Incorporating Hatha Yoga Asanas
- Focus on your breath. Deep, focused breathing is that the heart of yoga practice. To start practising correct breath, sit during a comfortable position and start to breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- As you inhale, lift your chest and permit your belly to expand. Consider the air filling your lungs from rock bottom all the thanks to the highest.
- Once you exhale, press your navel towards your spine and press the air out of your lungs slowly and steadily. Believe the air at the highest of your lungs leaving first, then subsequent layer, and so on. Make a whispered ha sound within the back of your throat as you exhale. With practice, youll exhale through your nose while still making this sound in your throat.
- As you get more skilled, youll attempt to find an interruption after each inhalation and every exhalation, instead of rushing to breathe. Within the pause after an inhale, recognize how filled with life-giving air youre. After each exhale, feel the opening of space.
The Purpose Of Raja Yoga
The word Raja means king. This yoga form teaches self-mastery of your intuitions and thoughts. You feel empowered to gain wisdom and move towards the glory of awakening.
The purpose of Raja Yoga is to help you realize the goodness and strength of the soul. It is the highest form of mind training that controls your irrational thoughts, false beliefs, and feelings.
This meditation practice helps to control mental fluctuations and improves the power of concentration.
The goal of yoga is to unite you to an inner world of absolute bliss and harmony. The mind is gradually and systematically brought to a focal point of intense attentiveness.
Raja Yoga puts emphasis on the harmonious development of body, mind, and spirits. Mental discipline and habitual practices of yoga enhance the overall well being of the individual.
What Is Rajyoga Meditation
Raja is a Hindi word, which means ‘a King’ and Yog or Yoga means ‘a connection’ or a ‘relationship’. Raja Yoga is the Supreme Yoga through which the Soul becomes the master of all its senses by simply remembering its original nature and its relationship with the Supreme Soul. There are two inter-connected steps to learn and master the Rajyoga meditation.
1. Self-realisation- One has to practice the stage of soul consciousness. This is a matter of effort making as we are now have become body-conscious. We have forgotten that we are a tiny metaphysical Soul who is operating this body through the brain. This is the true introspection. When we recognise and experience the self as a ‘soul’, we also emerge our original virtues of peace, purity, love, bliss, and spiritual powers.
Tip: Watch our film: Who am I? to begin.
2. God-realisation – As we put soul consciousness into practice and it becomes a natural stage of consciousness, we now recognise our spiritual father who lives in the soul world, away from this material world. He is the ocean of all virtues and powers. We now remember him. Just as we can naturally remember the father of my body, who gave us birth, so as we naturally remember the father of me the soul. This becomes natural upon practicing with dedication. The soul enjoys the company of its beloved father, the supreme soul.
Tip: Watch our film: Soul & the Supreme Soul
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Be Within The Present
Keeping the eyes open, gently check out a specific point within the room. make sure that you avoid stressing the eyes by staring. Alternatively, light a candle, place it ahead of you then start concentrating on the sunshine . Withdraw from everything around you slowly and begin focusing on either your natural breathing or the purpose within the room i.e. the flame of the hearth .
When doing this, your mind will probably have a variety of thoughts passing through it. Dont plan to avoid them, but instead accept them gently and check out to return to this moment by getting back to the purpose of your focus. Avoid letting the thoughts get to you and instead check out it during a neutral way and permit it to pass. Exercise patience and affect all the thoughts bombarding your head and always revisit to your point of focus.
Patanjali The 8 Limbs Of Yoga
Although historical dates and timeframes are blurred and debated, it is often assumed that the sage Patanjali then took the information from the Yoga Upanishads and compiled his own, more simplified version of these practices in the Raja Yoga Sutras. Patanjalis Sutras suggest numerous tips for suspending the patterning of consciousness and calming the mind.
A section of this work has become known as Ashtanga, or the 8 Limbs of Yoga. It outlines a systematic approach to calming the mind though meditation by starting with the very foundational principles of living, and working through the physical and energetic bodies, the emotional and intellectual aspects of the mind, and then developing the capability to bring the mind to a one-pointed focus, which leads to true meditation and Samadhi.
