A Zen Master was chased by a tiger. He jumped over a cliff to escape and found himself hanging from a vine. He looked up and saw the tiger waiting patiently. He looked down and saw a second tiger waiting below. Two mice began gnawing through the vine. Just then the Zen Master saw a strawberry growing wild on the cliff. He picked it. How sweet it tastes!
The Sixth limb of Raja Yoga is called Dharana. Dharana is the practice of Concentration. Most minds lack Dharana to a greater or lesser degree and thus are scattered, agitated, distracted, foolish, dull, and/or stupid. Without the ability to concentrate and focus, nothing can be mastered.
Once Dharana has been learned, the mind becomes closely attentive and the mental faculties are focussed upon a single point. Such a person has superior mental powers, and knows his desires. The ability to know one's desire, and to marshall all aspects of body and mind in the pursuit of said desire can be dangerous. Such a person cuts through society like a hot knife through butter. There is a tendency to pursue the desired object with out regard to the cost to others, and thus to generate great misery. This power can also serve to inflate the ego and thus lead the student off of the path of Raja Yoga. For this reason, Dharana is attempted only After the senses (and thus desires) have been brought under control through the practice of Pratyahara.
For a person who has mastered Dharana it is not enough to avoid the trap of pursuing Desires, for this still leaves them adrift in life without direction. The seventh limb of Raja Yoga, Dhyana (contemplation), provides that direction. Once Dharana has been mastered and the mind has been focussed to a single point, that point is placed squarely and unwaveringly upon God.
How does one learn the practice of Dharana? There are many, many different techniques for mastering Dharana. In fact, Life can be viewed as nothing more than an ongoing series of opportunities to practice Dharana. Washing dishes can be approached as an act of worship. Through the perfection of the washing of dishes you can experience Zen. Walking is a great opportunity for Dharana. Walk without destination... slowly, reverently, with great attention to walking. Eyes focussed upon nothing, mind focussed upon nothing. Driving a car is a wonderful opportunity to merge with the car, the traffic, the ebb and flow of life. The two most reliable techniques for achieving Dharana is concentration upon the symbol AUM, and upon the breath using the optional silent mantra of So-Han with each breath.
Two things destroy concentration... boredom and fear.
Fear is always a result of your goals being set too high in relation to your abilities. For example, if someone holds a gun to your head and you experience fear, it is a direct result of your goals being set to high. You want to live, and this is no longer within your ability to control, and so you experience fear. If you can let go of the goal to live, and choose a new goal, in keeping with your abilities in the present situation you can again acheive focus. Perhaps your new goal could be to understand the person holding the gun. What is interesting is that once you choose an appropriate goal and regain your powers of concentration, you are able to maneuver more skillfully and outcomes improve.
Boredom is always the result of setting your goals too low with respect to your abilities. Choose goals that challenge with out intimidating and you will live a life with more flow, more concentration and less boredom and fear.
The state of deep concentration - Dharana - is what we all are looking for in our lives. At work, on dates, in our hobbies, we are all trying to avoid boredom and fear, we are all seeking flow or peak performance, or what we call inYoga... Dharana.
The story I opened this lecture with has grown to be one of my favorites. While camping on the Olympic Peninsula in late October I took a hike up into the virgin-rain forest covered mountains. I set off cross country and alone, with a hand drawn map and a heavy coat looking for an adventure. After several hours I found the creek that drained from 'Mink Lake' and set off to follow it up stream to the lake. This plan was soon abandoned as I faced a series of vertical waterfalls that spilled over 20-60 foot sheer walls. Now I started cutting up the side of the valley keeping the stream to my left. I climbed higher and higher and the terrain became more and more impassable. I drove myself relentlessly through the rain.
By three o'clock I decided to cut straight up the side of the mountain, the shortest route to the hike trail. The slopes ranged from 70` to 90` in places and I found myself climbing now. Still no trail. By four o’clock, the very real possibility of spending the night on the mountain encouraged me to abandon my search for the path. I started cutting diagonally down the side of the mountain towards the campsite. At one point I saw a lake far, far beneath me and I redoubled my descent, thinking I had somehow stumbled onto 'Mink Lake', but as I at last drew near, the lake dissolved into clouds and I found myself descending through heavy fog.
Time and again I found myself trapped by cliffs dropping away on three sides, and was forced to backtrack up and over, only to come to the top of another dizzying drop. As daylight faded I was overcome by waves of panic... I did not think I could find a way down the mountain before the dark set in, and my chances of surviving in my present condition through the night did not rate favorably. This resulted in my taking chances over and over again, and I could feel my luck running out.
When I found myself on level ground for the first time in hours, I broke into a run to try and make up for lost time - pushing through heavy, rain-soaked foliage. In a matter of minutes the bushes had done what 7 hours of rain had not. My coat was water logged and I was wet. I knew that I was losing energy due to dropping temperatures, lack of food, water and the most strenuous challenge of my entire life.
It was at this point that I noticed that the bushes were wild blueberry bushes, and that they were covered with ripe berries. I remembered the story of the Zen master and followed his example, eating berries, drinking water from the leaves and laughing at and to myself as the daylight drained from the sky. Renewed, refreshed, and calm, I set off again, more slowly and in the dark, felt with my feet, the faint difference in texture that betrayed a path. Had I been moving quickly, I would have crossed the path with out noticing it, and plunged on into the night. As it was, I found the path and followed it back to my camp site, where I soaked in hot springs while rain fell softly and mist drifted between the trunks of old growth trees.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Mahavatar Babaji - The Deathless Master
The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.
Krishna, Rama, Buddha, and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. A considerable poetic literature in Tamil has grown up around Agastya, a South Indian avatar. He worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the Christian era, and is credited with retaining his physical form even to this day.
Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, ancient founder of the Swami Order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief nineteenth-century disciple was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art.
The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.
That there is no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. Like the Creator, the sole but silent Power, Babaji works in a humble obscurity.
The deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body; he appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five. Fair-skinned, of medium build and height, Babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous hair is copper-colored. A very strange fact is that Babaji bears an extraordinarily exact resemblance to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. The similarity is so striking that, in his later years, Lahiri Mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking Babaji.
Swami Kebalananda, my saintly Sanskrit tutor, spent some time with Babaji in the Himalayas.
"The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains," Kebalananda told me. "His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'Dera danda uthao.' ('Let us lift our camp and staff.') He carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff). His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place. He does not always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak.
"Babaji can be seen or recognized by others only when he so desires. He is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees—sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. As his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. As a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter.
"Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda went on. "His disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred Vedic ceremony. The master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire.
"'Sir, how cruel!' Lahiri Mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance.
"'Would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'
"With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I have freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'
"On another occasion Babaji's sacred circle was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. He had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the camp of the master.
"'Sir, you must be the great Babaji.' The man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence. 'For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore you to accept me as a disciple.'
"When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet.
"'If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the Divine.'
"'Jump then,' Babaji said unemotionally. 'I cannot accept you in your present state of development.'
"The man immediately hurled himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body. When they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one.
"'You are now ready for discipleship.' Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'You have courageously passed a difficult test. Death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.' Then he spoke his usual words of departure, 'Dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain."
*Note : Text is taken from the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" By Paramahansa Yogananda.
"Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment. It is inconceivable."
The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"—full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world.
An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. Such a God-man alone knows the Truth behind the relativities of life and death. Omar Khayyam, so grossly misunderstood, sang of this liberated man in his immortal scripture, the Rubaiyat:
"Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane,
The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again;
How oft hereafter rising shall she look
Through this same Garden after me—in vain!"
The "Moon of Delight" is God, eternal Polaris, anachronous never. The "Moon of Heav'n" is the outward cosmos, fettered to the law of periodic recurrence. Its chains had been dissolved forever by the Persian seer through his self-realization. "How oft hereafter rising shall she look . . . after me—in vain!" What frustration of search by a frantic universe for an absolute omission!
Krishna, Rama, Buddha, and Patanjali were among the ancient Indian avatars. A considerable poetic literature in Tamil has grown up around Agastya, a South Indian avatar. He worked many miracles during the centuries preceding and following the Christian era, and is credited with retaining his physical form even to this day.
Babaji's mission in India has been to assist prophets in carrying out their special dispensations. He thus qualifies for the scriptural classification of Mahavatar (Great Avatar). He has stated that he gave yoga initiation to Shankara, ancient founder of the Swami Order, and to Kabir, famous medieval saint. His chief nineteenth-century disciple was, as we know, Lahiri Mahasaya, revivalist of the lost Kriya art.
The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.
That there is no historical reference to Babaji need not surprise us. The great guru has never openly appeared in any century; the misinterpreting glare of publicity has no place in his millennial plans. Like the Creator, the sole but silent Power, Babaji works in a humble obscurity.
The deathless guru bears no marks of age on his body; he appears to be no more than a youth of twenty-five. Fair-skinned, of medium build and height, Babaji's beautiful, strong body radiates a perceptible glow. His eyes are dark, calm, and tender; his long, lustrous hair is copper-colored. A very strange fact is that Babaji bears an extraordinarily exact resemblance to his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. The similarity is so striking that, in his later years, Lahiri Mahasaya might have passed as the father of the youthful-looking Babaji.
Swami Kebalananda, my saintly Sanskrit tutor, spent some time with Babaji in the Himalayas.
"The peerless master moves with his group from place to place in the mountains," Kebalananda told me. "His small band contains two highly advanced American disciples. After Babaji has been in one locality for some time, he says: 'Dera danda uthao.' ('Let us lift our camp and staff.') He carries a symbolic danda (bamboo staff). His words are the signal for moving with his group instantaneously to another place. He does not always employ this method of astral travel; sometimes he goes on foot from peak to peak.
"Babaji can be seen or recognized by others only when he so desires. He is known to have appeared in many slightly different forms to various devotees—sometimes without beard and moustache, and sometimes with them. As his undecaying body requires no food, the master seldom eats. As a social courtesy to visiting disciples, he occasionally accepts fruits, or rice cooked in milk and clarified butter.
"Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda went on. "His disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred Vedic ceremony. The master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire.
"'Sir, how cruel!' Lahiri Mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance.
"'Would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'
"With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I have freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'
"On another occasion Babaji's sacred circle was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. He had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the camp of the master.
"'Sir, you must be the great Babaji.' The man's face was lit with inexpressible reverence. 'For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore you to accept me as a disciple.'
"When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rocky chasm at his feet.
"'If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the Divine.'
"'Jump then,' Babaji said unemotionally. 'I cannot accept you in your present state of development.'
"The man immediately hurled himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger's body. When they returned with the mangled form, the master placed his divine hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent one.
"'You are now ready for discipleship.' Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. 'You have courageously passed a difficult test. Death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.' Then he spoke his usual words of departure, 'Dera danda uthao'; the whole group vanished from the mountain."
*Note : Text is taken from the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" By Paramahansa Yogananda.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Yoga for Anger Management
Almost all of us experience anger at some point or the other. Rather than get into a monologue of why anger occurs, I will try to touch upon why we should overcome it and how it can be done.
Why should anger be overcome?
Anger destroys the peace of mind: One constantly undergoes mental turmoil, uneasiness and frustration when anger is experienced. This disturbed mind is akin to a rudderless boat in a stormy ocean, being tossed around from place to place without it being able to focus on the task or destination ahead.
Anger is terrible for health: Besides symptoms of high blood pressure, ulceration etc., anger is invariably accompanied by stress, which is often referred to as the silent killer. The medical community is also coming around to the view that stress forms the basis of about 90% of all health disorders.
Anger causes hurt: Besides hurting the person whom it is targeted at (emotionally or physically), anger can boomerang causing an even deeper and longer lasting self-hurt in the form of repentance and remorse. Moreover, acts of anger invariably result in resentment and portray you as a highly egoistic person.
There may be many more 'incentives' to overcome anger but the above are enough to make you give a serious shot at tackling the problem.
Conventional remedies
Commonly preached remedies focus on the following ways of 'curing' anger
Suppression: Quick-fix ways like "take a deep breath unto the count of 10" etc. come under this category. These, only provide a temporary respite (if at all). Honestly, these methods actually undermine our intelligence. As if to say, our mind is going to be taken in by some kind of breath control gimmick!
Expression: I was told that, in Japan, there is a concept of 'stress bars' where you can take out your anger, frustration and stress by throwing objects and redeeming your frustration through these physical acts. These 'pseudo' expressive techniques can seldom be successful, as they do not take into account the complexity of the mind.
Diversion: Involving yourself in an activity that keeps you away from the source of anger is often suggested as a way out. However, more likely than not, the 'ignored' anger will return with a greater vengeance in due course.
In fact, suppression and diversion can be compared to the indiscriminate filling of your grocery bag (the mind) with objects. Up to a point, it is fine; however, there will come a point, where the bag can hold no more and will 'snap' destroying the bag completely as well as everything around. Similarly, these are dangerous techniques that can result in irreparable damage to your brain.
The way out
Various spiritual leaders and faiths such as Buddhism, show us a way out. Significantly, yoga teachings provide similar solutions and also show the way to make these solutions a part of our personality.
The first step at anger management is - do not resist and do not ignore the cause of anger. Experience it fully.
What do we mean? It implies that one should develop an attitude of an observer or a witness. Learn to change your role from being the subject to becoming a bystander. See how the anger is operating. See what it is doing to your mind and how. When faced by an anger causing action, immediately get into the mode of exploring and rationalizing:
* Why am I getting irritated?
* What kind of thought pattern is forming in my mind as a consequence of this action?
* Why is it that I am feeling like this?
Continue to go deeper and deeper with the "whys" and "more whys".
When you start doing this, two things start happening:
You start seeing the deeper 'subconscious' elements that form the foundation of your conscious mind. It is these elements that shape your personality without you even realizing it. Just like you can see the bottom of the pond in all its beauty only when the waters are still, similarly, you start seeing the deeper elements in your mind and understanding them better.
Once you reach these elements, you resolve the deepest of neuroses and complexities of the mind. These automatically remove the cause of anger. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how you are no longer provoked by the automatic triggers of the past.
Without fighting your anger, you start training your mind to develop a witness-like attitude. This observer attitude results in the anger dissipating.
