If you go to the zoo or tune your TV to the Discovery channel, an observance of nature will show us that animals love relaxation and sleep. They often relax and get as much sleep as they want.
Rest and sleep are essential to recharge our nervous energy as our physical, emotional and mental balance depends on the quantity and quality of these vital necessities.
With the stress of our daily jobs, traffic while commuting to and from these jobs, schools, studies, parenting etc having a relaxation technique to fall back on will be indispensable for any and everyone.
Thanks to Yoga, such a technique is well within reach. It is known friends as the Corpse or Relaxation Pose.
It mostly involves lying motionless while applying a combination of deep square breathing and mental suggestions.
This following pose/exercise will show you how.
Technique:
-Lay motionless on your back with the arms and legs slightly extended.
-Start off by breathing deeply in counts of 5 that being in a ratio of 5:5:5
(inhalation-retention-exhalation)
-After a few minutes of this, begin to make what is defined as auto suggestions
to the limbs starting from the toes by mentally affirming that ?My toes are hereby relaxed, My feet are hereby relaxed? etc?working upwards to the head and internally through the internal organs.
-After several minutes of this, resume the deep square breathing for about 2-3 minutes.
-Next, begin to mentally chant this Yogic quote: ?I am that pure consciousness or self? (You may substitute this with a verse from the books of your religious faith for example: ?Those who wait upon God shall renew their strength? or any energizing quote for that matter like a simple ?I am being relaxed and energized at this moment??
-Continue mentally affirming this phrase for several minutes, then roll over to your right side and remain motionless while all the while maintaining the 5:5:5 breathing schedule for an additional minute.
-Finally, arise from the position.
Personally, I employ the use of a timed metronome or the steady tick of a nearby wall clock to keep time and sequence. Moreover, I often practice spurts of this technique during my yoga session and a full 15 minutes afterwards. At the office, I sometimes just sit back in the chair and apply the deep breathing and autosuggestions mostly with my eyes closed.
However, one truth remains, whenever one needs to relax, this simple Yogic technique does offer a safe and effective means of attaining this.
I always tell people: ?Hey if it is said God took a break on the 7th day after making the world, who are we as humans not to take time out to rest??
That said, empower yourself with the knowledge of this technique offered by Yoga whenever you need time to just relax.
Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com For more Yoga tips and information on Yoga for beginners stop by his website today.
Showing posts with label Observance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Observance. Show all posts
March 1, 2009
February 24, 2009
Foundations of Yoga: The Great Vow
The Great Vow
After listing ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha, Patanjali continues: “These, not conditioned by class, place, time or occasion, and extending to all stages, constitute the Great Vow.” They are the Great Vow because they require the exercise of will and because of their dynamic effect on us. Even more, they are great because, like the elements, they are self-sufficient, depending on nothing else, and because they cannot be mutated into something else. That is, they are always what they are, and for that reason they are always to be observed with no exceptions whatsoever. They cannot be neglected or omitted for any reason-absolutely. Patanjali lists the possible conditions which do affect lesser observances: class, place, time or occasion, and stages. A brief consideration of each will be helpful.
Class. No one can mitigate or omit the observance of ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha because of who he “is.” In yoga, too, no one is above the law. That is, no one can produce the effects of Yama without their observance. I knew an Archbishop with a quick sense of humor. Once he made a pungent remark about someone, and a woman objected, saying: “That remark is not Christian.” He simply smiled and replied: “Madam, I do not have to be a Christian: I am an Archbishop!” This is an attitude of many, springing from the blindness of egotism.
Place. Whatever may be the ways of a particular place or group of people in which we may find ourselves, the observances of Yama are incumbent upon us. “When in Rome do as the Romans” is one of the silliest axioms ever coined. Peer pressure must never be a factor for us. Nor should unjust rules or laws have any effect on us. What is right must always be done. The will or opinion of others cannot change our obligation to observe the Great Vow. Nor can external conditions change it. Not even to save our lives can we turn from what is forever right.
Time or occasion. Human beings have for some reason always thought that “now” abrogates what was right or true in the past. It does not. Nor does a situation effect any change in what must be done by us as aspirants to yoga. Aversion to being “out of step” or “alienated from society” has no place in the mind and heart of the yogi.
