SOHYAA - Kundalini Yoga Practice, Way to Enlightenment

Kriyas are a set of exercises done in a particular sequence to work on a specific theme. There are a wide range of Kriyas available, each refined over thousands of years to optimize their effectiveness. Kriyas utilize all the available Kundalini Yoga mechanisms to work their magic. They employ asans (postures), movement, pranayam (breathing exercises), bandhas (body locks), mantras (sound vibrations), mudras (hand positions), laya yoga (yoga of rhythm and sound), mental focus and meditation to do their work.

Dynamic movement and asans bring expanding and contracting pressure via multiple angles to various areas of the body, this is accompanied with powerful pranayams, the combined effect of which is that the target regions are saturated with highly charged and oxygenated blood. This nutrient rich blood fills the capillaries forcing them to discharge toxins and other harmful elements, which are then eliminated, neutralized or expelled by the body. The health of the region thus improves and the nerves fire more completely, the glands and organs are invigorated and regain their natural voltage and secretion levels are returned to a condition of strength and vitality.

The key above is the removal of blockages (granthis) that is taking place on many levels of the organism thus facilitating the flow of energy. There are Kriyas designed for working on almost every part of the human system (Immune, Glandular, Circulatory, Digestive, Nervous, Respiratory, Sexual, etc…), working on our various traits and characteristics (Awareness, Intuition, Willpower, Confidence, Compassion, Charisma, etc…) and also for healing many different types of ailments and diseases. Lets now see how this ties in with the Chakra (energy vortex) system.

There are 7 primary chakras that lie all along the spine from the base to the crown of the head. Associated with each chakra are the primary nerve junctions and organs of that region. Furthermore, each chakra is responsible for certain traits and characteristics that make up our personality. When we strengthen and rejuvenate the nerves and organs in a particular region, we are in fact activating these energy centers that reside there and are thus working on ourselves not only at a physical level, but also at an emotional and mental level (by affecting our traits and characteristics). Practiced over time, the chakras become charged and come into balance with each other, bringing us into physical, emotional and mental well being. Again, it should be noted that the work being done is primarily about dissolving granthis (blockages) in these regions which introduce disease and imbalance into the system by preventing the chakras from functioning at their optimum level. Finally, let see how this relates to Kundalini Shakti.

Kundalini is energy. It is the fundamental energy whose flow through the organism allows for all its systems to operate, at all levels of consciousness. It is the energy of awareness, it can be said that where your awareness is, that is where Kundalini is flowing or that where Kundalini is flowing is where your awareness is. To awaken Kundalini means to dissipate blockages in the gross and subtle systems in your being and allow for greater and greater flow of energy and awareness. As blockages are cleared trapped energy is released and pathways are cleared. Kundalini then is able to flow freely though those regions, healing, nourishing, rejuvenating and balancing them.

The dissipating of blockages can also be thought of as the clearing away of the subconscious mind, the collection of unresolved emotional and physical disturbances, where lies the root of many of our attachments and fears. So overall Kundalini Yoga is a system by which one, through the process of dissolving the past, allows the infinite to shine through into the present.

Kundalini Awakening:

I am going to describe some of the physical symptoms my students or I have felt due to kundalini awakening. I know there are many emotional and mental symptoms as well, and you are welcome to share those with us in the comments section below. I am grouping the experiences into 3 categories, common, uncommon and rare, according to what I have observed.

Common Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

Tingling in the body and brain region. Also sometimes described as ants walking, tickling energy or flushes of energy. The brain being flushed with energy is quite pleasant :-).

Heat or cold in the system, or running along various channels and chakra centers.

Fluttering or twitching of muscles.

Pinching or burning in various regions of the body or brain.

Uncommon Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

Pressure in the Third Eye Region (Ajna Chakra). This is pressure, tingling or other sensation in the center of the forehead. Can go on for years (14 years and counting so far for me). Caution: If the pressure, due to certain practices, intensifies to uncomfortable levels you feel are “immense”, you should cease that practice and consult a competent kundalini yoga teacher.

Sudden bursts of energy anywhere in the body. These are almost always short lived, from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Spontaneous yoga asans or kundalini yoga movements. They may come on spontaneously, or they may take over, as if on auto-pilot when one is practicing Kundalini Shakti rising up and elongating the spine.

