Yogic Exercises for Legs

1.  Sitting position – stretch both the legs, keep them one meter apart – keep both the hands behind on the floor on a supportive position – keep both the feet looking up – first inhale then slowly turn both the feet to right side, while running to right side exhale, while bringing back to the original position, inhale.  Repeat the same for the turning to the left side also.

2.  Position remains the same – stretch both the legs, keep them one meter apart – keep both the feet looking up – first inhale then slowly turn both the feet inside, while turning the feet exhale – while bringing back to the original position, inhale.  Repeat the same for turning both the feet outside.

3.  Position remains the same – stretch both the legs, keep them one meter apart – keep both the feet looking up – stretch both the feet forward and backward – exhale while stretching the foot forward and inhale while stretching backward.

4.  Position remains the same – stretch both the legs, keep them one meter apart – keep both the feet looking up – bend the feet fingers forward and backward – exhale while bending forward and inhale while bending backward.

5.  Position remains the same – stretch both the legs, keep them one meter apart – keep both the feet looking up – stretch both feet forward and rotate in clockwise direction to form a full circle – similarly anticlockwise direction also – while stretching the foot forward, exhale and while stretching it backward inhale.

Exercises for the Ball and Socket Joint and Kneecap

Continuation of Ball and Socket Joint Exercises

6.  Raise your right leg, stretch it out and then bring it down dragging the heel inwards.  (Reverse of the previous movement, see previous article dated November 25).  Repeat with the left leg.

7.  supporting yourself on the elbows, lift both legs together and do both the movements as previous.

8.  Sit with legs stretched in front.  Starting with the right leg, inhale and pull it up slowly, till your touch your knee to the chin.  Then stretch out and exhale.  Repeat both legs alternatively.

9.  Pull up both legs together while inhaling touch the knee to your chin and then stretch exhaling.

10.  Sit supporting yourself on your palms, inhale and bring up both knees together.  As you exhale, bend your legs to the right with folded knees, trying to touch the ground with the knees.  Simultaneously turn the upper part of your body to the left.  Then bend your knees to the left and repeat the same movement.

Exercise for Patella (Kneecap):

1.  Hold your kneecap between your index finger and thumb.  Push it up and down ten times.  Then push it sideways, left to right, 10 times.  Pressing with both the thumbs, rotate the bone clockwise and then anti-clockwise, together 10 times – 5 times in each direction.

2.  Sit with legs stretched in front.  Rest your palms on the floor.  Tense (tighter) and then relax both legs 20 times.

Exercises for the Ball and Socket Joint

1.  Keep the right leg on the left thigh.  Hold the right toes with the left hand and the right knee with your right.  Rotate your knee clockwise (10 times) and anti-clockwise (10 times) this way the ball and socket joint get exercised.  Repeat this with the left leg.

2.  Holding the leg with both hands, pull it up slowly and touch the knees to your forehead.  Do this alternately with the right and left leg, 10 times each leg.

3.  Sit with the legs a little apart, stretched in front.  Supporting yourself on your hands (palms) life each leg and rotate clockwise and left leg alternately.  Then rotate each leg anti-clockwise.  Rotate 10 times in each direction.

4.  Bend backwards, supporting yourself on your elbows.  Lift both legs together and rotate in clockwise direction (10 times) and in anti-clockwise direction (10 times).

5.  Sit supporting yourself on your palms and legs stretched in front.  First pull your right leg backwards dragging the heel inwards.  Then lift the leg, stretch it out and again bring it down (cycling motion).  Do th is 5 times.  Repeat the same with the left leg.

Yogic Exercise for the Legs - Exercises for the Knee Joint

1.         Pull up the right leg up to the left thigh.  Keep the right feet on the left thigh.  Holding the right feet firmly with your left hand, pull up the right knee with your right hand as you inhale and bring it up, touching the knee with you right hand.  Repeat the same with your left leg.

2.         Starting position same as above, slap the right knee with right hand repeatedly 60 times, so that the leg moves up and down like a spring.  Repeat the same with the left knee.

3.         Fold the leg bringing the two soles together press and hold both your feet together with both the hands.  Bend your body to the right and then to your left, so that the knee touches the floor.  Repeat this to and from movements 20 times – 10 on each side.  This exercises improves circulation in the buttocks area.

4.         Sitting in the same position, move the knees up and down like flapping of wings – 60 times.

5.         Sitting in the same position, bend down slowly and touch the toes with your forehead.

Exercises for the Ankle Joint

1.  Sit with the leg stretched in front, supporting yourself on your palms.  Legs should be at least two feet apart.  Starting position – feet and toes should be absolutely straight inhale.

i)          Stretch your feet up as much as possible from the ankle joint – inhale.

ii)         Stretch it down from the ankle joint – exhale (only the ankle joint to be moved).

2.  Keeping the legs straight rotate your feet from ankle joints in clockwise direction.

3.  Rotate the feet from the ankle joints in anti-clockwise direction.

4.  Lift your right leg and keep it over your left thigh.  Hold the right leg, a little above the ankle firmly with your right hand and toes with your left.  Rotate foot from ankle joint clockwise, five times.

5.  In the same manner as above, rotate the feet from ankle joint in anti-clockwise direction.  Repeat the above two 3 and 4 with your left leg.

6.  i)     In the same position, press and massage each toes from all sides starting with the big toe, moving from the base to the tips.  Rub and massage the inter toes spaces.

ii)         Hold all the toes together with the palm and keeping the thumb in the front rub along the back of all toes with your index finger.

iii)         Hold from the top and press all the toes together with your palm.  Repeat the above with your left leg.

7.  Starting from below the big toe, press with both your thumbs and apply pressure moving horizontally and downwards in a zig-zag manner covering the entire sole of the feet. (right and left feet).