You start seeing some wonderful perspectives. You start appreciating that it is not necessarily the desire of the person to hurt you - getting angry is YOUR response. You realize that a person is seeing the situation from his point of view to the best of his intellectual and emotional capability - he may not be quite 'capable enough' to appreciate your point of view. This is only natural - because individuals are built in different ways. After all, aren't you showing similar traits when you are getting angry!
Developing this observer attitude is NOT difficult. Yoga also has some very powerful tools in the form of "antar mouna" meditation techniques that help you cultivate this attitude. Moreover, as you start reaping the wonderful fruits of such an attitude, such a behavioral pattern only gets reinforced.
Over time, with such an attitude, you will see that not only do you get angry less often, but also each brush with an unpleasant situation provides a remarkable opportunity to know your subconscious mind in a better way. Every such insight brings you one step closer to the supreme goal - that is, Enlightenment (perpetual Bliss).
Source : HealthandYoga.com
Meditation and Yoga for Depression and Bipolar
By John McManamy Source : http://www.mcmanweb.com/
You know those cartoons where the character goes flying around the room like a balloon with the air rushing out? That's sort of what happened to my mind in 1987-88. Like an idiot I refused to seek help and nearly paid in full measure for my stupidity.
Eventually, my entire psychic being deflated on its own account and I was able to regain some control of my brain. A good deal of the credit must go to yoga and meditation, though I would never be able to prove it in court. I managed to establish a successful daily practice for three or four years before backsliding to my bad old ways. I won't say that my failure to stick to my routine brought on my latest round of depressions. But I will tell you this: I'm back on my feet again devoting a part of my day to sitting.
Meditation is a highly personal affair, and it will probably take a process of trial and error to find what works for you. My mind, for one, is like a Circuit City showroom, with TVs and VCRs and home sound systems blaring all at once from all sides, and K-mart blue light specials and beepers and police radios going off against a truckload of gongs clattering down marble steps. Filtering out even the top layer of all this racket would have been an exercise in extreme futility, so I hit upon a preliminary yoga warm-up routine, much like an athlete limbering up before attempting some really heavy lifting. Make no mistake - any exercise devoted to bringing the mind under control constitutes heavy lifting of the most extreme kind.
My Meditation-Yoga Routine
But first a little incense to set the mood, sandalwood and patchouli being my favorites. Please bear in mind that what has worked for me may not work for you.
I start off from a sitting position with some leg stretches, touching the toes - or the kneecaps, whatever - extending to whatever position is comfortable to hold for a minute or more, one leg, then the other, and back again. On the second go, my arms grow a lot longer and the toes considerably closer, and one day I'll write a masters thesis on why this is so. By now my mind is slowing just a bit and my breathing establishes a new pattern, as if I am inhaling from the seat of my pants right up through my spinal column and out the top of my head.
Then I take one foot and move it past my other knee and look the other way as the vertebrae from my neck to my tailbone pop like firecrackers, and hold the position until the ash from my incense drops to the carpet. Then I reverse body parts. By now I feel my entire thoracic cavity opening up as I literally suck up all the air in the room and expel it in one great gust.
I do a couple of spinal flexes from my stomach - with a few optional stretchers thrown in for good measure - then it's nose down and tail up for the grand finale - the head stand. The exercise is a two-way street: I am compelled to be still. At the same time, the effort stills me. Gradually, a few of the TVs and VCRs in my mind click off and go silent, and after three minutes, I'm ready for my next round of prelims.
Now, for the first time, the seat of my pants meets the seat of my floor cushion. I bend my legs into a semi-lotus position, but my back sags under the strain. But then come my breathers.
Warning: It is not advisable to begin breathing exercises without instruction or supervision.
I start - eyes closed - by forcing air out my nostrils then allow my diaphragm to expand on the intake. As I work up a good speed, my back becomes ramrod straight as if being pulled up by an invisible string from the ceiling. Then, to settle down, I breathe in through one nostril, hold my breath for a few seconds, and breathe out the other. With the open nostril I breathe back in and continue the cycle. Finally I take twenty slow breaths in and out.
I might also take in a bit of chakras and visualizations and mantras, but this is strictly optional.
Having accomplished all this, I have now achieved the benefits of an excellent workout, a sure stress-buster, and a positive deterrent to depression and mania. But I am not about to miss the big payoff, especially so close to my goal. Who knows? Just around the corner could be nothing less than the big E - enlightenment, the Boddhi tree spectacular, the Fourth of July in my head I keep hoping for, when all those TVs and VCRs and blue light specials resolve into one glorious chord that puts me in harmony with Christ and Buddha and all creation.
But I am willing to settle for much less.
Now comes what is simultaneously the simplest and most difficult activity ever devised by a living being: I attempt to shut out all other thoughts as I follow my breath in and out my nose. The ideal, according to the Buddhist monks, is to concentrate all thinking on the tip of the nose, but I am quite content to keep my thoughts confined to the immediate planet.
Fortunately, the monks have come up with a fall-back meditation: As you sit quietly you simply watch your thoughts in a detached manner, refusing to be drawn into any dialogue your mind's many TVs and VCRs may want to engage you in. When you find yourself "thinking", you simply let the thought go and resume your meditation.
Like Seinfeld, we are talking about a show about nothing. But there is far more to nothing than meets the eye. No self, no other. Who can truly say what lies beyond?
A Personal Experience
What you take away from the experience is for you and you alone. You may be content with five minutes in a chair or you may set aside a whole hour. It could be ten minutes of torture or the first time you find yourself experiencing real peace of mind. "If you're feeling better at the end, you are probably doing it right," says Roger Thomson, PhD, a Chicago psychologist and Zen meditator on mediation, quoted in an article in Psychology Today.
According to Suite101.com's Buddhism editor, Patricia Swain, describing her meditation retreats:
"For me, these peaceful days irregular and infrequent as they are, have started a process within me that, once started, takes on a life of its own and grows like a tree rooted in the cracks of a sidewalk. It's as though the meditation process is still going on in whatever I do; that the quiet noting of thoughts and distractions, the awareness of body and the roots of defilements is a constant within me, like a heartbeat.
"It is a knowing, a calm, an ability to tap into a seemingly endless source without strain. My teacher describes it as embodiment."
Meditation for Depression (and Bipolar Disorder)
But is it effective against depression? According to natural health guru Andrew Weil MD:
"[Buddhist psychology's] basic prescription is for the daily practice of meditation, and I am inclined to agree that this is the best way to get at the root of depression and change it. That requires a long-term commitment, however, since meditation does not produce fast results."
Now if you don't like the eastern flavor of meditation you can change its focus to reflect your own cultural beliefs. You can meditate on Jesus or Moses or Allah. In place of a Sanskrit mantra, you can repeat over and over: "Our Father who art in Heaven... " or "Hear, oh Israel, ...the Lord is one ...," or "There is no God but God ... "
But the beauty of yoga and meditation is that you can practice it without any of its religious trappings, whatsoever. We are talking about a show about nothing, remember? No self, no other ...
... and perhaps - no depression or mania.
Yoga for Depression
Back in 1985, Amy Weintraub’s therapist told her that, psychically, she would always have empty pockets. "And I visualized myself, like Virginia Woolf," she wrote, "filling those empty pockets with stones and stepping into the river." Instead, through yoga practice, she filled them with fresh air and divine light, and slowly pulled her way out of her chronic depression, an accomplishment that transformed her and changed her life.
Books on yoga and meditation offer us age-old insights into the nature of suffering, together with time-tested techniques to alleviate that suffering. Depression and self-help books provide a more contemporary focus. Amy’s new book, "Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga," proves the twain of Patanjali and psychology can meet. Amy is a Kripalu-trained senior yoga instructor and writer who has thoroughly researched depression.
"Living in this mortal body," she quotes the Buddha, "is like living in a house on fire." We suffer. "Depression," says psychologist and yogi Stephen Cope, "is the common cold of the deluded human being." Don’t take this personally - we’re all deluded, including your psychiatrist and therapist. But we’re also all divine, or at least we’re connected to the divine. Yoga is about establishing this sense of oneness. It is probably fair to say a good many people take up yoga simply as a proven stress-buster or alternative to Richard Simmons, but they may also find themselves reaping unexpected rewards, such as beatific inner calm or heightened awareness. Some also find it helps their depression.
In a UCLA study published in March 2004, 28 mildly-depressed young adults attended two one-hour yoga classes twice a week for five weeks. Midway into the course, subjects "demonstrated significant decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and trait anxiety," which they maintained to the end. Subjects also reported decreased negative mood and fatigue following class.
What is going on in the body, says Amy, is muscular relaxation, restored natural diaphragm breathing, improved oxygen absorption and carbon monoxide elimination, and increased alpha wave activity.
Yoga is an eight-limbed path which uses postures, breathing, and meditation as both a means and an end. Back bends, which open up the chest and increase lung capacity, are especially useful for depression. So are inversions such as headstands and shoulder stands, which stimulate the brain (but which should not be attempted without the guidance of a qualified yoga instructor). Some positions are meant to be calming and others energizing. Anxious types are advised to employ calming positions while energetic positions are de rigor for those who find it hard to get out of bed. (Since reading this book, I find myself doing a short energizing routine in the early afternoon to get me through the rest of the day and a longer calming routine ending in a short meditation at night.)
Breathing exercises follow the same energizing/calming dichotomy. One reason so much emphasis is placed on the breath is that most of us have forgotten how to breathe. Instead of using the diaphragm, we use the chest, which is not as efficient since the lower portions of the lungs are not exposed to air. The yogis imbue the air we breathe with a spiritual quality called Prana (with a capital P). "When we restrict the breath," writes Amy, "we are diminishing the spirit. When we relearn to breathe fully and deeply, we are enlarging the spirit and reconnecting with the Self." She cites an Indian study that found reduced violence and disciplinary infractions in a juvenile prison population that had been practicing a specific breathing technique for eight weeks.
What may be going on, speculates Amy, is the release of the anterior pituitary ("feel good") hormones, including oxytocin, prolactin, and vasopressin.
If posture can take us into breathing, breathing can take us into meditation, which, says, Amy, "can create a calm, healing state in body and mind." Pain doesn’t go away with meditation, she advises, but through the practice of mindfulness we learn not to identify with the pain. For people with major depression, she cautions, meditation may be counter-productive at first, as depressed people tend to be stuck in their negative thoughts. Since meditation may also bring up flashbacks and bad memories, learning under a skilled instructor is strongly encouraged.
Amy’s breakthrough came in a yoga class while holding the bridge pose, suppine with pelvis and chest thrust upwards She released the posture ten minutes later to a flood of sensations and a "time-out for the rational mind, a few moments of deep rest, a glimpse of samadhi [cosmic consciousness]."
What if, she asks, that intelligent awareness of bliss is not an altered state but your natural state? "Eventually, through practice," she informs us, "those moments of samadhi expand until they are firmly established in your mind and you are living with your eyes wide open."
There goes that pesky common cold.
You know those cartoons where the character goes flying around the room like a balloon with the air rushing out? That's sort of what happened to my mind in 1987-88. Like an idiot I refused to seek help and nearly paid in full measure for my stupidity.
Eventually, my entire psychic being deflated on its own account and I was able to regain some control of my brain. A good deal of the credit must go to yoga and meditation, though I would never be able to prove it in court. I managed to establish a successful daily practice for three or four years before backsliding to my bad old ways. I won't say that my failure to stick to my routine brought on my latest round of depressions. But I will tell you this: I'm back on my feet again devoting a part of my day to sitting.
Meditation is a highly personal affair, and it will probably take a process of trial and error to find what works for you. My mind, for one, is like a Circuit City showroom, with TVs and VCRs and home sound systems blaring all at once from all sides, and K-mart blue light specials and beepers and police radios going off against a truckload of gongs clattering down marble steps. Filtering out even the top layer of all this racket would have been an exercise in extreme futility, so I hit upon a preliminary yoga warm-up routine, much like an athlete limbering up before attempting some really heavy lifting. Make no mistake - any exercise devoted to bringing the mind under control constitutes heavy lifting of the most extreme kind.
My Meditation-Yoga Routine
But first a little incense to set the mood, sandalwood and patchouli being my favorites. Please bear in mind that what has worked for me may not work for you.
I start off from a sitting position with some leg stretches, touching the toes - or the kneecaps, whatever - extending to whatever position is comfortable to hold for a minute or more, one leg, then the other, and back again. On the second go, my arms grow a lot longer and the toes considerably closer, and one day I'll write a masters thesis on why this is so. By now my mind is slowing just a bit and my breathing establishes a new pattern, as if I am inhaling from the seat of my pants right up through my spinal column and out the top of my head.
Then I take one foot and move it past my other knee and look the other way as the vertebrae from my neck to my tailbone pop like firecrackers, and hold the position until the ash from my incense drops to the carpet. Then I reverse body parts. By now I feel my entire thoracic cavity opening up as I literally suck up all the air in the room and expel it in one great gust.
I do a couple of spinal flexes from my stomach - with a few optional stretchers thrown in for good measure - then it's nose down and tail up for the grand finale - the head stand. The exercise is a two-way street: I am compelled to be still. At the same time, the effort stills me. Gradually, a few of the TVs and VCRs in my mind click off and go silent, and after three minutes, I'm ready for my next round of prelims.
Now, for the first time, the seat of my pants meets the seat of my floor cushion. I bend my legs into a semi-lotus position, but my back sags under the strain. But then come my breathers.
Warning: It is not advisable to begin breathing exercises without instruction or supervision.
I start - eyes closed - by forcing air out my nostrils then allow my diaphragm to expand on the intake. As I work up a good speed, my back becomes ramrod straight as if being pulled up by an invisible string from the ceiling. Then, to settle down, I breathe in through one nostril, hold my breath for a few seconds, and breathe out the other. With the open nostril I breathe back in and continue the cycle. Finally I take twenty slow breaths in and out.
I might also take in a bit of chakras and visualizations and mantras, but this is strictly optional.
