Month: November 2017

When I began practicing yoga and meditation, I learned that the body and mind are changing every moment. As human beings, we are prone to attachment. We get attached to people, places, and things. This quality of attachment is what fuels the ego and creates the cycle of unending desires. Due to attachment, we long for specific experiences, people, and environments that give us pleasure. However, nature is ever-changing and does not favor anyone. Through the practice of yoga, we need to synchronize our lives with this truth.

Practicing yoga not only makes us super-conscious of the changes that happen in our body and minds But also helps us become detached from these states of existence. When detachment occurs, peace of mind ensues because we stop identifying with the different mental constructions of our minds. These mental constructions are called Vrittis by the yogis.

Consider the mind as a transparent crystal and the Vrittis as different colors of light. Under red light, the crystal appears to be red. Under blue light, it appears blue. However, in reality, the crystal has no color of its own. It is because of our attachment to our own thoughts, perceptions and various external stimuli that we start acknowledging the crystal to be red or blue.

An interesting analogy was made by Bruce Lee when he said, in an interview, “Empty your mind. Be formless, shapless like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a tea-pot, it becomes the tea-pot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” This statement by Lee, clearly showed that he had understood the colorless, atrributeless nature of the mind. He had learnt to detach his mind with the thoughts and fovus it on his martial arts practice. In my opinion, this is what made him great at what he did.

In 2011, when I began my practice, my mind was bombarded with thoughts of insecurity, anxiety, desire and anger. I was overwhelmed by my own mind and  repeatedly got lost in old, repressed memories. Eventually, with practice I learned to get detached with those feelings and memories. I had become an observer who was watching thoughts come and go like cars on the road.

However, this is far away from the end of the road. Today, though I am not driven by the thoughts that haunted me in the past, I am faced with new new ones. The content of my mind has changed and new patterns of thinking have emerged. I still struggle on certain to find that focus but have become more adept at handling such challenges. So keep practicing!

 

In my last post, I talked about the science of pranayama and its effects on the human physiology and psychology. Through this post, I will share with you all a specific technique of pranayama that I have practiced myself in the past. This technique has benefited me and will do the same for anyone who practices it diligently. These benefits are improved concentration, calmness in the mind and body, an increase in body energy and many other countless benefits that you will only realize once start practicing it regularly . So let’s get to it!

1. Close your left nostril using the ring finger of your right hand and take a deep breath in through your right nostril. You do not have to breathe forcefully. Just breathe normally but deeply.
2. After taking a deep breath from your right nostril, close the right nostril using the thumb of your right hand and open the left nostril by removing your ring finger. Breathe out gently but completely.
3. Now take another deep breath in using your left nostril while keeping the right nostril closed with the thumb.
4. Now close the left nostril using the ring finger and open the right nostril by removing the thumb. Breathe out gently but deeply.

These 5 steps lead to one cycle of what is known as the Nadi Shodhana pranayama or alternate nostril breathing technique. Repeat this cycle 6-7 times, twice a day and it will do great benefits to your body. The best time to practice this technique is in the morning when one has an empty stomach after getting up and in the evening before having dinner.

The name Nadi Shodhana pranayama means purification of Nadis, which are nervous channels in our bodies that carry electrical impulses and other vital energies that sustain the body. Nadi Shodhana pranayama purifies the nervous channels in the human body leading to a better energy flow overall, because of which the body becomes healthy overtime.

The right and left nostrils are connected to the left and right brain of our body respectively. Furthermore, our nostrils are actually the endings of our nerve channels that run throughout our body.

Try this simple technique for a few days and tell me about your experience in the comments. There are many variations to this technique which are adpoted by advanced practitioners. For beginners, this technique helps build strength in the lungs so that one can move to harder practices.

 

Have you ever wondered what is it that keeps us alive. Sure, in strict medical terms, we can say it is the circulation of blood in our body through the heart that keeps us alive or it is the constant healing mechanism of the body that prevents death. Others may say it is the functioning of the brain that makes us alive or pumping of air in our lungs. But have you ever wondered what is that makes the heart beat or the lungs pump. Air itself cannot make us breathe nor can blood itself make our heart beat. Yogis believe that the whole universe is a manifestation of prana aka life force and it is the source of our existence.

Prana is life itself and its different vibrations exist as different forms of life. When we breathe, there is a constant intake of prana and this prana keeps our body running. It is this prana that makes the lungs pump and the heart beat. Even the food that we eat gets converted into prana finally. By learning to conserve prana, we can be healthier, live longer and be stronger.

The word pranayama is made up of the two words prana and yama. Prana is the essential life force and yama means control. So the word pranayama means the control of prana. Yogis practice the technique of pranayama through systematic breathing. In the average human being, the breathing process is involuntary i.e. he or she breathes without even realizing that they are breathing. An athlete has a little more control over his breathing as he or she is taught to control their breathing process to enhance their stamina. Similarly, even military professionals used systematic breathing techniques to remain calm in stressful situations and gain strength and vigor. The yogi is constantly aware of his breath and some of the yogis have mastered the technique of pranayama to the extent that he or she takes one breath per min. However, this breathing is not forced. For the yogi this has become his natural breathing pattern through years of practice.

The practice of pranayama enhances the quality of our breathing, focuses the mind and makes our body processes rhythmic. Practicing it every now and then refreshes me and helps calm down my overly active mind. So, if you ever feel anxious, have anxiety or angry, take refuge in the technique of pranayama.

So, this is a poem that i wrote a few years ago, I happened to come across it again and thought I should put it up on this blog. I hope my readers are able to understand and appreciate the message behind it. Here is the poem.

I loved a flower that grew in my backyard….it was beautiful. I loved it’s colour, it’s fragrance and the feeling it gave me when it bloomed.
I wondered how wonderful it would be, to have it In my room.

To experience it’s beauty with each morning that passed, were thoughts of my mind that daily I amassed.

But the flower loved the sunlight, about which I never cared. So I grabbed that little angel and put it where I could stare.

Alas! it lost it’s charm and withered away to history….it’s death was the event that unlocked the mystery.

True love isn’t about capturing to full-fill ones own desire but a blessing of The Lord to nurture the one who makes you aspire.