8.  Legs in the same position, rub around the ankle bone on either side and massage well.  Start with right feet first.

9.  Starting from the buttocks press and squeeze the whole leg gradually, covering the thighs, knees, claves, ankles, feet, soles of the feet and finally the toes (as if squeezing a tube of tooth paste from the bottom to the top).  After reaching the tips of toes, imagine that you are throwing away the accumulated toxins out of the leg, having squeezed them out from the top.  Same treatment to be done from the legs.

We will see lots of yogic exercises for other parts too in future blogs.

Yogic Exercise for the Legs

1.  Sit with the legs stretched in front, supporting yourself on your palms, legs should be at least two feet apart.  Starting position - feet and toes should be absolutely straight inhale.

i)          Turn both your feet inwards as you exhale.  The two big toes should touch the floor.  Come back to the starting position again as you inhale.

ii)         Turn your feet outwards as you exhale.

iii)         Do it for 5-6 times.

2.  Starting position same as above.

i)          Turn both your feet to the right as you exhale. Inhale and come back to the starting position.

ii)         Turn your feet to the left as you exhale.

3.  Starting position same as above.

i)          Stretch your toes straight back towards you and inhale.

ii)         Flex your toes and exhale repeat this ultimately.

Universal Magnetism

The main subject of this exposition is bio-magnetism. This can only be clearly understood when one understands the universal magnetism, because bio-magnetism is a part of universal magnetism. Bio-magnetism is a pocket of universal magnetism. It is precisely characterized by the laws of evolution to function within the domain of the physical bodies of living beings.

Bio-magnetism is functioning in all life, from one-sense forms to six-sense forms, with added characters and capacity in every stage for countless generations. To understand all these, basic knowledge about universal magnetism is imperative. Universal magnetism is the key to all the secrets of the evolutionary process of nature.

Visualize the whole universe in a total perspective. It can be superficially categorized as space, energy, masses, and living beings. These four are in fact one and the same substantially, but the mind, which is the peripheral consciousness, separates them by differentiation through sensory perceptions as follows:
1. Cognizing appearance as quanta of volume, force, time, and distance.
2. Experience of pain, pleasure, peace, and ecstasy as a result of cognition.
3. Discrimination among different quantities and qualities perceived.

This unity in diversity can be understood when one studies the evolutionary process of Nature from the origin: Eternal Space – to the ultimate: Living beings.

Universal Magnetism – Evolution

Invoking the divine Knowledge of philosophers, scientists, and siddhas, with humility and conscious of duty to humanity, Vethathiri Maharishi ventured to reveal the wonderful secrets and divine nature of the bio-magnetism, which is the basis of all activities, characters, and wonders of living beings, on Earth.

First, let us understand the meaning of the word “Magnetism” in its real sense. As this word is pregnant with countless secrets of Nature and is important both in the fields of philosophy and science, it should be defined clearly regarding its cause, existence, and functions. As a self-enlightened person of inner travel practice, Vethathiri Maharishi had explained magnetism as understood through revelation.

Magnetism is a subjective phenomenon linking the unseen, primordial state of the Universe with all its perceptible appearances. It is the mighty and all-penetrating universal power functioning between in and around everything of the entire universe. Magnetism can be classified into three categories:

1) Universal Magnetism: This is the cosmic power, which maintains all functions of masses throughout the functioning universe.
2) Bio-Magnetism: This is the one which maintains the functions of all living beings: Thinking, sensing, moving at will, and all autonomic and central nervous systems functions, including reproduction.
3) Electromagnetism: This is artificially intensified power from the omnipresent universal magnetism, produced by any system using the forces of water, vapour, air, chemicals or solar rays.

Actually, these three categories of magnetism are one and the same in basic nature. According to the characterized stage in the evolutionary process and the field of functions, the same phenomenon shows specific and significant results.

As the universal magnetism is the basic principle in the evolutionary process of universe, elaborate, explanation, and perspective study of this supreme natural phenomenon are necessary for a creative science of living and enlightenment of consciousness for mankind.

We will see the elaborate aspects of these aspects in next articles.

Man and Nature

Philosophy of nature and science with its creative technology have immeasurably helped mankind towards peaceful and plentiful existence and development of consciousness. When one considers the lifestyle of mankind in primitive ages, the undeniable fact is that philosophy and science have marvelously developed and are still progressing today to enrich the life of humanity.

Nevertheless, the benefits of these advances have not been realized through education as an appreciable change in the human personality to lead a life of love and compassion. Well planned education is the life-light for human beings. The true education should help human beings to sublimate the personality from the animal instincts and aggressive exploitation to a character of friendly, co-operative brotherhood.

Obviously, the world has to go a long way to touch that divine concept. This means there is some loophole whereby the benefits of knowledge in philosophy and science are being lost to the majority of humanity.

When Truth or any secret of nature is discovered by anyone, at any place or time, it is rightfully the property of all mankind; it does not belong to the discoverer as personal property. As everyone is born through the natural evolutionary process and is raised with material comforts, protected, and educated by the society; no one has the right to trade any discovery for money or political influence.

With this concept of natural justice, Vethathiri Maharishi readily reveal all the facts of Nature, which found through his revelation. In time of need for the benefit of humanity, the consciousness of Nature reveals its by adjusting his mental frequency as needed. In this view, the whole of mankind is entitled to an equal share in the findings of philosophic revelations and scientific inventions. By the following this natural justice, humanity would get peace individually, socially, and globally.

The Spiritual Eye

The medulla is the seat of ego in the body. It is the negative pole of Self-consciousness. The positive pole is located at the point between the eyebrows. Here is the center of the higher expression of Self-consciousness. At this point is beheld also the spiritual eye, which is a reflection of the energy that enters the body constantly from the surrounding universe, through the medulla.

