CONTROL OF MIND

Mind is Atma Sakti. It is through mind only that Brahman or the Supreme Self manifests as the differentiated universe with heterogeneous objects.
Mind is nothing but a collection of Samskaras or impressions. It is nothing but a bundle of habits. The true nature of the mind consists in the Vasanas or subtle desires. The idea of ‘I’ or egoism is the seed of the tree of mind. The sprout which springs up from this seed egoism is Buddhi or intellect. From this sprout the ramifying branches called Sankalpas take their origin.
Mind is made up of subtle Sattvic matter. According to Chhandogya Upanishad, mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food.
Mind is of two kinds, viz., the Asuddha or impure mind and the Suddha or pure mind. The former leads to bondage while the latter helps the aspirant to attain liberation.
Manolaya or temporary absorption of the mind in the object of meditation will not help you to attain liberation. Manonasa or annihilation of the mind only will enable you to achieve the final emancipation or Moksha.
Have no longing for objects. Reduce your wants. Cultivate Vairagya or dispassion. Vairagya thins out the mind.
Do not mix much. Do not talk much. Do not walk much. Do not eat much. Do not sleep much.
Control your emotion. Abandon desires and Vasanas. Control irritability and lust. Slay the impure mind through the pure mind and transcend the pure mind through meditation. Practise perfect Brahmacharya. There is no half measure in the spiritual path.
Never wrestle with the mind. Do not use any violent effort in concentration.When the mind is jumping and wandering much, make no violent effort to control it but rather allow it to run along for a while and exhaust its efforts. It will take advantage of the opportunity and will jump around like an unchainedmonkey at first. Then itwill gradually become quiet and look to you for orders.
If evil thoughts enter your mind, do not use your will-force in driving them. You will lose energy. You will tax your will. You will fatigue yourself. The greater the efforts you make, the more the evil thoughts will return with redoubled force. They will return more quickly also. The thoughts will become more powerful. Be indifferent. Keep quiet. Become a silent witness of those thoughts.Do not identify yourselfwith them. Theywill vanish soon. Substitute good thoughts. Pray and sing the Lord’s name.
Never miss for a day your meditation. Regularity is of paramount importance. When the mind is tired do not concentrate. Give a little rest. Do not take heavy food at night. This will interfere with your morning meditation.
Japa, Kirtan, Pranayama, Satsanga (association with the sages), practice of Sama (serenity), Dama (self-restraint), Yama (right conduct), Sattvic or pure food, study of scriptures, meditation, Vichara or Atmic enquiry—all these will help you to control the mind and attain eternal bliss and immortality.

RAJA YOGA

Raja Yoga is an exact science. It aims at controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications. It concerns with the mind, its purification and control. Hence it is called Raja Yoga, i.e., king of all Yogas. It is otherwise known as Ashtanga Yoga i.e., Yoga with eight limbs.
The eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga are:

1. Yama (self-restraint),
2. Niyama (religious observances),
3. Asana (posture),
4. Pranayama (restraint of breath),
5. Pratyahara (abstraction of senses),
6. Dharana (concentration),
7. Dhyana (meditation)
8. Samadhi (super-conscious state).

Yama is practice of Ahimsa (non-injury), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy) and Aparigraha (non-covetousness) in thought, word and deed. This is the foundation of Yoga. Niyama is observance of the five canons viz., Saucha (internal and external purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity). Svadhyaya (study of religious books and repetition of Mantras) and Ishvara-Pranidhana (worship of God and self-surrender). Cultivate Maitri (friendship with equals), Karuna (mercy towards inferiors), Mudita (complaisancy towards superiors), Upeksha (indifference towards wicked people). You can eradicate jealousy and hatred and attain peace of mind. Ascend the ladder of Yoga patiently through its different rungs and attain the highest summit of the ladder, i.e., Asamprajnata Samadhi, wherein all Samskaras (impressions) which bring about successive births are absolutely fried up.
If you really aspire to unfold the lurking divinity within, if you really want to get rid of the meshes of this Samsara, you must know the technique of thought-control which is embodied in the system of Raja Yoga. You must know the ways of right living, right thinking, right speaking and right acting. You must practise the five rules of Yama or right conduct or Sadachara. You must know how to withdraw the mind from external objects and fix it on one point. You must know the right method of concentration and meditation. Then alone you can be really happy. Then and then alone, you will have power, independence and suzerainty. Then and then alone, you will attain immortality, freedom and perfection. A knowledge of the ways and habits of the mind, its operations, the laws of the mind and the methods of mind-control and mental discipline is very necessary if you want to enjoy real happiness and peace of an unruffled and abiding nature.
Practise Raja Yoga, control the thoughts, discipline the mind, meditate regularly and attain independence, immortality, freedom and perfection.

KUNDALINI YOGA

Kundalini Sakti is the coiled-up, dormant, cosmic power that underlies all organic as well as inorganic matter. It is the primordial energy that lies at the basal Muladhara Chakra in a dormant, potential state. Kundalini Yoga is that Yoga which treats of Kundalini Sakti, the seven Chakras or centres of spiritual energy, the arousing of the sleepingKundalini Sakti and its unionwith Lord Siva in Sahasrara Chakra at the crown of the head. The seven Chakras are pierced by the passing of Kundalini Sakti to the top of the head.
The seven Chakras are:

1. Muladhara (at the anus),
2. Svadhishthana (at the root of the organ of generation),
3. Manipura (at the navel),
4. Anahata (in the heart),
5. Visuddha (in the neck),
6. Ajna (in the space between the two eyebrows)
7. Sahasrara (at the crown of the head).

Nadis are the astral tubes that carry Pranic currents. They cannot be seen by naked eyes.
They are not the ordinary nerves, arteries and veins. There are 72,000 Nadis. Among them three are important. They are Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. Sushumna is the most important one, because Kundalini passes through this Nadi only. The first step in Kundalini Yoga is the purification of Nadis. When Sushumna is pure then only Kundalini will pass through it. Purification of Nadis is done by the practice of Pranayama.
The Yogi opens the mouth of Sushumna Nadi through Pranayama, Bandhas and Mudras and awakens the sleeping Kundalini and takes Her to Sahasrara at the crown of the head through the lower six Chakras. Kundalini sleeps in the Muladhara in 3½ coils. The three coils represent the three Gunas and half coil represents the Vikritis.
Kundalini is awakened through Pranayama, Asanas and Mudras by Hatha Yogins, through concentration by Raja Yogins, through devotion and perfect self-surrender by Bhaktas or devotees; through analytical will, by the Jnanis; by Japa of Mantra and by the grace of the Guru.
If you are pure and free from all desires, Kundalini will awaken by itself and you will be benefited. If you awaken Kundalini by violent methods, forcibly, when your heart is impure, when desires lurk in your mind, you will come across temptations of various sorts, when you move from plane to plane, you will have a downfall. You will have no strength of will to resist these temptations.
That aspirant who has firm faith in Yogic Sastras, who is courageous, devotional, humble, generous, merciful, pure and dispassionate, can easily awaken Kundalini and attain success in Samadhi. He should also be equipped with right conduct and self-restraint; he should constantly engage himself in the service of his Guru and be free from lust, anger, Moha, greed and vanity.
When Kundalini is taken to the Sahasrara, when She is united with Lord Siva, perfect Samadhi (super-conscious blissful state) ensues. The Yogi drinks the nectar of immortality.
May Mother Kundalini guide you all in your Yogic practices ! May Her blessings be upon you all!

