Yoga

The word yoga, from the Sanskrit word yuj means to yoke or bind and is often interpreted as “union”. In truth, everything that exists is connected, as everything is part of oneness. The purpose of yoga is to empower the individual to become conscious of this.

This is the intention of yoga, to empower the individual by creating focus and a conscious path of connectivity between breath, physical body, emotions, and ultimately our mastery over our reactions to the pressures and conflicts of life in the material world.

Perhaps the most accurate definition of yoga is the one that Patañjali gave us in the Yoga Sutras: "yoga chitta vrtti nirodha". Chitta is the state of consciousness, composed of mind, intellect and ego; vrtti means fluctuations; and nirodha, control. Thus, this definition of yoga lets us know that yoga is a tool to help us conquer our changing thoughts, feelings and emotions and brings us to a state of calmness, which is our natural state of consciousness. In this state of calmness, we are aware of the present moment and are not disturbed by any guilt from the past or anxiety from the future. Yoga gets rid of the painful “monkey mind” and encourages us to live our lives in peace and happiness.

Chitta Vrtti – Causes of the fluctuations of our minds

Patañjali also tells us about the causes of chitta vrtti, which produce pain in our lives:

• Avidya: the opposite to vidya, which is spiritual knowledge. Avidya is our ignorance about our true nature, which is of union with the Universal Intelligence.
• Asmita: selfishness. It is our thought that we are separate from all the other beings.
• Raga: our passion and attachments to things.
• Dvesa: aversion to life.
• Abhinivesa: clinging to bodily life and fear of losing it.

By practicing yoga, we are able to create the opposite for ourselves: knowledge of the truth of who we are; generosity towards others and ourselves; freedom from material things that come and go; joy for each situation, person and thing that comes to us; and confidence in our ability to go unharmed through life.

Chitta Viksepa – Obstacles

In our commitment to practice yoga, we may encounter the following obstacles:

• Vyadhi: disease, illness and sickness
• Styana: mental laziness and dullness
• Samshaya: indecision and doubt
• Pramada: carelessness, negligence and insensitiveness
• Alasya: laziness
• Avirati: sensuality, cravings and desire for things that arouse of senses
• Bhranti Darshana: false views or perceptions
• Alabdha Bhumikatva: failing to attain concentration
• Anavasthitatva: inability to maintain stability in our practice

It is a good idea to use these obstacles to test our strength and determination, as opposed to excuses to abandon our practice. The “medicine” for these obstacles is just acting in the opposite way. When in doubt, one should take a determination; when feeling lazy, one should practice! Moving away from the obstacles creates action.

 The Four Paths of Yoga

There are four main schools or paths of Yoga:

• Jnana Yoga: the path of knowledge, wisdom, introspection and contemplation. By studying the sacred scriptures, understanding of our true nature becomes clear.

•  Bhakti Yoga: the path of devotion, emotion, love and compassion. Through prayer, chanting and rituals, emotions turn into unconditional love to the Universe and everyone.

• Karma Yoga: the path of action, service to others and mindfulness. By giving without expecting anything in return, the heart becomes light and we control the ego.

•  Raja Yoga: the path of meditation, encountering and transcending thoughts of the mind. The “king” of yoga includes methods to control the body, energy, senses and mind to achieve meditation.

These paths suit to the different personalities: the intellectual, the lover, the doer and the thinker. However, while the practitioners may chose to focus on one of these traditional yoga schools more than in the others, most use a combination of the four. Ultimately, all paths lead to true wisdom and to the awareness of the union with the Universal Intelligence.

Because the path of Jnana Yoga is related to the intellect; the path of Bhakti Yoga to the heart; the path of Karma Yoga to the body; and the path of Raja Yoga to the mind, Swami Sivananda encouraged everyone to practice techniques from each path in order to have a complete and balanced practice.

Maya

Maya is illusion. Usually, it is thought of in a negative way, although it does not have to be. To understand it this way, maya could be compared to going to the movies. When you sit at the theater to watch a movie, it is to your own benefit and enjoyment to place your focus in the movie and forget about your surroundings. If at that moment you are thinking that the characters are actors and the visual effects are made-up, etc. you may not find much appreciation for your experience. On the contrary, if you fully believe in the story it will carry you through different emotions. Our lives are like that. From the time we are born we learn that we are a separate being from the rest. In this way, we are able to think and feel in thousands of different ways and experience the wonders –and the pains- of being human. When the movie becomes too overwhelming, as for instance with a horror film, it helps to close the eyes and remember that it is just a movie! Likewise, the introspective practice of yoga helps us remember that the pleasures and pains of life are just illusions for our enjoyment and understanding. When life becomes too scary or disagreeable, yoga helps us close our eyes, and become aware of our higher reality.

