Viktor Boyko
(Chapter 10
from the book «Yoga: Art of Communication»)
Translated
by Irina Stafeeva, Alexander Kamel
Edited by Katherine E.Charles
Edited by Katherine E.Charles
The hands are dancing, the pendulum’s
swaying,
Green is the turquoise of heaven,
And in your soul the sinner and the just one
Are looking intensely in God’s eyes.
Svetlana Kekova
Green is the turquoise of heaven,
And in your soul the sinner and the just one
Are looking intensely in God’s eyes.
Svetlana Kekova
For the last few years, yoga has become increasingly
popular throughout the world, including Russia. The enormous demand and
interest surpasses the limited supply of qualified instructors.
Unfortunately, this results in unscrupulous parties using the word
“yoga” to promote just about any type of physical activity.
Faek Bireah, the head of Paris Centre of Aiengar Yoga,
commented few years ago: ”Had Patanjali been alive today, he would have
never recognized what we are doing as yoga…” This phrase is especially
relevant today.
Since the real consequences of practicing “dynamic yoga” and
“invented styles” have just started showing through, people are
becoming more cautious about them. This is good news. Altering the
practice of yoga does not improve the results. Therefore this chapter
focuses on traditional (as have been practiced for centuries) yoga,
which has been the total focus of my time and my life’s work. I continue
to publish books on this topic, because of the ongoing need to present
the key aspects of the technique in the most concise and
easy-to-understand manner.
The main purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that your
practice could be built in accordance with the essence of Patanjali
texts and to explain which results could be achieved. For that, I will
be relying on the Sutras 46(II) and 47(II) and I will present a series
of conclusions based on my personal experience.
Thus, below are two versions of the translation of the Sutra
47(II) plus a commentary:
- “An asana is being achieved through abandoning all effort
or concentrating on the infinite” (2)
- “By loosening of effort and by meditation on the serpent
Ananta, asana is mastered. …
…So there should be relaxation of effort; there should be
perfect relaxation in the asana.
Secondly, the mind should be concentrated on Ananta.
The word ananta means endless.”(3)
- “The person practicing the specific asana in accordance
with the tradition should focus their effort on the relief of the
natural tension” (2).
The meaning of the relief of tension is the resulting
relaxation, and nothing else. Then, what kind of effort is implied?
Obviously, it implies letting go the conventional patterns, in
particular the attempt to improve an asana. This attempt is senseless
because the body can not be forced beyond its plasticity limits without
injury. Therefore, the essence of any asana is the maximum muscle
relaxation possible in this particular posture.
D. Ebert states “ Mastering an asana implies
perfecting sensomotor regulation, so the decrease in muscle activity
will be indicating the growing perfection” or “The main requirements for
any asana stated in “Yoga Sutra” are motionlessness and comfort. That
means that each posture should be held with the minimal effort…” (4)
What is then the concentration on the infinite? The thinking
process includes conscious, or directed and sporadic, or autonomic
mental activity. The directed mental activity impliesfollowing the
specific goal and could be controlled through a conscious effort. The
autonomic mental activity represents sporadic thoughts appearing in the
mind without pursuing any specific goal.
Spreading the mind on the infinite number of objects means
diffusing it completely (like trying to encompass in your focus every
leaf on a tree or hear 20 stories at the same time). This would cause
conscious mental activity to cease and autonomic mental activity would
disappear or separate from the consciousness .That would result
in the silence of the mind, the temporary(for the period of
practice) absence of thoughts, or quieting of the thinking process.
Now, below is the translation of the Sutra 46 (II):
- “Steady and comfortable should be the posture” (3).
“In the essence, every true yogic exercise tends to suppress
any manifestation of rajas guna (5), and therefore should be
static rather than dynamic” (6)
Therefore, practicing traditional yoga asanas boils down to
the performing specific body posture (still achievable without stress),
but at the same time, the conditions are created for:
- the maximum muscle relaxation and
- the maximum muscle relaxation and
- the discontinuation of the conventional thinking process
(ordinary mental activity).
Practically, following these rules means that:
- the physical effort (while performing asanas) should not
be explicitly perceived by the consciousness (unless one pays specific
attention to it). The mind could only become empty when the effort and
the body position are completely natural. The sensations from holding
the posture remain latent (unnoticed) within the optimal exposure time.
As soon as this time is exceeded, the sensation or effort starts being
perceived, which signals the time to finish the asana. If the posture is
held after the sensations appear, the effect of the asana reverts and
becomes negative, since it can involve potential trauma.
- having a variety of asanas only matters for exercising
the muscles and joints to compensate for the pitfalls of our sedimentary
lifestyle and to achieve the overall holistic effect on the body organs
and systems. The variety is also useful to achieve the consistent
silence of mind during the posture changes.
When the conventional mental activity ceases as the result
of the correct(traditional static) asana practice, any asana is being
performed: - without thinking, analysis and correction, neutrally, with
detachment, in accordance with the physical ability of the practicing
person;
- also, without explicit (noticeable) sensations, which would inevitably disturb the mental relaxation.
- also, without explicit (noticeable) sensations, which would inevitably disturb the mental relaxation.
The absence of sensations indicates that:
- the body is not overstretched or overstrained (as in our
usual day-to day activity when we are comfortable and do not notice any
body strain).
- the practice complies with ahimsa (7), it meets
yama (7) requirement and secures from injury.
- the body posture is optimal and its effect is holistic for
the time of exposure (before the sensations start appearing).
Mastering asana is reflected in minimizing the number of
muscles involved as well as the intensity of their work. Thus the
beneficial exposure time lasts from the moment of becoming motionless
till the appearance of sensations (it does not matter in which part of
the body). The sensations signal the time to finish the asana.
The posture being performed with the involvement of the thinking process should not be considered asana! This is consideration for beginners, which will nevertheless dissipate as their practice becomes established.
Only the practice of asanas resulting in the change of the
conventional thinking process should be referred to as the yoga
described in the original Sutras.
Typically, a goal is implied with any conscious physical
activity of an adult person. It is different in yoga. Asana is not
related to any specific external goal and should be only performed in
accordance with the current abilities of one’s body.
Thus, the practice of asanas should result in the absence of
any noticeable current achievement (in its conventional understanding).
There should be no pain, sweating or any new or unusual sensations.
Yoga is the process of the unhurried change of body postures which are
never achieved (or, particularly, held) in day-to-day life. This process
results in a specific state of mind. This is the time when the effect
of the asana is holistic, though it is as unnoticeable as digestion or
blood circulation.
One should perform the asana referring to a picture of the
posture or as shown by the teacher, in accordance with the current
ability of the body without any attempt to improve it through the
conscious effort!The posture should be held until the body remains
relatively comfortable, motionless and “silent“(no sensations,
trembling, heat etc.).
For every individual, asana is the posture that can be
achieved without stress by his/her own body! Shall the perfect yoga
posture exhibited on the picture (or video) be considered an asana? Not
necessarily, since one can not tell what were the performer’s state of
mind and his or her body sensations at the time.
In traditional yoga, it is not the body posture (and,
moreover, its complexity) that matters that much, but rather the
exposure time. Even if the posture looks very simple, it does not mean
there is no exercise! Stand up straight, raise your unbent arm to
shoulder level and stretch it forward, and hold that posture for a
while. Very soon, you will realize how the exposure works and what kind
of exercise could be achieved in this most simple posture. The simpler
the posture is, the longer one could comfortably hold it and the greater
its holistic effect!
Yoga is the holding of specific postures. It is passive work
using the weight of the body and its parts. It is the cumulative effect
of curling and takeovers, crossing the limbs and changing body position
benefiting from the force of gravity.
The attempt to force the postures in yoga should be
replaced by resting in the postures for the specific (exposure) time
while carefully avoiding sensations. The effect is achieved through the
entirety of conditions created, combined and held for the exposure time,
rather than through consecutive actions performed by the practicing
person and targeted at specific result.
Thus, the intentional, targeted and fast change of any kind
of postures is not yoga. Highly complicated asanas are only be
appropriate for people who can achieve them without extra effort and
still be completely (especially mentally) relaxed. Only people with
natural hyper mobility of the joints should practice complicated asanas.
