Yoga Nidra has been entering the main stream now for nearly a decade. Few however know what it is. Those who do associate it with deep relaxation. Indeed, a successful practice of Yoga Nidra brings a person into an unrivaled state of relaxation. No wonder Yoga Nidra translated is “yogic sleep.” Those who know more have heard that one hour of Yoga Nidra practice will refresh your body as deeply as three hours of regular sleep. I can tell you that this is true. For seven years following a severe disease I could not sleep. Instead, I practiced Yoga Nidra three times per day for an hour each time and it kept me alive and well.
Many people know Yoga Nidra as a form of guided relaxation or meditation performed while laying down. This is only partially true. Yoga Nidra is, first and foremost, a state of consciousness. The method one uses to arrive is inconsequential. The method is not the practice. There are many methods that have been used traditionally in Yoga. Some are quite difficult. Others like the use of guided relaxation are relatively easy. Yoga Nidra is a heightened state of awareness. It is a state of consciousness different from waking, sleeping or dreaming. It is a state of deep relaxation combined with acute awareness. In that state, a person can perceive the subtle flow of energy in the body and using this awareness, can remove blockages, support proper flow, and stimulate their own healing. In addition, the state of consciousness known as Yoga Nidra is a creative state. A person can consciously set into motion the forces of the universe to create a life of physical and emotional harmony. When properly practiced, Yoga Nidra is a tool for erasing negative samskaras (habits) and healing the karma that created it.
Yoga Nidra is not a means of falling asleep. If a tired person falls asleep they may be grateful and they may awaken refreshed. However, the person who falls asleep did not enter the state of Yoga Nidra. To be in the state of Yoga Nidra, one must be awake and aware!
In the Yoga Nidra module, students will be guided into the state of Yoga Nidra and then learn how to guide others into the same state. Students will study the science, art and philosophy of Yoga Nidra and be ready to teach immediately following the program.
Dr. Halpern is a pioneer in the field of Ayurveda and Yoga Nidra. The president of the California College of Ayurveda, he is the author of the CD: Yoga Nidra and Self Healing. He’s been teaching and practicing Yoga Nidra since 1987. Dr. Deerheart is a psychologist and mythologist who has been utilizing Yoga Nidra to assist clients suffering from anxiety and grief. She is the Founder of the non-profit Heartway; Embracing Life and Honoring Death. ayurvedacollege.com
How Hatha Yoga Heals: Asana practice wakes tamas, calms down rajas and nourishes sattwa
by Swami Sitaramananda
For healing of the whole being – body, mind and spirit, the energy must be flowing, and the mind calm so that True Spirit that is the intelligence governing the body and mind be revealed. When you practice asanas the classical Yoga way, you hold the postures. Asana is a steady pose. By holding the postures, you calm the rajas down and increase the sattwa; in other words, you become more content and introverted, and consequently more peaceful and happy.
Calming Rajas
You are not just moving constantly from one movement to another, looking outwardly – which is rajasic. Rajasic energy promotes outward-oriented action that perpetuates one’s state of discontent and desirousness and makes one looks outward for happiness. Rajasic practice maintains the state of restlessness, and will not bring you to the core of your being. A practice that allows you to be able to hold, internalize, breathe, relax in the posture connects you to your own True Self. You can read more about the Jnana yoga philosophy of the True Self.
Nourish Sattwa
This way of practice calms the rajas and brings in the sattwa. Sattwa is the purity, the balance, the connection, the wholeness of being, and the healthy sense of Self and Consciousness. This state of awareness also happens between the postures, when you breathe and relax. An advanced practitioner is the one that can hold the posture and relax, not the person who jumps around performing all kinds of variations. You can see how we practice Sivananda Yoga Asanas on this page.
Asana practice done correctly heals
The asanas, or postures, move the prana (vital energy). In order to move the energy properly, you need to follow the sequence of the asanas, breathe, relax and hold the postures steady. The twelve asanas in the Sivananda sequence start with focus on the head (headstand) and end with the feet, with balancing poses. You can watch a video of the 12 Yoga Poses here.
