I am pleased to announce the next Meditation Intensive. In this program, I will discuss the basic concepts of meditation and practice several of the concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana) techniques. Most of the information that I will be sharing is based on the concepts discussed in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and related classical yoga texts.
No prior asana, pranayama or meditation experience is required.
Here are the particulars:
What: 14-day Meditation Intensive
When: Monday, Oct 23 – Sunday, Nov 5, 2017
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 AM
Location: 4000 Bearcat Way, Suite 102, Morrisville, NC 27560
Daily Routine: Light stretching (10-15 minutes), Pranayama (15 min), Relaxation (10-15 min), Meditation – discussion and practice (45 min)
Commitment: A firm commitment to follow this schedule and attend every day
If you’ve attended a yoga class with me, you would have noted that Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is an integral part of the routine that we practice. Typically, we practice three rounds of Surya Namaskar. In the first round, we go through the basic sequence which has the classic 12 movements. In the second and third round, we add some variations to many of the movements. For example, in the second round some of the common poses that we practice include warrior 1, warrior 2, triangle pose, pigeon pose etc. In the third round, we usually practice the upward facing dog and also occasionally some twisting variations from the lunge position.
In today’s post, I am presenting the sequence of three rounds of Sun Salutation with warrior 2 and the Reverse Warrior 2 integrated into the second round. My friend Bipin has graciously agreed to be your guide for the video presentation.
[This is an edited version of the transcript of the monthly workshop on the yoga sutras held on August 19, 2017. In this session, we covered sutras 1.1 through 1.5. Visit the podcast page to listen to the audio podcast.]
Whenever we study the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we begin with an invocation to Sage Patanjali. In this invocation, Patanjali is credited with three areas of knowledge – science of Ayurveda to purify the body, the commentary on Sanskrit grammar to purify the speech and the science of Yoga (Yoga Sutras) to purify the mind.
"I respectfully bow down with folded hands and offer my salutations to Sage Patanjali, the highest among the Munis (sages), who has presented the remedies for removing the impurities of the body through his treatise on Ayurveda, of language through his treatise on grammar (Patanjala Mahabhashya) and the impurities of the Chitta (mind field) through his treatise on Yoga (Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)"
We concluded the previous round of discussions on the yoga sutras during last month’s workshop. That round took us a little over a year and a half. Today we are starting this new series. Again, we’ll study one sutra at a time. We’ll recite each sutra as we go along. I will try to explain the meaning of the sutra word-by-word first and then give the meaning of the entire sutra. A sutra is the Sanskrit word for a thread. So the yoga sutras represent a thread that connects all the statements together.
Many of you have requested the ability to attend yoga classes that I teach over the internet via live video streaming. I was recently made aware of the "live video" feature that Facebook provides. I plan to use this feature to broadcast some of my yoga classes via live streaming.
As you may be aware, I started the 14-day pranayama intensive, 6-7:30 AM EST daily, this morning. I plan to broadcast the remaining 13 days via live video starting tomorrow. Please go to my FB site – https://www.facebook.com/scmittal a little before 6 AM and look for the live video.
The fee for the class will be purely by voluntary donation (suggested donation: $2 per class/$20 for the full two-week program). You can make the payment via paypal on my website (go to the bottom of the page).
Given that this will be my first attempt to go live, I do not expect the broadcast to be perfect or without problems. At the end of the class, I would love to get your feedback/comments and, most importantly, suggestions for improvement.
I certainly hope you will find this live video feature helpful in attending my classes, especially if you do not live in the triangle area of North Carolina or are traveling.
Looking forward to your participation in this 14-day pranayama intensive via "live video"!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
The book Five Tibetan Rites (The ancient secret of fountain of youth) was originally published by Peter Kelder in 1939. It contains a description of five exercises, now knows as the Five Tibetan Rites. Even though most of these exercises are the ones we do in our class in one form or another (with the exception of twirling), what makes the practice challenging and enjoyable is the fact that each exercise is to be repeated 21 times.
