Yoga Practice Sequence - Surya Namaskar

Yoga Practice Sequence - Surya Namaskar 

Yoga Practice Sequence

This is the sequence we need to practice

1.  Warm up exercise 
2.  Surya Namaskar 
3.  Standing activities
4. Forward bending activities
5.  Side ward bending
6.  Sitting exercise (Vajrasana, Sukhasana, forward/backward/twist). 
7. Prone (Lying down on back)
8. Supine (Lying down on front)
9. Pranayama 

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1. Start with Vajrasana  with eyes closed keeping the hand on thigh. 
2. Start with 3 times "Om" kara 
• Take a deep breath and chant Om Kara .... 
• Another deep breath and then Om kara 
• Anoth Om Kara
3. Starting prayer, totherht. Jain the Hands. 
• Sahana vavatu ..sahanau bhunaktu .......... Om Shanti  Shanti and Shanti ...
4. Open your eye and "Namaskara"
5. --------------------------------
6. Stand up and let's do the loosening exercise 
1. Joint exercise Stretch your palm and close, wrist rotation, Hand throwing, Shoulder, Neck, Waist, Nee , Foot etc 
2. Jogging slow-fast-slow, Thigh touching the chest(Forward jogging), Foot touching Buttock(Backward jogging). Pendulum. 
3. Mukha Dhauti and relax in tadasana 
4. Forward bending(while exhaling ) and backward bending (while inhaling)
5. Side bending (Exhale and stretch side and Inhale and come straight)
6. Twisting 
7. Hand in & Out breathing (by expanding the chest). 
• Inhale spread the arm both side by expanding the chest. 
• Exhale the band in front joining the palm 
8. Hand stretch breathing 
1. Interlock the fingers and stretch forward, downwards, upwards etc while Inhaling. 
9. Ankle stretch breathing 
1. While Inhaling, Raise the hand and stretch the ankle 
7. -----------------------------------------------------
8. SuryaNamaskara 
1. Sthiti Tadasana  
2. Pranam Asana ....Mantra lead and follow Hiranmayena patrena....
1. Om Hram Mitraya - HasthaUtthanasana - Inhale
2. Om Hrim Ravaya  - Padahastasana - Exhale 
3. Om Hrum Suryaya - Ashvasanchalanasana - Inhale
4. Om Hraim Bhanave - Chaturanga Dandasana  - Exhale 
5. Om Hroum Khagaya  - Sasankasana - Inhale & Exhale - normal breathing
6. Om Hrah Pusne - AstangaNamaskarasana - Inhale & Exhale - Hold the breath
7. Om Hram Hiranyagarbhaya - Bhajangasana - Inhale
8. Om Hrim Marichaye - Parvatasana - Exhale 
9. Om Hrum Adityaya - Sasankasana -  Inhale & Exhale - normal breathing
10. Om Hraim Savitre - Ashvasanchalanasana - Inhale
11. Om Hroum Arkaya - Padahastasana - Exhale 
12. Om Hrah Bhaskaraya - HasthaUtthanasana - Inhale 
13. Release and relax 
9. ----------------------------------------------------
10. Quick Relaxation Technique (QRT)
1. Lie down in savasana. Legs apart,  hand side of the body, plam facing upwards. 
2. Observe the abdominal movement. Inhale moving up, with Exhale Moving down. 
3. Synchronise your breathing and breath for 5 times. Inhale+ exhale form one round. 
4. Bring legs together and with support of elbows come to standing position. 
11. ------------------------------------------
12. Side bending (lateral bending)
1. Ardhakati chakrasana / Trikonasana / Parivrita Trikonasana / Parsvakonasana 
13. Sit in Dandasana 
1. Vajrasana / Sasanksana/ supta vajrasana / Paschimottanasana/ Ustrasana/ Vakrasana / Ardha matsyendrasana/ Hamsasana 
14. Prone or Kobra posture 
1. Bhujangasana / salabhasana / dhanurasana / 
15. Supine posture
1. sarvangasana / matsyasana / halasana/ chakrasana / Sirsasana 
16. ----QRT ---
17. Pranayama 
1. Bhastrika (Forceful inhale and exhalation)
2. Anuloma and Viloka with Nashika Mudra (Surya nadi and Chandra nadi)
3. Nadi Suddhi Pranayama 
4. Ujjai Pranayama with Snoring sound 
18. Vajrasana & Closing prayer Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha.....
19. Bend your head backward with Inhale. Take the both the hand backside, Make a fist of your right hand, hold the right wrist  with left hand. Bend down and salutation to Mother earth, parents, Guru and God. Rub your palm. apply on your face and eye side. Do not touch the eye ball. Go for palm again and apply in chest, abdomine, thigh, etc 
20. Open your eye "Namaskara....Have a nice day"

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YIC - What is NOT Yoga & What is Yoga?

