Yog siddhi through yog sadhana

Toil hard with restless efforts and surrender it all in the lotus feet of Divine with firm faith in ‘Him’ this has ever been the Siddhi Mantra of success, a fear free joyful long life and ultimately calm death. It has been one of the basic requirements for switching on to path of yog sadhana popularly known as Ishwar Pranidhana among ‘Panch Niyamas’ (five rules) known as Purity, contentment, devoted effort, study of spiritual text and the self and surrender before Divine discipline. Yogic way of living blesses us with positive energy and positive outlook. This positive outlook adds new life and light to us and we rightly say goodbye to all adversities. The underlying principles of yoga provide a real tool to combat social malice and to find our own way of connecting with our true self. Today, when peace, contentment and joy have disappeared from individual life and increasing stress & tension have occupied his mind, the cheer, beauty and enthusiasm have vanished from human face and he seems to bear the overloading burdens of unfulfilled dreams with fatigued body, yoga is the only answer to rejuvenate and bring back harmony in life. All men, women and even children facing threats of growing stress may best be equipped with inner strength of Viveka to come out of this adversity through regular practice of yoga.

Yogestheh kuru karmani sangam tyektwa Dhananjay,
Siddhyasiddhi samo bhutva samatvam yog uchchyete.

According to Shrimad Bhagavad Gita also this wonderful art of duty with detachment is the key to perfect physical, mental and spiritual health.

Stress and tension that take birth in mind go deep into muscular, nervous, digestive,respiratory, glandular systems and even in blood circulation. Both our body and the mind harbour tensions. Besides regular decay in health it may lead us to acidity, respiratory diseases, congestions, problems of high or low blood pressure, diabetes, hemorrhage and even paralysis or cardiac arrest. The aim of asana, pranayama and mudra is to release these tensions and bring us back to relaxed muscles with healthy body and tense free blissful state of mind. As a result of regular yogabhyas dormant energy is released and the body becomes full of energy & disease free strength, the mind becomes creative, light joyful and balanced. The most important thing is that even the diseased as well as healthy person can derive the matchless benefits of yogabhyas.

In fact yoga is the best possible way to maintain health and happiness in increasingly stressful society. I have experienced that in this fast moving life a few minutes devoted to daily yogabhyas will certainly bring you out of stress and tension and open the treasure of nectar of yoga. I am introducing a very small combination of just three yogic kriyas free from any risk or harm.

Preparations

• Ensure you are light at stomach. You may perform these kriyas empty stomach in early morning or before dinner in the evening.
• Wear comfortable loose fit cotton dress preferably saffron, maroon, yellow or white colour.
• Suspend all involvements and appointments for this half an hour and make up your mind that nothing is going to disturb you and world will still continue to be even if you are no more. Yog sadhna will make you more competent and able to face and deal with prevailing situations still better.
• Concentrate on proper breath and join mental chanting of holy “OM” the ultimate mantra of wellness in this birth and beyond.
• For result oriented yog sadhana make up your mind to depend on pure vegetarian food. Choose your food carefully and remember that your stomach is neither a dust bin nor a grave yard. Eat with contentment and love. It will enrich your food in all respect.
• Learn the art of forgiving and thank God for all goodness you are blessed with.
• Never perform yogabhyas in a hurry. You may practice a little if you feel more packed some day but never miss your sadhana. Such regularity will lead you to encouraging and early results.
• Add Amla, Tulsi & Honey to your daily intake and prefer cow milk in daily use.
• Use a fourfold Blanket, Kusha or Cotton asana for yogabhyas and prefer sitting facing east in the morning and facing west in the evening during yoga workout.

Tadasana

Stand with feet together, body weight equally distributed on both legs and fingers interlocked in front of your chest with palms towards ground. Pull your arms forward while inhaling through nostrils turning the palms to front and then lifting overhead with palms facing sky. Hold the inhaled position as long as you can with complete body stretched upward. Feel your ankles, calves, knee joints, thighs, pelvis, buttocks, trunk, chest, shoulders and arms perfectly stretched and pulled upward. Balance yourself on toes. For better balance practice with eyes open and fixed somewhere in front of you above head level. Lower the heels and bring the hands beside your thighs while exhaling gently. Relax perfectly with feet shoulder wide, breath normally and withdraw all stretches and pulls. This is one round of Tadasana. Perform five to ten such rounds with perfect stretching while inhaling and perfect withdrawal while exhaling.

