YOGA
ABOUT YOGA AND MEDITATION
There are many different ideas related to Yoga, where it comes from, what it is all about, and how to practice a range of techniques. Generally, it is recognised as an ancient system of belief (a practical philosophy or darsana) derived from the Vedic tradition of India and the Himalayas, more than 2500 years ago. It is a system of belief that recognises the multi-dimensional nature of the human person, and primarily relates to the nature and workings of the mind, based on experiential practice and self-enquiry.
In Yoga, Yoga is union of the body, mind, emotions, and intellect. The Union of these multi-dimensional aspects of each and every human being. The system and various techniques of Yoga cultivate the experience of that union, leading to greater integration of being, internal peacefulness, and clarity of the mind. It is a system that is designed to cultivate health and happiness, and a greater sense of self-awareness and higher consciousness.
The foundations of this ancient system are generally attributed to a great Indian saint known as Patanjali, who presented a summary of the approach in what is known as the Yoga Sutra. This complete model of Yoga is sometimes known as Raja Yoga – the highest or Royal Yoga. Throughout the centuries since the time of Patanjali, a number of different approaches to Yoga have developed, based on one or more of the ideas found in the foundations of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. Today, the most popular of these more recent approaches is generally known as a form of Hatha Yoga, and is considered to be the beginning or early stages of the process towards fullness of what Yoga offers.
Yoga cultivates health and well-being (physical, emotional, mental and social) through the regular practice of a range of many different techniques, including postures and movement, breathe awareness and breathing exercises, relaxation and concentration, self-inquiry and meditation.
Yoga is an approach to life that values appropriate effort, based on balance and harmony, within each person and with each other.
Yoga improves the organ function of the body and improves the internal environment of the body. Yoga changes the person’s attitude towards life .Regular Practice of practice of Yoga results in improvement in the quality of life, manifest in being healthier, looking better, feeling better, reduced stress, increased happiness, inner calmness, better sleep, increased energy levels and muscle tone, relief from muscle pain and stiffness, improved circulation, reduced the Blood pressure, overall better general health and contentment with life.
Basically we teach: Hatha Yoga is the remedy, its surest way to prevent from physical as well as psychological disease. Yoga improves the organ function of the body and improves the internal environment of the body. Yoga changes the person’s attitude towards positive healthy life…
HATHA YOGA OR ASHTANG YOGA (EIGHT YOGIC PRACTICES)
There are eight stages of Yoga as suggested by the Ancient Great Saint Patanjali . These are known as Ashtanga Yoga (Eight Yogic Practice). These are responsible for the purity of Mind, Body and Soul and are path to unite with God.
Prior to practicing yoga asana, Pranayama and meditation, it is also desirable and necessary to detoxify and purify the body. Toxic properties accumulate in the body for a number of reasons. If these toxins are not eliminated from the body, one would not get the desired benefits of Yogasana and pranayama. The Yoga Shastra has shown six types of techniques (The Kriyas) of internal purification.
They are known as:(1)- Neti (2) Dhauti (3) Nauli (4)Basti (5) Tratak (6 )Kapalbhati.Aftre the these six kriyas ,regular practices of Yoga Ashan ,pranayama(Breathing Excersise) and Meditation ,you will get perfect health.
Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga: The Eightfold Path of Yoga
OR
Ashtanga or “Eight-limbed” Yoga
Patanjali, the great ancient exponent of Raja Yoga, wrote that the path to enlightenment embraces eight stages. (His teaching is also known as Ashtanga, or “Eight-limbed,” Yoga.) An explanation of these eight “limbs” will help to give an understanding of the deeper purposes and directions of yoga.
Yama and Niyama
The first two stages of Patanjali’s eightfold path are known as Yama and Niyama. Yama means control; Niyama, non-control. Literally, these two stages mean the don’ts and the do’s on the spiritual path. They are, one might say, the Ten Commandments of yoga.
1-The rules of Yama (the Don’ts) are five:
1-Non-violence or Ahimsa
2-Non-lying
3-Non-stealing
4-Non-sensuality or Brahmacharya
5-Non-greed or Non-attachment
It is interesting to note that all of these virtues are listed in negative terms. The implication is that when we remove our delusions, we cannot but be benevolent, truthful, respectful of others’ property, etc., because it is our nature to be good. We act otherwise not because it is natural for us to do so, but because we have embraced an unnatural state of egoistical in harmony.
