Because asana quiets the mind, it is preparation for meditation. Indeed, it can be a form of meditation. It fosters awareness of the mind’s functioning, the body’s state of wellbeing, and the mechanics of breath. Asana helps us reconnect with the vast wisdom that controls and directs body function, the same wisdom that wants to bring our body into healthy balance.
weight loss through yoga
Moving into and holding various configurations of the physical body as part of the practice of yoga is called asana. When people in the West think of yoga, this narrow range of the total discipline commonly comes to mind. In Sanskrit, ‘asana’ translates as ‘seat’ or ‘seat next to the teacher’, expressing the need to be comfortable in the body before other learning can commence.
weight loss through yoga
Asana practice improves health, strength, flexibility and balance. The lymphatic system of the body needs movement and the flexing of muscles to propel lymph fluids through the body. All the components of the body need to be exercised to maintain optimum function. Without stimulation they tend to atrophy.
You are being let in on a big secret. This shouldn’t be a secret, but it is: ‘enlightened’ and ‘relaxed’ mean the same thing. They are synonymous. We are easing into liberation of the full expression of ‘Self’. If you had the capacity to fully let go, you would literally fall into the full perfect expression of your being. Since enlightenment is so infrequent, the ability to completely relax appears to be very rare.
Asana is helping us to be at ease in our bodies so the body is no longer a distraction. Pranayama is helping create the necessary energy and balance. Now we can start to relax. We can meditate.
MEDITATION —weight loss through yoga, page 101
Yoga teaches our proper home is in this higher consciousness, observer consciousness. When you reside here, your being is in its natural home and balanced. Consider the homonyms ‘I’ and ‘eye’ and you see that this understanding is coded into our language.
If observer consciousness is you and it always has been and will always be, what’s the logical implication?
BORN AGAIN AND AGAIN, YOGA AND REINCARNATION weight loss through yoga
weight loss through yoga
Asana helps to calm the mind and temper emotions. Challenging the physical body helps the practitioner connect with the other levels of self. Because of the rapid ability of the physical body to reflect change, it demonstrates the capacity to change on deeper unseen levels. The physical body is our home in this reality. Memories can be stored in our tissues. Asana is away of strengthening the will and exploring our psychological makeup, creating a balance between our material and spiritual existence.
The newborn enters the world separate from the mother. It exhales, and then inhales a first breath. Breathing begins with an exhalation and the last breath at death is an inhalation. With that first breath cycle, the new being draws life force into the body as an individual for the first time. This is the moment of the beginning of life. The spirit enters the body. Before the now sentient being was a complex growth within the mother’s body. At the moment of life, with that first breath cycle, the circulation of blood in the infant’s body reverses direction. The heart pumps in the opposite direction and the blood that was being pushed through the veins out through the circulatory system is pushed through the arteries and returns to the heart through the veins. A soul has entered the little body, having picked the perfect set of parents, in the perfect set of circumstances, to give it an opportunity to experience what’s necessary for this cycle of spiritual growth. Weight Loss Through Yoga, Jewel in the Lotus — page 60.
The natural result of the meditation suggested with this teaching is that the total being comes into a healthy balance and obstructions to the flow of life force energy are cleared. As a result, the body is able to correct irregularities such as excess weight, as it is no longer obstructed from its optimum expression.
weight loss through yoga
When this happens, the natural result is spiritual growth. There are no distinct borders where the body ends and the mind starts, the mind ends and the spirit begins. For the approach to work, it must be holistic, working at all levels at the same time.
Awareness is amplified. Meditation allows us to bathe in the growing awareness. It allows us to relax enough to feel the body, to
yoga meditation — weight loss through yoga
observe the workings of the mind, and be aware of the increasing joy immersing our spirit. The opportunity to meditate should be anticipated with gladness. It is a chance to place everything in proper perspective. Not only is the chatter of the mind stilled, the issues which capture your attention are appreciated for their real significance. It is like reshuffling a deck of cards to deal yourself the perfect hand.
Your yoga practice reveals the aura permeating this highest level of chakra consciousness as an electric neon violet purple.
A violet-purple hue permeates this highest chakra
Focus on the hue, listen to the prevailing tone and bask in the Divine. Feel total love and acceptance, knowing this is a perfect universe that is so vast, with so many dimensions, that we can only begin to perceive a most minute portion. It is terribly egocentric to think somehow we, humans are the peak of evolution. In the vastness of the universe, worlds innumerable support what life forms? The diversity on this small planet is so huge, and existence is so varied and miraculous.
Weight Loss Through Yoga, Jewel in the Lotus page 158
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