gently push the brush aside… pick up a fine piece of cloth in your right hand and begin polishing the whole area of the mind until it is shining and bright… do it slowly and gently… try to reach every nook and corner of the mind and make it shine all over…

• Now, begin a second round of polishing… see if any other area of the mind needs polishing… polish it to your full satisfaction… see that the whole area is neat… clean, decent, and free from dirt… then, withdraw your hand… put away the cleaning cloth… and relax…

• Breathe deeply twice…then open your eyes and remain lying on the floor in a relaxed condition for a while… then slowly sit up…then stand up slowly…now, you have completed the first session of cleansing the mind.

GUIDELINES

Once the cleansing of the mind has been done, it need not be repeated. However, in case you are not satisfied with your cleansing during the first session – repeat it after a gap of one or two days.

SECOND SESSION (SEEDING OR BEEJA-DHARAN)

Seeding should be held three or four days after the cleansing process of the mind. It can be done after two days, only; but do not delay it for more than seven days. To perform seeding properly, you first need to understand what is meant by seed.

MEANING OF SEED

A seed symbolizes and represents your desire. It is a crystallized form of your most cherished desires and wants. An individual may have many desires; but a few are more important than others. Out of these, select the most important desire and let us call it Desire Number One, the most dominant desire… then select the Desire Number Two…if you feel that there is something important, not covered under your desire one and two, then make one more desire and make it Desire Number Three… but it is not necessary to lengthen the list of desires… now, your most important desires have been identified and recognized. These three desires are the three seeds. As a seed sprouts, grows, becomes a tree, and begins to bear fruit, so is the case with your desire. When your desire, in the form of a seed, is implanted, it will sprout, grow, and then it will begin to bear fruit. The gradual development of the plant will be an indicator of the fulfillment of your desire.

PREPRATION FOR SEEDING THE MIND

• Lie down on your back on a carpeted floor… keep your eyes closed… breathe in a normal way…let every part of your body rest loosely on the floor… now, start breathing deeply…

• While breathing, you must make deep, and prolonged, inhalations and exhalations…your stomach should rise while inhaling… and go down while exhaling… there is expansion… and contraction… of the abdominal muscles in this deep breathing…

• Gently, bring your right hand onto the stomach… put your palm flat on the stomach, without exerting any pressure… the hand should just rest on the stomach… then inhale slowly but deeply… take in as much air as possible… while inhaling, let the stomach expand… your hand on the stomach will also rise as an indication of the upward expansion… after you have inhaled, pause for a second. ..then start exhaling slowly… the stomach will contract and come down… contract the stomach as much as possible… when the exhalation is complete, pause for a second… then start inhaling again as before… always remember to pause for a second, after each inhalation and exhalation… do ten rounds of this inhaling and exhaling… In this deep breathing, the mouth should remain closed throughout. Breathing should be done through the nostrils.

• After completing ten rounds of deep breathing, put your right hand on the floor. Let the body be completely relaxed. Feel as if you going to take a nap for a few seconds. Stay in this relaxed conditions for three to five minutes.

• When you have rested for about five minutes, get mentally alert. You are now going to do the seeding according to the method described below:

TECHNIQUE OF SEEDING THE MIND

• Remain lying on your back – on the carpeted floor… keep your eyes closed… focus your mental attention on your toes… move mentally upwards towards the knees… then towards the thighs… the spine… then the neck… then move into the area of the mind… let the mind see the mind…When you have entered the area of the mind, visualize clearly what has been done there during the previous session…

• Let the mind now see how neat, clean, and decent the mind appears, after the garbage and filth have been removed, and the whole area has been polished to shine brightly…the mind is free from the load of undesirable thoughts…there is now plenty of space in the mind for planting new thoughts…being free from what was undesirable…the mind is now ready to accept and hold what is given to it as new and desirable…

TECHNIQUE OF ACTUAL SEEDING

• Mentally pick up the seed, which represents your Desire Number One in your right hand…take it to the cleaned area of the mind… and plant it there…imagine you are putting it underneath the mental soil, and cover it up – as a seed is put in the soil and covered… when the seed is planted properly…withdraw your hand gently…

• Now pick up seed number two, which represents your Desire Number Two…take it into the area of the mind and plant it there at some distance from seed number one… put it underneath the mental soil properly… cover it up and then withdraw your hand…

• Then pick up the seed representing your Desire Number Three… take this seed into the area of the mind, and plant it at some distance from the two previously planted seeds…plant it properly…

• Now, see that all the three seeds, representing your three basic desires, have been planted properly…they are now rooted in the mind…let your mind see clearly how well the seeds have been planted there…feel the pleasure of doing something marvelous… unique…and new….this is the birth of a new idea and process in you… you are no longer the same person mentally… a big change has taken place in your mind…what was burdensome… undesirable… and filthy… has been discarded completely from the mind… what is pleasant… promising… and… rewarding… has been given place in the mind…let the mind feel the pleasure of this new event in your life…

• With these pleasant feelings… remain lying on the floor… in the same position for about one minute….then open your eyes slowly… Inhale and exhale deeply twice….now, sit up gradually….then get up, but make sure all your movements are slow for a few seconds…

GUIDELINES

• The seeding needs to be done only once. If you feel that the seeding was not done properly, during the second session, repeat it – after giving a gap of 24 hours before the third session. Your third session (protection and care) should be performed within a week – any time after two days of the second session.

THIRD SESSION (PROTECTION AND CARE)

After having done the seeding properly, we now have to see that the seeds are well protected and get proper nourishment for their healthy growth. Special attention has to be given to protection of the seeds from, possibly, harmful elements. Various contradictory and opposing forces, or elements, are present in society, in nature, and in the universe. They may harm your new creation -intentionally or unintentionally. They might injure your freshly planted seeds, if you leave them unprotected. You are, therefore, advised to use the following techniques to protect the plants.