The spiritual eye is not imaginary. It is something one actually sees in meditation, when the thoughts are stilled, and when the intellect functions on its own higher, intuitive level. Many that I’ve met have told me they’d seen the spiritual eye in meditation, some of them long before they had any idea what it was. Some saw it even before they knew about the spiritual path.

When the spiritual eye is beheld clearly, it is a golden circle of light surrounding a field of deep blue. In the center of this blue field is a white star with five points. When the spiritual eye is beheld imperfectly, it is seen as a dim violet light with a faint circle around it, and an even fainter dot in the center.

Whether or not you behold the spiritual eye, by meditating at that point your consciousness will gradually rise until at last it passes the portals of human awareness and enters the state of ecstasy, or superconsciousness.

One problem people face is not knowing from what position, mentally, to approach that spiritual center. Lahiri Mahasaya, my guru’s spiritual grandfather (his guru’s guru), said to concentrate the attention first in the region of the medulla oblongata, and from that point to gaze toward the spiritual eye. People’s awareness of their egos is often distributed vaguely throughout the body. By centering it consciously in its true seat, the medulla, it becomes possible to direct ego-consciousness toward its own higher octave.

Once ego-consciousness has been dissolved in superconsciousness, the center of consciousness shifts naturally from the ego to the heart. At this point, intuitive feeling takes one’s consciousness upward through the spiritual eye and out into Infinity.

True Purpose of Yoga

It was not until rocket engines were built with a strong enough thrust to escape the earth’s gravity that man actually landed on the moon. Similarly, even after the means of reaching Him, through devotion, yoga practice, and meditation, become known to individuals, it is necessary for them to generate enough upward thrust to break free of the gravitational pull of worldly desires and attachments.

[The point between the eyebrows is] known as the Christ center, [and] may be called the inner “moon” in man, the center of his divine awareness. But many a practicing yogi, although gazing long and earnestly at this point in the hope of centering his awareness there, finds his efforts to be to no avail; his consciousness remains anchored firmly to earth. He must deliberately generate more upward “thrust” in his endeavor to transcend matter consciousness.

Anything that you can do to increase the upward flow of energy in your body when you meditate will facilitate your efforts to focus your attention at the Christ center. For your attention IS your energy. That is to say, your measure of concentration depends entirely on how much energy you can direct in the process. Divine awakening depends upon channeling all of your energy upward, and focusing it at the point between the eyebrows. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength.”

Guidance on Focusing Your Attention at the Spiritual Eye
As for techniques that help one to raise the inner energy, it may, in a sense, be said that all the techniques of yoga have this for their aim. But here [is a] simple exercise that will help you.

Sit upright in any comfortable meditation pose. Inhale slowly and deeply, and feel that your breath is acting as a magnet to draw the energy up from the lower part of the body to the point between the eyebrows. Concentrate breath and energy at that point to a mental count of 12. Exhale. Then repeat the process, concentrating at the Christ center a little longer (25 counts, if you can do so comfortably); focus your entire being at that point. Exhale.

Again inhale, concentrating still longer (40 counts, if this is not too long for comfort).

Forget the breath and the body, and think only of focusing your energy and awareness ever more deeply at the Christ center, the seat of divine awareness within you.

YOGA

Yoga means union. Etymologically, it is connected to the English word, yoke. Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit.

Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse yoga with Hatha Yoga, the system of bodily postures. But yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline.

I don’t mean to belittle the yoga postures. Hatha Yoga is a wonderful system. The body, moreover, is a part of our human nature, and must be kept fit lest it obstruct our spiritual efforts. Devotees, however, who are bent on finding God give less importance to the yoga postures. Nor is it strictly necessary that they practice them.

Hatha Yoga is the physical branch of Raja Yoga, the true science of yoga. Raja Yoga is a system of meditation techniques that help to harmonize human consciousness with the divine consciousness.

Yoga is an art as well as a science. It is a science, because it offers practical methods for controlling body and mind, thereby making deep meditation possible. And it is an art, for unless it is practiced intuitively and sensitively it will yield only superficial results.

Yoga is not a system of beliefs. It takes into account the influence on each other of body and mind, and brings them into mutual harmony. So often, for instance, the mind cannot concentrate simply because of tension or illness in the body, which prevent the energy from flowing to the brain. So often, too, the energy in the body is weakened because the will is dispirited, or paralyzed by harmful emotions.

Yoga works primarily with the energy in the body, through the science of pranayama, or energy-control. Prana means also 'breath.' Yoga teaches how, through breath-control, to still the mind and attain higher states of awareness.

The higher teachings of yoga take one beyond techniques, and show the yogi, or yoga practitioner, how to direct his concentration in such a way as not only to harmonize human with divine consciousness, but to merge his consciousness in the Infinite.

Yoga is a very ancient science; it is thousands of years old. The perceptions derived from its practice form the backbone of the greatness of India, which for centuries has been legendary. The truths espoused in the yoga teachings, however, are not limited to India, nor to those who consciously practice yoga techniques. Many saints of other religions also, including many Christian saints, have discovered aspects of the spiritual path that are intrinsic to the teachings of yoga.

A number of them were what Indians, too, would accept as great yogis.

They had raised their energy from body-attachment to soul-identity.

They had discovered the secret of directing the heart’s feeling upward in devotion to the brain, instead of letting it spill outward in restless emotions.

They had discovered the portal of divine vision at the point between the eyebrows, through which the soul passes to merge in Christ Consciousness.

They had discovered the secrets of breathlessness, and how in breathlessness the soul can soar to the spiritual heights.

