Heal Yourself

A few 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 and energy, at all levels of our being.

• 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.

• 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 Sri 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.

• Anger management: When you are suddenly very angry or emotional, go to a place where you will not be disturbed, then clench both fists very tight and bring them together at the navel and do short sharp exhalations (kapalbhati breathing as it is called in yoga) for about 30 secs to a minute. Feel the tension clear out. Take a couple of deep, steadying breaths and then repeat the action if necessary.

• Conserve your vital/pranic energy: Do this exercise when engaged in an activity that can exhaust you 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.

• 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.

Courtesy: www.transformationalyoga.org