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What Is Raja Yoga
The word raja means king in Sanskrit, therefor Raja Yoga is sometimes referred to as the Royal Yoga. It is considered to be the practice that is inclusive of all forms and styles of yoga. It emphasizes the necessity and benefits of meditation as a purposeful evolution of consciousness.
It’s better known as Ashtanga Yoga or the eightfold path, the practice of which leads to spiritual liberation. Sometimes it’s called the Mental Yoga for its emphasis on the awareness of one’s state of mind. It is organized in eight parts or steps:
How To Do Raja Yoga
This article was co-authored by Ken Breniman, LCSW, C-IAYT. Ken Breniman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Yoga Therapist and Thanatologist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ken has over 15 years experience of providing clinical support and community workshops utilizing a dynamic combination of traditional psychotherapy and yoga therapy. He specializes in eclectic non-denominational yoga guidance, grief therapy, complex trauma recovery and mindful mortal skills development. He has a MSW from Washington University in St. Louis and an MA Certification in Thanatology from Marian University of Fond du Lac. He became certified with the International Association of Yoga Therapists after completing his 500 training hours at Yoga Tree in San Francisco and Ananda Seva Mission in Santa Rosa, CA.There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 88% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 80,806 times.
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Raja Yoga How To Meditation
Following this discussion we also need an adjective for the third liberation type -meditative liberation and I suggest physical. This is a physical discourse platform where the body and mind are brought to physical stillness. In semiotic terms the three platforms are three conflicting codes framing how to approach and categorise liberation.
These three ideal types of liberation, give us a triangle, as shown. Keeping that triangle of liberation in mind, we will see in the following complex discussions how the different ascetic-wisdom discourses position themselves in relation to this. So the notions are thought of as helpful pedagogical tools to facilitate understanding.
The Texts Of Raja Yoga
To understand raja yoga, and all the paths of yoga, it is important to look through a historical lens and examine the texts of yoga. This can illuminate how raja yoga was developed, and if its current incarnation is aligned with its origination. Below are three texts central to the development of the path of raja yoga.
Bhagavad Gita: As discussed, the Bhagavad Gita is a central text in yoga, which mentions the other three paths of yoga. It is considered as one of the first texts on yoga, and the root of all yogic philosophy. It is a Sanskrit epic which is a narrative between Prince Arjuna and Krishna before battle, in which Krishna advises the Prince on the philosophies of yoga. Although raja yoga is not fleshed out as a path of yoga in this text, this is the first time raja yoga is mentioned as a synonym to enlightenment.
The Upanishads: In The Upanishads, the paths of yoga are discussed more in depth, building on the philosophy from the Bhagavad Gita. Up to this point, meditation was seen as the path to enlightenment, and yoga as a way of controlling the mind. The Upanishads introduce ways to control the body, as well, as a step to enabling meditation. Raja yoga is also first mentioned here as an individual path, alongside styles of yoga such as kundalini yoga and hatha yoga.
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Tips On Practicing Raja Yoga At Home
Practicing yoga is not that difficult as you may think. It keeps your mind calm and fresh. It gives you proper body tone and fitness. You can practice yoga from the comfort of your home. The following tips helpful may be helpful for you.
How To Do The Raja Yoga Meditation Om Shanti
This is the easiest free guided meditation you will find on this site. All that you have to is to find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed, sit with your spine erect and listen. Rest your shoulders on a wall or chair. Lying down is not a good idea unless you want to enjoy a good sleep :-).
Indeed, many visitors tell me that they use this meditation regularly to fall asleep at night. Apparently, my meditation is a popular sleeping pill alternative.
There is no need for visualising or affirming anything at all. Simply let the gentle energy of unconditional love bathe your spirit.
Observe the feelings and the emotions that surface in your consciousness. Many users of this Raja Yoga Meditation video report a strong feeling of longing and an intense feeling of love. Others, find themselves weeping tears of joy and relief.