This complexity would be dangerous for people with average joint
mobility and could even be destructive to their health.
Only yoga practice in accordance with the abovementioned
criteria results in and at the same time is accompanied by total
muscular and mental relaxation.
After a beginner is adjusted to the first stage of physical
adaptation, he or she starts realizing that:
- one should feel rather than think during the practice! Do not analyze the asanas or pranayama(8) during the practice! Do it before or after.
- one should feel rather than think during the practice! Do not analyze the asanas or pranayama(8) during the practice! Do it before or after.
- it is impossible to bend the body as shown on the picture
of the posture, “shut off” the mind or change the breathing pattern via
direct conscious effort. Otherwise, there would be no need for yoga.
By its nature, yoga is the skill of indirect management of
the functional psychosomatic parameters (both controlled and automatic)
via establishing the specific conditions in both body and mind.
Many processes in our life which are initiated, organized
and performed (up to a certain point) consist of two stages: the first
one being implemented by the person (direct involvement), and the second
one being a process which naturally flows from the first one
(continuation and development without any personal involvement). Still,
the second stage would not occur without the first one. In ancient
China, these processes were called wu-wei (9) (action via non
action).
Let us consider the following example. Eating is necessary
for living. Having earned the money, one could buy the food, take it
home and possibly cook it, set the table and take a seat, pick up the
food, put it into the mouth, chew and swallow it. All of these would be
one’s own manipulations. But what else could one personally do with the
consumed food? Nothing at all, no more direct manipulations are
possible. The body further processes the food on its own, without one’s
control. While the digestion of the food continues, it becomes
automatic.
It is not a good idea to interfere with the process of
digesting the food. Being the result of evolution, natural processes
(absent any kind of functional disorder) are characterized by their high
degree of efficiency and autonomy from conscious control.
The wu-wei principle is fully congruent with traditional
yoga as well. One should perform the posture and hold it for the optimal
exposure time, letting one’s body take care of everything happening in
its systems and organs. When the body’s “signals” appear, the posture
should be ended.
Like healthy nutrition, yoga, being correctly used in the
optimal quantity, results in optimal physiological and psychological
well-being. And this eventually reflects into one’s life, improving its
overall quality. But if one tries to directly perform everything in
yoga, the result would be similar to striking random weird poses;
nothing but isometric physical activity.
The first thing the beginner should learn in the process of
adaptation to yoga practice is the constant re-direction of his or her
attention towards the body. Usually, the eyes are the most convenient
area to anchor one’s attention. They should be closed during asanas if
possible since the major flow of external information is supplied to the
brain through the visual channel thus interfering with the process of
mental relaxation. When the eyelids are closed, the eyeballs in most
cases keep reflex trembling or moving. After some practice (Shavasana
would be the easiest to start with), one could succeed in relaxing the
eyeballs so that their spontaneous movement discontinues. The eyeballs
automatically move up or down to find the most comfortable position thus
disappearing from one’s perception. The eye orbits start feeling heavy,
sometimes warm, and the attention comfortably sets on this area. As
soon as the mind gets disturbed by an accidental thought (picture,
phrase or concept), the eyes tend to return to their normal state, get
strained and start moving again. If one succeeds in keeping the eyes
relaxed for a while, the thinking process slows down.
In some cases, though, people experience unpleasant growing
nervous tension while trying to pay attention to or manipulating their
closed eyes. These people should try another way of slowing down their
mental process via directing their attention to the other parts of their
bodies. Eventually, they will find the most comfortable area for
holding their attention, but it might take some time.
The most common alternative areas are the bridge of the
nose, the point between the eyebrows (bhrumadhya), the skin of the
forehead, the palms or specific areas of the face.
The body of neurotic people could be separated from
perception (or, on the contrary, the
perception is overwhelmed by chaotic signals from the
unbalanced autonomic nervous system)(10). They could set
their attention upon the rhythmic movements of the belly or chest area
in the breathing process, or upon the air flow in the nostrils (this
would be similar to vipassana (11) practice). Quite often the
beginner eventually finds his or her own unique area in the body for
setting their attention. No one should ever set the attention upon the
heartbeat as this would always be dangerous for health.
There is no room for the external thoughts, while the mind
is engaged with the body only. Sensitivity increases (the
perception of the body and its parts improves, the emerging sensations
become more vivid). However, they should not be followed too thoroughly
or too deeply, as it also distracts from the ultimate silence of mind.
When the muscular relaxation in asanas has been achieved and
the practicing person does not try to improve the posture despite the
emerging sensations, the body does only necessary work, and the risk of
traumas ultimately disappears.
When the result becomes consistent (the body is
“silent” during the exposure time and in the pauses between asanas), the
attention switches for the second time to perceive the autonomous mind
activity that becomes observable.
Then one becomes aware of the content of his or her mind,
and also of the features of his or her leading representation system (12).
The structure of mental processes and the habitual way of describing
the world are clearly reflected in the predicate words used in
communication, mimics and gestures. Regardless of the preference, people
can understand each other, but communication complying with their
leading representation system would be much better understood, most
meaningful and emotionally satisfying.
The thinking of a person could also be described as analog
or digital. The analog type (in accordance with G. Bateson) is more
ancient way of functioning of the central nervous system.
It is mythological, intuitive, closely linked to the
unconscious, instincts and reactions of the autonomous nervous system.
It works with the whole picture of reality, although it is not perfectly
clear and detailed. Digital thinking is much more abstract, based on
the principles of formal logic. It is thought that these types of
thinking complement each other, and the absolute domination of one type
would make the corresponding behavior unviable.
Regardless of the type of thinking, the received information
is supplied to the brain via all five senses (if they all function).
Then, the “body-mind system”sorts the information out, and the person
internalizes it according to his or her representation system.
To achieve the silence of mind (chitta vritti nirodhah (13),
or CVN), one should slow down his or her mental activity, which
consists of the processes of conscious and spontaneous thinking.
To escape from the directed activity of the mind, one should
avoid recollections or logical sequences and conclusions, but rather
let the thoughts flow independently. This is not necessary if one is
able to continuously re-direct his or her attention back to body.
Regardless of the type of the leading representation system,
the stage of mental chaos (which mainly represents autonomic mental
activity) precedes the silence of mind. The flow of images becomes
dream-like and sporadic, their content can not be recalled after
finishing the asanas or the pause between them. Inner dialog/monolog
regresses to a senseless buzz. Kinesthetic people can experience
trembling of limbs, uncontrolled movements in their body and/or face, or
perceive the ”sound” of the work of their separate muscles or their
groups, or of blood circulation in the body.
Sometimes, representation may vary in the process of
achieving the silence of mind. For example, the practitioner L. would
start from “watching” the scrolling text reflecting her day working
activities on the “screen” of her mind. Next, along with the deepening
relaxation, the text would disappear and be replaced by the sound of
dialog. Further, the dialog would vanish, being replaced by images, and
her consciousness would start drifting. The whole process would take
about half an hour.
The complete (true and clear) silence of mind can not be
immediately achieved. Not every practicing person can achieve it, only
some “digital” and kinesthetic people. The ultimate silence would not
necessarily be achievable by the sadkhaka (14) who “sees” or
“hears” his or her thoughts (though there are some exceptions). As the
rule, the spontaneous mind activity recedes to the background and fades
out. Thus one continues practicing, observing the absence of sensations
in the body and being alerted to the signals to finish the posture,
while there is something moving, flickering, talking somewhere at the
very back of the mind. The practicing person observes this sporadic
activity without getting involved or affected, or simply becomes
oblivious.
Generally, one needs to practice for quite a while to
achieve the silence of mind (various stages of CVN) and its quality
depends on a number of factors that can not be traced or perceived and
can not be generalized. Some people experience indeed silence and
darkness, others – the starry sky, phosphenes (15), dancing
colors, “movies”, dreams, the feeling of submersion, or even blackouts.
According to the descriptions of some practicing people the
consciousness sinks, dissolves, drifts, fades out, defocuses, becomes
intermittent, slows down, almost freezes. Nevertheless, this residual
mind activity is always present and it represents the third “switch” of
the consciousness that eventually becomes ekagrata (16).
