Yoga breathing

Here are some Hatha yoga videos, from beginners to advanced stages. Yoga is one of the best ways to cultivate your mind and body union. It tones muscles, increases flexibility, calms the mind and can improve overall health. You can notice results from your very first practice, and as you become familiar with the postures, both your yoga practice and your body will evolve in an enriching and truly powerful way. Read more »

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Tratak has many potential uses, but the word may simply be translated as (intense) concentration. Actually it means an unbroken gaze or attention fixed on an object, a steady gazing at a particular point or object without winking - looking at or into it. Read more »

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Hatha Yoga builds on the lesson of the two aspects that we consist of: consciousness and energy. Read more »

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The conception of Brahman which has been the highest glory for the Vedanta philosophy of later days had hardly emerged in the rig-Veda from the associations of the sacrificial mind. Read more »

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Though it is generally held that the Upanishads are usually attached as appendices to the Aranyakas which are again attached to the Brahmanas, yet it cannot be said that their distinction as separate treatises is always observed. Read more »

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The change of the Brahmana into the Aranyaka thought is signified by a transference of values from the actual sacrifices to their symbolic representations and meditations which were regarded as being productive of various earthly benefits. Read more »

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The fundamental idea which runs through the early Upanishads is that underlying the exterior world of change there is an unchangeable reality which is identical with that which underlies the essence in man (1). Read more »

brahman, fundamental idea, man and the universe, psychological functions, samhita, upanishads, visible objects, vital breath

The sum and substance of the Upanishad teaching is involved in the equation Atman=Brahman. We have already seen that the word Atman was used in the rig-Veda to denote on the one hand the ultimate essence of the universe, and on the other the vital breath in man. Later on in the Upanishads we see that the word Brahman is generally used in the former sense, while the word Atman is reserved to denote the inmost essence in man, and the Upanishads are emphatic in their declaration that the two are one and the same. Read more »

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When the Vedic people witnessed the burning of a dead body they supposed that the eye of the man went to the sun, his breath to the wind, his speech to the fire, his limbs to the different parts of the universe. They also believed as we have already seen in the recompense of good and bad actions in worlds other than our own, and though we hear of such things as the passage of the human soul into trees, etc., the tendency towards transmigration had but little developed at the time. Read more »

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The doctrine which next attracts our attention in this connection is that of emancipation (mukti). Already we know that the doctrine of Devayana held that those who were faithful and performed asceticism (tapas) went by the way of the gods through successive stages never to return to the world and suffer rebirth. Read more »

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Regrettable as it may be, we are immersed in a tension-filled world. It is this very tension that forms the basis for many psychosomatic disturbances. Psychiatry offers tranquillizers but Hatha Yoga offers drugless, inner relaxation through the thousands-years-old process known as ‘Shavasana’. Read more »

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The word yoga occurs in the rig-Veda in various senses such as yoking or harnessing, achieving the unachieved, connection, and the like. Read more »

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The conception of Yoga as we meet it in the Maitrayana Upanishad consisted of six angas or accessories, namely pranayama, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana, tarka and samadhi (1). Read more »

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The first evolute of the prakriti is generated by a preponderance of the sattva (intelligence-stuff). This is indeed the earliest state from which all the rest of the world has sprung forth; and it is a state in which the stuff of sattva predominates. It thus holds within it the minds (buddhi) of all purushas which were lost in the prakriti during the pralaya. Read more »

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It has been said that buddhi and the internal objects have evolved in order to giving scope to the experience of the purusha. What is the process of this experience? Read more »

abstraction, consciousness, imagination, manas, perception, purusha, sattva, senses, sense data

When the mind has become pure the chances of its being ruffled by external disturbances are greatly reduced. At such a stage the yogin takes a firm posture (asana) and fixes his mind on any object he chooses. It is, however, preferable that he should fix it on Ishvara, for in that case Ishvara being pleased removes many of the obstacles in his path, and it becomes easier for him to attain success. Read more »

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It is very probable that the earliest beginnings of Nyaya are to be found in the disputations and debates amongst scholars trying to find out the right meanings of the Vedic texts for use in sacrifices and also in those disputations which took place between the adherents of different schools of thought trying to defeat one another. Read more »

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Gaudapada’s work is divided into four chapters: (1) Agama (scripture), (2) Vaitathya (unreality), (3) Advaita (unity), (4) Alatashanti (the extinction of the burning coal). The first chapter is more in the way of explaining the Mandukya Upanishad by virtue of which the entire work is known as Mandukyakarika. The second, third, and fourth chapters are the constructive parts of Gaudapada’s work, not particularly connected with the Mandukya Upanishad. Read more »

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Sukhasana literally means ‘easy’ or pleasant ‘pose’. Sukha means “easy,“ “joy,” and this pose should feel so good that it fills you with joy! Sukhasana is an optimal yoga pose for practicing Pranayama, the pose calms the mind, and stills the body. Sukhasana is one of a number of meditative poses. Like all meditative poses it shares certain common characteristics. Read more »