Having accomplished all this, I have now achieved the benefits of an excellent workout, a sure stress-buster, and a positive deterrent to depression and mania. But I am not about to miss the big payoff, especially so close to my goal. Who knows? Just around the corner could be nothing less than the big E - enlightenment, the Boddhi tree spectacular, the Fourth of July in my head I keep hoping for, when all those TVs and VCRs and blue light specials resolve into one glorious chord that puts me in harmony with Christ and Buddha and all creation.
But I am willing to settle for much less.
Now comes what is simultaneously the simplest and most difficult activity ever devised by a living being: I attempt to shut out all other thoughts as I follow my breath in and out my nose. The ideal, according to the Buddhist monks, is to concentrate all thinking on the tip of the nose, but I am quite content to keep my thoughts confined to the immediate planet.
Fortunately, the monks have come up with a fall-back meditation: As you sit quietly you simply watch your thoughts in a detached manner, refusing to be drawn into any dialogue your mind's many TVs and VCRs may want to engage you in. When you find yourself "thinking", you simply let the thought go and resume your meditation.
Like Seinfeld, we are talking about a show about nothing. But there is far more to nothing than meets the eye. No self, no other. Who can truly say what lies beyond?
A Personal Experience
What you take away from the experience is for you and you alone. You may be content with five minutes in a chair or you may set aside a whole hour. It could be ten minutes of torture or the first time you find yourself experiencing real peace of mind. "If you're feeling better at the end, you are probably doing it right," says Roger Thomson, PhD, a Chicago psychologist and Zen meditator on mediation, quoted in an article in Psychology Today.
According to Suite101.com's Buddhism editor, Patricia Swain, describing her meditation retreats:
"For me, these peaceful days irregular and infrequent as they are, have started a process within me that, once started, takes on a life of its own and grows like a tree rooted in the cracks of a sidewalk. It's as though the meditation process is still going on in whatever I do; that the quiet noting of thoughts and distractions, the awareness of body and the roots of defilements is a constant within me, like a heartbeat.
"It is a knowing, a calm, an ability to tap into a seemingly endless source without strain. My teacher describes it as embodiment."
Meditation for Depression (and Bipolar Disorder)
But is it effective against depression? According to natural health guru Andrew Weil MD:
"[Buddhist psychology's] basic prescription is for the daily practice of meditation, and I am inclined to agree that this is the best way to get at the root of depression and change it. That requires a long-term commitment, however, since meditation does not produce fast results."
Now if you don't like the eastern flavor of meditation you can change its focus to reflect your own cultural beliefs. You can meditate on Jesus or Moses or Allah. In place of a Sanskrit mantra, you can repeat over and over: "Our Father who art in Heaven... " or "Hear, oh Israel, ...the Lord is one ...," or "There is no God but God ... "
But the beauty of yoga and meditation is that you can practice it without any of its religious trappings, whatsoever. We are talking about a show about nothing, remember? No self, no other ...
... and perhaps - no depression or mania.
Yoga for Depression
Back in 1985, Amy Weintraub’s therapist told her that, psychically, she would always have empty pockets. "And I visualized myself, like Virginia Woolf," she wrote, "filling those empty pockets with stones and stepping into the river." Instead, through yoga practice, she filled them with fresh air and divine light, and slowly pulled her way out of her chronic depression, an accomplishment that transformed her and changed her life.
Books on yoga and meditation offer us age-old insights into the nature of suffering, together with time-tested techniques to alleviate that suffering. Depression and self-help books provide a more contemporary focus. Amy’s new book, "Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga," proves the twain of Patanjali and psychology can meet. Amy is a Kripalu-trained senior yoga instructor and writer who has thoroughly researched depression.
"Living in this mortal body," she quotes the Buddha, "is like living in a house on fire." We suffer. "Depression," says psychologist and yogi Stephen Cope, "is the common cold of the deluded human being." Don’t take this personally - we’re all deluded, including your psychiatrist and therapist. But we’re also all divine, or at least we’re connected to the divine. Yoga is about establishing this sense of oneness. It is probably fair to say a good many people take up yoga simply as a proven stress-buster or alternative to Richard Simmons, but they may also find themselves reaping unexpected rewards, such as beatific inner calm or heightened awareness. Some also find it helps their depression.
In a UCLA study published in March 2004, 28 mildly-depressed young adults attended two one-hour yoga classes twice a week for five weeks. Midway into the course, subjects "demonstrated significant decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and trait anxiety," which they maintained to the end. Subjects also reported decreased negative mood and fatigue following class.
What is going on in the body, says Amy, is muscular relaxation, restored natural diaphragm breathing, improved oxygen absorption and carbon monoxide elimination, and increased alpha wave activity.
Yoga is an eight-limbed path which uses postures, breathing, and meditation as both a means and an end. Back bends, which open up the chest and increase lung capacity, are especially useful for depression. So are inversions such as headstands and shoulder stands, which stimulate the brain (but which should not be attempted without the guidance of a qualified yoga instructor). Some positions are meant to be calming and others energizing. Anxious types are advised to employ calming positions while energetic positions are de rigor for those who find it hard to get out of bed. (Since reading this book, I find myself doing a short energizing routine in the early afternoon to get me through the rest of the day and a longer calming routine ending in a short meditation at night.)
Breathing exercises follow the same energizing/calming dichotomy. One reason so much emphasis is placed on the breath is that most of us have forgotten how to breathe. Instead of using the diaphragm, we use the chest, which is not as efficient since the lower portions of the lungs are not exposed to air. The yogis imbue the air we breathe with a spiritual quality called Prana (with a capital P). "When we restrict the breath," writes Amy, "we are diminishing the spirit. When we relearn to breathe fully and deeply, we are enlarging the spirit and reconnecting with the Self." She cites an Indian study that found reduced violence and disciplinary infractions in a juvenile prison population that had been practicing a specific breathing technique for eight weeks.
What may be going on, speculates Amy, is the release of the anterior pituitary ("feel good") hormones, including oxytocin, prolactin, and vasopressin.
If posture can take us into breathing, breathing can take us into meditation, which, says, Amy, "can create a calm, healing state in body and mind." Pain doesn’t go away with meditation, she advises, but through the practice of mindfulness we learn not to identify with the pain. For people with major depression, she cautions, meditation may be counter-productive at first, as depressed people tend to be stuck in their negative thoughts. Since meditation may also bring up flashbacks and bad memories, learning under a skilled instructor is strongly encouraged.
Amy’s breakthrough came in a yoga class while holding the bridge pose, suppine with pelvis and chest thrust upwards She released the posture ten minutes later to a flood of sensations and a "time-out for the rational mind, a few moments of deep rest, a glimpse of samadhi [cosmic consciousness]."
What if, she asks, that intelligent awareness of bliss is not an altered state but your natural state? "Eventually, through practice," she informs us, "those moments of samadhi expand until they are firmly established in your mind and you are living with your eyes wide open."
There goes that pesky common cold.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Visualization & Meditation on Overcoming Stress
• View Streaming Video Excerpt 
, 14 minutes
First, we need to relax our body and mind. Sit on a cushion or a straight-backed chair. Keep your chin parallel with the floor and your spine erect and away from the back of the chair. Now we'll practice a technique to relax subconscious tensions. Inhale and tense your whole body until it vibrates. Throw the breath out and relax completely. The inhalation should be through the nostrils and the exhalation through both the nose and the mouth. Let's do that twice more: Inhale and tense, … exhale and relax. Now, once again; inhale and tense. Throw the breath out and relax.
Now we'll do a technique of yoga called, "regular breathing," which helps calm the mind. Inhale slowly through the nose to a count of eight. Hold your breath and concentrate your attention at the point between the eyebrows for a count of eight. Now exhale slowly through the nostrils for a count of eight. Let's do that again. Inhale … concentrate and hold … exhale. Now, one last time, but this time use a count of twelve. Inhale for a count of twelve. Hold the same length of time. Exhale for a count of twelve. When you practice this on your own, you can use any length of count that is comfortable for you, but be sure the inhalation, holding, and exhalation are equal.
Now let's relax the whole body as completely as possible. Become aware of your feet and let go of all tension there. You can think of space or light in that area. Now relax your calves … your upper legs, and behind your knees. Relax your hips and abdomen. Many people hold tension in the abdomen, so concentrate on relaxing completely in that area. Now relax your hands and forearms … your upper arms … and now your chest and shoulders. When you relax your shoulders, feel that you're letting go of all burdens that you might be carrying. Now relax your neck … your jaw … tongue … and lips. Relax completely, feeling all tension in your face melt away. Relax your eyes, … eyelids … and forehead. Now gently focus your mind at the point between the eyebrows, the seat of higher consciousness.
The following visualization will help accept life with calmness and enjoyment. Visualize yourself floating near the shore in a beautiful blue sea. The sea is calm, the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing gently over the water. Gradually, the waves begin to increase in strength. … Now, they are tossing you about. At first you find this annoying and wish they would stop. But now you realize that you can't control the sea. As you relax, you begin to accept the waves and enjoy the ride they are giving you. You see that they are playing with you. Stay in this state of enjoyment for a while. … Now feel that your vision is floating up above the level of the sea and looking down on your little body. As you look down from this height, you see that the waves aren't really big at all. From this higher viewpoint, the sea actually looks quite calm. And it is beautiful, blues and greens, and little whitecaps. All is incredibly beautiful. You see that the ocean of life is your friend and your supporter. You gaze out toward the horizon endless miles away. The line where the sea meets the sky never changes. Concentrate on this line and try to feel that underneath the waves of events you never change. You are always peaceful, always calm, always joyful. Release all attachments, all desires, all regrets. Float now in this vast ocean of bliss. When you are ready, let your mind come back to a point of concentration at the spiritual eye, between the eyebrows.
Continue concentrating here as we prepare for deep meditation. Check to see that you are still completely relaxed. Now become aware of the breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils. Feel the movement of air and mentally observe it flowing in and out. Don't try to control the breath, just watch it. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to watching the breath. If you would like, you can mentally say "hong" as the breath flow in and "sau" as it flow out again. These words are an ancient mantra that helps calm and concentrate the mind. Gradually feel the breath higher and higher in the nostrils, until you are observing it at the point between the eyebrows. We'll continue to silently watch the breath in this manner for some time. … Concentrating at this point will help lift the mind toward superconsciousness.
Now exhale completely and concentrate your energy and attention at the point between the eyebrows. If you see light there, just observe it. Let go of all thoughts, all anxiety, all plans and feel completely at peace. Hold this state of silent meditation and try to deepen it. Go as deeply as you can into the silence. The deeper and longer you can hold this state, the faster will be your progress.
Now, once again return to body consciousness. We will end our meditation with an affirmation. Concentrate deeply on the words and the meaning behind the words. Send this message to your subconscious mind. We'll repeat it several times:
I am grateful for my life exactly as it is.
I am thankful for this day,
I welcome every hour.
Thank you God.
Thank you God.
You can repeat this affirmation as often as you would like. It is especially effective just after waking up in the morning, or just before sleep at night.
, 14 minutesFirst, we need to relax our body and mind. Sit on a cushion or a straight-backed chair. Keep your chin parallel with the floor and your spine erect and away from the back of the chair. Now we'll practice a technique to relax subconscious tensions. Inhale and tense your whole body until it vibrates. Throw the breath out and relax completely. The inhalation should be through the nostrils and the exhalation through both the nose and the mouth. Let's do that twice more: Inhale and tense, … exhale and relax. Now, once again; inhale and tense. Throw the breath out and relax.
Now we'll do a technique of yoga called, "regular breathing," which helps calm the mind. Inhale slowly through the nose to a count of eight. Hold your breath and concentrate your attention at the point between the eyebrows for a count of eight. Now exhale slowly through the nostrils for a count of eight. Let's do that again. Inhale … concentrate and hold … exhale. Now, one last time, but this time use a count of twelve. Inhale for a count of twelve. Hold the same length of time. Exhale for a count of twelve. When you practice this on your own, you can use any length of count that is comfortable for you, but be sure the inhalation, holding, and exhalation are equal.
Now let's relax the whole body as completely as possible. Become aware of your feet and let go of all tension there. You can think of space or light in that area. Now relax your calves … your upper legs, and behind your knees. Relax your hips and abdomen. Many people hold tension in the abdomen, so concentrate on relaxing completely in that area. Now relax your hands and forearms … your upper arms … and now your chest and shoulders. When you relax your shoulders, feel that you're letting go of all burdens that you might be carrying. Now relax your neck … your jaw … tongue … and lips. Relax completely, feeling all tension in your face melt away. Relax your eyes, … eyelids … and forehead. Now gently focus your mind at the point between the eyebrows, the seat of higher consciousness.
The following visualization will help accept life with calmness and enjoyment. Visualize yourself floating near the shore in a beautiful blue sea. The sea is calm, the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing gently over the water. Gradually, the waves begin to increase in strength. … Now, they are tossing you about. At first you find this annoying and wish they would stop. But now you realize that you can't control the sea. As you relax, you begin to accept the waves and enjoy the ride they are giving you. You see that they are playing with you. Stay in this state of enjoyment for a while. … Now feel that your vision is floating up above the level of the sea and looking down on your little body. As you look down from this height, you see that the waves aren't really big at all. From this higher viewpoint, the sea actually looks quite calm. And it is beautiful, blues and greens, and little whitecaps. All is incredibly beautiful. You see that the ocean of life is your friend and your supporter. You gaze out toward the horizon endless miles away. The line where the sea meets the sky never changes. Concentrate on this line and try to feel that underneath the waves of events you never change. You are always peaceful, always calm, always joyful. Release all attachments, all desires, all regrets. Float now in this vast ocean of bliss. When you are ready, let your mind come back to a point of concentration at the spiritual eye, between the eyebrows.
Continue concentrating here as we prepare for deep meditation. Check to see that you are still completely relaxed. Now become aware of the breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils. Feel the movement of air and mentally observe it flowing in and out. Don't try to control the breath, just watch it. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to watching the breath. If you would like, you can mentally say "hong" as the breath flow in and "sau" as it flow out again. These words are an ancient mantra that helps calm and concentrate the mind. Gradually feel the breath higher and higher in the nostrils, until you are observing it at the point between the eyebrows. We'll continue to silently watch the breath in this manner for some time. … Concentrating at this point will help lift the mind toward superconsciousness.