Continuous tension of skeletal muscles always accompanies
the flow of thoughts of a person whose mind is active and overwhelmed by
routine material even if the body is still and relaxed.
The appearance and degree of this tension depends on the
current emotional state, the content of the thoughts and general hyper
tonus of muscles caused by the over-strain of sub-consciousness.
Even at the beginning of the
mental relaxation process, one starts perceiving the blockages (groups
of chronic tensions) which were not noticed earlier and did not
disappear during sleep. Neurotics, people stressed or abused in their
childhood, or those experiencing constant routine stress always have
this kind of blockages.
Each
blockage is the specific pattern of tension which is typically
relatively limited and stablein the body. A locus of persistent pain
emerges in the areas where these patterns overlap. The pain does not
seem to have any apparent cause. In the process of calming down the mind
in asanas, the body starts transforming as well. As soon as the
consciousness “blurs” in the process of mental relaxation, the body
responds to it with spontaneous movement towards the body’s limit in the
asana.
Put
some ice cubes into a glass. The ice cubes are frozen water. But the
water in its solid form can not fill the whole glass, unless the ice
melts. The usual pattern of body tension can not “melt” in the muscles
until the mind activity slows down. The body will “flow into” the best
shape of asana that could be achieved within one’s plasticity limit,
this will happen naturally, in response to the mental relaxation. One
can not reach the plasticity limit and, moreover, hold itthrough
conscious effort without a high risk of trauma (this risk becomes a 100%
if one consistently “forces” the body). The wildest of the “modern
styles of yoga” require significant dynamic workout, combining holding
breath with bandhas(17) or staying in hot-rooms in order to
achieve the maximum plasticity. Obviously, this does not contribute to
maintaining health, let alone mental relaxation.
But
if one approaches his or her plasticity limit daily without effort in
the CVN state of mind, the plasticity starts changing to reach its
maximum for a given individual. This level of plasticity results from
quality yoga practice and could be maintained for many years, thus
prolonging the youth of the body. Ageing can be understood as the
entropy of the body increasing. Practicing Hatha yoga(18) can
offset this trend and thus slow one’s
biological ageing.
Moreover,
the practice of asanas in the state of mind approaching CVN results in
spontaneous relief and rehabilitation of the psycho-somatic system.
The process of rehabilitation
can be initiated by only a specific amount of stimulus. Traditional Yoga
deals only with mild or moderate stimuli on the body.
Mild stimuli cause a resonant
response similar to that in homeopathy and acupuncture. It is
the mild practice that is optimal for people with health problems who
begin practicing Yoga to heal their functional disorders (19).
It is the motionless body and
the silent mind (achieved both in asanas and in pauses between them)
that are the basic conditions for initiating the process of spontaneous
rehabilitation of the system.
In Yoga practice, one
unconsciously affects a number of secondary parameters of homeostasis
(for instance, his or her own plasticity, blood pressure etc) through
influencing the musculoskeletal system, the configuration of organs and
blood and lymphatic circulation. At the same time, the practice allows
the body system to “repair” unrecognized internal problems.
Between waking up in the morning
and falling asleep in the night, one is busy achieving numerous goals
with one’s intellect calculating, and the body executing the actions. A
person is stressed by external circumstances requiring his or her
constant involvement and attention. Even during one’s free time, the
individual is engaged with the pursuit of his or her interests and
desires. Thus, in everyday life, the awake mind is constantly involved
in the process of interacting with the external world and never remains
empty. This emptiness (and further - silence) of mind could only be
achieved in the practice of asanas in accordance with Sutra 46, chapter
II.
As soon as your psychosomatic
system recognizes that you routinely leave it in peace (at least for a
while), it will immediately start resolving its own vital problems. It
will pursue the internal system goals, rather than those dictated by the
intellect. As soon as all external tasks and goals are postponed, your
“body-mind system” chooses by itself the priorities of rehabilitation.
The entire structure is being rebuilt, targeting the best possible (for
all living creatures) outcome –the stability of the inner milieu –
homeostasis.
The process of relief and
rehabilitation of the body system which always accompanies the practice
of traditional yoga is its inherent and distinctive feature. It is
nothing else but psychosomatic therapy built into the technology of
traditional yoga.
As a result of the practice, any
person could gradually restore his or her naturalphysical andmental
health (of course, corresponding to his or her age). Theoretically, they
could be restored from the lowest possible level. However, in reality
the beginners should take into consideration that even the mildest yoga
practice still requires an adaptation period. The results will become
noticeable only after this period.
Yoga restores the stability of
homeostasis of the body system, regardless of the nature of
disorderprovided that it is still correctable. Namely, this kind of
rehabilitation (Yoga therapy) heals only functional disorders, including
chronic disorders which have not yet involved organic lesions (damage
to organs).
The above was about the body. As
far as the psyche is concerned, it only starts being restored after the
daily practice of mental silence becomes consistent.
If you were patient enough to
read the book to this point, you should have the legitimate question:
Why don’t either Hindu teachers of yoga nor their Western successors
mention all this? Why has nobody, nowhere (even in India, let alone
Europe or America) ever explained to Western beginners practicing Yoga,
the issue of mental relaxation and everything flowing from it? Is this
information “classified”? Are the Hindu teachers unable to explain it
while they do everything correctly by themselves?
In my opinion, the
situation is much simpler: European philosophers noticed a long time ago
that the mentality of Hindus is very different. They follow their heart
rather than their head. Many western visitors notice and are struck by
the amazing psychological relaxation of the local population in India.
Naturally, the religious beliefs of local people also contribute to this
state of mind. The people are not depressed at all by their poverty and
struggle for survival. The belief in eternal life and better
reincarnations keeps them content with their livesdespite the
circumstances. It is a major issue for western people to learn to
“switch off” the head in order to avoid endless mental hustle and
overstrain. Typically Hindu people do not have this problem at all! Thus
any discussion with them about the problems of psychological and
emotional overstrain is not likely to be understood. It is similar to
Russians (and also Europeans and Americans) not understanding me when I
say that the practice of Yoga must lead to silence of mind and be
performed in this state! Mental relaxation is unfamiliar to western
people while mental strain is unknown to the average Hindu.
The entire Western type of
civilization (including the sciences) resulted from the high level of
mental activity of Western people. This activity is induced by
dissatisfaction with the existent state of affairs and the resulting
anxiety. Originally Yoga was created by people with a different type of
world perception and mentality and a different information
environment. This is why the concentration on the infinite (in the other
words, complete mental relaxation or silence of mind) which is a
well-known conceptin Patanjali’s Sutras becomes a stumbling block for
Western people. No wonder! Their brain works relentlessly (like convicts
on a chain gang).
If one were to take a closer
look at the teachings of “yoga” in the schools of Ayengar and Ashtanga
Vinyasa, he or she will notice that the originators of those “styles”
had no idea how to approach the problem of the extreme tension of
Westerners. The authors of the “modern styles of yoga” make the same
mistake today.
B. K. S. Ayengar chose to focus
on numerous details and on the perfect shape of the asanas because
Westerners did not have the genuine relaxation of Hindu people.
Idealizing postures further served to distract his students from their
day-to-day problems and thus make his system understandable. But as a
result, the mind of practitioner becomes overwhelmed with the details of
performing asanas and does not come anywhere near to silence. P. Joyce
introduced the flow of movements accompanied by physical overstrain for
exactly the same purpose. In that case, all mental activity is
suppressed, but overall psychosomatic overstrain appears instead of
total relaxation, and existing problems only become worse.
The people in the modern
world desperately need to learn ways to release psycho-emotional
over-strain and successfully deal with mental hustle. The goal of
traditional yoga is mastering full relaxation leading to the silence of
mind.
Routine stresses (that are
fundamental to the life of Westerners) include basic survival as well as
social interaction. Let us take a closer look at the consequences of
these routine overstresses.
The human sub-conscious serves
as the buffer and, at the same time, as the “septic field” for
information and emotions. The informational and emotional fragments that
become obsolete or hazardous for the mind are suppressed under the
threshold of the sub-conscious and accumulated there. The protective
suppression mechanism functions properly if the amount of stress the
person experiences in his or her childhood and teens does not exceed an
acceptable level.
