Yoga and Meditation

Almost everyone has experienced the fact that when one starts concentrating his mind on any immediate object or an idea, the mind starts wandering. It is very difficult to keep the mind busy with a single thought. The ancient sages too encountered the same problems. Arjuna, in Gita had mentioned that controlling the mind is the impossible thing on the earth. Hence, he was advised by Krishna that though mind control is difficult, it can be made silent and steady by regular practice of vairagya and abhyasa. However, he has warned that yoga is very difficult for people whose minds are not steady and controlled. Pantanjali, in Yoga Sutra has emphasized these two qualities to achieve mind control. Hence these are the very qualities that make the essence of yoga.

Mind is like a disturbed pond with many impurities. First you need to stop the inflow of fresh impurities and then remove the existing impurities to clean the mind. Abhyasa is the one of the practices for purifying the mind. Dhyana is one of the sub practices of abhyasa. This is a stage that the person reaches after practicing concentration for some time. At the start of dhyana, the mind is steadier and only a single thought about the object arises in the mind. Now it is safe to say that the state of dhyana is reached. Here the mind becomes very stable like the flame of a lamp in the calm atmosphere and its contact with the object of experience becomes intense and complete.

There are two varieties of dhyana called sagunadhyana or nirgunadhyana. In the first dhyana, the stillness of mind is associated with an object of experience which can be experienced through the sense organs. The second one is completely mental. It implies complete absorption of mind into itself. Here mind is not associated with any external object. It becomes completely still in this state. This mind is supposed to remain still, silent and sensitive such that it can understand any past, present and future event that might have happened anywhere in the universe.

Kevin Pederson is the webmaster for Yogawiz that provides loads of information on basics of yoga,asanas and poses Dhyana that aim towards harmonizing your mind, body and soul.

Improve Your Eyesight with Trataka

Eyes are the windows of the soul and you can see what a person is up to by looking into his eyes. Hence it is important to have clean eyesight. In yoga, trataka is a technique devised by the ancient sages to improve the eyesight. It is a shuddhikriya or purification process to cleanse the eyesight and help in silencing of the mind in concentration. Sit with your back straight. Keep your eyes fixed on an object without winking till tears start streaming down your face. The small object can be the flame of an oil lamp, or an image or a picture or the letter ?AUM?. This object should be placed in the line of sight at a distance of about four to six feet. You can also do this kriya without any object in front of you. Having an object is not necessary. Just stare in front of you at the wall without moving the eyeballs or eyelids. Ensure that you stare at a certain point on the wall.

Before starting this exercise, you can start off by movement of the eyes without moving the head, where you roll your eyeballs up and down, sideways and from corner to corner diagonally. Initially, you can make this movement with the open eyes and then repeat them with the closed eyes. This will give the requisite exercise to the eye muscles. This is then followed by trataka. Trataka makes the eyes clear, improves eyes and silences the mind. Over a period of time, you will experience the silence of the mind. If you want to meditate, start with trataka to silence the mind and then go to the meditation. This way, you will reap the benefits of meditation. Since you are exercising the eye muscles, they become stronger. You can perform this kriya daily without any harmful effects.

Kevin Pederson is the webmaster for Yogawiz that provides loads of information on Basics of Yoga, Office Yoga, Asanas and Poses. Trataka is an excellent eye exercise. It can also lead to silencing the turbulent mind.

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