TRANSFORMATIONAL
LIVING YOGIC TECHNIQUES
Supplement your yogic routine with these simple yet effective exercises drawn from
various forms of yoga. Integrate them into your daily life - both professional and
personal -- to achieve the ultimate aim of yoga which is Transformation of our Consciousness,
Mind & Energy, at all levels of our Being.
1. Waking up routine Breathing exercise
for Centering: As soon as you wake up in the morning, sit up on the
bed and, before any of the day's plans come crowding into your mind, close your
eyes and focus on your breath for a while. Enjoy the sensation of breathing, and
observe the cool air that is inhaled and the warm air exhaled. As you get into the
rhythm of this activity, watch your thoughts too as they rise and fall in your mind.
Don't engage them, but simply let them come and go. As you remain in the peaceful
stillness of your Centre, your thoughts will fall into place with great clarity.
Try to carry this feeling of 'Centredness' with you through the day.
2. Bedtime routine Chanting exercise
for Sourcing: When we go to bed, often our physical body sleeps but
our mind keeps working because of the many thoughts and pressures we take to bed
with us. We wake up in the morning still feeling tired and not fully recharged.
When we sleep, the outer consciousness of our four bodies (physical, vital, mental
and psychic) needs to rest in its Source - deep within our heart, so it can regenerate.
One technique to reconnect our outer bodies with our infinite, inner Source, is
to sit up calmly in bed and chant 'Om Ma'....focusing on your heart centre and feeling
the peaceful vibrations expanding outwards into your whole being. Do this for about
2-5 minutes or as long as you feel necessary and soothed.
3. Anger Management Routine Transformation
of Anger/Emotion management: When you are suddenly made very angry
or emotional ; Go to a place where you will not be disturbed, then clench both feet
very tight and bring them together at the navel and do short sharp exhalations ('Kapalbhati'
breathing as it is called in Yoga) for about 30secs to a minute. Feel the tension
clear out. Take a couple of deep, steadying breaths and then repeat the action if
necessary.
4. Conserve your vital/pranic Energy:
Do this exercise when engaged in an activity that can exhaust us mentally
and emotionally (e.g. watching TV for long hours or working at the computer. First,
switch into a partially detached mode by consciously relaxing your whole body, and
allowing your breathing to fall into a steady rhythm. Relax the muscles around your
eyes and let your eyelids half close. Observe simultaneously the other person/object,
and your own self. This may not be easy at first, but it will become easier with
practice.
5. Stress Relief:
Find a private
place with some clean floor space. Kneel on the floor and sit back on your heels
(Vajrasana pose). Bring all your worries and stresses up to your forehead. Lift
your arms up to Heaven and bring your forehead and hands/palms down to the floor
in a posture of deep surrender to Mother Earth. Consciously think of Mother Earth
as your Divine Mother from whose physical elements you have been created. Feel a
great comfort in your head resting in Her lap and offer all your tension and anxiety
to Her. Feel yourself grounded to her and feel the stress draining out of your whole
body through your forehead into Her. After a while when you feel lighter and clearer,
more peaceful and comforted, sit up and get on with your day.
6. Mental Clarity and focus:
Find a quiet place to sit down, and take a few breaths and relax your whole body.
Using your right hand, fold down your fore-finger, middle-finger, ring-finger so
that only your little-finger is upright. Open the thumb and touch it to your nose
so that your little-finger is directly in front of your eyes. Now focus both eyes
on the tip of the little-finger and gaze intently without blinking for about a minute.
Then let your problem and all its confusing aspects gather together at this tip.
Slowly remove your hand and let it down but continue to gaze at the same spot which
is now empty. Hold this for as long as you comfortably can. Simultaneously be aware
of the thoughts without in any way trying to follow them or solve them. Just observe
them. Then close your eyes and let the mind remain tranquil. Get up and get on with
your business. In a while, you will become aware that your thoughts have fallen
into place like pieces of a puzzle and the solution presents itself quite naturally
.
7. Yoga Nidra:
Recharge your overall energy Find a clean spot and lie down on your
back in Shavasan (the corpse pose): feet 2 feet apart, toes falling out, hands at
45* angle to your body, palms facing upwards. Chin tucked in towards your chest
and neck and head resting comfortably on the floor. Close your eyes. Now lift both
feet 2" off the ground, tense all muscles in the feet and legs, and drop down back
to the floor. Lift your hips off the ground, tense and drop back. Next chest off
the floor, tense and drop. Make fists with your hands, lift arms 2" off the ground,
tense and drop. Roll your head from side to side and relax. Tense all the muscles
of your face and scalp and relax. Become aware of each of your five senses one by
one, spending about 30 seconds on each. Now,starting from your toes, relax every
part of your body, one by one until you reach your scalp/head. Finally, relax your
brain and let your mind become like a deep but calm lake on whose surface there
is not even a ripple and whose waters are so pure that you can see right down to
the bottom. Stay alert and conscious and, after another minute or two, slowly stretch
your fingers and toes, arms and legs and sit up. You should be feeling fully alive
and ready to take on the world!
8. Coping with unrequited love:
Bring your left hand, palm upwards to your heart centre and hold out your right
hand also palm upwards - towards the place where you imagine the person to be. Now,
with great feeling of pure unconditional love and faith,
connect your left hand to your own centre of pure consciousness (your heart) and
feel the great love you are receiving great love from this True Source of infinite
love. When you feel connected to this source of great love, believe that you are
giving this pure love (through your right hand) to the person who has hurt you.
Stay with this intention until you feel filled with love for your self as well as
the other person.
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