They had discovered the state which some of them called mystical marriage, where the soul merges with God and becomes one with Him.

Yoga completes the biblical teaching on how one should love God: with heart, mind, soul-and strength. For strength means energy.

The ordinary person’s energy is locked in his body. The lack of availability of that energy to his will prevents him from loving the Lord one-pointedly with any of the three other aspects of his nature: heart, mind, or soul. Only when the energy can be withdrawn from the body and directed upward in deep meditation is true inner communion possible.

What Happens to Those Who Try to Reach God Without the Benefit of Yoga Techniques?
A few of them are successful if they came into this life with strong spiritual karma from the past. The great majority, however, even if they start out on the path with enthusiasm, gradually become discouraged.

“Where is that God,” they ask finally, “to Whom I’ve been praying all these years?” They attain a little inner peace, but over the years their prayers become increasingly a matter of habit, less one of inspiration.

Rarely, in the West, have the centuries seen such great saints as there have been in India.

Easy way of meditation

Before we go into the meditation, let us know the practice of meditation for normal human beings.
The following asanas are best for the meditation.


Padmasana: This is the best posture for the meditation on the spiritual field. It is easy and recommended for everybody.

Siddhasana: This is also equally recommended just like Padmasana, but is most useful to those who go for advanced spiritual practice. This asana gives one ability and poise to conserve one's energy in celibacy.

Sukhasana: Those who cannot practice either of the above two asanas can sit in Sukhasana which is very easy to practice. The first two asanas require considerable practice to those in the western world. Even Sukhasana would be difficult for non-Asians, but one can gain proficiency in this asana in quicker time.

Swastikasana: This is a slight variation of Sidhasana.

Virasana: This is a slight variation of Sukhasana.

You can find content easily for all these asanas on the internet and learn how to do them. I would recommendSukhasana for all to start meditation.

First put a yoga mat or a woolen blanket folded on the floor. Above that put a folded cotton cloth or towel and sit on it. Fold your right leg on the knee and bring the foot below the left knee and similarly fold the left leg on the other side. If you find it difficult to keep two legs in crossed posture, you may fold your legs one above the other. This should be more convenient.

Keep the body, neck and head in a straight line so that the spinal column remains erect. This is very important as in the final equation, energy centered around the bottom of spinal column will climb to the top. Also during Deep breathing or Pranayama practice, sitting erect will facilitate the flow of Prana or Energy through the spinal cord.

Before starting meditation, first take a few deep breaths in and out. Say about eleven breaths. The breaths should be such that the time element between inhaling and exhaling should be in the ratio of 1:2. In the beginning, maintaining this ration may not come easy but gradually build the ratio.
After breathing deep, try and relax for a few minutes and then close your eyes with a gradual shutting movement i.e. do not shut the eyes forcefully. Take at least 10 seconds to close the eyes completely.
After closing your eyes, try to concentrate in the center of the forehead just above your eyes and between the eye brows, which is called Ajna Chakra i.e. the Command Centre in Yoga.
Normally, when one closes the eyes, it will be very difficult to concentrate because the mind will not focus. The mind has been divided into four parts as per actions in philosophical and yoga texts as follows:


Ego: The feeling of body being the self and that all actions are connected to this self. Human beings do actions based on this blind notion. Sensitiveness of the human being comes under this part of the mind. Control of this part and the eventual removal of this notion through meditation is the ultimate objective.


Intellect: The capacity of the mind to differentiate the good and bad and make decisions. The will power to take actions comes under this. With this part only, meditation can be achieved.


Mind: This is the energy part that controls all the body movements automatically. The five intellectual senses and five working senses come under this. Control of this part is the first objective of meditation.


Chitha: This is the part where all vasanas i.e. attitudes and impressions which one brings along with him at the time of birth. This is also the storehouse of past lives and present life memory. One's action in this life depends upon the impressions encrypted in this part. These impressions can only be erased through Pranayama and meditation. Pranayama is a necessary part to achieve this. We will discuss in later articles.

Mind is always on movement from one object to other. It is just like a horse, very speedy. Allegorically, mind is equated to a monkey because it never remains concentrated on one subject and always fluctuates quite like a monkey changing from one action to another.
In the body, the spine is the most important part which controls one's life and actions. There are three Naadis or energy flowing channels within the spinal cord which are minute and cannot be seen with microscope. These are visible only in the advanced stage of meditation. In this three energy flowing channels or Naadis, the central one is very straight starting from the lowest end of spinal column and ending in the centre of head just above the Thalamus or above the upper portion of the throat which also is the centre of the brain. This channel is called Sushumna Naadi. The left channel is called Ida or Chandra Naadi as it is controlled by Moon, which also signifies mental energy. This portion also controls the coolness of the body. The third one is called Pingala or Surya Naadi i.e. Sun channel which is the physical energy of the body and controls the heat. When the practice is advanced in Pranayama, one attains the flow in Sushumna Naadi or the central channel. Physically the flow can be gauged as follows:
When the breath flows in the left nostrils it is called Chandra Naadi. When it flows on the right nostril it is calledSurya Naadi. When flows in both nostrils it is called Sushumna Naadi. There is a separate science based on the flow of the Naadis, which we will discuss at a later stage.
When sitting for meditation, it is advisable to start Naadisuddhi Pranayama as it is very simple to practice. One should do atleast eleven Pranayamas before start of the meditation. This will be beneficial. Before startingPranayama, one has to test the flow of breath. Normally breath flows ninety minutes alternating both nostrils. For some it can be less due to one or the other reason and discussion of this point is not necessary here.
Finding the flow, first see that the entire breath is exhaled and close the nostril in which there is no flow. For closing the nostril, it is recommended to use Thumb for right nostril and little and ring finger together for the left nostril. Take as deep a breath as possible without straining the flowing nostril while closing the other one. Then close the nostril through which you have taken the breath and release the finger from the other nostril and exhale. Through exhaled nostril, take deep breath inhaling and close that nostril and open the other nostril and exhale and again inhale and repeat the same way. One inhaling through one nostril exhaling through other nostril and inhaling and then exhaling through the first nostril is one full Naadisuddhi Pranayama. Similar eleven may be practiced.
One can do this practice either with closed eyes or with open eyes. This is very essential to purify the channels and ultimate results of meditation can come only after purification of the Naadis.
Once this part is over, gradually close your eyes. Try to concentrate on the centre of the forehead.

