Sadhana – The practice and the process
A few months back I faced a very peculiar and common question from a student. She mentioned that her “practice” was not improving. She has been a yoga enthusiast and a teacher for more than 10 years and when I asked her what was it that she meant by practice, she said “her head stand was not stable enough”.
The famous yoga guru, Shri. Pattabhi Jois, once said “practice, practice and everything is coming”. This one small sentence has probably launched a thousand yoga studios across the world. But, my thought is, are we reading the word “practice” in the right spirit? Do we all need to widen our definition of “practice” in the context of Yoga.
Probably the word “practice” has been literally translated from the Sanskrit word “Sadhana”. Read more…
The Tempest of Transformation
Dear friends,
It feels nice to be back with you on the site. It has been a whirlwind tour of 12 weeks across 11 countries, and what a tour it was! If I can sum up my experience in one word I would say “awakening”. Yes, the world is waking up. There is a wave of personal uprising, which is spinning off into people’s movement. Read more…
The Imminent and Transient
The topic of ‘Injury‘ in asana practice has always fascinated me. Over years of traveling I have met Yogis who have had asana injuries which have made them feel ‘lesser than normal Yogis’. I wonder what makes them push themselves over the edge, what makes them greedy enough to take their body for granted and suffer.
This question brings us to a very important point mentioned in the books of yoga (Katha-Upanishad), the concept of Shreyas and Preyas. Shreyas and Preyas are two paths mentioned in the Upanishad. The simplest meaning of the paths is basically the ‘perspective’ with which you look at things. ‘Shreyas’ is the path of lasting good and ‘Preyas’ is the path of immediate satisfaction. Read more…
Opening the Deeper States of the Mind
[Guest post by Veena from Bangkok]
“After attending “Finding YourSelf “, workshop with Prasad in Oct 2006 in Bangkok, I was introduced to Yoga Nidra. For 3 weeks after the workshop, I was still pondering over this question, “What is Yoga Nidra? Why do I have to do it when I am already meditating? Do I really need to incorporate another technique to my bag of destressing tools?”
Quite confused, I finally emailed Prasad asking, “How do I include the yoga nidra in my daily routine? I tried your Yoga Nidra CD for the first time. The result was phenomenal and definitely the benefits are different from meditation. Do you suggest I do it once a week, more than once or ……? can’t decide.”
His reply on 21st Nov, 2006 was as follows: “I am glad that you are looking at yoga not as something to do, but something to explore. Yoga is a very powerful tool, it is like a torch which helps us remove the darkness of ignorance and relieve tensions. In turn we discover the True Reality which lies within. Read more…
Choosing a Perspective
Many times during my travels I meet a lot of Yogis who have injured themselves in some form or other whilst doing their physical practice, most of the times I have even met teachers who take some kind of “pride” in exhibiting the injuries they had while “trying” to get into a posture. In fact I know of a few teachers who have to take complete bed-rests once in a while to recover from their injuries, to start “jumping” into postures again. I wonder what makes them push themselves over the edge, what makes them greedy enough to take their body for granted and suffer. Read more…
Yoga for Teenagers
Between their tantrums and mood swings, their sense of wonder and sense of adventure, desire for knowledge and great physical energy levels, Teenage is really a beautiful, experimental time of our lives. It’s a time when an unknown force seems to propel us towards what we imagine and desire, the drive is strong, the heart is vulnerable and emotions galore. In such times Yoga, the ancient science of self-empowerment can really help the teenagers to become more aware and confident about their body, to realize a deeper sense of self-value, garner clarity, confidence and calmness allowing them to ease the everyday stresses and pressures of their lives.
How Much is Too Much ? A Reflection
Last week, as I was driving through the busy streets of Mumbai my car paused for a breather at a traffic signal. Steams of sweat rising from my shirt, fumes of carbon blinding my vision, the only place I could look was up, up at the gigantic advertising hoardings coaxing me to buy something. As I had sometime at hand I started reading the messages one by one. “Achieve results faster than before”, “better than the rest”, “why settle for less when you can have more?”, “double the fun in a bigger better pack”, bombarded by messages of excess I drove away with a mind full of “excessive” thoughts, questions fired in my mind like a automatic gun, couldn’t chase the train of thoughts, unless I reached home and stayed still in the body and let the tides of mind calm down.