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Yoga in its definition of the structure of the world has many things in common with Sankhya, but it differs indeed from Sankhya in admitting the existence of God. Of course the God’s concept in Yoga, as happened in Nyaya, has passed through different stages: from the primitive one, indifferent presence, God has become, under the influence of theistic tides, an active assistant of liberation. The assimilation with Shiva of the popular religion confers him little by little all the ownerships of Ishvara, the Supreme almighty Being. Read more »

asceticism, existence of god, liberation, moral discipline, right knowledge, sacred texts, sankhya, yoga

‘Hatha’ is perhaps the best known aspect of Yoga among Westerners. To most yoga students it is simply a difficult system of physical control involving the use of various yoga poses (Asanas) and the learning of specialized breathing techniques (Pranayama). Read more »

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Shakti is both maya, that by which the Brahman creating the universe is able to make Itself appear to be different from what It really is, and mula-prakriti, or the unmanifested (avyakta) state of that which, when manifest, is the universe of name and form. It is the primary so called “material cause,” consisting of the equipoise of the triad of guna or “qualities” which are sattva (that which manifests) rajas (that which acts), tamas (that which veils and produces inertia). The three gunas represent Nature as the revelation of spirit, Nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit, and Nature as the dense veil of spirit. The Devi is thus guna-nidhi (”treasure-house of guna” ). Read more »

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The worlds are inhabited by countless grades of beings, ranging from the highest Devas (of whom there are many classes and degrees) to the lowest animal life. The scale of beings runs from the shining manifestations of Spirit to those in which it is so veiled that it would seem almost to have disappeared in its material covering. There is but one Light, one Spirit, whose manifestations are many. Read more »

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The universe consists of a Mahabrahmanda, or grand Kosmos, and of numerous Brihatbrahmanda, or macrocosms evolved from it. Read more »

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The human body is Brahma-para, the city of Brahman. Ishvara Himself enters into the universe as jiva. Wherefore the maha-vakya “That thou art” means that the ego (which is regarded as jiva only from the standpoint of an upadhi) (1) is Brahman. Read more »

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The Yogi teachings inform us that, in the Beginning, The Absolute formed a Mental Image, or Thought-Form, of an Universal Mind–that is, of an Universal Principle of Mind. And here the distinction is made between this Universal Mind Principle, or Universal Mind-Stuff, as some have called it, and the Infinite Mind itself. The Infinite Mind is something infinitely above this creation of the Universal Mind Principle, the latter being as much an “emanation” as is Matter. Let there be no mistake about this. The Infinite Mind is Spirit–the Universal Mind Principle is “Mind-Stuff” of which all Finite Mind is a part. This Universal Mind Principle was the first conception of The Absolute, in the process of the creation of the Universe. It was the “Stuff” from which all Finite Mind forms, and is formed. It is the Universal Mental Energy. Know it as such–but do not confound it with Spirit, which we have called Infinite Mind, because we had no other term. There is a subtle difference here, which is most important to a careful understanding of the subject. Read more »

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The second sheath is the prana-maya-kosa, or sheath of “breath” (prana), which manifests itself in air and ether, the presiding elements in the Anahata and Visuddha-cakras. Read more »

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The next two sheaths are the mano-maya and vijnana kosas. These constitute the antah-karana, which is four-fold-namely, the mind in its two-fold aspect of buddhi and manas, self-hood (ahamkara), and citta. (1) . The function of the first is doubt, samkalpa-vikalpatmaka, (uncertainty, certainty); of the second, determination (niscaya-karini); of the third (egoity), of the fourth consciousness (abhimana). Read more »

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It is said (1) that there are 3½ crores of nadis in the human body, of which some are gross and some are subtle. Nadi means a nerve or artery in the ordinary sense; but all the nadis of which the books on Yoga (2) speak are not of this physical character, but are subtle channels of energy. Read more »

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Muladhara (1) is a triangular space in the midmost portion of the body, with the apex turned downwards like a young girl’s yoni. It is described as a red lotus of four petals, situate between the base of the sexual organ and the anus. “Earth” evolved from “water” is the Tattva of the cakra. On the four petals are the four golden varnas - “vam”, “śam”, “şam” and “sam”.(2) Read more »

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Ajna-cakra is also called parama-kula and mukta, tri-veni, since it is from here that the three nadis - Ida, Pingala and Susumna - go their separate ways. It is a two petalled lotus, situated between the two eyebrows. In this cakra there is no gross Tattva, but the subtle Tattva mind is here. Hakarardha, or half the letter Ha, is also there. On its petals are the red varnas “ham” and “ksam” Read more »

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Above the ajna-cakra there is another secret cakra called manas-cakra. It is a lotus of six petals, on which are sabda-jnana, sparsa-jnana, rupa-jnana, aghranopalabhi, rasopabhoga, and svapna, or the faculties of hearing, touch, sight, smell, taste, and sleep, or the absence of these. Above this, again, there is another secret cakra, called Soma-cakra. Read more »