The book is based on the experience of a British Army Colonel who visited India and Tibet seeking knowledge about some of the esoteric Eastern practices that help maintaining good physical and mental health. He ended up in a monastery in Tibet where the monks, even though advanced in biological age, looked amazingly youthful. They told him that the secret of their youthful appearance was the regular practice of these five rites. Based on the story told by the colonel, Peter Kelder wrote the above mentioned book describing in detail the practice of these five rites.
I am pleased to announce the next Pranayama intensive. In this program, we will be practicing some of the main pranayama techniques given in our ancient yoga texts. I will also discuss the underlying concepts in the practice of pranayama and all the wonderful benefits that the practice can bring us.
No prior pranayama or meditation experience is required.
Here are the particulars:
What: 14-day pranayama intensive
When: Monday, September 18 – Sunday, October 1, 2017
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 AM
Location: 4000 Bearcat Way, Suite 102, Morrisville, NC 27560
"… the retreat was a life-changing experience, because I truly came away from it a different (and hopefully better) person. … Since the retreat, I have been practicing every day, and I have found myself using some of the concepts from our lectures in my daily life. The retreat was one of the most joyful experiences I’ve had a in a long time… "
"… Wonderful! Thank you for facilitating such a magnificent time of reflection and community. I felt a lot of my resentment towards my ongoing physical pain and the ending of a relationship melt away over the course of the weekend for which I am very grateful…"
" … Incredible, emotional. We covered a lot of material in a short period of time. Would love to have continued 3 more days…a month? …"
In a previous post, I talked about a few of the seated hip opening stretches. Today, I would like to present some of the hip opening poses that are done in the reclining position.
I hope you will enjoy watching the video and practicing with me.
Reclining Leg Lift with strap (Supta Padangushthasana)
Reclining leg stretch
Lie down on your back in shavasana
Bring the feet together and put a strap around the right foot. As you inhale, using the strap, lift the right leg up and try to bring it to a vertical position. Try to keep the left thigh pressed to the floor.
As you exhale, slowly bring the leg down to the floor
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for two more breaths keeping the movement synchronized with breathing
Next time you raise the leg up, hold it up there for four deep breaths. Then, while exhaling, slowly release the leg down.
Repeat the above sequence with the other leg
Reclining Spinal Twist with strap
Lie down on your back. Using a strap, while inhaling raise the right leg up to a vertical position. Try to keep the leg straight, without bending the knee.
Tightness in the hips is one of the most common problems students face in a yoga class when they try to do any of the yoga poses involving hip flexibility or hip rotation. This tightness usually is a result of long hours of sitting either in an office chair or in a car if you have a long commute to work. The situation gets further aggravated if you happen to maintain a poor posture while you are sitting. Poor hip flexibility can usually result in low back pain or poor support for the knees.
In the accompanying video, I have presented a few simple seated hip opening movements. In future articles, I will be presenting more hip opening poses from the standing, seated and reclining poses.
Prakriti, as we know, is a composite of three gunas – sattva (purity), rajas (action, movement) and tamas (dullness etc.). These three gunas are in a constant state of flux all the time. The dominance of one guna over the other keeps shifting from moment to moment. Since the mind is also a part of Prakriti, it also is going through constant change all the time due to changes in the gunas. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali has given the name "vritti" to these constant fluctuations going on in the mind.
Patanjali, in sutra 1.2, gives the definition of yoga as "that state of the mind wherein these constantly changing vrittis have been restrained or subdued and the mind can stay in a state of stillness" – yogaś-citta-vr̥tti-nirodhaḥ ॥2॥ (sutra 1.2). Patanjali has given the eight limbs of yoga as the means to achieve that state of stillness of the mind. Of these eight limbs, the most important and essential is the practice of meditation. As given in chapter 3, the broad category of "meditation" is actually a continuum of three practices called dharana (initial focus/concentration), dhyana (one-pointed contemplation, also called meditation), and samadhi (final state of absorption). When these three are practiced together, it is called "samyama" (sutra 3.4). In this article, I’ll be using the term "meditation" to imply the practice of these three stages of meditation – dharana, dhyana and samadhi.
In this article, I will be talking about the various stages of transformation that the mind goes through as we continue to deepen the practice of meditation.
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