Helping others and hurting themselves: Why smart people do dumb things?

- by Kirti Tarang Pande 
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Have you ever helped a friend choose a path of patience instead of anger? When a trigger of anger came in your life, what did you do?

If I ask you right now to put a star in a jar for each time you helped a friend gain emotional clarity, you will be floating in the stars. Then what happens when it comes to your own life; your own emotions?

Sense and Sensibility 

You guide your friends in making right diet choices, but how many times you cheat on your diet? You tell a friend to "move on" after the break up, then why despite knowing that relationship was toxic you cry over your break up? When someone hurts your friend you say, "Let it go, don't let it ruin your mood", then why is that when someone hurts you, you let it ruin your day? You  give good advice, then why don't you follow it yourself? Most of the time you know what to do, then why don't you do it?

Sometimes, it's our own mind that acts like an enemy and sometimes our emotions betray us by going rogue. So, what do we do? We try to control our mind. We try to manage our emotions. Don't we do this?We practice anger management. We practice stress management. Don't we? Then, what happens? It starts becoming our identity. Doesn't it? We start defining ourselves as someone who's struggling with anxiety, someone who's battling with depression, someone who's fighting with the thoughts. Is this what we want our life to be? A fight? A struggle? Won't it be wonderful if instead of a battleground our life becomes a field of love, an ocean of joy, in which we float effortlessly, dance happily? What if I tell you that it can happen? All we need to do is stop trying to control our mind, stop trying to manage our emotions. Controlling and managing has not given us the desired results, so it's time we change the process. This is what I want to discuss with you today, Yogic process. A yogic process of culturing our emotions not managing them, because when our emotions are cultured, our mind becomes our best friend.

Know Thyself 

For any Yogic process self reflection is an important  tool. In Yogic terminology we call it svadhyaya, meaning study of self (Sutra 2.1, Patanjali Yoga Sutram). Are you ready to do this with me? Are you ready to do a study- A study your own self?

Let's reflect on your life. Has it ever happened to you:

A friend or a loved one was sad, sulking in a corner, refusing to even eat, refusing to meet people; but you sneaked in. You sneaked in like a ray of sunshine. You managed to pull that friend out of the sulking corner, take the person out for a coffee or drinks or for a walk. And voila! Your friend felt better. There! What did you do? You initiated the process of healing in the friend.

Look around you. Look at the levels of stress, the toxic thoughts, how common are frowns today! In such a world, for one person, for one moment, you were a source of smiles!

It's nothing less than a superpower, you may not be a certified therapist, you may not be a counselor and yet you help your friends. You help your loved ones in healing.

In every situation, we have multiple options for our actions. Our actions are always a choice. The situation, other people, they may play a role but power of choice always lies with us. We always have options to choose from. Do you want to know what those options are?

The Tussle between Three Choices

Yoga follows Samkhya school of philosophy.  It says that in every situation, we always have three options: Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. I don't want to tire you with technicalities, I want this process to be enjoyable for you. So let me share a metaphor with you:

Imagine, there's oil in your palms. Your hands are sticky now. It's an unpleasant experience. Anything that you touch sticks to you, dirt, bacteria. It's an unhygienic experience. You can't eat with these hands. So, you try to clean them. You apply soap. Though soap is a cleansing agent, if you eat with soapy hands your stomach will pay the price. Therefore, you wash that soap with water. There's no longer oil, no longer soap, your hands are clean and pure. In Yogic culture oil, soap and water are metaphors. Oil is Tamas, Soap is Rajas and the Water is Sattva.

These are the three options that we have in every situation. Let's expand on this idea:

Tamas, Rajas and Sattva : What do you choose often?

Option 1 is Tamas means our inherent tendency for darkness. Our inherent tendency of inertia. For example, we are sad and we know just getting up, washing our face and going out for a walk and smelling flowers will create a shift in our mental  state and yet we stay in the bed and sulk. That's a tamasic option. Tamas means our inherent tendency of lethargy, we know that we should exercise and yet we don't because we feel too lazy to get on the mat. That's choosing our Tamasic option. Tamas means compulsion. You know you should sleep on time but you keep scrolling on your phone. That's choosing a Tamasic option. Tamas means stickiness. You are determined that tonight instead of Netflixing I will meditate. Then when the time comes, there's this cozy bed and TV in front of it and that habit of picking the remote and turning it on just sticks with you, so bye-bye meditation. Tamas means repression- someone or something made you angry and instead of expressing your feeling you swallowed it. You would eventually implode, but they would never know. That's Tamas.

Second option that we have is Rajas. Rajas means our inherent tendency for activity. Rajas is when instead of imploding we explode. When someone makes us angry, we choose to give that person a piece of our mind.

