World Householders’ Yoga Convention

World Householders’ Yoga Convention

25th & 26th December 2012

The Yoga Institute of Santacruz, Mumbai, India - The Oldest Organized Yoga Center in the World completes 94 years of existence on 25th December, 2012. Celebrating this auspicious occasion, we cordially invite you to the World Householders' Yoga Convention 2012.

EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS: 

EXHIBITION: Learn about the pioneering research done by The Yoga Institute in Therapeutic Yoga, Yoga Indology and Yoga Education through a wonderful Exhibition also showcasing different aspects of Yoga.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS: Various important applications of The Yoga Way of Life will be discussed in enlightening Panel Discussions including leading personalities in fields of Medicine, Education, Corporate, Media, etc.

EXPERIENCE: The physical as well as the subtle (mental, emotional and spiritual ) effects of Yoga.  Feel true relaxation of body and mind and learn how Simple Yoga Practices help to gain clarity of mind and strength of character.

So join us in celebrating the ancient wisdom and science of Yoga passed on to us by our forefathers.

Venue: The Yoga Institute, Yogendra Marg, Prabhat Colony, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400 055, India.
Dates: 25th & 26th December 2012
Time: Between 8:00am to 8:00 pm

Contact for more information:
Email: info@theyogainstitute.org
Or call: 022-26122185 / 022-26110506

Watch out for more updates of the event on the blog: http://theyogainstitutemumbai.blogspot.in

Cultivating Faith - to be balanced midst duality

Faith is a critical virtue in Yoga. Man cannot succeed without having any faith in himself, his environment, nature or God. Without faith man remains full of doubt, which gives rise to worry. His actions are haphazard and without a clear goal, and thus he cannot succeed. Faith helps one to be balanced midst duality.

Faith can be developed by practice. When one has faith in his actions he will succeed. As nothing succeeds like success, ones faith grows stronger every time he succeeds. For example:

- One may not sit in Sukhasana for hours but one should sit for 10 minutes with mind absorbed in breathing. Meditative asanas can cause introversion. Quietude is gained when eyes are closed for a few minutes together with composure.

- One may not succeed in doing Paschimmottanasana for 3 minutes but one should rhythmically move hands towards toes and return (keeping a manageable breathing rate of 2:4:2 or 3:6:3). So with a selection of easier and more effective asanas, doing them dynamically and for shorter duration we can learn asanas.

All this helps in generating faith. On the other hand, stress results when routines at physical and mental level are not followed e.g. proper rest, mental conditioning, performance of one’s own duties, etc. In absence of relaxation one gets confused and suffers from loss of faith and capacity to accept life.

Faith is a mental state which is positive and has to be cultivated. It is called an ‘upaya’ or technique.

When certain calmness is encouraged faith is born.  It has to be strengthened and also cross-checked.  There are moments when one is totally lost, like during an earthquake, and only faith helps him to maintain sanity.

Ishwara pranidhana is resignation to the will of the Absolute.

It requires the student of yoga to believe that whatever happens, happens according to the will of the Absolute. One should accept the results of one's deeds without feeling pain or pleasure. One should concentrate fully on doing one's duty and be disinterested about the results. The other side of this is that one has faith in a higher reality which maps out our lives beyond our control.

What you can do:
- Watch yourself during the day and observe how you behave when someone disturbs or offends you, or when something goes wrong. Do you immediately loose your balance of mind? Or do you have the understanding that some things are beyond our control, but there is always a great power ruling over all things?

Experience with the Yoga Teacher Training at LMYC

I found LMYC's basic classical yoga teacher training course very interesting and satisfying. I have been wanting to feel more integrated, healthier, and to be able to manage stress better for a better quality of life for some time.  I found LMYC's yoga teacher training support my goals very well.  It involves holistic development of ourselves, not only at physical level, but also in emotional, mental, social and spiritual level for health, peace and fulfilment.

Susie Li

As a coach, my professional and personal interest is in developing my being better, to enhance my quality of life, well-being, and to realize my potentials and benefit society with my gifts and talents. I found yoga and coaching complimentary.

The benefits I derived from this course are beyond my expectation.  I learnt how thoughts and emotions are developed, and to manage them better - an area I wanted to develop.  I also learnt about food, from which I started to explore outside of LMYC on food therapy the Chinese way, as we are in Hong Kong.