Now exhale completely and concentrate your energy and attention at the point between the eyebrows. If you see light there, just observe it. Let go of all thoughts, all anxiety, all plans and feel completely at peace. Hold this state of silent meditation and try to deepen it. Go as deeply as you can into the silence. The deeper and longer you can hold this state, the faster will be your progress.
Now, once again return to body consciousness. We will end our meditation with an affirmation. Concentrate deeply on the words and the meaning behind the words. Send this message to your subconscious mind. We'll repeat it several times:
I am grateful for my life exactly as it is.
I am thankful for this day,
I welcome every hour.
Thank you God.
Thank you God.
You can repeat this affirmation as often as you would like. It is especially effective just after waking up in the morning, or just before sleep at night.
Mountain Meditation Technique
I Am the Mountain
The purpose of yoga is to withdraw the consciousness from the body and center it in the spine. The following exercise, I Am the Mountain, will help you become more aware of your spine. It is an excellent practice for internalizing your awareness and learning to relate to life intuitively.
The I Am the Mountain meditation can be practiced alone or with another person. To begin, look for a place outdoors where it is beautiful; if this isn't possible revisit such a place in your mind and use your imagination. Then meditate a few minutes to become calm and interiorized.
How the exercise works when done alone:
Quietly repeat the words I Am. After each time you say I Am, look for something in nature that captivates you—perhaps a cloud sailing across the sky or the wind playing music in the forest. Whatever it is, feel its living reality inside of you, in your spine. Enjoy it there for a few moments, and then quietly whisper a simple word or phrase that describes your experience of what you were observing. For example, it may go like this:
I Am……..the drifting cloud……..I Am……..the waving branches……I Am……..the exhilaration of the wind racing across the lake
Feel a sense of communion with everything you see. Be also aware of the energy in your spine. Sensitively feel, for example, how sensing a tall tree in your spine, stimulates your energy.
Repeat I Am, I Love and/or I Receive for five minutes, then relax and enjoy the serenity of nature within and all around you.
How to share I Am the Mountain with a friend:
Choose one of you to be the prompter, who says "I Am," and the other one to be the responder. The prompter sits behind to allow the responder an unobstructed view. Having one partner repeat I Am (or I Love, I Receive) keeps the other one focused and in the present moment. Doing I Am the Mountain with a friend creates a shared sense of communion with nature and with each other.
Switch roles when desired.
The purpose of yoga is to withdraw the consciousness from the body and center it in the spine. The following exercise, I Am the Mountain, will help you become more aware of your spine. It is an excellent practice for internalizing your awareness and learning to relate to life intuitively.
The I Am the Mountain meditation can be practiced alone or with another person. To begin, look for a place outdoors where it is beautiful; if this isn't possible revisit such a place in your mind and use your imagination. Then meditate a few minutes to become calm and interiorized.
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How the exercise works when done alone:
Quietly repeat the words I Am. After each time you say I Am, look for something in nature that captivates you—perhaps a cloud sailing across the sky or the wind playing music in the forest. Whatever it is, feel its living reality inside of you, in your spine. Enjoy it there for a few moments, and then quietly whisper a simple word or phrase that describes your experience of what you were observing. For example, it may go like this:
I Am……..the drifting cloud……..I Am……..the waving branches……I Am……..the exhilaration of the wind racing across the lake
Feel a sense of communion with everything you see. Be also aware of the energy in your spine. Sensitively feel, for example, how sensing a tall tree in your spine, stimulates your energy.
Repeat I Am, I Love and/or I Receive for five minutes, then relax and enjoy the serenity of nature within and all around you.
How to share I Am the Mountain with a friend:
Choose one of you to be the prompter, who says "I Am," and the other one to be the responder. The prompter sits behind to allow the responder an unobstructed view. Having one partner repeat I Am (or I Love, I Receive) keeps the other one focused and in the present moment. Doing I Am the Mountain with a friend creates a shared sense of communion with nature and with each other.
Switch roles when desired.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
5 Yoga Poses for Depression
I have been trying to find some nice poses for depression and here are 5 simple Yoga Poses that you can do to help yourself with depression . Alternative medicines like Yoga has less side effects unlike drugs which can have a long term dependency on and other side effects . If the poses help you please do let me know .
The Lion Pose (Simhasana)
Contraindications: Knee pain or injury
This is a wonderful pose for gaining courage and lightening your emotional load; the facial expressions involved are guaranteed to boost your mood, especially if you perform this pose in front of a mirror.
Kneel on the floor; keep your knees about shoulder-width apart.
Sit back on your heels; your calves should be flat on the floor.
Spread the knees apart a little further; only move them as far as is comfortable.
Straighten and lengthen the back and shoulders; sit up tall.
Without rounding the shoulders, place your hands loosely on your knees.
Inhale and lean forward slightly without compromising your straight spine.
(Here’s the fun part) While leaning forward, stretch your mouth and jaw open as wide as possible. Extend your tongue and cross your eyes by looking at the tip of your nose; also tense and straighten your fingers out from their resting place on the knees.
Hold this position for one breath and then relax; lean back and let your fingers drop back to your knees. Close the mouth and eyes.
Repeat this posture at least three times with a short break in between each repetition.
Benefits: It seems very silly, but this is a legitimate yoga asana. The Lion is a great pose for loosening up the muscles of a clenched or tight jaw. All the muscles of the face are used; each repetition causes tension to melt away. For a little variation, if you’re alone or not easily embarrassed, try roaring or yelling as you contort the facial muscles.
The Fish Pose (Matsyasana)
Contraindications: Back pain, injuries to neck or shoulder
Releases tension and is also good for deep breathing and relaxation.
Lie flat on your back, either on a mat or on a carpeted floor. Keep your knees straight and keep your feet together with toes pointed to the ceiling.
Slide your hands under your thighs and buttocks. This motion should cause your chest to bow upward slightly.
Bend the elbows and push them into the floor; use the bend of the elbows and arms to raise the chest higher, keeping the chest arched upward.
When the chest is arched as high as possible, drop your head and rest the very top of your head on the floor. Your chin should point to the ceiling.
While in this posture, breathe deeply and really enjoy the chest expansion. Hold this position for as long as is comfortable.
Benefits: This is a great chest-opener; many people who have depression coupled with anxiety often have feelings of tightness or pressure in the chest—this pose can help ease the pressure. The Fish is also very beneficial for a tense neck, shoulders and lower back.
The Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Contraindications: Back injury
A good, relaxing counter-pose if performed after the Fish pose.
Kneel on the floor, and then sit directly onto your heels.
Shift your knees until they are a little more than hip-width apart.
Bend forward at the hip; bring your chest to rest between your thighs.
Keep your buttocks in contact with your heels and rest your forehead on the floor. If this is uncomfortable, rest your forehead on a cushion or folded blanket—make sure it is high enough for you to be comfortable.
Stretch your arms out in front of you on either side of your head. Lengthen the muscles as far as you can, really give a good stretch! Then slide your arms back to your sides, palms up and relax.
Remain in this pose for as long as possible. Breathe deeply and relax into the posture.
Benefits: Child’s pose is a comforting, peaceful asana. Staying in this position is not only relaxing, but also promotes a feeling of safety and security. The stretch involved to the lower back and arms also feels wonderful!
Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)
Contraindications: Leg or shoulder injury.
Warrior I is a great confidence booster; anytime you feel unsure of yourself or uneasy, try this posture.
Stand tall with good posture and plant your feet about shoulder-width apart.
With your right foot, take a large step forward into a lunge; keep the left foot firmly planted. Do not turn or rotate the hips.
Your right knee should be bent and you should keep the knee located directly above the ankle. You should feel a good stretch in the calf muscle of the left leg. If not, slide the left foot back an inch or so.
After achieving a good strong lunge, raise the arms above your head. Really stretch them to the ceiling; feel that stretch all the way to your fingertips. Relax a bit, keeping the arms up, and turn the palms facing each other.
To deepen the stretch, carefully arch the back and look at the ceiling.
Repeat this posture at least once using the left leg for the lunge.
Benefits: This is a very easy asana, but also a very powerful one. Warrior I can help you feel more grounded. You can gain equilibrium with this pose, both mentally and physically!
Corpse Pose (Savasana)
Contraindications: None
There’s just no better way to end a yoga session than with the ultimate relaxation pose.
Lie on your back on the floor (or on a mat). Spread the arms out to a 45 degree angle from your sides. Let your legs drop open. There should be no tension in trying to hold this position, don’t try to keep the toes pointed. Keep your head resting comfortably.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Each breath should expand both the chest and belly. Allow your entire body to feel heavy and soft; literally try to relax into the floor.
Mentally look for places where your body is tense. Should you find tension, focus on that part of the body, tense it and then release. Wiggle your fingers and toes to remove any pressure or stress.
Try to clear your mind. Continue to breathe deeply and enjoy yourself.
Do not fall asleep; that isn’t the goal here. Enjoy a conscious state of deep relaxation.
Benefits: The benefits of this pose are truly endless. Nothing beats a good bit of relaxation. Use this pose anytime you feel upset or blue. If it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning to face the day, use this posture to give you a little better perspective. If you suffer from insomnia, this is a perfect way to end the day.
The Lion Pose (Simhasana)
Contraindications: Knee pain or injury
This is a wonderful pose for gaining courage and lightening your emotional load; the facial expressions involved are guaranteed to boost your mood, especially if you perform this pose in front of a mirror.
Kneel on the floor; keep your knees about shoulder-width apart.
Sit back on your heels; your calves should be flat on the floor.
Spread the knees apart a little further; only move them as far as is comfortable.
Straighten and lengthen the back and shoulders; sit up tall.
Without rounding the shoulders, place your hands loosely on your knees.
Inhale and lean forward slightly without compromising your straight spine.
(Here’s the fun part) While leaning forward, stretch your mouth and jaw open as wide as possible. Extend your tongue and cross your eyes by looking at the tip of your nose; also tense and straighten your fingers out from their resting place on the knees.
Hold this position for one breath and then relax; lean back and let your fingers drop back to your knees. Close the mouth and eyes.
Repeat this posture at least three times with a short break in between each repetition.
Benefits: It seems very silly, but this is a legitimate yoga asana. The Lion is a great pose for loosening up the muscles of a clenched or tight jaw. All the muscles of the face are used; each repetition causes tension to melt away. For a little variation, if you’re alone or not easily embarrassed, try roaring or yelling as you contort the facial muscles.
The Fish Pose (Matsyasana)
Contraindications: Back pain, injuries to neck or shoulder
Releases tension and is also good for deep breathing and relaxation.
Lie flat on your back, either on a mat or on a carpeted floor. Keep your knees straight and keep your feet together with toes pointed to the ceiling.
Slide your hands under your thighs and buttocks. This motion should cause your chest to bow upward slightly.
Bend the elbows and push them into the floor; use the bend of the elbows and arms to raise the chest higher, keeping the chest arched upward.
When the chest is arched as high as possible, drop your head and rest the very top of your head on the floor. Your chin should point to the ceiling.
While in this posture, breathe deeply and really enjoy the chest expansion. Hold this position for as long as is comfortable.
Benefits: This is a great chest-opener; many people who have depression coupled with anxiety often have feelings of tightness or pressure in the chest—this pose can help ease the pressure. The Fish is also very beneficial for a tense neck, shoulders and lower back.
The Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Contraindications: Back injury
A good, relaxing counter-pose if performed after the Fish pose.
Kneel on the floor, and then sit directly onto your heels.
Shift your knees until they are a little more than hip-width apart.
Bend forward at the hip; bring your chest to rest between your thighs.
Keep your buttocks in contact with your heels and rest your forehead on the floor. If this is uncomfortable, rest your forehead on a cushion or folded blanket—make sure it is high enough for you to be comfortable.
Stretch your arms out in front of you on either side of your head. Lengthen the muscles as far as you can, really give a good stretch! Then slide your arms back to your sides, palms up and relax.
Remain in this pose for as long as possible. Breathe deeply and relax into the posture.
Benefits: Child’s pose is a comforting, peaceful asana. Staying in this position is not only relaxing, but also promotes a feeling of safety and security. The stretch involved to the lower back and arms also feels wonderful!
Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)
Contraindications: Leg or shoulder injury.
Warrior I is a great confidence booster; anytime you feel unsure of yourself or uneasy, try this posture.
Stand tall with good posture and plant your feet about shoulder-width apart.
With your right foot, take a large step forward into a lunge; keep the left foot firmly planted. Do not turn or rotate the hips.
Your right knee should be bent and you should keep the knee located directly above the ankle. You should feel a good stretch in the calf muscle of the left leg. If not, slide the left foot back an inch or so.
After achieving a good strong lunge, raise the arms above your head. Really stretch them to the ceiling; feel that stretch all the way to your fingertips. Relax a bit, keeping the arms up, and turn the palms facing each other.
To deepen the stretch, carefully arch the back and look at the ceiling.
Repeat this posture at least once using the left leg for the lunge.
Benefits: This is a very easy asana, but also a very powerful one. Warrior I can help you feel more grounded. You can gain equilibrium with this pose, both mentally and physically!
Corpse Pose (Savasana)
Contraindications: None
There’s just no better way to end a yoga session than with the ultimate relaxation pose.
Lie on your back on the floor (or on a mat). Spread the arms out to a 45 degree angle from your sides. Let your legs drop open. There should be no tension in trying to hold this position, don’t try to keep the toes pointed. Keep your head resting comfortably.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Each breath should expand both the chest and belly. Allow your entire body to feel heavy and soft; literally try to relax into the floor.
Mentally look for places where your body is tense. Should you find tension, focus on that part of the body, tense it and then release. Wiggle your fingers and toes to remove any pressure or stress.
Try to clear your mind. Continue to breathe deeply and enjoy yourself.
Do not fall asleep; that isn’t the goal here. Enjoy a conscious state of deep relaxation.
Benefits: The benefits of this pose are truly endless. Nothing beats a good bit of relaxation. Use this pose anytime you feel upset or blue. If it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning to face the day, use this posture to give you a little better perspective. If you suffer from insomnia, this is a perfect way to end the day.
How to practice Meditation ?