Third option is of Sattva. Sattva means our inherent tendency to be  blissful and act from that state. It means that you neither implode or explode. You transcend. When a situation arises, a situation that usually triggers difficult emotions, you neither repress nor act in a self destructive pattern, instead you transcend the situation. Can you visualize yourself doing it? Shall I help you with an example?

One of my clients once shared that she was emotionally lonely so she took my sessions, but her most valuable takeaway was that it has made her a better mother. She said that earlier her children would make her angry. Sometimes, she would even hit them. Then she would feel terrible about it for days. She would hate herself. “Now,” she said, “I don't beat my children. I don't get angry at them. Instead, I feel grateful to them that they are giving me a chance to be a more patient person.” 

Same situation, same kids, same lady, what changed? She realized that she has options. She realized that she and only she has the power to choose. So, she chose Sattva, she chose bliss. Instead connecting from her inherent tendency of Tamas or Rajas, she connected with her inherent tendency of Sattva. She started operating from a place of bliss. How did she do it?

How to make the right choice in every situation?

What you think happens in those situations? Take an example of a glass, the glass is happily perched on a table, minding its own business. A baby comes, and for no reason starts shaking the glass. What will happen then? The contents of the glass will spillover. Whatever was inside will spill out. If there was water, water would spill. If there was milk, milk would  spill and if the milk was hot...

When someone shakes you, when a situation shakes you, whatever is within you comes out. If there's Tamas, Tamas would come. If there's Rajas would come, if there's Sattva, if there's bliss, bliss will come out. Imagine, if there's nothing inside of you but Sattva/ bliss, irrespective of situations, irrespective of people, you will give nothing but bliss because you don't have anything else to offer. Remember Buddha and Angulimal?

You can do it too! Remember we discussed your super power. If you can help your friends gain emotional clarity why not yourself?

You too can start operating from a place of bliss, you will no longer have to bother yourself with the tedious and continuous task of controlling our mind, managing our emotions. Can you imagine that freedom!

Cultivating Sattva in us is the way to that freedom. Cultivating Sattva is the way  to become best friends with our mind. When we culture our emotions as Sattvic, we become best friends with our mind. This  is the only thing we need to do that will cultivate our entire spectrum of emotions ranging from something as innocent as I am bored or I don't feel like working out today to something as intense as depression. All we need is to cultivate Sattva and irrespective of the situation, irrespective of the people, we will always choose the option that adds value to our mental, emotional, physical and Social well-being.

How to culture our emotions and become best friends with our mind?

Do you want to know how to cultivate Sattva?

Would mind exploring a bit of Yogic philosophy for this? Thank you! 

In the Vedic Philosophy of yoga, there's a text called Taittiriya Upanishad. This text presents a 5- sheath model for an individual’s well being. It's called the Panchkosa model. Panch means 5 and kosa means sheath. You and I have 5 sheaths of existence. So, if we need to cultivate Sattva in an efficacious and sustainable way, we must do it on all the 5 levels. 

This is what we are going to do now, I am going to share with you 5 very easy, everyday things that will cultivate Sattva at each level. Remember that no practice is small or insignificant. Even the smallest of effort from your side will create a shift in your emotional culturing. So, each time do something from the list that I am going to share with you, acknowledge that, congratulate yourself, celebrate yourself. It will be a powerful reinforcement for a practice that's adding value to our well being. A reinforcement that you need to transform that practice into a habit.

So, are you ready?

5 Small practices that add significant value in emotional culturing :

1. The first kosa is Annamayakosa. Sheath of our physical existence i.e. our body. Anna is Sanskrit for matter or food, so Annamayakosa means a sheath that's made of food. So, if we want to make something that's made of food Sattvic, we need to make the food Sattvic. Isn't it? Now, I am not going to tell you what to eat. That choice must rest with your wisdom. I do have an input though on how to eat. I have taken this idea from Gita (17.8). To make the effect of everything that we eat Sattvic/ blissful, each time before you eat or drink anything, pause. Pause for 30 seconds and make that food or drink an agent of goodness, joy and fulfillment in your body. How do you make your food an agent of bliss in your body? Before you eat, pause for 30 seconds and cultivate a Sattvic, cultivate a blissful thought in your heart with feelings and emotions and infuse that thought in the food and water. It could be anything that resonates most with you: You could mentally say, “I have the super power of making right choices, I infuse this food or water with it”. “I infuse this with joy”, “I infuse this with bliss”, “I infuse this with healing”, “I infuse this with peace”. You can choose any blissful thought. In Yogic culture, the thought that's considered most potent for this purpose is: I surrender myself to the higher power. This food or drink is a potion to make the Higher power my charioteer in life like Krishna was to Arjun. What will you infuse your food with? Do let me know.
2. The second sheath is Pranamaya kosa. The sheath of our life energy. The air that we breathe is the carrier of prana, our life energy. Therefore, in this level, we are working on making our breath Sattvic. According to Manusmritin, another Yogic text, sandhya is a very powerful time for this. Sandhya means union. In a day, there are four points of union - sunrise where night meets day, noon, sunset and midnight. Swami Vivekananda suggests practicing 3 to 11 rounds of anulom vilom pranayam at all these four points. This is the best way to practice. Slightly, difficult at our level though. I bow to Swami Vivekananda for showing us the way, and seek his blessings as I modify this practice into something that's easy to be persistent with- Here's what I suggest, instead of four sandhya,  pick 2 or three: Sunrise, noon and sunset. Set an alarm for these. When the alarm goes off just take three deep breaths that's it. That's less than 30 seconds. For 3 deep breaths, visualize your breath rising from the Navel to the eyebrow centre and then falling from the eyebrow centre back to the  navel.

