Surya Namaskara, aka salute to the sun, is a solar practice, energising. You might choose to do it facing the rising sun. It utilises asana, pranayama, and can involve different forms of awareness including chakra awareness and mantra. Using the whole body, moving with awareness and rhythm, timed with the breath, the whole bodymind is brought together as one, bringing a wonderful integrated experience. Moving and being still at the same time. Action and observation at the same time. Connecting the inner and outer life.

With practice, Surya Namaskara can become smooth and efficient, a continuous rhythmic flow from beginning to end. The result of regular appropriate practice is health and vitality on many levels.

This footage shows one round of the practice, comprised of two halves, as taught in the Satyananda style. The best place to practice is on a level, flat, even surface. Maybe your lounge room, yard or yoga class. I do not recommend you practise on a surface that slopes gently downward toward a sheer cliff face with a large drop to the ocean below. It was sunrise and a very nice place, but don’t try this at home…

For many people, Surya Namaskara will require preparation over time with other practices first, in order to develop awareness and mobilise the body for these movements. For some, this practice will need to be modified to make it appropriate for their needs. This is posted as a resource for students practising yoga and learning Surya Namaskara.

Note: Watching this, is not the same as doing it. It needs to be practised.

On Sunday 15th November, large groups of people will gather in cities and towns around Australia, and perform Surya Namaskara, guided by teachers, to raise funds for those in need. If this sounds interesting to you, you could have a look at the Yoga Aid website. If it appeals and you are inspired, you might register and join with others in this event.

Just the facts, sit back, and observe

Sutra 33 from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is a cracker. Simple, effective and costs nothing to put into practice. Returns for you are a peaceful, undisturbed mind.

Rather than being in reaction to information received through the senses, being hot or cold, being affected by things adversely such as bad odour, taste or sudden sounds/movements, instead, you could be present and knowing that you are experiencing them. No like or dislike. Knowing that you are not the experience, but the experiencer.

You may notice that…

I am not the cold felt on the skin, heat in the mind (anger/frustration), fragrance, flavour or vision. Nor am I sounds.

You might know…

the above as the experience. Know that you are experiencing them. Appreciate the qualities of the experience while at the same time being aware of yourself. You will have a deeper understanding of the experience and yourself, rather than thinking you are the emotion arising from the stimulus or the stimulus itself. This is one way of cultivating awareness or mindfulness.

This would mean…

that you are ok with the way things are. Contentment. If the experience is to be endured, this attitude will allow you to accept things as they are, and have less reaction, a more calm, peaceful experience and mind, along with a deep appreciation of the experience, and to continue on with life.

If we try to avoid things we immediately set ourselves up for difficulty and tension.

Patanjali’s 33rd sutra (chapter one)…

describes a method by which the mind is made peaceful and can remain undisturbed. Awareness is needed, and it will take a little effort on your part, but so does trying to avoid things such as pleasant or unpleasant feelings, which creates tension and disturbance! Patanjali describes an attitudinal awareness, attitudes you might have toward different situations, events and people, that will leave you with this desirable state of mind. It is desirable not only for normal day to day happiness, but also for progress in yogic pursuits and for many a spiritual path. In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras it is described as one method for the removal of obstacles in the path of yoga.

Sutra 33: Cultivation of opposite virtues

In Four Chapters On Freedom, a commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Swami Satyananda says that you cannot practise concentrating the mind unless it is made peaceful in nature. He goes on to say that the best way to achieve this state of mind is told within this sutra, 33. He says that by cultivating then ‘maintaining this attitude, that is, friendliness to the happy, compassion for the unhappy, gladness about the virtuous and indifference to those who are full of vice, the mind of the aspirant becomes free from the disturbing influences and as a result it becomes peaceful and undisturbed’.

Swami Satyananda goes on to describe some of the different feelings that cause disturbance in the mind and their effect of coming in the way of peace and meditation.

How does it work? Swami Satyananda again, ‘The fourfold attitude which he [Patanjali] asks us to develop gives rise to inner peace by the removal of the disturbing factors, not only from the conscious level, but also from the deepest parts of the subconscious’.

Shanti Path – a sample of the notated text in the PDF available below

Mantras, specific sounds carrying energy, are utilised in yogic practices in different ways. Mantra can be repeated aloud, in a whisper, mentally, or by writing (in Sanskrit). Some mantras we recite in class are Shanti mantras, or peace mantras. One we recite at the beginning, the other at the end.

I have made available a sheet for learning some mantras – PDF 76kb. It includes those mentioned above and two others, the Gayatri mantra for illumining the mind, and the Mahamrityunjaya mantra for healing and wellbeing.