PRANAYAMA

Pranayama is an exact science. It is the fourth Anga or limb of Ashtanga Yoga. It is the regulation of breath or control of Prana.
Pranayama steadies the mind, augments the gastric fire, energises digestion, invigorates the nerves, destroys the Rajas, destroys all diseases, removes all laziness, makes the body light and healthy and awakens Kundalini.
Pranayama should be practised when the stomach is empty. Be regular in your practice. Do not take bath immediately after the practice. Do not practise Kumbhaka or retention of breath in the beginning. Have only slow and mild Puraka (inhalation) and Rechaka (exhalation). Do not strain the breath beyond your capacity. Keep the ratio for Puraka, Kumbhaka and Rechaka as 1:4:2.
Exhale very very slowly.
Sit on Padma, Siddha or Sukha Asana. Keep the head, neck and trunk in a straight line.

• Inhale slowly through the left nostril and retain the breath according to the ratio, then exhale slowly through the right nostril.
• This is half process of Pranayama.
• Then inhale through the right nostril, retain and exhale through the left nostril.
• Do not retain the breath formore than one or two minutes.

Do ten or twenty Pranayamas according to your capacity. Do not fatigue yourself. Increase the number gradually. You can go up to 16:64:32. This is Sukhapurvaka or easy comfortable Pranayama.
Practise Sitali in summer. This will purify your blood and cool the system too. Practise Bhastrika in winter. This will cure asthma and consumption. Repeat ‘Om’ or ‘Rama’ mentally during the practice. Observe Brahmacharya and diet-control. You will derive maximum benefits and will quickly purify the Nadis or nerves.
Prana and mind are intimately related to each other. If you control Prana, the mind will also be controlled. If you control themind, the Prana will be automatically controlled. Prana is related to mind, and through it to will and through will to the individual soul and through individual soul to the Supreme Soul.
Start the practice this very second in right earnest. Control the breath and calm the mind.
Steady the breath and enter Samadhi. Restrain the breath and lengthen the life. Subdue the breath and become a Yogi, a dynamo of power, peace, bliss and happiness.

YOGA ASANAS

Health is wealth. Health is indeed a covetable possession. Good health is a valuable asset to one and all. It can be achieved by the regular practice of Yoga Asanas.
The practice of Asanas controls the emotions, produces mental peace, distributes Prana evenly throughout the body and different systems, helps in maintaining healthy functioning of the internal organs, gives internal massage to the various abdominal organs. Physical exercises draw
the Prana (energy) out but theAsanas send the Prana in. The practice ofAsanas curesmany diseases and awakens Kundalini Sakti. These are the chief advantages in the Yogic system of exercises which no other systems have.
Practise a few Asanas daily at least for a period of fifteen minutes. You will possess wonderful health. Be regular in your practice. Regularity is of paramount importance. Practise Bhujang, Salabh, Dhanur, Sarvang, Hala and Paschimottasan Asanas. Bhujang, Salabh and Dhanur will remove constipation and muscular pain of the back. Sirsh, Sarvang and Hala will help you in maintaining Brahmacharya, rendering the spine elastic and curing all diseases. Paschimottasan will reduce fat in the belly and help digestion. Relax all muscles in Savasana in the end.

Asanas should be done on empty stomach in the morning or at least three hours after food.

Morning time is best for doing Asanas. Do not wear spectacles when you do Asanas.Wear a singlet if necessary and a Langotee. Be moderate in your diet. Practice of Brahmacharya is very important for success in Yoga Asanas. Start with minimum time for each Asana and then gradually increase the period. Answer the calls of nature before you start the practice. Boys and girls over ten years of age as well as women can practise Asanas.
The world needs good, healthy, strong boys and girls. What do we find in these days in India? India, the land of Rishis and sages, the land which produced Bhishma, Bhima, Arjuna, Drona, Asvatthama, Kripa, Parasurama and countless other chivalrous warriors, the soil which contained numberless Rajput chiefs of undaunted courage and matchless strength, now abounds in weak and timid persons. Children beget children. The laws of health are ignored and neglected. The nation is suffering and dying. The world requires numberless brave, moral, Adhyatmic soldiers who are equipped with the five virtues, viz., Ahimsa, Satyam, Asteya, Brahmacharya and Aparigraha.

HATHA YOGA

Hatha Yoga relates to the restraint of breath (Pranayama), Asanas, Bandhas and Mudras.‘Ha’ and ‘tha’ mean the union of the sun and the moon, union of Prana and Apana Vayus. ‘Hatha’ means any tenacious practice till the object or end is achieved. Trataka, standing on one leg, (a kind of Tapas) and similar poses are all Hatha Yoga practices. Hatha Yoga is inseparable from Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga begins where Hatha Yoga ends. Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga are interdependent.
Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga are the necessary counterparts of each other. No one can become a perfect Yogi without a knowledge and practice of both the Yogas. Hatha Yoga prepares the student to take up Raja Yoga.
A Hatha Yogi starts his Sadhana with body and Prana; a Raja Yogi starts his Sadhana with his mind; a Jnana Yogi starts his Sadhana with Buddhi or intellect and will.
A Hatha Yogi gets Siddhis (psychic powers) by uniting Prana and Apana and by taking the united Prana-Apana through the six Chakras (centres of spiritual energy) to Sahasrara at the crown of the head.ARajaYogi gets Siddhis by Samyama, i.e., combined practice ofDharana,Dhyana and Samadhi at one time. A Jnana Yogi exhibits Siddhis through pure will or Sat-Sankalpa. A Bhakta gets Siddhis through self-surrender and the consequent descent of grace. Kriyas, viz., Neti, Dhauti, Nauli, Basti, Tratak and Kapalabhati belong to Hatha Yoga. All need not practise these Kriyas.
Those who have got much phlegm in the body should practise these Kriyas. Learn these under an expert Hatha Yogi. Hatha Yoga is not the goal. It is only a means to an end. Take to Raja Yoga after possessing good health.
Do Asana, Kumbhaka, Mudra and shake the Kundalini. Then take it to Sahasrara through Chakras in the Sushumna. O children of light!Will you drink not, will you drink not, the nectar of immortality?
Brother! Attain good health.Without health how can you live?Without health, how can you earn? Without health how can you get success in Yoga or any undertaking? Possess wonderful health through the practice of Hatha Yoga. Drink the nectar in Sahasrara and live in the immortal abode of Siva.

ESSENCE OF KARMA YOGA

Karma Yoga is selfless service unto humanity. “Your duty is to work incessantly but not to expect the fruits thereof.” This is the central teaching of the Gita.
Repeat your Ishtamantramentally even when you work in office. God is the Inner Ruler. He directs the body, mind and senses to work. Become an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Do not expect thanks or appreciation for your work. Do actions as your duty and offer them and their fruits to the Lord. You will be freed from the bonds of Karma. It is not the Karma but the selfish motive that binds the man.
Never, never say, “I have helped that man.” Feel and think, “That man gave me an opportunity to serve. This piece of service has helped me to purify my mind. I am extremely grateful to him.” If you see a poor man clad in rags standing in front of your door, feel that the Lord is before you in the form of a poor man. Serve him with Narayana Bhava.
Never grumble when you do service to others. Take delight in service. Watch for opportunities, to serve. Never miss even a single opportunity. Work is worship of the Lord.
A Karma Yogi should have an amiable, loving, social nature. He should have sympathy, adaptability, self-restraint, tolerance, love and mercy. He should adjust himself to the ways and habits of others. He should be able to bear insult, harsh words, criticism, pleasure and pain, heat and cold.
You can do selfless service according to your ability and station in life. An advocate can plead for poor peoplewithout accepting fees.Adoctor can treat the poor free of charge.Ateacher or professor can give free tution to poor boys. He can supply them books for study.
Have amedicine-chest of 12 tissue remedies or some allopathicmedicines or homoeopathic medicines. Serve the poor and sick with Atma Bhava. Give one-tenth of your income in charity. This is the highest Yoga.
Do not make any difference between menial and respectable work. If any one is suffering fromacute-pain in any part of the body, at once shampoo the affected part very gently. Feel that you are serving the Lord in the body of the patient. Repeat your Ishtamantra also. If you see a man or animal bleeding on the roadside, never hesitate to tear your upper cloth or shirt and use it for bandaging, in the absence of any other means of bandage. Do not bargain with the poor porters at the railway station. Be liberal and generous. Keep always some small coins in your pocket and distribute them to the poor and the decrepit.
Karma Yoga prepares the mind for the reception of light and knowledge. It expands the heart and breaks all barriers that stand in the way of oneness or unity. Karma Yoga is an effective Sadhana for Chitta Suddhi or purity of heart. Therefore, do selfless service constantly.

