Stress is a subjective feeling, when you feel that your survival is being threatened. You cannot avoid stress. Yoga teaches us how to increase prana so we can respond to stress properly, in a better manner.
Stress Resilience
Stress resilience is our capacity to be strong, to be able to deal with daily life-stress. Some people say, “Oh, you know I am so stressed, I won’t do anything.” They stay home. Do you think the stress will disappear? No, you cannot avoid the stress, so you do need to understand it properly in order to deal with it.
Stress arises when you don’t have the Prana (life force) to resolve questions or problems encountered in daily life. Prana can be increased by following a proper lifestyle (the 5 Points of Yoga). Decreasing the expenditure or wastage of Prana is also important, through healthy choices and proper lifestyle.
Prana
The question of Prana is very important if we want to understand stress. Because if you have high Prana then you can deal with anything. Any challenge that comes, you know you have the energy to deal with it.
But if you don’t have energy, you already function out of energy debt, called Pranic debt. That means you spend more energy than you make, and you don’t know how to recharge. Then a situation arises and you feel overwhelmed. You burn out.
When prana is low you develop a stress response that is inappropriate to the challenge. The best way to prevent stress is to always store up the Prana.
We should not spend everything that we get. We need to keep some Prana in storage and that we always need to rest and rejuvenate every day. Pranic debt (low energy) is the first cause of stress.
So, you need to learn how to recharge yourself by practice of the 5 Points of Yoga. Do the asanas to make the Prana flow. Learn how to breathe properly, so whenever you are feeling stress, the important thing is to stop for a moment and breathe.
Proper Breathing
We breathe all the time, but we forget to breathe properly. So, when you are stressed exhale, long exhalation. The long exhale switches your nervous system to the parasympathetic response, the relaxation response. You inhale, but you exhale long and deep.
If you are stressed and you feel the negative thoughts come up, then you might sit down, don’t run. Sit down, turn inward and practice deep breathing.
Relaxation and Diet
Proper relaxation allows us to recharge the Prana, to let go and detach from body and mind. Physical tension is released from the muscles and the Prana flows more easily.
Proper diet, eating fresh and easily digestible foods, increases Prana. Avoid foods that are difficult to digest, rich or heavy foods, that would decrease one’s Prana.
Eating a healthy diet full of whole grains, vegetables and protein is an important way to increase prana.
Conclusion
Finally, meditation and positive thinking help us to focus the mind and to channel the Prana. Connecting to our higher Self, we are less likely to stress the details. We are able to maintain a broader vision of our Self, channeling our Prana with inspiration and creativity to express our life’s purpose.
It is very easy to overcome depression. It is not at all as difficult as one imagines. Mind has the mysterious power of magnifying a problem and making it appear formidable. Do not listen to the promptings of the mind. Reject them ruthlessly and throw them out.
Here are some practical hints that will enable you to triumph over this malady once and for all:
1. First try to analyse yourself thoroughly and find out the cause of the problem. Do not be hasty. Sit calmly and think over the matter. Spend some days over it if necessary. Put your thoughts down on paper and reflect over them. If necessary, get the assistance of someone whom you love and trust and who will be sympathetic to your feelings. Pray to God within to lead you to the right person.
Seeking support from friends, family or someone you trust can be the first step towards overcoming depression.
2. Do not listen to promptings from within that your problems cannot be solved and overcome. The Guru or the Divine within you, and the loved ones around you, can effectively solve or dissolve all your problems.
3. Know that for every problem that confronts you-however difficult and complicated it may seem to be-there is the requisite guidance, strength and wisdom readily available to you from the Divine dwelling in the chambers of your heart. God is nearer to you than your life-breath. Turn to the Lord with a childlike faith and experience the miraculous results.
4. The easiest way to tap the divine power within is to repeat God’s holy Name. Select any Divine Name from the scriptures and repeat it constantly, without a break. In this one method of spiritual practice all the holy scriptures of the world are unanimous. The power latent in the Divine Name is like the power latent in the seed. Just as the seed needs soil and water to enable it to germinate, so also the Divine Name needs to be constantly repeated to make its power manifest.
The Divine Name is the one sovereign, infallible remedy to get rid of depression once and for all. Take any Mantra, like Sri Ram, Om Namasivaya, Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namo Bhagavade Vasudevaya, Om Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram, the Mahamantra: Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishnna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, and repeat it throughout the day and also just before you go off to sleep and the first thing when you wake up in the morning. It will protect you from all dangers and calamities.
