Q : What is the Essence of the ‘Bihar/ Satyananda System of Yoga’ that yoga teachers need to embody for their students?
Many who teaches the physical component of yoga, such as Asana, follow the ‘Feel-Good’ method. You stretch your body and you feel good, feel loose and light, and say “Yoga has Really Helped Me”. This feel-good factor is superficial, and we do not subscribe to it because we feel that the body can influence the mind.
In the early days, when Swami Satyananda began teaching yoga and training yoga teachers, he would say that when you practice an Asana, do not identify with the body. In the initial stage, become aware of 'Annamaya Kosha' – the motion of the body, the twisting and turning. When you have developed awareness of how the body responds to the asanas and movements under your command, become aware of 'Pranamaya Kosha'.
If you are practicing 'Surya Namaskara', in the first stage it is an exercise, backward bending, forward bending, stretching, contracting, etc. then the practice connects with the body and an awareness has to develop in which you are able to see the whole body being involved in the Asana, from the tips of the fingers to the toes. You have to visualize, to see yourself practicing the perfect posture before you actually attempt it. While doing this, also experience the stiffness, aches and pains. Visualize these first.
Then, when you perform the posture, you will find that something gives. If you cannot touch your toes today, after a week, something will give, your muscles will relax and you will be able to touch your toes. That is the connection with 'Annamaya Kosha'. To harmonize 'Annamaya Kosha', to prepare the body, visualize first and practice thereafter.
Before starting your class or practice, say, “I am going to do twelve rounds of 'Surya Namaskara' now.” Sit down for a few moments in a meditative and see yourself practicing surya namaskara. Feel the same stretch and contraction of the body and muscles as you would if you were actually doing it. After you have gone through the asana mentally, do the asana physically. You will find that your body is responding differently and performing better.
When you are in control of the body, then move to the next dimension, which is 'Prana'. During the visualization, before the asana practice, you will see the movement of 'Prana' in the body. Visualize your body as transparent and see the prana moving through your body. If there is stiffness or pain, the prana will be blocked in that particular area. When you are able to see the prana moving unhampered through the body, then begin your asana practice.
Your mind is now connecting with something subtler than the physical. Go through this stage for some time, then move to 'Manomaya Kosha'. Identify your mental state when you begin your yoga practice. Are you relaxed, peaceful, tense or disturbed? Then, in your mind, work with 'Ida and Pingala'. If you are tense or agitated, before practicing asana, close your eyes and try to activate the ida principle, not through 'Pranayama', but through willpower. F you are feeling lethargic, activate pingala. Be aware of the mental states and energies and try to balance them out before doing the asana, or any yogic practice.
As yoga teachers, also make a chart for yourself of your strengths and weaknesses, needs and ambitions. Be thoughtful : write down all the attributes that you consider to be your strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. Each time you practice yoga, have the thought or idea in your mind: “This is the weakness I want to overcome, and this is the strength I want to cultivate. This ambition is only my fantasy and I will work to achieve this need.” Define the priorities in your mind in relation to your personality and your requirements, to better the quality of your life. This is how a 'Sankalpa' arises.
If you practice yoga with a 'Sankalpa' to increase your willpower, for example, even asanas, pranayamas, mudras and bandhas will help you achieve it, to develop the strength and quality that you are looking for. They will also help to overcome the weaknesses and shortcomings and manage the ambitions and needs.
At each level of practice you need to have a focus and go step by step. Firstly, annamaya awareness to remove the physical blocks from the body such as stiffness and tiredness. Secondly, pranamaya awareness to regenerate the different organs with prana. Thirdly, manomaya awareness to balance and harmonize the mind with the body. Fourthly, vijnanamaya awareness to recognize the strengths and weaknesses, and how to overcome the weakness and develop strength of character and mind. If you can first experience yoga in this manner in your own practice and see the benefits, and thereafter teach this process to other people, they will gain much more from yoga than is normally possible in a physical class.
Swami Satyananda has emphasized subtle awareness in our yoga practice. This is the main difference between the Satyananda system and other systems of yoga. The body is used to access the mind. Prana is used to access the consciousness. The whole of yoga is used to access inner spiritual harmony and balance.
– Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
Many who teaches the physical component of yoga, such as Asana, follow the ‘Feel-Good’ method. You stretch your body and you feel good, feel loose and light, and say “Yoga has Really Helped Me”. This feel-good factor is superficial, and we do not subscribe to it because we feel that the body can influence the mind.
In the early days, when Swami Satyananda began teaching yoga and training yoga teachers, he would say that when you practice an Asana, do not identify with the body. In the initial stage, become aware of 'Annamaya Kosha' – the motion of the body, the twisting and turning. When you have developed awareness of how the body responds to the asanas and movements under your command, become aware of 'Pranamaya Kosha'.
If you are practicing 'Surya Namaskara', in the first stage it is an exercise, backward bending, forward bending, stretching, contracting, etc. then the practice connects with the body and an awareness has to develop in which you are able to see the whole body being involved in the Asana, from the tips of the fingers to the toes. You have to visualize, to see yourself practicing the perfect posture before you actually attempt it. While doing this, also experience the stiffness, aches and pains. Visualize these first.
Then, when you perform the posture, you will find that something gives. If you cannot touch your toes today, after a week, something will give, your muscles will relax and you will be able to touch your toes. That is the connection with 'Annamaya Kosha'. To harmonize 'Annamaya Kosha', to prepare the body, visualize first and practice thereafter.
Before starting your class or practice, say, “I am going to do twelve rounds of 'Surya Namaskara' now.” Sit down for a few moments in a meditative and see yourself practicing surya namaskara. Feel the same stretch and contraction of the body and muscles as you would if you were actually doing it. After you have gone through the asana mentally, do the asana physically. You will find that your body is responding differently and performing better.
When you are in control of the body, then move to the next dimension, which is 'Prana'. During the visualization, before the asana practice, you will see the movement of 'Prana' in the body. Visualize your body as transparent and see the prana moving through your body. If there is stiffness or pain, the prana will be blocked in that particular area. When you are able to see the prana moving unhampered through the body, then begin your asana practice.
Your mind is now connecting with something subtler than the physical. Go through this stage for some time, then move to 'Manomaya Kosha'. Identify your mental state when you begin your yoga practice. Are you relaxed, peaceful, tense or disturbed? Then, in your mind, work with 'Ida and Pingala'. If you are tense or agitated, before practicing asana, close your eyes and try to activate the ida principle, not through 'Pranayama', but through willpower. F you are feeling lethargic, activate pingala. Be aware of the mental states and energies and try to balance them out before doing the asana, or any yogic practice.
As yoga teachers, also make a chart for yourself of your strengths and weaknesses, needs and ambitions. Be thoughtful : write down all the attributes that you consider to be your strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. Each time you practice yoga, have the thought or idea in your mind: “This is the weakness I want to overcome, and this is the strength I want to cultivate. This ambition is only my fantasy and I will work to achieve this need.” Define the priorities in your mind in relation to your personality and your requirements, to better the quality of your life. This is how a 'Sankalpa' arises.
If you practice yoga with a 'Sankalpa' to increase your willpower, for example, even asanas, pranayamas, mudras and bandhas will help you achieve it, to develop the strength and quality that you are looking for. They will also help to overcome the weaknesses and shortcomings and manage the ambitions and needs.
At each level of practice you need to have a focus and go step by step. Firstly, annamaya awareness to remove the physical blocks from the body such as stiffness and tiredness. Secondly, pranamaya awareness to regenerate the different organs with prana. Thirdly, manomaya awareness to balance and harmonize the mind with the body. Fourthly, vijnanamaya awareness to recognize the strengths and weaknesses, and how to overcome the weakness and develop strength of character and mind. If you can first experience yoga in this manner in your own practice and see the benefits, and thereafter teach this process to other people, they will gain much more from yoga than is normally possible in a physical class.
Swami Satyananda has emphasized subtle awareness in our yoga practice. This is the main difference between the Satyananda system and other systems of yoga. The body is used to access the mind. Prana is used to access the consciousness. The whole of yoga is used to access inner spiritual harmony and balance.
– Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