YOGA

Yoga is a perfect practical system of self-culture. Yoga is an exact science. It aims at the harmonious development of the body, themind and the soul. Yoga is the turning away of the senses from the objective universe and the concentration of themind within. Yoga is eternal life in the soul or spirit. Yoga aims at controlling the mind and its modifications. The path of Yoga is an inner path whose gateway is your heart.
Yoga is the discipline of the mind, senses and physical body. Yoga helps in the co-ordination and control of the subtle forces within the body. Yoga brings in perfection, peace and everlasting happiness. Yoga can help you in your business and in your daily life. You can have calmness of mind at all times by the practice of Yoga. You can have restful sleep. You can have increased energy, vigour, vitality, longevity and a high standard of health. Yoga transmutes animal nature into divine nature and raises you to the pinnacle of divine glory and splendour.
The practice of Yoga will help you to control the emotions and passions and will give you power to resist temptations and to remove the disturbing elements form mind. It will enable you to keep a balanced mind always and remove fatigue. It will confer on you serenity, calmness and wonderful concentration. It will enable you to hold communion with the Lord and thus attain the summum bonum of existence.
If you want to attain success in Yoga, you will have to abandon all worldly enjoyments and practise Tapas and Brahmacharya. You will have to control the mind skilfully and tactfully. You will have to use judicious and intelligent methods to curb it. If you use force, it will become more turbulent and mischievous. It cannot be controlled by force. It will jump and drift away more and more. Those who attempt to control the mind by force are like those who endeavour to bind a furious elephant with a thin silken thread.
A Guru or preceptor is indispensable for the practice of Yoga. The aspirant in the path of Yoga should be humble, simple, gentle, refined, tolerant, merciful and kind. If you have a curiosity to get psychic powers, you cannot have success in Yoga. Yoga does not consist in sitting cross-legged for six hours or stopping the pulse or beatings of the heart or getting oneself buried underneath the ground for a week or a month.
Self-sufficiency, impertinence, pride, luxury, name, fame, self-assertive nature, obstinacy, idea of superiority, sensual desires, evil company, laziness, overeating, overwork, toomuchmixing and too much talking are some of the obstacles in the path of Yoga. Admit your faults freely.When you are free from all these evil traits, Samadhi or union will come by itself.
Practise Yama and Niyama. Sit comfortably in Padma or Siddhasana. Restrain the breath.
Withdraw the senses. Control the thoughts. Concentrate. Meditate and attain Asamprajnata or
Nirvikalpa Samadhi (union with the Supreme Self).
May you shine as a brilliant Yogi by the practice of Yoga! May you enjoy the bliss of the Eternal!

POSTURE OF THE EIGHTH NAMASKARA BHUJANAGA SANA

• Mantra : OM MARICHAYE NAMAH

• Procedure : Keeping the legs, palms and knees in Ashtanga prampatasana position, unfolding the arms rise up simultaneously inhaling the breath, push the chest out and bend the waist in circle and backward. Look as much up as possible and exhale the breath.

• BENEFITS :

1. Removing the dullness invigorates the body and makes the eyes glowing.
2. Correct all kinds of disorders related to male and female reproductive systems, corrects the irregularities in females menstrual cycles.
3. Blood circulation is also corrected thereby increasing the glow on the face.

POSTURE OF THE SEVENTH NAMASKARA ASHTANGA PRANIPATASANA

• Mantra : OM HIRANYAGARBHAYA NAMAH

• Procedure : Holding the breath, rest both of your knees on the ground. Touch the ground with your chest and touch the lower part of the neck with chin. Also touch the ground with the upper part of the forehead and the nose. Please note that the abdomen should not touch the ground. It should be pulled in. Exhale the breath now, both the hands (palms) must be kept on the sides of the chest

• BENEFITS :

1. This posture makes the arms strong.
2. If ladies perform this Asana before getting pregnant, the breast fed babies could be saved from the attacks of many diseases.

POSTURE OF THE SIXTH NAMASKARA BHUDHARASANA

• Mantra: OM PUSHNE NAMAH

• Procedure: Inhale the breath deeply and hold it and pull both of your legs backward, so that the thumbs of the feet, ankles and knees touch each other.
• Stabilizing the feet and keeping the head, waist, the back and the elbows in a line bend forward and resting both the palms on the ground keep your body like a bow.

• BENEFITS :

1. One get relief from the pains specially of arms, legs and the knees, Bulging waist is trimmed and slimmed this posture is like a panacea for the abdominal disorders.

POSTURE OF THE FIFTH NAMASKARA EKAPADA PRASARANASANA

• Mantra: OM KHAGAYA NAMAH

• Procedure: Inhale the breath through nostrils and pull your right leg backward in such a way that the knee and the fingers of the foot touch the ground. Push forward your left leg pressing the abdomen (belly) hard. Then raising your head as high as possible, look upward. Push down the waist and hold the breath and stay in the osture as long as you can.

• BENEFITS :

1. The posture stresses the small intestine as well as the seminal vesicles and these are stretched. Thus this posture helps in correcting the constipation and diseases of the liver.
2. Thinness of the semen is also corrected.
3. Diseases of the Throat are also corrected.

POSTURE OF THE FOURTH NAMASKARA HASTAPADASANA

• Mantra: OM BHANAVE NAMAH

• Procedure: Inhaling the breath through nostrils retain it and bend forward without folding the knees. Ultimately rest both of your palms on the ground and touch your knees with your forehead or the nose and exhale the breath that you held so far with audible sound. If, in the beginning you are unable to rest your palms on the unable to rest your palms on the ground, simply touch the ground with finger and practice slowly.

• BENEFITS :

1. Disorders of the belly and digestive system are corrected. The chest grows strong, hands too become stronger and your become well balanced, beautiful and good looking.
2. Diseases of the feet, fingers are also corrected and new lease of life is pumped in week persons.

POSTURE OF THE THIRD NAMASKARA PARVATASANA

• Mantra: OM SURYAYA NAMAH

• Procedure: Raising the arms up, stretch whole of your body backward while gazing the sky with open eyes. Ben backward as mush as possible, expand your chest at the same time.

• BENEFITS: Both the shoulders and the food pipe (Esophagus) get exercise and diseases related to them are corrected. Eyesight is also improved.

POSTURE OF THE SECOND NAMASKARA NAMASKARASANA

• Mantra : OM RAVAYE NAMAH

Procedure : Fold together both of your hands in such a way that that both the thumbs begin to touch your chest. Expand your chest and pull in the belly as far as possible. Look straight ahead. The head, the neck and the body should remain in a straight line. Closing the mouth inhale the breath and hold it inside as far as possible and then expose the breath.