3. The next sheath is Manomaya kosa. The sheath of our mind. How to create a Sattvic mind? You can daily go for half an hour or solitary walk in nature. Leave your phone at home. Don't take a friend along. Let nature be your companion, spend half an hour smelling flowers, feeling grass under your feet, listening to the rustle of leaves and chirping of birds. You will experience a shift in your mind. (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.25). For days you have commitments or you're practicing social distancing, you can take out 10 minutes in the day for an alternate practice. Yes? Even on days of prior commitments, you can take out 10 minutes? Isn't it?  Sit in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed. Sit with a pen and paper. Make two columns. Column 1,  write what makes you feel klisht/unpleasant and column 2 for what makes you feel aklisht/not unpleasant (Patanjali Yoga Sutram 1.5). Now, start observing your mind whatever comes there, start putting it down in a box where it belongs. If a thought comes, how it makes you feel unpleasant or not unpleasant, put it in that column. An image, memory, idea, song whatever comes in the mind goes in its respective column. If nothing comes, check how it makes you feel and then put it in that column. Do this for 5 minutes. Congratulate yourself, you're halfway through. Now for the next 5 minutes meditate on how you can put the thoughts from unpleasant column to pleasant column. Yes? If you need help with it, I have written a blog post- Yogic Antidote for difficult emotions. You can check that out. It will give you the necessary tools for the job. Right now, I want to stay focused on today's session. Is that okay?

4. The fourth sheath is Vigyanmayakosa. The level of our intellect. If you want to be an entrepreneur, won't you read about people like Elon Musk to get inspired? If you want to be a tech leader won't you read on biography someone like Steve Jobs? If you want to be a thought leader won't you read on someone like Bill Gates or Stephen Hawkins? Then, if you want to be full of bliss, why not read about people who were full of bliss? That's the path Narad Bhakti Sutra (76 sutra) shows us.
   These days most of us have a habit of checking our phone as one of the first things that we do when we wake up. I will not ask you to change that habit. I will request that you use this habit to set the tone for blissful intellect here. We already have a habit of looking at our phone in the morning, let's use it for our benefit. Watch, listen or read something that creates blissful ideas in your head. Now, the internet is a tricky place to be. We can get lost here. So I suggest, downloading what you're going to read, watch or listen to at night itself. Every morning before my breakfast, I read something by Rumi. Rumi belongs to Sufi tradition. Sufism and Yoga are two different labels. In my opinion, that's exactly what they are, labels. In essence, I find Sufism and Rumi resonating with the Yogic philosophy. No matter how scandalous human behavior is, Rumi always finds beauty in it. That's the essence of yoga as well. That's the perspective I want for my day. So, I read Rumi. Rumi- The Book of Love, a translation by Coleman Barks, and that's my source of morning dose of intellectual bliss. I would recommend the same to you.

5. Now we have come to our last level. The level of pure bliss, anandmaya kosa. We don't have to do anything at this level. This level itself is pure bliss. All we have to do is to make a connection with this level of our existence. How to do this? You know the answer. By creating a habit of everyday meditation. Now, the biggest problem in cultivating this habit is two-fold. Firstly, we don't have time. Secondly, meditation is boring and frustrating for the beginners. Don't worry, we have a solution. On our YouTube channel, Home Yogis’ Home  we have posted some sleep meditations to take care of both these factors. You don't have to make extra time for meditating, just when you go to sleep plug-in those meditations and allow them to lull you away. Since, the meditations shared are based on  yog nidra, a technique of sleep hypnosis, boredom and frustration is taken care of. 

