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Part 1: Yoga in Daily Life: Balancing Body, Mind, and Consciousness We began with a glimpse of Indian classical dance, a reminder that much of what India offers—music, dance, movies, and visiting teachers who share their wisdom—is also available here in this city. You are welcome to explore our website, www.ctindivide.com, with any questions. Swamiji was then invited to the stage. He began by greeting everyone. Salutations. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. I welcome our dear guest, the Consul General of India, Rajamani, and his wife Saroj. I also thank the organizers for this gathering. You have already seen a glimpse of yoga in daily life. I have spent the last 40 years in Europe, longer than in India. Looking at you all sitting in such good posture, I can see you know yoga. Yet you have come to yoga in daily life, and perhaps you have questions: What is the correct path? Some call it Kriya Yoga, others Mantra Yoga, Dhyāna Yoga, or Yoga in Daily Life. What should we do? My dear ones, yoga is yoga. That is all. There is no difference in yoga. Its author is Lord Śiva; he holds the copyright. Yoga is the science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. It is not just the exercise we do, but far more. In Sanskrit, we speak of Ananta Brahmāṇḍa—the endless universe, without borders, without limit. This space we call Ākāśa, the room, the emptiness. Space is like the body of the mother. The endless universe is nothing but the body of the mother, the womb of the mother. Within this Ananta Brahmāṇḍa, this endless universe, there is a consciousness we call cosmic consciousness. The cosmic consciousness is like an embryo in the mother’s body. So, first is the mother—the divine mother, the cosmic mother—not in any form we believe in or see. She is Nirākāra, formless. Nowhere is empty space; the entire universe is filled with that divine consciousness, cosmic consciousness. Now, to keep these two together—to balance them—that principle is known as yoga. How old is yoga? As old as this endless universe, that old is yoga. Yoga is that principle of balancing. All elements, visible and invisible, are balanced by that one principle. Where there is balance, there is harmony. So the practice of yoga means to achieve harmony. Where there is harmony, there is unity, oneness. To realize oneness with the cosmic consciousness—yoga means union, the union of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. There is only one Supreme: Eko Brahma. It is said, Ananta Brahmāṇḍa Śāstra Sūryas—endless universe and thousands of millions, billions of sun systems—were declared by yogīs thousands and thousands of years ago, from Satyayuga onward. Modern science now also speaks of galaxies and many solar systems. Creation in this endless empty space, śūnyākāśa, took place through sound, called Nāda—resonance. That sound we call Oṁ: A-U-M, Ākār, Ukār, Makār. These are the three tattvas: Akāra is the form, Ukāra is the resonance, and Makāra is the existence. From this one sound, thousands of solar systems were created, and our planet too. On this planet, 8.4 million different creatures were created by that one creator, whatever name or sound you use. These creatures are divided into three categories: Jalcha (water), Thalcha (earth), and Nabacha (space). Out of these, one is the human. The difference between other creatures and humans is that humans have a very powerful tool: intellect, Buddha. Human intellect also needs right or good education. We have immense capacities in our education, in our Buddha-like intellect, in our brain. To step out of the cycle of rebirth and death is the ultimate purpose of human life. If you miss it, you miss it. You will have to repeat many lives. Yet, as it is said: health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. Health means long life. One of the most ancient medical systems comes from Satya Yuga, from Dhanvantari: Āyurveda. Āyurveda means “Āyu” (life) and “Veda” (knowledge). Do we have knowledge about our body, mind, emotions, intellect, memory, consciousness, past, present, and future? Āyurveda is that knowledge of existence in balance, harmony, and unity. For that, two things are necessary: nourishment and movement. Physical nourishment—solid or liquid—is one aspect, but the environment is also nourishment. Society is nourishment. Thinking is nourishment; no thinking is also nourishment. Movement is nourishment too. These movements we call yoga. In our body, there are 72,000 nerves, channels to receive cosmic energy, or energy from outside. Energy is not visible to us, but it constantly moves through our body. These are 72,000 chakras, energy points—what acupuncture calls reflex zones. Prāṇāyāma, the practice of breath techniques, and āsanas, the movements, help us realize we have a beautiful body. We know ourselves from birth, yet we don’t know what is going on inside the body or how to keep it healthy. We may