5. Keep the body fit by doing regular physical exercises, and by participating in healthful activities. A hike in the countryside will be refreshing and invigorating both mentally and physically.
6. A pure, nourishing diet is very important for the health of both the body and the mind. Take more of fresh fruit and vegetables. Take health tonics. They are available from the health stores. Vitamin tablets from natural products will be found highly beneficial.
7. The nervous system must be strengthened by means of exercise, relaxation, pure food and regular prayer. A useful nerve and brain tonic may be prepared as follows: Soak 8 dates, a similar quantity of almonds and 4 cardamoms in a bowl overnight. In the morning remove the skin from the almonds. Reduce the ingredients to a paste, add honey and butter and take with warm milk. This delicious tonic rejuvenates the nervous system quickly. A teaspoonful of Amla powder mixed with a glass of warm water and taken twice a day will help tremendously in strengthening the nervous and physical system. Amla is one of the most important ingredients in the well-known Chyvanaprash tonic.
A healthy, balanced diet is important for not only physical health but also mental health.
8. Attend regular prayer services in a temple or Ashram. The holy vibrations will give you added mental and spiritual strength to cope with your problems.
9. Study the scriptures daily. This will give you discrimination, which will give dynamic strength to the mind. It will be your most effective weapon to deal with the promptings of the mind.
10. Check undesirable habits. Overcome them by developing virtuous qualities. Lead a life of purity and righteousness. Such a life will free you from all worry, fear and depression.
Replace negative habits such as overindulging the senses with positive habits such as meditation and spending time in nature.
11. The constant repetition of some beneficial formulae will strengthen the mind considerably. Such repetition is called auto-suggestion. Here are some proven formulae for this purpose. Repeat them as many times as possible during the course of the day, and when you are just about to fall asleep at night:
(a) I am Thine. All is Thine. Thy Will be done, O Lord.
(b) Let go and let God.
(c) What cannot be cured must be endured.
(d) Whatever has happened has happened for the best; whatever is happening now is happening for the best; whatever is to happen in the future will happen for the best.
(e) Through the Grace of God, I am getting better and better every day in every way.
(f) Even this will pass away.
12. Serve the sick and the needy through a service-oriented institution. If you take up some useful activity for the good of others, you will have no time to think about yourself. Losing oneself in selfless service is one of the most dynamic methods of overcoming depression. If you give cheer, joy and happiness to others, you yourself will receive cheer, joy and happiness in return.
13. Do not try to evade or run away from your problems, difficulties and trials. Face them bravely through calm reflection and discrimination, knowing that the Divine within is ever your guide, protector and savior. Know also that everything in this world that you now hold so dear is not lasting and will soon disintegrate and pass away. You are only a passing pilgrim on this earth plane. If you constantly reflect and discriminate thus, then all such emotions and feelings that have such a tenacious hold on your mind will be loosened, and an inexpressible freedom, lightness and joy will fill your heart.
14. Be content. Adopt a lifestyle of “simple living and high thinking”. A great deal of unhappiness today may be traced to unfulfilled desires. There is no end to desire. Each desire breeds a host of new ones. Modern man longs to own TV sets, video recorders, dishwashers, expensive cars, swimming pools and other items of luxury. Reduce your desires and lead a life of contentment and simplicity.
15. A constant attitude of gratitude to God for having provided you with your physical and material needs, will give you an abiding sense of contentment and peace, and free you from depression, cares and worries.
16. Select any suitable method, or a combination of methods, and put them into immediate practice. You will succeed without difficulty, Nil desperandum. Never despair. There is a magazine of enormous power within you. Tap that power diligently and come out victorious. Then share your knowledge with others.
17. Strictly avoid viewing scenes of violence, sex and murder on TV. Avoid places of gambling and liquor, evil company, and literature that deals with violence, sex and crime.
18. Performance of daily Agni-Hotra and recital of the all-powerful Sri Hanuman Chalisa are very effective remedies to overcome depression and suicidal tendencies.
Blessings in Disguise
Adversities, trials, difficulties, calamities, diseases, afflictions, pains and sufferings are all blessings in disguise. They strengthen the will and increase the power of endurance. They turn the mind more and more towards God. They instil in us discrimination and dispassion. They draw out all our latent faculties. They force us to perform even beyond our ability. They develop all talents and capacities lying dormant within us.
