Tuesday, July 15, 2014

What is the best meditation to sort spinal problems

One meditation keeps coming up in the Bihar school of yoga's prescription for backache -- all sorts of spinal problems -- and that is ajapa japa.

Why that is so, is not very clear? But for me the most trusted words on any therapy is the Bihar school, especially the words of Swami Satyanandaji -- he has the last word on everything and I have followed his words as if he is talking to me, directly through his books.

Ajapa Japa I also learnt as part the Bihar school of yoga workshops which I used to attend avidly though I had a little baby (who'd be with a baby sitter) and a terribly demanding job as a journalist and I lived in the truly far-off suburb Kandivali East those days, and travel back in train and hop into auto and reach home, dead tired, but somehow elevated for that terrible stress I'd put myself through (leaving a baby attended by a baby sitter will always be the toughest thing I'd chosen to do, as part of my yoga travels and experiences. But somehow maybe it was a sacrifice worth it, because my child is a woman now, and with a powerful yoga practice that came tangentially and was never imposed on her and she loves her practice:)

I'd learnt Prana Vidya too, and have often practiced it, to heal myself from a terrible attack of coughing bout which has, mercifully left me now despite having throttled me most of my life.. so I believe in meditation is the key to sort all problems. I am seeing how difficult it is however to promote it:(

But since I started working with the singing bowls, the idea of chanting as is prescribed by ajapa japa makes immense sense to me. It is a vibrational energy that you unleash. And it must be impacting the cells within.. if you read my singing bowls blog you will see the UCLA link I've provided that shows how the cells are "singing" all the time. When the tune is out of kilter, that is when things go kaput. I think as with the bowls, so also ajapa japa is setting the tune back on track, and that is why it is healing.

And soham, says Swami Satyanandaji, is the best mantra for this practice. It is Sri Prasadapara(the mantra of sublime grace) and that is the sound your breath as it rhymes insidel 21600 times a day..

So beautiful, and such a simple way, to heal. Ajapa Japa.

 (The image below is of swans, from the link I've attached. I used the image of the swan because the sound so-ham, said backwards, is ham-sa, meaning swan, and that is the nature of the mind which can ingest dirty water (life/karma) and intuit the real (ultimate truth) underneath the muck)
 
 

2 comments:

Seeker said...

Ms Akhtar, I have left a comment earlier too and never received a reply. I will repeat my request and the reason for it. Pls share instructions on an effective meditation technique, preferably from Bihar school of Yoga. I know many of your readers and you too might promptly tell me to look up Youtube or go to the nearest Yoga school. I don't want to seek in either space for two reasons: (1)On YT there are numerous techniques floating, some of which may do more harm than good. I would trust only Bihar School, Kaivalyadham or Iyengar schools of Yoga. (2) I cannot go to any of these schools physically as I live in a kind of isolation - the nearest city or town is 3 hours away and it's certainly not a developed metro like Delhi, Kolkata, Patna or Mumbai. Ms Akhtar, I'd be gretaful if you to share with me an effective technique for calming the mind, overcoming anxiety, anger, etc., and witnessing my own thoughts (I've always wondered what this meant and how it is possible. If it is possible, pls make it easier for me). Pls write to: thewritepath@rediffmail.com Thanks

YOGA IN EVERYTHING said...

Sigh.. it is one thing to be stuck physically, and another to be stuck mentally. If u can afford to go online in your remote place, then u can also search online. So many online meditation sites. I have blogged on several myself. Just hunt, and locate. And order cds.. they are also available. It is how things should get done, instead of cribbing about my cooperation or lack of it..