• BENEFITS:

1. Disease of the throat is corrected and voice is enhanced. Both mind and body become healthy.

POSTURE OF THE FIRST NAMASKARA DAKSHASANA

• Mantra: OM MITRAYA NAMAH

Procedure : In the first position of Surya Namaskara contemplate the virtues of Lord Surya with concentrated mind and feel that you are the friend of everybody and have friendship with every creature on the earth. Immersing yourself with these feelings stand erect stretching your hand, neck and all other parts of your body. Stretching both of your arms, touch your thighs with palms and inflate the chest and point your vision on the tip of the point your vision on the tip of the nose. This is a position of attention. Since you stand straight in 'Daksha' position hence this posture is named 'DAKSHASANA'.

BENEFITS -
a. Disorders of the skin and waists are corrected, the back becomes strength and new life and vigor are pumped into the legs.

b. Focusing of the vision on nose helps to control the mind.

c. The face becomes glorious

d. It is an easy and effective way of attaining good health and development of personality for the students.

e. Meditating with concentrated mind enhances confidence.

SURYA NAMASKAR

Surya Namaskar is included in the regular routine of prayer and worship. Means it must be practiced regularly. Its greater importance has been described in the scriptures.
As per the scriptures, a single day worship of the sun has virtues equivalent to the bestowal presentation of one lakh milk cows. Like worship, Surya Namaskaras too has their own significance. Surya Namaskara means prayer (Vandana) of Lord Surya. Surya Vandana is short. Surya Namaskara is an ancient system of Indian exercise. Stand facing the east at dawn and peacefully chant the mantras to pray Lord Surya and offer red sandals, flowers, rice grains (Akshatas) with water of simply the water alone as ARGHE (libation) and perform Surya Namaskara. This whole process must be performed before the sunrise.
Take water in a metal pot and mix all the available veneration materials in it and hold the pot in your fingers alone keeping the thumbs aside and facing the east and chanting the following Mantra offer the libation thrice.

NAMASKARA
There are twelve positions or a posture involves in Surya Namaskara. With all of these twelve positions, each and every part of the body gets ample execrsie. Surya Namaslara also enhances the vision.
Among these twelve positions, ten are Asanas only. The first one and the last one are two positions. All these Asanas and position are very easy to perform and can easily be practised by the people of all ages. Together these twelve positions constitute the process of Surya Namaskara and twenty-five Namaskaras form one Avriti (frequency).
Surya Namaskar must be performed at some open and airy place. Perform Surya Namaskara slowly without feeling tired (fatigue) or panting and puffing, changing the feet every time, it must be performed on each of the feet successively.

The completely procedure of performing Surya Namaskara is thus: It begins with the Mantras, one each for all the twelve Namaskara. These Mantras are as follows:

1. OM MITRAYA NAMAH
2. OM RAVAYE NAMAH
3. OM SURYAY NAMAH
4. OM BHANAVE NAMAH
5. OM KHAGAYE NAMAH
6. OM PUSHNE NAMAH
7. OM HIRANYA GARBHAYE NAMAH
8. OM MARICHAYE NAMAH
9. OM AADITYAAYA NAMAH
10. OM SAVITRE NAMAH
11. OM ARKAYA NAMAH
12. OM BHASKARAYA NAMAH

The Subtle Body—The Mind Field

Most people identify themselves with their mind, intellect, and ego, which are the components of the subtle body. The seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes is famous for his statement, “Cogito, ergo sum,” meaning “I think, therefore I am.” People continue to believe that they are their minds, but Shankara encourages us to recognize that the components of our subtle body are simply coverings of the soul.
According to this framework, the mind is the repository of sensory impressions. When you hear a sound, feel a sensation, see a sight, taste a flavor, or smell a fragrance, the sensory experience registers in your consciousness at a level of your being called manomaya kosha. The mind cycles through different states of consciousness, and your sensory experiences change with these changing states.
The impressions that enter your awareness during a waking state are different from those generated during dreaming. Yoga reminds us that reality is different in different states of consciousness—different filters of the mind layer.
The second layer of the subtle body is the intellect,known as buddhimaya kosha. This is the aspect of mind that discriminates. Whether you are trying to decide what kind of toothpaste to purchase, which partner to choose, or what house to buy, your intellect is at work, attempting to calculate the advantages and disadvantages of every choice you make. This layer integrates information based upon your beliefs and feelings to come to a decision. According to yoga, the ultimate purpose of this intellectual layer is to distinguish the real from the unreal. The real is that which cannot be lost whereas the unreal is anything that has a beginning and end to it.
Knowing the difference is the essence of yoga.
The third layer of the subtle body is the ego. The ego is known in yoga as ahankara, which means the “I-former.” According to Shankara, the ego is that aspect of your being that identifies with the positions and possessions of your life. It is ultimately your self-image—the way you want to project who you are to yourself and to the world.
The ego is the boundary maker that attempts to assert ownership through the concepts of “I,” “me,” “my,” and “mine.” The ego seeks security through control and often has a deep-seated need for approval. Most emotional pain is the result of your ego being offended because something that it believed it had control over was actually outside your jurisdiction.
It is easy to become lost in the subtle body, with its attachments to roles, relationships, and objects, but Shankara encourages us to go deeper. Letting go of the body and letting go of the mind open the possibility of experiencing an aspect of your being that is beyond your usual limitations. This is the realm of spirit, which Shankara called the causal body.

The Physical Body The Field of Molecules

Within your physical domain, you have an extended body, a personal body, and an energetic body. Your extended body is the environment, containing the never ending supply of energy and information that is available to you. Every sound, sensation, sight, flavor, and aroma you ingest from the environment influences your body and mind. Although your senses may tell you otherwise, there is no distinct boundary between your personal and extended bodies, which are in constant and dynamic exchange. Each breath that you inhale and exhale is a reminder of the continuous conversation taking place between your physical body and your environment.
This recognition requires you to take responsibility for what is happening in your environment. As a yogi, you are an environmentalist because you recognize that the rivers flowing through the valleys and those flowing through your veins are intimately related. The breath of an old-growth forest and your most recent breath are inextricably intertwined. The quality of the soil in which your food is raised is directly connected to the health of your tissues and organs. Your environment is your extended body. You are inseparably interwoven with your ecosystem.
Of course, you do have a personal body that consists of the molecules that temporarily comprise your cells, tissues, and organs. We say temporarily because although it appears that your body is solid and constant, it actually is continuously transforming. Scientific studies using radioisotope tracings convincingly show that 98 percent of the ten trillion quadrillion (1028) atoms in your body are replaced annually. Your stomach lining re-creates itself about every five days, your skin is made anew every month, and your liver cells turn over every six weeks.
Although your body appears to be fixed and stable, it is continually metamorphosing.
The vast majority of the cells in your body are derived from the food you eat. Recognizing this, Shankara named the physical body annamaya kosha, meaning “the covering made of food.” To create and maintain a healthy body, yogis pay attention to the food they consume, minimizing the toxicity they ingest while maximizing the nourishment they receive. Certain foods are said to be particularly conducive to a yogic lifestyle. These foods are known as sattvic, which means they contribute to the purity of the body. The four most sattvic foods revered by yogis are almonds, honey, milk, and ghee (clarified butter). Getting a daily dose of these foods benefits the body, mind, and soul of a person dedicated to creating greater mindbody integration. When acknowledging the relationship between your personal and extended bodies be certain to consume only organic dairy products.
Shankara called the third layer of the physical body pranamaya kosha, meaning “the sheath made of vital energy.” There is a difference between the cells of a corpse and the cells of a vibrant living being. This organizing principle that breathes life into biochemicals is called prana. There are five seats of prana in the body, localized in the head, throat, heart, stomach, and pelvis.
These centers of movement govern the flow of life force throughout the body. When prana is moving freely throughout the cells and tissues, vitality and creativity are abundant. Yogic breathing exercises, known as pranayama techniques, are designed to awaken and purify the vital energy layer of the body.

