Blissful Brain

The Blissful Brain is published by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your copy, please click here.

Guardian G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling

"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration, memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please click here.

Upcoming talk: Yoga Ananda, Reigate, Surrey on Friday the 4th of June

Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at a seminar on The Blissful Brain on Friday, 04th June 2010 at 19:30 at Yoga Ananda Ltd. 46 Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9EL. For more information, please click here.

Introduction to Yoga

As has already been suggested, although the term “yoga” has become associated in the West solely with flexing the body into various postures, it is far more than that. Put into general terms, the practice of yoga asanas came about to enable monks to sit for longer periods in meditation without moving. The essential tools for bringing about stillness are discovered in balancing flexibility and strength; openness and stability. Therefore all of the postures are aimed at developing this balance so that the body can move away from its restless tendencies and the stresses imposed by the external, material world. The intention is not to disassociate the body from space and time, but to re-orientate it so that priority can be given to what is often referred to as the “narrow path”, the “choiceless choice”; what is eternal and lasting, rather than what is passing away. In other words, the spiritual path.

Although the mainstream popularity of yoga may fluctuate, there is an increasing interest in its capacity to point towards an essential understanding of life in an increasingly disconnected world. The practice brings about an embodied sense of inhabiting the body, which in turn allows the practitioner to be more “present” and therefore more grounded in the reality of the moment. The healing, restorative qualities of yoga stem from this fact: once we allow the body to release, the mind can free itself from its rigid perceptions and so interpret each moment of life as something new, with endless potential.

Yoga is a great science, exactly because it is a journey of self-discovery. It provides a frame through which we can discover more fully our human potential. Our limitations work alongside this to teach us humility, dependency on each other, and our place within the universe. We learn what it means to live happily within the restrictions of gravity, and simultaneously to tap into forces beyond our human understanding. For this reason, all authentic schools of yoga uphold an element of the ritualistic and the symbolic.xx The following yoga asanas or postures can be practiced by anybody, of any age, shape or experience in yoga. They follow the tradition of Iyengar Yoga. Though simple, these postures are very dynamic and intense. They are practised with great precision and each posture offers endless possibility for adaptation, because when practiced they activate every cell in the body. They also channel the concentration of the mind into the direction of the posture, spreading this consciousness throughout the whole organism. The result is an intense quietness of the mind, which points to a sense of emotional stability and the inner silence we discover through meditation. A number of props may be used by people who are not so flexible and/or strong so that they can experience the beneficial opening effects of the yoga poses.

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