Yoga Secrets for a Better Life

Introduction

What is Yoga? When asked, most of us think of physical exercises (Asanas) and may be breathing exercises (Pranayama). But do you know about the primary reason for the origin of Yoga, from the ancient sage Patanjali?

The more popular yoga today is only one type of Yoga call ‘Hatha Yoga’ which primarily focuses on health of the body both physical & mental.

People following a strict regime with Hatha Yoga are blessed with long & healthy lives. Recently earlier this year, we all saw a healthy & active swamy Sivananda, age 125 years, receiving Padma Shri from the Indian president. Yoga is not unique only to Indians, Turkish yoga guru Kazim Gurbuz?is 95 years but looks around 50 years, moved to Yoga to heal himself of spinal injuries after a severe car crash. Tao Porchon-Lynch, the world’s oldest professional yoga teacher died recently aged 101 years.

While Yoga-Asanas have exceptional benefits on our health, but it is not what I’m going to write about today. The first ‘Yoga’ or union scripture, originally written by Patanjali as Sutras or hymns, did not focus just on the exercise aspects but a complete evolution of the body.

Patanjali defines yoga as “chitta vritti nirodhah” — the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. By calming this mental chatter, we can begin to yoke; cultivating the natural union within ourselves so that we find peace and bliss.?He mentioned 8 steps or limbs of Yoga which are necessarily to be followed if we want to follow the path of Yoga and connect with the Universe or merge with the divine power.

Secrets of yoga

When I briefly came across the esoteric text ‘Yoga Sutras’ by Patanjali, I was blown away by the powerful knowledge. I took these more as an ancient esoteric scripture. Something true Yogis will follow, giving them immense powers, eventually leading to union with the universe or ‘the source’. I also wondered whether this knowledge could be helpful to a common person like me who has family, social obligations, a job to do, house to run?

One fine day, it suddenly struck me, it is a secret telling much more than what I could comprehend in my limited perspective. Strangely, whenever I seemed to get stuck in life or feel displeasure, pain, etc, I could somehow relate the source to one of the aspects from these limbs. May be that is why, Yoga is said to be a ‘way of life'. A way to evolve life, to become a better human being, but then how could this ancient text be relevant to us in our modern socially impacted life? We are going to explore this in the current article.

The Eight limbs of Yoga

A ‘yogi’ is required to follow the seven steps to reach the eighth state of ‘Samadhi’. Following the Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana takes us to the final step of Samadhi. Personally, I found the first 5 limbs to be most relevant to a common person like me and these are the ones which I will try to explain further in the article.

Yama

‘Yama’ is duties or ‘bridle’, a restrain for us towards others, society. It shows us a valuable way of living in the world, suggesting behavioural aspects for a healthier & peaceful life thereby improving our relationship with others. There are five ‘Yama’ for us to follow.

Ahimsa – or non-violence, could be both physical & mental, an excellent means to practice non-judgment. It was the biggest tool used by Mahatma Gandhi during India’s freedom struggle. Take a minute to introspect, are you troubled because you got angry & shouted at someone, or may be intended to abuse someone verbally/physically? Maybe you received it from someone and now keeping the fire inside? A fire inside will burn us only and has no effect on the person outside. Is Ahimsa something you need to work on for today?

To cool the fire, take three long deep breath - inhaling with nose & slowly exhaling with mouth, pickup a glass of water, sit down, show gratitude to water to keep you alive (you are 70% water), say ‘thank you’ softly and drink it slowly - sip by sip. Observe how the magic unfolds.

Satya – or truthfulness, both in words & action. Yep, we all know we should follow it. But it can be used both in a sharp or soft way, how do you use it? Take a minute to introspect. Did you try to hide something, was it for your purpose or wellbeing of someone? Where is it hiding in you? Can you gather the courage today to let it out softly to clear this Yama?

Asteya – non-stealing or intentionally not taking something, which is not yours or not given to you willingly. It could be an object or even someone’s emotions (like oppressing someone by taking their power/respect). Is it something you need to clear today? Give back whatever is not yours. Do you expect someone to behave or work based on what you think is right? Just for a while, accept & let them be what they are truly.

Brahmacharya – chastity, also interpreted as fidelity for our partner. Restraining our sexual desires towards someone we do not commit. Is it something which is troubling you? Follow the previous three Yama and see if they help to you come to an answer on what do.

Aparigraha – non-coveting, non-possessing, or non-attachment. It is important to let go what you think is yours. Attachment to the worldly things, object, food or person is cause of pain & agony in most cases. We came empty handed and that is how we are going to go. Keep only what is very essential. Let go of the attachment, may be just for today and see the results.

This concludes our Yamas. Did you find something which is troubling you? Yama is the place to look ‘outside’. Next, we move our eyes inwards with Niyama.

Niyama

Niyama or duties directed towards self or inner observances. They are most helpful to build our character, our core personality in the world. There five ‘Niyama’ mentioned in the texts.

Saucha – cleanliness. It is not only about cleaning our physical body, which is important too, but also about cleaning ourselves from inside. It means the clearing of negative thoughts towards self or others, any negative emotions which we could be keeping inside us – anger, annoyance, anxiety, or even bad habits which we may have picked up.

Are you feeling clean today? Need to let go of a negative emotion? Take three long deep breath, inhaling with nose & slowly exhaling with mouth. Let go of your negative emotions with each of those exhales.