That's it. That's all you have to do. We need to make our mind our best friend. How to make our mind do that? We need to culture the emotions that it projects. How can we culture the emotions? By creating Sattva, the bliss, within. How to create Sattva, by doing one simple Sattvic activity for all the five levels of our existence.

If you have any questions regarding these activities that I shared. Or anything that we talked about, please free to write to me at homeyogishome@gmail.com 

If you want to have more sessions with us you can send ‘YES’ at homeyogishome@gmail.com and we will connect. At Home Yogis’ Home we provide Yogic counseling and Yoga therapy for Mental and emotional well-being online.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share Yogic ideas with you today. Looking forward to our next meeting.

Namaskar

Suggested Reading :
Yogic Antidotes for Difficult Emotions

How to Cope with Anxiety: Covid 19 & Uncertainty

by

Kirti Tarang Pande

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What will make you more anxious; uncertainty of a physical pain or a promise of the physical pain?

In a study, participants who knew that they were going to get an electric shock for sure felt calmer.  Whereas, the participants who were told that there are 50% chance that you may get an electric shock but there are 50% chance that you may not, felt more anxious and agitated. Evidently, uncertainty causes more anxiety than inevitable pain.

On any other day, this information would have surprised many of us. Not today. As we all face the uncertain times of Covid 19, teamed up with news of lay offs and salary deductions; we have first hand experience of what uncertainty can do to someone's mental health. Anxiety today is one the most prevalent mental health disorders. That's why,

mental health researchers like Olivia Remes of the University of Cambridge, argue that treatments such as psychotherapy and medication often result in poor outcome and high rates of relapses. 

What psychotherapy and medications are failing to achieve, can Yoga reach there?

What equips Yoga to deal with anxiety - one of the most prevalent mental health disorders today?

Well, it's the fact that Yoga, doesn't use the word 'disorder'. The word that Yoga uses is 'vritti'. Sanskrit word, 'vritti' means a whirlpool. Yoga doesn't look at someone suffering from anxiety as a sick person. In the eyes of Patanjali Yogsutram (treatise on yoga), anxiety is a whirlpool arising in a person's mind. Yes, a whirlpool is powerful and chaotic. It causes destruction, but it doesn't have to. Can't there be a way to harness the energy of the whirlpool? Isn't it possible that instead of destruction, the same energy can be used for creating something meaningful? Yoga says, "Yes there is!"

For this we need to understand what is this undercurrent? Before we devise a cope up strategy, it's important to understand why uncertainty due to Covid 19 leads to anxiety:

What  causes anxiety?

According to neuroscience, it's because of our survival instinct. Our brain is constantly updating the world around us. It's segregating the safe from the unsafe. When it encounters uncertainty it starts making up all sorts of untested stories hundreds of times a day because to our mind, uncertainty equals danger. 

Now, the question is, today when all of us are facing uncertainty due to Covid 19, why some are suffering from anxiety and some are not? Why are some finding it difficult to cope with this anxiety and some are not?

According to yoga (Brihat Yogi Yajnavalkya Smriti), it is because of Vata Dosha. 

Vata is primarily ether in substance and air in motion. When it is disturbed in our body it causes mental and nervous disorders by giving a chaotic energy to the thoughts that are moving in the space of our mind. However, same Vata when is well-aligned becomes life nurturing force.

In yoga lore, this is explained by example of Hanuman. He was a monkey, naughty, jumping here there but when he focused himself on Ram, he became the most powerful creature. One, who could jump across an ocean, lift up a mountain and then fly across a country with it… In essence, think of the strongest superhero that you can and Hanuman is stronger and immortal too!! He did not get stung by a spider. The potential was in him, he unlocked it by being focused on a meaningful and productive object.

That's what we are going to do. We are going to cope with the anxiety of uncertainty during Covid 19 by calming the disturbances of Vata in us and then focusing our Vata energy on something meaningful and productive.

How to channel Anxiety causing mechanism towards something meaningful and productive:

Here are the 7 specific ways of doing it :

1. Calming the anxiety causing disturbances of Vata:

There are certain yogic asanas, which can remove excess of Vata, there by, helping us in coping with anxiety due to uncertainty. 

Caution: This practice should not be exerting or exhausting but quiet and gentle. (स्थिर सुखम, Patanjali Yogsutram 46)

Best time for the practice: Yoga recommends us to do this before 6am. During this time the natural state of our body is most conducive for calming the disturbances of Vata.

How and which asanas to practice:

1. The asanas practice should always start with the right mental attitude.  So first put the mind and emotion in a calm resting place. For this, sit in Siddhasana or Vajrasana whichever you're most comfortable in. Close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the sensations of your breath and when you find that your breath has slowed down and deepened ; you know you're ready for the practice.

