Sudhir
Journey of Yoga

The Journey of Yoga From rustic forest hermitages to downtown Yoga Studios

In some of the early texts, the yogis that are mentioned are not necessarily the clean-living, health-conscious and physically toned practitioners we would recognize by that word today. The holy itinerants who practised yoga, generally known as sadhus, seem to have been raggle-taggle gypsies who wandered the earth freely, unshackled by convention and in pursuit of spiritual ecstasy, which they would get wherever they could find it.

Journey of Yoga
Abhishek M
Akrodha

Nothing works like practising patience when dealing with difficult people or situation. To practice patience is to hold back when you want to say something nasty or feel overpowered by someone's irritable presence. But holding back creates a pressure-cooker situation where you keep stuffing anger within.

Akrodha
Abhishek M
Sankalp 2021

Sankalp is a personal vow - a firm resolve to achieve something or to follow a specific path. An understanding of the motivation behind your "Sankalp" is necessary. If your resolution is only dealing with cosmetic changes in your life, it may not uphold the work, time, and energy needed to accomplish the same. However, if a Sankalp's inspiration is rooted in a yearning to change your life for the better, then all the grind needed to see through your resolution seems worth it.

Sankalp 2021

Finding Joy in Caring for the Strays

Finding Joy in Caring for the Strays

As I have been involved with the feeding of strays in the City of Joy allow me to share with you some of my musings… Many of you are already involved in feeding the strays and are well aware of what is being shared here. Those wanting to get started may perchance find some of my observations helpful.

Return of the Normalcy

Return of the Normalcy

Honestly, as I lived through the conundrum of city life for the last many years, with its maddening pace and running around, I would often wonder: Is this normal and natural? And I am once again wondering at-the-moment: Is not life more normal and natural now in some ways!

Make hope work for you

Make hope work for you

We all hope that one or more aspects of our lives will get better. It could be our jobs, relationships or simply our appearance or body-weight. We want to plan everything and control every facet of our lives to leave no room for ambiguity. For our perfectly curated life uncertainty is the enemy.

Silence as an activity

There is a complete disruption of our lives at this moment with fear and uncertainty looming large. What is comforting though is that many of us are trying to stay positive attempting a skill or hobby. Along with new skills, we could consider practising silence as another activity. "Maun Vrat" or vow of silence has been exercised by spiritual seekers all over the world. Silence requires application, discipline and vigilance.

For those who want to experiment with silence, I am sharing a simple plan. Decide on the number of hours (don't exceed 2-3 hours a day), practice it every day for the next 14 days and if possible do it at the same time of the day.

Divide the silent period into the following practices. Include practice of mindfulness at the beginning of your "silent" period. Be aware of your breath and feelings, it will help you steady your nerves and channelize your fears. Waves after waves of thoughts will come and go, try to acknowledge them and not weave stories around it. You will find calm at the end of this exercise. Next, we could incorporate spiritual studies and contemplation. Ancient texts do explain our disturbances. When there are so many conflicting views it is good to go back to something that has stood the test of times. In silence, creative energy has a better chance to flow and our efficiency can be many folds due to very little self-inflicted distraction. So, honing a skill or a hobby in silence should be next on our list during this period of silence. Lastly, add routine duties to your silent period. Chores are necessary, and in silence, you perform them with full concentration and without complaint. In these times of crisis, there is a lot of nervous energy, anxiety and restlessness.

Talking all the time brings out the negativity within us. Our family and friends right now need our calm assured self. Practice constructive silence, it reassures everyone around you.

#silence #personalgrowth #mindfulness

Kiran Lama-ji from Bodhgaya has voice recorded this blog post for easy listening.

War against Inertia

War against Inertia

There are multiple reasons that one may want to practice Yoga postures, but aspirants achieve varying degree of success over a period of time. Some practice Yoga with metronomic regularity while many alternate and have in-and-out relationship. A few give up too soon, without even getting started… The chief determinant in physical and mental repair and transformation is right effort and the spirit of perseverance

Purification

Purification

Purification (Shaucha) is a central aim of all the yogic practices and is the first principle of self-discipline (Niyama) in Patanjali’s eight-limbed (Ashtanga) approach. We are constantly exposed to toxins from our air, water, cleaning products, processed foods and emotional toxins induced by stress.  Yoga purifies the body and mind by stimulating and purifying the lymphatic system, circulatory system, respiratory system, by bringing health to our digestive tract, calming the mind and stimulating the internal organs.

Blessed Kumbh

Blessed Kumbh

Here we are in 2019, Elon Musk is envisioning Space flight, and at Prayagraj over 100 million seekers are expected to converge to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. It seems a little insane but out of this 100 million, may be 20-30% will be investing every rupee that they possibly have to participate in the Kumbha Mela with the hope to purge their sins and attain salvation from misery and suffering that is inherent in the samsara.