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THE Tantras speak of three temperaments, dispositions, characters (bhava), or classes of men namely, the pasu-bhava (animal), vira-bhava (heroic), and divya-bhava (deva-like or divine). These divisions are based on various modifications of the gunas as they manifest in man (jiva). It has been pointed out (1) that the analogous Gnostic classification of men as material, psychical and spiritual, correspond to the three gunas of the Samkhya-darsana. In. the pasu the rajo-guna operates chiefly on tamas, producing such dark characteristics as error (bhranti), drowsiness (tandra), and sloth (alasya). Read more »

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The third, or highest, class of man is he of the divya-bhava (of which, again, there are several degrees-some but a stage in advance of the highest form of vira-bhava, others completely realizing the deva-nature), in which rajas operates on sattva-guna to the confirmed preponderance of the latter. Read more »

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According to the temperament of the sadhaka, so is the form of worship and sadhana. In fact, the specific worship and sadhana of the other classes is strictly prohibited by the Tantra to the pasu. Read more »

acara, animal creation, asrama, divya, kali age, kali yuga, observances, pasu, rajas, sadhana, vedas

THE Guru is the religious teacher and spiritual guide to whose direction orthodox Hindus of all divisions of worshippers submit themselves. There is in reality but one Guru. The ordinary human Guru is but the manifestation on the phenomenal plane of the Adinatha Maha-kala, the Supreme Guru abiding in Kailasa. (1) Read more »

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INITIATION is the giving of mantra by the guru.(1) At the time of initiation the guru must first establish the life of the Guru in his own body; that is the vital force (prana-sakti) of the Supreme Guru whose abode is in the thousand-petalled lotus. Read more »

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ABHISEKA is of eight kinds, and the forms of abhiseka which follow the first at later stages, mark greater and greater degrees of initiation. (1) The first saktabhiseka is given on entrance into the path of sadhana. It is so called because the guru then reveals to the sisya the preliminary mysteries of sakti-tattva. Read more »

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THERE are four different forms of worship corresponding with four states (bhava);(1) The realization that the jivatma and paramatma are one, that everything is Brahman, and that nothing but the Brahman exists, is the highest state or brahma-bhava. Constant meditation by the yoga process upon the Devata in the heart is the lower and middlemost (dhyana-bhava), japa and stava (hymns and prayer) is still lower, and the lowest of all mere external worship (puja). Read more »

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Sabda, or sound, which is of the Brahman, and as such the cause of the Brahmanda, is the manifestation of the Cit-sakti itself. The Visva-sara-Tantra says (1) that the Para-brahman, as Sabda-brahman, whose substance is all mantra, exists in the body of the jivatma. It is either unlettered (dhvani) or lettered (varna). The former, which produces the latter, is the subtle aspect of the jiva’s vital sakti. Read more »

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By mantra the sought-for (sadhya) Devata is attained and compelled. By siddhi in mantra is opened the vision of the three worlds. Though the purpose of worship (puja), reading (patha), hymn (stava), sacrifice (homa), dhyana, dharana, and samadhi, and that of the diksa-mantra are the same, yet the latter is far more powerful, and this for the reason that, in the first, the sadhaka’s sadhana-sakti works, in conjunction with mantra-sakti which has the revelation and force of fire, and than which nothing is more powerful. Read more »

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This word in its most general sense means an instrument, or that by which anything is accomplished. In worship it is that by which the mind is fixed on its object. The Yogini-Tantra says that the Devi should be worshipped either in pratima (image), mandala, (1) or yantra.(2) At a certain stage of spiritual progress the sadhaka is qualified to worship yantra. The siddha-yogi In inward worship (antar-puja) commences with the worship of yantra which is the sign (samketa) of brahma-vijnana as the mantra is the samketa of the Devata, It is also said that yantra is so called because it subdues (niyantrana) lust, anger, and the other sins of jiva and the sufferings caused thereby.(3) Read more »

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The Vaidiki samdhya is the rite performed by the twice-born castes thrice a day, at morning, midday, and evening. The morning samdhya is preceded by the following acts. On awakening, a mantra is said in invocation of the Tri-murti and the sun, moon, and planets, and salutation is made to the Guru. The Hindu dvi-ja then recites the mantra: “I am a Deva - I am indeed the sorrowless Brahman. By nature I am eternally free, and in the form of existence, intelligence, and bliss. Read more »

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This word is the common term for worship of which there are numerous synonyms in the Sanskrit language.(1) Puja is done daily of the Ista-devata or the particular Deity worshipped by the sadhaka - the Devi in the case of a Sakta, Visnu in the case of a Vaisnava, and so forth. Read more »

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The Anusara Immersion program is intended to give power to yoga practice through attentive study, practice and dialogue. The Anusara Immersion is a flight into the lessons of Anusara Yoga (Asana, Pranayama, Meditation). The Anusara Immersion is perfect for those that desire to research the mystery and deep prac