Adi Shankara, the Sage of Sages

One of the most influential teachers of the philosophy of yoga and Veda was the ninth-century sage Adi Shankara.Known as the greatest revivalist of Vedic science, he elegantly elaborated the layers of life that mask the essential spiritual self. Born in A.D. 805, Shankara is said to have been fluent in Sanskrit by the age of one and to have mastered all sacred literature by age eight. He began writing his own commentaries on the Vedas by age fifteen and was recognized as the leading authority on yoga by the time he turned twenty. He established seats of learning throughout India with one goal in mind—to help human beings overcome their suffering through the wisdom of life. His approach to truth was called Advaita, meaning “nondualism.” The essence of Shankara’s teaching is that one underlying field of intelligence manifests as the multiplicity of forms and phenomena that we call the physical universe.

It is helpful to recognize the disguises consciousness dons so you can see through to the underlying reality.This is the great game of hide-and-seek that spirit plays with us. The nonlocal field of awareness gives rise to the sensory world that overshadows our experience of the underlying unity. At some point we recognize that the world of sensations alone cannot bring us genuine peace or happiness, so we begin our journey of uncovering the layers that mask our essential unbounded nature. Shankara called these various layers koshas, meaning “coverings,”and he categorized them into three primary divisions—a physical body, a subtle body, and a causal body. We can also say body, mind, and soul. Let’s explore each of these primary divisions and their three secondary layers.

The Higher Self

Duality is a reflection of that part of the universe we have yet to understand. We see this as right and that as wrong, this as good and that as bad. We are in other words playing judge to the creator. This is the realm of the lower mind: the mind of emotion, righteousness and judgement. This is the mind that leads us to experience that which we have as yet been unable to understand and love.

We need simply to ask the question, “Where is God not?” to understand that our lopsided perception of events and situations is a result of our illusioned perception which is a reflection of what we have as yet not learned to love.

Certainty and love come from a gratitude for the creation of life as it is. It is an understanding that there is no pleasure without pain nor pain without pleasure, that there is no right or wrong; that there are only events until we judge them otherwise.

To find this certainty we must become present in the moment, at which time we are no longer in time or space, but truly connected to the soul. In the present moment there is no fear or guilt.

The Yogic definition of the three states of mind are the gunas—rajas, tamas and sattva. Rajas is the active, fiery part of the mind responsible for causing us to act. It is responsible for excess, too, and in excess it prevents us from sitting still and is agitation and restlessness. Tamas is quite the opposite. It is the fixed, steady immobile state of the mind responsible for contemplative and repetitive pattern. In excess it will cause sluggishness, listlessness and depression. Sattva is the third guna, responsible for clarity, lightness and inspiration. In this state neither tamas nor rajas predominate. Our goal in Yoga is to reduce the tamas and rajas and achieve a state of sattva.

The lower mind, the illusions of fear and guilt, are the rajas and tamas. They are either in excess or deficiency. They are the judgements. The higher mind is the state of sattva, the state of clarity that exists when we listen to the soul, or higher self. Here there is no duality, no excess or deficiency, there is simply unity and love.

The lower-minded states always exist for without them action would be limited to inspiration and this would require the highest of evolution. Until then the Lower-minded states take us to where we must face our next illusions.

These are the universal laws, as above so below. The ultimate journey is the opening of the heart to love and the awakening of the truest calling from within. We all have this inner voice and at the moment when that inner voice becomes stronger than the outer voices we are said to be inspired.

My hope is that this book has been of some small contribution to your own journey in the growth of your consciousness and the awakening of your heart to the strength, harmony and balance that is love.

Life, Yoga and the Universe

The following is a summary of a summary of a summary of the Yogic belief in the function of existence. It correlates directly with the mysteries and principles of both the ancient Egyptian and Myan cultures.

Yoga texts divide the universe into two distinct areas, above and below, or purusa and prakrti.

Purusa is above. It is unchanging, constant and that part of us capable of ‘real’ seeing and perception.

Prakrti is below. It is that part that is ever changing—our mind, memories and emotions.

All material things, matter and life is prakrti, the source of which is the one—the original matter from which all things are formed.

We have a soul—a timeless, spaceless entity which is outside our body. This soul (pupusa) is unchanging, constant. We are the higher mind, and that is our being which has the ability to listen to the soul, or the material world, of prakrti. The material world is a reflection, a mirror, of the soul and as a consequence we are challenged to see the perfection of creation in our lives as they are in the material world.

It is therefore a challenge to be in the material world, to interact and participate with others and to master, rather than escape from, the seven areas of life.

If we are run by the senses then we listen to and are the slave of Prakrti, the material world. If we listen to our soul we are free of the illusions of the material world and are empowered to master and use these illusions without attachment or emotion.

We are the higher mind, which has the choice of listening to the soul or the senses. While we exist on Earth, we are able to glimpse the soul but cannot stay in tune with it. In learning to love the Earth, its peoples, their actions and inaction's, we learn to love ourselves.

While we exist in human form we have not mastered and loved the seven areas of life. The closest we get to enlightenment is therefore a momentary glimpse of the soul—periods of awareness. The more we transcend the illusions of emotion, the more time we spend connected to higher consciousness.

The role of Yoga is, and has always been, to help our higher mind glimpse more and more of the soul’s certainty. Yoga does this through the stilling of the senses, mastery of breath and ritual of prayer in which we can open our heart to the material world, transcend the fears and guilt's that run our lives and be totally present in our higher mind. This is the process of Yoga.

It is therefore our objective in Yoga to integrate the whole universe in our very being, and by doing so transcend the judgements of right and wrong, good and bad. In this state we are free to participate to the maximum in the material world; we are neither attached nor detached to the life we lead, we are, in the simplest terms, purely in gratitude for it.

Yoga is not separated from the material world, it is in fact the essence of our abi lity to participate in it. Yoga simply assists us to connect to higher powers than those of the lower-minded illusions of emotion, infatuation and resentment. The goal is the freedom to co-exist within the world, love it as it is, understand the creator’s construction, and to reach higher and higher levels of complexity and vision .

Universal laws include

• There is pain and pleasure in all events.
• Death is the lever arm of life.
• Love is the synthesis of all emotion.
• Love cannot be rejected, expectations can.
• There is a blend of war and peace in all existence.
• Nature never throws away old mechanisms, she simply builds new ones on top.
• Our commitment to love another is not bound by mortal contract.
• There is order in all events until we judge it otherwise.
• Maximum evolution occurs at the border of order and chaos.

Affirmations are an opportunity to express the future now. They enable you to tap into your ability to manifest and help you create the life you are capable of, and no matter where you are at the present time they acknowledge your ability to transcend pain and pleasure and see from within.

A life lived from the heart is a life of affirmation. Success is always affirmed and held in gratitude. When we affirm we are acknowledging the presence of some law which is beyond our scope of sensory perception.

Affirmation provides a golden opportunity for the corporate world to utilise one of the most powerful resources available to humankind which for the greater part has been left untapped—consciousness.

To keep the heart open and to follow our true path is a commitment to constancy. This is not rigidity but an emphasis on the ability to transcend the mundane mindset of victim, or blame, and to seek the truth, the order beyond the chaos, from which we are able to synthesise the emotions surrounding an event and move towards gratitude and love.

