Some people laugh when I tell them I do yoga. These are people who do not do yoga, people who think yoga is standing on one hand and pedalling the air. And this type of yoga is best imagined with someone slim, someone tall, someone whose buttocks you can crack walnuts on. As I score a “(d) none of the above,” the image of me doing yoga makes people laugh. And then I tell them yoga can be those things, but it can also just be stretching. Breathe in, lift your hands up, breathe out, bring your hands down. There, you’ve done some yoga. Then they’ll ask why do it? Clearly, no calories are being burnt. Sweat beads aren’t popping out. Isn’t that the point of exercise? Look at all those runners, running away, exhaling like a choo-choo train as they make tracks across the city. That’s exercise.
When I started yoga, I don’t know what I was looking for. I think I just liked the thought of doing yoga. It sounds so cool. Oh, today’s yoga session was so amazing. I’d get to say things like this to the chip-munching colleague at work. And so I began. Face east, my instructor told me. It was already beginning to sound mystical. I’d absorb the sun’s energy or something. But slowly the novelty wore off and some kind of routine began. Lift. Bend. Stretch. Repeat. And remember not to wear very loose T-shirts because they’ll slide down during the downward-dog stance and expose your quivering mid-section.
The first few months I didn’t really see much change. I looked the same. I felt the same. Maybe there was some difference in flexibility, but that’s really not that big a win in my career, in which all the action happens between the ESC and ENTER keys, roughly two pinky-to-thumb spans. But something was happening and I wasn’t aware of it. I was becoming calmer. I was no longer panicking about deadlines. I was hammering away on a piece till it was done, without an eye on the clock, without worrying about the next piece. I was beginning to savour time, time that had begun to go by in slightly slower motion, like in a movie. I started thinking things like, It’s okay if I don’t get this done today. It’ll get done when it gets done. To me, this was almost a DNA realignment.
Earlier, I’d be having a series of mini heart attacks about finishing things. Now, I was only concerned about doing them, doing them well. Even my writing has changed. Earlier, there was a desperate desire to impress – not that that’s wrong. Now, I sense a quieter kind of flamboyance. And I’m kinder to myself if a piece doesn’t come out the way I wanted it to. Even outside of work, things changed. My hair didn’t exactly grow back, but I wasn’t panicking about being late, about not finishing my reading quota for the day, about being available, about being forgetful, about being perfect. I started doing yoga in early 2009. There are times, today, I hardly recognise myself.
At some point, I began to ask myself if this was all due to yoga, or was it something else? Was all that rhythmic breathing – what a great name for a band; and now, ladies and gentlemen, a number by Rhythmic Breathing – reconfiguring my innards? Was I getting one step closer to shopping for hemp underwear? Or was it just part of getting older. Maybe the realisation that the road ahead isn’t all that long anymore makes you want to stop and smell the rosemary and thyme. But I like to think it’s yoga. I like to think it’s the slow pace of the postures, the two seconds spent holding a stance, the gradual change from the upper-body exercises to the ones that work on the lower body, the gradual shift from standing to lying down, the gradual passage from stretching to stillness. It’s as if you’re reminding yourself, after you wake up, to slow down, slow down, slow down.
What I’m working on now is meditation. I’m trying to blank things out for a few minutes. I close my eyes tight and I see burnt orange. I try to focus on that colour and do nothing else. But other sights come in, with sounds. Someone’s doing something in another room. A car is going by, an angry blender is being switched on, someone on the floor above is calling out to the watchman. A loud snatch of song is floating in from a neighbour’s radio, which I complain about now but really miss when I’m in a First World country, where the silence makes you think you’re Matt Damon on Mars. A friend claims that there is no right way to meditate, the fact that you are sitting down to do it is meditation. I don’t know. I want to do it right. I want to see the light, and all I’m seeing now is how all that yoga isn’t helping me when it comes to sitting still and thinking about nothing.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Namrata Rao
October 19, 2015
What happened to you with Yoga, happened to me with meditation. It’s made life more enjoyable, vivid and richer. I feel more alive than I ever have. In fact, now am trying to get into yoga and trying to do it ‘right’ 🙂
The right way to do meditation is to just do it, like your friend says. The whole idea is to watch the mind, not control it. “Just watch, don’t fix, don’t judge.”
