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Meditation Techniques

Ujjayi Pranayama – Yoga Breath, Psychic Breath

Ujjayi Pranayama
Would you like to learn a technique that can change your life, that enables you to:

  1. Relax instantly, anytime and anywhere
  2. Stop thinking
  3. Calm your emotions
  4. Ground and center yourself
  5. Prevent overwhelm
  6. Become more present, aware and mindful
  7. Enter into deep states of meditation
  8. Set the foundation for psychological growth, strength and illumination
  9. Tune into your vital life force, your prana, for self-healing

Then ujjayi pranayama is the yoga technique for you. It is also the doorway into many wonderful yoga tantra meditation practices that can radically improve your life.

We are providing you with a free course on this amazing yoga pranayama.

Contents

  1. What does ujjayi mean in yoga?
  2. How is ujjayi pranayama different to other yoga breathing techniques?
  3. The breath and the mind are intimately connected
  4. Ujjayi can be practiced in two main ways
  5. Use your breath to manage stress
  6. How does ujjayi improve health and energy?
  7. What are the benefits of ujjayi pranayama?
  8. Can you use your breath to manage stress?
  9. Ujjayi improves physical and mental health
  10. Ujjayi pranayama – a powerful tool to deepen meditation
  11. Ujjayi pranayama is used to activate the chakras
  12. Ujjayi pranayama is easy and extremely useful
  13. How to perform ujjayi pranayama?
  14. How to apply ujjayi in your life
  15. Your go-to breathing technique
  16. Take ujjayi pranayama further:

Ujjayi pranayama is an important yogic breathing technique that is used in many forms of meditation. This yoga breath is one of the easiest yet most powerful breathing techniques within the yoga-tantra systems of self-development. Yoga tantra is an ancient system of using the breath, mantras and visualizations to liberate energy trapped in the body and mind so as to awaken consciousness.

The ability to control, lengthen and refine the breath using this technique is essential for many of the more advanced practices, such as grounding and alignment, prana activation, pranic healing, ajapa japa, chakra meditations, and kriya or kundalini yoga.

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Mantras as the Language of the Gods

Mantras are said to be the language of the gods. What does this mean and how do mantras work?

  • Do mantra simply calm the mind or are they magical words of power that can unlock the secrets in the deep unconscious parts of you?
  • Why is it said that mantras can both liberate and protect you?
  • Why is initiation so important? Why is it said that mantras can only unlock the secrets within you if you have had an initiation from a guru or experienced teacher?

These and other questions will be answered in the upcoming Yoga Tantra Study Group Masterclass, which is focusing on the higher aspects of chakras, mantras and yantras.

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Why Mindfulness Is Not Enough

Mindfulness Is Not Enough
Many people come to us for therapy believing they cannot meditate. 

They have tried a few simple mindfulness and breath awareness techniques; however, they tell us they couldn’t meditate because they couldn’t stop thinking. They either feel bored looking at their thoughts, which they had hoped would stop, or they become nervous because they could not stop the anxious feelings, emotions, and memories that accompany these thoughts. 

It is a common misconception that you have to stop thinking to meditate. Rather the opposite is true. When you start off in meditation, the mind will be full of thoughts. This is a sign of success. The attainment of the thoughtless state, the state of Inner Silence, comes later on down the path.

The tragedy is, that because of this initial experience with pure mindfulness techniques, many people close the door on meditation and say that it is not for them. The real problem is that they have experienced only one technique, have not had access to theory, and are unaware that there are many other techniques that can give them a peaceful experience of meditation, even if they are thinking.

Mindfulness is one of the most popular forms of meditation. However, mindfulness, which is really the simple act of paying attention to the present moment and not being lost in thinking and rumination, is only a small part of meditation. It has gained popularity because it has been integrated into mental health programs where it is part of a larger approach to mental health. Mindfulness is not a standalone technique. It supports the clinical psychologists’ treatment of mental illness. 

For most people, and especially in a clinical setting, mindfulness needs to be combined with other techniques that enable you to reduce negative feelings attached to thoughts. You need to combine mindfulness with techniques that enable you to cultivate positive feelings so that you develop a positive sense of self-control. 

Much more is possible if you understand the theory behind meditation. This includes learning about the structure of the mind, and how to apply meditation to the thinking, feeling, and knowing aspects of the mind. 

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The 4 Pillars of Health

The healthier you are, the better your chance to get through the coronavirus pandemic relatively unscathed. The latest research shows that people who are overweight, who have diabetes and other chronic diseases, or who smoke are more at risk of becoming seriously ill with this virus. However, there are things you can do right now to improve your health and reduce your risk.