What Is Meditation
1. Meditation is the flow of continuous thought on one thing or God or Atman. Meditation is the keeping up of one idea of God alone always like the continuous flow of oil (Taila-dharavat). Yogins call this ‘Dhyana.’ Jnanins term this ‘Nididhyasana.’ Bhaktas style this ‘Bhajan.’ Concentration is fixing the mind on a point or object, either internal (in the body) or external (on any outside object or image). Meditation follows concentration. In Dhyana all worldly thoughts are shut out from the mind. The mind is filled or saturated with Divine thoughts, with the Divine Glory, the Divine Presence.
Place
2. Have a separate meditation-room under lock and key. Do not allow anybody to enter the room. Keep it holy. Burn incense in the morning and evening. Keep a photo of Lord Krishna, Siva, Rama, Devi or your Ishta Devata or Guru. Place your Asana (seat) in front of the picture. Keep some books also such as the Gita, the Ramayana and other scriptures. When you repeat the Mantra or the Name of the Lord, the powerful vibrations will be lodged in the ether of the room. In six months’ time you will feel peace and purity in the atmosphere of the room. Whenever your mind is disturbed by worldly influence, sit in the room and repeat the Name of the Lord for half an hour; then you will find an entire change in the mind immediately. Practise and feel the soothing spiritual influence yourself. Nothing is like spiritual Sadhana. You will find a local Mussoorie, Himalayas, in your own house.
3. Solitude and intense meditation are two important requisites for Self-realisation. Thebanks of the Ganga or the Narmada, Himalayan scenery, lovely flower-garden, sacredtemple—these are the places which elevate the mind in concentration and meditation. Have recourse to them.
4. A solitary place, spiritual vibratory conditions as at Uttarkasi, Rishikesh, Badri Narayan, a cool place and temperate climate—these conditions are indispensably requisite for concentration of mind. Just as the salt melts in water, the Sattvic mind melts in silence during meditation in Brahman, its Adhishthana (substratum).
Time
5. Get up at 4 in the morning in Brahmamuhurta. It is very favourable for spiritual
contemplation and to start worship of God. In the early morning the mind is calm pure and quite refreshed after slumber. The mind is like a blank sheet of paper and comparatively free from worldly Samskaras (mental impressions). It can be moulded very easily at this time. The atmosphere also is charged with more Sattva at this particular time. Wash your hands, feet and face with cold water if you find it difficult to take a bath. This will suffice.
6. Always choose that part of the day or night when your mind is clear and when you are
least likely to be disturbed. You can have a sitting just before retiring to bed. The mind will be calm at this time.
7. You can have good meditation on Sundays because this is a holiday, and the mind is free. Do vigorous meditation on Sundays. You can have good meditation when you live on milk and fruits alone or when you fast. Use your commonsense always and try to bring out good result in meditation.
What to Concentrate
8. Concentrate gently either on the lotus of the heart (Anahata Chakra) or at the space
between the two eyebrows (Trikuti). Close your eyes.
9. The seat of mind is Ajna Chakra at Trikuti. The mind can be easily controlled if you
concentrate on Trikuti. Bhaktas should concentrate on the heart. Yogins and Vedantins should concentrate at Ajna Chakra.
10. Crown of the head (Sahasrara) is another seat for concentration. Some Vedantins
concentrate here. Some Yogins concentrate at the tip of the nose (Nasikagra Drishti). Stick to one centre in concentration. Cling to it tenaciously. If you concentrate on heart, stick to it. Never change it. Guru will select the centre for concentration, if you are a student of faith. If you are a man of self-reliance, you can select it for yourself.
Yogic Diet
11. Take Mitahara, Sattvic diet. Overloading the stomach with rice, vegetables, Dhal and
bread brings sleep and interferes with Sadhana. A glutton or a sensualist, a dullard or a lazy man cannot practice meditation. A diet on milk renders the body very, very light. You can sit on one Asana for hours together with ease and comfort. If you feel weak, you can take for a day or two a little rice and milk or barley and milk or any light diet. Those who are in the field of service and who do platform lectures and other intense spiritual propagandic activities need solid, substantial food.
Asana
12. Asana steadies the body; Bandhas and Mudras make the mind firm; Pranayama makes the body light; Nadi-suddhi produces steadiness of the mind. Having acquired these qualifications you will have to fix the mind on Brahman. Then only meditation will go on steadily with ease and happiness. For meditation, concentration and Japa, Padmasana or Siddhasana is prescribed. For general health and keeping up of Brahmacharya, Sirshasana, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana, Paschimottanasana are good. A short description of these Asanas and the benefits that are derived by the practice of them are given in Chapter VIII of this book ( Source Sivanada Yoga Book)
Please write a comment with ur email if you want the full ebook .
1. Meditation is the flow of continuous thought on one thing or God or Atman. Meditation is the keeping up of one idea of God alone always like the continuous flow of oil (Taila-dharavat). Yogins call this ‘Dhyana.’ Jnanins term this ‘Nididhyasana.’ Bhaktas style this ‘Bhajan.’ Concentration is fixing the mind on a point or object, either internal (in the body) or external (on any outside object or image). Meditation follows concentration. In Dhyana all worldly thoughts are shut out from the mind. The mind is filled or saturated with Divine thoughts, with the Divine Glory, the Divine Presence.
Place
2. Have a separate meditation-room under lock and key. Do not allow anybody to enter the room. Keep it holy. Burn incense in the morning and evening. Keep a photo of Lord Krishna, Siva, Rama, Devi or your Ishta Devata or Guru. Place your Asana (seat) in front of the picture. Keep some books also such as the Gita, the Ramayana and other scriptures. When you repeat the Mantra or the Name of the Lord, the powerful vibrations will be lodged in the ether of the room. In six months’ time you will feel peace and purity in the atmosphere of the room. Whenever your mind is disturbed by worldly influence, sit in the room and repeat the Name of the Lord for half an hour; then you will find an entire change in the mind immediately. Practise and feel the soothing spiritual influence yourself. Nothing is like spiritual Sadhana. You will find a local Mussoorie, Himalayas, in your own house.
3. Solitude and intense meditation are two important requisites for Self-realisation. Thebanks of the Ganga or the Narmada, Himalayan scenery, lovely flower-garden, sacredtemple—these are the places which elevate the mind in concentration and meditation. Have recourse to them.
4. A solitary place, spiritual vibratory conditions as at Uttarkasi, Rishikesh, Badri Narayan, a cool place and temperate climate—these conditions are indispensably requisite for concentration of mind. Just as the salt melts in water, the Sattvic mind melts in silence during meditation in Brahman, its Adhishthana (substratum).
Time
5. Get up at 4 in the morning in Brahmamuhurta. It is very favourable for spiritual
contemplation and to start worship of God. In the early morning the mind is calm pure and quite refreshed after slumber. The mind is like a blank sheet of paper and comparatively free from worldly Samskaras (mental impressions). It can be moulded very easily at this time. The atmosphere also is charged with more Sattva at this particular time. Wash your hands, feet and face with cold water if you find it difficult to take a bath. This will suffice.
6. Always choose that part of the day or night when your mind is clear and when you are
least likely to be disturbed. You can have a sitting just before retiring to bed. The mind will be calm at this time.
7. You can have good meditation on Sundays because this is a holiday, and the mind is free. Do vigorous meditation on Sundays. You can have good meditation when you live on milk and fruits alone or when you fast. Use your commonsense always and try to bring out good result in meditation.
What to Concentrate
8. Concentrate gently either on the lotus of the heart (Anahata Chakra) or at the space
between the two eyebrows (Trikuti). Close your eyes.
9. The seat of mind is Ajna Chakra at Trikuti. The mind can be easily controlled if you
concentrate on Trikuti. Bhaktas should concentrate on the heart. Yogins and Vedantins should concentrate at Ajna Chakra.
10. Crown of the head (Sahasrara) is another seat for concentration. Some Vedantins
concentrate here. Some Yogins concentrate at the tip of the nose (Nasikagra Drishti). Stick to one centre in concentration. Cling to it tenaciously. If you concentrate on heart, stick to it. Never change it. Guru will select the centre for concentration, if you are a student of faith. If you are a man of self-reliance, you can select it for yourself.
Yogic Diet
11. Take Mitahara, Sattvic diet. Overloading the stomach with rice, vegetables, Dhal and
bread brings sleep and interferes with Sadhana. A glutton or a sensualist, a dullard or a lazy man cannot practice meditation. A diet on milk renders the body very, very light. You can sit on one Asana for hours together with ease and comfort. If you feel weak, you can take for a day or two a little rice and milk or barley and milk or any light diet. Those who are in the field of service and who do platform lectures and other intense spiritual propagandic activities need solid, substantial food.
Asana
12. Asana steadies the body; Bandhas and Mudras make the mind firm; Pranayama makes the body light; Nadi-suddhi produces steadiness of the mind. Having acquired these qualifications you will have to fix the mind on Brahman. Then only meditation will go on steadily with ease and happiness. For meditation, concentration and Japa, Padmasana or Siddhasana is prescribed. For general health and keeping up of Brahmacharya, Sirshasana, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana, Paschimottanasana are good. A short description of these Asanas and the benefits that are derived by the practice of them are given in Chapter VIII of this book ( Source Sivanada Yoga Book)
Please write a comment with ur email if you want the full ebook .
Monday, May 19, 2008
Yoga for Back
The body and the spirit that flows through it, is ordinarily born with the possibility of natural growth and health. The spine is the body's support. It should not just be erect and strong, but also flexible and supple. The back literally holds the body together and protects the soft inner organs by its support, and the spinal cord is physically the main channel for the central nervous system, dispensing information between the body and brain. It is also here that the psychic energy gathers in centers (Chakra). The body's posture is not only physical, it also conveys something about your energy state on a deeper psychic plane.
There is currently a lot of awareness concerning how to avoid straining the back: correct sitting posture, to lift and carry in the right manner and to sleep on a proper bed. Yet, a bad back is the most common ailment in our culture. Actually, 60 - 80% of all adults will experience back pains at some time or other during their working life. (DIKE: Health and infirmity in Denmark - 1987)
It ought to be unnecessary to practise yoga, but yoga allows the body regain its natural form. A daily yoga programme gives an all-round effect, so that you are physically and mentally at ease, and thereby function better - also socially. There are many yoga poses that have a particularly favourable effect on the spine. It is best, though, to prevent back problems, and that can be done by a regular yoga practise, either on courses or independently. Not everybody considers prevention of back problems. Many only notice the back when there is something wrong with it. With severe back pains, only simple yoga exercises should be done, in a gentle and easy manner. It is not the point to do the exercises so well that it hurts. It is more a question of using the back differently from the habitual and unconscious patterns of movement. The body's ability for self healing is thereby strengthened, and the back becomes flexible and supple. See the small tension releasing exercises on page 32 in the book: Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life, by Swami Janakananda.
There is also an entire yoga programme dedicated especially to the back in the book. It consists of ten exercises that give the back a general and thorough work-out and maintenance. A yoga programme for the back can also be shorter. In the example given here, there are five exercises, that with regular use can prevent a bad back, and loosen back pains of a minor character
1. The standing backstretch
Stand with the legs slightly apart. Slowly let the head, shoulders and back sink forward and down, until the entire upper body hangs under its own weight. Keep the legs straight. Stand for 3-5 minutes and notice how the body, little by little, relaxes and sinks further down. Be especially aware that you do not tense anywhere or unconsciously hold back the body. It is easy, for example, to forget to let go of the head, arms and shoulders. Allow the head to hang completely loose and relax the face muscles. If you experience a tension or a pain in the back or legs, then don't strain against it or think of something else, or bend the legs. Go into and experience the pain from within, experience the pain in a relaxed way - after a few minutes you will find that the pain subsides or disappears. Then raise yourself up slowly, and in the end, stand completely still with closed eyes. Experience the whole body from the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
2. Rock and roll
Lie on the back on a mat. Bend both legs and clasp the hands around them. Begin to rock gently from side to side. You should not rock completely over to the side, just so far that you can feel that the small of the back has contact with the floor. Feel how the back is massaged. Continue for about a minute. Lie still for a moment with bent legs. Then roll lengthwise on the back. You roll all the way up to the neck, and quickly all the way down so that the feet touch the floor. After a couple of times backwards and forwards, try to lift the buttocks up off the floor, so that you stand on the feet before rolling backwards again. Continue for a minute. Lie still with straight legs. Feel the back and the whole body.
3. The universal pose
You lie full length on the back. Place the right foot sole upon the left knee. Lay the left hand on the right knee. Press the knee all the way down to the ground on the left side. Now raise the right arm diagonally upwards, so that the armpit is opened completely. Let the arm sink slowly towards the floor on the right side, and turn the head towards the right hand, so that you can feel the spine is twisted from top to bottom. If you cannot get the shoulder all the way to the ground, then allow the arm to just hang freely in the air. Absorb yourself in the pose now, and accept that it tightens and stretches the body. With every exhalation, let the right arm, if possible, sink further down towards the floor. Relax the whole body and remain in the pose for 3-5 minutes, or for as long as you can remain relaxed in the pose. Come calmly back to the initial position on the back. Lie still for a moment. Do the pose to the other side.
4. The caterpillar
Roll over on to the stomach and take hold of the opposite elbows with the hands. Pull the arms into the body, so that the upper arms are vertical on the mat by the chest. Without moving the elbows or knees, raise the buttocks into the air and move the body backwards. Continue this backward movement until the chest presses as far down towards the floor as possible, and the back has the greatest sway. If you can come all the way down into the pose, place the chin on the floor, otherwise raise the head and look as far up as possible.
Lie in the pose for about half a minute while the body calms down and relaxes. Roll slowly forward again back to the stomach, and straighten the arms out over the head. Rest until you are ready again. Do the pose three times.
5. The hare
Sit in a kneeling position. Take hold of the right wrist behind the back. Slowly lean forward, so that the head comes forward and touches the floor. If the head does not come all the way down, then spread the knees a little bit. Remain completely still. Do not be concerned with anything else, but remain with the body and feel it. When the body becomes accustomed to the pose and the breath has become calm, feel the navel area. Keep the awareness around the navel area. Remain motionless for 3-5 minutes, or a shorter time if you are a beginner.