take medicine for a stomach ache, but the cause could be elsewhere; a headache might originate in the stomach or spinal column, muscles, or nerves. Without knowing the cause, we cannot treat. We must either know the cause or find it through certain techniques or sciences. Our body contains many glands responsible for producing balanced hormones. Any health imbalance means some glands are not functioning properly; muscles, ligaments, joints, blood tissues, and many other things may be involved. How to put it all together and keep balance? For that, yogīs designed certain exercises. Many yoga books describe nice postures, and they are good. But yoga in daily life is a little different. That is why we go very systematically, from primary school or kindergarten to higher education. The exercises are simple but have a profound effect on the body. Remember: in yoga there is no competition, no challenge. If you can do a headstand, that does not make you a yogī. God gave us two legs for standing. If you cannot manage a headstand, you can gain the same benefits through different exercises. No competition, no circus-like performance. We simply want to be happy, healthy, and live a harmonious life, creating happiness and harmony in the family and society. Looking farther out, we humans feel more for our brothers and sisters worldwide; we understand global change, climate change, and many other things. Yoga in daily life works for all these. Now, let us begin a practical session. Always begin with relaxation. Are you ready? Lie down on your back, head toward my side, hands beside the body, palms open and slightly facing upward, legs slightly apart, eyes closed. Take a deep breath in and out, and relax the whole body. The whole day has passed; you have worked physically and mentally, but now it is time to relax. Withdraw yourself from the external world. Become aware of your being here in this hall. Just relax. Relax your whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. No tensions at all—physical or mental. Relax. No concentration, no imagination. Just feel your body. Relax your stomach muscles. Relax your fingers, palms, arms, elbows, shoulders. Relax your neck, jaw, face muscles, lips, eyelids, eyebrows. Center yourself. Say mentally to yourself: “Relax, my friend, relax for the time being. Let me be one with myself.” Relax the whole body. Bring your awareness to the breath. Do not change the breath rhythm. Let it flow naturally. Just feel that you know you are inhaling, and you know you are exhaling. I know that I am inhaling, I know that I am exhaling. Relax. As you inhale, the trunk of the body expands; as you exhale, it contracts. It is a very beautiful, gentle feeling. I know that I am inhaling, and the trunk expands; I know that I am exhaling, and it contracts. No concentration, just relax. With inhalation, the whole body recharges vitality—prāṇa śakti, life force. With exhalation, you release all kinds of toxins. Let this cosmic energy flow through the entire body. Relax, my friend. At inhalation, prāṇa śakti flows in, removing tensions, pressures, toxins. Relax from toes to head and head to toes. I know I am inhaling; I know I am exhaling. Feel the breath going in and out. Do not let it flow unnoticed. You feel relaxed physically and mentally. Now, a little feeling or imagination: very soon you will perform some exercises of yoga in daily life. Just imagine, and at the same time, become extroverted. Be aware of my voice, your breath, sounds, friends relaxing next to you, objects in the hall, lights, and different sounds. Now slowly move your fingers, move your toes, close your fists, and rotate your wrists. While inhaling, stretch your hands above your head, interlock the fingers, and stretch your whole body—toes pointing toward the body, heels outward. Roll your body to the left side and then to the right. Hands beside the body, bend one knee and stretch it out, then the other. Slightly turn to the left or right side, whichever is convenient, and sit up like a farmer or gardener preparing the soil to plant beautiful flowers, trees, or crops. Similarly, before practicing yoga exercises, you must prepare mentally and physically. Now your body will adapt, accept, and receive the effect. Now the demonstrator will come. We liked her very much yesterday: Madhurī. Come here. Yes, you are a yoga star. And Santosh will also come. We will sit in Vajrāsana. Yesterday I explained for 25 minutes just one posture, Vajrāsana, and how good it is. I will summarize: it is good for digestion, removes tension from shoulders and neck, helps the stomach, relieves stiffness and tiredness, improves the immune system, and calms our thoughts. So Vajrāsana is very beautiful. Today we will practice one lovely exercise, a movement or āsana. Think of the most beautiful and flexible back: the cat. When a cat sits for a long time and then stands up, what does it do? It stretches its back up and down. To remove stiffness in the back, you