If stresses start at too early
an age, and their intensity and frequency exceed the adaptation ability
of the child’s psyche, the sub-conscious gradually turns into a kind of a
“cemetery”, overwelmed with fury, fear, despair and unbearable
memories. From a certain moment on, the sub-conscious can no longer play
its role of protecting the psyche. On the contrary, the emotional
content of the suppressed material begins to develop into psychosomatic
conditions.
Memories related to ongoing
stressful situations are suppressed as well. Thus, the person loses
access to many fragments of his or her past (this is called emotional
amnesia). The entire structure of interactions between the conscious and
the unconscious parts of the psyche is thus distorted, which causes a
total aberration of perception, awareness and thinking.
Of course, no one is
miraculously protected from allaccidents. It is the role of the parents
to protect their children from the hazards of the externalworld. But
when the parents’ behavior appears to be abusive, the future condition
of the child’s psyche and his or her ability to communicate in a social
context becomes endangered even though the child’s development looks
normal.
Radchenko (20)
states: “Along with the progress of mankind, there appeared new types of
stresses. There were no genetic protection programs against these
stresses. Nowadays the adaptation to the environment depends on one’s
mental abilities rather than on muscle strength, the integrity of bones
and tendons, or running ability. Words became more dangerous than
weapons. Human emotions were originally intended to mobilize the body
for defense. Nowadays, they are quite often suppressed and distorted by
social nicety. Over time they are not even recognized by the person and
could cause destructive processes in the body”. In other words, the
sub-conscious overwhelmed by suppressed negative emotions and
unsatisfactory communication with the world initially causes functional
disorders and later thedamage to the organs and systems (21).
Therefore the effective and safe
“discharge” of the sub-conscious becomes the most vitally important
task today. Even if the family environment appears to be good and
the suppression of material does not appear to interfere with routine
functioning, the day-to-daystresses are still accumulated.
In the modern world, maximum
capacity of complex mental activity and accelerated reactions are
required. Emotions interfere with the abstract thinking which is
necessary for the majority of activities performed by Western people.
The hormone support of emotional sphere is constantly suppressed (22).
But at the same time, the stress-related adrenaline is not properly
utilized through necessary and sufficient physical activity (23).
This leads to the constant
overworking of the sympathetic nervous system (and underutilization of
the parasympathetic nervous system) and a resulting excessive muscle
tonus (which does not relax even during sleep). General nervous tension
exceeds a safe level. This is accompanied by all corresponding symptoms:
the narrowed field of perception, distorted thinking process, broken
communication with others etc.
Our perception works in an
amazing way. We believe that when we are of sound mind and have good
memory, our consciousness (attention) should act like a spotlight
highlighting a landscape in the dark. We would then clearly perceive
(and, respectively, view) anything that comes to our attention. However,
this is no more than an illusion complicating our life. Distorted
consciousness in fact imposes projections rather than works as a
spotlight. It would add its own distortions to the perceived picture of
reality. This state is toxic to the mind.
Usually, a person is oblivious
to this. He or she perceives himself (or herself) as being in the right
while the external world is constantly viewed as being wrong. The
mistakes in behavior add up. They frustrate plans and expectations and,
eventually, all of life. “Life
is a tale told by an idiot -- full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing” (24). It would
potentially result in adaptation failure, neurosis, depression,
borderline states and psychosis.
The total amount of psychic
energy is constant for a given person. The amount is optimally
distributed by the system to satisfy all functional needs of the person.
During the daytime, most mental energy is consumed by the working
consciousness. During sleep, most of it is used by the inner activity of
the unconscious.
As was already mentioned, active
consciousness does not happen to be empty in everyday life. When this
happens in the practice of Yoga, the unused part of inner psychic energy
(since the total amount remains constant), gets absorbed by the
sub-conscious. Its activity increases, stimulating suppressed
pathological material.
Therefore when the activity of
the consciousness slows down to zero and the sub-conscious possesses
sufficient resources, the conditions are created to release the
suppressed material. This occurs through the protective barrier from the
suppressed areas of the sub-conscious to the surface of an emptying
mind (like overheated steam through an open valve).
Thus, the main condition of
initiating the process of releasing sub-conscious material is the
complete termination of mind activityaccompanied by the activity of
parasympathetic functions for the whole duration of practicing asanas.
It is the ”body-mind system” that decides how and to what extent the
released material will be understood by the mind. The “body-mind system”
would take care of presenting it in the least traumatic way. It would
then re-distribute the released material between the appropriate
perception channels. This would conform to whichever representation
system was in place for the person (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
The leading representative
system organizes the released material, presenting it to
consciousness in a certain way, but the practicing person (until the
completion of the process) is only partially aware of the content of the
released material. In most cases the release occurs without conscious
involvement, through sensations in the body (pain without any apparent
cause) or through intense emotional release, somehow reflected in
dreams.
Many modern methods of relief
and rehabilitation of the psyche (psychoanalysis, rebirthing, NLP,
hypnosis, autogenic training, gestalt therapy etc.) are surpassed by
Yoga in this major aspect: it is absolutely safe. Althoughthe
person practicing yoga triggers the process of spontaneous relief and
rehabilitation, it is further carried out by psychosomatic processes
without any personal (and, in most cases, conscious) involvement or any
external influence. Therefore, the resulting process is not based on a
system of rhetoric but instead simply allows the “body-mind system” to
repair itself.
Let us consider the most typical
options of relief. In each case, I highlight the leading representative
system of the person. This information is helpful if one should do
substantial work to “clean out” the subconscious. A successful Yoga
therapy (as well as any other kind) requires a high degree of
communication with the practitioner. The knowledge of the leading
representation system is crucial to choose the appropriate technique of
meditation.
The internal family environment
very often becomes the source of long and heavy stresses. This happens
partially because “kinesthetics complain that auditory and visual people
are insensitive. Visuals complain that auditories don’t pay attention
to them because they don’t make eye contact during the conversation.
Auditory people complain that the kinesthetics don’t listen, etc. The
outcome is usually that one group comes to consider the other
deliberately bad or mischievous or pathological” (25). It’s
necessary to remember that in any given person a prevailing
representation system doesn’t fully exclude the others. Many people
think in images and words at the same time, while kinesthesia can be
found in nearly all people (except for those suffering from psychosis
and severe neurosis).
The first option is the motoric
discharge. It could be accompanied by intense negative emotions without
recalling the original source of problems.
Case #1 was a man of
35 who with was somewhat frail, with average physical abilities. He had
some problems in his childhood. He had been suffering from hay fever
with bad summer flare-ups for half of his life. He had a high level of
anxiety, an excessive general muscle tonus, scoliosis, chronic fatigue
and insomnia.
While practicing yoga he
was able to improve his general condition slowly but surely. After two
years of practice, only traces of his allergy remained, and his health
became basically normal.
There was another
interesting thing, too. His leading representation was kinesthetic. He
never had any pictures or sounds in his mind, thoughts seemed to appear
from nowhere. When his relaxation reached certain depth, he started
experiencing muscle tremors in his body (around the eyes, in the right
thigh, in the biceps). While practicing Shavasana, he would
perceive slight convulsions which would begin in the little left toe and
then slowly spread to the whole limb. At the same time, the similar
process would start in his right leg, the body and the arms, until his
whole body would begin to convulse in a strange way as in the Saint
Vitus dance. No unusual emotions accompanied the process. The man would
not try to interfere with it until the sensations became unpleasant (in a
few minutes). Then he would clench his body and then relax,
simultaneously opening his eyes, and this would discontinue these
spontaneous movements. These manifestations would regularly appear in
his practice of Shavasana for about six months. Then they
gradually disappeared, and his mood and world perception improved. It
was the case of spontaneous release of suppressed material via motion.
This person also once
experienced a full visual discharge. While watching a movie with his
family, he suddenly felt so sick that he barely had time to reach the
bathroom. During a very bad fit of nausea, he clearly recalled something
forgotten many years ago: a drunken bully catching a little boy by the
collar of his shirt and knocking his head on the village street.
