YOGABHARATI

Abhyasa and Vairagya - two wheels in the bicycle of Yoga During my Yoga teacher training in Yoga Bharathi, Bangalore, I heard for the first time that “Abhyasa and Vairagya always go together”. In Bhagavat Gita chapter 6, when the troubled warrior prince Arjuna tells Sri Krishna that the unsteady and restless mind cannot be controlled, Bhagvan Krishna responds that the mind can be brought under our control through repeated Practice(Abyasa) and Detachment (Vairagya).    Abhyasa is something that we hear all the time. Practice - till you are perfect. Be it sports or a skill or a talent. Be it Math or science, we are always told from a very young age to practice and practice hard. And as a concept, it is pretty clear that we improve in anything that we do repeatedly over a period of time. Yet Vairagya or detachment, dispassion has been the main teaching of religions, philosophers and Yogis. Simply put it can be related as letting go. In a deeper sense, my teachers mention, Vai...

Vipassana- a journey inwards From the day a human being is born and opens his eyes, his focus is outwards. The cause for all human miseries and limitations in life is because one is always looking outwards and blames the environment or people around and hence lose their peace of mind. One hopes and expects that the situation outside should change to reduce ones agitation within and move towards peace. But this is an impossible task. If one situation changes another situation may arrive. If one person who has been causing agitation in my mind goes away, another person may arrive. Only by developing an inward vision can one realize that no one else, but one’s own mind is responsible for all the miseries and limitations in his/her life. Every time we react, we not only develop negativity within us but also create an atmosphere of negativity around us, which in turn causes misery for others. The more we react, the more deep rooted our negativity becomes. Even when one realizes...

Yoga - An Integral part of life Can Yoga be practiced by all? Can Yoga become a way of life? What do we mean by Holistic approach to Yoga Practice? These are some of the questions which came to my mind as I was talking to a group of senior citizens . They told me that they had practiced Yoga but now due to age or health issue  they were not able to practice . In fact some of the younger adults with health issues were asking me if they can practice yoga in spite of their health issues. T his made me think. Is Yoga defined by age? Can everyone practice Yoga, irrespective of age, health condition etc.  Let us look at the definitions of yoga Yoga is about calming down the mind, reduce the modifications in the mind, bring about Balance. ‘ Yogah Chitta Vritti Nirodaha”......Yoga is to gain Mastery over the mInd by reducing the modifications in the mind.  “ Mana prashamana Yoga ityadibhiyate” ...Yoga is about slowing down the mind. Why d...

Chapter 8 Gita Concept of Aksharabrahma, the unchanging brahman In chapter 7, Sri Krishna gives the concept of Adhibhuta and talks about Moksha, the ultimate freedom. After listening to these, Arjuna as a natural enquiry ponders further on the meanings of Adibhuta, Adidaiva, Adiyagna and Adhyatma in the eighth chapter. Arjuna questions SriKrishna on all these and its relation to Karma and how would one handle death. As a general observation,   when I read this question of Arjuna and the translations on these terms like Adhibhuta, adhidaiva etc, I wonder   how these lofty philosophical terms were discussed in the battlefield. We do not think of such terms even in traffic jams. One day suddenly the thought occurred to me that these words appear as hardcore philosophical terms today, but at the time of Mahabharata these could have been common terms used and there is a possibility that these terms were very much related to the war situation. Otherwise SriKrishna...

Yoga and What is it? Each one has a point of view As I travel to various places and meet with various yoga teachers and practitioners and researchers, I beleive I am too small a person to comment on all that what I hear and see. Either they are great passers or they are trained under some great master or have read a lot. They have their own beliefs and theories. I thought of sharing my journey into yoga and my insights which might throw some light on the feel for yoga to some of you. My childhood Belonging to  a family with athletic bent of mind, I was good in in my physique right from childhood and also in many sports.  I was also as a child good in yoga postures and practices. With the enthusiasm as a person with spirit to achieve and not give up,I could do most of the complicated yoga postures, kriya and bandhas in yoga . May be because of these practices especially postures and kriyas, I used to have good health and stamina. Though I was doing all thes...