Incredible feeling of love and desire for your partner (not ordinary lust, alcohol induced or otherwise :-). Usually comes upon you spontaneously, deep in the night. Sex feels like it’s the first such experience and the intense feelings of attraction emanate from somewhere beyond yourself.

Unfortunately, pain in the lower back, back of the neck and headaches.

Rare Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

Experience of divine light within. Very intense light, usually pure white and incredibly beautiful. I call it the Radiation of the Lord.

Tremendous vibratory energy (sometimes feels like it’s coming from the inner ears). Very blissful, but can intensify to the point where it would completely overwhelm your consciousness if you let it.

Spontaneous bliss, intensely pleasurable.

This one is a bit scary. Complete paralysis of the body. Complete immobility and rigidity takes place. As with the all consuming vibratory energy, it requires some courage to allow.

This one is exceedingly rare. I have experienced it only once in my life, and have only ever read about it being experienced by one other – the master of awareness, the arms and legs churn like that of a baby. It happens naturally and cannot be simulated. It is also intensely pleasurable and quite a remarkable experience.

Via: School of Holistic Yoga and Ayurveda Goa

Yogic Diet: Food and Consciouness

You are what you eat: Eat like a Yogi not Like a Bhogi!!!

Yogic Diet and Path of Yoga

A diet that is wholly conducive to the practice of Yoga and spiritual progress is called “Yogic Diet.” Diet has intimate connection with the mind. Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food. Sage Uddalaka instructs his son Svetaketu “Food, when consumed becomes threefold: the gross particles become excrement, the middling ones flesh and the fine ones the mind. My child, when curd is churned, its fine particles raise upwards, form butter. Thus, my child, when food is consumed, the fine particles which rise upwards form the mind. Hence verily the mind is food.”Again you will find in the Chhandogya Upanishad: “By the purity of food one becomes purified in his inner nature; by the purification of his inner nature he verily gets memory of the Self; and by the attainment of the memory of the Self, all ties and attachments are severed.”

Diet is of three kinds’ viz., Sattvic diet, Rajasic diet and Tamasic diet. Milk, barely, wheat, cereals, butter, cheese, tomatoes, honey, dates, fruits, almonds and sugar-candy are all Sattvic foodstuffs. They render the mind pure and calm. Fish, eggs, meat, salt, chillies and asafoetida are Rajasic foodstuffs. They excite passion. Beef, wine, garlic, onions and tobacco are Tamasic foodstuffs. They fill the mind with anger, darkness and inertia.

Food plays an important part in meditation. Different foods produce different effects on different compartments of the brain. For purposes of meditation, the food should be light, nutritious and Sattvic. Milk, fruits, almonds, butter, sugar-candy, green gram, Bengal gram soaked in water overnight, bread, etc., are all very helpful in meditation. Thed (a kind of root available in abundance in the Himalayan regions) is very Sattvic. Tea and sugar should be used in moderation. It is better if you can give them up entirely. Dried ginger-powder can be mixed with milk and taken frequently. Indian Yogis like this very much. Another health-giving stuff is myrobalan of the yellow variety which can be chewed now and then. In the Vagbhata it is represented as even superior to a nourishing mother. It takes care of the body better than a mother does. A mother gets annoyed with her child sometimes, but myrobalan always keeps an even temperament and is cheerful and enthusiastic in attending to the well-being of human beings. It preserves semen and stops all nocturnal emissions. Potato, boiled without salt or baked on fire, is also an excellent food for practitioners.

A beginner should be careful in choosing food-stuffs of Sattvic nature. Food exercises tremendously vast influence over the mind. You can see it obviously in everyday-life. It is very difficult to control mind after a heavy, sumptuous, indigestible, rich meal. The mind runs, wanders and jumps like an ape all the time. Alcohol causes great excitement of the mind.

Evolution is better than revolution. You should not make sudden changes in anything, particularly so in matters pertaining to food and drink. Let the change be slow and gradual. The system should accommodate it without any trouble. Nature never moves by leaps.

Aspirants should be able to make out a cheap and well-balanced diet from only a certain articles of diet. What is needed is a well-balanced diet, not a rich diet. A rich diet produces diseases of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. A well-balanced Yogic diet helps a man to grow, to turn out more work, maintains his body-weight, and keeps up the efficiency, stamina and a high standard of vim and vigor.