There are four pillars of health that create a strong foundation for total wellbeing:

  1. A calm, peaceful mind and the cultivation of self-awareness.
  2. 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted, deep, restful sleep.
  3. Plenty of activity and exercise.
  4. A good diet, and appropriate fasting (especially if you are overweight).

All four pillars support each other. However, the most important is a calm, peaceful mind, which cultivates self-awareness.

Self-awareness is the most important thing you can have at this time. It is even more important than toilet paper.

There are two viruses in the world at present. One is the coronavirus. The other is psychic contagion… fear and panic.

It is because of psychic contagion that the development of self-awareness and a calm, peaceful mind is key to your health and survival. Self-awareness, which improves with deep rest and a healthy lifestyle, is critical. Self-awareness enables  you to:

  • Stop touching your face while you are potentially exposed to coronavirus.
  • Monitor your state of health and tune into your needs.
  • Know what to eat and how much exercise you need to improve your health.
  • And most importantly, self-awareness cultivates good mental health and prevents unnecessary anxiety, panic, and catastrophizing.

Every time you step outside the boundary of your front door, you are potentially exposed to coronavirus. Self-awareness enables you to move through the world outside of the relative safety of your home and remain safe and connected rather than disconnected out of fear, thereby becoming more vulnerable.

The cultivation of self-awareness and connection enables you to absorb information and process it so that you gain a sense of confidence that is grounded in reality. It is from this position that you can access your intuition and creativity to respond intelligently.

You will need a lot of self-awareness to adapt to the new world that is emerging in these next months.

The first pillar – Develop a calm, peaceful mind and self-awareness

The development of a calm, peaceful mind and self-awareness is the most challenging of the four pillars. It is much easier to modify your diet or start doing some exercise than to deal with your mind, yet your mind influences all the other pillars.

It is relatively easy to create physical health, but the mind is a much bigger fish to fry. This is because much of it is unconscious. You are only aware of a small fraction of your mind, your conscious mind, which is like a wave arising out of the ocean of the unconscious mind, which is the realm of your psyche and spirit.

Your psyche is an autonomous force, outside of your control. You need to be able to dive into the psyche via meditation to form a healthy relationship with this bigger part of you. The way to do this is by regular meditation practice.

From the point of view of the ego, the psyche is chaotic, because the forces and impulses contained within it do not conform to social norms. You can see your psyche reflected in the strange world of your dreams. There is a constant tension between your ego and your psyche, and this tension needs to be managed if you are to remain healthy, both physically and mentally.

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Build Vitality (Prāna) and Immunity (Agni) to Protect Yourself from Coronavirus

Immunity Against Corona Virus

How we are using yoga, meditation, and western medicine to build immunity and protect ourselves from the coronavirus.

We are publishing three articles on how to maintain health and have the best chance of preventing illness during the pandemic of Covid-19.

The first article (this article) will discuss the two best yoga meditations to build healthy, resilient immunity that can give you a better chance in the fight against a virus.

The second article details how to build the four pillars of health from both Eastern and Western perspectives.

The third article recommends Eastern herbs and Western supplements that Jayne and I are using to support our health and immunity and which I recommend to my students and clients.

Yogic theory tells us that the key to staving off viruses is to make your life force (vitality, prāna) stronger than the life force of the virus, otherwise your immunity (agni) can’t cope and the virus wins.

If you can follow the advice in the articles, you will increase your immunity and resilience.

Introduction

We live in interesting times!!!! Global warming, mass migration and epidemics crashing through the borders of nation-states, and financial disruption. All this distress can weaken your immune system, making you prone to illnesses, such as the coronavirus. These are all boundary issues.

People dream about getting into their yogic practice and improving their diet and sleep. Prior to the virus spreading, this may have seemed a luxury that you can take up when “you have time”. However, today a healthy lifestyle that conserves energy and builds vitality-prāna is crucial to developing strong boundaries that either prevent the virus from entering or if the virus does get in enables you to combat it.

If you haven’t been building your prāna, now is the time to start. Within a few weeks of practicing energy building meditations along with some lifestyle modifications (suggested in the second article), you will feel more relaxed and more robust.

If you are suffering from chronic illness your life force (prāna) and your agni (digestive fire, immunity) are both not working properly.

Build prāna and agni

The key to gain the best advantage, and to prevent a virus from taking hold or from becoming a severe illness, is to build your life force–prāna and your immunity–agni.

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