In fact, hearing sounds, smelling things, feeling things are all important parts of being mindful. Meditation has no goal. It’s all about sitting with yourself, mindfully. Trying not to be on auto-pilot for some time each day. Watching how the mind runs around like a child in a departmental store, and still love it unconditionally.
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Ram Murali
October 19, 2015
I was so glad to read this post! I have been practicing yoga (“Art of Living”) for the past eight years. And, I really feel like – similar to what you wrote – it has made me stay calmer in tense situations. One of the reasons that I started doing yoga in my mid-20s was that I was quite impulsive and short-tempered. I don’t claim to be perfect now and I still have quite a long way to go before I call myself completely centered, sans any immature, impulsive behavior. But I do keep at it. And, I think it has helped me progress a fair distance towards my goal.
A few years ago, I happened to attend the talk of a spiritual leader. (Now, does that sound “mystical” or what?!) Actually, it was not that mystical. The talk was actually at work! One of the employee groups had invited this person to talk about the benefits of yoga and meditation. A colleague of mine asked during Q&A, “I would like to feel more stable. Sometimes I try things like counting from 1-10 or breathing deeply when I feel stressed out or when I sense panic. But it doesn’t seem to work at all.”
And, the response from the guru seemed very sensible (although I must confess these spiritual leaders have a thing for metaphors and similes!) – “You don’t fix the brakes on your car as a truck is speeding towards you on a 1-lane road. Your car has to undergo periodic maintenance to ensure that you can respond quickly and correctly in times of danger. Similarly, you have to keep practicing yoga and meditation over a sustained period of time to help you in moments of panic or extreme stress.” He received a rousing applause for that, one that I thought was quite well deserved.
On a lighter note…“someone whose buttocks you can crack walnuts on.”
–> That was epic!
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Rajendraprasada Reddy
October 19, 2015
Mr.Rangan, Meditation is a part of Yoga.
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Aran
October 19, 2015
The way I understand meditation is contemplation or reflection, not an absence of thought or ‘thinking about nothing.’ Usually, the contemplation is about a singular thing, like the burnt orange behind your eyelids or the word ‘om’ or such. I’m pretty sure losing yourself in music or daydreaming can be thought of as meditation too. Or even attuning yourself to the sounds that surround you in the midst of everyday living. 🙂
p.s. Hemp underwear sounds… itchy.
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A
October 19, 2015
“..someone whose buttocks you can crack walnuts on”
I can actually visualize this BR. Whatever made you think of such a comparison. A butt that is stone firm is a put off!
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tonks
October 19, 2015
Its partly the glow of inner health and well being obvious in my better half after a few years of advanced yoga that made me do the basic course some months back, more out of curiosity than any need to lose weight (nothing beats a careful diet for that) or reduce stress. I’m still only at the stage of trying to keep myself from toppling over while doing the Vipareethakarani and Sarvaangasanam . I’m told the change in the inside takes place after about two years of regular yoga.
Even my writing has changed. Earlier, there was a desperate desire to impress – not that that’s wrong. Now, I sense a quieter kind of flamboyance.
This was obvious when I read some of the older blogs here, not just in the writing but also in the response to comments. I’d attributed it to maturity.
Loved the piece, especially this bit :
Maybe there was some difference in flexibility, but that’s really not that big a win in my career, in which all the action happens between the ESC and ENTER keys, roughly two pinky-to-thumb spans.
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silverambrosia
October 20, 2015
my first year of uni was incredibly stressful… the work load was huge and particularly around exam time I would become a complete wreck. I felt there needed to be at least 4 more hours in every day and 2 more days in every week…. and yoga proved massively effective in that regard… but after it I went from being this study/exam freak to the worst procrastinator… exercising self-discipline when that constant pressure on my mind was no longer there became harder for me… self-control counts for a lot. Even so, if it wasn’t for yoga I would have been a mental case by the end of my degree. When u return home from the gym you generally feel tired, but when you get back home from yoga you literally feel energised. Your step is lighter, u breathe easier, and it does make u a happier, more positive person. But actually doing it, for me, remains a chore. I’ve never enjoyed it, but do it on and off with the results in sight.