Affirmations are a vital tool in this process

Affirmation

The mind is a powerful tool. It can either work for or against us.

When we perceive the world to be against us, when we think that all is to our detriment, we reinforce our perception and see most events as dark and down on us.

We all have those days. We bang our toe on the end of the bed, can’t find the car keys, seem unable to concentrate at work, and then someone comes into our day to remind us of our inadequacies.

Such days often happen when there is a full moon. When the moon is full our energy is disturbed, our mind is restless and our connection to our body seems less than usual.

On such days we do not practice Yoga. On these days we are more vulnerable to injury and to lower-minded thoughts, and as a consequence we are not sensitive to our physical feedback systems.

New moon days are similar; not as strong as full moon days but certainly turbulent. On these days our energy may sag and we may feel listless and half-hearted about what we are doing. Ashtanga Yoga takes both new moon and full moon days off from asana practice.

As we have described in this book, Yoga is more than the physical movements of asana. It is the conscious awareness of breath, action and thought. It is a shift of emphasis from the self to a higher power in life.

Affirmations are a means of maintaining constancy of thought as the energy systems around us constantly change. We may feel down, elated, happy or sad, all of which are states of transience in life, which, if given reign, will take us on a journey away from our love, purpose and inspiration.

You go in the direction of your single most dominant thought. Affirmations are statements which, by repetition, superimpose higher-minded states on illusioned lower-minded states.We affirm where we are going next.

Affirmations are written in the present tense. Words such as ‘I am’, ‘I do’, ‘I have’ and ‘I see’ are appropriate beginnings to affirmations. ‘I will’, ‘I want’ or ‘I wish’ place the proposition in the future, and as we all know, the future may never come.

At first affirmations may feel like a lie, or an exaggeration. That is why it requires written expression and repetition. What at first may seem like a lie will eventually become a repeated expression of truth. At the same time affirmations should express enough detail and relate to the universal laws.

Gratitude exercises

A useful utilisation of the pranayama technique creates a morning and evening ritual of about three to five minutes in duration.

Just before retiring or on waking, sit, stand or even lie down in a comfortable position. Begin abdominal breathing—inhaling to fill the abdomen, exhaling to contract it.

If necessary use the arms as wings to help develop rhythm. Inhale and exhale at a steady rate and after say 10 breaths increase the rate of your inhalations and exhalalations, always keeping the length of inhale and exhale the same.

• After 10 more breaths slow down for 5 breaths, then gradually increase the speed to very fast. Then reduce it again over 5 breaths. When breathing slow, take two large inhalations and exhalations, relaxing any tension.

• Raise the head 45 degrees and raise the eyes a further 45 degrees so you are now looking vertically up. Now begin thinking of all the gifts and blessings in your life you can be thankful for: brother, sister, father, mother, what you have learnt, the house you live in, your children, their children, the shoes you have, the Yoga class you have experienced, the health you have, etc.

After say one minute or so of gratitude for your gifts in life, speak these words to your self, “Oh soul, do you have a message for me today?”

You will, with practice, connect and receive messages of a parent to child nature. When the message is complete write it down. Collecting these messages is the best form of prayer you can have. It is an acknowledgment of your higher self, a prayer of gratitude for what you have and a heart opening experience to open and close the day

Emotions and the Yoga Connection

The senses have always been condemned as the source of all troubles and distractions, - however they are the source of distinction. Without them we would not know shape, taste colour size etc. The real culprit is the mind. It has the capacity to be drawn and repelled by events. The senses give an opportunity to witness the order of creation at every opportunity. The mind often resists.

The only place the universe can be out of balance is in the mind of the human.

Unknown to our conscious state, there are moments when we experience great relief. Sleep is that moment - when all turbulence of the mind is extinguished, and the mind is the link to the creator.

Flexibility is necessary for progress. Where the ‘why’ is big enough the ‘hows’ take care of themselves. Great inspirations are those of a divine nature. Seeking achievement and smaller goals leads always to the exhaustion of motive.

One who knows the intensity and strength of the creator is rare. It is beyond faith and law, it is a knowing beyond all knowing. It is a certainty that, for those who experience it is beyond words.

When this individual leaves the state of oneness he can return through specific means to see the order, content and character as it was created. There are no flaws. The earlier calculated perceptions of good and bad are transcended and replaced by a perception that only one who is near God can achieve.

Complete happiness is illusive to the vast majority. Despite knowing that the only source of this happiness is in the oneness with the creator, many try to achieve it elsewhere. Wealth, fame, children, success and the removal of disease and worry - even after all these are achieved, complete happiness is absent. The objects of desire are unfulfilling once received and the reason being that these temptations are one sided in their appeal.

There is no greater power than the power that created mankind and the earth he or she inhabits. Even though on the pinnacle of their state, they must stay focussed and take care that they don’t lose their balance and fall - a surety if they should try to oppose the natural forces of life.

Obstacles or results of unconsciousness

Being unaware of your potential higher state is a peripheral response to modern conditioning. Though on a conscious level you may not comprehend your body’s agitation, your mind and body crave that higher plane, and the manifestations of that craving can show themselves thus:

• A feeling of discomfort toward a loss of presence
• Memory may fail
• Nervousness and agitation
• Nervous sleeplessness
• Bad dreams
• Voice may fail; Speech may falter
• Fear may overpower you
• Find it hard to sit still, quietly or walk firmly
• Feeling of suffocation
• Hot flushes, hands unsteady
• Body heaviness
• Disease
• Lack of direction
• Doubts
• Low energy
• Attraction toward objects
• False perception
• Failure to obtain perfection

Finding the Road to Happiness

Yoga suggests that the road to happiness can be found through the control of the mind. To do this the ancients recommended that the mind be continually focussed on God. It takes hard work to achieve this. Left untethered the mind responds to its conditioning, then the individual becomes driven by this directionless mind and remains in a state of uncertainty,the most common human experience. However the motivations to reach a higher plane can be very strong.

The ancient Yogi’s invested in the discovery of means to change the distracted mind to one of focus and clarity. The single determinant of this quest has been the focus on God. The creation of a single point of interest. For some cultures it is the icon, for others it i s the planets, others it is money and for us it is our life purpose.

With as little guidance is possible, our minds can be made to quieten for the moment to absorb the higher order. It takes education and practice to free this powerful reception. When it is functioning higher ideals are achieved. Life becomes an ordered event. You become the prophet. It is very dependent on the correct function of the nervous system. To help us to remain focussed, we must remember that pleasure is the magnet of the lower mind, our animal instinct. The road is rough for no sooner do we achieve the state we wished when the discomfort of old sets in and the urge for the journey renews. The teachers of the journey are those who have struggled along it. For those to whom it is given without struggle there is little to teach.


False security lies in pleasure.
True security les in the investment in higher ways, the ways of Yoga.

The results of this work are twofold.

First the person sees a lot more of their personality and will understand their strengths and weaknesses. It will reveal their hidden potential. They will discover deep inside themselves the element of Godhood.

Second, they will be less and less bothered by events that previously affected them. Their attitude will remain strong and clear. Their need for instant gratification will diminish in favour of longer term horizons. Their actions will be based on certainties, energy will be conserved , actions more efficient and less exhausting.

Under these circumstances a certain confidence emerges that can only be found in awareness of deeper realities. The chaos will turn to order; the concept of life purpose and service will emerge and responsibility as a global citizen will escalate.

Samadhi

In our seminars we take people through a process until their perception of any one single event is perfectly balanced. The event is no longer good or bad, right or wrong, it is simply perfect as it is. At this point amazing experiences occur for the person undergoing the collapse process. With a perfectly balanced perception of the event, the individual is free to acknowledge the order in that event. They are then free to become grateful to the person,persons or thing that caused the event, and in so doing release love.

