Tag: life source

Swadhaya through Pranayama

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Our breathing not only connects us with the outer world, but it also connects our body, mind, emotions and spirit. Sit quietly with eyes closed and spine erect but supple.  Begin to relax more and more into this very simple posture. Simply follow the breath going in and out of one’s nose. Then follow the actual movement of the air into and out of the lungs. Observe the body and sense where the breath is taking place. Does it take place in the shoulders, the chest or the lower abdomen? Do your shoulders go up when you inhale? does your belly go out or in? Do you feel your breathing in your ribs, your back and your pelvis? As you sense your breathing, are your inhalations and exhalations taking place evenly and harmoniously or do they seem to pull in one direction or another? What tensions do you feel? What does your breathing ‘sound’ like? As you sense the location of your breath, do you feel peaceful, agitated, angry, joyful, sad, bored or wilful? Are you being stubborn or rigid in your thinking? What are you thinking and feeling?

In addition, at the more advanced levels of this work with breathing, one can even sense a certain quality of energy that seems to enter with each breath, and one can follow the movement of this energy in one’s body. The purpose here is simply to observe – not to analyze, judge or manipulate.

Do self-study at least 20 minutes at the beginning of each day.

Swadhyaya through Yoga

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Yoga is a philosophy of life, which is not restricted to just Asanas and Pranayama. It is a path of all-round development of an individual’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. As the Vishnu-Purana states that self-study and yoga are not ultimately two separate things but both arise together from each other. Through Yoga and study, we have a chance to observe how our bodies, breath, mind and emotions have responded. For example, when you do a Yoga pose, you follow instructions. You learn as to how to get into the pose and how to align all body parts in tune with gravity. This is just the knowledge and the foundation of the yoga posture. But the power of the practice comes when we add observation or consciousness to the knowledge i.e Swadhyaya. Though consciousness already exists in the body, it needs to be tapped through Swadhyaya. Then in each pose, we align the body mindfully in tune with gravity for maximum balance, space and freedom to the spine, inner organs and to the breath. This observation leads to a deeper understanding and a communion with each asana. In the same way you can add the quality of curiosity, observation and exploration in each step of your life. Whatever you do, do it mindfully and consciously instead of doing it mechanically. It is true that mechanical repetition only dulls, but where there is profound attention one never stops seeing deeper and deeper. The next time you step into your Yoga pose or into your daily routine, add Swadhyaya to it.

Breathing Meditation

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Generally, the purpose of breathing meditation is to calm the mind and develop inner peace.  We can use breathing meditations alone or as a preliminary practice to reduce our distractions.

Simple Breathing Meditation

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing meditation. We choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. The most important thing is to keep our back straight to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.

We sit with our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils, without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything else.

At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain focused single-pointedly on the sensation of the breath. If we discover that our mind has wandered and is following our thoughts, we should immediately return it to the breath. We should repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on the breath.

Benefits of Meditation

If we practice patiently in this way, gradually our distracting thoughts will subside and we will experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation. Our mind will feel lucid and spacious and we will feel refreshed. When the sea is rough, sediment is churned up and the water becomes murky, but when the wind dies down the mud gradually settles and the water becomes clear. In a similar way, when the otherwise incessant flow of our distracting thoughts is calmed through concentrating on the breath, our mind becomes unusually lucid and clear. We should stay with this state of mental calm for a while.

Even though breathing meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful. We can see from this practice that is is possible to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions.

When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subsides and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally arises from within.  This feeling of contentment and well-being helps us to cope with the busyness and difficulties of daily life. So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind, and many of the problems we experience, including ill health, are caused or aggravated by this stress. Just by doing breathing meditation for ten or fifteen minutes each day, we will be able to reduce this stress. We will experience a calm, spacious feeling in the mind, and many of our usual problems will fall away. Difficult situations will become easier to deal with, we will naturally feel warm and well disposed towards other people, and our relationships with others will gradually improve.

TEN RULES FOR LONG LIFE

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1.   Listen to your body and understand its needs – both physical and emotional

2.   Live in the present – do not worry about the future or hold on to the past

3.   Take time to mediate and silence your internal dialogue

4.   Stop looking for approval from other people – you are the only judge that matters

5.   Learn to deal with anger

6.   Accept that you create your own world – the world ‘out there’ is all a projection of your inner world

7.   Do not judge

8.   Do not contaminate your body with toxins – either through food and drink or negative emotions

9.   Forget old hurts – replace fear motivated behaviour with love motivated behaviour

10. Live in balance with the world, accept that you are linked to all creation