Yoga, personal protocols, and making a difference
(The impatient reader can skip the lengthy philosophical introduction and go directly to the first 7 of the 21 point agenda!)
PREAMBLE
Every now and then, in a 50 or 100 or 500 or 1000 year span, we are given a chance to make a difference.
It is now or never.
It is beyond anything logical or rational or within our ability to comprehend.
There comes a time, so rare, but it does come, when our intuition must guide us at the fork in the path.
It is a date with destiny.
And that time is now.
We can all make a difference, each one of us.
We can save ourselves, save our families, save our communities and save the human race.
It is that time, and it is upon us.
A once in 1000 year time.
While we, all of India, all wait in a 21 day quarantine, we can be of value.
We can be of use.
We can make a once-in-a-lifetime contribution.
And we can learn.
And pass it on.
Let this never happen again.
We cannot ignore or make reduce the enormity of so many people dying or so much sickness, or so much fear and anxiety and panic – it is real, agonizing, terrible, a great, great, great unprecedented human tragedy.
Nature is weeding out, cleansing, teaching us balance and harmony and restraint, as opposed to greed, selfishness and discord.
Contrary to what we may be thinking or feeling, there is a silver lining as they say, to every dark cloud.
If we look around, the skies in Gurgaon are crystal clear blue, as I am sure are in many other cities around the country.
We are surely using a fraction of the nation’s natural resources, including water, in the past four days of the lockdown.
The birds and animals, without the noise and scare of human population, are up and about all around us. They look great and sound sweet, and generate in us a thrill for life.
And as we hibernate, we also have a chance to give back to ourselves and our world.
We can look around, and start doing our bit, starting from today.
Here are 21 things to focus on, every day, while we wait.
These are derived from a yogic lifestyle.
Hustle, Yoga warrior, while you wait!
YOGA
Yoga brings out the most pristine, authentic and vibrant person in you. The person that you are, have been and will be.
Practicing a yoga class every day at this time is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Yoga helps you to disconnect from the outside world, and focus on yourself, one breath, and one minute at a time.
Yoga grounds you, and gives you space to deal with life.
Yoga gently stretches, tones, strengthens, and rekindles the body and mind, one moment at a time, one breath at a time, like a string brings together exquisite pearls, into a beautiful necklace.
Yoga is cardio-vascular and aerobic exercise. Great. And needs just 6 feet of space. Quite a feat!
Most importantly, and if you needed just one (or two at this very difficult time!) reasons to practice yoga – it helps to improve your immunity and to reduce unmitigated anxiety, and to calm down and relax.
Lie down on a mat or a rug, and begin a yoga class, with our YouTube videos, either live as they are happening, or from a bank of over 20 videos which are growing every day.
A 60 minutes class is the minimum, and enough, once a day.
90 minutes is ideal.
90 minutes twice a day seals the deal – no entry for disease!
For those of us who are still feeling rushed, without maids and with work from home, we have uploaded a brand new 40 minutes “Yoga for busy people during lockdown video”.
Enjoy!
PRANAYAMA
Turn to the age-old method of keeping the lungs and the breathing apparatus active, youthful, resilient, efficient and disease-free.
In the Sivananda class, we start with Kapalabhati, a Kriya (cleansing technique). Active exhalations, followed by passive inhalations, cleanses the nostrils, stimulates, cleanses and invigorates the sinuses, and powerfully activates the lungs into its most optimal function.
We follow this up with Anuloma Viloma, alternate nostril breathing. Also called Naadi Shodhan, or cleansing of the astral (energy/nerves) tubes, it is a calming and cleansing breathing practice. It helps to develop immunity and resilience and balance from deep within the body systems. Anuloma Viloma corrects imbalances in the hormonal system. It reduces stress, and induces calmness, so important in a time like this, where the body’s ability to withstand an attack, and the mind’s ability to take clear decisions is so vital.
A separate, 30 minutes special practice a day is suggested, to build immunity and create a sense of balance and calm.
Use our brand new, “anti-virus” 35 minutes Pranayama session uploaded on YouTube.
Develop harmony of body and mind!
Rest
Rest is best.
And what a rest, we are all getting.
House ar rest!
The body and mind need rest.
We are in a constant state of motion and restlessness and consumption.
We eat and drink not just with our mouth. What we see, what we hear, what we smell and what we feel also constitute, according to yoga, consumption of different kinds.
We are on a constant diet of many things, unknowingly. There is the Internet, television information, external noise of every kind, bad news on phone calls and messages, critical and negative relatives, friends and wider community. The disturbance to our energy system is constant, even when we lie down to sleep at night.