Santosha – contentment. There is no end to our ‘wants’. We work hard all our lives to fulfil it. Do we become happy after getting it or does it simply leads to another one? How much money do you need to become rich? Is there a number or it depends on our needs? Something to think for you today. What are your needs and what are the greed(s)?

Tapas – discipline. This Niyama helps us to cultivate self-discipline in us. In the deeper sense, it is not just daily exercises or strict sleeping habits or abstinence. It is listening to our inner self. To know what our body needs to be healthy – what to eat, how much to eat, what healthy habits to follow, finding that passion inside to connect to the higher world, connect to divine.?Take out a few minutes today and think, how disciplined is your life, do you give away to addictions, laziness? Can you think of just one bad habit which you can give away today? What is your inner passion, something you would love to do till the end of your life, something to give back to society?

Svadhyaya - reading oneself, self reflection or introspection. It is probably the most important step in the evolution of 'self' conciousness. It could very well seem very difficult to many of us, more focussed on the outer world than inner. For me this has been one of most important Niyama, which has helped me raise my awareness, taking me from reaction to a more thoughtful action, understanding & changing my personality to a better self. Do you know yourself? Today is your day to meet your innerself. Meditation is one of the best way to do that, or you can simply sit at a quiet place, undisturbed. Introspect on your actions, but without any judgement, today is not to judge you but just understand yourself. Good luck meeting yourself.

Ishvara Pranidhana – surrendering to a higher power. Are you in full control of your life? Has it been exactly how you wanted it to be? No one on the Earth till today, including the most powerful, have experienced such life, are you any different? You cannot control what is the result of your doing but only the doing. The result could be god’s grace, your luck or a gift from universe.

Are you trying to control your life? Things not going your way - troubling you? Just let it go today. Now is probably not the right time for it, universe knows the best for you. The right moment will come, have patience, and surrender to the higher power.

Every person on Earth comes with their own personality, destinty & future. You can facilitate kids but not control their life. If kids' future on your mind, facilitate them well with the ability to learn, ability to take decisions with right values & ethics, and let the higher power guide them in future.

This concludes the five Niyamas. Did you find anything which is troubling you from inside? Do you identify with any of the Niyama which can help you? Start today.

Asana

Asana or ‘seat to get prepared’ gets you ready for the next phases of Yoga on the physical aspects. We are in this world with a physical body, if that is not healthy, we cannot enjoy any other aspects of our life. We need to exercise for our physical health & all aspects of the body.

Is health the cause of concern for you? Headaches, back pain, leg pain, mostly down with cough/cold, Covid19 didn’t go well with your body. Start working on it asap. Exercising & stretching will help you maintain your physical mobility & eating healthy food with nutrients (& supplements) can help you strengthen your immunity. Yoga-asanas are a great holistic healer, many can vouch for it, you just need an ear to listen and a will to start.

Pranayama

‘Prana’, Qi or life-force is what drives our body, the essence - which is keeping us alive, we often relate it with our breath. It is not only responsible for the oxygen but also many physical functions and emotional aspects of our body. In Chinese medicine, diseases are result of stagnated Qi which could be result of a specific negative emotion help inside us.

Are you feeling stress, anxiety & have trouble staying grounded? Notice, are your breaths usually short/shallow? Do you frequently catch cold especially congestion? You need to strengthen your lungs, the commander of Qi. Early morning outside, when the air is fresh, best to do Pranayama as shown by any Yoga guru like BKS Iyengar or Baba Ramdev. If you are not interested in Yoga, simply do stretches after your usual exercises followed by deep diaphragmic (or stomach) breathing. Open your hands, stretch & stretch them back, then slightly bend backwards with a deep breath - filling your lungs. Do it daily and you see your overall health improving.

Pratyahara

Pratya means to ‘withdraw’ & ‘ahara’ refers to anything we ‘take in’ by ourselves from our senses such as sights, sounds, touch and smells. Pratyahara or withdrawal from our senses is the first step of Yoga where we start going inwards from the world, we live in.

What does it mean to withdraw from senses? For a yogi, it is the first step in meditation where in anything from the outer world is quietened thereby focussing on the inner world. What can it mean for us? It is the withdrawal from the pleasures we seek from these senses.

Are you craving for a smoke, a drink, even a bite of chocolate or may be a healthy protein bar or just plain black coffee. The issue here is not the food but the craving. Can you let it go at the time when you crave it the most?

Are you busy all the time? Switch on the Television to watch something whenever free? Is it the sense of sight which needs to rest? Or maybe it is music you cannot stop. The house seems so creepy when totally quiet. Can you try sitting for 15 minutes with eyes closed in total quietness? Just hmm with eyes closed if bored. Humming is a great exercise for the essential Vegas nerve, which connects brain to all the important organs.

The scent of perfume is just so wonderful. Can’t think of any reason why people wouldn’t use a fragrance. Can you live without it in a party overlooking the various scents around? How worst do you feel in a sweaty bus or a train? Can you ignore it?

Hugging, kissing, holding hands is a lovely way of expressing love. But do you overdo it, crave for it, think about it?

Pratyahara is followed by Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, are more advance practices. We will get to them in future when we are able to follow the previous five.

Points to ponder

It is so intriguing to see how something so ancient could be so much relatable to us in today’s modern time. May it’s only the physical environment which has really changed over the years, but it is the same human being since thousands of years.

But think about it, has all these luxuries in the world increased the overall happiness index in humankind? Maybe Happiness is not from these luxuries & possessions, maybe what we want is something inside us rather than outside. These are some interesting points to ponder and discuss with your friends and family. I would love to hear from you.