   
   

   

   Siddhasana

   
   

   

   Vajrasana 

   
   
2. Vata accumulates in joints so rotate all the joints from toes to your neck 10 times each. This means your toes, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers and neck. Remember, no rushing, be gentle. Try to keep your awareness on the joints that you're rotating.
   
   
3. You must have noticed that I have skipped the spine in the list of joints. There's a reason for that. It's the seat of anxiety and if not done in the right fashion it triggers fight/flight response. Thus, instead of helping ourselves, we will be hurting ourselves. So please, don't be aggressive with your spine but be extra gentle here. Start with awakening the spine with Matsyendrasna. It soothes our nervous system. However, this happens only when the breath is full. If the breath is reduced even a little, it will increase the anxiety. Now the back bends. Do Bhujangasana and Shalabhasana; these small backbends are safest to practice. Please in a state of anxiety refrain from complete backbends, irrespective of your flexibility level. A slight mistake in technique, or deviation from right away of breathing or miniscule rushing can worsen your mental state. Now, back bends should always be complemented with forward bend. Shashank asana is the  best for immediate relief and producing calm and stillness in mind. If you want to go deeper in cultivating stability and calmness of mind you can add Vrikshasana.
   
   
   
   

   

   Ardha Matsyendrasna Asana
   Image courtesy: Yogicwayoflife.com
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Bhujangasana 

   
   

   

   Shalabhasana 

   
   
   

2. Pranayam

   Practice left nostril breathing. Do it for 21 times, it will soothe the anxiety.

3. Practice focusing:

I am not asking you to meditate. How can you meditate if you're anxious? Meditation is listening to the song of the soul. When we are anxious all we have is a cacophony. I am asking a you to just sit for 5 minutes and with your eyes softly focusing at an object. This focus will help us in converting the chaotic Vata into life energy of Prana. (Om pranasyedam vashe sarvam

Tridive yath pratishtitam: Prashna Upnishad.)

Now we need an object for concentration. Yoga recommends following objects for this purpose : Sun, yellow light of a ghee lamp, visualizing an image of or using a picture of a mountain, a lake, an ocean, lotus or rose, or something simple like  gold or saffron color. You can pick any one of these objects that you find easiest to focus on and stick to it for at least 21 days. For me, it's thevrising sun and when I don't have access to that I light a ghee lamp.

4. Don't rely on temporary distractions 

The above three practices were what we do on the yoga mat in the morning but that's just the rehearsal for the dance of life. Warm ups are essential for any dancer, but can a dancer say I will do only warm ups and not dance. The practice on the mat is the warm up, the following steps are the actual dance. It doesn't matter how well one does warm ups,the merit of a dancer lies in the dance, so pay attention :

Don't fill your days with distractions, they lead to denial. Denial gives an illusion of coping with anxiety, when in reality, it's just creating a ticking time bomb. Having fun is good, it's important as long as we are not acting as an ostrich and labeling it as having fun.

Our next step will help us do that 

5. Practice mindfulness to Identity and tune out unproductive thoughts 

I am not asking you to sit on a mat and practice mindfulness of breath. This won't help you. You need mindfulness of actions and thoughts (Gita 6.2). Outer is easier than inner, so start with mindfulness of actions. Whenever you're engaging in an activity ask yourself what's my intent here - to create distraction or there's something productive that can come from this? An activity itself isn't good or bad, it's our intent that makes it this way.

Next level is to check your thoughts, ask the same question is this thought productive or unproductive. If it is unproductive, throw it away, your mind isn't a dustbin. You can't prevent thoughts from coming, but you can choose what you do with them. That's in your power of  discretion. Exercise it - ask yourself, can I do something about it? If the answer is yes, do it. If the answer is no then it's a trash thought, throw it away.

6. Develop habits and routines 

As we discussed earlier, by giving a focus to our Vata we can transform the anxiety inducing energy into life affirming force. One way in which yoga recommends doing it is through establishing a routine. No routine is good or bad as long you have a routine. Don't make the routine too rigid, it won't be practical. For instance, I have 4am to 7am fixed for my asana, pranayam, meditation practice. I have my number of meals and times of meals fixed 8am, 1pm, 6:30pm. I have my bedtime fixed at 10. That's it. Any deviation from this is sacrilege for me, and for the  rest of the day, I have freedom of choice. Another easy way of fixing a routine is suggested by Dharma Shastra. It says that assign your mornings for self growth, afternoons in pursuing material comforts and evenings for pleasure. Yoga also suggests some Vata releasing activities that we can incorporate in our routine like giving an oil massage with sesame oil to oneself before shower. Incorporating root vegetables. Using calming herbs like ashwagandha, tulsi and triphala. Avoiding all animal products especially milk and curd for three months.