                                    What is NOT Yoga & What is Yoga?

What is Not Yoga?

• ·        Yoga is not mere acrobatics.
• ·        Yoga is not concerned with the manipulation of the body into various queer positions, standing on the head, for instance, or twisting about the spine, or assuming any of the numerous odd poses.
• ·   Yoga is not the performance of magical feats. Some psudo and fake Yogins presents Yoga like that to achieve their selfish motive.
• ·        Neither is Yoga 'Fakirism'.  Yoga is not some form of self-torture—lying on a bed of nails, burying oneself underground, chewing or swallowing pieces of glass, drinking acid, swallowing nails or piercing oneself with pins and needles. This has nothing to do with Yoga, and real Yogins have nothing to do with all this.
• ·        Neither is Yoga any weird ceremonial or peculiar rite. It is not hedonism. It is not paganism. It is not palmistry. It is not prophesying. It is not astrology. It is not thought-reading, nor is it the dispensing of charms to ward off evil spirits or 'possessions'. None of these is Yoga.
• ·        Yoga is not auto-hypnotism or self-hypnosis. It is not doing of incantations or by the monotonous performance of gestures. Yoga is not experiences like those obtained by taking lysergic acid or mescalin or peyote (of Mexican origin) or divine mushrooms. These experiences are not Yoga, nor are they products of Yoga.
• ·        Neither is Yoga a religious cult. Yoga is not demonstration of Bhugata Samadhi, Siddhis, Magics, Mantra, Tantras etc.

What is Yoga?

• ·        Yujyate anena iti Yogah (युज्यते अनेन इति  योगः) Primary definition of Yoga in Sanskrit is “union with the Divine” or “the experience of oneness with the great Reality”.
• ·        As Swami Vivekananda puts it "YogA is the means of compressing one's evolution into single life or a few months or even a few hours of ones bodily existence". In general, there is a growth process due to interactions with nature in all creation. But it may take thousands and millions of years for this natural growth; that is the long instinctive way in animals.
• ·        As per Sri Aurovindo: Yoga is a systematic process for accelerating the growth of a man in his entity. With this growth, man learns to live at higher states of consciousness. Key to this all-round personality development and growth is the culturing of mind.
• ·        Yoga is also a set of scientifically evolved and intelligently formulated practical techniques enabling man to shed himself of all the impurities imposed upon him by the nature of his body, mind and senses, and aiding him to concentrate his thoughts entirely upon the Supreme.
• ·        Yoga means anything that man may do to purify his lower nature, to restrain his senses, to direct his mind towards God, to come into a deep interior level of worship of the Divine and finally to realise his eternal oneness with the Divine Consciousness.
• ·        Yoga is comprised of highly evolved and practical techniques which may be applied by persons of any race, nation, caste, creed, church or sect. As philosophical definitions were being formed and as religious concepts of the Hindus were being formulated, the science of Yoga was evolved. Certain metaphysical concepts are peculiarly Hindu and Eastern, but Yoga which is separable from its philosophical and metaphysical background, is a science of universal and practical value.
• ·        Yoga is essentially a spiritual matter concerning spiritual methods. It is an intensely practical approach towards the realisation of the supreme Reality, the very Centre of all life—God. And it is the heritage of all humanity.

YIC - Streams of Yogas

Streams of Yoga

Gyana Yoga:

The first is the intellectual system in which man employs his human faculties in a supreme exercise: the realisation of the Truth. This is known as Jnana Yoga or the Yoga of Intellect. One listens to the expositions of the nature of God, acquires an understanding of the Reality, then by reflecting upon it again and again, ultimately, one penetrates into it through the power of reason in the depths of meditation.

The steps involved here are as follows:

1.      Sravana:  The first exposure to knowledge in any form (reading a book, listening to a lecture, watching a video).

