Tag Archives: Subconscious Mind

Yoga Nidra and Nidra Yoga – What are they?

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Yoga Nidra, Surya Namaskar, Asana and Pranayama are comprehensively described by Satyananda/Bihar Yoga

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra Meditation is paradoxical to explain because your thinking mind sees its description of being awake while asleep as contradictory. The experience itself is self-explanatory once explored as the contradiction is resolved when you see that it is your thinking mind that relaxes while you remain alert and awake as your native intelligence [some folks call your native intelligence your other than conscious mind, your subconscious mind, your super-conscious mind, and similar names].

The practice is the process of allowing your conscious/thinking mind to relax as it does in Deep Sleep with the distinction that you as a mentally active doer is absent and you as your natural being is present as that which is aware – and that which is aware is Awareness. In this way Yoga Nidra practice is a means to access and abide as your natural Awareness knowingly.

Your mind is an excellent servant and a poor master…

The other self-evident factor of Yoga Nidra practice is that when your thinking mind relaxes you do not lose consciousness as Awareness of sensations and the unfolding of life continues. In other words Awareness is its own knowing and the obvious thing that is absent in this process is the mental noise of your thinking mind as its ongoing chatter.

In this light Yoga Nidra is a meditative practice that facilitates yogic union with Awareness as your native intelligence by allowing your thinking mind to relax[in a certain way it is absorbed or enfolded into your deeper intelligence such that it is no so much absent as silently resting and available to be used as an instrument of your deeper intelligence].

Seeing is Doing

Hopefully you now see that Yoga Nidra does not negate the use of your thinking mind. Its role in the practice is twofold as follows:

  1. it is used prior to the practice to study and understand the process by reviewing information like this article and setting your Resolution and Resolve as directed [these are explained in other materials like 'The Creation Vibration' which is available at http://nidrayoga.com]
  2. and although it silently rests during the practice it is available to be used by Awareness [for example, if an alarm sounds while you are practicing, your thinking mind would be activated by Awareness to use memory of what to do in this situation to ensure your self-preservation and that of your family, etc].

Lastly, you act based on your Awareness. This Truth is consistent for all beings across all states of consciousness. Awareness means seeing in the most comprehensive sense of the word and this can be simply stated as: Seeing is Doing. The proof of this is experientially self-evident which means that you are not being asked to believe anything or to take a leap of faith. It is this active attribute of Awareness that accounts for the acting in all authentic meditation and Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra-1

Sound Body ~ Silent Mind

Yoga Nidra and the Law of Attraction Action

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Yoga Nidra includes what is popularly known as the Law of Attraction. The distinction is that Yoga Nidra has been effectively using this principle by another name for thousands of years to help you set and achieve your goals.

In Yoga Nidra practice the Law of Attraction is your resolution and your intention.

You set your resolution with your conscious mind before you start a the actual relaxation process. It is quite simple as you simply resolve to allow your conscious mind to relax and yet remain aware. In short you are saying that you will be relaxed yet alert.

The best way to understand your intention and therefore the application of the Law of Attraction is to understand functioning as per the relationship between what is called your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. The relationship is like that of a captain of a ship and its crew where your conscious mind is the captain and your subconscious mind is your body as your ship and its activities is your crew.

In the analogy of captain and crew the role of your conscious mind is to set your intention like a captain giving directions to your crew and ship. Then the most important step for your conscious mind (the captain) is to relax and let the crew and ship do as directed.

The inability for the conscious mind as captain is why most people are not able to use the Law of Attraction and the principle behind it effectively. The solution for this huge problem is the relaxation practice of Yoga Nidra.

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Yoga Techniques for Taking the Stress Out of Vacations

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Taking the Stress Out of Vacations

Yoga techniques act as a stress reliever. Yoga techniques help to reduce the stress that rises from our daily activities. Even during vacations people are getting attacked with the outside stressful factors, which can damage a very good vacation period.

Vacation stress is somewhat an aggressive expression but it is real and it can cause serious disturbances and damages. The reasons for getting stress and angry during your vacation are numerous. The reasons could be poor services, awful weather, high charges, crowd, noisy tourists, irritating insects and many more.

In order to avoid the vacation stress, it is better to follow yoga techniques for stress management. Yoga techniques for stress management provides relief by making the body relaxed for the maximum flow of energy through yoga poses, breathing exercises that give energy by pranayama and peacefulness to the mind by meditation.

Yoga techniques provide numerous ways of reducing the effects of these negative elements in the form of meditation, sakshin, pratyahara and pranayama.