7. Focus on gratitude 

I often see people saying, “I am thankful for this and that”. Some people write it too. That's one way of practicing Gratitude, just not the Yogic way. Your eyes see the food, hand puts food in the mouth, tongue takes the taste which gets our digestive juices going, teeth chews it, stomach digests it and transforms it into the nourishment that our body needs. Now imagine our hand saying thank you to the stomach, does it make sense? Or eyes saying, dear hands you do so much work, you rest today, I will put the food in the mouth. Does it make sense? Yoga says that the best way to practice gratitude is by performing your role well. So, at night when you go to the bed think of one thing that you were grateful for today and then examine what was your role in that. There is always one. Then think how you can do that better tomorrow. 

Happy practicing :)

Suggested Reading

Naysa Tantra and Yoga Nidra

Full Moon Yoga, why bother?

-by
Kirti Tarang Pande
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Science says that moon is our planet's satellite. As bright as it may seem, it's merely a reflection of sun. Poor thing doesn't even have its own light. This makes one wonder why in spirituality so much importance is attached to moon? Why the yogis and sufis spend nights meditating on moon? Why tantrics schedule their powerful practices for full moon and new moon? Why Buddhist monks keep precepts?

For a moment, let's set aside what science tells us and connect with what we experience. Have you ever felt intense delight when looking at a full moon, or suddenly felt love rising in you, a sudden urge of passion? Has it ever been that you were feeling lonely or sad for no apparent reason and when you peeped out of the window, it was full moon?

In a month, there are two full moons. Once dedicate a month to connect with not what you have told but what you feel on Full Moons. Simply observe your thoughts and emotions. After all, yogis are not followers but investigator. 

Upon conducting this investigation, you will find that the moon doesn't give or take anything. It simply elevates what we already have. If you're joyful, it makes you ecstatic. If you're sad, it will make you depressed. If you're meditative, it will deepen your spiritual practice. Siddartha became Buddha on a full moon night, didn't he?

Therefore, it's only common sense to mark this day in calendar. So that, on this day we can consciously connect with the qualities that we desire in us. If something has to heightened, it might as well be the thing that brings forth our well-being.    

On contrary, if we carry on with our day with usual absent mindedness we end up strengthening the shackles of our compulsiveness.

It is for this reason, you will find that in both yogic and Buddhist cultures fasts are kept to purify the body on Full Moon days. Precepts of love, compassion and kindness are kept. Spending time on primping the body is avoided and day is spent culturing the emotions.

It is common for yogis to capitalize on the power of this day. In fact, most yoga teachers don't teach on this day. They keep this day to go deeper in their personal practice. At Home Yogis' Home, we feel differently though. We take extra sessions. It is my personal belief that utilizing the power of this day to benefit others is more meaningful than serving my own cause.

Fuil moon is the night when oceans rise. We are 70% water, we too have potential to rise. If only we are aware and we are willing to go through a process for this.

The Process: Full Moon Yoga Flow

Step 1: Chandra Namaskar

(2, 11, 20 or 29 rounds)

 Namaskar Mudra- Exhale- Eyes Closed

1.Tadasana- Inhale- Antar Drishti

2.Ardha Kati Chakrasana-  Exhale- Hastargra Drishti

3. Tadasana- Inhale- Nasagra Drishti

4. Uthita Trikonasana- Exhale- Hasthagra Drishti

5. Ardh Chandrasana- Exhale- Hastagra Drishti

6. Ashwasanchalan- Inhale- Nasagra Drishti

7. Ajneyasana- Inhale- Antar Drishti

8. Malasana- Exhale- Nasagra Drishti

9. Ajneyasana

10. Ashwasanchaln

11..Ardha Chandrasana

12. Uthita Trikonasana

13. Tadasana

14. Ardha Kati Chakrasana

15. Tadasana

Namaskar

Since in yogic wisdom sound is a source of creation, music becomes a medium to align with the rhythm of the cosmos. Following this tradition, Raga Abhogi is the music assigned to Chandra Namaskar. So, if you want to practice the sequence of Chandra Namaskar with music, pick any rendition of Raga Abhogi.

Step 2: Chandra Pranayams

"All that exists in the three heavens rest in control of Prana"
- Prashna Upnishad II.3

Prana is our primal life force. It moves in our being through a system of energy channels. These energy channels are called Nadis in yogic terminology. These nadis exist in our subtle body, which is our mind-prana field. There are seventy two thousand nadis in our mind-body field.