Dealing with Tense Situations

Technique for dealing with tense situations, especially if your emotions are starting to feel upset. You can immediately begin to calm yourself by taking control of your breath. There is a link between our breath and our mind. By calming the breath, you also calm the mind. There is a third part to this link — your subtle energy or aura. After you have calmed your own breath and mind, project your calm aura out to others involved in the situation. Especially extend energy from your heart out to include and embrace everyone around you. Feel that you are all linked together in harmony. You can use variations of this technique in virtually every situation.

Hints For Meditation

Time: Keep a regular time or time for meditation every day. There is no time drawn. Recommended are early morning just after awakening, twilight, noon, evening, and midnight. Stomach should be empty 2-3 hours after meals.

Exercise: For meditation, exercise is an essential part of it. Do some exercises before the meditation. Exercises or yoga are good for body and mind before meditation. Breathing exercises are also useful one for the meditation.

Location: Select a room or part of a room for meditation. Ventilation should be good in that room. The room should not be stuffy and should be on the a little cooler side.

Sitting: Because of the downward pull of earth currents, use mat, shawls, blanket or piece of cloth placed on your meditation chair, bench or cushion. Spinal cord should be in straight position. Keep your back straight, chest raised, head erect, eyes closed, and fingers crossed, hands resting in your lap, preferably at the juncture of the thighs and abdomen.

How long: Do not set time limit for the meditation for yourself. It is better to meditate 20 minutes and be very consistent with your practice, and then increase your time as you can. One longer meditation each week can be very helpful. It also helps to meditate with other people, especially with those who have been meditating longer than you. You'll find that group meditations will often help you to meditate longer than you normally would on your own.

Do some measured breathing: inhale and exhale. Do this for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, relax and breathe normally, and become aware of your breath. You should feel more relaxed while meditating.

Meditate with joy, with devotion.Don’t wait for God’s joy to make you joyful, be joyful first yourself! Meditation will help you to remember, on ever deepening levels, of who and what you truly are. You are a child of God, and one with the absolute space.

How to Sit Comfortably in Meditation

One of the most important aspects of meditation is to be able to sit comfortably while maintaining a proper meditation posture.

Your back needs to be straight, and the body relaxed. You can sit in a chair, on a meditation bench, or a pillow on the floor. Here are some options.

Sitting in a chair
Sit away from the back of the chair, with feet flat on the floor. If your feet can’t touch the floor, get a shorter chair, or place a cushion under your feet to raise them. You want your thighs to be parallel to the floor.

Do not lean against the back of the chair. This will tend to contract your chest. The idea is to sit with an upright, un-supported spine, and your chest expanded. However, if you are not used to sitting this way, or if you have weak neck/back muscles or injuries, there are ways to overcome this challenge.

Get a firm pillow and put it between your lower back and the back of the chair. This will support the lumbar section of the spine, helping to maintain its natural curvature. You can also place a pillow in the seat of the chair to cushion it.

Begin with short meditations, gradually increasing their time. This will allow your back muscles to strengthen over time. Energization Excercises and yoga asanas can also help strengthen your back muscles with regular practice.

Sitting on the floor
Meditation benches are a wonderful invention for making the legs comfortable and keeping the spine upright. You can also try sitting cross-legged on a pillow. The crescent-shaped or round pillows are designed to help with this position.

Experiment!
When one position becomes tiresome, calmly switch to another. Eventually you'll find the best one for your body type. Remember, everybody’s body is different.

Wool Blanket, Fresh Air
It is recommended to insulate yourself during meditation from the subtle earth currents with a wool rug, wool blanket, or a piece of silk. Your meditation place should be a little on the cool side, with a source of fresh air if possible. A stuffy room will make you sleepy. Feel free to to wrap yourself in a wool or silk meditation shawl to stay warm, awake and aware!

Benefits of Stretching

The body is made up of muscles, bones, tissues, cells, etc. To keep the muscles and bones in good condition, one must stretch out the muscles. Stretch is an act of flexing the muscles. Stretching helps to strengthen the muscles and joints.

Stretching is easier and simple exercise. It is involved in daily activities of our work. Human’s muscle is like a rubber band. It should be in good condition to do the activities well without any pain or stiffness.

Muscles will get tighter as we get older. Range of motion of the joints will not be at the fullest. Nowadays, our daily activities are like we use only certain parts of the body, not all parts, so flexing and bending will get limited. Stretching must be as part of our daily routines.

Stretching is essential in all sports and training. One should do stretching first before starting the practice. This would ease up and smoothen up the whole body Stretching acts as a kindling method and warms up the body. This paves way for the body to get started for any further function. Stretching plays a predominant role in Yoga. In fact various asana are comprehensive of these stretches. In simple stretches relieves your stiffness and enhances fitness.

Make Yoga as Part of Life and Live Healthy

Exercise and Hypertension

The stressful and mechanical living is the reason for the occurrence of hypertension in majority of the Americans, the older age group is the most affected. About 50% of the aged Americans seem to be the victims of hypertension. Hypertension gives way easily for heart-related problems.