2-The rules of Niyama (the Do’s) are:
1-Cleanliness
2-Contentment
3-Tapas or Austerity
4-Self-study or Introspection
5-Devotion to the Supreme Lord
3-Asana—posture
The third stage on the eightfold path is known as Asana, which means, simply, posture. Some writers have tried to make the point that Patanjali refers here to the need for practicing the yoga postures as a preparation for meditation. But Patanjali was talking, not of practices, but of the different stages of spiritual development. Here, then, posture means no particular set of postures, but only the ability to hold the body still as a prerequisite for deep meditation. Any comfortable posture will do, as long as the spine is kept erect and the body relaxed. A sign of perfection in Asana is said to be the ability to sit still, without moving a muscle, for three hours. Many people meditate for years without achieving any notable results, simply because they have never trained their bodies to sit still. Until the body can be mastered, higher perceptions, so subtle that they blossom only in perfect quiet, can never be achieved.
It is good, of course, to practice some of the yoga postures before meditation. These postures help one to attain Asana, or firm posture. Many beginning students, however, make the mistake of assuming that they must perfect their practice of the yoga postures before even attempting to meditate. This is quite untrue. It is not even necessary to practice the postures at all in order to learn meditation. The postures are only an aid, though a very great one, to meditation.
4-Pranayama—energy control
The fourth stage of Patanjali’s path is Pranayama … Prana does mean breath, but only because of the close connection that exists between the breath and the causative flow of energy in the body. The word, prana, refers primarily to the energy itself. Pranayama, then, means energy control. This energy control is often effected with the aid of breathing exercises. Hence, breathing exercises have also come to be known as pranayamas.
Patanjali’s reference is to the energy control that is achieved as a result of various techniques, and not to the techniques themselves. His word signifies a state in which the energy in the body is harmonized to the point where its flow is reversed—no longer outward toward the senses, but inward toward the Divine Self that lies in the hearts of all beings. Only when all the energy in the body can be directed toward this Self can one’s awareness be intense enough to penetrate the veils of delusion and enter super-consciousness.
The very energy with which we think is the same energy that we use to digest our food. To test this claim, consider how difficult it is, after a heavy meal, to think about weighty problems, and how clear the mind becomes after a fast. To divert all the energy from the body to the brain cannot but intensify one’s awareness, and the keenness of one’s understanding. To direct this energy inwardly is the first step in divine contemplation.
5-Pratyahara—the interiorization of the mind
The fifth stage on Patanjali’s journey is known as Pratyahara, the interiorization of the mind. Once the energy has been redirected towards its source in the brain, one must then interiorize one’s consciousness, so that his thoughts, too, will not wander in endless bypaths of restlessness and delusion, but will be focused one-pointedly on the deeper mysteries of the indwelling soul. A thread must be gathered to one point before it can be put through the eye of a needle. Similarly with the mind: It is necessary to concentrate one’s thoughts as well as one’s energies, if he would hope to penetrate the narrow tunnel that leads to divine awakening.
6-Dharana—contemplation
Patanjali’s sixth stage is known as Dharana, contemplation, or fixed inner awareness. One may have been aware of inner spiritual realities—the inner light, for instance, or the inner sound, or deep mystical feelings—before reaching this stage, but it is only after reaching it that one can give himself completely to deep concentration on those realities.
7-Dhyana—Meditation or absorption
The seventh stage is known as Dhyana, meditation, absorption. By prolonged concentration on any stage of consciousness, one begins to assume to himself its qualities. By meditating on sense pleasures, the Inner Self comes to identify its happiness with the gratification of those pleasures; the individual loses sight of the indwelling Self as the real source of his pleasures. (If anything material were really a cause of happiness, it would cause happiness to all men. The fact that it does not proves that it is our reactions to those things, rather than the things themselves, that give us our enjoyment.) Again, by concentration on our personal faults, we only give strength to those faults. (It is a serious mistake continually to call oneself a sinner, as many orthodox religionists would have one do. One should concentrate on virtue if he would become virtuous.) By concentrating on the inner light, then, or upon any other divine reality that one actually perceives when the mind is calm, one gradually takes on the qualities of that inner reality. The mind loses its ego identification, and begins to merge in the great ocean of consciousness of which it is a part.
8-Samadhi—oneness or super conscious Meditation or self realization
The eighth step on Patanjali’s eightfold journey is known as Samadhi, oneness. Samadhi comes after one learns to dissolve his ego consciousness in the calm inner light. Once the grip of ego has really been broken, and one discovers that he is that light, there is nothing to prevent him from expanding his consciousness to infinity. The devotee in deep Samadhi realizes the truth of Christ’s words, “I and my Father are one.” The little wave of light, losing its delusion of separate existence from the ocean of light, becomes itself the vast ocean.
MEDITATION:
MEDITATION
Meditation refers to a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration.