Were we humans trying to achieve too much? Were we trying to hold excess in our palms only to let the valuables slip through our fingers, where does this hunger for faster, higher, stronger end? Or does it? How much is too much? Read more…
Merry Christmas
Dear Friends,
On occasion of this Christmas let us all resolve to celebrate the birth of “Christ” within, Let us all resolve to not let our Inner-Self be enveloped in the darkness of our basic propensities, let us not crucify the Christ within. It is our duty to raise the self by the Self. Neglect of this will make us go deeper and deeper in thickness of ignorance, the so called sin against the Holy Ghost. Let the Saints be our guides on this path, let them inspire us to assimilate our Individual Self with the Eternal Self. Enjoy your present and have a deep remembrance of the radiance of the Light within that’s waiting to shine.
Wish you a Merry Christ-mas again!
Love,
Prasad
Meditative Cleansing
The Yogis have always given importance to methods of purification. One of the very important limbs in the eight limb path has “saucha” which means cleanliness as methods of attaining purity. This cleanliness is both internal and external cleanliness, which leads to “santosha” which means contentment. The process of Yoga involves continuous cleaning of the mind, dropping things, lightening the load. Giving up desires is very difficult but simplification of wants is relatively easier. When through the power of reasoning and reflection a person cleans the mind, the body starts becoming lighter. The “psychosomatic shock” is sensed lightly. The lightness thus derived is grounded into firm wisdom by the practice of meditation. Read more…
Missing Tools
(Retreat account of a dedicated Yogini)
The answers and the tools for life exist for each and every one of us. However it can be challenging to find them from our minds. Sometimes there are people who come into our lives and see the answers and needed tools more clearly than we do. Then we need the courage to stop and be open-minded for the changes.
I am deeply grateful to Prasad. In his retreat he helped me to find my missing tools for life. There began the real development of self-knowledge towards a stronger balance and genuine love.
I realized many things in Prasad’s retreat in Finland. One of the main insights was that in my life, I had great deal of memories, people and things that I had not accepted. Without noticing I had in my mind a huge, energy-consuming war going on – just because I could not accept those things. I had built a huge wall between myself and others. Loneliness seemed to me a safe choice but the wall also took enormous energy, as well as closed behind it many interesting possibilities. In the retreat I found my internal courage and strength and the wall – now useless – began to break down. At the same time, I got a stronger grip on my own life.
It’s been incredible to see the huge change in life which results from cleansing the mind, the body and the environment. I was able to identify the greatest problems in my life from which the other problems emerged. Ever since the retreat I’m working daily on those issues. Day by day I feel stronger and more complete, both psychologically and physically. I have learned to draw my own lines, believing in myself and my strength, loving and nurturing myself, and hence also the others. You need courage to abandon yourself to the driving force of life.
Prasad spoke to us a lot about saving and targeting energy. His advice has been of tremendous benefit. The more I observe and control my thoughts (their quality, quantity, direction) the more I have energy for other things. Now I begin my day calm, focused and present, with yoga.
When you get a great insight, it is always a new opportunity. In the retreat I got a lot of insights. When you truly realize the power of acceptance and release, in life you open the doors for light. I even got out of tobacco, after 12 years of smoking. After the retreat when I got home, I lit a cigarette by old habit. I looked at the cigarette and I asked myself: “Why am I not able to stop?” I remembered what Prasad said in the retreat as a general example: “If you’re a heavy smoker, accept that you smoke, but accept also the fact that it destroys your health.” I understood that I had no other choice than to accept it. So I accepted it and asked myself with all my heart: “Do I really want to damage my precious body in this way?” I realized that no way. I stubbed out the cigarette and wondered what on earth had I done for 12 years. The strangest thing is that it really ended my craving for tobacco. Insight, acceptance, and letting go. I would never have believed quitting to be so easy. When the idea was felt with emotion it turned into a real insight and resulted in action. It is very important what kind of ideas you plant in your mind because they will give you the fruits to harvest in life. The power of thought is unspeakable. Every day is full of possibilities and options.