2.      Manana: Revisiting the knowledge for further understanding.

3.      Nididhyasana: The phase of contemplation & experimentation.

Bhakti Yoga:

The second system is known as Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion or Love. This is a very sweet path, one which is peculiarly suited and easily adapted to the emotional temperament. One grows into close relationship with the Supreme Being by constantly thinking about Him, praying to Him, worshipping Him, feeling Him close, so close that one naturally walks with Him, talks with Him, lives, moves and has one's being in Him. A link is set up whereby pure love is directed to God. In this exercise, the human being becomes totally integrated. There are 9 form of Bhaktis:   Sravanam,  Kirtanam,  Smaranam, Padasevanam,  Archanam,  Vandanam,  Dasyam,  Sakhyam,  Atmanivedanam.

Karma Yoga:

In the third system, all phases of life's activities are dedicated to God. On an unselfish basis, man's duties are thus integrated. This is known as Karma Yoga or the Yoga of selfless service. The prime and crucial act in this system is the shedding of the ego. When the personal ego is completely abnegated, all creatures upon earth are clearly apprehended as visible manifestations of God, as moving temples in which the Divine is enshrined. The service of others then becomes natural and easy, and every act is performed not as a secular act, but as an act of worship. Engaged in the transmutation of dynamism into divine realisation, one may do his worship everywhere. The teacher in the school, the doctor in the hospital, the farmer in the field, the businessman in the stock-exchange, everyone engaged in professional activity, can transmute his dynamism into pure devotion by adopting a humble and worshipful inner attitude.

Actions are categorized as:

1.      Tamasik:  If they are binding, deteriorating, violent and is a result of state of delusion and confusion.

2.      Rajasik: When performed with craving for desires, with egoism and a lot of effort.

3.      Sattvik: When it is free from attachment and done without love or hatred.

The essence of karma yoga is to convert kamya karma (action with desires) into yogic karma by inculcating detachment and committing one's energy to unceasing work.

Raja Yoga:

In the fourth system, man is employed in a very special process in which all thought is made to merge in God. One becomes more and more aware of God as the Centre of being. This is a very beautiful path also. It is known as Raja Yoga or the Yoga of Concentration and Meditation. Thought is movement of the mind-stuff. Movement of the mind-stuff is produced by motion of the vital-life, force within called Prana and by movement of the body. Thus, thought, Prana and the body are all interconnected. Total subdual and control of the body may be brought about by keeping it in a fixed and steady posture. Subdual and control of the inner psychic energy may be obtained by practising techniques of breath-control. And ultimately, all the scattered rays of the mind may be withdrawn from the multifarious universe and made to concentrate solely upon the one idea of God. In this culminating process, man is raised above the level of the mind, taken into a state of superconsciousness in which the experience of oneness with God is realised, and he is released forever from the bondage to the body and from death itself. There are many heartening signs that this Yoga is being considered by many seekers in the West to be the most suitable method for the solution of the perplexing problems of their civilisation.

According to Patanjali’s yoga sutra, yoga is practiced to gain mastery over the mind. There are two types of practices under raja yoga:

1.      Bahiranga Yoga offers rules and regulations at the behavioral level (yama and niyama) as well as physical practices to gain better control over the body and the mind (asanas and pranayama).

2. Antaranga Yoga comprises of dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (consciousness – which deals directly with the mind).

YIC - Indian Culture

Indian Culture:

Culture means the total accumulation of materials, ideas, objects, symbols, beliefs, sentiments, values and social forms which are passes from one generation to another in any given society.

The study of Indian culture is very interesting because this is one of the culture which is the most ancient one which is still followed by 1/7th of the human race. This culture is about 5000 years old and still it is developing and enriching in subsequent centuries.

Indian Material Culture:

Yoga:

Yoga was an integral part of Indian culture. As per some of these studies, Yoga in practice is as old as 5000 years. A great saint named Patanjali collected all the Yoga tricks and presented it in the form of Sutras.

 Indus Valley Civilization:

The Indus civilization is one of three in the 'Ancient East' that, along with Pharaonic Egypt and Mesopotamia, was a cradle of early civilization in the Old World. Mesopotamia and Egypt were longer-lived, but coexisted with Indus civilization during its florescence between 2600 and 1900 B.C. Of the three, the Indus was the most expansive, extending from today's northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.