Case #2 was a
thick-set lady with a generally poor state of health at the beginning of
her practice. Her leading type of representation was kinesthetic and
digital. She had been primarily responsible for raising her
children and supporting her family for many years, since her husband was
often engaged in continuous drinking bouts. As a result, she suffered
from insomnia, chronic fatigue, general depression and a complete loss
of interest in life. By the time the husband sobered up and the children
grew up, both her mental and physical health were ruined. All attempts
to improve them (trips to India, life in ashrams, etc.) failed.
After six months of very mild
yoga practice, her mind started to quiet which then triggered the active
motoric discharge of suppressed material. It was quite a sight! While
practicing Shavasana, the lady’s whole body moved in waves like a
rug being shaken while held by one end. Her back thrashed against the
floor, scaring the other people relaxing next to her. However, she
didn’t lose the state of mental relaxation! Sometimes
(and no wonder) she experienced aches in her back and belly muscles
after performing Shavasana.
Her general state of
health and mood remained unstable during the period of subconscious
relief (which continued for about a year and three months). Sometimes
she would experience anguish, causeless tears or physical discomfort.
Then her condition quickly improved, starting with her mood and
complexion, and followed by her health. Her perception and attitude
towards current problems improved, and the nature of her dreams changed.
Her former stresses disappeared and new ones didn’t accumulate any
more. Although her past didn’t change, it was no longer oppressive. She
became steadily optimistic towards her future and life in general.
Case #3 was a man of
thirty, who was athletically built and had a powerful intellect. His
leading type of representation was auditory. He survived surgery of
melanotic sarcoma at the age of twenty (which was an exceptional case).
After that his work involved extreme strain for a long time. When we met
he was both physically and emotionally over-tired and suffered from
insomnia. He used to drink over two liters of vodka in one sitting in
order to achieve some relaxation.
His mental relaxation was
successful nearly from the very beginning of practice. He was meticulous
and focused in whatever he undertook. His motoric discharge of
accumulated overstrain was extremely active. It was exhibited in
powerful muscle spasms in the limbs and the body. He could lay down on
the floor in one part of a room in order to listen to Yoga Nidra(25) and
come to in a totally different place, having no idea how he happened to
get there.
Case #4 was an
hysterical lady of thirty five. Her childhood and youth were passed in
an extremely complicated family environment. She engaged herself in
DanceSport until graduation from school in order to minimize the amount
of time spent at home.
After six months of
practicing Yoga, she developed the following pattern. While listening
to Nidra, she would relax almost at once. Then in the middle of
the practice she would rise and begin to move around with her eyes half
closed. I cannot explain what it was like: while she wore the face of a
sleepwalker, she engaged in a kind of slow acrobatics and incredible
movements with some elements resembling asanas. It could last up to half
an hour, when she would sink into Pavanamuktasana and rest still
for about ten minutes. She wouldn’t remember what had happened, but she
would feel wonderful. If a phone would ring or anyone would make a
sudden movement, she would snap out of her trance and would commence a
fit of hysterics followed by a faint. These motoric discharges would
happen about twice a month in her daily practice of asanas and
Nidra. After six months they ended and her general health substantially
improved.
Another possible type
of discharge is emotional. People
with any type of leading representation could be subject to this kind
of discharge. The only difference is that those who see and/or hear
might be able to recall memories of the past associated with their
current feelings (emotional instability). As a rule, this type of
recollection is impossible for digital and kinesthetic people, though
some exceptions occur.
Case #5 was a
middle-aged lady who had been suffering from heavy depression for three
years. She spent several months adapting to asanas. After that, she
began to progress in her general relaxation (including mental
relaxation). After a certain point, when the greater part of muscle
strain in her body disappeared and her consciousness began to diffuse,
she began to shed tears. She would cry incessantlythroughout the
duration of her practice and would only stop in Shavasana. After
that, she would be overwhelmed with anguish. It would be intense but
would have no apparent reason and would not go away. Tears would cause
headaches. This would disrupt her routine work, since this lady
practiced Yoga in the morning. She had to limit deep relaxation to once
every two days, in order to let her eyes to recover. Then the flow of
tears was replaced by nausea, and nausea was replaced by dizziness.
All these ”tricks” of the
autonomous nervous system lasted for about six months. Only after the
critical mass of suppressed material was annihilated did the mental
condition of the lady return to normal (before the depression). She, in
her own words, “came back to her old self”. The memories remained, but
became neutral and were no longer troubling to her. The entire process
of rehabilitation took about a year.
Case #6 was a lady of
thirty who had been seriously abused in her childhood. At the beginning
of her practice, the set of her problems included the fear of bridges
and of height in general, over-reactiveness resulting from any contact
with her parents, intolerance of heat and cold, amnesia of the greater
part of her past, ongoing depression, chronic fatigue, a lack of normal
social contacts, poor functioning of her stomach and bowels, severe
hysteria and the absence of any ability to concentrate. Her
representation was mainly auditory. Her mind was overwhelmed by ongoing
chatter that would often turn into continuous buzz. It would exhaust her
completely and disturb her concentration.
The rehabilitation by Yoga
practice was slow because it was exacerbated by bad circumstances at
her workplace (because of her poor mental and physical health) and
unsatisfactory living conditions due to her poor functioning. After her
work and living situation improved, the process accelerated. The typical
forms of discharge were through emotions, the body and dreams.
Initially, the lady
complained that past traumas to her back and knees (acquired from sport
classes in her childhood) would not let her adapt to yoga practice. But
later on it became clear that the ache in her knees would mainly appear
after emotional frustrations. It would get worse in general since her
poor health condition would not allow her to listen to her body and
respond appropriately in asanas. She had developed a tendency to store
suppressed emotions in her knees, face and eyes in childhood.
After practicing yoga for
some time, her general condition improved. The stresses ceased to bother
her knees, and they in turn didn’t obstruct performing asanas. She
began to properly feel her body. Her face became the next “area” of
discharge. There was lots of grimacing in Shavasana and,
especially, in Nidra. After her practice, the lady looked as if
she had been whipped on her cheeks.
Her past traumas were
processed in detail both in relaxation and dreams. This uneasy process
took about three years. Her memories regressed from the present to the
remote past, down to early childhood. The focus of the practice was to
carry out the discharge of suppressed material in a way which allowed
her to live normally and work productively. Finally she could remember
everything. She became another healthy and adequate person who had risen
from hell, who could begin a new life after reaching the age of thirty
five.
Frequently old physical traumas come out in the process of a
motoric (muscle) discharge. This interesting experience is worth
discussing, because the body seems to remember everything that has
happened to it; its memory is absolute.
Case #7 involved a
retired marine engineer of 50 who complained of a problem with his
spine. His practice developed normally; he had already acquired
sufficient experience. But one winter day, he told me that he had
overstrained his knee while practicing Virasana. “How come?”– I asked
him. “You ought to know what to do. Leave your leg in peace and choose
another posture which doesn’t affect it.” That was what we agreed upon.
But that evening he got
extremely chilled on his way home waiting for a bus in a severe frost.
After that, the pain in his knee became so intense that he had to stop
practicing for a couple of weeks. I could not figure out to why it had
happened, but he called me with the answer. He just remembered that he
was engaged in wrestling in his student years. His knee was so badly
injured at a wrestling competition that he was limping for several
months and was not even able to squat. “It is good, then everything’s
clear,” I answered. “You were practicing correctly, but it was time for
the old trauma to come out. If you hadn’t been frozen, the trouble would
have passed without this recollection, but the chill added up to the
discharge aggravation, and you got it in full”.
Case #8 involved a
lady of 40 who had accumulated a number of health problems. She had to
straighten her spine, as her scoliosis caused skewedness in her pelvis
which resulted in varicose veins in her right leg.
At some point, when her
practice was progressing, she complained of pain in the fingers of her
left hand emerging at night. Since I knew that she used to be a
professional handball player, to the level of master of sport, I
wondered whether she had ever traumatized the hand. “Of course I did,
lots of times! What is handball all about? You swing and throw with your
right hand, and then fall down on your left side”. For two weeks she
could not sleep normally because of the pain in her left hand, but then
the pain disappeared and the hand became as good as new.