Hypertension acts like a silent killer because it remains dormant. It does not emanate any express symptoms, though internally in due course of time, it affects the blood vessels and the circulatory system.

The experts prescribe a balanced diet, low salty, reducing weight, regular simple exercise as the ways to resist and overcome hypertension inculcating good habits and following healthy diet reduces Hypertension.

Exercise helps in toning up of the limb muscles and the cardiac muscles. This safeguards the heart and its activities, thus exercise plays a predominant role in avoiding hypertension.

Heart and Exercise

The exercise sets up new pathway of bloodstreams to bridge the worn out and the healthier blood vessels and enhances the circulatory process. This in turn regulates the blood flow throughout the body.

The recent research findings conclude that mild regular exercise everyday is more effective in streamlining the internal blood passages and revitalizing the core of the heart rather than the strenuous heavier exercises. This may force us to jump into a conclusion that exercise is the solution for cardiac ailments Hypertension. This is untrue. Athletes have also been subjected to Hypertension

The other Influential factors of Hypertension

Genetic factors, excessive weight, malfunctioning of the kidneys, inadequate work to the physical body, overworking of the brain are the other influential factors of Hypertension. These days doctors too prescribe exercise as the remedy to be away from hypertension.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Regular exercise everyday keeps the diseases and the doctor away. If you really wish to enjoy a hypertension-free life, then try to implement the following in your daily routine.

1. Doctors review.
Take doctor's advise to determine your exercise pattern. Analyze the working pattern, your physical ability, fitness level, and then formulate a structure of exercise that would be suiting you the most. Try it out and identify the internal changes. If need go on for a doctor’s review or else fix on to it and practice.

2. Practice on a slow pace

Initially go on a slow pace of exertion. Give enough process time. Once it gets accustomed with your system, try and go to a higher exertion rate.

3. Limit and Method

Fatigue study helps in the analyzing and finding your optimum workout capacity. Set the exercise pattern for yourself. Ensure the limit and method for the same.

4. Frequency of Exercise

The more you exercise, the more it keeps all the internal systems in tact. Regular optimum level of exercise makes us healthier

5. Optimum work out level

Exercise may yield 40% to 60% result in the elderly aged group according to their fitness. Obesity is another major factor, which determines the occurrence of Hypertension. Indulging in weight reduction programmes also is a good initiation technique to avoid hypertension.

HISTORY OF YOGA

Where Did Yoga Originate?
What is Yoga?


Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The history of Yoga spans from four to eight thousand years ago to the current day. The physical, mental and spiritual health benefits of yoga are vast and there is something for everyone.

Where Did Yoga Originate?


"The aim of all yoga practice is to achieve truth wherein the individual or soul identifies itself with the supreme soul or God."
Swami Vishnu Devananda




History of Yoga - A Complete Overview of the Yoga History
Here is an excellent article summing up the answer to 'where did yoga originate...
Written by: shaynebance from the ABC of Yoga web site

The saying, "What's in the past, should stay in the past" doesn't work here.

We might already have an idea of what Yoga is but to understand it better, we have to know what it has become as well as its roots and beginnings. A quick look at the history of Yoga will help us appreciate its rich tradition and who knows, it might help us incorporate Yoga into our lives.

Although Yoga is said to be as old as civilization, there is no physical evidence to support this claim. Earliest archaeological evidence of Yoga's existence could be found in stone seals which depict figures of Yoga Poses. The stone seals place Yoga's existence around 3000 B.C.

Scholars, however, have a reason to believe that Yoga existed long before that and traced its beginnings in Stone Age Shamanism. Both Shamanism and Yoga have similar characteristics particularly in their efforts to improve the human condition at that time. Also, they aim to heal community members and the practitioners act as religious mediators. Though we know Yoga as focusing more on the self, it started out as community-oriented before it turned inward.

For a better discussion of the history of Yoga, we could divide it into four periods: the Vedic Period, Pre-Classical Period, Classical Period, and Post-Classical Period.

Vedic Period

The existence of the Vedas marks this period. The Vedas is the sacred scripture of Brahmanism that is the basis of modern-day Hinduism. It is a collection of hymns which praise a divine power. The Vedas contains the oldest known Yogic teachings and as such, teachings found in the Vedas are called Vedic Yoga. This is characterized by rituals and ceremonies that strive to surpass the limitations of the mind.

During this time, the Vedic people relied on rishis or dedicated Vedic Yogis to teach them how to live in divine harmony. Rishis were also gifted with the ability to see the ultimate reality through their intensive spiritual practice. It was also during this time that Yogis living in seclusion (in forests) were recorded.



Pre-Classical Yoga

The creation of the Upanishads marks the Pre-Classical Yoga. The 200 scriptures of the Upanishads (the conclusion of the revealed literature) describe the inner vision of reality resulting from devotion to Brahman. These explain three subjects: the ultimate reality (Brahman), the transcendental self (atman), and the relationship between the two. The Upanishads further explain the teachings of the Vedas.

Yoga shares some characteristics not only with Hinduism but also with Buddhism that we can trace in its history. During the sixth century B.C., Buddha started teaching Buddhism, which stresses the importance of Meditation and the practice of physical postures. Siddharta Gautama, the first Buddhist to study Yoga, achieved enlightenment at the age of 35.

Later, around 500B.C., the Bhagavad-Gita or Lord's Song was created and this is currently the oldest known Yoga scripture. It is devoted entirely to Yoga and has confirmed that it has been an old practice for some time. However, it doesn't point to a specific time wherein Yoga could have started. The central point to the Gita is that - to be alive means to be active and in order to avoid difficulties in our lives and in others, our actions have to benign and have to exceed our egos.