Calmly come out of the pose and straighten up the back and head. Feel how straight the spine is. When you have sat for some time, be aware that you can straighten the back even further. Meet the thoughts and states in the mind that prevent you from sitting completely erect. Remain sitting until you experience total harmony between the body and mind.
Experiences with yoga for the back
As a yoga teacher, I often come across students with pains in the back or neck. If I have not been informed of it beforehand, then it quickly becomes evident when I see how the student practises yoga. Once in a while a student phones to cancel a class due to pains in the back. I always recommend that the student comes anyway. If it is not possible to do some of the exercises, then the breathing exercises and deep relaxation (Yoga Nidra), will give relief. People often believe that they should be perfect and skilful at doing yoga poses. In due course they realise that it is by their own experience, that they learn to use yoga as a tool to work with a strained neck or pain in the back.
Whilst writing this article, I had to go to Helsingborg, Sweden, to teach a group of social workers. I am always picked up by one of the participants at the ferry terminal. During the drive, my student told me, that the previous week she had a pain in her neck for several days, but after the yoga class that week it disappeared completely. The funny thing is that she only noticed that the pain was gone several hours after the class.
Another time, a 35 year old man came to a private lesson at the school in Stockholm, with severe back pains. He had been in the USA and had taken up aerobics mixed with yoga, and due to a lack of awareness and pressing himself too hard, he had unpleasant pains in the back. At that stage he had had back pains for five years, and said he would be very happy if a yoga course could only make it a little bit better. He learnt various yoga exercises, which he also used at home, and each week the pains diminished. After coming to the class four times, the pains were gone completely.
There is currently a lot of awareness concerning how to avoid straining the back: correct sitting posture, to lift and carry in the right manner and to sleep on a proper bed. Yet, a bad back is the most common ailment in our culture. Actually, 60 - 80% of all adults will experience back pains at some time or other during their working life. (DIKE: Health and infirmity in Denmark - 1987)
It ought to be unnecessary to practise yoga, but yoga allows the body regain its natural form. A daily yoga programme gives an all-round effect, so that you are physically and mentally at ease, and thereby function better - also socially. There are many yoga poses that have a particularly favourable effect on the spine. It is best, though, to prevent back problems, and that can be done by a regular yoga practise, either on courses or independently. Not everybody considers prevention of back problems. Many only notice the back when there is something wrong with it. With severe back pains, only simple yoga exercises should be done, in a gentle and easy manner. It is not the point to do the exercises so well that it hurts. It is more a question of using the back differently from the habitual and unconscious patterns of movement. The body's ability for self healing is thereby strengthened, and the back becomes flexible and supple. See the small tension releasing exercises on page 32 in the book: Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life, by Swami Janakananda.
There is also an entire yoga programme dedicated especially to the back in the book. It consists of ten exercises that give the back a general and thorough work-out and maintenance. A yoga programme for the back can also be shorter. In the example given here, there are five exercises, that with regular use can prevent a bad back, and loosen back pains of a minor character
1. The standing backstretch
Stand with the legs slightly apart. Slowly let the head, shoulders and back sink forward and down, until the entire upper body hangs under its own weight. Keep the legs straight. Stand for 3-5 minutes and notice how the body, little by little, relaxes and sinks further down. Be especially aware that you do not tense anywhere or unconsciously hold back the body. It is easy, for example, to forget to let go of the head, arms and shoulders. Allow the head to hang completely loose and relax the face muscles. If you experience a tension or a pain in the back or legs, then don't strain against it or think of something else, or bend the legs. Go into and experience the pain from within, experience the pain in a relaxed way - after a few minutes you will find that the pain subsides or disappears. Then raise yourself up slowly, and in the end, stand completely still with closed eyes. Experience the whole body from the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
2. Rock and roll
Lie on the back on a mat. Bend both legs and clasp the hands around them. Begin to rock gently from side to side. You should not rock completely over to the side, just so far that you can feel that the small of the back has contact with the floor. Feel how the back is massaged. Continue for about a minute. Lie still for a moment with bent legs. Then roll lengthwise on the back. You roll all the way up to the neck, and quickly all the way down so that the feet touch the floor. After a couple of times backwards and forwards, try to lift the buttocks up off the floor, so that you stand on the feet before rolling backwards again. Continue for a minute. Lie still with straight legs. Feel the back and the whole body.
3. The universal pose
You lie full length on the back. Place the right foot sole upon the left knee. Lay the left hand on the right knee. Press the knee all the way down to the ground on the left side. Now raise the right arm diagonally upwards, so that the armpit is opened completely. Let the arm sink slowly towards the floor on the right side, and turn the head towards the right hand, so that you can feel the spine is twisted from top to bottom. If you cannot get the shoulder all the way to the ground, then allow the arm to just hang freely in the air. Absorb yourself in the pose now, and accept that it tightens and stretches the body. With every exhalation, let the right arm, if possible, sink further down towards the floor. Relax the whole body and remain in the pose for 3-5 minutes, or for as long as you can remain relaxed in the pose. Come calmly back to the initial position on the back. Lie still for a moment. Do the pose to the other side.
4. The caterpillar
Roll over on to the stomach and take hold of the opposite elbows with the hands. Pull the arms into the body, so that the upper arms are vertical on the mat by the chest. Without moving the elbows or knees, raise the buttocks into the air and move the body backwards. Continue this backward movement until the chest presses as far down towards the floor as possible, and the back has the greatest sway. If you can come all the way down into the pose, place the chin on the floor, otherwise raise the head and look as far up as possible.
Lie in the pose for about half a minute while the body calms down and relaxes. Roll slowly forward again back to the stomach, and straighten the arms out over the head. Rest until you are ready again. Do the pose three times.
5. The hare
Sit in a kneeling position. Take hold of the right wrist behind the back. Slowly lean forward, so that the head comes forward and touches the floor. If the head does not come all the way down, then spread the knees a little bit. Remain completely still. Do not be concerned with anything else, but remain with the body and feel it. When the body becomes accustomed to the pose and the breath has become calm, feel the navel area. Keep the awareness around the navel area. Remain motionless for 3-5 minutes, or a shorter time if you are a beginner.
Calmly come out of the pose and straighten up the back and head. Feel how straight the spine is. When you have sat for some time, be aware that you can straighten the back even further. Meet the thoughts and states in the mind that prevent you from sitting completely erect. Remain sitting until you experience total harmony between the body and mind.
Experiences with yoga for the back
As a yoga teacher, I often come across students with pains in the back or neck. If I have not been informed of it beforehand, then it quickly becomes evident when I see how the student practises yoga. Once in a while a student phones to cancel a class due to pains in the back. I always recommend that the student comes anyway. If it is not possible to do some of the exercises, then the breathing exercises and deep relaxation (Yoga Nidra), will give relief. People often believe that they should be perfect and skilful at doing yoga poses. In due course they realise that it is by their own experience, that they learn to use yoga as a tool to work with a strained neck or pain in the back.
Whilst writing this article, I had to go to Helsingborg, Sweden, to teach a group of social workers. I am always picked up by one of the participants at the ferry terminal. During the drive, my student told me, that the previous week she had a pain in her neck for several days, but after the yoga class that week it disappeared completely. The funny thing is that she only noticed that the pain was gone several hours after the class.
Another time, a 35 year old man came to a private lesson at the school in Stockholm, with severe back pains. He had been in the USA and had taken up aerobics mixed with yoga, and due to a lack of awareness and pressing himself too hard, he had unpleasant pains in the back. At that stage he had had back pains for five years, and said he would be very happy if a yoga course could only make it a little bit better. He learnt various yoga exercises, which he also used at home, and each week the pains diminished. After coming to the class four times, the pains were gone completely.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
I stand on my head for my health
I stand on my head for my health
Chris has not had a day sick for 36 years
by Benny Pedersen
For some it is a case of what you lack in your head, you must have in your legs. This does not apply to Hundested’s Chris Sylvest. He is supposedly Denmark’s best 92 year old at standing on the head. And Chris does not do it to boast of his gymnastic abilities, but to keep himself healthy!
- In the middle of the fifties I emigrated, together with my wife and two sons, to the USA. My wealthy sister had a place to live and work for us in California. And by and large it went very well. But in 1958 I was affected by something in my head. I still don’t know what it was. It was incredibly unpleasant though. My brain was affected and I got worse and worse - I was actually about to die. We were at our wit’s end. But then something happened that I would call a miracle.
We were in the USA for 14 years. During that time we read neither Danish newspapers nor magazines. But when I became ill in 1958, an old edition of Familie Journalen (The Family Journal) fell into our laps. I still don’t know where it came from. In the magazine there was an article about a watchmaker from Ålborg (a town in the north of Denmark), who had cured a violent migraine by standing on his head for 10 minutes every day. I took to the idea at once. A month and a half later I was completely cured. Since then I have stood on my head for 10 minutes every morning – and I haven’t had a day sick for 36 years. Isn’t that incredible?
Chris Sylvest gesticulates with the whole of his slender body, while telling about his health and his long, long, life.
Healthy as a 25 year old
- A few months ago I was examined from top to toe by two doctors – quite independent of each other. And they both reached the same conclusion: “Your body functions completely normally – for a man of 25!”
My own doctor, after having examined me, declared:
- Tomorrow I will begin standing on my head for 10 minutes. And I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
- I don’t know what happens. But it obviously has something to do with a lot of blood and oxygen reaching the brain.
Chris Sylvest was left a widower 14 years ago when his wife died, after a long and beautiful life:
- My two sons, who have both been residents of the USA for many years, invited me to live with them. So I sold our large house here in Hundested and travelled over there. But it wasn’t a success. I was regarded as an old man by those around me. They wanted me to sit down and relax all the time with a rug over my legs. After 14 months I went back home to Hundested again. With only two suitcases as baggage. Everything else I left with my sons and their families.
Chris Sylvest was born on a large farm near Frederikssund in 1902, under quite dramatic circumstances:
I shouldn’t even be here. The orifice of my stomach wouldn’t open, and the doctor gave me eight days to live. But my mother wanted it otherwise. She poured some buttermilk inside me, and I got better. As an adult I earned my living as a trader in fruit and vegetables. I had a wholesale business delivering goods to military barracks and hospitals. We made a living from this till we emigrated in 1954.
It seemed inevitable that my life was going to end in 1958. But luckily Familie Journalen landed in our laps, with a recipe for a long and healthy life. Come rain or shine, Christmas or Easter, I start the day by standing on my head. Hopefully for many years to come, says Hundested’s Chris Sylvest.
The Source of Energy - A Method from Tantric Kriya Yoga
Do you meditate when you simply sit down, close your eyes and let go?"
Hardly - a few might succeed in relaxing a little, but you can easily become caught in the illusion that you meditate, when instead you lose yourself in thoughts, or simply doze without going deep.
A method is important
To enter the relaxed state, to benefit and draw strength from it, you need a method. We can certainly use our will to stir ourselves up or get excited, but we can't relax by will power alone. Even when we believe that we do it, it doesn't work.
The American neuro-psychologist H. Benson showed in his well known study on relaxation and meditation techniques: "The Relaxation Response" (1975), that without a method, we don't actually reach a deep state of relaxation or meditation.
Meditation and relaxation techniques are known all over the world. In Japanese Zen and other Eastern traditions the breath is used as a means of entering the meditation. It is basically the normal - or spontaneous breath that you experience.
In Kriya Yoga, which is known in China and India, a simple breathing technique is used, the so-called Psychic Breath, to cleanse the mind and enter a deep state. This breath can be done alone or as a basis for a more comprehensive meditation. The meditation The Source of Energy (the little Ajapa Jap) is to a great extent based on this breathing technique.
Psychic breath...
...also called Ujjayi Pranayama, is easy to perform. It is a deep, slow and relaxed breath.
With breathing exercises and all kinds of meditation where you work with the psychic energy, a proper meditation pose with a straight spine is a must.
Therefore you sit upright in a meditation pose, which ensures that the energy flows freely and harmoniously
You make a light whispering sound with the breath originating from the vocal chords. The sound is relaxed as from a child in deep sleep. Together with the sound you inhale deeply and slowly, hold the breath for about 3 seconds, then with the sound you exhale slowly and relaxed and hold the breath out for about 3 seconds. After that follows the next inhalation and so on. Thus, there are four phases in all: inhalation, holding the breath, exhalation, and holding the breath out.
The breath influences body and mind
Psychic tensions manifest in the body's muscles, these tensions can be dissolved through various yoga exercises (see Bindu no. 3). The same applies to the breath: Tensions also build up here. Over the years we all develop a certain pattern of breathing, formed by our habits of thoughts and feelings. In every state we experience, we react in the way we breathe. No matter whether we are restless or confused, relaxed or sleepy the breath changes accordingly. Who hasn't "breathed a sigh of relief", or become "breathless" when something really exciting happens?
On the other hand, through breathing exercises (pranayama) one can directly influence the state of body and mind. There are numerous such breathing exercises in the yoga tradition, each with its precise and specific effect. Some have a stimulating effect and give an invigorating feeling of new energy, while others relax and harmonise.
By means of the even sound from the throat and the slow, regular rhythm between inhalation, the short holding of the breath and the exhalation, one can say that Ujjai Pranayama "stretches" the breath. Irregularities and blockages inhibiting the breath are gradually removed. The effect is felt both as a pleasurable relaxation and as an increase of energy.
The tongue
A special way of holding the tongue completes the psychic breath. It is called Khechari Mudra; in Sanskrit mudra means an attitude, which influences the subtle energies in the body. There are a number of different mudras, and this one is considered most important.
The tongue is bent backwards, so that the tip of the tongue points backwards and touches the soft part of the palate resting there. This position of the tongue may feel a little awkward in the beginning. It has however, various important functions. When you sit for a longer time with the psychic breath, the folded tongue keeps the throat moist; also this position stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system.
It is said that Khechari Mudra, for the period you hold it, suspends the direct interaction between mind and body. Impatience, and whatever thoughts or feelings that may surface in the mind will not affect the body like they usually do, creating restlessness, a nervous stomach or a headache, whilst the state of the body will not so easily influence the mind. This helps break the vicious circle of stress, where thoughts and tensions constantly reinforce each other.