Lunar nadi is one such nadi that determines the flow of our primal energy. This Lunar nadi is called Ida in yogic vocabulary. It has feminine and cooling energy. This implies that it's the functioning of this nadi which makes us intuitive, creative, visionary and open our hearts to love.

It is this love that provides the fuel that sustains our spiritual fire.

So, chandra pranayams are the techniques that open our love window. No body puts it more beautifully than Rumi:

"Close the language door
and open the love window.
The moon won't use the door,
only the window."

The two Chandra Pranayams are

a. Chandra Anoloum
Close the right nostril. Breathe in and out through left.

b. Chandra Bhedan
Breathe in through left, breathe out through right

Practice 11 rounds of each. During this process allow your awareness to rest on the left side of the body, the lunar side- wherever the awareness goes, prana follows.

Step 3: Shrim Chanting

Sit in cross legged position.
Hands in Kamala mudra.
Close your eyes.
Behind the closed curtains of your eyelids there's a vast space called Chiddakash. Visualize bright moon here.

Recite 11 times with exhalation:

"Om Shrim Namah"
Shrim is a mantra with very pleasing lunar quality.
It is a mantra that floods our senses with love, devotion, beauty, delight and divine grace. It gives us the good things of life, including health to our body, fertility, rejuvenation and steadiness to our mind and emotions. However, the best part is that it is one of the softest and safest mantra to use. Just keep one thing in mind that since it is a lunar mantra it lowers our body temperature. For this reason, I strongly recommend that stick to 11 repetitions, don't overdo.

Step 4: Chakra Meditation

Even you don't have a conducive settings or guidance to undergo this process, don't fret. Simply spend the day consciously cultivating loving kindness first towards yourself and then with everyone you come in contact with.

Happy Poornima :)


Further Reading:

Lunar Eclipse and Yoga

Udhyan Bandh: Yoga's Cheat Trick

Imagine enjoying a beautiful morning next to a river, reading book, simply breathing and cutting belly fat at the same time?

What if I tell you it's true? Not just this, but you can massage internal organs, improve digestion, blood circulation and release stress too!

Allow me to introduce Udhyan Bandh, a powerful Yogic technique for spiritual upliftment through activating Manipura Chakra and raising the Pranic every up. This spiritual tool has all the above-mentioned physical benefits too. As long as you don't do it with a stomach full of food.

So here's how to do Udhyan Bandh-

Step 1: Exhale and empty you belly.
Step 2: Hold the exhale and pull the belly in. Imagine your belly button is touching your spine.
Step 3: Hold as per your comfort level.
Step 4: Release and repeat as many times as you like.

Note: You might feel pain in lower back as a beginner. It's perfectly natural.

Spine should be erect at all times.

It's better to practice in Padamasana

The traditional and textbook  method is to do this after asanas and before Pranayams. In Vinyasa tradition Surya Namaskar is practiced with this bandh and Ujjayi breath.

Nag Panchami, Nagas and Patanjali

Here's Why Every Yogi Must Know The Link Between Them

-by
Kirti Tarang Pande
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Have you ever noticed that logo of modern medicine has two snakes intertwined, just like the symbolism of yoga (representing Ida, Pingala wrapped around Sushma)?

Anyway, those who know me are aware of how vocal I am about protecting snakes. They think I am drawn towards them. Little they know it's the other way around.

The home I was born in was next to a lake full of blooming lotuses. Snakes were therefore our regular visitors. My family would simply escort them out to grassland nearby. A place where they wouldn't cross path with humans. We never hurt the snakes and they reciprocated the same gesture.

The story continues till this day. I have had various homes in various cities since. They all have one thing in common- serpent visitors. Even the home that I had in concrete jungle called Bombay! In fact, the garden of my previous home in Pune was inhabited by three of them. One was a copper colored cobra, another was a black colored cobra and third was special. It was a gift to me by my dog. 

One night my dog, a golden retriever, retrieved a green color viper! He was standing near stairs with tail of the viper in his mouth. Shockingly, the viper didn't dig his venomous fangs in my dog. Thankfully, my dog had the wisdom to keep its teeth off too. He was holding it in the soft part that's typical of a retriever mouth.

You see snakes respond to our thought processes. If you are scared and make sudden movements, the snake will be scared too. Either its flight or fight that follows fear. If snake has opportunity to flea, it will. If it's cornered then it will fight with the only weapon that it has.

However, if you are calm, the snake will be calm too. A student of mine was so meditative in Vrikasana, that a snake came and coiled at her leg. The student remained calm and after some minutes it left. Haven't you seen, snake cuddle Shiva? They coiled around his neck, weaved in his man bun.

What's the point I am trying to make here? 