Benefits

Tadasana allows a free and unobstructed blood supply to entire body and releases all muscular and nervous tension thus enables to deal with stressful possibilities. Entire spine is stretched and loosened in this asana that removes congestion of spinal nerves. Stretching of rectus abdominal muscles and the intestines helps to keep the abdominal muscles and nerves of pregnant women toned up during early two third months of pregnancy. Over and above all this asana develops wonderful physical and mental balance besides adding height in growing children.

Singhasana

Sit on your asana or practice mat in kneeling position on your toes put together and heels wide with knees about two feet apart. Lean a little forward with arch on lower back, chest lifted up and maximum stretch to front of the neck. Place the palms on floor between your knees with fingers pointing towards body. Keep your arms perfectly straight and rest the body on straight arms. Focus your eyes at the eyebrow centre for Shambhavi Mudra. Inhale deep and wide open your mouth allowing the tongue to extend maximum out towards chin. Now produce a clear and steady roar (Singh garjana) of the lion from the throat keeping the mouth wide open. Close your mouth and inhale with nose again. This is one round and you may practice five to ten rounds of Singhasana.

Benefits

Tension is removed from chest and diaphragm with regular practice of Singhasana. It is a wonderful asana for nervous and introverted people. Besides developing a beautiful voice it is an excellent asana for protecting from diseases of throat, nose, ears, eyes and mouth. Practice of Shambhavi Mudra in Singhasana switches on the central nervous system, calms the mind and besides removing emotional stress and anger it develops concentration and mental stability. It retards degeneration of pineal gland and balances the emotional balance. Strong pressure on the palms helps to relieve stress and tension, improves blood supply and tones up the nerves.

Nadi shodhan pranayam

Sit in Padmasana with left leg on right thigh and right leg on left thigh, both knees touching the floor, spine firm and straight and spine, neck and head in straight line. Rest your arms comfortably in the lap with relaxed elbows in Brahmanjali Mudra (with left palm resting on right one). Check your posture it must be firm but relaxed. Those who cannot sit in Padmasana they may sit in any comfortable meditation posture preferably Siddhasana, Swastikasana or Sukhasana. Under special circumstances it can be practiced sitting with straight back in chair. Control the flow of breath with thumb and ring finger of right hand by alternately pressing on the nostril. Index, middle and little finger will remain relaxed and comfortably folded while performing pranayam.

1. First step

   Relax yourself with eyes gently closed and rhythmic yogic breathing for a few minutes. Close the right nostril with right thumb. Inhale and exhale through left nostril with perfect awareness and normal respiration rate five to ten times. Make sure that there is no sound of air pass while performing this pranayam. Now remove pressure of thumb from right nostril and block the flow of breath in left nostril with moderate pressure of right ring finger. Repeat inhalation and exhalation through right nostril as well.

2. Second Step

   This step has become so popular that some people have given it a separate name as Anulom Vilom Pranayam. In this step we control the duration of inhalation and exhalation with mental count of holy mantra ‘OM’. Breathe deeply but without strain through left nostril with mental count of holy “OM” keeping the right nostril closed with right thumb. Close the left nostril with ring finger and exhale through right nostril with same count. Close the right nostril and inhale gently through right nostril with same count and exhale through left nostril in same manner. Avoid forced breathing or rapid counts. Practice 10 such rounds. Go on increasing the mental count of mantra gradually with patience until it reaches around 18. After about 40 days of regular practice, start taking more time in exhalation and gradually make it just double of time taken during inhalation.

3. Third step

   This step makes it a perfect pranayama as ‘Kumbhaka’ or retention is a must in pranayama. We introduce Antar Kumbhaka or internal breath retention in this step. By closing the right nostril inhale very slow through left nostril. Close both nostrils and retain the air in lungs for same duration. Now exhale smoothly with same length of time as the inhalation. As soon as you complete this exhalation, inhale immediately through right nostril keeping the left nostril closed. Retain this breath for same duration and exhale through the left. The utmost important thing in this pranayama is ratio during inhalation, kumbhaka and exhalation. As you gain perfect control over ratio of 1 (Poorak):1(Kumbhak):2(Rechak), go on increasing it slowly till it reaches 1:4:2.

Benefits

With regular practice of Nadi Shodhan Pranayama blood is purified of toxins by an extra supply of oxygen and expulsion of carbon dioxide. Balance of Ida and Pingla nadis in this pranayama cause Sushumna nadi to flow. It leads to proper functioning of left and right sides of brain, concentration, depth in meditation and induces tranquility of mind. By harmonizing the pranic power it reduces the levels of stress and anxiety and clears pranic blockages.

Now ultimate remedy for stress and tension is in your hand. Don’t miss, go deep in yoga practice and come out of your yoga room as a stress and tense free cheerful personality bearing never failing smile even under all adversities.