Just as the Upanishads further the Vedas, the Gita builds on and incorporates the doctrines found in the Upanishads. In the Gita, three facets must be brought together in our lifestyle: Bhakti or loving devotion, Jnana which is knowledge or contemplation, and Karma which is about selfless actions. The Gita then tried to unify Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Karma Yoga and it is because of this that it has gained importance. The Gita was a conversation between Prince Arjuna and God-man Krishna and it basically stresses the importance of opposing evil.

Classical Period

The Classical Period is marked by another creation - the Yoga Sutra. Written by Patanjali around the second century, it was an attempt to define and standardize Classical Yoga. It is composed of 195 aphorisms or sutras (from the Sanskrit word which means thread) that expound upon the Raja Yoga and its underlying principle, Patanjali's Eightfold path of Yoga (also called Eight Limbs of Classical Yoga). These are:

1. Yama, which means social restraints or ethical values;
2. Niyama, which is personal observance of purity, tolerance, and study;
3. Asanas or physical exercises;
4. Pranayama, which means breath control or regulation;
5. Pratyahara or sense withdrawal in preparation for Meditation;
6. Dharana, which is about concentration;
7. Dhyana, which means Meditation; and
8. Samadhi, which means ecstasy.

Patanjali believed that each individual is a composite of matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha). He further believed that the two must be separated in order to cleanse the spirit - a stark contrast to Vedic and Pre-Classical Yoga that signify the union of body and spirit.

Patanjali's concept was dominant for some centuries that some Yogis focused exclusively on Meditation and neglected their Asanas. It was only later that the belief of the body as a temple was rekindled and attention to the importance of the Asana was revived. This time, Yogis attempted to use Yoga techniques to change the body and make it immortal.

Post-Classical Yoga

At this point, we see a proliferation of literature as well as the practice of Yoga. Post-classical Yoga differs from the first three since its focus is more on the present. It no longer strives to liberate a person from reality but rather teaches one to accept it and live at the moment.

Yoga was introduced in the West during the early 19th century. It was first studied as part of Eastern Philosophy and began as a movement for health and vegetarianism around the 1930's. By the 1960's, there was an influx of Indian teachers who expounded on Yoga. One of them was Maharishi Mahesh, the Yogi who popularized Transcendental Meditation. Another one is a prominent Yoga Guru Swami Sivananda. Sivananda was a doctor in Malaysia and he later opened schools in America and Europe. The most prominent of his works is his modified Five Principles of Yoga which are:

1. Savasana or proper relaxation;
2. Asanas or proper exercise;
3. Pranayama or proper breathing;
4. Proper diet; and
5. Dhyana or positive thinking and Meditation

Sivananda wrote more than 200 books on Yoga and Philosophy and had many disciples who furthered Yoga. Some of them were Swami Satchitananda who introduced chanting and Yoga to Woodstock; Swami Sivananada Radha who explored the connection between psychology and Yoga, and Yogi Bhajan who started teaching Kundalini Yoga in the 70's.

Up to this day, Yoga continues to proliferate and spread its teachings, crossing the boundaries of culture and language.

The Importance of Meditation

Most people when they pray talk to God rather than with Him. They don’t take the time to listen, in deep inner silence, for His answer. Prayer, however, to be most deeply meaningful, needs to be a two-way communication, a giving and receiving — like conversation. And while it would be absurd to think in terms of “fascinating” God with our part of the conversation, there are proven ways of making our prayers more effective. Listening is one of them.

How many people ever think of prayer in this way? Usually, they think of it as begging for special favors, as though prayer were a petition submitted before the aweful majesty of an imperial throne. Many, no doubt, question whether the Lord will even single them out for special attention from among the multitudes appealing to Him daily. Perhaps they fear they might be judged presumptuous if they tried to interest Him beyond the actual subject of their petition. Whatever the case, most people talk a lot, like inadequate conversationalists, but seldom think of listening in return.

The difference between the one-way street of normal prayer and actually conversing with God is simply the degree of involvement — on both sides. Of course, there can be no question of trying to “fascinate” Him with our conversation. The Lord has all creation to engage His attention, besides the perfection of love and bliss in which He eternally dwells. One petty life in the great scheme of things cannot particularize His interest to the point of making Him fascinated with it! When we approach Him, however, with deep love, dedication, and trust, we appeal to that cosmic, but at the same time deeply personal, love which He feels for every one of his human children.

Prayer must come from the heart. That is what I mean by conversation. As there is a world of difference between talking at someone and talking with him, so there is a universe of difference between petitioning God and including Him in the needs we feel.

We need to involve Him in our lives, in our love for Him. How can we hope to do that, if we merely pray to him? That’s like talking at somebody.

Leaving aside the question of fascination, conversationally, how are we most likely to involve anyone in anything that interests us? It isn’t much different from listening for answers to a question. We involve them best when we include their reality in our own. To awaken concern in them for our needs, we must show an interest in their needs. To get them to participate in our lives, we must participate in their lives. To get them to show love for us, we must love them, first.

All this involvement on our part is, in its own way, a kind of listening. We need, in the same way, to listen to God. The kind of prayer that most often wins a response is one in which the person praying converses with God: calls to Him, while at the same time listening for His silent response in the soul.

And that is, essentially, what is meant by the practice of meditation. Meditation is the act of listening for, and hopefully, in time, listening to, God’s whispered response in the soul.

Why not try that, next time you pray to God? Instead of merely offering up a petition for His consideration, try involving Him in your needs.

Meditation is more than a practice conducted at specific times of the day. It is a habit of mind, a way of life. Try sharing your thoughts and feelings with God all day long. Listen for His guidance, His approval — yes, even His silent laughter within! When you share your life with Him, your meditations also will be much deeper.