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Priyangu
October 20, 2015
Ha, now I understand. I vaguely remember commenting somewhere about BR’s significant change in writing style over the past years. I think age also does a remarkable transformation in us. Especially when we step into the 4th decade. I like to call it wisdom. 😛 But one must be ready for it. A lot of people right from their 3rd decade keep asking, “Don’t I still look like a college grad?” IMO, if you have to let wisdom into ur life, you have to accept your age or sometimes even think you are probably much more older in mind. I kinda felt BR’s WQ (Wisdom Quotient) had to do with his change in what he was expressing in writing. “Ullaththinil oli undaayinil vaakkinil oli undaam”-Bharati
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Anu Warrier
October 20, 2015
I must confess to doing yoga, and not feeling anything in particular. I do it because I need to stretch, and therefore it becomes a chore. Like all other chores, a pain in the you-know-where. The same with ‘meditation’. I tried the breathe-in-counting to seven, hold for two, breathe-out-counting-for-seven, and trying to think of nothing at all, but it appeared that my focus grew outward even more sharply than before. Like you, I heard all the sounds from around me, even ones that I would otherwise have ignored while doing my chores.
I’ve given up trying to make yoga more meaningful or to achieve any semblance of success at meditation. Now I do my yoga to stretch my tight muscles, and put on a film where I do not have to think too much, and achieve a trance-like state in the process. 🙂
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Priyangu
October 20, 2015
@A Curious to know KayKay’s thoughts on this. 🙂
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Rahul
October 20, 2015
It made me very happy to read this – congratulations! When I talk to people about meditation and yoga, specially meditation, then one of the usual responses is – isn’t it for people with a saintly countenance or hermitical inclination? I reply, no, they do not need it, at least not as much. It is us, who have to live in and negotiate with this chaotic world, need it more than them.
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easyritual
October 20, 2015
“Someone whose buttocks you can crack walnuts on”
still rofling on this one…. literally.
Your imagination is definitely getting juicier and wilder. wondering whether it is because of yoga…. 🙂
P.s. first comment in the site. big fan of your work. bigger fan of how you use the language
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brangan
October 20, 2015
Namrata Rao: Thank you for that note on meditation. Should stick to it.
silverambrosia: exercising self-discipline when that constant pressure on my mind was no longer there became harder for me
So true. But I guess deadlines do take care of things 🙂
Anu Warrier: It’s the same with me. I don’t enjoy exercising at all — well, except swimming. And I keep hearing about all these magical endorphins that are supposed to whoosh around your body after exercising — and I don’t think they whoosh around in me all that much. 🙂 Frankly, I prefer the other way of endorphin release 🙂
But I enjoy the discipline. I like knowing that I set aside this amount time — say, five times a week – to exercise. Now, it’s gotten to a point where if I don’t do yoga for two days, I feel odd. So that’s good, I think…
And yes, like you, I sometimes treat yoga like stretches. I take the cues from my body. If it tells me “Whoa, great morning, let’s do this,” then I do yoga properly. Else I do it like stretches — and still end up feeling better than I would had I not done anything at all 🙂
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Anu Warrier
October 20, 2015
@BR – Splutter That’s my herb tea (that’s supposed to help with my insomnia) all over my keyboard! 🙂
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hari
October 20, 2015
watch seinfeld, a show about nothing 🙂
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Rahini David
October 20, 2015
Well. I do like workouts and the warm feeling that comes with it. I have not been very regular for the past few months and so thanks for the reminder and putting me back on track.
However, on the Meditation+Yoga thingie, I have always had a few doubts. So those who do have experience on this please help me out.
Those who do either Yoga/Meditation always say that they
1) are able to find some sort of Inner Peace
2) are more able to control their anger
3) concentrate for a longer span of time
4) are beginning to savour time and don’t have mini heart attacks reg. deadlines (from BR)
5) most importantly, are in terms with themselves
Those who go to places of worship say very similar things, so perhaps Prayer is just the same, only perhaps you turn yourself out to God instead of toward your inner self and reap very similar benefits.
As for me
1) There is no raging storm within me that seems to need any taming.
2) I do get angry, but only very rarely. To get into a habit, even if a terrific one, for anger management reasons seems not very necessary.
3) Yeah. My concentration could do with a leg up. Me being a scatterbrain annoys some poor souls.
4) I do not get panic attacks during exams, deadlines, interviews etc.
5) I am not very sure what “being in terms with oneself” means.
Questions
1) Should I bother with these things?