These are written in a special way, denoting when the pitch goes up or down, for ease of learning. There are only three tones. Bold is for lower, lower case (not bold) for middle, and upper case for high. They have also been given a position, below the line for lower, level with the line for middle, and above the line for high, as this is more effective for some. If you have been to an evening class, this will make sense. From the middle tone, upper case is a semi tone up, and bold is a full tone down from the middle tone. Note that for the longer Shanti Path, we do it in class in more of a sung fashion, and the high tone (upper case) is a full tone up from middle. So, for example, with the long Shanti Path, you might use  the notes of C, D and E. While for the other mantras C, D and D#. I have made them available here for those in class wanting to learn the mantras to chant with the rest of the class, however if you grasp this, you should be able to have a go even if you don’t attend.

For the Gayatri and Mahamrityunjaya mantras, a prescription of 11 repetitions of each in the morning has been given by Swami Niranjan. Upon waking, before the busy mind takes over for the day. You may choose to perform 27 repetitions of the Mahamrityunjaya and 24 of the Gayatri.

Mantra is a practical tool from the yogic tool box. Powerful and effective.

Sowing the seed, Sankalpa

Sankalpa is often asked about by those who hear the word for the first time during Yoga Nidra. ‘What was that thing you said, that word… I can’t remember…’ My free Yoga Nidra is a short form, so does not have Sankalpa. My Yoga Nidra with Sankalpa will be available soon. I often describe it as a positive statement of intent, to give clear direction to the energy of the mind. To achieve that which you wish to manifest in your circumstance. Succinct, positive, statement. Translated it means resolution, or resolve.

Satyananda suggests that ’If you know what you wish to achieve in life, Sankalpa can be the creator of your destiny’, and, ‘Anything in life can fail you, but not the Sankalpa made during Yoga Nidra’. He has also said that, in Yoga Nidra, it may be ‘the most effective means of training the mind’. At a time when you are in a less intellectual mode, the mind is calm, the Sankalpa can go deep and have effect. Yoga Nidra time. Just before and just after the practice, it is mentioned to repeat your Sankalpa. Satyananda also says, ‘The resolve you make at the beginning of the practice is like sowing a seed, and the resolve at the end is like irrigating it’.

If you practice yoga (which includes Yoga Nidra and meditation) making efforts toward a steady calm bodymind, then Sankalpa will have more force and be able to penetrate more deeply than when the mind is dissipated. The state of Yoga Nidra is the state in which the mind can receive your Sankalpa. Satyananda again,’Each of us has the power to remould our own mental structure’, ‘no fear or obsession is so deep rooted that it cannot be changed’.

It needs to not be an intellectual affair. It needs to be repeated with a sense of willpower and feeling in order for it to go deep. This combination gives the Sankalpa ‘the juice’, more energy, than a mere intellectual knowing of what the Sankalpa you have chosen is.

It is easy for the intellect, if void of experience, to disregard the importance or potency of this aspect of practice, as there seems no tangible way of Sankalpa having any effect. The mental repetition of Sankalpa is a movement of energy. You might consider/contemplate, that where there is consciousness there is energy, and vice versa. Affect one, and you affect the other. Once you have experienced the Sankalpa coming to fruition, there is no mistake. You know. You cannot beat experiential knowledge, the facts are before your eyes, and what seemed to be an intangible thing has become manifest and shown the effect of the cause. This has been my, and many others’, experience.

So, it is a resolve thought of by yourself, and you keep it to yourself. Don’t change it, until it comes to fruition. It is helpful to know your direction when making a Sankalpa. In Swami Satyananda’s words it is ‘a determination to become something or to do something in your life’, that is made alive by repeating it mentally during Yoga Nidra with strength of will and feeling.

What strengthens your will power and your internal feeling capacity? A topic for another post maybe…

What is your Sankalpa? (no, don’t tell me)

Where I have quoted  Swami Satyananda, it has been from his book, Yoga Nidra.

‘It’s like being bathed in something wonderful’.

This (above) is a description of Yoga Nidra by someone who has come to class.

It is a wonderful practice, devised by Sw. Satyananda, a genius and Knower of the way things are, and can become.

It is a practice that does not discriminate, you just need to listen, be still, and know that you are doing what you are doing.

Some benefits of this practice

Yoga Nidra affords complete rest for your whole being, from gross to subtle. All that remains active is your conscious awareness. The ‘fight or flight’ aspect of the nervous system settles, the ‘rest and digest’ aspect of the nervous system becomes dominant. Systems within slow down, and the body sleeps. You awareness is still active, within a calm, still environment. Fully alert, you get to remember/feel your natural state, when truly consciously resting. How often do you become completely still while being fully conscious, aware of your awareness, diving deep within, and for how long? It is worth many tries.

Take the phone of the hook, let others know that you would like to be given a few minutes undisturbed. Lie down on your back on the floor ideally, cover with a blanket to stay warm, be still, listen and follow the instructions internally.

Below you can listen to a Yoga Nidra Practice (AUDIO button on the left) – or download to play when you have 13 minutes to yourself (right-click and save the mp3). It is a very basic Yoga Nidra. Soon a full version will be available from this site.

Download a 13-minute Yoga Nidra by Yogamanas, 2009

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