Close your eyes. Be comfortable. Spine straight. Be still as still as you can be. Now open your eyes and pick up an object. You may take a small walk, but be concentrated on finding such an object. It can be a flower, a leaf or a fruit. Now sit down again and be still. Gaze at the object deeply. It is like the practice of trataka. Continue reading
Dear ones, make a list of all your joys. You will be surprised as to how much we have to be happy for.
My greatest joy is that I came to Yoga Vidya 21 years ago and have a second home with people I love and respect. I cannot explain this feeling but I feel like crying when I leave.
Ahamkara—ego is our identity as an individual. Ahamkara is described as being in a state without awareness. Being without awareness means we are without consciousness. It is how many of us live. We have no interest in anyone but ourselves. It is like having tunnel vision. We do not see left or right. I have observed this in many persons. Ahamkara means my form and it is your total self. Continue reading
Fasting is a Yogic practice. It reduces the tamasic element in the body. Tamas is the greatest obstacle to meditation. While fasting, one sheds extra weight from the body and gains strength and clarity of mind. One cannot advance in the practice of Meditation, with an unhealthy body and weak mind. Continue reading
Chaitra Navratri is a popular festival. It falls in the month of March or April. The first day of the Hindu Lunar calendar is known as Chaitra and therefore this time is known as Chaitra Navratri.
The Goddess Durga and her different incarnations are adored during this festival for eight days. The birthday of Rama falls on the ninth day and this day is known as Ram Navami. It celebrates Rama’s birth, the avatar of Vishnu. Rama was born to King Dasharatha and his wife, Queen Kaushalya. This festival is a part of Chaitra Navratri. Continue reading
Is it steady or is it wavering? When one meditates with a lighted lamp, it plays a lot of games with one. Sometimes the light whooshes and wavers from side to side, or it consumes the wick. Often one keeps lighting it and it does not light. Continue reading
How do we awaken our potential? One of the major tools is Yoga, which unfolds our different levels of awareness, which are buried deep in our unconscious. Each one of us is blessed with it. We have to learn to awaken it and harness it. It then turns into prana and from there into power and vidya (knowledge). Continue reading
When children are brought into the world they need nurturing. We find that this is the most important aspect of raising children. A child is like the rose in ‘The Little Prince’. “It is the time that you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important”, said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember. Continue reading
Anticipation is such a lovely word. What does it mean? Hope, expectancy, contemplation and joy. Without anticipation, we have no prospect of something awaiting us. “I walk ahead of myself in perpetual expectancy of miracles.” – Anais Nin. Continue reading
It is a busy life. We want to be everywhere at the same time and dabble in everything. It is becoming even more frenetic as most of us are juggling multi tasks. We are always searching for a quick way to relax and meditate. Continue reading
When Lord Krishna was a baby, he loved butter. He could not stay away from the lovely white butter churned daily from the cows’ milk. Butter was made every day in the homes of the milk maids. And after finishing their tasks, they would go on to do their other chores. When they returned from the cowsheds, they found their butter pots empty. It was a shock for them as butter was used for making ghee and cooking. Continue reading
We must learn and understand the practice of Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. What is Karma Yoga? The word karma is used freely and frankly and all our misfortunes are blamed on our bad Karma. Karma is the real desires created in the mind. When we wish to possess, it is karma. Karma is a movement that takes place within the mind, body or emotions. Continue reading
True beauty is from within. I wrote about beauty influencers, and today I will give you an effective routine which will chase the winter blues away. Maintain a daily regimen. Continue reading
“In Yoga there is a lot of emphasis on Ajna Chakra. It has been seen that when one is absolutely relaxed in deep sleep, then one practices Shambhavi mudra, where both pupils are concentrated in the mid-eyebrow centre.
When a healthy child is sleeping, first of all the breath becomes sonorous, it becomes ujjayi pranayama. Secondly, when one lifts the eyelids, one will find that both pupils are centralized in the mid-eyebrow centre.
These two symptoms indicate absolute relaxation.”
Swami Satyanananda Saraswati. Continue reading