PREPRATION FOR PROTECTING THE PLANTS

• Lie down on the floor on your back…relax completely…let every part of your body be loose and unrestrained…keep the eyes closed….breathe normally… now, follow the technique of complete relaxation, as you have done during the second session…remain in this relaxed position for about five minutes…

• After relaxing for the desired period, be mentally alert and direct your mental attention towards your toes….move mentally towards the thighs… then towards the knees… the spine and the neck….then go to the areas of the head…stay there for a few seconds….now, move gently into the area of the mind….let the mind see the mind….stay there and watch attentively….what do you notice?… the mind appears to be transformed…the filth and undesirable material is gone… three seeds, representing your three important desires, are planted there….they are in a good shape….they are about to sprout… they appear to be in a healthy condition and are very pleasing to look at…

• Imagine that you are going to put a fence around the seeded plants in your mind….after this fence has been erected, the plants will be quite safe…no unfavorable and undesirable forces, or elements, will be able to intrude inside the fence….be mentally prepared… and… alert….draw a circle around the planted seeds in your mind… with your right index finger…..the circle will work as a fence…

• No disturbing elements on earth can come within the circle….the plants will remain safe therein….the seeds will sprout and grow properly…..they are soon going to become very strong and big….they will then be able to take care of themselves… now, you have to see that they continue to get proper nourishment for their healthy growth…

ACTUAL TECHNIQUE TO PROTECT THE PLANTS

• Visualize, mentally, that our plants are getting the due nourishment… there is a supply of enough light… air… and moisture…the condition of the soil is healthy… and… good… your plants are getting the right amount of all these nourishing properties – essential for their healthy growth… Feel the pleasure of this new development in you… something unique has taken shape… as the planted seeds grow and develop, you will see signs of fulfillment in days to come… now open your eyes slowly… breathe deeply -twice… remain lying on the floor for a few seconds… then get up slowly… the third session ends here.

GUIDLINES

• Once the steps of protection have been taken, they need not to be repeated.

• Do not tell others what you have done on the mental level. Keep it a secret until the plants are fully grown trees.

FOURTH SESSION (WEEDING AND GROWTH)

The fourth session should be held two weeks after the second session. The time gap is necessary to let the seeds germinate and grow. During this session, you are going to watch how the planted seeds are progressing and what needs to be done for their proper growth and development. It is just possible that some weeds may have also grown around the plants. The weeds need to be removed so that they do not stifle the growth of the plants.

PREPRATION FOR PULLING OUT WEEDS

• Lie down on the floor on your back…relax completely…let every part of your body be loose and unrestrained…keep the eyes closed….breathe normally… now – follow the technique of complete relaxation, as you have done during the second session….

• When the deep breathing is over, let the body be completely relaxed. Stay in this relaxed condition for about three minutes. Then, get mentally alert and ready.

ACTUAL TECHNIQUE FOR PULLING OUT WEEDS

• Focus your mental attention towards the area of the head… let the mind enter into the area of your mind… stay there… let the mind see the plants in detail…they are at some distance from one another and look healthy… try to see if there are weeds around those plants… these weeds must be uprooted and thrown out…

• Imagine that you are taking your right hand into the area of the mind… bring your right hand within the circle… pull out the weeds one by one… pull them out gradually and patiently… do not rush… keep picking them out until all are uprooted….collect them and throw them out…

• Enter the area of the mind again… and see that there is nothing left, except those three seeded plants inside the circle… make the whole area quite neat and clean… see that the roots of the plants are properly covered by the soil… now, the plants are free from the weeds… make the soil around the plants even and clean… then withdraw your hand from the circle, slowly… keep your eyes closed…

• Look at the plants again… now what do you see?… they are all healthy looking… they are quite safe and are growing nicely… there are no disturbing elements to obstruct their growth… they are getting proper nourishment.

• Let the mind see these aspects in detail… think of the pleasant development taking shape in your mind… feel the pleasure and happiness of visualizing these new developments. .. after visualizing the growth of the plants, and thinking of these pleasant developments for a minute or so, open your eyes slowly… breathe deeply twice… remain lying on the floor for a few seconds… then get up slowly… the fourth session is over.

SUGGESTIONS FOR ALL THE TECHNIQUES

• Your work from the first to the fourth session is not to be repeated unless extremely necessary. However, if you wish to repeat certain aspects of these four sessions – such as cleansing, nourishing, and protecting – do it only once or twice a year at the most.

• The work you learned, and practiced, during the four sessions, is enough to restore your normal mental health. In fact, for the restoration of your mental health, cleansing was enough. The practice of seeding was to strengthen your mental health and power.

• By the steps of cleansing, the disorders of the mind are removed, and by steps of seeding, you have gained strength – and at the same time, prevented further disorder. What you have gained, in terms of mental health and strength, need to be sustained by you. This – you can do by practicing meditation.

• If at a later date you have more desires, you need not repeat this process, if you are practicing meditation. The reason is that since your mind is already disciplined and trained, it is not difficult for the mind to hold any further new desires that you might have in the future. The process of meditation helps you accomplish the fulfillment of those new desires. Steps of meditation will be explained in the next article.

Om Shanti.

Mobile: + 919849772485

Ph:-91-40-65173344

Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Website: www.yogashaastra.in

Dr. Rita Khanna

At present, Dr. Rita Khanna is running a Yoga Studio in Secunderabad (Hyderabad, India).

Tags: Beeja-Mantra, part of Raja Yoga, Raja Yoga, Shuddhi-Kriya, the healthy mind, yoga teachers training, Yogic terms, yogic ways
Posted in Yoga for Emotional Health, Yoga for Health, Yoga for Mental Health | 12 Comments »

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