We live in constant disturbance, annoyance, fear, anxiety, worry, insecurity and discomfort.
And even more so today.
Since the advent of air conditioning and the consequent lack of exposure to the natural environment, we are subject to constant and quick changes of temperature, mostly artificially modulated. We are also, because of circumstances, living life within four walls, even though we have an artificial sense of being free.
Our health is being severely compromised.
It is important to switch off, to restore yourself. Cut off the noise and the sights, both outside and inside.
It is important to let negative emotions and feelings subside, and one way is to of course, stop the inputs from our external environment.
A mid-day nap, sitting quietly on your bed, in the balcony, outside in the garden for a few minutes at a time by yourself, a good night’s sleep of seven hours or more, Yoga nidra, , Savasana and simply having periods of complete physical and mental inactivity quickly heal the body and mind, and improve resistance and immunity dramatically. It is possible to do this during the curfew. At least let us use this time, to practice, yes, practice rest!
We have uploaded two days ago, a relaxation routine on YouTube. Practice 25 minutes of Savasana, complete bliss, lying down on your bed, or the yoga mat, with our special Savasana video.
Discover the journey back to yourself.
Discover yourself, with Savasana every day!
MEDITATION
Just 20 minutes of sitting quietly, once or twice a day, can have immense therapeutic benefits.
From curing anxiety and stress, to breathing disorders, insomnia, and digestive issues, we all know the power of meditation.
Enough has been documented over time.
Come, let us not waste this opportunity – sit on a chair, or on your bed, or on the mat.
Turn on YouTube and listen to the guided instructions of a brand new 20 minutes home practice, uploaded just for you, just today.
Feel well, immediately.
And consecutively!
The Sun
The higher our energy, the better our immunity.
The sun is our primary source of energy.
Being home, across India at this time, with some compulsorily freed up time on hand, can be a blessing.
Find a spot around your house, or in your house, without breaking the “Laxman rekha”. Let the sun find you.
Your body and mind, and spirit will welcome this age old human practice of basking in the sun.
So far, with our new protocols and practices explained above for each day, we may have only used up half of the daily commuting time for many of us.
Let us use a further 30 minutes that we have saved due to curfew to be in the sun, gathering high voltage energy (and not just vitamin D). Make sure you do not sit in the noon day sun, or when the sun is at its hottest. Best is the rising or waning sun, but any sun, which is tolerable, is great.
Also keep your stuff out in the sun – things like key chains, cushions and cushion covers, durries, bed sheets and pillows, clothes, books, papers – anything you feel the sun can bless.
It is the traditional and age-old method used by our elders to keep fungus, bacteria, viruses, diseases out!
The Sun out there and the Sun in here, in us, the Manipura chakra, the Solar Plexus, will begin to coincide. And we will begin to shine once more, in all our glory.
Come, let us Sun together!
FAST
It is that time of the year.
In fact, it is the New Year.
Traditionally, it is a time to eliminate, regenerate and cultivate – and one of the methods is through the highly evolved science of fasting.
In every culture, especially in the 5000 year old yogic tradition, health is cultivated through fasting.
Ekadasi, twice a month, and Navratri 18 days in a year total up to 42 days of fasting across 12 months. The western world is abuzz with this “new” discovery, that fasting (read intermittent fasting) cures almost everything!
Try a water only fast. Or a fruit only or fruit juice only fast. Or miss a meal completely. Or fast on one meal a day for three days. Try it, since you have the opportunity and freedom to experiment with health protocols while at home.
The season is appropriate for fasting, so use this time of the year to help yourself.
A fast helps the body’s continuously overworked digestive system to shut down for a prescribed period, and reboots it.
During a fast the catabolic activity increases, eliminating toxic matter, leaving the system clean. During the next phase, the anabolic activity builds new healthy cells and tissue, replacing the old with the new. Metabolism starts to peak, and when the body assimilates and utilizes even the tiniest of food, it does so thoroughly and efficiently. Automatically you become strong and vibrant from deep inside. Metabolic fire, or Agni, is vital to vitality!
Fasting also clears the mind – Sherlock Holmes explains this to Dr Watson. Though Watson often nagged him to eat, Holmes rarely took food while working on a problem, and during especially taxing cases he sometimes went for days without a meal. "The faculties become refined when you starve them," he says to Watson.
When we eat less, and eat not at all for a certain period of time, the mind’s focus becomes sharper, and energy is heightened, as do all our five senses.