will do the same. If you don’t know how, just look at our models. It is systematic; you cannot put your car in sixth gear and start—you must begin slowly, step by step. Purījī... Purījī... Yes, on the knees. Very good. Now keep your hands like this and slowly sit back again. Yes, hands down. Perfect. So when you come up, do not bend yourself. Remain like this. It works your thigh muscles and hips, strengthens the buttocks and calf muscles, and gives strength to the back muscles parallel to the spinal column. Now we do it consciously. Hands in front. Slowly stand on your knees. Perfect. Now sit down slowly. I want to check how you sit. We all know the distance between the shoulders and the back—heaps—how many centimeters? Everyone’s measurement is slightly different. So, when we come down with our hands, the palms or hands and knees should have the same distance as from your shoulders to your hip joints. Do you understand? Second, how broad are your shoulders? The hands should be placed so that the distance between them matches your shoulder width. Slowly again: hands up. This is one and two. Place your hands in front of you, knowing the distance. And now, without going down, stand on the knees, come up, yes, and sit down. Look how this strengthens your muscles. The movement or posture looks very simple, but it has a very, very good effect on the whole body. Coming back, the camel also sits very systematically. I have ridden camels many times; that is why I know. I grew up with horses and camels and such. So once more: one, stand up; two, place hands down. Now I will see how you stand up. Slowly raise your hands up, back up. Yes. And sit down. Then hands down. Again: one, first hands up, then stand on your knees. Two, place your hands down and look toward your stomach—stretch your back up like a mountain. Try to look toward your stomach, elbows straight, knees slightly apart. Make your back like a mountain. Stretch up like a cat. Three, just look up and press your hands down. And then stand on your knees. Two, place hands down, look toward your stomach, stretch your back up like a mountain. Elbows straight, knees slightly apart. Look to your stomach, make your back like a mountain. Three, look up, press hands down. Stand on your knees. Then continue: look to your stomach (stretch). Look up to the ceiling. Look to the stomach. Look up. Look to the stomach. Look up. Look to the stomach. Look up and stand up. Sit down first on your knees, then put hands down. Very good. Now again: one, hands up and stand up, inhaling. Two, exhale, hands on the ground, look to the stomach while exhaling. Three, inhale, look up to the ceiling. Four, exhale, look to the stomach, make your back like a mountain or hill. Six, inhale. Seven, exhale—I think I missed the number; now become seven: up, look to the ceiling. Eight, exhale, look to the stomach. Nine, inhale and stand on the knee. Exhale. And ten. Too hard? Tired? This is Mārjārī, the cat. First of all, it is the best for our back bones. Many people have back problems... Part 2: Yoga Practices for Health and Vitality And I can tell you, after a few days of practicing, if there is no slipped disc or some other problems, then your back pain will disappear, like water or oil disappears in the desert, in the sand. Second, it is very, very good for the stomach, for digestion. Expanding, we are stretching and contracting in our intense time. You will feel, now what I tell you, you will feel during exercising. Very beautifully, gently stretching the front muscles of the body, and you are contracting the back muscles. When you look down, you are pressing the front muscles and stretching the back muscles. It is a beautiful, dynamic movement which is very, very good for people who do not want to have a big stomach. It is good for them to reduce it gradually and nicely. It will help. Then, this is especially in yoga, they mentioned always, it is very good for females, and especially during menstruation, if they have spasms or irregularity, if there is some cramping, then it is like a miracle, after one or two rounds it will disappear. It means it relaxes the organs, or it is very good for women. For the males, for prostrators. It will prevent the prostrators from getting or growing bigger. It will be controlled. It is very, very... Very good for the neck muscles, and you don't know that it was good for the neck. Though you don't know, it was nicely done; it was an exercise of the neck muscles. And for the thigh muscles, calf muscles. Very simple. But it has a very great effect, so now we will do it very consciously. Always, when you go up, then you inhale. When you go down, then you exhale. That is our principle. So, one, two, look to stomach, exhale. Three, four, five, slowly move your head up and down. Six, seven, eight, slowly stand up. Ten. So, the breath is going like this. So your body is also going with the breath, slowly like this. Next, someone goes a little bit quicker. So try to