Better at coping with pain...
At our yoga courses for pregnant women, the psychic breath plays an important part. There are a number of different breathing techniques, that can help during birth. Many women claim, however, that the psychic breath is the most relaxing during the contractions. It helps them to cope with pain and they are able to surrender to the process of giving birth.
A woman from Stockholm had a remarkable experience during the birth of her second child. She used the psychic breath during the whole opening up phase, which lasted several hours. For the majority of women this is the most laborious part of the birth, and you often experience strong pain. She knew this from the birth of her first child. This time, however, she relaxed with the help of the breath and didn't feel any pain at all, even though she was wide awake and consciously followed the dilation of the uterus. She was so surprised by this, that she thought the birth had come to a stop. Every time she was in doubt about this, she interrupted the psychic breath "to see if there was something wrong and then immediately the pains set in."
A step by step absorption
On the basis of the psychic breath The Source of Energy evolves as a clearly defined sequence: You begin with the breath, practising it for a while. Thus you become calm and get absorbed in the breathing. Step by step you then learn to discover and utilise certain energy passages in the body. Later in the sequence certain sounds (mantra) are added.
In this way tensions and blocks in the energy of the body are systematically removed, and gradually it becomes impossible to hold on to limiting ideas and states. Step by step you go deeper and reach still finer states.
A complete meditation sequence lasts from 20 to 45 minutes, but of course it can't be described in detail here. If you want to know more, you will find thorough instructions in Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life by Swami Janakananda. But it is the best to receive direct instructions on a meditation course.
Alpha - relaxation of the grey cells
The brain activity also changes during The Source of Energy meditation. This was shown clearly in a test made at the University Clinic of Cologne under the direction of Dr. Thomas Schmidt. A number of yoga and meditation teachers had their blood pressure, heart beat and the electrical activity of the brain measured during this meditation. With the help of electrodes, that were placed evenly all over the skull, the activity of the brain was reproduced on an electroencephalograph (EEG).
At first the subjects were allowed to meditate undisturbed. Then the doctors tried to disturb them systematically: "...our hands were lowered into ice-cold water, a deafening noise was played through earphones, and we were even stung with needles. All this I could peripherally observe, but I didn't feel disturbed by it." (yoga teacher Thorbjørn Knudsen).
The electronic measurements confirmed this personal experience. During the meditation the brain changed its frequency: From a high activity (beta-frequency) to a deep and stable alpha-frequency. The frequency of the impulses in the brain can be measured with all human beings and shows clearly whether you are in the ordinary waking state (Beta), whether you relax (Alpha), whether you sleep in a light (Theta) or in a deep sleep (Delta). The alpha-frequency sets in every time we relax, and that happens by itself right before we fall asleep. On the other hand, in deep relaxation and in meditation we consciously choose to stay in the alpha state, to not go too deep and fall asleep. This state is experienced as a period where you calm down completely and gain new strength. On the way into this calmness, the mind opens up and gradually lets go of everyday thoughts often followed by a period where spontaneous, creative ideas will surface or solutions to particular problems. Finally, at the end of the meditation, you reach a state where you will be one-pointed and centered.
What surprised the doctors behind the experiment the most was, that even during the extreme disturbances there were no changes in the alpha-values of the EEG. In other words, during the whole meditation the brain was - independent of the outer influences - in a wakeful and relaxed state without blocking.
Recent studies, both in the USA and Scandinavia, also show that when you meditate over a longer period of time, it can have an enduring beneficial effect on your brain activity. One who meditates regularly has a lasting relaxing effect in daily life.
Effective learning
The story of a student in Copenhagen shows how this can be beneficial. She was preparing for an important examination and had earlier experienced difficulties with the reading material: "...Every time I reached certain passages in the texts, I became tense, tired and distracted. It was like I didn't trust myself confronting this material. When I started to meditate, these problems disappeared. I simply had so much energy, that I couldn't hang on to this 'I-cannot-state'. Even when reading what before had appeared to be difficult passages, my mind didn't go blank anymore, and I reached an all over understanding, that I hadn't been able to comprehend earlier. I learned the examination requirements."
The ability to remain open is very important for intellectual work, but can also be useful in every activity of daily life, and in any kind of creativity. When you don't so easily let yourself become blocked by limiting ideas, you can better put your strength into achieving your real goals.
On the way to Kriya Yoga
In the tantric tradition two meditations are based on the psychic breath: The Source of Energy and Ajapa Japa. Together they can also be called the little Kriya Yoga and are the first steps in the direction of the much more comprehensive Kriya Yoga.
Ajapa Japa can be characterised as a continuation of The Source of Energy. It is more deep going and extensive, in length and in the subtlety of the different steps. The last steps you learn during a few days of silence.
The learning process of Ajapa Japa takes a longer time, and therefore we teach it on 10- and 14-day courses at the Håå Course Centre in southern Sweden. Here you live for two weeks in the countryside - without television, radio or newspapers. Such a holiday, away from all the everyday influences, creates the calmness and concentration needed for really learning this meditation and benefiting from it right from the beginning.
Those who wish to go further can learn the complete Kriya Yoga. Swami Janakananda is today one of the few who teaches the Tantric Kriya Yoga in its original form and required conditions. Read about Kriya Yoga here, in in Bindu >>
The Mysterious Devotee: A True Story
In September, 2004, my wife, Anandi, and I welcomed a mysterious, unannounced visitor to our home. He stayed for eight days and thrilled us with his presence. Our “guest” spent his daylight hours sitting serenely in our meditation garden by a statue of Lahiri Mahasaya. Impressed by our visitor’s dedication, we often looked out our bedroom window to see him still there, keeping his vigil by the saint’s statue. Not knowing our friend’s name, we decided to call him Gurupod, which means at the feet of the guru.
Gurupod, you see, was a male deer, who for some inexplicable reason, came one day into our partially enclosed meditation garden to sit near the saint’s statue. Gurupod had a wonderful presence, a calm disposition, and he exuded a quiet strength. He was three years old and carried an impressive set of antlers.
Resting in the garden, with the statue and fence right behind him, Gurupod was a little skittish on his first day when we went out to our outdoor meditation hut. To get there, we had to pass directly in front of him, so we walked slowly, hoping not to frighten him. But Gurupod’s only reaction was to stand up and leisurely walk thirty feet away and wait until we went inside the hut, then he returned to sit near the statue of Lahiri Mahasaya.
Wild animals usually don’t feel comfortable in an enclosed area when people are present, but Gurupod apparently was no ordinary animal. During the following days, as we walked within a few feet of Gurupod on our way to meditate, he would stand up as before, but now he only walked five to ten feet away before returning. As far as we could tell, Gurupod spent every moment of every day resting quietly by the statue of Lahiri Mahasaya.
Later in the week, I thought it would be inspiring to sit with Gurupod as I studied for a meditation class I was giving. Gurupod, as usual, sat by the saint’s statue, and I, on a small patio ten feet away. The meditation hut window that Gurupod looked through while Bharat was meditating for him. After spending several quiet hours together in the warm September sun, I turned to Gurupod, looked deeply into his eyes, and silently asked him, “Who are you? Have you come to teach me something? Have you come for Lahiri Mahasaya’s blessings?” For a long time we held each other’s gaze: Gurupod’s eyes, calm and serene and my own, inquisitive and grateful. I did not receive a definite answer to my questions, but I do know that Gurupod’s poise and one-pointed focus has inspired me even to this day.
After our silent “conversation,” it was time for me to meditate. On this occasion, Gurupod, after getting up as I walked by, did not return again to Lahiri’s statue. Instead, he left the meditation garden and came around to the outer wall of the hut, on the side that our altar faces. Gurupod was now sitting below the pictures of all of our Masters. As I began my meditation, Gurupod continued sitting quietly in front of me, just a yard away. My heart felt so close to Gurupod that I wanted to do something for him. Swami Kriyananda has told us that if we want to relate to others spiritually, we should commune with them from our center to theirs. Kriya Yoga, because it centers your energy in the spine, is a marvelous way to pray for and bless others. The moment I started thinking of Gurupod during my practice of Kriya Yoga, he stood up and came right to the screened window where I was sitting, and looked at me from a foot away. Gurupod gazed intently at me the whole time I was dedicating my Kriya Yoga practice for his soul evolution. At one point I heard a few faint sniffs come from him. The moment I finished doing my Kriya practice for him, he again sat down by the meditation hut.
After my meditation with Gurupod, Anandi and I never saw him again. His first day with us was September 19th and he stayed until the 26th. Curiously, Lahiri Mahasaya’s Mahasamadhi—a saint’s consciousness exit from his body—is on September 26th, the last day Gurupod spent resting near the saint’s statue.
Who was Gurupod? I don’t know. However, I feel I can truthfully say that on some level, Gurupod was magnetically drawn to the presence of Lahiri Mahasaya. Every action of his demonstrated this.
Two and a half years have past since Gurupod’s visit to our meditation garden, and we still feel inspired by his example whenever we go to our outdoor temple to meditate. In the garden, below the nearby statue of Lahiri Mahasaya rests a black stone placed to memorialize Gurupod’s visit, and his dedication to stay close to the form of this great Master. God, who has manifested Himself in countless ways, can come to the devotee in any form He chooses. For us, Gurupod’s visit was a thrilling message from God. We may be wrong, but our error will be our gain if we emulate in our hearts Gurupod’s beautiful manner of resting with the Master.
Nurturing a Happy Heart: Yoga
Stand up. Really, stand up. Inhale deeply and reach for the sky, as high as you can. Next, slowly blow your breath out, sweeping your arms past your sides and bending toward the floor as you empty your lungs. Draw fresh air into your lungs and slowly roll back up to a standing position, arms by your sides. Feels good, doesn’t it?
You can sit down now.
What you just did was sample the simple science of yoga -- moving your body to fend off sitting disease while clearing your mind to nurture a peaceful, happy, healthy heart.
Unlike Western medicine, which takes the Jiffy Lube approach to wellness by directing you to a fix-it specialist for each of your broken parts (Bunions? See a podiatrist. Depression? That’s a psychiatrist’s job!), traditional Eastern medicine uses holistic systems such as yoga to treat your mind and body as one.
Developed 5,000 years ago in India, yoga reached American shores with immigrants back in the 1800s. Only in recent decades, though, has our faster-moving, increasingly stressed population embraced this exercise that’s more serene than sweat, more meditative than muscle. Today in the United States, more than 15 million people include yoga in their regular fitness routines. Its advocates range from Madonna to Sandra Day O’Connor and from NFL running backs to Wall Street brokers.
Although some people focus their practice more behind -- striving for the coveted firm “yoga butt” -- than inward, scientific evidence from the past 10 years shows that this traditional-yet-trendy, mind-body medicine can relieve symptoms of chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and yes, heart disease. Even hospitals are getting in on the act. At New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, cardiologists routinely steer patients into programs that offer yoga as part of their preventive and rehabilitative care.
Hooked?
Once you get a taste of yoga, you may find yourself craving a full course. Investing more time will help you reap even more benefits. If you’re interested, try a Sun Salutation workout -- a popular series of 12 yoga postures performed in a single, graceful flow. The Sun Salutation builds strength, as well as increasing flexibility and promoting a sense of calm. If that isn’t enough to quench your thirst, yoga information is easy to find. Bookstores have loads of great guides; almost all gyms and senior centers offer classes; videos are available at the library; yoga magazines are on newsstands; and, of course, the Internet has an overwhelming amount of information.
Disease Reversal
Internationally renowned heart disease researcher Dean Ornish, M.D., of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, may have been the first Western physician to place yoga alongside diet and exercise at the foundation of a heart-healthy lifestyle. In his most cited study in 1990, Dr. Ornish tested 48 men and women with medically documented coronary heart disease. The doctor assigned 28 participants to a lifestyle regimen that included yoga, group counseling, and an extremely low-fat vegetarian diet. The rest received their usual care and continued their regular lifestyle habits.
After a year, those in Dr. Ornish’s test group actually had clearer, more supple arteries -- indicating that their heart disease was reversing -- while the arteries of those in the control group continued to clog and harden. Eight years later, he published a follow-up study showing that 80 percent of 194 men and women with heart disease were able to avoid bypass surgery by following a similar lifestyle intervention program that included yoga.
Although the lion’s share of his colleagues credited the spartan, zero-saturated-fat food plan with bulldozing built-up plaque, Dr. Ornish steadfastly argues that adherence to yoga is as strongly correlated with reductions in artery blockage as is adherence to the diet.
During a 2003 study, a research team in India tested 113 men and women, ages 35 to 70, with documented coronary artery disease. They placed 71 in a yoga lifestyle program, which included stress management, exercise, and a plant-based diet, while the remaining volunteers took heart medications and followed a more typical Western medicine prescription of diet and lifestyle tweaks. One year later, the yoga group had fared much better, averaging a 23 percent drop in cholesterol levels compared with only a 4 percent reduction among the med-taking volunteers. What’s more, 44 percent of the yoga participants showed reversals of their heart disease, and artery hardening was stopped in its tracks for 47 percent -- significantly greater improvements than those in the control group.
Fight-or-Flight Deactivated
While there’s no denying that diet is a powerful component of the “yoga lifestyle,” the ability of this flowing, serene exercise to defuse stress is probably yoga’s most potent power in battling heart disease. We’ve all heard of the fight-or-flight response, which occurs when, at the slightest whiff of threat, your body’s Fort Knoxian personal security system gushes adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream to mobilize fat from your body’s stores to fuel your muscles -- and your escape. The problem is, in modern society, you’re more likely to face an angry boss than a charging buffalo, so instead of fighting or fleeing, you’re left stewing in that toxic self-defense cocktail. The result: elevated blood pressure, higher cholesterol, and an increased likelihood of blood clots.
Now for some good news. Just as your body is equipped with a punch-and-run reflex during times of perceived danger, it also has a pretty good peacetime plan, known as the relaxation response, which gives your battle-weary nervous system some much-needed R&R. The catch: Like a day spent with your mind wrapped up in a novel and your toes nestled in warm sand, the relaxation response doesn’t just happen during everyday chaotic life. You have to pursue it -- and yoga is one of the best paths you can take.