At the end of the sequence, the session ends with the 10 minutes of final relaxation and the final prayer, plus the 2-5 minutes of meditation. This flow of energy helps you to recover the divine order of things (going from head to feet, from consciousness to action, from the universal to the individual, and from heaven to earth). Final relaxation sweeps all earthly attachments from feet to head and is like the icing on the cake when you harvest all the benefits of the Yoga asana practice session. Divine consciousness pervades all of your being, healing body, mind, and spirit. Find out more about relaxation by reading the Science of Relaxation.
Move the prana and enjoy the relaxation
After the prana has been moved by the asanas, charging all cells and parts of the body, deep relaxation comes naturally. If you cannot meditate, you can at least experience deep relaxation. During that deep relaxation, when you no longer identify with the body, the mind and its action, you heal on a deep level. Therapy resides in the movement of the vital prana, but also in the stillness and awareness of relaxation. You can read more about the Yoga Techniques for Relaxation.
In the language of Ayurveda, when people are moving they are balancing the vayus, or the subtle energies, and when they are relaxing, they are balanced. You can also read this article on Yoga Relaxation Techniques for 3 types of stress.
Unblocking the prana flow in asana practice
Prana or vital energy moves in the 72,000 meridians or nadis in the astral body. Prana can be blocked because of wrong thinking, unhealthy diet, drugs, and a negative lifestyle. That means inside the nadis (or astral tubes carrying the prana), no energy or little energy can pass through. You become depressed and stuck, losing your power. To really understand prana please read on this satsang with Swami Sita on Understanding Prana Life Force Energy.
What happens to a garden hose carrying water when you pinch on the hose? Pressure builds up. Similarly, when you do the asanas and hold the posture, this is exactly what happens–pressure builds up. What happens to the pinched hose when you release the pressure? water rushes through forcefully, flushing out all impurities. In the same manner, when you release an asana, energy rushes through, removing blockages and clearing impurities.
Three things happen at the same time: the holding of the posture, the focused breathing, and the relaxation in the holding.
To help unblock energy, you need to have these three phases in the performance of the postures:
The entering into the posture, the holding of the posture, and the coming out of the posture. You do not jump into the posture, you do not fight in the posture, and you do not drop down.
In holding the posture, you focus the mind, let yourself relax, and breathe gently.
What happens when you come out of the posture? the pressure is released and the energy flows. When the energy flows, you become less stuck in your own ego drama that is the cause of emotional reactions and diseases.
Then you go to another posture and repeat the same process: pressure, build up, then release, until you move through the series of asanas. That is how energy moves from the top to the bottom, releasing blockages.
By the time you move to the standing and balancing asanas, your mind becomes clear and focused, your energy becomes internalized, and you are ready to function in the world while keeping your energy balanced and contained.
How does conscious breathing and conscious relaxation heal?
There are three kinds of breathing.
inhaling breath
exhaling breath
holding breath
These three are involved in the performance of the postures. The breath varies dynamically, depending on what you do. The normal abdominal breath takes place in between postures, the breath that occurs when you are coming into and out of the posture, and the very, very subtle breath when you are holding the posture or when you retain during the alternate nostril breath or when you meditate in a posture.
However, even simple abdominal breath, or belly breath, diaphragmatic breath, yogic breath heal. Why? because the oxygen intake is doubled. This alone gives the yoga practitioner much more prana and removes stress. You can read here 27 Yoga Tips to Reduce Stress.
Breathing can be Therapeutic
For a beginner, the first thing is to breathe consciously three times a day. You can lie down for 20 minutes and that is all you do: breathe with awareness.
You can lie on your back, place a few books on the abdomen, and breathe so that the books move slowly and rhythmically, rising with the inhale and falling with the exhale.