control everything under control. Your body should not do anything without your knowing. So, one, two, looking to stomach, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, come up, ten. Will you remember? Clear. Very good. So, lie down on your stomach and relax. After each posture, each exercise, it is best to relax again. So the body will adopt all these movements. What is happening with your muscles, with your joints, with your breath. Make yourself comfortable. Just relax. Very good. And now turn on your back, please. Remain lying. And now you have to listen carefully, so that you will do the exercises exactly. Now, something very beautiful, very good, is like a blessing for your back. Now, stretch your hands sidewards. That’s it. If you don’t have any space, you can move a little bit; the hall is big enough. You see, Niranjan, I told you. Thank you. Very good. Just listen carefully, please. Legs together. Now, place your right heel between the big toe and second toe of the left foot. Try to twist your body only from the hips. It means slowly bend your right toes to the ground on the left side. That’s right. And look to your right hand. Toes to the left, head to the right. Try to touch the ground. Inhale and come to the middle. Exhale, change the heel. Left heel on the right toes. Deep inhale. And while exhaling, left toes to the right side and head to the left side. While exhaling, have a normal breath. Remain there. Slowly, while inhaling, come to the middle and place the heel down, the right heel on the left toes. Deep inhale, and while exhaling, toes to the left, head to the right. Deep inhale and come to the middle, and place your right heel down and left heel on the right toe. Deep inhale. And while exhaling, toes to the left, head to the right. Deep inhale, and come to the middle. Place your right heel down and left heel on the right toe. Deep inhale, and while exhaling, toes to the left, head to the right. Deep inhale, and come to the middle, and place your right heel down, and left heel on the right toe. Deep inhale, and while exhaling, toes to the left, head to the right. Deep inhale, and come in the middle, and place your right heel down, and left heel on the right toe. Deep inhale, and while exhaling, toes to the left, head to the right. Right, deep inhale, and come to the middle, and place your head to the right, then to the left. Inhale, come to the middle. Heel down. Next posture, or next exercise. Listen carefully, please. Keep your hands as they are. Bend your right knee and place your right foot outside of the left thigh, above the knee. Deep inhale and try to bring your right knee to the left side on the ground, and look to the right side as far as you can, but don’t raise your shoulder blades. Both shoulder blades remain on the ground. It must not be that today we will achieve. It will take some time. Inhale and come to the middle. Exhale and stretch your right knee out. Now, bend your left knee, and I will tell you a little trick. Okay? Sometimes a trick is also good. Deep inhale, and while exhaling, bend your left knee to the right side. With your right hand, hold and support your knee on that side, and look to the left side. It makes it a little easier. Never force. Inhale and come to the middle. One, right knee bending, place the foot outside of the left knee. Two, knee to the left, head to the right, you support your knee maybe with the hand. Three, in the middle. Four, stretch your knee. One. Now, bend both knees, with the soles of your feet on the ground. Keep your feet apart, about the distance from your knee to your heel—the length of your calf. Now, let your knees fall to the left side and your head to the right side. Now, remember, I will correct: your right knee touches your left foot sole. That’s it. Right knee touches the left foot sole, and you are looking to the right side, and slowly, while inhaling, come to the middle. Now, let your knees fall to the right side and your head to the left, with your left knee touching the sole of your right foot. You may observe the feelings in your body. You know now very good which muscles are influenced by this exercise, which joins the right foot sole. Siddha Purījī, Siddha Purījī,... Siddha Siddha Purījī, Siddha Purījī... Siddha. In the middle, left, head to the right, in the middle, and one after the other, knee stretch out. Turn over the stomach and relax. Just relax. Take one deep breath in and out, and relax. And now, chin on the ground, chin on the ground, hands stretched in front, above on the ground. Okay, so make sure that your legs or your feet do not raise up. All the times, your toes, all ten toes should touch the ground. Looking to me, but your foot is flat. While inhaling, raise your hands, your head, and the upper part of your body up as far as you can. I have nothing against one meter or one and a half meters. There, I give you complete freedom. You raise as much as you can. Sometimes it’s easier when you interlock