Later she had another
remarkable incident (this time of a different nature). Her father had
passed away when she was five years old. Her mother raised her together
along with her big sister. Evidently, their mother’s style was quite
authoritative. My student had subsequent difficulties in relating to her
mother. She grew up unsatisfied and always finding fault with herself,
her own life, family, children, husband, job etc.
Her leading representation
was visual, she thought “in pictures”. But one day (during the second
year of her practice), she clearly heard in mental silence of Nidra,
a distant voice. She realized that it had always been there. It blamed
her continuously, called her good- for-nothing, mocking her, shaming and
swearing at her. “Of course” –she said in dismay – it was my Mom. Her
way of talking to me could not be mistaken”. Having appeared once, the
voice insistently continued its monologues, there seemed to be no
respite from it.
But soon the lady came to a
session deeply moved and told me that she had a dream that night. She’d
had a bad quarrel with her father, and he gave her a severe spanking.
This happened not long before his death, and she had completely
forgotten it. Then she was finally able to recognize the voice which had
obsessed her all her life. She realized that it belonged to her father
rather than to her mother. “And now it has disappeared and I do not hear
it any more! Something turned in me….” From that day on, the world’s
count of optimists went up. (Whether the dream reflected an actual event
or not was immaterial - it provided the required solution – to resolve
the distinctive pattern in her psyche).
Case #9. Here is the story of the previous lady’s
husband (it was a remarkable family in general). Actually, I started
working with him initially, and his wife joined in later. His spine
became “like a glass” starting from his first experience in farm work
during his student years. This disrupted his normal life. It ached
virtually all the time with some short and unpredictable periods of
relief. All attempts to heal it were in vain. According to visual
examination and X-rays, one of the vertebrae, located below the shoulder
blades, was shifted over half an inch anteriorly. In fact, there was a
kind of a pit in his spine. It was a mystery why nobody noticed that in
his childhood. Moreover, he claimed that he was totally unaware of any
problems with his spine until it failed after lifting the fifth bagful
of potatoes.
We had to work a lot with
his spine. At the first session, he laid straight as a post his face
down on the rug. I asked him to prop his chin on his hands so that I
could assess the plasticity of his back. He glanced at me reproachfully
over his shoulder. Then he cautiously propped his chin on his fist
placed on the floor and said: “It is already painful”. He performed the
simplest postures using a very elaborate route and used another one to
quit them. We had to search and search for acceptable ways to perform
asanas. However, after ten months of practice the pain in his
back suddenly disappeared. It wouldn’t re-appear for weeks and months.
His plasticity in asanas was gradually improving. He was enjoying life.
Then, unexpectedly, he started getting nervous. I asked him: ”What’s the
matter? Your spine isn’t giving you any trouble, just live and enjoy
your life. I think we’ve taken care of it for now.” – “It’ is great” he
answered. – “But what if the pain starts again?”
One day he came to his
session with a strange look on his face. At first he only shook his head
unable to find words in response to my questions. Finally he confessed:
“I had a dream. At first it was quite ordinary, a sort of a typical
detective action story, I get a lot of these. I’m hanging around Moscow,
there are fights all around, bandits, shooting. And then there is a
rumor about a black beast (something like a gigantic panther) wandering
the city and mercilessly crippling people. And after some time I realize
(in my sleep!) that it’s me that it’s looking for! From that moment the
dream becomes a nightmare. I find a place to hide and stay there for
the whole day, then two days, three days. The beast has settled in
across the entrance and is waiting for me. I’m hungry, my family has no
idea where I am, there’s no phone – I’ve got to do something. I
understand even in sleep that the situation may not be what it appears. I
search all over the house and find a rusty revolver. I can’t
even tell if it will work. The beast doesn’t move from its place. Well, I
brace up and put the gun in my pocket – just in case. I come out,
nobody is around, I am trembling inside. The beast approaches, rears,
puts its paws on my shoulders nearly causing me fall. Its breath stinks.
My mind is full of doubt: Should I shoot or not? I’m aware even in
sleep that something is wrong with this picture and that it’s better to
stay still. Suddenly, the beast takes its paws away, turns around, makes
three leaps and disappears in the air. I was pushed from my dream like a
champagne cork. I woke up drenched with sweat. My brain didn’t work. My
wife asked if I was sick. It was already half past three a.m. I took a
shower, changed my clothes and went to bed again, but couldn’t fall
asleep. I had the sensation that something had changed….
“Congratulations!” – I
said. “First the pain went, now the fear related to it has gone as well.
It is good that you behaved correctly in your dream. If you had gotten
frightened, who knows what could have happened…”
The limits of
rehabilitation are always individual and unpredictable, as demonstrated
by example #10. A couple of years ago some guys from “Vympel” (26)
brought me their former comrade. He was 32 years old. Judging by his
current condition, he had been perfectly trained and used to have
exceptional health. In fact, this had saved his life when someone
attempted to kill him by delivering a terrible blow to the back of his
head with a baseball bat. He was diagnosed with a vast hematoma in his
brain. He went through two surgeries followed by a coma. The surgeons
did not expect him to survive, but he regained consciousness after a
month. “Miracles do happen!” – said the doctors. – “But maybe, it would
have been better to die than to live like a vegetable like general
Romanov who got injured by a blast near Grozny.” (27).
However, after three more months, the man began to talk, and after
another six months, he could walk. The doctors were absolutely floored
and refrained from any more dire forecasts.
Initially he walked like a
drunken man and got regular attention from policemen. Only his
disability certificate with the full description of his coordination
disorder would excuse him. I frankly told him that nobody could say
whether Yoga could be helpful in his case. One could always try, but
without any guarantee. However, I was pleased to see that his friends
tried so hard to help him. Initially, his condition included a lurch,
poor coordination, “wooden” movements (without the natural smoothness of
an adult), poor sight, stumbling speech, expressionless face. Still,
his intellect was intact. A person in his situation was not supposed to
be alive, yet here we are learning asanas! Outrageous!
His daily focus was on
practicing Yoga (as he thankfully had lots of time). When I asked him
about other physical activities, he answered that he did chin-ups and
push-ups. Unfortunately he was unable to jog because of his lack of
coordination. As a daily exercise, I suggested that he try throwing a
tennis ball against a wall and catching it with alternate hands.
After a year of practice,
his coordination, sight and speech improved considerably. Some of the
indices of his stabilogram (28) rose from a negative reading
to practically normal. Now I am waiting to hear him say that he has
started jogging.
After all these extreme
cases, one might wonder: how could a
young and healthy person (or someone who is naturally well-balanced
emotionally, i.e. a naturally born sanguine person), benefit from yoga
practice?
Through yoga practice,
people acquire the ability to voluntarily quiet their mental activity
(including autonomous activity) for some time. Then their intellectual
productivity increases. Over a period of time, the ongoing thinking
process that used to be present in their mind sinks beyond the threshold
of perception. The mind gets rid of mental hustle. The aberration of
perception is minimized. The person in the state of mental calmness is
aware of events and nuances which would have gone unnoticed in his or
her previous state.
The very structure of
intellectual activity changes. The mind collects and accumulates
information on a certain issue which then disappears from perception as
if it was forgotten. From this point on, the only thing the mind has to
do is to wait for a ready answer to “pop up” in one way or another.
There is no more need to mull over complicated issues as one used to do
before, as if one were turning heavy grindstones in the brain.
Typically, people who
practice yoga notice that their involvement with the thinking process
has significantly reduced. Apparently, the mechanics of thinking process
shifts from the awareness to elsewhere.
This indicates that
communication between the unconscious and conscious mind has become
optimal, and also that the information is now being processed with the
involvement of all available resources of the psyche rather than by the
aware mind alone. Thus, the capacity of the mind is naturally extended
and the outcome improves.
A person can now be completely present in the moment
(if necessary) - here and now. His or her intuition becomes available
and responds appropriately.
Further, overstrain and
its consequences don’t accumulate in the body. The body’s plasticity
reaches its fullest potential and health and well-being become optimal.
Social communication
becomes most effective as well. This is the consequence due to the power
of calmness. This power is nothing other than the accumulated sattva (29).
It helps a yogi to communicate with the external world via the quality
of his/her inner state rather than attempting to impose his or her
direct influence on it.