Samadhi means to merge—bring both sides of duality and judgement to one at which time, in perfect symmetry, love is birthed.

In each of pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi we can experience the concept of no space and time. Here, one minute, one hour or many hours may transpire, and we have no concept of space. It is a similar state to sleep with the exception that we are fully and completely aware and conscious. The state of samadhi is totally achievable through many means available today, but few are so powerful as Dr John Demartini’s “Collapse Process” to bring this state into the real world of relationship, work and social life.

Samadhi is not separate from life. We do not need to sit in the mountains, or in remote ashrams to achieve samadhi: it is within us always, waiting to be awakened through the release of illusion and the acknowledgment of the universal life truths. Samadhi is the mastery of all seven areas of life: spiritual, financial, mental, career, relationship, health and social. It is a state of presence where we become at one with the object in acknowledgment of the phrase “Where is God Not?”

When we constantly focus on the object of our doing we achieve a state referred to as Samyama. This is the state of an insatiable search for ever finer detail and ever more intense mastery of one topic, subject or art. Whether it be the cosmos, astrology, archaeology, asana or the powers of the mind, Samyama is that quest. Mastery is not however limited to specialisation in any one area. All the great masters and spiritual teachers of history have been masters of at least seven areas. Mathematics, astrology, physiology, art and cosmology have been the core topics. Now we can include finance, business, medicine and thousands of other topics for which detail study will harness the mind of the individual in pratyahara—inspired focus.

Dharana

If we take pratyahara one step further we achieve dharana, which is the ability to hold that inspiration for ever longer periods of time, and in so doing we become one with the object of our activity. In this state we become fully present with what we are doing. If we are washing dishes we are washing dishes without thoughts of attraction or resentment. When we are speaking, reciting poetry or singing, we become the object, the song and the words. We lose the sense of self: our focus is fully present with the audience, the music and the heart of what we are doing.

Pratyahara

We are all given a purpose in life: something that is significant for us to work toward, that we love to do and would love to get paid for. It matters little what people think about what we are doing, it is a calling and a higher purpose to our life.

A purpose is not achievable, the goals along the path are achievable. Purpose is something beyond a simple goal such as to teach universal laws or to create a different consciousness in business. In Sanskrit, Vairagya is to be completely absorbed in what we are doing; absorbed to the point where we are consumed in time and space by the activity. In this space our senses function to support us and we are unattached to the outcome of what we do—we simply love doing it. This is inspiration and it relates to these four limbs.

An excellent example of this can be seen in our asana practice when we are faced with
discomfort. We can try to shut down this sense of pain, but this will have substantial impact on our nervous system. We can try to take our mind elsewhere and focus on another object or thought, but in doing so we are moving with the objective of getting away from something and are thereby locked into the connection to it.

The alternative is to be practicing asana with our consciousness focussed on gratitude and love. When our heart is opened through the steadiness of breath and when our mind is focussed on a higher cause, the discomfort of an asana can be completely missed by the senses. As we progress in asana practice we develop a deeper connection to the idea of a higher cause and focus less on the discomfort. As a consequence the edge upon which we walk this fine line is constantly moving upward. Just like a high jump bar must be moved up to challenge an athlete, so too the asana is moved up.

This edge we walk in life is our ability to focus on ever larger realms of life and to understand and love those realms that are smaller. Therefore, the goal is not to transcend life, but to take on ever larger degrees of responsibility and to keep ourselves on the edge whereby we can focus our single most dominant thought on a higher purpose in the face of ever increasing distraction.

Performing an asana is the same. If we are focussed on breath, eye position, sound and steadiness, we will not notice the discomfort unless it is so much in need of attention that it breaks through the consciousness of thought and draws our attention.

When we find a purpose in life that is higher than the instantaneous gratification of the senses, we will be willing to let go of one gratification for the constancy of a higher purpose.


It is written in the Sutras that “anything that does not follow its higher purpose will be brought to do so”. Nature has a mind: if animal species are not evolving she makes it so they do, and if trees are not keeping pace with changing environmental conditions she gives them a guiding hand. So it follows, if a person is not fulfilling their purpose, nature creates the circumstances to ensure they do.

Lopsided perception creates emotional charge. Our ultimate purpose is to transcend these perceptions or emotions and find the love of creation—the order in the universe. Disease, illness, desperation, emotional stress, and so called accidents are universal guides to steer people to purpose. Pratyahara is the state of existence in which inspiration for doing what we love, loving what we do and accepting both the pains and pleasures of doing so, transcends the perceived pleasures of sensory gratification as a life focus.

“I would rather have the whole world against me than my own soul.”

Limb 4 --------- Pranayama

When we breathe we take in both the chemistry and physics of the air. Electromagnetic particles bind together to create chemical compounds and elements. In their cellular state they are protons, neutrons and electrons. Our body, too, is constructed from these sub-cellular components. Prana, the energy of the body, is the constituent element of the electromagnetic construction of a cell. As we take in prana we build the potential energy of the body, and as we express this energy we convert its potential into kinetic energy. So the more prana the body can hold the more potential energy we have. To store this potential energy, the electromagnetic and chemical construction of the body must be in balance.

Emotions, toxic foodstuffs, negative thoughts and physiological disturbances are all stored in the body, and for want of a better analogy, are referred to as toxic waste. They are held in the body’s cells as electrical charge—positive or negative ions. This stored charge is referred to as Apana in Yogic terms.

Prana, the intake of potential energy, is blocked by rubbish. Illness, lack of drive and motivation, depression and listlessness are reflections of blocked prana.
Pranayama is the Yogic process of removing rubbish (Apana) and replacing it with Prana—balanced potential energy.

Our breath influences our state of mind: the more content we are the smoother we breath while the more disturbed we are, the more our breath becomes unstable, short and without rhythm. Fear, shock, hesitancy, uncertainty, depression and frustration are all reflected in individual breathing patterns.

Pranayama is therefore the process of managing this relationship between mind and breath to influence our wellbeing. Pranayama, through breath control and particular patterns of breath movement, is able to change consciousness through the body mind.

In Ashtanga Yoga practice particular emphasis is placed on breath, the bandhas and focus. Ashtanga Yoga therefore incorporates all the core elements of pranayama within the asana practice.

Limb 3 --------- Asana

Comfort, steadiness, alertness, awareness and lightness are important elements in a vital and fulfilled life. Asana offers these specific elements as well as the ability to locate knots in the body and release them.

In performing asana we must proceed carefully. If we attempt to force the body, we lose the breath control and in turn the steadiness of mind control. The body can accept an asana at its own predetermined rate, beyond which there will be a loss in physical and physiological health.

Emotions such as fear resist the development of asana. When a student is being adjusted in an asana they may be saying to themselves, “I cannot do this”, or “I am too stiff”. These are affirmations which create determined pathways and attitudes of the mind. The teacher cannot respond to such restrictions, but through sensitive expression can move the student beyond these self set limitations. In the process, especially in Hatha Yoga practice, many emotions are experienced: anger, fear, resentment and wonder. The asana in this case is a reflection of a mental -script which is a blockage to the individual’s personal fulfilment in broader life.

Visualisation of asana is a very important element of practice. Our body and breath reflect our mind. Our mind reflects our body and breath. Therefore, our mental state during asana practice is a critical factor in undertaking an asana correctly.

Not only do we visualise the finished asana, but we visualise the energy flow within the body. We may even visualise the release of tight, knotted areas and the corresponding blood flow through those starved tissues.