When people exclude the practice of meditation from daily prayer, it usually means they aren’t really convinced there is anyone “up there,” listening to them. All too easily, their prayers become a process of simply talking to themselves.

Well, one may ask, does God really listen anyway? You'll never know, if you don’t give Him a chance to reply! Just as in any conversation, the degree of listening, and the response it awakens, is in direct proportion to the degree of one’s own involvement in what he is saying. Why else is it that the prayers of saints have been, often, so much more effective than those of worldly people? God is no respecter of persons. His response is according to the depth of sincerity in the person praying.

In conversation, people tend to think of listening as something one does after he has said his piece. Personally, however, I’ve found that there is much better communication if one “listens” — that is to say, is sensitive to the other person’s reactions — even during the act of speaking to him. When lecturing, also, even though I don’t expect people to start up a conversation with me from the audience, I’ve found it helps, while lecturing, to “tune into” their needs, to respond to their unspoken reactions, to feel as though I were speaking to each one of them individually.

On the subject of lecturing, I’ve found it helps also to “listen” even before I begin speaking. By that I mean that I meditate and try to tune into what the people in this particular audience need to hear from me.

In the same way, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi), who brought teachings and techniques from India to the West, used to say that prayer is most effective when it is offered after some contact with God has been achieved in deep meditation.

Western society generally identifies meditation with the thinking process. We are told to meditate “on” a particular subject. Vaguely, we suppose this means to think in circles around it, hoping for a deeper understanding of it. Only comparatively recently has the teaching come to the West that silence itself is the wellspring from which true understanding arises. In other words, true, and especially spiritual, understanding is not the product of thinking one’s way to it, but of direct inner perception. As Yogananda wrote in his autobiography, “A truth cannot be created, but only perceived.”

Meditation, in this deeper sense, begins with the practice of stilling one’s thoughts and emotions.

Yogananda told the story of a man who was told, as a means of developing spiritual power, to be very careful not to think of monkeys. Of course, the next time he sat to meditate, the first thing he thought about was monkeys! The more he tried not to think of them, the more he probed his memory for every variety of monkey he’d ever read or heard about. Monkeys gradually became an obsession. At last, he returned to his teacher and cried, “Take back this teaching of yours! All it has done is give me monkey-consciousness, not God-consciousness!”

At this, the teacher laughed genially and explained, “I only wanted to help you realize how difficult it is to develop spiritual powers, without first learning to control your own mind.” He then went on to explain to his student the positive aspects of meditation.

So then, the first lesson is: Don’t live in “monkey consciousness”! Instead of trying not to let thoughts and emotions enter your mind, dwell on positive opposite practices that will exert a calming influence on your mind.

The breath is one such influence, when it is used rightly. Not only does the breath reflect one’s mental states: It also greatly affects them.

Take the breath as a reflection of thought and feeling. When a person is agitated, his breathing automatically speeds up. When he falls asleep, his breathing rhythm changes: two counts of exhalation, to one of inhalation. When he is deeply concentrated, he tends to hold his breath. When he is calm, his breathing becomes calm also.

The reverse also is true. By breathing agitatedly, one tends to create an agitated mental or emotional state. A photographer, when taking a photo demanding sensitivity and concentration, learns to hold his breath before clicking the camera shutter.

By calm, deep breathing, similarly, the mind and emotions grow calm also, releasing us from any turmoil that may have been seething within us. This is why the advice is so often given to people who are angry or upset, “First, take a deep breath, and count to ten.”

A good practice when sitting to meditate is to do a few deep breathing exercise. The yoga teachings offer a number of such exercises, some of which I explain in my yoga correspondence course, The Ananda Course in Self-Realization. Less sophisticated than many of these, but quite effective, is this:
Sit upright, and breathe deeply through the nostrils counting 6 – 12. Hold the breath 6 – 12. Then exhale, again to a count of 6 – 12. In this particular exercise, don’t hold the breath out, but begin again immediately with another inhalation. Repeat this exercise six to twelve times.

Your posture during meditation is important. We’ve all seen photographs in advertisements of people “meditating” according to the Western notion of relaxation: a person reclining comfortably on a “Lazy Boy” chair, his feet up, his head tilted back on the headrest, his entire posture suggestive of a mood of abandonment. The yogis of India would smile at this passive attempt at relaxation. The fact is, while relaxation is essential to deep meditation, passivity is one of the pitfalls to true relaxation.

There are two directions the mind can take once it relaxes its grip on conscious thought processes. One is to sink toward subconsciousness. This is the direction taken when one’s relaxation is passive. The other direction is to rise toward superconsciousness. Deep meditation is possible only in the intensely positive state of superconsciousness, or soul-awareness.

To attain this state of consciousness, it is important to sit upright with a straight spine. Traditionally, one does so sitting on the floor with the legs crossed, preferably in one of the yoga positions such as the half or full lotus pose, or Siddhasana (the “perfect pose”), but Yogananda said that it is quite all right to sit on a straight-backed chair, with the feet flat on the floor.

Sit away from the back of the chair. Place your hands palms upward at the junction of the thighs and abdomen. Hold the shoulders back to help keep the spine straight. Hold the chin parallel to the ground.

Before the deep breathing exercise, relax the body. First, inhale; tense the whole body till it vibrates; then throw the breath out, and with it all tension. Repeat this process two or three times.

After the deep breathing, concentrate on relaxing more and more deeply — not physically only, but mentally and emotionally. Feel space in the body.

Look upward, concentrating your attention at the central point between the two eyebrows, the seat of spiritual vision. Offer up all thoughts and feelings in deep concentration at this point. Call mentally to God, “Reveal Thyself! Reveal Thyself!”

Gradually, you will feel His peace stealing over you, like a weightless waterfall.