Bhavana Techniques (Cultivating the feeling)

Pratipaksha Bhavana, Nishpandha Bhava, Anitya Bhavana are yogic techniques which are holistic in approach and are necessary pre-requisites for improvements in all aspects of our life. Sure these techniques are difficult and there is a need for constantly drilling these bhavanas into oneself. We need to read more about them; repeat these thoughtful processes and try and understand their meaning.

Pratipaksha Bhavana - Overcoming Aggressive Emotions

A management technique which is like a genie in your mind, it cultivates a state of opposite feeling and transforms a negative thought into a positive thought, an unkind work into a kind word. 

PRATI means OPPOSITE; PAKSHA means SIDE; and BHAVANA means FEELING.

It involves invoking the opposite kind of feeling consciously. We are often held by negativities like jealousy, envy, anger, hatred and similar states of defective mind. Yoga suggests the technique of thinking the opposite when ever the mind is overcome by negative thoughts. So creating an opposite side feeling or raising the opposing concept will curtail negativity.

Nishpanda Bhava - A state of tranquillity

A curative technique, this technique makes us like a smooth flow of water. As one throws a stone in water it only causes a ripple but is unable to bore a hole in it. Nispandabhava is derived from the Sanskrit words:

NIS meaning WITHOUT; SPANDA meaning MOVEMENT; and BHAVA meaning STATE.

This practice has been formulated by founder of The Yoga Institute, Shri Yogendraji. It involves sitting relaxed against a wall or chair, keeping attention on low intensity and fading sounds. Allow the sounds to come to you without seeking them.

Anitya Bhavana - Change is the only constant

A preventive technique, this technique is like a clock or a watch on your hand, which constantly reminds us that time goes on, it never stops, the date, the day; the time keeps changing, it never remains the same. Just like the waves in the ocean, everything comes and goes, everything is changeful, nothing is permanent. Reflecting on this condition of impermanence of all things is Anitya Bhavana.

Home practices for the week

- With each session of practice a little of one’s tension will be shed. Thus, start practicing Pratipaksha Bhavana to become a little less negative and a little more positive; a little more passive and less agitated with Nishpanda Bhava; and a little more accepting and a little less expecting with Anitya Bhavana.

Make good use of these techniques and progress on your spiritual path!!

Namaskar

Yogic Life - A Cure For Asthma & Bronchitis

Dear friends & Yoga enthusiasts,

Books on Yoga provide an overview of spiritual yogic philosophy and teach how posture and breathing can reveal other aspects of human personality. You will find instructional books for all levels of practice, books to inspire and deepened your practice, books on the philosophy of yoga, books on specific forms of practice and more.

We will be regularly publishing in this blog, reviews of the main publications of The Yoga Institute of Santacruz, Mumbai, India, which has completed now over 92 year of  existence and guidance for serious students of Yoga education & research.

The first book is on Yoga Therapy:

Yogic Life - A Cure For Asthma & Bronchitis

Most of us who suffer from asthma and bronchitis come to accept our condition as something to be borne with fortitude and patience. During an attack we may take a tablet or an injection or use an inhaler and once the attack is over we limp back to normalcy and carry on with the business of living. Another attack, and we reach for the tablets or injections again. Would you like to change this pattern of behavior? Do you want to? Do you believe you can? 

The fight against asthma and bronchitis begins with a strong will to overcome you disability and has to be backed by an implicit faith in yourself. 

The Yogic life strengthens your will, augments your faith in yourself and opens the air passages. How soon you can breathe with ease and on your own, depends on yourself. Some may achieve it in weeks, others may take months. But what are you waiting for? Begging now! 

"The work of The Yoga Institute, Santa Cruz as I have been seeing it for the last several years is excellent. The scientific data collected is impressive. I am convinced of the great value of Yoga for the cure of Asthma and Bronchitis".

Dr. A. A. Mahashur

Head of the Dept. Chest Medicine

K. E. M. Hospital, Bombay

My experience with Yoga at LMYC

Testimonial from 13th August 2011

"Every appliance comes with a manual. In my opinion Yoga is manual to life.

