Holistic Approach to Yoga

https://www.rishikeshyogisyogshala.org/holistic-approach-to-yoga/ Holistic Approach to Yoga: An Overview Today yoga is very much in the news and there are a lot of teachers and traditions. But are they all teaching authentic yoga? Are they teaching the classical yoga, as envisaged by the seers and sages? How does one know which one is the correct yoga? Correct and classical yoga can only be taught by a tradition, whose founder is a sage who has experienced the higher dimensions of the mind and see the entire situation in a holistic way. A traditional and authentic yoga is culmination of years of intense search and practice by the founding seers. At Rishikesh Yogis Yogshala, our team of the teachers has lived for more than 10 years in an ashram environment developing the experiential aspect of yoga. A few decades ago yoga was the subject of only philosophical debates and study, very few people knew the practical side of it. It was our Paramguru Sw. Sivananda (of Rishikesh) who completely changed the approach towards yoga. He presented before the people the practical and more scientific aspects of yoga. Indian culture has always been rich in terms of philosophical ideas, but teachings of Sw. Shivananda equipped the people with certain techniques and modalities through which they could lead a life full of health, creativity and mental, emotional as well as spiritual fulfilment. Sw. Sivananda gave a very clear mandate to his disciples to propagate yoga in society. Later on his disciple Swami Satyananda established Bihar School of Yoga and systematised the entire system of yogic practices and made them easy and graduated so that any person could benefit from the practices regardless of his state of health physical, mental or otherwise. Yoga became established as a therapeutic tool, as an aid in training, as the ideal lifestyle, as a means for total education. He made the practices easily intelligible to the modern mind. At Rishikesh Yogis Yogshala, we incorporated the teachings from most authentic and traditional schools in India such as Sivananda Yoga and Bihar School of Yoga. Salient features of a Holistic Yoga Tradition   Yoga as a holistic science Yoga has been known to be the science, which addresses the issues like awakening the dormant faculties and refinement of the human mind. Any person feels that he needs to improve in certain areas, but then he finds himself helpless when he does not find an appropriate technique or a way out. There is no one science in the present education scenario, which can take care of this requirement completely. There are exercises for physical fitness, which again address limited parts of the body. And in spite of recent advances in psychology, there are no standard practices to improve the quality of the mind. Yoga is the only system, which provides a “complete” methodology for the development of total human being. Yoga as a “need based” tool In traditions like Satyananda yoga which we follow closely, has developed a series of graduated practices, called the pawanmuktasana, which makes it easy for a beginner to start the practices. A beginner on the path will not be able to do complicated postures, because his joints are stiff and his body is not flexible. Pawanmuktasanas are a boon for him. It is this system of graduated practices that makes “Satyananda Yoga” accepted so easily worldwide. It does not mean that the system caters only to beginners on the path, (and there are practices which are very advanced), but it means that an aspirant has to go step by step and cannot really take jumps. Yoga as a means for developing awareness Our approach makes one develop “awareness”; a quality of alertness, which makes a person stand apart. A person who is aware is balanced, awakened to life experiences, has clarity of mind under all situations and acts efficiently. Developing awareness through yogic practices is the hallmark of our endeavour to teach traditional and holistic yoga. Yoga for eliminating psycho-somatic overload One very important complementary practice of Bihar School of Yoga which we teach at our centre, is the practice of pratyahara or a process to withdraw the mind from the senses. The gross mind is normally totally extroverted in the waking or aroused state and is always busy in responding to the input from the senses in the form of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. In this way it gets overloaded and accumulates stress, because there is no knowledge of how to stop this process. In yoga there is a methodical process to stop this overloading so that the mind comes to a state deep rest and relaxation.  Bihar School of Yoga has founded a very simple and highly effective practice of mental relaxation called Yoga Nidra. This practice has been instrumental in helping psychosomatic problems like hypertension, diabetes, asthma etc. The modern medical science has not been effective in treating these diseases because there is no technique available to ease the mental tensions. The practice of yoga nidra is complementary to the package of practices and it makes it easier for the other practices of asana and pranayama to take root. Only when the deeper tensions are removed can the body mind absorb or assimilate other practices better. Cleansing of toxins Traditional Hatha Yoga accepts that there can be gross impurities in the physical body, which can bar one’s progress on the path of holistic and positive living. Modern life style and habit patterns are the factors disturbing the equilibrium of physical and the mental health. The accumulated toxins in the physical body can be removed through the hatha yogic process of shatkarmas or the six cleansing practices which cleanse the digestive tract, the sinuses, the frontal lobe of the brain, the inner and the outer vision, the prana vayus and doshas. Thus through the collective practices of the holistic yoga one finds the centre of existence within oneself as awareness grows and there is spontaneous flowering of “inner discipline or Anushashanam, our approach to yoga does not restrict the yogic practices to the practice room only but it believes in the principle of taking yoga into one’s life and living yoga and life with awareness and fullness. Read More...  Read Less...