Those who have already
practiced yoga enough to experience this state need no further
explanations. I’ll try to explain further for those who have not
experienced or understood this state, though this will be quite a
challenge.
The “response” of the
external world to our actions depends only in part on what we are doing
and how. Our psychic (emotional) state during our actions provides an
even greater influence on that response.
In fact, it is the state
of our psyche that becomes the major factor determiningthe development
of events initiated by us in the external world, not the quantity of our
personal efforts nor the resources and time spent on them, but
exclusively the quality of our inner calmness.
Emotions (the first signaling system) are the most
ancient method of communication of mammals. They function via the most
archaic brain structures.
Contemporary Western
people strive to put emotional manifestations under tight control, to
suppress and carefully hide them. But this does not exclude their latent
influence on interpersonal communication.
Moreover, the more
suppressed they are, the greater their influence on the unconscious
aspects of our behavior.
Emotions, the first signaling system, are an invisible but
powerful part of any verbal communication, with words beingthe second
signaling system. Thus maximum efficiency of transmitting or concealing
information is achieved from a system’s point of view. Our own emotional
condition greatly influences the perception and response of anyone we
talk to. This happens regardless of whether we are aware of this
influence, whenever our verbal communication is targeted at someone
else’s consciousness.
As a rule, the unconscious
exchange of emotions occurs during one’s verbal communication. The
influence of a highly “overheated” subconscious (and, consequently, a
highly distorted consciousness) on interpersonal communication is
specifically powerful. Individuals having this kind of distortion in
their mind often become a source of psycho-emotional contamination (they
could even cause a social epidemic. One always feels awful after
socializing with them and ultimately loses any desire for further
contact.
The overwhelming majority
of the people with an overheated subconscious and an unbalanced
psycho-emotional system have little chance for successful
self-realization. They automatically attract people with the same
psycho-emotional state regardless of their environment (or no matter how
often it is changed). ”Birds of a feather flock together”. The
unconscious (acting like a self-guided missile) selects only targets
with a similar kind of distortion from the total range of opportunities,
ignoring the rest.
I possess sufficient data
to assert that people with a higher degree of mental calmness (harmony)
achieve better results from their communication with the external world
than those with more chaotic minds, everything else being equal.
According to analogy, the
practice of asanas and pranayama is a specific “tempering” of the body
and the mind in the “fire” of Yoga. When the body and the mind have been
purified, the siddhis (30) appear. Rather than specifying
their entire list, we will consider only one of them, “power”. It is
acquired only via lengthy and quality practice of yoga.
It is hard to fully
describe what happens to the practitioner when it appears. Everything in
life tends to happen in the best possible way and the person always
obtains whatever he or she needs. That is: what is really needed rather
than what is wanted! Real needs as opposed to wishes are very different
things. The “power” does not seem to work in support of wishes which are
produced by one’s mind.
“Power” is inner harmony
and calmness, an unshakable sattvic state and is the result of true yoga
practice. One feels as if his or her “unit weight” has increased and
his or her mere presence (in a given place at a given time) tangibly
influences events as well as the well-being of surrounding people.
A person possessing the
power, which is essentially ”light”, would always positively influence
the well-being of the people around him or her.
A person possessing “dark
power” (unfortunately, that happens as well, Gurdjieff is a well-known
example) would tend to use surrounding people as raw material to
materialize his or her own wishes and ideas.
This will result in the
suffering of those being used. But the “consumer” will have to bear
responsibility for all that at some point.
In ordinary life, yoga is
merely a fragment of the general human being. It is a specific activity
in a specially designated period of time intended to bring life to its
best possible quality. Therefore the appearing “power” is initially
tested on a narrow circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances. The
practicing person no longer requires any kind of support. On the
contrary, from a “consumer” of calmness he or she progresses to
generating it and becoming a supporter, a “shoulder to cry on”, a
“source of energy”.
”Power” always returns
manifold no matter how much one releases to surrounding people (say to
alleviate their suffering).
People practicing Yoga
notice the following to their surprise: after inner calmness is
acquired, the success (and positive result) of any complicated sequence
of actions, events or processes initiated by them, depends
exclusively on the quality of their calmness at the beginning.
Even if the forecast of
the development of events is unfavorable, the stable inner harmony may
re-direct the development along the most favorable path.
Thus, the well-being of
any person can be significantly improved with practicing yoga. Even
those who are naturally healthy and emotionally well balanced acquire
many additional benefits and opportunities.
They include the
prolongation of life in general and particularly of its active period.
It’s clear that the described technique of practicing
yoga in a state of mental silence relates not only to the asana stage.
It also relates to:
-yama/niyama.
Presumably, any adult who starts practicing yoga has already developed
his or her own ethical principles;
- pranayama (discussed later);
- pratyahara as
well as dharana ;
- elements of dhyana(31).
Thus the traditional
style of practicing asanas makes them something greater than hatha yoga.
In fact, the practice of
asanas accompanied by mental silence is partially a meditation with all
the consequences flowing from it. I said “partially”, because to
meditate, one needs to stay motionless for a long period of time which
is not possible in the majority of asanas. However, this practice
includes bahiranga yoga and the two stages of antaranga yoga (32)
in all their entirety.
In summary, the technique
as presented resulted from following literally the definition of an
asana given by Patanjali in Sutra 46 of the 2nd chapter of Yoga
Sutras.
As a conclusion, I will
describe a final techniqueof practicing Yoga. It can be implemented only
by those who have learned traditional yoga perfectly. Although
beginners may also try it (there will be no any negative effect), they
are not likely to benefit from it.
The first condition for
practicing this way is the permanent and complete relaxation of all body
muscles (except for those participating in holding the asana),
especially the muscles of the abdominal area. These muscles must be
completely relaxed during the entire practice of yoga while entering an
asana, holding it, quitting it and during the pause before the next one
(of course, except for those postures in which these muscles are
directly engaged).
The abdominal muscles
should not be participating in the practice of yoga at all! Their
relaxation should not be affected by any changes in the position of the
body. They are only passively engaged in the breathing process which
must always remain free and spontaneous in an asana.
Therefore any movements
during the practice of yoga automatically become smooth and slow (one
simply won’t be able to make quick or jerky movements).
If the first condition is
met, a yoga practitioner notices after a while that the pattern of his
or her breathing has changed. It becomes light, shallow and slow. A new
breathing pattern appears: a brief, hardly noticeable inhale followed by
a slightly longer exhale, and then a long pause. This rhythm is
continuous and automatic like the slow rhythmic moving of beads along a
rosary.
Another pattern is also
possible. The breathing cycle becomes so prolonged that the practitioner
is unable to tell at a certain moment whether he or she is in fact
inhaling or exhaling.
Normally, while practicing
asanas, the breathing pattern changes as a result of the change in body
shape and consequently in the lungs’ available volume. However, if
while bending forward, one makes (and
this would tend to happen spontaneously) a deeper than usual breathing
cycle, then, in the following asana the breath will keep the same
pattern and rhythm as it would if one were simply in a pause between
postures while resting (i.e. there will be no compensatory speeding up
of the breath).
When unbending, several
spontaneous deeper breathing cycles occur, and then in the starting
position the breath resumes the same pattern and depth as it was before
performing an asana. In other words, one’s breath is as consistent as if
one were doing nothing.
If this kind of breath
appears, one should take his or her attention away from trying to relax
the abdominal muscles and instead focus on this breathing.
If you listen to it
attentively, the spontaneous short inhale sounds like the syllable “so”
and the slightly longer exhale sounds like “aham”. Actually, this kind
of breathing is nothing else than the natural mantra “so–aham”
reproduced by the body.
Continuous repetition of a
mantra is known as Jappa. Spontaneous repetition of a mantra is the
meditation called Ajappa-jappa. In this particular situation it occurs
in traditional practice of asanas. This breathing mantra should be
followed! – Followed incessantly, both in asanas and in pauses between
them.
Then the consciousness
becomes dream-like. Still there is no tendency to fall asleep. One’s
attention is set on the sound of breathing continuously but without any
strain. When the breathing pattern starts being disrupted, it’s time to
quit the practice.