Asanas are not only meditative, they are a valuable tool for the maintenance of health and circulation throughout the body. They also make sure day-to-day life and necessary body functions are optimised. Different asana perform different functions, yet they all make the body and mind more adaptable to changing circumstances, and this is a vital factor in a changing and dynamic environment.

Limb 2 --------- The Niyamas

These are the rules or laws offered by the Yoga sutra in relation to ourselves and our attitude. This complete set of instructions relates to self-worth.

• Sauca: cleanliness both inner and outer.

• Samtosa: humbleness and gratitude.

• Tapas: the use of proper body function to burn out and dispose of rubbish (including thoughts).

• Svadhyaya: self-examination, study and exploration.

• Isvarapranidhana: to be humble to a greater power than the self.

A great monk sat in one of the most austere temples of the world, feet bare and pointed directly at the idol which represented God for this faith. A high monk stepped forward and said, “O reverend sir, we are your humble servants, yet we are unable to turn our eyes from your feet. You point them toward God and this, in our temple, is considered highly disrespectful. We pray that you move them.”

The monk smiled and turned his eyes to those of his questioner. “Kind sir, it is beyond any dream or thought that I may have to be disrespectful in any temple or place where the idol of God may exist. I shall move my feet to another direction, but first I must ask your instruction. Please inform me, where is God not, so I may point my feet there.”

Judgements of good and bad, right and wrong are reflections of our own ignorance. These are the lessons we are set to learn. Humbleness and gratitude therefore relate to the willingness to step out of emotionally charged events and learn through understanding, freeing us from the bond of these events. When we are able to love the universe for its perfection in all things created and enacted, we are free to move to the next illusion of judgement.

Limb 1 -------- The Yamas.

As the ten commandments are to Christians, as the noble truths are to Buddhism, the Yamas are to Yogis. They are the fundamental precepts of living. Simply put they state.

• Ahimsa: don’t be cruel, be considerate.

• Satya: be truthful.

• Asteya: don’t steal or take anything that is not yours.

• Bramacarya: don’t be distracted by the sensual pleasures on the search for truth.

• Aparigraha: don’t take more than is appropriate.

Further explanation:

• Cruelty: the only cruelty that exists is to act against the calling of the heart, without soul-guided consciousness.

• Truth: the only truth is that which comes from our heart and soul.

• Stealing: the only one we can truly steal from is our self.

Sensual pleasures: our sensual pleasures are those things we have illusion about. When we listen to the heart and soul we are not distracted by the lower mind, the senses which take us in the direction of learning the truth.
That is why they exist.

Taking: don’t take more than is appropriate. Moderation is the middle path. Only infatuation and resentment will incline us to take more than we need.

Stairway To Heaven; The Eight Limbs of Yoga

The great sage Pattanjali referred to the eight limbs of Yoga as Ashtanga.

All eight limbs of Yoga develop simultaneously. Therefore, as we progress, our interest in a wider and more diverse approach to Yoga grows. We are inspired to look deeper at ourselves, know ourselves better and become less caught up in the illusions that distract us.
To transcend illusions is to learn to love the whole: to see order in chaos, pleasure in the pain and pain in pleasure. In so doing we are free to be ourselves in the fullest possible way.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga are;

• Yama: the attitude toward things outside ourselves.

• Niyama: the attitude toward ourselves.

• Asana: the practice of developing poise and health in body and mind and the ability to handle opposites.

• Pranayama: use of breath to increase the prana in the body. Breath and mind control.

• Pratyahara: the ability to withdraw from the nourishment of the senses. The ability to see order in chaos.

• Dharana: to hold concentration and focus in one direction and at one object.

• Dhyana: to concentrate on an object with such intensity as to become one with it.

• Samadhi: to experience all that is on the outside, on the inside. To experience love for the object. This is total presence: no space and time exist and we truly experience love and gratitude for what it is.

The Nervous System and the Yoga Connection

Our nervous system is divided into two great systems; the Cerebro-Spinal System and the Sympathetic System.

The Cerebro-Spinal System consists of all that part of the nervous system contained within the cranial cavity and the spinal canal - the brain and the spinal cord - together with the nerves which branch off from the same. This system presides over the functions of animal life known as volition, sensation etc.

The Sympathetic System includes all that part of the Nervous System located principally in the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities and that which is distributed to the internal organs. It has control over the involuntary processes such as growth, nutrition etc.

The Cerebro-Spinal System is sensory, it attends to all the seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling etc. It sets things in motion; it is used by the ego to think – to manifest consciousness. It is the instrument with which the Ego communicates with the outside world.

This system may be likened to a telephone system, with the brain as the central office, and the spinal column and nerves as cable and wires respectively.

The Solar Plexus has been referred to as the “Abdominal Brain”, situated at the back of the stomach on either side of the spinal column. It controls the main internal organs of humans and is the great central storehouse of Prana. The Solar Plexus radiates strength and energy to all parts of the body, even the upper brains which depend on it as a storehouse of Prana.

Understanding Nature’s Plan.

• The Yogis ideal is a body strong in all its parts, under the control of a masterful and developed Will, animated by high ideals.

In the practice of the Complete Breath, inhalation exerts a gentle pressure upon the liver, stomach and other organs, which in connection with the rhythm of the lungs acts as a gentle massage of these organs and stimulates their actions and encourages normal functioning.
Each inhalation aids in this internal exercise and assists in causing a normal circulation to the organs of nutrition and elimination.

As mentioned, the internal organs also need exercise and Nature’s plan for this exercise is proper breathing. The diaphragm is Nature’s principle instrument for this internal exercise.
Its motion vibrates the important organs of nutrition and elimination and massages and kneads them at each inhalation and exhalation, forcing blood into them and then squeezing it out.

Any organ or part of the body which is not exercised, gradually atrophies and refuses to function properly, and lack of the internal exercise afforded by the diaphragmatic action leads to diseased organs.

“The stone which the builders reject is the real cornerstone of the Temple of Health.”

Reinforcing the understanding of Prana

Thought is a subtle form of Prana
Prana exists in food, water, air, sunlight
Prana penetrates where air cannot reach
Without Prana there can be no life
Vitality is a subtle form of Prana
Prana plus spirit is manifest
Prana is stored in the nervous system, in the solar plexus
Yoga can direct prana
Pranayama is the science of controlling Prana
Prana is apparent everywhere there is movement - electrons around an atom, or the muscle of force.
Life force is Prana.

Prana is not the raw material of life but the energy that activates it.

Conducive and Anti Conducive Elements
The Yogic theory is that Pranic quality is not dependant on the amount of oxygen or
nitrogen but rather the amount or ratio of small to large ions. Therefore smoke, dust,chemical and any other airborne additive reduces Pranic energy transference.

The main source of smaller ions is from that electromagnetic generator, the sun. Also,rocks, earth, water etc but to a lesser degree. Cosmic rays are another source and these do not fluctuate day and night like the sun.

Sea air is also highly ionised especially during evaporation, which leads into the subject of Sunbathing which is highly beneficial in helping to vitalise Prana.
While sunbathing, we shed positive ions through the vaporisation of water:
Sweat Cellular breathing ionisation also occurs.

Tired?
Each cell is the seat of important Pranic manifestations. Thus we can consider each cell a dynamo and the human body as a vast bio-electric system. With the help of measuring apparatus Wilhelm Reich proved that transmission of bioelectricity is not limited to the nervous system, but follows the path of all membranes and fluids of the body. Therefore living tissue can be compared to an infinity of minute batteries.

In the simplest terms, being tired is the equivalent of having flat batteries.