your thumbs, not all the fingers, only the thumbs. That’s it. It gives you a little support. That’s it. That’s it. So inhale and come up. This exercise I will not explain because it takes a long time and you have to relax. Come back. This is very, very good for our back muscles, buttocks, and especially for the prevention of hemorrhoid disease. Or, if someone has a problem with hemorrhoids, it will help to cure it. Also, very good for back muscles and stomach muscles. So once more. One, two. When the upper part of the body doesn’t go so high up, perhaps we will see if the lower part of the body goes higher. So, your palms fix it on the ground. Now, hands stretched. Thank you. And one side of the chin, the cheek, sorry, is on the ground. Now, the palms will remain on the ground at all times. Inhale and together raise both your legs up. Cheek is fixed on the ground. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Relax. I was counting, especially in your favor, quickly. Quickly, once more: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Relax. Interlock the fingers over the back, or hold one of the wrists, as you like. This time again, only the front part of the body will raise up; your toes remain. Deep inhale, and raise the upper part of the body up, and if it’s possible. Look to the ceiling. Which light you don’t like? Relax once more. One now again, interlock the fingers over the back, and this time you have complete freedom. You can raise the whole body up, levitate till... But not longer than one meter, okay. So, legs and hands and thighs, and so on. Now we know that we can levitate, but we have only one obstacle, and that is our stomach. Our stomach keeps us on the earth. Now feel those muscles which are stressed. It is beautiful, this exercise. The back muscles will be very strong, and you will not have back pain. Relax. Again, inhale and stretch the body up. Normal breath. Maybe it’s easier for us now, like a cradle. Move forward again. Yes. Perfect. Relax. Turn onto your back. At home, when you come, they will ask, "What did you exercise?" We were all the time lying on the back, on the stomach. So, please bend your knees, hold your knees, and comfortably roll your body left and right like a back massage, as comfortably as you like. Very good, relax, and chakrabhukha also. After this, it will come to prāṇāyāma, but I would like to explain to you, you just relax and listen. Breath is life. Life is breath. When we were born, the first thing we did was inhale. And what we will do last, we will exhale and will not be able to inhale anymore. Our breath is so long from birth till death, like the ocean is so big from one shore to the other shore. Now, between inhalation and exhalation is like the waves on the ocean. Similarly, the exhalation and inhalation are those kinds of waves or movements which supply oxygen to the body. They keep our body healthy and long-living. Breathing quickly shortens your life; breathing slowly prolongs your life and makes you always relaxed and happy. There are three... Three steps of the breath: one breath with inhale and exhale near from the throat or the upper part of the chest. That is not good. All the features which breathe like this leave salt. Second, we breathe from our lungs below the chest. That is not so good. It is good, but not so perfect. Now, yogic breath: you inhale first in the stomach, then in the chest, expanding the chest. Exhale first from the chest and then from the stomach. Place your right hand on the stomach or below the navel, and your left hand on the chest near the throat. Now, first inhale in the stomach, expand the stomach, and then the chest. Exhale from the chest, then from the stomach. Inhale slowly, expand the stomach, and leave the stomach as it is. Now, feel the air in the lungs. Now, empty first from the chest and then from the stomach. Do it, please, five times yourself. Very, very good. Hands down. Three times, deep inhale and exhale. Slowly turn sideways and sit up, please. Now we will have a 15-minute interval, so if you want to go to the washroom or something, or drink something, and after 15 minutes, maybe, there will be many exercises, but I think it is getting late for many of you, so after 15 minutes we will... Sit together if you have some questions, or if you have a particular problem with your health, may I advise you on some exercises? Otherwise, we will take a 10-minute break. Meditation is finished. Thank you. Time is passing. There are two things which are very correct. One, time doesn’t wait for anyone, and karma doesn’t leave anyone free. There is no excuse in karma, and time will not wait for you. So this is this. Any questions? Yoga begins before getting pregnant. So that you have good energy, a good constellation, harmony with your partner, and harmony in your family, if you were consuming alcohol or nicotine or something, then a few months before getting pregnant, you should stop everything and purify your body. So