In the breathing is the relaxation. You begin to relax, and the tension is released, recharging you with prana. This alone will bring a person back to him/herself, calm down the mind, and renew the connection with the true Self that is pure healing. To learn more about increasing prana you can read this article on Increasing Prana through the 5 Elements.
Balancing effect of Hatha Yoga
Pranayama is an essential part of Hatha Yoga. In most situations where people become imbalanced and experience psychic, mental, or emotional problems, tension in the body and stress, they are only breathing through one nostril. At that time, just by doing the Alternate Nostril breathing (Anuloma Viloma), by bringing the breath into both nostrils in a balance manner, already their situation will improve 100%. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated.
The ideal way in Hatha Yoga is to equalize the breath in both nostrils, so that the breath flows through both sides of the nostrils at the same time. The Ha (solar) energy and the Tha (lunar) energy, the hot and the cold, the yin and the yang, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are in balance. Active and passive energy are in balance. The mind and the emotions are in balance.
Why do we need to do sun salutations in the beginning?
Sun Salutations break the tamas, besides warming up all the muscles of the body and preparing you to turn inwards. The active movement of the body wakes up the tamas, or the force of inertia. After sun salutations, you will be successful in slowing down and relaxing, calming down the energy of rajas. When you are rajasic, the eyes are constantly moving around and the breathing is erratic.
When a person is calm, he or she breathes normally, the eyes are steady and the person can close the eyes, going through the sequence of postures. In the final relaxation, the person can move through the stages of the final relaxation, entering into a deep state of relaxation–a sattvic state.
Spiritual intention helps the practitioner to heal
A Yoga session must have the spiritual wrapping at the beginning and at the end, –i.e. a time to dedicate the practice, a moment of silence, prayers to channel all thoughts and surrender the results of the practice, and a thankful moment for the peace and relaxation received. During the practice, peace comes to the physical, the mental and the spiritual bodies. This leads to a deep Self-Awareness. Learn more by reading about Self Awareness and Intuition.
In deep relaxation, the practitioner rests in their core center, the causal body, and releases negative karmas carried in the subconscious. One gets in touch with one’s own Self and develops the right perspective about life, becoming deeply contented no matter what is happening externally. This is tremendous healing. To learn more read about the Deeper Path of Yoga Healing.
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The first thing we teach you when you come to yoga is that you are not the body. That’s the first thing. It is not the last thing. It is the first thing. We teach you that you need to take care of the body but you are not the body. That is the principle underlying in the asanas, because you cannot really do the asanas if you are not mastering the body, if you are not able to tell the body to do what you need it to do. When you do the asanas you have to be able to tell the body “I want you to hold this for three seconds”, “I want you to move to the right”, “I want you to switch to the left”, “I want you to put your back this way or that way”.
You are not the body
So first you start to give orders to the body. Then the body screams and says oh no more, “I want to do this instead”. What do you say to the body at that time? You say, breath, relax. I understand that you have some pain, but still just hold it, breath and relax. It is good for you, because you straighten yourself out. So you go through the different movements, the 12 basic postures. Somebody has to tell you what to do. It is a strange thing, to re-learn that your body is not you and you are the master of the body, somebody has to tell you what to do, and yet you are using the body all the time. You start to rediscover your body with yoga.
Questions and Answers
Why is it that you are using your body all the time, every single day, and you have to come to yoga class and somebody will tell you turn right, turn left, and you rediscover your body? What is different in it? Can somebody tell me?
You use your body all day long for 30 years, and your mom tells you to come to yoga, and you come to yoga, and then somebody tells you turn left, turn right, leg up, leg down, and something is different about it. Why?
Student: You are making connection, being conscious of the movements. Swami Sita: You become conscious of your Self, and you bring back the mastery of your body. The simple movements, right, left, do this, do that. The body listens to you. You become the controller, you get back into the driver’s seat, you become the driver, and you are the one that becomes conscious of yourself. Isn’t it beautiful? Just a simple thing.