Yoga Nidra: an art of yogic relaxation

https://www.rishikeshyogisyogshala.org/yoga-nidra-art-of-yogic-relaxation/ Yoga nidra is a meditation technique. It is a powerful technique of pratyahara, which can be used to bring about complete physical mental and emotional relaxation. As a technique of Pratyahara Yoga Nidra induces an experience of internalization in the practitioners. In the classical branch of Raja Yoga, there is a stage of meditation called Pratyahara which induces a state of internalization and inner relaxation. Yoga Nidra; literally translated as psychic or yogic sleep is one of the techniques of Pratyahara. The state of Yoga Nidra is very close to hypnagogic state. It helps disengage the mind from disturbing cycle of repeated thoughts and emotions and eventually provides much needed relaxation to your mind. The term yoga nidra is derived from two Sanskrit words. ‘Yoga’ meaning union or harmony and ‘nidra’, which is broadly defined as sleep or relaxation. The term can be said to mean relaxation, which creates inner harmony.  Yoga Nidra is based on ancient tantric practice, called ‘Nyasa’. The word nyasa’ means to place or take ones mind to that point. Using this techniques shakti or energy of the different parts of the body is awakened by reciting the corresponding mantra of the body parts. Yoga nidra is characterized by systematic withdrawal of awareness from the whole body to various parts first externally and then internally. When awareness is turned inwards, visualizing and meditation is developed. Yoga nidra is often refers to as psychic sleep as the individual is between the states of sleep and wakefulness. Yoga Nidra is one of the techniques of Pratyahara. Pratyahara is one of the stages of meditation when one starts to experience withdrawal of the awareness from external sensorial experiences. THE STAGES OF YOGA NIDRA  There are eight distinct stages of Yoga Nidra when taught traditionally. Preparation In the first stage of preparation pose of shavasana (corpse pose) is assumed. This pose once assumed properly then it helps you to eliminate all discomforts of the body and would help to attain maximum physical relaxation. In this state of preparation, through various techniques, your awareness is internalized, which helps you disengaging from stress inducing thoughts. As a result it immediately connects you with the experiences of the body and mind ‘here and now’. Sankalpa Once your awareness is internalized then you are asked to take a positive and simply worded resolve. Once you chose a positive resolve and repeat mentally in Yoga Nidra, it leaves a very deep impression on your sub-conscious mind. It helps giving a positive direction to your mental energies. Rotation of Awareness In the third stage of Yoga Nidra, you are guided to rotate the awareness through different parts of the body. Normally route to rotate the awareness is fixed and very systematic. In this stage, your awareness gets fully grounded in the body and systematic rotation through body would help to deeply relax not just the body parts but also your mind. Key to relaxation here is your conscious awareness with body parts which helps to establish a deeper connection with the body and hence relaxes it. Breath Awareness In the fourth stage, awareness of breath is enhanced. It helps to induce a deep physical and mental relaxation. It also provides your mind a support to remain aware and rooted in the present moment. Various techniques of breath awareness are employed in the practice to strengthen your ability to concentrate without creating tensions. Creating opposite sensations/feeling In this stage you are trained to create opposite sensations or feeling which remaining non-involved. Initially it may start with very simple opposite pair of physical sensations such as heaviness and light or heat and cold. Later it may involve more emotionally laden opposite feelings or emotions. But during the entire stage you are asked to remain an observer of the manifestations of these sensations or feelings. This stage not only releases the pent up emotions associated with the feelings but also enhances your ability to withstand them effectively in real life situations. Visualization In stage six of Yoga Nidra, there are many visualization techniques used. These techniques may range from simple and random objects visualization to healing visualization, story visualization or daily routine visualization. The stage of visualization enhances the ability of photographic memory, relaxation of the mind, healing of the body and helps improving the learning outcome. Sankalpa After visualization, the stage of Sankalpa is again repeated. This repetition helps to deepen the impressions of resolve when you are still in the state of deep relaxation. It is like irrigating the seed of Sankalpa through reaffirmation. Externalization Once you graduate through all these stages explained above, then your senses are guided properly to reorient towards external surroundings. This allows you to come out of deep relaxation without any disorientation.   Read More...  Read Less...