Snakes are sensitive to vibrations. Vibrations help them survive. They don't have ears. You must have noticed this. Also, that their entire body is connected with earth, as they crawl. This makes them perceptive of energies. They are drawn to certain energies. 

What is energy that draws snakes? How does it connects with Patanjali?

Thanks to Einstein, we know that  the universe consists of various wormholes. Through these worm holes or channels, subtle currents flow.These currents are termed as Nagas (snakes)  in yogic texts. To understand why yogis chose this particular metaphor, we need to understand worm holes.

The concept of worm holes came as a result of Einstein, Flamm and Rosen's  works on General Theory of Relativity. Don't let the name dropping scare you. It's easy to understand. Worm hole is a passage through space-time continuum. Its USP is that it creates shortcuts for long journeys across the universe. Ah! I caught your attention now. Therefore, this is the time when I must caution you. These wormholes come with dangers of sudden collapse, high radiation and fatal contact with exotic matter.

Much like snake, isn't it. A meters long snake rolls itself into a small coil. The snake venom can kill you but can also be used as a drug against heart attack. Also, in ancient India snakes were found everywhere. So, the yogis thought, 'Why not use snake as metaphor? To make it approachable to a common man, let's  make this simple. Let's use a metaphor that people come across daily." There couldn't have been a better metaphor than Naga (snakes) for Kundalini (the fundamental force).

This is the reason why Patanjali is symbolized as half-snake. His understanding of seen and unseen life processes was mystifying. It was apparent to people that the Kundalini fundamental force is him. At least, partly. As I have discussed in my previous article that one can't have completely awakened Kundalini and hold on to this physical body at the same time. So, they gave him a half-snake body.

 But why Naga Panchami?

Naag Panchami comes in the month of Sravan- monsoon. It's a month dedicated for worshiping Shiva- Naga Bhushan. This also a month when rain water floods the homes of snakes and they seek shelter in ours.

Therefore, in ancient Indian culture this month was set aside to honor snakes. One can't honor and hurt something at the same time?

Why honor the snakes?

Snakes are called farmers' friends. They eat mice and other rodents that hurt the harvest. India was an agricultural economy. It was a simple treaty. You protect our crops, we protect you.

This the talk in materialistic terms, which may not be relevant to all of us today. However, its spiritual significance can't be ignored.

Spiritual significance of honoring snakes:

On Nag Panchami we honour all forms of Nagas (snake). Bowing to an ordinary snake or its image is just a metaphor for surrendering to Kundalini (transformation force within us) and to Lord Shiva (master of all the manifested and unmanifested energies of the universe)

What not to do in Naga Panchami?

Offer milk to snakes: I have no clue which Pundit started it, but none of Vedas mention offering milk to snake. Anywhere. Moreover, snakes don't like it. Every time I had put a bowl of milk out for a snake, it has gone in opposite direction. My dog is the one who would polish it off. 

Don't give money to snake charmers. Snakes hate captivity. They don't eat in captivity. By paying to snake charmers, you're bank rolling a business model of torture. Moreover, Kamasutra strictly warns against it. The curse of a tortured snake is bad for sex life- that's what Kamasutra says.

Don't pour milk on an image or sculpture of snake/Shiva. There are children in our country dying of starvation. The milk that you're pouring is also food of cow's child. Please don't waste it. If I take your child's food, make your child starve to rub that food over your body, will you pleased? Then, why do you think that it will peace Shiva. The milk of your love, devotion and dedication is all that Shiva craves for and rewards for.

What to do on Nagar Panchami?

• Let go of your fear of snakes. Please don't imprint your fears on your children. We must understand that fear is root of all our misdoings. Don't believe me? Investigate for yourself. Moreover, fear hails from ignorance. So understand that snake are not interested in hurting you. So many people die in road accidents. Everyone I know has fallen off a vehicle at least once. Yet, I don't see them screaming at the sight of a car. Then why snake? How many snake bite events you have personally witnessed? Most of the Indian snakes are not even poisonous.
• Take time out to meditate on Ajnaya Chkara- eyebrow center. Sit in a comfortable posture with spine erect and surrender your awareness to the Ajnaya Chakra. Don't concentrate or focus, you will have a headache. Just as you offer flower at feet of a deity, pour milk at Shiva, with same emotions offer your awareness to Ajnaya Chakra.
• Understand that Nagas (snakes) represent energy current. This current has potential to transform us and hurt us. It depends how we use it.
  Electronic energy ruling our era of Informational Technology is also an energy. If ancient yogis were alive today, they would have put it in category of Nagas.  We must be careful that we are using it for our transformation and not becoming a slave to it.

Suggested Readings:

The other name of Kundalini

Five Tantric Ways of Success