WHAT
IS YOGA
When
it comes to conscious living, nothing beats the practice of Yoga and the art of
connecting your body with your mind leading to universal soul consciousness –
meditation.
The
one and only specific practice that
anyone requires for tuning to the higher self and the universal energies is ‘Meditation’.
This is the true yoga. Every form of yoga is but a culmination to this one goal
‘ being one with the Higher Self’ and this can be done only with meditation.
For a yogi or yogini that is true yoga. The only yoga.
Meditation
is the perfect tool for healing your mind and body. And you can never do
it too often. Twice a daily is ideal. But there is
one
problem... Where do you find the time to do yoga? When can you meditate? I cannot concentrate. These are questions for
the lay man, for those who are willing, there will always be time. Twenty-four
hours in a day should be more than enough … why can’t you remove one hour for
it?
While
we address such issues, how can you learn? Let it be a non- issue and then you
will progress.
What is yoga? Why is it important?
Yoga is an ancient
science dealing with many different systems for increasing the speed of human
evolution. It predates all of the world’s existing religions and provides the
esoteric basis on which many of these religions were later based upon. Yoga,
provides practical techniques that can be used by anyone – man or woman, of any
temperament or spiritual level. This is a spiritual practice which in yogic
parlance is called sadhana.
For, here the focus is not just the elevation
of body, mind or the spirit. It is about bringing all aspects of your-self to a
completeness or rediscovering the I AM, which is the Godhead. Like worship in
any temple of God, there is and will always be a ritual. The body being your
temple will also have to follow one.
The ritual starts
with a dedication, purpose and love. If any of these things are missing, than
whatever you do will be half baked. Think of it as the ritual of making the
perfect fettucini at home made healthy, delicious and fresh. If the fettucini
were to be cooked without the right ingredients, the right flour, fresh eggs,
love and dedication to perfecting it, all would be lost. And do, the ritual of
yoga and meditation is to be experienced like that… like the wonder of a taste
that cannot be generalized or pointed out, but it makes the meal fulfilling. So,
the simile is that yoga and you make for the right ingredients and with
meditation it becomes food for the soul.
I as a yogini would
rather feed the soul first. It is imperative. Rituals asides, we have to
understand why we need to center ourselves through these age old methods of
yoga and meditation. Why do we need to make time for such practices? The answer
is simple.
In this world that
we live in, we have become too involved with material gains and losses, with
this being the state very few people realize that the soul or spirit of individuality is being lost
in the haze we call maya or illusion.
The only way we can rectify this without making it into any kind of a religious
aspiration is through yoga and meditation. That is why I call it centering
ourselves – to know who we are before all else.
To know the essence
of who we are, to realize ourselves through yoga or meditation or any other
ancient science is not an easy process. Like children we have to have someone
guide us, lead us by hand and teach us. For something as illuminating as
learning how to self centre through yog
or sadhana; we have to have the true
master or Guru.
It will be through
the Guru that you will perfect your yoga and self- realization thereof. You
will understand that the yog
(this word combines both yoga and
meditation= sadhana) is not just about folding your legs and
sitting in a relaxed position, happily breathing or even having your thoughts
manipulated. It’s a way of life. We call it evolving through the direct process
of ‘monitoring thought waves with a master teacher or Guru’.
With the Guru, your
spirit will reach the dimension we call God, which is your true nature; the
purpose which is equaled to creating your own destiny. This is what sadhana is all about – discovering your
true nature. It is not enough to repeat that the process requires discipline,
focus and determination.
Let me guide you to
its true nature and yours. Meanwhile, promises can be broken, the task can be
hard, because it is simpler to make excuses. And for those who are ready for
the practice of meditation, and even those who have thought about meditation
versus going through the entire routine of a yoga practice and then meditation.
That can be done, doing just yoga or meditation. But, let’s not take the easy route. Let’s
choose one form of yoga that is really the easiest and the best – Surya
Namaskar
Everyone can do the
Surya Namaskar or the Sun yoga, a 12 process asanas of this particular yoga; this yoga is all about prostrations
to the life force we call the Sun energy. It is practiced at the early hours of
the morning, when it is dawn. It is the use of twelve steps of yogic exercises
using breath control, activating relevant energy centers or chakras in our body.
For those who
already practice it, we will now proceed with stages of meditation. After the
Surya Namaskars, one has to go ahead with the meditation to complete the
process of yoga. Yoga is the mind.
Remember, meditation
or centering oneself is not easy. No one can do it at one shot. This too is a
routine and a practice.
Stages of Meditation
The first stage of meditation involves only the
physical body and its normal functions. Here you will learn every inch of your
body and yourself. You will practice how to understand each language of your
body parts – to know that it is the house of God. That it’s a temple for the
spirit that lives within you. As the adage goes ‘ a healthy mind lives in a
healthy body’ and so, meditation in its initial stage will be about
preparation, understanding and practicing readiness of your outer shell for the
inner experience.
The second stage will deal with the knowing and
understanding of your conscious mind that will always rationalize against your
true self – as the spirit. Some even call it the conscience explaining motives
and reasoning thereof for every action. Here you will learn how to control
argumentative thoughts that arise from your conscious mind until that part of
you becomes silent. Once silence can be
achieved, the next level can evolve.
The third stage will deal with attuning and realizing
your sub conscious mind where all memory of your emotional and mental experiences of this life can be stored for
self- examination. Careful monitoring and study will make you
understand all the negative and positive attributes you have created … thereby
your joys and sorrows. It is when all
this is finally assimilated in to your deep consciousness, can the fourth stage
evolve.
The fourth stage will allow you to attune to your deep
sub-conscious mind or the spirit or Super Ego as we call it. Here your true
self can be revealed. Once that is achieved there will be balance within you, a
total surrender and acceptance of your body, mind, emotions and spirit, all
will come together as one. That done, you will finally be able to choose your
personal path of growth. The path that will
bring peace, success and creativity in your life.
Once you
have gone through the processes and achieved the fourth stage, then you can go
ahead and practice self- realization, for you will have by now understood your
innate nature or God nature as well call it. Some would call it insight. I would call it identifying the nature of
mind.