As you draw in deep belly breaths and release built-up tension by extending your limbs through their full range of motion, focusing your thoughts on each pose, you flip the switch that deactivates the fight-or-flight system and engages the relaxation response. Your heartbeat slows and your blood pressure drops. Over time, if you practice regularly, you can even lower the “alert level” of your autonomic nervous system so that you’re walking around more relaxed all the time.
Like standard stretching, yoga also increases circulation and improves blood supply to the heart. With better blood flow, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver fresh nutrients and oxygen to your organs and muscles. By entering a relaxed state, you also increase your coronary blood flow by decreasing artery constriction.
As a side benefit, regular yoga stretching lengthens muscles and connective tissues, improving your flexibility and range of motion so you can enjoy heart-healthy aerobic and strengthening activities with less muscle soreness and chronic aches and pains.
Source : Readers Digest
You can sit down now.
What you just did was sample the simple science of yoga -- moving your body to fend off sitting disease while clearing your mind to nurture a peaceful, happy, healthy heart.
Unlike Western medicine, which takes the Jiffy Lube approach to wellness by directing you to a fix-it specialist for each of your broken parts (Bunions? See a podiatrist. Depression? That’s a psychiatrist’s job!), traditional Eastern medicine uses holistic systems such as yoga to treat your mind and body as one.
Developed 5,000 years ago in India, yoga reached American shores with immigrants back in the 1800s. Only in recent decades, though, has our faster-moving, increasingly stressed population embraced this exercise that’s more serene than sweat, more meditative than muscle. Today in the United States, more than 15 million people include yoga in their regular fitness routines. Its advocates range from Madonna to Sandra Day O’Connor and from NFL running backs to Wall Street brokers.
Although some people focus their practice more behind -- striving for the coveted firm “yoga butt” -- than inward, scientific evidence from the past 10 years shows that this traditional-yet-trendy, mind-body medicine can relieve symptoms of chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and yes, heart disease. Even hospitals are getting in on the act. At New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, cardiologists routinely steer patients into programs that offer yoga as part of their preventive and rehabilitative care.
Hooked?
Once you get a taste of yoga, you may find yourself craving a full course. Investing more time will help you reap even more benefits. If you’re interested, try a Sun Salutation workout -- a popular series of 12 yoga postures performed in a single, graceful flow. The Sun Salutation builds strength, as well as increasing flexibility and promoting a sense of calm. If that isn’t enough to quench your thirst, yoga information is easy to find. Bookstores have loads of great guides; almost all gyms and senior centers offer classes; videos are available at the library; yoga magazines are on newsstands; and, of course, the Internet has an overwhelming amount of information.
Disease Reversal
Internationally renowned heart disease researcher Dean Ornish, M.D., of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, may have been the first Western physician to place yoga alongside diet and exercise at the foundation of a heart-healthy lifestyle. In his most cited study in 1990, Dr. Ornish tested 48 men and women with medically documented coronary heart disease. The doctor assigned 28 participants to a lifestyle regimen that included yoga, group counseling, and an extremely low-fat vegetarian diet. The rest received their usual care and continued their regular lifestyle habits.
After a year, those in Dr. Ornish’s test group actually had clearer, more supple arteries -- indicating that their heart disease was reversing -- while the arteries of those in the control group continued to clog and harden. Eight years later, he published a follow-up study showing that 80 percent of 194 men and women with heart disease were able to avoid bypass surgery by following a similar lifestyle intervention program that included yoga.
Although the lion’s share of his colleagues credited the spartan, zero-saturated-fat food plan with bulldozing built-up plaque, Dr. Ornish steadfastly argues that adherence to yoga is as strongly correlated with reductions in artery blockage as is adherence to the diet.
During a 2003 study, a research team in India tested 113 men and women, ages 35 to 70, with documented coronary artery disease. They placed 71 in a yoga lifestyle program, which included stress management, exercise, and a plant-based diet, while the remaining volunteers took heart medications and followed a more typical Western medicine prescription of diet and lifestyle tweaks. One year later, the yoga group had fared much better, averaging a 23 percent drop in cholesterol levels compared with only a 4 percent reduction among the med-taking volunteers. What’s more, 44 percent of the yoga participants showed reversals of their heart disease, and artery hardening was stopped in its tracks for 47 percent -- significantly greater improvements than those in the control group.
Fight-or-Flight Deactivated
While there’s no denying that diet is a powerful component of the “yoga lifestyle,” the ability of this flowing, serene exercise to defuse stress is probably yoga’s most potent power in battling heart disease. We’ve all heard of the fight-or-flight response, which occurs when, at the slightest whiff of threat, your body’s Fort Knoxian personal security system gushes adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream to mobilize fat from your body’s stores to fuel your muscles -- and your escape. The problem is, in modern society, you’re more likely to face an angry boss than a charging buffalo, so instead of fighting or fleeing, you’re left stewing in that toxic self-defense cocktail. The result: elevated blood pressure, higher cholesterol, and an increased likelihood of blood clots.
Now for some good news. Just as your body is equipped with a punch-and-run reflex during times of perceived danger, it also has a pretty good peacetime plan, known as the relaxation response, which gives your battle-weary nervous system some much-needed R&R. The catch: Like a day spent with your mind wrapped up in a novel and your toes nestled in warm sand, the relaxation response doesn’t just happen during everyday chaotic life. You have to pursue it -- and yoga is one of the best paths you can take.
As you draw in deep belly breaths and release built-up tension by extending your limbs through their full range of motion, focusing your thoughts on each pose, you flip the switch that deactivates the fight-or-flight system and engages the relaxation response. Your heartbeat slows and your blood pressure drops. Over time, if you practice regularly, you can even lower the “alert level” of your autonomic nervous system so that you’re walking around more relaxed all the time.
Like standard stretching, yoga also increases circulation and improves blood supply to the heart. With better blood flow, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver fresh nutrients and oxygen to your organs and muscles. By entering a relaxed state, you also increase your coronary blood flow by decreasing artery constriction.
As a side benefit, regular yoga stretching lengthens muscles and connective tissues, improving your flexibility and range of motion so you can enjoy heart-healthy aerobic and strengthening activities with less muscle soreness and chronic aches and pains.
Source : Readers Digest
Yoga for Depression - Part II (Yogajournal.com)
In Yoga for Depression, Part I I discussed the two major types of depression, rajasic and tamasic, as conceptualized by my teacher Patricia Walden (and her teacher B.K.S. Iyengar), whose work has heavily influenced my own. That article described asana practices that can help lift students out of depression. Now let's review other useful yoga practices.
Pranayama Practices for Depression
For students with tamasic depression, pranayama practices that emphasize inhalation may be useful. Of course, getting your students to focus on engaging their abdominal muscles to help squeeze additional air out of the lungs on the exhalation facilitates an easier, deeper inhalation on the subsequent breath. Such breathing practices as three-part inhalation, and Ujjayi on the inhalation with normal exhalation, are examples of practices that increase the length of the inhalation relative to the exhalation.
Students with more rajasic depression may benefit from practices that bring attention to and lengthen the exhalation. Examples include three-part exhalations and 1:2 breathing, where, for example, you inhale for three seconds and exhale for six. Strong breathing practices such as Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath, sometimes called Breath of Fire) and Bhastrika (Bellows Breath), which tend to activate the sympathetic nervous system, may sometimes be too agitating for those who are already restless and fidgety. Let direct observation of the student be your guide, since finding the appropriate practice is ultimately a matter of trial and error. Furthermore, since a student's condition may change day to day, what's appropriate may also vary.
Other Practices for Depression
Chanting and other bhakti (devotional) practices can be useful for depression. Walden says that these practices bypass the brain and go directly to the emotions. Not all students respond to bhakti yoga, but in those who do, it can be powerful. Chanting tends to keep the brain occupied, and it's a natural way to extend the exhalation without thinking about it. You'd therefore expect it to be particularly useful for students with busy, rajasic minds.
Meditation can be a powerful tool over the long-term to facilitate greater levels of happiness. Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin has done research that shows that meditation tends to increase the activity of the left prefrontal cortex of the brain. Left-sided activation has been associated with greater levels of calm and happiness and well as more emotional resiliency, rendering practitioners better able to withstand the inevitable ups and downs of life. Students who are severely depressed may not be able to meditate, even if they keep their eyes open. If that’s the case, try to initiate meditative practices when they are out of the depths of depression to help insulate them against recurrences.
Yoga philosophy can also be of help. Yoga teaches that the more you do or think something, the more likely you are to do it or think it again. Any habit—what yoga calls a samskara—tends to get deeper with repetition. Thus a negative and self-flagellating inner dialogue may not just be a symptom of depression, it may help fuel it. One practice that Walden suggests is to consciously cultivate gratitude. "Count your blessings every day," she tells her students.
It can be useful to get out a pad of paper and try to list all you have to be grateful for. When you think about all the things that had to happen even for you to be born, it's a miracle you are here. Then there are all the people who've loved you, fed you, cared for you, and educated you throughout your life. It's also helpful to be thankful for the practice of yoga, which has been passed to us from masters who lived thousands of years ago, and the line of teachers extending from them to the present day. Such an exercise is an example of what Patanjali called "cultivating the opposite." The more you practice this—even if it's torturous at first—the deeper your "gratitude samskara" will become, and the more it can contribute to your well-being in the long run.
Taking a Step, No Matter How Small
Your students' journey out of depression begins with a single step from wherever they are right now. If they are severely depressed, it may be a struggle for them to practice at all. In that case, could you get them to commit to doing a single Sun Salutation, or even a single Down Dog Pose, every day? (Of course, once they get on their mats, they may find themselves doing more.) Or perhaps you could encourage them to study their interior dialogues to understand how recurrent thoughts may be sabotaging recovery. In severe cases, especially if suicide seems like a possibility, don't hesitate to refer your students to a doctor or psychotherapist. Even if such professional help is necessary, yoga can play a complementary role, likely rendering any psychotherapy or medication more effective.
Better still, even though yoga tends to help reverse depression slowly, its ultimate aim is much higher than achieving the "everyday discontent" that Freud viewed as the goal of psychoanalysis. Yoga, in contrast, teaches that life can be peaceful, full of purpose, happy, and even joyful, and that the source of that joy and contentment is found deep inside in each of us. Various yoga practices are simply tools to help get us there.
Pranayama Practices for Depression
For students with tamasic depression, pranayama practices that emphasize inhalation may be useful. Of course, getting your students to focus on engaging their abdominal muscles to help squeeze additional air out of the lungs on the exhalation facilitates an easier, deeper inhalation on the subsequent breath. Such breathing practices as three-part inhalation, and Ujjayi on the inhalation with normal exhalation, are examples of practices that increase the length of the inhalation relative to the exhalation.
Students with more rajasic depression may benefit from practices that bring attention to and lengthen the exhalation. Examples include three-part exhalations and 1:2 breathing, where, for example, you inhale for three seconds and exhale for six. Strong breathing practices such as Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath, sometimes called Breath of Fire) and Bhastrika (Bellows Breath), which tend to activate the sympathetic nervous system, may sometimes be too agitating for those who are already restless and fidgety. Let direct observation of the student be your guide, since finding the appropriate practice is ultimately a matter of trial and error. Furthermore, since a student's condition may change day to day, what's appropriate may also vary.
Other Practices for Depression
Chanting and other bhakti (devotional) practices can be useful for depression. Walden says that these practices bypass the brain and go directly to the emotions. Not all students respond to bhakti yoga, but in those who do, it can be powerful. Chanting tends to keep the brain occupied, and it's a natural way to extend the exhalation without thinking about it. You'd therefore expect it to be particularly useful for students with busy, rajasic minds.
Meditation can be a powerful tool over the long-term to facilitate greater levels of happiness. Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin has done research that shows that meditation tends to increase the activity of the left prefrontal cortex of the brain. Left-sided activation has been associated with greater levels of calm and happiness and well as more emotional resiliency, rendering practitioners better able to withstand the inevitable ups and downs of life. Students who are severely depressed may not be able to meditate, even if they keep their eyes open. If that’s the case, try to initiate meditative practices when they are out of the depths of depression to help insulate them against recurrences.
Yoga philosophy can also be of help. Yoga teaches that the more you do or think something, the more likely you are to do it or think it again. Any habit—what yoga calls a samskara—tends to get deeper with repetition. Thus a negative and self-flagellating inner dialogue may not just be a symptom of depression, it may help fuel it. One practice that Walden suggests is to consciously cultivate gratitude. "Count your blessings every day," she tells her students.
It can be useful to get out a pad of paper and try to list all you have to be grateful for. When you think about all the things that had to happen even for you to be born, it's a miracle you are here. Then there are all the people who've loved you, fed you, cared for you, and educated you throughout your life. It's also helpful to be thankful for the practice of yoga, which has been passed to us from masters who lived thousands of years ago, and the line of teachers extending from them to the present day. Such an exercise is an example of what Patanjali called "cultivating the opposite." The more you practice this—even if it's torturous at first—the deeper your "gratitude samskara" will become, and the more it can contribute to your well-being in the long run.
Taking a Step, No Matter How Small
Your students' journey out of depression begins with a single step from wherever they are right now. If they are severely depressed, it may be a struggle for them to practice at all. In that case, could you get them to commit to doing a single Sun Salutation, or even a single Down Dog Pose, every day? (Of course, once they get on their mats, they may find themselves doing more.) Or perhaps you could encourage them to study their interior dialogues to understand how recurrent thoughts may be sabotaging recovery. In severe cases, especially if suicide seems like a possibility, don't hesitate to refer your students to a doctor or psychotherapist. Even if such professional help is necessary, yoga can play a complementary role, likely rendering any psychotherapy or medication more effective.
Better still, even though yoga tends to help reverse depression slowly, its ultimate aim is much higher than achieving the "everyday discontent" that Freud viewed as the goal of psychoanalysis. Yoga, in contrast, teaches that life can be peaceful, full of purpose, happy, and even joyful, and that the source of that joy and contentment is found deep inside in each of us. Various yoga practices are simply tools to help get us there.
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