Stage. We never “get beyond” the observance of the Great Vow. Those at the very end of the spiritual journey are as obligated to fulfil the Great Vow as those who are at the beginning. Also, we cannot “go too far” or “overdo” our observance of the Vow. It is all or nothing. “Ahimsa and the others are to be maintained all the time and in all circumstances and in regard to all objects without any conscious lapse” (Vyasa). At this point Shankara points out that the Great Vow must be observed by us in relation to all beings-not just confined to human beings. We cannot kill, injure, or rob any creature of any kind. Nor the earth itself.
Once again we see the psychological nature of the five components of the Great Vow and how their observance is based upon the courage, self-respect, and self-knowledge of the yogi.
“The main object of this relentless ethical code is to eliminate completely all mental and emotional disturbances which characterize the life of an ordinary human being. Anyone who is familiar with the working of the human mind should not find it difficult to understand that no freedom from emotional and mental disturbances is possible until the tendencies dealt with under yama-niyama have been rooted out or, at least, mastered to a sufficient degree….It is only by doing the right that we get added strength to do right in the future and also acquire the capacity to see what is right. There is no other way.” (I.K. Taimni)
Swami Nirmalananda Giri is the abbot of Atma Jyoti Ashram, a traditional Hindu monastery in the small desert town of Borrego Springs in southern California. He has written extensively on spiritual subjects, especially about
meditation.
Read more of his writings at http://www.atmajyoti.org
After listing ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha, Patanjali continues: “These, not conditioned by class, place, time or occasion, and extending to all stages, constitute the Great Vow.” They are the Great Vow because they require the exercise of will and because of their dynamic effect on us. Even more, they are great because, like the elements, they are self-sufficient, depending on nothing else, and because they cannot be mutated into something else. That is, they are always what they are, and for that reason they are always to be observed with no exceptions whatsoever. They cannot be neglected or omitted for any reason-absolutely. Patanjali lists the possible conditions which do affect lesser observances: class, place, time or occasion, and stages. A brief consideration of each will be helpful.
Class. No one can mitigate or omit the observance of ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha because of who he “is.” In yoga, too, no one is above the law. That is, no one can produce the effects of Yama without their observance. I knew an Archbishop with a quick sense of humor. Once he made a pungent remark about someone, and a woman objected, saying: “That remark is not Christian.” He simply smiled and replied: “Madam, I do not have to be a Christian: I am an Archbishop!” This is an attitude of many, springing from the blindness of egotism.
Place. Whatever may be the ways of a particular place or group of people in which we may find ourselves, the observances of Yama are incumbent upon us. “When in Rome do as the Romans” is one of the silliest axioms ever coined. Peer pressure must never be a factor for us. Nor should unjust rules or laws have any effect on us. What is right must always be done. The will or opinion of others cannot change our obligation to observe the Great Vow. Nor can external conditions change it. Not even to save our lives can we turn from what is forever right.
Time or occasion. Human beings have for some reason always thought that “now” abrogates what was right or true in the past. It does not. Nor does a situation effect any change in what must be done by us as aspirants to yoga. Aversion to being “out of step” or “alienated from society” has no place in the mind and heart of the yogi.
Stage. We never “get beyond” the observance of the Great Vow. Those at the very end of the spiritual journey are as obligated to fulfil the Great Vow as those who are at the beginning. Also, we cannot “go too far” or “overdo” our observance of the Vow. It is all or nothing. “Ahimsa and the others are to be maintained all the time and in all circumstances and in regard to all objects without any conscious lapse” (Vyasa). At this point Shankara points out that the Great Vow must be observed by us in relation to all beings-not just confined to human beings. We cannot kill, injure, or rob any creature of any kind. Nor the earth itself.
Once again we see the psychological nature of the five components of the Great Vow and how their observance is based upon the courage, self-respect, and self-knowledge of the yogi.
“The main object of this relentless ethical code is to eliminate completely all mental and emotional disturbances which characterize the life of an ordinary human being. Anyone who is familiar with the working of the human mind should not find it difficult to understand that no freedom from emotional and mental disturbances is possible until the tendencies dealt with under yama-niyama have been rooted out or, at least, mastered to a sufficient degree….It is only by doing the right that we get added strength to do right in the future and also acquire the capacity to see what is right. There is no other way.” (I.K. Taimni)
Swami Nirmalananda Giri is the abbot of Atma Jyoti Ashram, a traditional Hindu monastery in the small desert town of Borrego Springs in southern California. He has written extensively on spiritual subjects, especially about
meditation.
Read more of his writings at http://www.atmajyoti.org
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