Is fasting equal to starving? No, of course not. It is a simple method of conscious abstinence. We build our will power, and mental strength by willingly staying away from food – the greatest driver of human instinct – hunger, and build our deep inner spiritual muscles to withstand any phenomena.
Do we need to be supervised during a fast? No, not really, not if you are skipping one meal, or fasting 24 to 36 hours, or even up to 72 hours. Longer fasts need to be supervised by someone who has done it before and has lots of experience. And we must not have a current medical condition which requires you to eat frequently.
Will fasting create nutritional deficiencies? No, never. On the contrary, a fast a week or even a fortnight will reset the entire system and make it more efficient, helping with the digestion and assimilation of vital nutrients. Fasting is the best way to improve your constitution.
Fasting can save your life!
A footnote.
Fasting is usually connected to food. But traditionally, and in yoga, fasting includes physical, mental, social, sensory and emotional abstinence. This is the highest we can go. For example, being in mauna (silence) is fasting for the tongue in another way. Keeping the eyes closed, in meditation or silent prayer, or visualizing inner realms and possibilities is a deeper aspect of fasting for our sense of sight. Being socially distanced is a way of community fasting, a way of becoming ourselves, without the jostling inputs of the human environment. Switching off all audio inputs, like the phone, television, radio and even external noise, is a way of resting the sense of sound.
Yes, fasting can be, and is much more than food.
And it can be a micro habit, fasting and a very personal one. Switching off data at night on your phone can be fasting, not having salt for one day can be fasting, and not speaking for an hour can be fasting.
Choose your fast. Experiment. Discover!
FOOD AS MEDICINE
Having looked at abstinence from food, the next important question is - what should we eat? What does the wisdom of Ayurveda and Yoga tell us?
Of course, to start with, Yoga urges us to be vegetarian. This is a controversial discussion outside the domain of yoga, so we remain within its tenets. There is now a huge movement in western countries towards what they call a plant based diet. 5000 years ago, Sage Patanjali and other maharishis, advocated a plant based diet for a long, healthy and happy life.
Not only vegetarian, yoga points out that it must be Saatvik – fresh, wholesome, light, not too little, but not too much either, and as close to organic, local and season as possible.
Food, like the sun, and rest, is one of our primary sources of energy. It is also a huge source of enjoyment and comfort and security. While we have this time, we can pay attention to having home food, cooked and served with ample doses of love and care. It can be prepared fresh, and the helpings small and light.
If our food contains the traditional input of Indian spices, we are good for deep inner harmony, health, and vitality. (Please read the next blog for more on this vast topic)
Yoga says you must take your last and lightest meal for the day at sunset. Since we now have accurate have clocks, and we are a logic and habit oriented civilization, you can make dinner at 6.00 pm. We can do this while we are confined to home. Let us experiment and see how we feel.
Keeping the stomach free from input for the rest of the evening is important. The next proper meal can be taken at 10.00 am. This is also part of an ultra-modern trend called intermittent fasting, though traditionally this was the norm for thousands of years.
Eating a proper meal just twice a day, and eating less is good for building immunity, vitality and resistance. It has been proven in modern scientific research over and over again, that when fed less, animals and humans prolong their lives and have great health till very old age.
In our ashrams, during our yoga vacations and retreats and teacher training courses, we serve tea twice during the day, once at 730 am, and then at 1.30 pm. Combined with a daily routine of yoga and meditation, you feel energetic and strong, even though these are the only times you are eating. Most importantly, sickness disappears, replaced with good health.
It also important according to yoga, to have food prepared and served with loving hands and hearts. In it is included hygiene, proper methods of cooking and food combinations.
Yoga classifies food into three silos.
Tamasic food creates dense energy, which is difficult to move, and also creates openings for disease. These include alcohol, stale and refrigerated things, packaged food, oil, meat, eggs and fish, and overcooked and over ripe food. Overeating is also clearly Tamasic.
Rajasic food stimulates and creates restlessness. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, pick-me-ups, an excess of chilies, onions and garlic are all considered Rajasic.
Saatvik food is food for the soul that which creates good health, nourishes the tissues and provides brightness and shine. Fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes, cereals and grain all come in this category. So do things like ghee, honey and dry fruit.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine said famously – “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” What was said 2500 years ago still holds true.
Ayurveda has its specific views about food as well. And its tenets, unshaken and unchanged, also go back 2500 years.
More about this and 14 other things to do while we wait, in the next blog.
To be continued…