Meditation is a suggested practice when vacation stress factors become active and it helps to avoid these vacation stress factors. Meditation is one of the five principles of yoga. It is one of the important yoga techniques to achieve mental stability and health.

There are some simple techniques of meditation that can be used by people to combat vacation stress problems. To have progress in meditation it is more important to meditate at least once a day.

• Meditation helps you get ready for any possible stressful conditions. It also helps during and after combating these obstacles.

• Sakshin is a separate state of consciousness that provides you a way of getting a better understanding of the realities around you.

• Pratyahara is a state of peace that is achieved by reducing all outside interferences to an optimum level. By using pratyahara, the mind gets tranquil and relaxed, focusing towards the inside of your own body.

• Pranayama helps in increasing the ability to calm yourself nearly in any difficult conditions by regulating your breathing and hence balancing the energies in your body.

It is more important to get prepared for any type of stress factors that arises in a vacation period. Expecting the probability of getting a problem doesn’t imply worrying about it before it arises. It only means that you need to have a good understanding over the situation and the problem that arises.

Always, you will achieve much better consequences by dealing an issue with a peaceful and clear mind, rather than acting on an inclination.

It is better to “step out” of your body and see yourself in that particular situation, when a problem occurs. Impartiality is hard to attain, particularly when it comes to your own self, nevertheless it helps to get a balanced point of view on situations or things.

Stimulating an action by the strategy of an objective mind will illustrate more successful than jumping in head initially into a situation. There are some thoughts such as, it will be hard to help myself from these situations, need to eliminate completely from your own thoughts and dictionary.

It will be great if you take control of your inner self because it helps you to have control over the outside things of your body in the surrounding world. You must primarily feel the body’s reaction to an outside element and react only after getting a clear judgment of the things to do.

Breathing exercises provides a great help in relaxing an impulsive spirit and getting peacefulness to your mind in a particular event or situation. It is necessary for you to interrupt the events of your subconscious mind before you take control of a situation.

Early responses are speedy and often very hard to evade, however it is necessary that, with a regular practice of yoga techniques, you find a constant feeling of control over your reactions.

The first reaction to a negative element of vacation stress can be either combating back or escaping. In any of these cases, there will be a significant amount of tensions that fills your body, and it could stay for days or weeks until you manage to get over these unfortunate events.

A peaceful and balanced response will have more chances of removing any kind of tension before it even gets an opportunity to start rising. Consider that the most vacations are short and do not afford to waste half of your vacation period in a negative mood. So, yoga techniques and meditation are there to recharge your body energy, and do not try to waste your vacations on worthless stress and tensions.

Nishanth Reddy is an author and publisher of many health related websites. For more information on yoga, benefits of yoga, yoga exercises, yoga techniques and yoga postures, visit his website:
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The Fourfold Yoga II

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Union via Wisdom ( Jnana Yoga )
Jnana means Wisdom & Jnana Yoga means Union with the Divine via Wisdom.
Wisdom has been defined as organised Life. Wisdom and knowledge are different. Wisdom is a special kind of knowledge. What is the use of knowing everything if one doesn’t know the Self ? Knowledge of the Absolute Self alone is Wisdom. ( Sa Vidya Tan Mathir Yaya ).
The Quantum Field Theory
Quantum Mechanics postulate that the finest state of matter is the Vaccum State. The universal sea of matter exist in the Vaccum State. It is defined as the Field of all possibilities. This Vaccum State of the Quantum Field

corresponds to the Indestructible Being of transcendental philosophy.
Matter was studied and pursued till one day it vanished into energy. De Broglie’s Matter-Wave Hypothesis postulates that the electron is both a particle and a wave. This wave like nature of matter has taken Physics into the realm of Metaphysics, which hath already declared that matter is a form of Energy and Energy is a form of Consciousness.
The Sevenfold Chord of Being ( The Septenary Principles )
The Universal Substance, by which all this is pervaded, manifests with Its septenary principles with Matter as the lowest term and pure Being as the highest.
Matter ( Annam )

Life ( Prana )

Mind ( Mana )

Supermind ( Vijnana )

Existence ( Sat )

Consciousness ( Chit )

Bliss ( Ananda )
These are what the ancient sages meant by the sevenfold mode of cosmic existence, the septenary principles through which the Universal expresses itself.
These, then, are the seven colours of the light of Divine Consciousness, the seven rays of the Infinite, and by them the Spirit has filled in the canvass of his own selfexistence conceptually extended, woven of the objective warp of Space & the subjective woof of Time, the myriad wonders of his self-creation, great, simple & symmetrical in its primal laws and vast framings.The Light, the Sound is One;their action is sevenfold. ( Aurobindo )
How to overcome the Ego
All knowledge is threefold (” Thraigunya Vishaya Veda “). In Freudian Psycho-analysis we have three impulses, Id, Ego and Supergo. The Vedantic Satwa, Rajas and Thamas correspond to these impulses.