Question: So you can use your body all day long and yet you are not conscious, you lose yourself. What is the body for?
Student: Movement. Swami Sita: Movement? Movement to do what? To do anything in this life? You just move everywhere and do anything? The body is like a car. Like you drive a car, fine and good. The car is used to go anywhere that you like. If it is in good condition it can go anywhere that you like, but can the car go anywhere and do anything? Student: No.
Swami Sita: No, you don’t do that. You don’t get in the car and go anywhere unless you are completely losing your mind and are very bored and completely don’t know what to do with your life. Do you get in your car and go from one parking lot to another parking lot, go to the highway, and you go here, you go there, you have not idea? Yes or no?
Question: Usually you get in the car to?
Student: To go somewhere. Swami Sita: To go somewhere, is it not? Because you have the intention to go somewhere to do something. So the body is not just to do movements and to do anything, it is only a vehicle.
The body is your vehicle
So the first think you learn you are not the body, the body is only your vehicle. When I say the word ‘body’ you need to understand ‘vehicle’. That is your first lesson in yoga. The moment we say the word body you equate it vehicle. Do you understand? All the words that you always related to your body, tall, fat, beautiful, blonde, etc. you have to drop them. All those things that you relate to the body drop them and replace them with the word vehicle. “The body is my vehicle.”
You are the driver of the vehicle
Now the second thing, the body is a vehicle and the vehicle comes with what? It is a body that you drive, the red Mustang, beautiful shiny, comes just with the body? It comes with? (Student says with an engine). The body comes with an engine. The engine of the body is the mind. In general we say it is the astral body, but for the inner instrument we use the word ‘the mind’. The body comes with the mind.
So lets say that you drive the body as your vehicle. So the vehicle is made out of two components. The external thing called the body, physical, and the internal thing called the mind. So when you sit in the drivers seat in that body and mind vehicle to go somewhere, because you are not going to sit in the car, which is a vehicle, to sleep, sometimes you do, but it is not really the meaning of it. It is not the use of it. It is not the purpose of it. The purpose of the car is not to sleep in. It is to bring you somewhere.
The mind is also a vehicle
So the body comes with the mind, the body and mind vehicle. The mind is also a vehicle. Mind is engine and vehicle. Do you understand what it means by mind is a vehicle? (Swamiji asks one of the students what it means) (He says, it means that the mind drives the body to do what you want to do) And the mind is a vehicle for?
When you say it is a vehicle it means a tool, an instrument. So when we say that the mind is a vehicle it is implying that the mind is . . . ? . Are you your car? Are you worth ten thousand dollars? So, you say no, this is my car it is not? So, when we say that the mind is a vehicle we are saying that the mind is not?
So the mind is not me, I am using the vehicle. The mind is not me, the body is not me. The body and the mind are vehicles, and I am using the vehicles. So everything is in order. You are using the vehicle; the vehicle is not using you. Even though you drive the car all the time, but the car is not driving you. You drive the vehicle. Who is the boss here?
You are the conscious boss of body and mind
You are the boss of the vehicle, of the body and the mind. And you can be remembering this all the time. Otherwise what will happen to the body and the mind, the vehicles? (Student says we will act without thinking). That’s is correct. And in the case of the car what would happen to it, if the driver were sleepy and unconscious? (Student says it crashes in the lake). It crashes in the lake, thank you. So it is very important. Yoga teaches you the first lesson that you need to be conscious, otherwise your body and your mind will crash in the lake. You need to be conscious.