2) If meditation is about blanking your mind for reasonably long periods of time, and men always think “Randakka, Randakka, Randakka” when not doing anything specific, does it not follow that men are in a constant state of bliss anyway? 😀
3) How is thinking “Let me listen to some ABBA followed by Brotherhood of Man today as it is ages since I did that” any less than thinking “Burnt Orange, Burnt Orange, Burnt Orange”?
4) How are these things different from the warm-up stretches before workouts (and the cool down thereafter) ?
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brangan
October 20, 2015
Got this via email…
Dear Baradwaj,
I read your column today and couldn’t resist the urge to share a few thoughts. Again, I say thoughts because opinions are irrelevant.. 🙂
I too am aware that yoga has its part to play in relieving the mind of stress. I run an average of 8km/day for four days during the morning and then do the stretching and the breathing thereafter, for an hour. Your friend was absolutely right about meditation, it does not have to be in a particular pose or involve any chanting. Meditation primarily means attention to thought. Your breathing and stretching is also a part of it. To understand the total process of meditation, one needs to be aware of the chattering mind. We must pay attention to our thoughts and that is the very first step to meditation. We can pay attention to our thoughts in many ways. Cooking, walking, running are a few of them. Concentration to arrest the chatter of the mind is futile. Concentration involves the application of will and is therefore not meditation. Concentration is needed for the kid to study mathematics or biology. Meditation can assist the ability to perform such an activity
Now, to make the mind still when it chatters is to understand the network of thought, its activity springs from the past. All the knowledge that we have accumulated as a human being as well as the threads of thought that have been assimilated in our conscience as result of our existence in a society, the collective thought of human kind. We relate to this world through this prism of thought and that essentially causes all the conflict because when we look through this prism, it shows us a reality as understood through this accumulated collective past. We form different images by looking through this prism, one that constitutes all the ideologies, systems, religions, beliefs, ambitions and so on. We form images and opinions about the world and try to arrive at conclusions from this perspective and in the process only repeat the cycle of misery and conflict. All it requires to make the mind still is to be aware of this divisive and devious way of thought and negate the whole past. Once we negate the past and look at the reality without an image from the past, we can create new action, one that springs from the stillness of the mind. Like Jiddu Krishnamurthi would say, to look without the observer, when the observer and observed is one.
I hope that my thoughts have illustrated a perspective to meditation. Awareness of the world and our relationship with it is key to the mind being still. Let me quote the great Buddha who once lived amongst us, I meant Jiddu Krishnamurthi… 🙂
“Only the causeless and alone can see freedom”-JK
Rgds,
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Sanjay
October 20, 2015
Mr. Rangan,what is with this constant change in layout of this blog. Cant you just choose a theme and stick to it. this is getting irritating. The new layout looks terrible on PC . The recent comments and posts list need to be on the right.
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Tambi Dude
October 20, 2015
In the latest layout the causality is the font size on the PC. People of my age will find it difficult to read.
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venkatesh
October 20, 2015
Been there, done that and given up.
I don’t get it.
I can’t still my thoughts, i have never been not-panicky, every little thing irritates me, from people eating apple to crying babies, I am in constant panic all the time., its the only state i know of being.
It would be good to reach a state of stillness, calmness, whateverness, I suspect i wouldn’t know what that feels like if and when i reach it.
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Bala
October 20, 2015
Bwahaha, I did want to leave a comment on the lines of “Yoga doesn’t seem to be helping with self-discipline as far as sticking to one blog theme is concerned” but I see someone has already expressed their opinion on it 😛
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Destination Infinity
October 20, 2015
I have bought a Kindle book on “Basic Yoga poses for beginners”. Now I am satisfied that I have done something about it 😀
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brangan
October 20, 2015
Unfortunately, I just haven’t been able to find the right theme. In some, the font is too small but the rest is the way I want it. The last one had everything going for it, but the fonts were too big.
This is another kind of… searching.
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Priyangu
October 20, 2015
@Rahini Great post. 🙂 Most of the emotional mental characteristics in life comes by birth. They cannot be altered. Not even by yoga. I know most people who do yoga will not agree with this opinion. But Avaiyaar said, while one can learn painting, literature, and other skills by doing, camaraderie, compassion, and charity come by birth. (Refer: Chittiramum kaippazhakkam poem, last line is “natpum dayayum kodaiyum piravi gunam”).