With regular practice of yoga I have learnt to live my life in the right way, I eat right, I don’t fall sick at all. I am always full of energy and never get tired.

Varsha Punjabi

Before joining yoga my body was quite rigid but with a regular practice of yoga my body has become more flexible.

I have toned my muscles; The co-ordination of limbs has improved; Eyesight is better than before; Sleep quality is much better; Excretory functions have improved; With breathing the lung capacity has increased; I feel calmer in stressful situations; I have increased awareness of thoughts, body and the world around me; My self-confidence and self esteem has boosted; It has brought about emotional balance; I feel harmony between body and mind.

And the most important observation & experience is that Shavasana is one of the relaxation techniques I can swear by: it can cure any kind of ailment, be it itchy eyes, runny nose, burping, sneezing, itching, pain in any part of the body, it also relieves body tension & cramps and much more.

Every lecture at LMYC was so well planned to teach all aspects of life - right from physical hygiene, eating habits, managing health issues, dealing with interpersonal relationships, to emotional management, spiritual growth and a lot more. I feel Yoga has totally enriched my life. It is the best thing that has happened in my life.

Having experienced the benefits of yoga I decided to share it with others so I began teaching the Senior Citizens and it just gave me a lot of joy. The more I taught the more I learnt from others experiences and my own. I wish every school could include Yoga into their curriculum so that every child learns how to live their life in a right way and stay healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

The name of the yoga centre is Life Management Yoga Centre and I think it is very appropriate to the teachings of the centre. I thank Sangeeta Ahuja, my first yoga master, from the bottom of my heart and all visiting yoga masters who visit the centre from time to time."

Interview with Smt. Hansaji - Part 2

This is the second of a series of videos of an interview with Smt. Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Insitute of Santacruz, Mumbai, India. Hansaji is our beloved Guru.

Stay tuned with us. We will continue posting the other parts of the interview where Hansaji talks about different subjects in Yoga Education and Philosophy.

Namaste !!

Yoga in a Nutshell

Yoga is intimately related to life and living.

It is difficult to equate it with only one aspect of life – physical, intellectual, emotional, etc. though in Yoga all these areas are involved in different ways. In ancient times people experimented and arrived at certain modes of living, which they found more proper for leading one to a better life.

Thus, Yoga represents the way of life which endows perfect health in physical, mental, moral and spiritual levels. To achieve this great art and science of life, a comprehensive and practical system of self-culture has been formulated which brings harmonious development of one's body, mind and psychic potencies, that ultimately leads to physical well-being, mental harmony, moral elevation, self-confidence and habituation to spiritual consciousness.

Guru-Shishya / Parampara
(Traditional method of imparting Yoga Education)

The methodical study of scientific Yoga thus rightly begins with a disciplinary training of habits, actions, speech and thoughts in order to positively condition the mind followed with physical and postural training and rhythmic breathing to bring flexibility and muscular strength  to the body. Then follows respiratory and nervous control that enables an individual to regulate his or her biological living by conservation and control of the bio-energy (prana). With this a higher level of immunity is achieved. After physiological training comes the psychosomatic training with a view to controlling the external and internal senses which affect the equanimity and peace of mind. This is achieved through a series of graded physio-psychic efforts by relaxation, centralization, visualization, dissociation, introversion and meditation. Through autosuggestion and contemplation on the negative and positive virtues a man can cultivate a universal outlook in his practical way of life rising above all the inhibitions and environmental influences common to human nature.

Progressively the purity of the human nature and healthy mindedness is achieved through good physical health and control of the senses.

This is how the yogis have practices of sitting in 28 ways, standing, bending, stretching, breathing, concentrating, quietening the mind and so forth. What unfortunately is treated as Yoga today is just some external aspects of Yoga, forgetting the attitude that goes with it.

What you can do:

- Try and create the habit of sitting quiet with eyes closed (5 to 10 min.) few times a day watching the breath.

Namaskar!!

Interview with Smt. Hansaji - Part 1

This is the first of a series of videos of an interview with Smt. Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Insitute of Santacruz, Mumbai, India. Hansaji is our beloved Guru.

Stay tuned with us. We will continue posting the other parts of the interview where Hansaji talks about different subjects in Yoga Education and Philosophy.

Namaste !!