This kind of practice
results in a state of perfect well-being and over the period of time,
leads to the state known as samtosha (33).
Sutra 49 of the second
chapter states that while asana is being achieved pranayama is
practiced. It is the change in breathing pattern that
is spontaneous pranayama!
Thus, following only two
Sutras, we naturally came to the point where pranayama as well as
mantra are practiced along with physical yoga exercises. That is to
say, the exercise of asanas becomes meditation without any special
effort by the practitioner.
Thus, the interpretation
of practical aspects of yoga in PatanjaIi’s Sutras has not become
outdated. On the contrary, it provides the practitioner with unlimited
opportunities of self-actualization.
This is why it has been preserved over the ages.
10.10.2006 – 9.01.2007 Hammamet – Langkawi – Kuala
Lumpur – Moscow
GLOSSARY
1. Patañjali is the compiler of
the Yoga Sutras, an
important collection of aphorisms on yoga practice.
Sūtra (Sanskrit sū́tra), literally means a rope
or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to
an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such
aphorisms in the form of a manual.
2. Классическая йога (Йоша-Сутры Патанджали и
«Вьяса-Бхашья»)
перевод с санскрита, введение, комментарий
и реконструкция системы
Е.П. Островской и В.И. Рудого
Е.П. Островской и В.И. Рудого
М.: Центр исследований традиционных идеологий Востока
"Asiatica", 1992
3. Swami
Satyananda Saraswati Four Chapters On
Freedom Commentary On The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali ISBN
: 81-85787-18-2
4. D. Ebert. Physiologische Aspekte des Yoga. 1986 Stuttgart:
Thieme
5. In Samkhya philosophy, one of
the six schools of Hindu philosophy, rajas (Sanskrit rajas, or rajoguna) is the quality
(guna) of activity. If a person or thing tends to be extremely active,
excitable, or passionate, that person or thing is said to have a
preponderance of rajas. It is contrasted with the quality of tamas, which is the
quality of inactivity, darkness, and laziness, and with sattva, which is
the quality of purity, clarity, and healthy calmness.
6. Б Смирнов, Книга о Бхишме, 1963
7. Yama (“discipline”) —
the first “limb” (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path, comprising
moral precepts that have universal validity (such as nonharming and
truthfulness); also the name of the Hindu deity of death
Niyama (“[self-]restraint”) — the second limb of
Patanjali’s eightfold path, which consists of purity (shauca),
contentment (samtosha), austerity (tapas), study (svâdhyâya),
and dedication to the Lord (îshvara-pranidhâna)
8. Prânâyâma (from prâna and âyâma, “life/breath
extension”) — breath control,
the fourth limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eigthfold path, consisting
of conscious inhalation (pûraka), retention (kumbhaka),
and exhalation (recaka); at an advanced state, breath retention
occurs spontaneously for longer periods of time
9. Wu Wei: in Taoist
thought, "actionless action;" related to the concept of de as efficient power,
Wu Wei refers to action that is in accordance with the Dao ("Way"), which is
therefore seen as ultimately more productive than energy-depleting
friction that pushes too hard, i.e., against the Dao, for its goal.
10. In some people
suffering from severe neurosis, the body and its sensations can become
alienated from each other and some important signals from the body may
be missed by the consciousness, while “ghost” ones (not relating to
actual contact of the body with environment) may actually dominate the
attention.
11. Vipassana: This is a form of meditation known as insight meditation,
and is considered key to enlightenment by Theravada Buddhists.
12. Representational systems (also
known as sensory modalities and abbreviated to VAKOG or known as
the 4-tuple) is a Neuro-linguistic programming model that examines how
the human mind processes information. It states that for practical
purposes, information is (or can be treated as if) processed through
the senses. Thus people say one talks to oneself (the auditory sense)
even if no words are emitted, one makes pictures in one's head when
thinking or dreaming (the visual sense), and one considers feelings in
the body and emotions (known as the kinesthetic sense).
13.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (1,2) defines yoga as following: yogas chitta vritti nirodhah - Yoga is the cessation of the
thought-waves of the mind. (To block the patterns of consciousness is
yoga.) Here and later CVN means blocking conventional thinking process.
14.Sadhaka (Sanskrit) is a
practitioner of a particular sadhana (practice).
The term is often synonymous with yogi
15. Phosphene - a luminous impression due to excitation of the
retina
16. Ekagrata -Concentration of mind on
one object or thought
17. Bandha: Internal lock.
There are several types, the most common ones are mula bandha (root
lock), uddiyana bandha (abdominal lock) and jalandhara bandha (chin
lock).
18. Hatha yoga – asanas and
pranayama.
19. In
modern society many people function in state which has a certain
stability but which is far from optimal, for example spinal scoliosis.
Drastic physical activity in this condition is difficult and can even be
dangerous. The mild practice of traditional yoga, when done correctly,
can bring such a body into alignment without risk
20. Радченко А.Ф. Роль и возможности психотерапии в
лечении некоторых соматических заболеваний (2002)
21. Example: Unhealthy
nutritional habits combined with on-going stress could result in
gastritis; the inflammation of the mucous coat of the stomach. If this
situation continues for a while and is further aggravated by smoking,
the gastritis gradually evolves into the chronic stage (duodenitis).
Ulcers could be formed. In some cases, the lengthy inflammatory process
could even cause tumors.
22. Example: you always try not to behave angrily with
your boss even if you have good reason to be angry with him or her.
23. Example: running away
and screaming
24. A line from William Shakespeare's Macbeth, from Act 5, Scene 5.
25.Yoga Nidra is a deep relaxation
technique also called “yogic sleep” in which mind and body is at
complete rest but with complete awareness.
26. Vympel is the Russian elite
military unit.
27. Russians
prefer to spell things out for you.
28. Stabilogram is the test measuring
the severity of balance disorders resulting from the lack of adequate
muscle response due to a deficiency of sensory inputs or damage in the
central nervous system.
29. In Hindu philosophy, sattva (Sanskrit sattva "purity", literally
"existence, reality"; adjectival sāttvika "pure", anglicised sattvic) is the highest
of the three gunas in Samkhya, sāttvika "pure", rājasika "dim", and tāmasika "dark".
A person or creature can be
called sāttvika if the creature has predominantly sāttvika tendencies.
A sāttvika individual always works for the welfare of the
world. He is always hardworking, alert and lives life moderately. He
leads a chaste life. He eats moderately. He speaks the truth and is
bold. He never uses vulgar or insulting language. He does not feel
jealous nor is he affected by greed and selfishness. He does not cheat
or mislead anyone. He does not even allow any evil tendencies to enter
his mind. He has good memory and concentration. He also has keen
interest in improving his spiritual knowledge, and spends time
worshiping god or meditating. In the extreme state he may even perform
penance or uninterrupted meditation. A satvic individual can be recognized if his mind, speech
and actions synchronize. Manasa, vacha,
karmana are the three Sanskrit words used to describe such a state.
30. Siddhi (Sanskrit: siddhiḥ) is a Sanskrit word that literally
means "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success". It is also used as a
term for spiritual power (or psychic ability). The term is used in that
sense in Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism.
These spiritual powers supposedly vary from relatively simple forms of clairvoyance to being able to levitate, to be
present at various different places simultaneously, to become as small
as an atom, to materialize objects, to have access to memories from past
lives, and more.
31. Pratyâhâra (“withdrawal”) — sensory
inhibition, the fifth limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eightfold path
Dhâranâ (“holding”) — concentration, the sixth limb (anga) of
Patanjali’s eight-limbed Yoga
dhyana .
dhyana .
Dhyâna (“ideating”) — meditation,
the seventh limb (anga) of Patanjali’s eight-limbed Yoga
32. Bahiranga Yoga (the first four “limbs” (anga) of
Patanjali’s eightfold path) consists of:
Yama - Morals
Niyama - Ethics
Asana - Posture
Pranayama - Breath Control
Antaranga Yoga (the next four “limbs” of Patanjali’s eightfold path) consists of:
Pratyahara - Control of the
senses
Dharana - Concentration
Dhyana - Meditation
Samadhi – Enlightenment
33. Samtosha is Contentment; one of the five attributes
of niyama (self-restraint)
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий