Swadhyaya cum Yoga Jigyasu Course
Specially for the Teachers of the Yoga Institute
Swadhyaya cum Yoga Jigyasu Course specially designed only
for the Teachers of The Yoga Institute. This is with the purpose of helping
those who require some structure to continue to work on one self; that one
begins during the Certificate in Yoga Education Course (7mns, 1 yr., and 3mths. TTC)
The first meeting was
held on May 12, 2013 (second Sunday of the month) from 10:30 to 12:30.
For the benefit of those
who could not attend and for the associate members of Swadhyaya the proceedings
of the meeting cum class are being emailed to all Swadyaya members. Kindly note
that being physically present is not the only way to participate in this course;
All can participate by working on Self
through a Yoga project, benefiting from the talk session summary, Practice of
Experiential Yoga technique and by sharing their progress either in virtual or
actual environment.
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Inaugration
The Day 1 was
inaugurated by Hansaji: Hansaji set the tone by asking a few questions;
Hansaji : How are
you managing your life- Easy, disturbed, happy, worth living and are you able
to manage it? Are we managing life happily or not?
Everyone was made to speak for themselves. Some of the
answers were yes, half the time, have learnt to get up and move on each time we
fall.
Hansaji continued: More struggle and it will get you going. You can
only evolve when you take the challenges. More the challenges the progress is fast. Life
is a challenge but one who makes the most of it and goes forward. Yoga is a
path of self development.
This course we are
aiming at how to see life? Our institute is to be taken as a family. So we
meet every month to communicate with each other. Also to know how we are doing
or managing our life.
The aim of these meetings is also standardizing the
technique; also to re-establishing institutes approach and technology. The
authenticity of our technique is to be maintained. So all teaching will be
experiential. Secondly every month when we meet we know about what activities
is going on in the institute. What is happening in the institute? Also we will
learn about little bit of Samkhya, Yoga Sutra and Bhagvad Gita with the view to
application in life.
Hansaji asked everyone present to start contacting your
class mates especially those who are teaching Yoga to come for this course,
including home tuition teachers. She will also come to class and help to
enhance the teachers’ competency.
The aim is ultimately
Self Development. This is not just 4 years course. It is also an ongoing
process.
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Talk on The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali by Kartik Vyas
He started with
chapter 1 sutra 1; Atha Yogah Anushasanam. He said, let’s start from the simple
‘atha’ i.e. now. Now that we are ready let us ask ourself; What is it that I
wish to get out of this course? Am I
conditioning myself to get maximum out of Yoga? What kind of Yoga I am ready
for? Well begun is half done. Dharma gives you direction. Atah gives the same
indication. Are we going to explore the opportunity we have been given?
Anything which is done with concentration is Yoga. Vyasa says every chitta is capable of
concentration. Am I giving direction to my life by way of Yoga? Am I giving
some form of focus? Am I doing anything with concentration through the day?
This will make us aware of our current state…. Founder’s translation of citta is brilliant; he did not
call it mind he called it personality complex; as the chitta is not a single
faculty it includes senses, and other faculties so it is a complex and in
modern terms these go to make up our personality.
Maharishi Veda Vyasa speaks of 5 types of chitta and each
one as capable of Yoga or concentration. He then enumerated the
characteristics’ of each type of chitta.
Kshipta citta:- People
with this type of chitta are for power. If they find anything interesting they
can concentrate. Whatever the source of power they can concentrate on that; may
it be money, position, following, service, entertainment, anything that they
see as giving them power; politicians are the best example. In kshipt chitta Rajas
is predominant, Tamas comes after that and most subordinate is Satva. They are
not interested in the immediate and cannot think of far-sightedness because
they lack clarity.
Mudha chitta:
Tamas is predominant, Rajas after that and most subordinate is Satva. People
with such a chiita are capable of concentrating on objects of sensory pleasure.
Anything which gives them pleasure can be their object of concentration.
Vikshipta chitta:
They are very inconsistent and that is the tragedy of this cittabhumi. The
occasionally steady; When one is steady
only then one is in this cittabhumi otherwise you are descended to the previous
two cittabhumis. Rajas is predominant, Satva after that and most subordinate is
Tamas. When steady you get into a balanced state of mind. If it lengthens for hours
at a stretch than only it reach to ekagra chitta
Ekagra chitta: When
your concentration is extended for many hours from occasionally steady state
then the chitta is capable of Yogic concentration. Satva is predominant, Rajas after that and
most subordinate is Tamas.
While all types of chitta are capable of concentration but
concentration per-say is not Yogic. Yogic concentration has certain
characteristics;
1)
Occurs predominantly in ekagra chitta
2)
Weakens the kleshas
3)
Loosens the bond of karma
4)
Prepares the way for Niruddha citta
5)
Brings about a definite exposure of real entity
i.e. purusha
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Experiential Yoga Technique by Bhakti
Sthithprathanasana was reintroduced to the group; a suitable
conducive atmosphere was created stating that conditioning is the desired
mental state to begin any activity it is more so for a Yoga activity like this
course. One way of doing this is by doing Sthithaprathanasana. She first
directed the class to steady the posture then focusing of eyes on a point
finally on nose tip and the movement of air in and out of nostrils. And slowly
let the class to be still and be on their own for nearly 8 minutes. The class
then shared their experience. Some of the sharing were – somehow have not done
this for long when at one time it was a faviourite asana. Thank you for
revival, still there was swaying, knew that there will be swaying so was ready
to stop that and could do it to a good extent, felt steady, was mentally in the
temple, and so on.
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Assignment/Project work coordinated by Suchitra Pareekh:
Each one of us are doing some Yoga oriented activity e.g.
some work at the Yoga Institute or teaching Yoga somewhere or doing our own
Asana practice or some selfless service, etc. to begin with take that as your
project. Define what the project is, become clear about what will the completed
project look like, what purpose it is to serve, the time line for its
completion, etc. The project is required to be written out so also its
progress.
The Self Growth: Do
the project with full attention,
concentration on self and detachment.
It is a worthwhile exercise
to become aware of which chitta bhumi you spend more time in; which is your
predominant state of mind as it reflects in our thoughts, speech and action. Use
the project time to observe oneself and make note.
Ask yourself these Awareness
raising Questions often /periodically in a day:
·
What kind of cittabhumi am I in?
·
Am I concentrated on whatever I am doing?
·
Is this a Yogic concentration?
·
Is this weakening the kleshas in me?(if yes than
only it is yogic concentration)
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Swadhyaya President, Hansaji, concluded the session with her guidance to the members of the association. Yoga is part of our daily life. We need to live a yogic life
truthfully. This is only possible if we have clarity about the “Purpose” of
doing any activity which can be peace, happiness, serenity etc. An eg. of marriage given here by her was a union between 2 people for accepting ,loving
and caring each other but normally we forget the purpose and start finding drawbacks and shortcomings of each other and
instead of becoming a partner we try to become a teacher and leader. The
purpose of life should be to experience “ Anand” i.e inner happiness and
we should measure ourselves from time to time whether we are progressing towards
such happiness. We should think good, we should do good & should remain
attached to the parent organization i.e the yoga institute where from all the
members can get vibrations of steadiness and which is a source of permanent
learning .