And what makes us become unconscious? What does it mean being unconscious? (Student says, taking action without thinking about it). So what kind of action you can take without thinking about? (Students say walking, work, speaking, jobs, driving). Everything all day long you are driving the vehicle and you can be completely on automatic pilot. You are unconscious about it. Lets say you put the car in cruise control. You are on the highway. On the highway you know all the conditions, you know the speed, you are on the right lane, you know you are on the right highway, and you know that you want to take a short break, and you put the car in cruise control, but you cannot fall sleep, right? You still consciously put the car in cruise control, and the moment that you push the bottom and get out of the cruise control you have to take control of the car, otherwise you will get killed. So even that you have set the cruise control you are still the master of the car. So from time to time you use this body and mind in automatic pilot.
There are certain things you don’t have to be completely all the time aware. Like you don’t need to be aware to walk from here to there without falling. Your mind has already learned all of these, so it is on automatic pilot. The functions you go trough during the day, but you are still the master, and you can take that back at will anytime. What do you do during the yoga class? (Student says take control). You completely take control.
During the yoga class even simple movements you are completely in control, because you are re-learning to . . . ? (Student says, to be conscious), to be conscious of your self and you are really re-learning that you are not the body and the mind, because sometimes you forget, you lose the automatic button, you fall sleep, you lose the mastership of it and the car is about to go into the lake, then you go to the yoga farm and you do yoga, so you can become connected and conscious again of the Self. That means of who am I, of the “I Am”.
Yoga practices are things that we do in order for us to change consciousness, to switch consciousness from the consciousness of being in automatic pilot, which means be unconscious doing things without knowing. Driving the car but not direction. The car is driving you because you lose the control you forgot yourself. Yoga practices are things that we do repeatedly that has been giving to us by the ancients in order for us to practice, in order for us to change consciousness and to recover or to remember our true Self, to remember our Self.
The purpose of yoga is to recover, to remember your Self, your beautiful Self, your happy Self and your fulfilled Self, and to recognize when you are not, and to be able to do those things in order to switch when you are not into who you are. And when you do that practice again and again and again for a long time, very long time, what happens? Then you don’t make mistakes again.
~ Om Tat Sat ~
by Swami Sitaramananda Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm Grass Valley, CA 7.20.2010
In our last article, we spoke about ways to increase our Prana (vital life force). Today, we will talk about conversing our prana. Prana is present in every mental and physical event. It flows from spirit, or pure consciousness, to bring intelligence and awareness to every aspect of our life.
Beyond relatively well-known terms such as ‘Prana’, ‘Chi’ and ‘spirit’, our life-force ‘bio-energy’ has been known by a multitude of names around the world – the Tibetans call it “rLung”, the Hebrews resonate with it as “Ruach Ha Kodesh” or Breath of God, in Islam it is “Ruh”, in Greek it is “Pneuma” or vital breath, in Latin it is “Spiritus Sanctus” or Holy Spirit. While the names may be many, what is universally agreed on is that the more Prana you have, the more vital the mental and bodily processes will be.
Prana is Everywhere
Even though prana is everywhere just like water is everywhere around a fish, that does not mean it is easy for us to recognize it, use it properly and conserve it. We have to put in a conscious effort to store this vital life-giving energy that is around and within us. In Yogic and Vedic culture, the body, mind and the life force we receive is perceived as a product of consciousness and a divine gift to take care of preciously. Conserving prana is considered extremely important. A healthy life, as measured by the conservation of Prana, demands the following: fresh food, pure water and air, sunlight, moderate exercise, balanced, refined breath, non-violent behavior and a reverence for life, loving, positive emotions; and regulation of emotion.
Physically, we can travel less, live around nature and eat fresh natural foods. Eating packaged, canned, processed and frozen foods deplete our prana. Eating non-vegetarian foods, microwaved foods or foods that are over a day old not only give no prana, but take more prana to digest. Drinking soda, coffee and alcohol give a chemical high, but no prana. Swimming in chlorinated pools, too much sensual and sexual activity all deplete our prana. Always being indoors with artificial light, watching TV and computer screens also add to having less prana. Computer games stimulate, but give no prana.