It is easy to bask in the sunshine of prosperity. The crucial test is your reaction under adversity and hardship. God wants us to enjoy eternal bliss and peace. For this purpose the body and mind have to be thoroughly purified and strengthened, so that they may be able to bear the pressure of His matchless bliss and peace. This process of purification and strengthening cannot be effected without one confronting adverse conditions and circumstances.
Furthermore, nature’s law of cause and effect operates with relentless precision. The wise and discriminative person will allow the effects of this past actions to bear fruit by meeting all the conditions of life with patience, good cheer, calmness and faith in God.
Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927-1993) was an accomplished yogi from India sent by his guru (Swami Sivananda — a modern day Himalayan saint and author of over 300 books) to North America in 1957 to spread the methods and teachings of Yoga.
Swami Sivananda in black coat, left and Swami Vishnudevananda in Scorpion pose, right.
After his arrival in San Francisco, he traveled to the East Coast and Canada where he laid the foundation for Classical Yoga teachings with the international Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center (SYVC).
Since his arrival to the West, the SYVC organization now comprises of eight ashrams, over twenty centers and has trained over 47,000 Yoga teachers.
These teachings have spread throughout the Americas, Europe and India and the organization has become “One of the world’s largest schools of Yoga.” (Time Magazine, April 23, 2001.)
Sivananda Yoga is now taught worldwide in places such as Japan, Vietnam, Austria, Colombia, Bahamas, Italy and more.
The Birth of the Yoga Farm
In 1971, Swami Vishnu-devananda returned to California and founded the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm on 40 acres of land located in the Gold Country of the beautiful Sierra Nevada Foothills.
He chose the land not far from San Francisco and Sacramento. on the highways to the Sierra Mountains, Lake Tahoe and Reno Nevada as a retreat place for an alternative way of relaxation and of recharging ourselves in our modern stressful life.
The top of Siva Hill at the Yoga Farm is a beautiful place for silent contemplation and connection with nature.
The picturesque landscape and tranquility draws people from all walks of life. The ashram has purchased throughout the years an additional 40 acres of private land adjacent to the original 40 acres and has become a real refuge not only of worn-out city dwellers but also to native species.
26 kinds of birds, 7 kinds of mammals, especially mule deers , lots of frogs and 12 kinds of “special status wild life species”, and hundreds of different species of plants call the Yoga Farm property their home (as per biological research report Jan. 2004).
A black-tailed deer grazes in front of one of the cabins.A bullfrog wades in the water of the pond at the Yoga Farm.
The “Yoga Farm” as Swami Vishnu-devananda nicknamed it, remained his favorite place for personal retreat and is where he wrote the significant book, Meditation and Mantra’.
Swami Vishnu’s Legacy Continues
For almost 20 years the ashram has remained in its original state, a farm house and pond surrounded by rolling hills, majestic oaks and saturated with the songs of wildlife.
Yoga has now entered the mainstream being taught in schools, work places and its benefits are more widely known. Time Magazine quotes that there are 15 millions of Americans (Time Magazine, April 2001.) practicing Yoga.
Their cover stories on Yoga, meditation and healthy diet brought out public awareness of time tested alternatives to health and peace of mind. (Tune Magazine, January and Aug. 4, 2003).
Yogis meditate on a log underneath the majestic oak trees.
Classical yoga recognizes the total person as a body-mind-spirit system and is presented in a simple fire points system as taught by Swami Vishnu-devananda and the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers since 1959: Proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, positive thinking and meditation.
Adapting these points into daily life will help one discover their full potential physically, mentally and spiritually. Yoga practitioners become more and more aware of the deeper and subtler aspects of classical yogic teachings, and seek a retreat where they can practice and further educate themselves.
The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm responds to this need by keeping a pure atmosphere where people can come and find their Divine Self. It is a spiritual, non-sectarian, non-profit organization completely run by dedicated Yoga teachers who continue to teach selflessly — as their predecessors yogis have done in the past – this original, integral system of a complete Yogic lifestyle on a daily basis.
Yoga Farm guests and staff enjoy an organic vegetarian meal outside.
Keeping Up with the Modern Demand for Yoga
The ashram has been continually renovated over the past 25 years to better accommodate the demand for Yoga, meditation and immersion in Nature. The accommodations – cabins on the hills – are simple and comfortable, keeping to the spirit of “simple living, high thinking”.
The vegetarian meals are fantastic. The Yoga classes are for beginners and advanced, offered indoors and outdoors depending on the weather. The daily chants and satsangs inspire and soothe the soul. Many courses, workshops and intensives with celebrated teachers are offered year around.