Where can Sannyasins in India, who live on public alms get a well-balanced diet? On some days they get pungent stuffs only, on some other days sweet meats only and yet on some other day sour things only. But they are able to draw the requisite energy through power of meditation. This unique Yogic method is unknown to the medical profession and to the scientists. Whenever the mind is concentrated, a divine wave bathes all the tissues with a divine elixir. All the cells are renovated and vivified.

The vast majority of persons dig their graves through their teeth. No rest is given to the stomach. After all, man wants very little on this bountiful earth—a few loaves of bread, a little butter and some cold water. This will amply suffice to keep the life going. People, on the contrary, stuff their stomachs with all sorts of things, eatable and uneatable, on account of the force of habit and passions.

A Yogic student who spends his time wholly in pure meditation wants very little food. One or one and a half seers of milk and some fruits per day will quite suffice. But a Yogi who ascends the platform for vigorous active work wants abundant nutritious food. Moderation is Yoga. Eat to live and not live to eat. Follow this golden rule and be happy. You can then devote more time to Yoga practices.

Source: Yogi Pratik Blog

Ayurveda Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy is a combination of science and art which provides a relaxing experience by artistic hand strokes on the body to rejuvenate the mind and body and eliminate stress scientifically. Massage is an excellent preventive treatment essential for the maintenance of health and fitness. Prevention is always far better than cure. Nowadays, people of all ages are increasingly considering Ayurveda therapies as a way to encourage an improved sense of well-being and as a means to a long, happy and harmonious life free of illness.

Ayurvedic massage therapy works on both the physical and mental levels, transmitting a life-giving energy that assists all systems of the body to repair and renew themselves. Ayurvedic massage practitioners concentrate on the subtle energy points (like in Shiatsu), that respond to gentle physical manipulation, and with the needs of the different body types. The author guides both the novice and the practitioner through each step of the full body and explains which massage oils and massage techniques work best for particular body types. Massage involves the manipulation of the soft tissue structures of the body to prevent pain, discomfort, muscle spasm, and stress; and, to promote health and wellness.

Massage Therapy is defined as “a profession in which the practitioner applies manual techniques, and may apply adjunctive therapies, with the intention of positively affecting the health and well-being of the client”. Therapeutic massage improves functioning of the circulatory, lymphatic, muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems and may improve the rate at which the body recovers from injury and illness. Massage Therapy operates on the foundation of different types of strokes and oils that work on stress accumulated areas. 

Overall Health Benefit of Massage Therapy

• Massage therapy and bodywork increases blood circulation thus enabling the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
• A therapist can render massage that stimulates the lymph system, the body’s natural defense, against toxic invaders.
• Helps in releasing endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller.
• Is being incorporated into treatment for chronic illness, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain.
• Relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication.
• Contributes to shorter labor and reduced tearing for expectant mothers, as well as lessening the need for medication, minimizing depression and anxiety, and shortening hospital stays.
• Can relax tense and tightened muscles. Massage therapist often render massage to treat low-back pain and neck pain.
• Reduces overall stress. It helps the body’s stress response by lowering levels of stress hormones such as cortisol.
• Massage therapy could also treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and tendinitis

Physical Benefit of Massage Therapy

• Helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness
• Fosters faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments; reduces pain and swelling; reduces formation of excessive scar tissue
• Reduces muscle spasms
• Provides greater joint flexibility and range of motion
• Enhances athletic performance; Treats injuries caused during sport or work
• Reduces blood pressure
• Helps relieve tension-related headaches and effects of eye-strain
• Enhances the health and nourishment of skin
• Improves posture Strengthens the immune system
• Treats musculoskeletal problems
• Rehabilitation post operative
• Rehabilitation after injury

Emotional Benefit of Massage Therapy

• Promotes a relaxed state of mental alertness
• Improves ability to monitor stress signals and respond appropriately
• Enhances capacity for calm thinking and creativity
• Satisfies needs for caring nurturing touch
• Fosters a feeling of well-being
• Reduces levels of anxiety
• Creates body awareness
• Increases awareness of mind-body connection

Source: School of Holistic Yoga And Ayurveda Goa