Some of the health conditions where meditation can prove to be beneficial are following-
High blood pressure
Stress control
Insomnia
Pain management
Drug addiction
Prolonging life expectancy
Infertility
Psoriasis
Respiratory diseases
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Heart diseases
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Cancer and other chronic illness
Fibromyalgia
Meditation Teacher Mr Ian Cameron
Ian is a qualified school teacher and has taught in many schools in Victoria and NSW. He has spent more than 20 years studying spirituality and personal development. He first learnt Transcendental Meditation (TM) when he was just 18 years of age and had numerous profound experiences. He has also learnt and practiced a simple meditation process from Ms. Vera Langley, the personal Assistant of the late Dr Ainslie Meares, a Melbourne psychiatrist. Dr. Meares is well known in Victoria for pioneering individual and group meditation sessions, helping people achieve wonderful improvements in their mental health. Further, Ian has also received tutelage from Dr. Ian Gawler who has taught meditation to thousands of cancer sufferers at his retreat in the Yarra Valley.
“Ian Cameron is part of the next generation of meditation teachers and I encourage him to go forth and transform lives. I know he will.
–Dr. Ian Gawler
“Over the millennia, people have turned their minds inwardly in search of peace, happiness and clarity. In modern times, meditation offers a reliable refuge, a well-proven antidote to stress and anxiety. The bonus? Increased creativity, confidence, personal satisfaction and productivity. Meditation may well be the most useful gift you can give to yourself or to another.”
–Dr. Ian Gawler
Meditation
Relaxing Meditation – This is the process of ‘letting go’. It is is simple, easy, natural and very enjoyable. With regular practice, a peace begins to pervade every aspect of the meditator’s life. Great for calming the mind and relieving stress, anxiety and depression. Also an effective way to balance the body for people suffering a physical illness such as cancer or arthritis.
Mantra Meditation – This powerful mantra can be chanted anywhere, anytime to bring a feeling a relaxation and security. It removes all anxieties, depression and negative thinking patterns. It is the great secret to happiness!
Meditation Teacher Ian Cameron
Meditation Class Time:
Call for the time
Meditation Class Location:
Ayurveda Yoga Wellness Clinic, 205 Gladstone Road, North Dandenong
What to wear:
Loose, comfortable fitting clothes, a tracksuit is ideal.
Fees and charges:
Casual class : $15
10 Class Pass: $12 (each class $120)
20 Class Pass: $200 (each class $10)
Bookings essential: Ph: 97747650
OUR YOGA TEACHER PROFILE:
DR Santosh Kumar Yadav
Dr. Santosh Yadav, an Ayurvedic Practitioner, has been practicing Ayurveda and Yoga for 10 year. Dr. Santosh has devoted his life to this science and completed his undergraduate and post graduate degree in Ayurveda. He has completed a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery from University of Lucknow and Post Graduate degree, from the internationally reputed Banaras Hindu University from India .He completed the Diploma in Yoga and certificate course in Yoga Practice from Yoga
Sadhan Kendra, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) India.
Dr Santosh has worked in wide range of clinical setup as Ayurvedic Practitioner. He has treated thousands of patients in India and Australia. He is specialised in treatment of chronic illness and Kareli Panchkarma Treatment. Ayurvedic medicine, Ayurvedic treatments and Yoga. He is teaching Yoga in Australia past six Years at Yoga ayurveda Wellness clinic Dandenong and Bayswater.
Education, Certification & Licensure of Dr Santosh Yadav
• Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery (BAMS)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Ayurvedic drug Standardisation (PGDAyDS)
• Diploma in Yoga
• Certificate course in Yoga Practice (CCYP)
• Registered Accredited practitioner of Australian Traditional Medicine society (ATMS) As Herbalist(Herbal Medicine)
• Professional Member of Australasian Association of Ayurveda Inc (AAA) as Ayurvedic Doctor
Achievements and Awards:
- He received “HIND RATTAN AWARD” in 2012 presented every year to selected Non-resident Indians for their outstanding services, achievements and contributions presented at the 31st International Congress of NRIs on 25 January 2012 in New Delhi.
- He received the “Mahatma Gandhi Community Service Award” for the service to the community with Love, care and dedication in own field. This award presented by Hindu Foundation Victoria on 30th September, 2012.
PUBLIC LECTURE & WORKSHOP
- “Management of Diabetes by Ayurveda & Yoga” Presentation For the Northern region Indian seniors Association (NRSIA) @ Northcote, Melbourne with Diabetes Australia and Australia Yoga, 28 July, 2013
- 5th INTERNATIONAL YOGA WORKSHOP gives the lecture on “Ayurveda and non -Communicable diseases” The event will be a combination of both theory & practice@ Anthony’s Parish Hall, Cnr. of Neerim Road & Grange Road, Glenhuntly Vic Date & Friday, October 5, 2012; from 2pm to 6pm & Saturday, October 6, 2012; from 9am to 4pm.
- “What is Ayurveda and Yoga, How we get benefit from ayurveda and Yoga in Day to day life?” Presentation of the Shiva Yoga Meditation School, 22 Nov 2010 Mount Eliza, Melbourne
Yoga Class Day & Timing:(Every week)
Sunday: 9.00 AM to 10.00 AM
At Ayurveda Yoga wellness clinic.