Many users of this guided meditation video report a strong feeling of longing and an intense feeling of love. Others, find themselves weeping tears of joy and relief. I must admit that each time I listen to this meditation I find myself transported into this world of unconditional love.
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Practicing Raja Yoga Meditation
Our Mind Wanders All The Time
Patanjali knew, many years ago, that meditating without proper preparation was impossible. That is why he established a procedure to make it easier for everyone.
Without this preparation it is easier to concentrate compared to just sitting and meditate on the spot.
Remember that Raja Yoga involves 6 steps before meditation. And there is a reason why!
We will try to address that process with these simple steps you can follow them easily. Remember not to get frustrated as meditation is a path that will give you joy on its way, do not attach to the ultimate goal as it requires lots of years of practice. Remember that noticing that you are fighting with your thoughts is quite an improvement.
Before, you did not even notice that!
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The Practice Of Concentration Is The Preliminary Practice For Meditation
Concentration is holding one thought in the mind for a period of time.
Concentration brings power to the mind and makes the mind one-pointed, thus allowing peace and happiness to shine through.
Concentration implies effort and perseverance to bring the mind back to focus.
Concentration on an external object like a candle flame is easier then focusing internally on an abstract idea.
There are many exercises for concentration for example, allowing the mind to think on a topic and everything related to the topic but nothing outside of the topic.
The mind is like a sheep tied to a post, and has to move in a smaller circle. The fewer thoughts you have in the mind, the more Peace you have. The more thoughts in the mind, the less Peace you have.
Concentration is like gathering the rays of the mind and applying them on a particular topic.
In the same manner that gathering the rays of the sun through a magnifying glass can burn a piece of paper, or gathering the water of a stream through a dam can produce electricity, the Yogi endeavors to have less thoughts, so the thoughts that remain in the mind will gain power and realization.
A concentrated person is much more productive, effective and peaceful, while a distracted person is unfulfilled, constantly changing topics, and never finishes anything.
How To Manage Emotions Effectively
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Emotions are good as well as bad. Emotions channelized properly becomes devotion. If not they can become commotion. So, it is very important to manage emotions effectively.
Talk to yourself lovingly: Talk to yourself using your name. For example, if I have to talk to myself I will say Girish, everything is good. Now, it is time to relax. You have worked a lot. At this age take it easy. Girish, be peaceful. Whatever happens never ever be rough with yourself.
Watch your mind like a witness: Try controlling a mischievous child by shouting at them. They will get all the more mischievous. Instead, dont say anything. Just keep watching them with full attention. As soon they realize that they are being watched they will calm down and stop the mischief.
The mind is like a child. The more you stop it from doing something the more it retaliates. When you just observe your mind, that is, your thoughts, like a witness it will slow down.
Dont repress your emotions: Repression is the act of suppressing the mind by force.
Each of us have some desires which cannot be fulfilled. For example, you have a desire for a bigger house but you cannot afford it. You may land up suppressing this desire so much that you may say that you do not want a big house at all. Although subconsciously you do want it.
How to manage repressions?
So if emotions are managed properly they can take you higher. If not problems are bound to come.
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The Minds Resistance To Slowing Down
Raja Yoga suggests the tool of meditation: slowing down the chaos of the mind so much that, for an extended period of time, there is only one, continuous thought. This leads to total absorption in the nature of reality, known as Samadhi, although often it takes a long time and dedicated practice .
The mind, however, is clever and cunning and in most cases, does not want to calm down. It will do whatever it takes to continue thinking, maintaining the momentum of a me, and keeping ones attention away from the magnificence of the present moment and true nature of reality.
I often use the example of being at a Vipassana retreat many years ago. In 10 days of total silence, my mind slowed down, and there were glimpses of a Truth more magnificent than any words could ever describe. This would last for a timeless few seconds, and then my mind would jump in with pop songs from the 90s, playing over and over again in my head, taking my attention totally away from the underlying wonder of the moment.