After over 40 years of service, the Yoga Farm needs your help. The permit for maximum population capacity on the land needs an upgrade to allow the Ashram to grow into a facility that meets the pressing needs of our time.
If you have not done so already, please tap the button below and sign the petition to support the Yoga Farm’s expansion so that more people can be served through the mission of peace, Yoga and Self-realization.
Over 640 petitions have already been signed and we envision 3000 supporting voices by the end of 2019. We believe at least 3000 signed petitions will show enough support for a significant occupancy upgrade for 25 more years to come.
Thank you.
-Swami Sitaramananda
Swami Sitaramananda
Swami Sitaramananda is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and acharya of the US West Coast centers and Ashram. View Profile>
“Your inherent nature is joy, ānanda, which is eternal. That is the message of yoga and vedānta.” – Swami Vishnudevananda
The 3 Gunas
Yoga offers us valuable guidance on our journey towards peace of mind. The formula is simple and can be described as a way of working with the three gunas or qualities of nature: 1) break through the tamas; 2) calm down the rajas; and 3) nourish the sattva.
All the objects of this universe contain the three gunas. The gunas operate on the physical, mental, and emotional levels and obscure our true nature, veiling the Light within. We become attached to physical conditions, stuck in stressful thought patterns, and feel unable to free ourselves from repeated negative emotions.
The light of consciousness,
the Atman, reflects through the physical body, the mind and its emotions, just
as a brilliant and pure crystal has no color of its own. When a colored object
is brought near, it reflects the same color and appears to be that color—blue,
red or whatever it may be. In the same way, the Atman is colorless and without
qualities yet is veiled by the physical body and mind.
Yoga
teaches us that we are neither the body nor mind. We are not our thoughts. The
gunas are only veils to our true Divine nature, the Light of Atman.
We must break through tamas
Tamas is resistance to change. The mind seeks stability in the face of constantly changing circumstances (karmas), finding security in addiction to food, alcohol, relationships, and other kinds of behaviors. Without the capacity to discriminate good from bad, we become dependent on external objects and ways of thinking. We may not even like the thing but will choose it anyway out of apathy and ignorance. Tamas veils the Self, providing only a dim view of our true nature. We must make a conscious choice to extract ourselves from Tamas. It takes a good strong kick to move the mind from its tendencies.
We must calm down rajas
Rajas is forceful change. Rajas is ego-driven toward the external, actively engaging the world. Its extreme is to control situations and to meet expectations. One directs their energy outward to effect change that reflects a certain prescribed vision.
Rajas is the energy of action and passion, and of external projection. It singles out an aspect of life that the ego likes and goes towards it to the exclusion of everything else. We become attached to our actions. It is said that fulfilling one desire only reinforces that desire and leads to ten new desires. When these conditions are not met, one falls into disappointment and disillusionment (tamas).
We must nourish sattva
Sattva is wisdom to accept change. We accept that change is in God’s hands and that we do not control change. Sattva is to know that we do not know. Sattva reveals, allowing us to penetrate into the true picture of reality. It is the energy of moving inward and upward, letting go of our attachment to external objects and ever-changing outcomes.
Sattva allows us to see the mind’s tendencies with clarity. With more balance and harmony in our mind, we remain peaceful in the face of difficulty, allowing ourselves to make wise choices rather than reacting to situations beyond our control.
To overcome the egoistic veils of ambition, pride, projections and opinions, desires and expectations, we must nourish sattva through selfless service, devotion, control of the senses and mind, and meditation on the Self. We must learn to detach from external conditions, to question our mind’s thought patterns, and to stop functioning out of habitual conclusions.
Summary
Our journey is to transform ourselves from negative to positive, from restlessness to peace, from darkness to light. Peace of mind is difficult to attain because our minds are always changing. Like the woman who has lost her needle inside of her house, but looks for it outside, we restlessly seek for happiness outside when all the time, the Truth lies within.
Swami Sivananda says, “Fear not. Grieve not. Worry not. Your essential nature is peace. Thou art an embodiment of peace. Know this. Feel this. Realize this.”
Questions for your Self-study
How do you react to change?
Do you try to control your environment? The situation? Others?
Do you find that change causes stress? If so, what aspect of change causes you stress?
What are your Yoga practices to nourish sattva?
You can leave answers to the questions in the comments section below.