The mind is always gripped by these three impulses. Sometimes we are Rajasic ( worldly ) and go after wealth. When intense anger and other negative emotions grip us, we are Thamasic. When divine qualities like Love and Peace influence us, we are Satwic ( divine ).
The Ego with its ten heads ( symbolised as the ten-headed Ravana ) is the major block in attaining Self_Actualisation. The ten heads of the Ego are Lust,Anger,Pride, Avarice, Sloth, Covetousness, Attachment, Mind, Intellect, Conceit & Egoistic Mentality. Only when the ten heads of the Ego are removed can we hope to get Self-Realisation. ( Symbolically only when the Ravana in us is destroyed ).
When we do our yoga, we will be assailed by three type of Ego. Rajasic ( wordly ), Thamasic ( bestial ) and Satwic ( noble ). In order to overcome the three types of Ego, we are given certain commandments.
” Ma the Sanghostha karmani ” – (Let there be not in you any attachment to inaction. ) This commandment is given so that we can overcome the Thamasic ( bestial ) ego.
” Ma Karma Phala Heturbhoo ” – (“Dont expect any reward”) This commandment is given to protect us from the Rajasic ( wordly ) ego, which always expects rewards for work done.
“Ubhe Sukruta Dushkrute ” ( “Be beyond good and evil ” ) This commandment is given to us to overcome the Satwic Ego, for one should not hang on to Punya ( divine merit ).
In other words, during the process of Yoga we will be assailed by all sorts of negative thoughts. Our aim is to identify with the Source of all thought, the Self. We will find, as we progress on the path of yoga, that these negative thoughts leave us slowly and steadily. Conquering our negative aspect is not easy. The negative elements in man are the true villains. Alone, powerful, cruel are the dark and dreadful forces that profit from the reign of Night and Ignorance and they dont want any change in the body. We have to annihilate them one by one.
In tragic life, God wot

No villains need be, passions spin the plot

We are betrayed by what is false within !
The entire Vedic wisdom is contained in one word ” Transcend “.

Transcend both pain & sorrow, transcend the triune attributes of Nature.

Transcend negativity !.
More information about Transcendental Philosophy & Yoga can be had from http://www.astrologiavedica.com/html/yogamain.htm
We are always confronted by the negative qualities. Perfection has to be worked out, harmony has to be established. Ignorance, limitation, sorrow, – these are the negative qulities as pitted against Knowledge, Infintiy & Bliss. These negative qualities are merely the first terms of the formula – unintelligible, till we have worked out the wider terms and reintepreted the formulary. They are merely the initial discords of the Musician’s harmony. To rise from the Negative to the Positive, from Ignorace to Divine Knowledge, from limitation to the Illimitable, from sorrow to Bliss Infinite, from Matter to revealed Spirit, is Yoga. To achieve this end for ourselves and for our brethren is the aim of our Yogic practice.

- ( Aurobindo)
Wise men like Ramana Maharshi advises us to annihilate the Mind. For it is that which gives you pleasure that gives you pain. The root cause of all bondage and all sorrow is Mind ! Annihilate the mind by thinking on its real nature. The true Source of the Mind is the “I”, the primal Thought. Because of the Primal Thought, the mind exists! He advises us to enquire into the nature of the Self. The thought ” Who am I ” will lead

us to the annihilation of the mind. This thought ” Who am I ” is like the the burning log which will burn all other logs!
I am pure Being, by whom all things be !
The Negative Method in the Upanishads
In the Upanishads Reality is defined by a series of negatives because the Negative is less limiting than the Positive.
This is known as the Neti ( “Not this ” ) method. We deny the Finite in order to affirm the Infinite.
We say this is my shirt. That means that I am not the shirt. Similarly we declare my hands, my legs etc which means I am not the hands or legs. Then who am I ? The body is mine, therefore ” I ” am not the body. Then who is this “I” ? We therefore apply Intuitive Logic and deny everything. All these are mine, but I am not they. A state will come, during this process of denial, that I cannot deny one thing. What is this thing which I cannot deny? That which I cannot deny is “I”, the Self, the Consciousness !
The finite is negated to affirm the Infinite.
The Superconscient as the Base
The Superconscious Mind and not the subconscious is the base of all Life.
Let us analyse why the Superconscient is considered as the foundation.
Deep within the five sheaths which compose our being – the material, the the vital,the mental, the gnostic & the blissful – is the Absoulte Self , the divine component in us which Jesus referred to as the Kingdom of

Heaven ( ” The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and whomsover shall know himself shall find it ” ).
The dreadful forces or ” hostile forces” as they are known – lust, greed, anger, jealousy, sloth & covetousness – lie in the dark caverns of the Subconscious mind. Wisdom declares that they are our inner enemies.
Man houses dangerous forces in his house

The Titan, the Fury and the Djinn

Lay in the subsconscient’s cavern pit

And the Beast moved in his antre den
The Enemy means who ? Our inner enemies which lie in the Subconscient!
Socrates is poisoned. Jesus crucified. Bruno burnt alive. This phenomenon is known in Yogic Psychology as the downward pull of the mind, when the dark forces that lie in the subconscient triumph ( in the collective

subsconscient ). The reverse phenomenon, the upward pull of the mind is that which pulls us from death to immortality and realises in this body of earth the luminous Kingdom of Heaven ( Self-Actualisation ).
The four faculties of the Intuitive Reason – Revealation, Inspiration, Intuition and Illumination are all the properties of the Superconscious Mind and can be experienced if we make ourselves pure and make our mind still (” Be still and know that I am God ” – Bible ).
The aim of Yoga is pull ourselves out of the darkness of the subconscient into the Light of the Superconscient and to receive the intuitions and the revealations of the Self and ultimately lead us to Self_Actualisation. The aim of Nature is to effect Super-Nature. The aim of Yoga is Self, is

Self-Actualisation.
The great battle between good and evil which was depicted by the poets ( Iliad, Odyssey, Ramayana,Mahabharata etc ) is actually the great war happening in the human bosom between the conflicting forces of good and evil, ever locked in eternal combat. Utlimately the positive elements – Truth, Dharma, Peace, Love & the Discriminative Intellect will win over the negative elements in us and we will be transmuted into the Divine Man. This is the ultimate formula of Wisdom – the divine transmutation of Man!
Yoga as Divine Alchemy
Alchemy is the science of transmuting baser metals into gold. Yoga is divine alchemy as it transmutes base metals ( our human nature ) into gold ( divine nature ).
Scientifically, Alchemy is possible. By proton bombardment, the atomic number of any element can be increased to form another element. So, theoretically, any element can be converted into Aurum ( gold ).
Alchemy is symbolic and no physical transmutation is meant here. Divine Alchemy is the ultimate formula wherein we are transmuted into the Divine Being-Knowledge-Bliss!
This is what the ancient Yogis meant by Transmutation, Transformation & Transfiguration !
Article by G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of http://www.eastrovedica.com. . Highly experienced with many correct predictions to his credit, he does professional natal charts http://www.astrologiavedica.com/html/vedichoroscope.htm To subscribe to his Free highly informative ezine, Z Files,click here.mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=subscribeZF An integrator of East & West, his Astro blog is up at http://zodiacastrology.blogspot.com & his Philosophy blog at http://transcendentalphilosophy.blogspot.com

G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of http://www.eastrovedica.com. . Highly experienced with many correct predictions to his credit, he does professional natal charts http://www.astrologiavedica.com/html/vedichoroscope.htm To subscribe to his Free highly informative ezine, Z Files,click here.mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=subscribeZF An integrator of East & West, his Astro blog is up at http://zodiacastrology.blogspot.com & his Philosophy blog at http://transcendentalphilosophy.blogspot.com

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Powerful Science of Kundalini Yoga Explained

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This article will provide a basic overview of what Kundalini Yoga is and how Kundalini Yoga works. At the core of Kundalini Yoga lies Kriyas and the best way to understand the methodology of Kundalini Yoga is to understand Kriyas and their functioning.
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.

Anmol Mehta is a Yoga Teacher, Zen Expert & creator of profound Meditation & Yoga programs. These Free Meditation, Chakra & Kundalini Yoga Classes are available at Guided Meditation Techniques & Kundalini Yoga Zone. You will also find articles and lively discussions on the Daily Meditation Practice, Kundalini Yoga Exercises & Zen Meditation Blog.

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