BREATHING TO WELLNESS

NARAYANAN G.
Chief Vigilance Officer, South Eastern Railways, Kolkata, India

Stupendous growth in all fields is admiringly evident in this twenty first century but problems of tension, distrust, family disharmony, lack of sense of belonging i.e. vortex of negative emotions have also become manifold in this century. While East is looking to West for modernization and industrial revolution in outer world, West is looking to East to explore inner World to achieve harmony in relations for self peace and global peace. There are several therapies to energize as well as relax body and mind and modulated breathing is the simplest versatile inexpensive therapy out of all. This technique based on Author's experience is explained in detail in this paper. Breathing techniques to get long term and short term benefits are also explained. Improving work productivity with harmony in relations is stressed in this paper. Improving safety consciousness and reducing accident proneness are the by-products of modulated breathing and the Author strongly recommends regular practice of this simple technique for a few minutes only daily for all.

ABHYASA: IMPORTANCE OF CONSISTENCY & DISCIPLINE IN LIFE

RAGHURAM N.V., B.E.
International Co-ordinator Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation

Bangalore, India Discipline means doing thing repeatedly with consistency and devotion for a length of time. This is given as 'Abhyasa' by Sage Patanjali in yoga sutras. Abhyasa discipline forms a very important part of yoga. This is one of those words which is most misunderstood, misconceived and also very much tainted. The moment anybody suggests discipline at once people start feeling as if their freedom is being interfered. It gives a wrong impression that discipline is not natural or original and it is borrowed and artificial. Indiscipline is freedom and discipline is bondage. Indiscipline is happiness and discipline is restriction to ones happiness. In this presentation attempt is made to show that discipline is 'NATURAL'. Nature works in discipline or orderliness; animals and birds have orderliness and it is one of the essential features of the creation. Even human being is born with inner discipline. To be disciplined is our essential nature and due to our ignorance and lack of proper guidance we allow the external to influence us, thereby our nature is clouded. And once when our nature is clouded we suffer not only from the external situations but even our health will also be affected. Nobody else from outside can remove this cloud and we only need to work for this removal. Therefore we are disciplining us and it is not that we need to be disciplined. Discipline therefore has to come from within. Discipline can not be enforced from outside. When the discipline is enforced form outside it becomes cosmetic and we are waiting to be free from discipline. On the other hand if the discipline comes from within us it becomes way of life and unconsciously we develop the discipline in the core if our heart. It becomes our way of life. If the discipline is imposed it is called as civilization and when t is from within it is called culture- transformation occurs and catharsis takes place. Mere showing the laboratory research results that yoga can help in various disease conditions parameters or introducing one hour a day or few hours a week of practice of some asanas, Pranayama or few minutes of practice of meditation or creating fear in people that doing yoga can result in less failures etc, will not be sufficient! We must also ensure that right understanding of the need of 'abhyasa' can only bring about the desired results.