Swami Dharmananda is assistant director of the Yoga Farm for many years and is in charge of the karma yoga program. He is a faculty of the Sivananda Institute of Health (SIHY) and is one of the main teachers of Yoga Philosophy and Meditation at the Ashram. He took sannyas vows in 2013 and is keenly interested in yoga psychology and philosophy, presenting the classical teaching in a practical and accessible way to people of all faiths and backgrounds.
Swami Dharmananda is a faculty of the Sivananda Institute of Health (SIHY) and is one of the main teachers of Yoga Philosophy and Meditation at the Ashram.
“Health is Wealth, Peace of Mind is Happiness, Yoga shows the Way”
– Swami Vishnudevananda
Swami Vishnudevananda tells the story of a man who is seated under a tree in a desert. The tree gives him shade and a little cool breeze. All around he is surrounded by white sand.
As the sun starts to rise on the horizon, he starts to get thirsty and becomes more and more dehydrated. Still he sits in the shade of the tree.
Soon, his desire for water becomes important to his very existence. He sees a beautiful, shimmering lake in the distance. Waves. Ripples. What is that?
The senses grasp for something external, but lasting happiness is not found there.
That white sand is full of water and waves. The senses tell him there is cool water. Yet, the intellect knows there can’t be any water, there is only sand.
Happiness comes and goes as quickly as the objects of the world. In our search for happiness, we lose sight of real lasting peace. We suffer for wanting one thing.
We suffer for fear of losing something else. Happiness does not lie in external objects. If happiness were to be found in Paris, then everyone in Paris would be happy!
Do not run toward the sense objects for relief from stress and difficulty. We all have times of trial. It’s how we work through them that shows us who we are – Yoga shows the way.
Learn to detach and recognize the “mirage” the mind has created through our expectations, desire for outcomes, and pre-conceived ideas. Identify your mind’s tendencies.
Counter negative thought patterns with virtues of gratitude, abundance, and contentment. Cultivate equanimity and face life’s challenges with peace.
Turn your gaze within. Calm the waves of the mind with daily meditation practice. Therein lies the unchanging, stable, eternal Self.
Free yourself from dependency on that which is changing and finite. Then you will know the lasting peace of the Self!
Swami Dharmananda is a faculty of the Sivananda Institute of Health (SIHY) and is one of the main teachers of Yoga Philosophy and Meditation at the Ashram.
Yoga is not escaping life, but facing life’s difficulties with detachment and fortitude.
Swami Vishnudevananda said, “If you are carrying some heavy luggage on your head and you are crossing a river and the water is now up to your head but you still want to hold the valuable bundle on your head, the more you try to hold it, what will happen? The more you will go underwater. The more you throw it away, the freer you are to swim across and save yourself.”
Yoga shows us how to let go of our luggage, i.e., the useless negative thoughts and emotions that keep us from knowing the peace we truly seek. Too many times the difficulty comes to us and we don’t have the tools to “cross the river”.
We instead try to escape from the situation or deny the situation rather than living our life with open eyes and an open heart.
Often, we act out of long-established stress patterns that find their root in fear, attachment, and desire. The fight/flight response has caught us and suddenly our choices are very limited.
I can run from this or I can fight through this. Either way, the threat to my well-being seems real and tangible. Under the influence of this perceived threat, we are less able to connect to our own innate wisdom and are more likely to fall prey to negative emotions or extreme thoughts.
To compensate for these uncomfortable emotional states, we fall back to tried and true habits such as smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy foods, unhealthy relationships, etc.
Yoga teaches us how to “let go” and to detach from these stress patterns and the behaviors that follow them. We learn how to keep calm even when a strong negative emotion such as anger arises. To detach means to witness the anger, understanding that we are not the emotion.
Meditation is one Yoga practice that helps to build awareness and detachment from the mind.
We can say, “I see there is anger in my mind,” rather than succumbing to the anger itself. We remain peaceful even when circumstances seem to go against us or don’t meet our own rigid expectations.
Swami Sivananda says, “Fortitude is a sweet mysterious mixture of courage, calmness, patience, presence of mind and endurance.” Fortitude is our capacity to endure difficult or stressful situations.
It is based in detachment and discrimination, being able to tell what is real from what is not real. It is understanding that karma is to be experienced and lessons are to be learned.
Daily Yoga is a powerful practice with many benefits, such as more positivity and less stress.
Through daily Yoga practice we gain awareness of negative emotions and thought patterns. Through trial and error we transform the negative to positive, freeing ourselves from expectations, desired outcomes, and disappointments.
Swami Sivananda adds, “Every failure is a stepping-stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore, nil desperandum. March forward hero!”
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