At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of over five million inhabitants. The inhabitants of the ancient Indus River valley developed new techniques in handicraft, seal carving and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. Children's toys were found in the cities, with few weapons of war, suggesting peace and prosperity. Their trade seals, decorated with animals and mythical beings, indicate they conducted thriving trade with lands as far away as Sumer in southern Mesopotamia.

Ayurveda System:

Ayurveda is a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of alternative medicine. In countries beyond India, Ayurveda therapies and practices have been integrated in general wellness applications and in some cases in medical use

Mind Culture:

Indian ancient civilization worshipped nature because they recognized divine in everything in Nature. Indian culture in its long career has experimented with life in its diverse aspect and levels. It has not neglected any of the value of life but it has concentrated more on some then on others.  Politics, economics, arts, science, religion and philosophy. All these has been enriched by its contribution. But it’s greatest and most unique contributions are in the field of religion and Philosophy. Indian has been known to other nations as the land of wealth of philosophical wisdom.

There are 2 kind of knowledge - Para and Apara. Para Vidya is the divine knowledge. It is the actual process by which you know the reality or the essential dimension for realizing the ultimate reality. It goes beyond the intellect, emotion, body and mind - an inward journey.

Apara Vidya consists of all the four vedas.

Veda:

Vedas are the treasure house of all the knowledge based on the name indicates. Veda is derived from the verbal name Vid. The word Rishi means a Seer from the verbal root Dras, to see. The Rishi are the mantra drasta, a seer of mantra. The mantra were not his own. The Rishi saw the truth or heard them, therefore Veda is called as Sruti(which is heard)

There are 4 vedas - Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda.

Rig Veda: It is as old as 3000 BC. It contains 1028 hymns/ 10,589 verses/ 10 mandala or books. Dedicated to 33 different god. The Gods were , Rain, fire, Storm(Rudra) etc

Sama Veda: Wisdom and collection of chant. This is derived from 8th and 9th book of Rig veda. This is meant for the priests who perform the rituals in some ceremonies.

Yajur Veda: Wisdom of sacrifices

Atharva Veda:  The wisdom of Atharvanas.

Each Veda consists of 4 parts:

1.       The Mantra samhita or the Hymns

2.       Bramhana or explanation of the mantra

3.       Aranyaka or the Philosophical interpretation

4.       Upanisad or the knowledge portion of the Veda.

The Epics:

The Ramayana and Mahabharata are the great Indian Epics, written in magnificent Heroic poetry, the first by Valmiki and the second by Vyasa.

Ramayana

 The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. It follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest from the kingdom, by his father King Dasharatha, on request of his second wife Kaikeyi. His travels across forests in India with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of his wife by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, resulting in a war with him, and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned king.

Mahabharata:

The Mahabharata is an epic legendary narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Paṇḍava princes. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha . Bhagavad Gita  is one of the principal work in Mahabharata.

YIC - Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Pramahansha and Sarada Mayi

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa:

Sri Ramakrishna is a living embodiment of godliness. His sayings are not those of a mere learnt man, but they are pages from the book of life. They are revelation from his own life experience. In the age of skepticism, he has given a ray of faith to the humanity.  His father Kshudiram had a vision of Lord Gadadhar(One form of Lord Vishnu in Gayadham) that he’ll appear as his son.

Sri Ramakrishna has done all kind of penance available at that time. He followed Bhakti, Vedanta, Islam, Christianity, Tantra and many others and achieved the ultimate fruit in a very short (usually 3 days) time span. He represents the very core of the spiritual realizations of the seers and sages of India. His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time and place and has a universal appeal. Seekers of God of all religions feel irresistibly drawn to his life and teachings. Sri Ramakrishna, as a silent force, influences the spiritual thought currents of our time.

To Sri Ramakrishna all religions are the revelation of God in His diverse aspects to satisfy the manifold demands of human minds. Like different photographs of a building taken from different angles, different religions give us the pictures of one truth from different standpoints. They are not contradictory but complementary. Sri Ramakrishna faithfully practiced the spiritual disciplines of different religions and came to the realization that all of them lead to the same goal. Thus he declared, "As many faiths, so many paths." The paths vary, but the goal remains the same. Harmony of religions is not uniformity; it is unity in diversity. It is not a fusion of religions, but a fellowship of religions based on their common goal -- communion with God. This harmony is to be realized by deepening our individual God-consciousness. In the present-day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious intolerance, Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony gives us hope and shows the way.

