YOGABHARATI

Session on "Communication with Compassion" by Subha Parthasarathy was an eye opener for many who have not associated  Communication and communication C & C as a combo to bring about  a change in the way we connect to others .  This session on compassion had activities where we were able to recognise the difference between an observation or an evaluation. Let me share a summary of my perspectives after hearing this session.    Q to ponder for all of us : Am I Judging while observing?  - natural inclination to combine both :) How much am I listening when the other person speaks? Am I  keen on talking or putting fwd my ideas or perspectives or strategies? This  brought a realisation that sometimes we do act as if we are listening to our kids or others but we do communicate on the spur of the moment whatever comes in our head at that moment. We do use language which can be so detrimental for our relationships. We do communicate with pre forme...

Raghuramji’s talk on “ Indian perspective of Stress – Ancient wisdom” in the recently held Seminar  A short summary The talk begins with wondering that stress is a very recent term that has gained its importance in the recent decades due to our lifestyle. How this recent phenomenon could have been addressed in our ancient texts? Bhagavad Gita was taken as an example text to understand if the text offers any solution related to stress.  In the very first chapter of Bhagavad Gita, let us examine the state in which Arjuna was, when he refuses to fight. Arjuna says, “Krishna, my body is shivering, limbs are shivering, mind is reeling. I am unable to hold the Gandiva” .  All these symptoms that Arjuna describes relate to todays anxiety neurosis, a psychological condition that needs to be treated. All that SriKrishna says in Bhagavad Gita can be related as a counselling given to Arjuna to overcome this psychological condition . At the end of Gita, Arjuna says...

                                                           Yoga for autism – Sharing an experience .                                                Yoga is all about making us turn inwards, understand ourselves better, discover ourselves, accept ourselves as we are and lead our life in a joyful manner. As we do asanas, we observe the different changes happening at the body level. This helps us understand our body better. As we do mindful breathing (initial chant, your feeling) the mind doesn’t go somewhere. we are present at the moment and are more aware. We are also observing the thought...

The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is one of the most powerful verses from the Rig Veda. ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् | उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनात् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥ This Mantra talks about detachment, dispassion which leads to true knowledge and spiritual progress. Just as a ripe cucumber is easily detached from the creeper, in the same manner let my attachment to the universe fall off me effortlessly . What do we need to "Let Go" or detach or be dispassionate about? Is it at the body, mind or at the intellect level? Many questions arise here. Before we contemplate on this, let us explore on a few definitions of Yoga to understand this topic further. योगः चित्त वृत्ति निरोधः II As per Sage Patanjali: Yoga is ‘To reduce the modifications in the mind’, thereby gaining mastery over the Mind. मनः प्रशमनोपायः योग इत्यभिधीयते I Sage Vasishta gives the definition of Yoga as ‘Yoga is a skillful solution to calm down the mind’. How do we achieve this cal...

[ Krishna in Bhagavad Gita gives several unique concepts and one such concept is ‘Swadharma’. In the second chapter he brings about this by telling this to Arjuna, the Kshatriya or warrior and as a leader of an army, He also makes subsequent references to this concept where he makes it much more elaborate. Let us try to unravel this in this article. ] PART – 1 Swami Vivekananda quotes the Upanishad concept“Each soul is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest this divinity internally and externally …”Here he meant that we may look to be different individuals outside but deep inside we have the same divinity, but it is in an un-manifest way and each of us has to find out our own unique way to manifest this. This process in short is the “Swa + Dharma or Swadharma” way of life. Krishna further emphasises that nobody else’s Swadharma or the path, or journey or methodology can be our Swadharma. He further cautions that following others methodology is frightening. In a ge...

 Faith, belief and Shraddha . Many at times, we face the question, Is faith necessary? The answer is that we are surviving every second because there is something called Faith. Every moment is moving from the known to the unknown. The known is minuscule compared to the unknown dimension. In nature, every life happens with faith as its foundation. The plant grows roots with the faith that it will find water. A creeper holds on to a big tree with the faith that it will support the creeper. We all go to sleep with the faith that we will wake up the next morning. Every moment, as the unknown unfolds, we move on in life with faith only. Faith comes within the sphere of logic. Faith is built based on enquiry. For example, we have faith in one doctor because he seems to have treated a disease very well. We have enquired about the doctor and built faith on him. Faith is very functional and is focused to that particular function only. I may prefer to learn Yoga from a partic...

Have always wondered .. Why the name retreat? what does it mean? The dictionary meaning says ‘withdraw’. In YB retreat, what are we withdrawing? As I was wondering, the bus came at classic orchard to pick all the enthu students of 2018 batch of YTT. Here was a batch full of youth energy. We all were heading to ‘The school of ancient wisdom”. As always, the journey was filled with never ending Antakshari . The songs were perennially flowing out, filling everyone with lively energy. What a serene place! This was the thought ,in everyone’s mind when we reached ‘ The School of ancient wisdom’ . The energy given by the trees, birds, lilies, many flowers, ponds, sculptures, paintings, brought in a strange sense of settle and peace in everyone. Now I reflect .. Are we withdrawing from the hustle bustle noisy city life? We all sat for a round of introduction, after a welcome chai. Listening to everyone on how their journey has been with YB, was a feast to my mind. Everyone seems to hav...

On the mat - Where Theory meets practice Yoga has gained popularity in the last few decades, though the depths of it are still uncovered. At the surface level,  Yoga has earned a ground in therapy where modern and other medicine sciences are found to be less effective . A very common misconception about Yoga is that,  it is treated as an alternative to other exercise regimens such as gymming,jogging or swimming. This also makes Yoga popular. Here Yoga ends just at the physical dimension. The deeper mental, intellectual and spiritual dimensions are yet to be explored.The mental and spiritual dimensions of Yoga offer a fine tool for personality development. Yoga at the mind level, has helped me to  look at myself objectively , discover and accept my weakness and  strengths and find ways to work on them to progress further. Whilst I practised yoga at home, my thoughts were often similar to what most people seek out of yoga practise - Lose weight, reduc...