Breathing polluted air, noise pollution, smoking, too much talking all deplete our prana. We should avoid places that have no prana – Hospitals (depressed thoughts), train stations (stressful, incoherent thoughts), bars and clubs (hopelessness, promiscuous thoughts), and casinos (greedy thoughts).
How not to lose prana
Mentally, we need to silence the mind and practice positive thinking. Negative emotions such as resentment, frustration, fear, anxiety, worry drain prana. Emotional outbursts waste a lot of our pranic resources. We need to channel our emotions into devotion. Having faith in a concept bigger than us also helps converse our prana. This implies believing in a higher power like our Higher Self, God, or Universal Consciousness that is the ultimate power in control, not us. Surrendering to the higher power and accepting life and its twists and turns goes a long way in conserving our Prana and increasing our life span.
Not knowing how to expend prana wisely is like making a lot of money, yet always being in debt. So conserving prana by right living and right thinking, and storing prana for rainy days is wise. The adage: “Don’t sweat the small stuff” refers to this capacity to forgive, forget and detach that ultimately works towards conserving our prana.
Many of us are leading chaotic stressful lives that do not support our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. We do not eat well, exercise correctly, maintain a positive state of mind, or take the time to get the rest and relaxation we need. It is critical that we pause for a moment in our busy lives and understand how we need to heal ourselves from the inside out.
Using ancient yoga practices, we can incorporate simple and easy-to-do activities and routines in our daily life that increase our prana, that reinvigorate our energy and achieve greater vitality, health and tranquility – amid the hustle of the modern day demands.
What is Prana?
Prana (प्राण, prāṇa) is the Sanskrit word for “life force” or vital principle. Prana is the force behind life itself. It is everywhere. It is that which gives life. In Yoga philosophy, the term refers collectively to all cosmic energies, permeating the Universe on all levels. It is the sum total of all energy that is manifest. When prana departs from the physical body, there is no life. It is abundant and all pervading. It is energy and where there is energy, there is life.
In living beings, the universal principle of energy or force of prana, is considered responsible for the body’s life, heat, health and maintenance. One may question, if prana is abundant, then why do we lack it? If we do not know how to get prana, to spend it wisely (i.e. we waste it), we will not know how to recharge ourselves.
How to increase Prana?
Prana comes through the five elements of nature, which are Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
We can increase prana through the Earth element by living in nature (for example, camping), walking on earth barefoot, touching the earth (gardening), hugging trees, looking at mountains, eating fresh picked fruits and vegetables, living in natural houses; and above all respecting nature.
By drinking clean pure water that is free of chemicals and toxins, we increase our prana through the Water element. Swimming in oceans, rivers, streams also increases prana.
Spending some time daily outdoors in the sunshine, or even opening windows and doors to let the sunshine in increases prana through the Fire element. It is also important to drink warm water and eat warm food; and cook food in flame stoves if possible.
The main source of prana is through breathing (the Air element). Having a consistent pranayama (breathing exercises) practice, inhaling pure fresh air, living in fresh air, airing out rooms, and staying away from polluted environments are some ways we can increase prana.
The Ether element is associated with thoughts. We are all living in an ocean of thoughts. Chanting mantras, being in a positive atmosphere (for example, places of worship) and keeping good company (satsanga) increases prana and helps us connect to a higher vibration of thinking.
Make the right the choices
A healthy yogi always knows or has a pulse on his/her level of prana and chooses a lifestyle that is balanced and wholesome. We need to make wise choices in our daily activities that will make our lives more vibrant and alive. Sometimes, a little shift such as this goes a long way in reshaping our lives, giving us endless abundant energy, and allowing us to regain the quality of life that we were meant to live.
To learn more about Prana and Pranayama, visit the Ashram for a Beginners Course!
The third point of yoga life is Proper Relaxation.
The first is proper exercise how to move the body so you can move your energy to bring yourself to balance. The second point is proper breathing being aware of your breath.