that means you are already beginning to do yoga for the baby. During pregnancy, there are also exercises, very gentle breath exercises, and so on. After the birth, there is another exercise that is called the mother’s hands, the massage of the back of the child, the foot soles, and the hands, a little bit moving like this, and one leg and one hand like this, beautiful. Massage, yogic massage. And then when the child begins to walk, you can also do some postures. So it begins already from. And of course, for the small kids, it should be something like a play. And not that he or she must do, okay. So it should be something like a story: the cat, how the cat is getting up and doing, and then you can go down and have a look; the cat is drinking milk now. And then you put your feet up and knees on the ground. Purījī, Purījī... Well, morning I take tea, black tea cooked with milk. Then this effect of tea is gone if you cook it with the milk. Boil it longer and then boil it with the milk. Put inside some spices, we call tea masala: cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and ginger. This, you grind it and put it in when boiling. After that, I have some bread with butter and some cheese. With the Indian in India, I have some chapati and some vegetable. Some fruits, lunch, salad, dal. You know the dal? Yes, dal, vegetable, chapati. Afternoon, some fruits, tea. And evening again, same thing, chapatis and fruits, all are vegetables. Good? Yes, prāṇāyāma should always come after physical exercises. During the practice of the āsanas or the movements, the body warms, circulation begins and everything, and then prāṇāyāma is deoxidizing or purifying the body. So always after the physical exercises, then the prāṇāyāma has more benefit, detoxifying. After the prāṇāyāma, then comes concentration or meditation. Then the body is relaxed, comfortable, and the mind is also not restless, everything. Then you enjoy the meditation or concentration. Everything is so tranquil. Well, it’s not completely true. But a person who is meditating has little tension. A person who is practicing yoga has fewer toxins in the body, and when you meditate, you are completely relaxed; it replaces your sleep, okay? You get more relaxed, more comfortable, so it’s like you replace sleep also, yeah? But not that 10 minutes or 11 minutes of meditation replaces 6 or 4 hours of sleep. Okay, one day is okay, but sleep is sleep. God made this system, Mother Nature made this system, so we should keep to this. Of course, a yogī doesn’t need so much sleep, but still needs, the body needs. Okay, you should read my Kuṇḍalinī book, and then you will see, okay? You can do very, very little sleeping, then after a while you will have psychic problems. Well, the world changed in the best, better way and in a negative way, both, unfortunately. In negative ways, this has changed a lot: pollution, global warming, climate changes, and some civil wars in the Middle East. So this is not good. In other ways, many countries change their political systems. They went more toward democracy, and many feel comfortable and good. The young generation became more and more aware about quality, life quality, and spirituality. The young generation is little following the dogmas or very orthodox. The young people would like to be more tolerant. Tolerance, respect, understanding, so it is changing. The past two wars, the First and Second World Wars, made people very individualistic and fearful. They couldn’t trust anyone. But now this young generation has come out, and it is better. But as for all this, the picture of our globe is not good. So many earthquakes, so many hurricanes, earthqakes, and so this flood, and all this is a sign of the human. How often should one practice? Well, if you honestly want to feel the effect, then a minimum of one and a half hours every day. Two hours is the best that you can do peacefully. And the best time is before your day’s activity begins, so it is morning. If you cannot do it in the morning, then any time is good when you feel free. But always avoid exercises, physical exercises and prāṇāyāms immediately after eating. So you should practice only after eating, in three or four hours after. Okay, so let’s sit for a while with closed eyes, okay? And relax. Feel your being here and be relaxed. And feel your breath. Now, take a deep inhale and exhale. We will chant oṃ three times all together. Deep inhale, slowly move your fingers, close your fist, open the palms, close the fist, open the palms, and fold your palms, rub your palms, place the hands on the face. Warm your face muscles and eyelids, and open your eyes. Hari Om. So, that’s all. Wish you all the best, good health, good luck, and as destiny will allow us to see sometime, somewhere, here or there, definitely somewhere. But my lectures and programs, you know, you can see in the live program. Today was also live. It’s called Swamiji.tv website. See you with that next time. Adió. Thank you.