 His one of the Guru Bhairavi Brahmani has arranged a meeting of scholars from all over India to prove that Ramakrishna is an incarnation of God and everybody has accepted him as God unanimously. Many Sadhaka(like Golap Maa, Mathur Babu) has found their Ishtadevta in him. They have the vision of their God in Ramakrishna. His life is his ultimate sacrifices which is incomparable & impossible for an ordinary person.

Sharada Maa:

Sarada Devi, was the avatar of the Divine Mother of the Universe.  Sarada Devi lived from December 22, 1853  till  July 20, 1920, born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya, was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother (Sri Maa) by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order. Sarada Devi played an important role in the growth of the Ramakrishna Movement. Though uneducated herself, Sarada Devi advocated education for women. She entrusted her close friend Devamata with the implementation of her dream— a girl’s school on the Ganges, where Eastern and Western pupils could study together.

From a very early age she prayed God to have purity in abundance. Looking at the full moon, she would say: “O God, there are dark spots even on the moon. But make my character spotless.”

At the age of five she was betrothed to Ramakrishna (as was the cultural tradition of the time), whom she joined at Dakshineswar when she was eighteen. Even though married, both lived lives of unbroken celibacy, showing the ideals of a householder and of the monastic ways of life. Ramakrishna’s frequent spiritual ecstacies and unorthodox ways of worship led some onlookers to doubt his mental stability, while others regarded him as a great saint. Sarada found Ramakrishna to be a kind and caring person. As a priest, Ramakrishna performed the ritual ceremony—the Shodashi Puja where Sarada Devi was made to sit in the seat of goddess Kali. Ramakrishna regarded Sarada as the incarnation of Divine Mother, addressing her as Sri Maa (Holy Mother) and it was by this name that she was known to Ramakrishna’s disciples.

It is reported that after Ramakrishna’s passing away in August 1886, when Sarada Devi tried to remove her bracelets as the customs dictated for a widow, she had a vision of Ramakrishna in which he said, “I have not passed away, I have gone from one room to another.” According to her, whenever she thought of dressing like a widow, she had a vision of Ramakrishna asking her not to do so

Before Mother Sarada’s death, she gave this last bit of long-remembered advice to her grief-stricken devotees, “But I tell you one thing—if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger my child: this whole world is your own! ”.

Swami Vivekananda:

Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion, strong character and other qualities.

At the threshold of youth Narendra had to pass through a period of spiritual crisis when he was assailed by doubts about the existence of God. It was at that time he first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from one of his English professors at college. One day in November 1881, Narendra went to meet Sri Ramakrishna who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar. He straightaway asked the Master a question which he had put to several others but had received no satisfactory answer: “Sir, have you seen God?” Without a moment’s hesitation, Sri Ramakrishna replied: “Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intense sense.”

His speeches at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in September 1893 made him famous as an ‘orator by divine right’ and as a ‘Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’. After the Parliament, Swamiji spent nearly three and a half years spreading Vedanta as lived and taught by Sri Ramakrishna, mostly in the eastern parts of USA and also in London.

 It was Swami Vivekananda who gave to Hinduism as a whole a clear-cut identity, a distinct profile. Before Swamiji came Hinduism was a loose confederation of many different sects. Swamiji was the first religious leader to speak about the common bases of Hinduism and the common ground of all sects. He was the first person, as guided by his Master Sri Ramakrishna, to accept all Hindu doctrines and the views of all Hindu philosophers and sects as different aspects of one total view of Reality and way of life known as Hinduism. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in giving Hinduism its distinct identity, Sister Nivedita wrote: “… it may be said that when he began to speak it was of ‘the religious ideas of the Hindus’, but when he ended, Hinduism had been created.”

Before Swamiji came, there was a lot of quarrel and competition among the various sects of Hinduism. Similarly, the protagonists of different systems and schools of philosophy were claiming their views to be the only true and valid ones. By applying Sri Ramakrishna’s doctrine of Harmony (Samanvaya) Swamiji brought about an overall unification of Hinduism on the basis of the principle of unity in diversity. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in this field K M Pannikar, the eminent historian and diplomat, wrote: “This new Shankaracharya may well be claimed to be a unifier of Hindu ideology.”