That said, yoga, breathing, and meditation have excellent and extraordinary therapeutic effect. Have absolutely no doubts about it. But again, these are very powerful techniques, so one should teach, learn, or use them with absolute caution, mentally, physically, and morally.
Both the above paragraphs may seem like contradicting each other. To put it in a different way, when you are born, you are either like Rama or Ravana. Yoga cannot change Rama to Ravana or Ravana to Rama. But Ravana can become almost equal to Rama in his skills through yoga.
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SR
October 20, 2015
Being absorbed in your articles (most, not all) is meditative – as is the paroxysms of laughter that block off all other thoughts thanks to some of your sentence constructions; something akin to your observations about laughter in ‘The Master’ movie.
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DhaPa
October 20, 2015
“Earlier, I’d be having a series of mini heart attacks about finishing things”
We carry this massive burden of doership*** round our necks all our lives. So much stress. If we are slightly open, not fearful about being “seen” by the world as “spiritual” beings, then new vistas open. Without a healthy body, steady mind, one cannot (for instance) sit at the feet of a teacher (and the much dreaded word guru) and learn. So Rishis were smart and made that as step one. Yoga then in nothing but sadhana, a stepping stone. just as playing veena or working out could be. On meaningless or purposeless meditation, even a retard would not take up something that has no fruits, some benefits in terms of self-growth. If it was only about sitting on butt and not thinking or focussed thinking, no one in sane mind would pursue it.
***maybe this epiphany, then is supposed to lead to series of other tubelight moments. Possibly even being prayerful in future. There is hope….
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Madan
October 20, 2015
Rahini: Agree broadly with what you said. As in, I don’t doubt that the people who claim to have derived some benefits from yoga actually did. But I don’t see that I would stand to gain much from it. I remember once my mum mentioned to me that a college friend of mine was likely earning substantially more than me. I said, fine, that’s good, right? I am happy for him. His life, his choices, not for me to mimic. Yeah, agreed that at the ‘physical’ level, it’s not very different from warm ups, at least doesn’t feel very different to me We are asked to stretch our joints very slowly before playing tennis. The benefit of that (warming up and then playing/working out)is you are both keeping your body flexible and burning calories. And in the case of a game, it charges you up for the day so you are not walking in with shoulders slumped.
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vishal yogin
October 20, 2015
Meditation in the modern era is not the same as the one (dhyana) in classical yoga. Its not without reason that dhyana is the 7th rung just below samadhi. Look at the wide yawning chasm between asana and dhyana (in ashtanga yoga). Is it a big mystery why none of the new age yoga gurus have been able to address that gap? Big hint – check if they themselves learned from an authentic yogi. (most of them claim to be blessed by some apparition in the himalayas meh)
Sadly, what exists today is bits and fragments of the composite whole, I am just hoping that the whole is not lost forever, and is safe in the hands of a few scattered yogis carrying on busily with evolution in some forgotten corners of the country.
About the difference between yoga and exercise – I’ll email you on this. One of the salient features is that yoga stops short of fatigue which is common in exercise.
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Enna_koduka_sir_pera
October 20, 2015
“A loud snatch of song is floating in from a neighbour’s radio, which I complain about now but really miss when I’m in a First World country, where the silence makes you think you’re Matt Damon on Mars”
Sir, ungala madhiri ivlo falavorful ah feelings ah express panna yaarala mudiyum!
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DhaPa
October 21, 2015
” every little thing irritates me, from people eating apple to crying babies, I am in constant panic all the time., its the only state i know of being.”
@Venkatesh: Here is a mental exercise that has helped me a lot. Whenever you see a crying baby, apply chomping person or any thing/situation/person, that could possibly irritate you, say this “I give freedom to the baby to cry”. “I give freedom to the person to chomp his apple loudly”, “I give freedom to whoever to do whatever they want to do”. In process of giving freedom to each person to be, you will gain freedom (from stress) yourself. Actually it works. I give freedom to my mother-in-law to be. I give freedom to my mother to be. I give freedom to the co-worker to be what they are.
Try this. It is a sort of yoga. Union of your self with your true self, which is calm, quiet, accomodating, nice, compassionate, logical, sweet, good person, understanding. In being a good person to others, you learn to be good to your own self. You learn to love and be kind to your own self. You learn to be less judging and judgemental.