There is what is called the savasana posture or the corpse pose, the relaxation pose. If you live in a city then you are probably very tense then you have to do this posture three times a day for about ten to fifteen minutes at a time. You need to allow the force of gravity to work for you during this posture. Allow the floor to support you. At that time you are not spending any amount of energy as opposed when you are sitting or in any other posture there is always a certain amount of energy in use. Negative thoughts are located in your physical body and that is why your body has tension.
Relax the tension accumulated in your body
So in order to release this energy out you need to do what we call progressive relaxation. First tense the whole body one limb at time and then relax it. Do the same with the rest of the body. So you can see that the muscles in order to feel the relaxation they need to feel the tension and then let go into the relaxation.
Relax your mind
Your mind is still there occupied. You need to tell your mind to focus in each and every portion of the body and you name it in your mind. For example, feet relax. Go through the whole body so the power of your mind focus and gives the order to your body to relax. You also include your internal organs. Need to visualize the internal organs and need to know where the organs are in the body. After you have done all that then you feel light like floating. Basically you are feeling the astral body that is why you feel light and the energy is flowing at that time. Then you can go into a very deep state of relaxation that recharges you with new energy.
Lose the identification with body and mind
We are constantly identifying with the body and the mind so when you are relaxing like this progressively you are detaching or withdrawing your identification with the body. For example if a person cannot close the eyes for relaxation it means they are holding on to their interpretation of reality. They are afraid to let go. When you are going in and out of the relaxation you are training yourself that you are not the body. You can use it but it is not you. That is a very important philosophical point to understand that you are not the body.
How often to practice savasana
Practice savasana three or four times a day if you are very tense or at least when you do your asana practice. Also during the day practice good posture, when you have good posture your body is more relaxed and your energy flows better and you are more centered. When you sit in a wrong chair you spend a lot of energy because the body compensates for the bad posture.
How do the muscles get tense
The muscles are like soldiers in attention. They are always ready to obey. So what happens when you are driving for example so many things your body is doing. All through the day your muscles are continuously working so your body naturally becomes tense.
So when you do the savasana posture you basically give your body an order like the general to the soldiers, at ease!. I am giving you permission to relax and don’t’ do anything but relax.
Allow the body to recuperate
You have to give permission to your body to relax otherwise it won’t.
Holding a posture takes energy even lifting your little finger. If you are tired you cannot hold a posture. So be appreciative of your body and that the body is doing a lot of work and give to it the time for recuperation.
Give yourself a massage to help the energy flow
Doing asanas going through the different postures is like a massage to your body. You pressure and you relax and breathe that is a self-massage. It helps the energy flow.
Three kinds of relaxation
There are three kinds of relaxation, physical, mental, and spiritual. We are tridimensional beings. We function at the same time in many different levels. We function at the same time on the physical level, energetic level (astral level, mental level) and then the spiritual level. So in order for you to be completely relaxed you have to able to relax in all three levels.
Physical relaxation
Physical relaxation is achieved when you are practicing savasana posture and having good, balance posture during the day. As explained before
What causes mental stress
Mental stress is caused by negative thoughts like worry, anxiety. When you feel like you don’t have enough prana or energy to break through a problem or cope with a situation then you get mental stress. Also you carry the residues of emotional tension from the past, like situations that happened a long time ago but you never really released it because you never understood it and you carry it with you and then it is added on the situation of today and you don’t have enough prana to face the present situation because all the worries of the past have used up the prana and all that added up creates the stress.
The stress is also defined as the incapacity of adapting to a situation. If you have a certain expectation for it to happen a certain way and then it happens differently and you are not able to cope, adapt or understand and that usually creates stress.
Fight or flight response
The stress produces what is called as fight or flight. Life is very fast and very complex and that is why stress builds up everyday. The mind has a lot of thinking thoughts and just that fact of thinking about so many things produces stress. For example thinking about things that happened in the past that you cannot do anything about or things that might happen in the future and you cannot do anything about.
How to attain mental relaxation
The idea is that mental relaxation seems to be paradoxical in order for you to relax mentally you need to focus. That is the paradox. People think that they need to relax like going on vacation and not to think of anything and actually they get very tired because the mind is unfocused.
The mind needs to focus. The thoughts in the mind need to be channeled and the mind needs to hold to a thought in order for it to calm down. Do not hold to negative thoughts. Do consciously mental relaxation by holding to a thought that is positive then at that time your mind is focused and the energy is channeled, the thoughts in the mind are reduced and it helps you to calm down and you become more relaxed mentally.
So for example while doing the savasana posture you are focusing in every portion of the body completely aware and after you become focused you become completely relaxed.
Emotional stress
The subtle body has many layers, the energy layer, the mind, sensual and emotional layer and the last layer: the intellect and the ego. You need to be able to relax all these portions. We know already that mental relaxation comes from concentration. The mind is linked to the senses. So to relax you need to focus the mind and calm down the senses input. If you are going to use music to relax it needs to be very calm music. Relaxation in silence is the best.
Emotional stress is when you have negative emotions like hatred, anger, jealousy, fear, anxiety, envy, and desire. To achieve emotional relaxation you focus on a neutral and uplifting object with positive feeling like love, compassion, generosity, and forgiveness. All these are positive feelings. To achieve mental emotional relaxation, keep the mind focused, introverted, on an object, ideally an internal object that is neutral… meaning an object that does not create a reaction in your mind, an uplifting inner object. For example, a light, a mantra, the breath. The breath is the most important thing to remember. Remember your breath and your life will change. We say the name of God has the power to do so. God is a supreme being that has the power to withdraw you and uplift you and save you if you can relate to it. The name of God is called a mantra. This is a sacred sound formula with a pure vibration that has the capacity to clean your mind out and take all your problems and worries away. If that is not your tradition or you haven’t been introduced to a mantra you can use your breath. Listen to the OM of your breath.
Intellectual stress
Intellectual stress means you try to think about something to take a decision and yet you cannot. At that time you become stressed. Yoga philosophy would teach you how to think, how to inquire and how to discriminate and how to detach. Learning how to detach will help you to relieve your self from the stress. Detach is don’t identify, don’t buy into it and don’t engage in something that is illusory and remain who you are.
Spiritual relaxation
Spiritual stress is not knowing who you are and often time we think that the reason we are stressed is because somebody is doing it to us or because we don’t have a job or enough money, etc. But in reality what is stressing us is the fundamental existence question about life. It means that we have inside of us all the time certain questions that we never receive answers. We are not aware that these questions are there. For example, who am I? Why am I here? What is this all about? What is the purpose of my life? What happens after I die? Who is God? What is my relationship with God? Why this happened to me? Why is there violence? Why is there war? Why is there cruelty? A lot of those questions are un-answered. Usually we wait until we are in crisis to try to find an answer.
We need to try to find the answers. The more that you find the answers the more relax you will be. Fundamentally it will be easier to relax spiritually, mentally and physical.
Spiritual relaxation comes from knowing who we are. Knowing our purpose. See the will of God in all things. Surrender to God, feel that you are part of the whole big picture, cooperate with it instead of resisting it. Having the right understanding about life and our relationship with the Divine and be able to rely on it and be supportive would help us to deal with existential questions.
Summary
So remember three levels of stress and three levels of relaxation and try to achieve the three levels of relaxation together. The best way is to focus on a mantra that you love with your breath. If you cannot, try to have something that you love and you focus on it like for example a piece of music or a picture of the sunrise. So when your mind is stressed out you remember that.
In yoga life the way it works is we alternate activities in order to be able to relax in between. Swami Sivananda said a vacation is a change of work. It means you need to keep your mind busy and don’t let it do whatever it likes.
The best thing to relax is to have something that is independent from somebody else something that you can invoke anytime. If you depend on your cat, for example, the cat is not all the time there.
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