Sadhana

Sadhana is simply our means to achieving our goals, our practice. Yoga can be our sadhana if we use it as our instrument for realization.

The subtle body

The existence of all beings is manifested in various planes of reality, beyond the physical. According to Bhagavad Gita (see Holy Scriptures) the subtle body is composed of mind, intelligence and ego, which controls the gross physical body. These are parts of our being, which we can work on in the same way we work on our physical bodies in the gym or eating healthy foods. Our subtle bodies are also composed of parts, such as the chakras and nadis.

Chakras

Chakras are the energy centers of the subtle body. They are connected to each other through energy channels called nadis. Although there are many chakras in the subtle body, seven of them are recognized as the major ones. These are located along the spine and coincide with essential physical counterparts. They are represented by lotus flowers of various colors and sounds (mantras).

Muladhara – Root/First chakra

Location:	In the base of the spine
Color:	Red
Mantra:	LAM
Physical body counterpart:	Suprarenal glands, prostate, kidneys, bladder, spine.
Functions:	Vitality, instinct, security, survival, self-preservation, potentiality, sexuality, stability, sensuality, desire to be in the world; related to the sense of smell.
Unique characteristics:	Kundalini, the spiritual energy, rests dormant in the root chakra. It is related to the 7th chakra

Svadhishthana – Sacral/Second chakra

Location:	In the sacrum
Color:	Orange
Mantra:	VAM
Physical body counterpart:	Testes and ovaries; genitourinary system and adrenals
Functions:	Relationships, violence, addictions, basic emotional needs, sexuality, pleasure, reproduction, creativity.
Unique characteristics:	It is related to the 6th chakra

Manipura – Solar Plexus/Third chakra

Location:	Slightly above the navel
Color:	Yellow
Mantra:	RAM
Physical body counterpart:	Pancreas, stomach, liver, gall-bladder
Functions:	Personal power, fear, anxiety, opinion-formation, introversion, digestion, expansiveness and spirituality
Unique characteristics:	Related to the 5th chakra

Anahata – Heart/Fourth chakra

Location:	Chest
Color:	Green/pink
Mantra:	YAM
Physical body counterpart:	Thymus (organ that produces T cells that are critical for the immune system), heart, liver, lungs, blood circulation
Functions:	Compassion, love, desire for self-acceptance, emotions, harmony, integration, devotion
Unique characteristics:	It represents the energy of human and divine love

Vishuddha – Throat/Fifth chakra

Location:	Throat
Color:	Light blue
Mantra:	HAM
Physical body counterpart:	Thyroid (gland that produces thyroid hormone, responsible for growth and maturation), throat, upper lungs, arms
Functions:	Communication, creativity, sound, intuition, self-expression, desire to speak and hear the truth
Unique characteristics:	It is related to the 3rd chakra

Ajna – Third Eye/Sixth chakra

Location:	In between the eyebrows
Color:	Deep blue
Mantra:	OM
Physical body counterpart:	Pineal gland (gland that produces the hormone melatonin, which regulates sleep and waking up, and dimethyltryptamine, the only known hallucinogen endogenous to the human body), spine, lower brain, left eye, nose and the ears
Functions:	Knowingness , intuition, perception, self-mastery, wisdom, imagination
Unique characteristics:	It is where the two major nadis (Ida and Pingala) end and merge with the central channel Sushumna, signifying the end of duality

Sahasrara – Crown/Seventh chakra

Location:	On or above the top of the head
Color:	Violet
Mantra:	The silence after OM
Physical body counterpart:	Pituitary gland (which secretes hormones to communicate to the rest of the endocrine system and connects to the central nervous system), upper brain and right eye
Functions:	Consciousness, unification, intelligence, bliss of Divine Wisdom
Unique characteristics:	State of pure consciousness, when the Kundalini energy rises to unite with the male Shiva energy, and attain Samadhi (liberation)