It is work in progress always. No one is perfect. So give yourself a break when you find yourself getting irritated. Don’t punish the inner child. Be nice to it. 🙂
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DhaPa
October 21, 2015
“What I’m working on now is meditation. I’m trying to blank things out for a few minutes. I close my eyes tight and I see burnt orange. I try to focus on that colour and do nothing else. But other sights come in, with sounds. Someone’s doing something in another room. A car is going by, an angry blender is being switched on, someone on the floor above is calling out to the watchman. A loud snatch of song is floating in from a neighbour’s radio”
Guided meditation is the answer. Will send you links.
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Rahini David
October 21, 2015
Priyangu: “natpum dayayum kodaiyum piravi gunam” remained with me all day and found its way to my Whatsapp Status Message. I didn’t know Avvai had said that. To say anything is Piravi Gunam is out of fashion these days and Steven Pinker rants about it for one full book The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Not his best effort, but is a good read.
Venkatesh: Did you mean loud munching puts you off or do apples put you off? Thank Goodness I didn’t munch anything the other day when we met. :0
DhaPa: If anything I say sounds sarcastic, forgive me. Unfortunately, my most genuine doubts sound sarcastic to most people.
1) Do you really say “I give freedom to the baby to cry” to yourself? Won’t “This baby has every god-given right to bawl her eyes out” work better?
2) Why is this perfect ideal called the “true self” rather than “your self’s potential” or maybe “your ideal self”? It sounds a bit like No true Scotsman.
3) Guided meditation is the answer. Will send you links. Please do and thanks in advance.
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DhaPa
October 21, 2015
1) Do you really say “I give freedom to the baby to cry” to yourself? Won’t “This baby has every god-given right to bawl her eyes out” work better?
But the key to the question-answer lies in the observer. WHO had the problem with the crying baby? Certainly not the baby! So in accepting a crying baby (or any situation that is irritating) there is self-growth. If I say, “mother-in-law has right to be mean”, it is not going to work with my argumentative self, is it? So when I accept the ‘irritating’ situation, I will grow.
2) Why is this perfect ideal called the “true self” rather than “your self’s potential” or maybe “your ideal self”? It sounds a bit like No true Scotsman.
Your self’s potential or your ideal self is also your true self….
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Radhika
October 21, 2015
The wise guru said to the novice, when asked how to meditate : “think of anything but a drunken monkey”.
Look forward to how that works for you, muwahaha
why did the dentist not give anaesthesia to his patients?
because he wanted them to transcend dental medication
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venkatesh
October 21, 2015
For some reason a few of my comments are not coming through , has anyone else been having this problem ?
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DhaPa
October 22, 2015
Interesting read: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/achievers-meet-the-japanese-thavil-player/20151021.htm
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Iswarya
October 22, 2015
I wanted to write this comment soon after reading this post, but my usual procrastinating self killed it. (I generally can’t be bothered to move a finger when not driven by any deep-rooted OCD.) But silverambrosia’s comment once again set me thinking: Yoga seems hugely beneficial for the I’m-about-to-collapse-if-I-don’t-get-this-done-NOW types like what BR says he once was. But what would all that slowing down do to someone like me who can’t be pushed to do anything until a dagger-wielding boss/hubby/team member drives me by constantly dangling a deadline before my nose? I already seem to be in a state of Zen-like inner stillness all the time! (Or is that my snoozing soul?) 😀
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Priyangu
October 22, 2015
@Rahini, That Steven Pinker’s stuff made me realize the seriousness of the world’s take on “piravi gunam”. Till now, I just thought it was meant to be a personal reminder for oneself. Wow, the extent to which it can be grossly misinterpreted is so scary.
“Unfortunately, my most genuine doubts sound sarcastic to most people.”
Lol! This line can win hearts back. 🙂
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Rahini David
October 23, 2015
Priyangu: Yeah, I felt the same. I should write about it someday soon.
BR: I have been trying out meditation (for the past 3 days) based on a single classroom session that I attended when I was about 14. After some time I remembered that the single thing which we were asked to fix our mind on was the mental image of a candle/diya. I believe that it works better than “Burnt Orange” does. Of course, I mean as a beginner and maybe you crossed that stage. Just saying.
