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Positive Visualization and Yoga

Kristin Russel 1 Comment

“Positive visualization has a wonderful role in yoga practices. Positive visualization helps you to prepare your body and mind. This helps you to accept changes that are required to your body. It provides more flexibility to your muscles and removes the blockages of the subtle channels in the nervous system.  There are many techniques to integrate yoga and positive visualization.  One such simple and effective method is to visualize the whole body as light energy.” — Amit Ray in the book “Awakening Inner Guru“.

Visualizing specific part or gland of the body as light energy increases blood circulation and sends an extra supply of vital energy to that part.  Particularly positive visualization around the Solar plexus area is very effective. Visualization works better when you are relaxed.

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Steps to Integrate Yoga and Vipassana

Kristin Russel

Virtue, Morality, Compassion, Loving kindness is foundation of both yoga and vipassana.

You must give due attention to these aspect always.

Some of the simple initial steps for integrating yoga and vipassana are as follows:

  • Do free hand exercises (Asana) for one hour in the morning every day.
  • Do simple pranayam ( Vital energy channel purification process) for 30 minutes ever day after Asana.
  • Observe your breathing patterns from your nostrils
  • Put awareness on different componentss of your body from head to toe. For example, start from your eyebrow then come to forehead, then nose, ears, hands and in this way carry on till you reach your toes.
  • Observe sensation of each part of  your body. Avoid reaction to the sensations.
  • Do not pay attention to any one part of your body for a longer time
  • Do this observation activity daily at least  for 30 minutes.
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Integration of Yoga and Vipassana

Kristin Russel 1 Comment

Vipassana: the art of mindfulness was practiced in ancient India before the birth of Goutama Buddha. Buddha re-established the importance of Vipassana.  Patanjali’s in his famous book “Yoga Sutra” described the art of integration of body, mind and soul in eight systematic steps. Compassion, joy and loving kindness are common ground for both the practices. When insight meditation (vipassana) and yoga practices like Asana (postures) and pranayama (breath and vital energy channel purification practices) are combined together, it provides tremendous benefits.

For details about Integration of Yoga and Vipassana click here.

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Yoga Sutra

Kristin Russel

Sage Patanjali in his book “Yoga Sutra” explained the complete procedure for the integration of body mind and soul in 4 chapters as follows:

Samadhi Pada (51 sutras) :

Samadhi refers to a blissful state where the yogi is absorbed into the One.  Here, the sage Patanjali explained the nature and the means to attaining Samadhi. This chapter contains the most famous definitional verse: “Yogaś citta-vritti-nirodha” (“Yoga is living above the mental fluctuation level”).

Sadhana Pada (55 sutras)

Here, the enlightened Guru Patanjali describes “Ashtanga Yoga”  the eight limbs that together constitute the complete Yoga system.

Vibhuti Pada (56 sutras)

In Sanskrit the word “Vibhuti means “power” i.e. the Super-natural powers.  In this chapter Sri Patanjali explained that the attraction of these super natural powers should be avoided and the attention should be fixed only on realizing the ultimate truth.

Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras)

The Kaivalya Pada describes the nature of  ultimate freedom and the reality of the transcendental Cosmic Self.

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