DhaPa: I gave myself about 48 hours to process this and failed. I agree that In accepting a crying baby (or any situation that is irritating) there is self-growth, but I am not able to see why “I give freedom X to be Y” should work better than “X is naturally Y”. I just have two doubts.
1) Is this something you came up with and found to work or is it a part of a curriculm in any meditation course?
2) Can you please send the links?
Iswarya: I already seem to be in a state of Zen-like inner stillness all the time
Is this my dear Grammar Elf speaking? Is it for real? Anyway, I am going to check out and see if these deep breathing and all that enables me to bring focus to my thoughts. Feel free to join.
venkatesh: Nope the comments are coming through. I would love to hear more about apple munchers and their sins. 😀
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venkatesh
October 24, 2015
@Rahini: Looks like my comments for some reason go into the SPAM folder. , i had a chat with BR about it. Don;’t know why that happens though.
Re : Apple munchers and their sins and what @DhaPa said …. being old and cynical i have very little patience for this “self-growth” malarkey. It turns out that there is an actual neurological disorder that has been diagnosed in the last few years : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia
And folks are working on it.
Here’s hoping something comes of it.
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Iswarya
October 25, 2015
Just 24 hours of staying offline and I have so much to catch up on! Actually, came rushing here after reading BR’s latest posts on the mail feed and feeling compelled to fix a missing “that” and a space in the Shandhaar review (only to discover that it’s already done).
Rahini: That Zen part certainly wasn’t serious! I was only poking fun at my own proverbial laziness that grates on quite a few people who directly bear the brunt of it at home/work. But the Grammar-Elfishness coexisting with my general Zen-state is no surprise, really.. As I said, the grammar thing is one of my multiple OCDs, just like scraping the last bit of food off while serving or washing my hands over and over before, after, and between handling stuff in the kitchen. I’d say, my several OCDs are rather like those hyperactive, battery-guzzling apps that make the overall OS terribly sluggish and unresponsive. 🙂
As for the deep breathing/meditation, I definitely know one person who needs it, and that, thanks to me. 😉 The recommended candidate is the said dagger-wielder at home who got so annoyed at four people liking and up-voting my public bragging about my laziness that he peevishly clicked the lone thumbs-down! 😀
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Iswarya
October 25, 2015
Oops.. my comment just disappeared! There does seem to be some problem. I’m too lazy to type it all over again now!
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Iswarya
October 25, 2015
I’m afraid my comments are going to the Spam folder too!
BR, can you help?
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tonks
October 25, 2015
What with Venkatesh’s Misophonia and Iswarya’s OCD, this blog is starting to look like a psychiatrist’s waiting room 😉
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Jesh
November 12, 2015
A little late to the discussion but thought I’d chip in anyways. ‘Yoga’ actually refers to a certain way of life, that encompasses all the facets of how a human being should live. And what most people nowadays think of as ‘stretching’ is actually ‘Asana’, which is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg (yoga).
As for the difference between Asana and just stretching or warming up – Each pose has a specific function that could involve complex things like making room for an organ, massaging an organ, sending blood to a place that might not get enough of it (the headstand which sends blood to nourish the brain) and even realigning your bones (A bone spur in my foot disappeared after three days in an Iyengar class). The order in which you do the poses are also geared to bring about harmony in your body. Entering into the science of Asana is beyond the scope of this comment and experience. I have only been practicing on and off for the last two years but I have tried a zillion styles and teachers and some of them have brought about great insights. One of my favourite teachers said ‘As far as I am concerned yoga(asana) is meditation’. I had struggled my whole life with this idea of keeping my mind still, of this magical state of ‘no thought’ and it drove me nuts. But now I understand that meditation is simply refining the way your mind works and mastering the art of dancing between awareness and routine. And you can literally do this all the time. So when I do my Asanas, I try to stay aware of how my feet are rooted to the ground, if my weight is resting on the centre of my heel or my sitting bones, if I am breathing effortlessly and if there is space in my abdomen; and that is also meditation.
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Voldemort
December 30, 2019
This is such a good read! Makes me want to renew my wellness subscriptions too. Personally, the last year has been very hectic on the work front and I feel too much self pity and not do anything on the one day off every week. Everything can’t be fit into one day, I tell myself and promise that I should do some sort of exercise from the next week. Only that next week never comes.
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