The wonders of yoga

Man it feels good to do yoga! I believe it's always beneficial for oneself to push the limits. In this case, what I mean by pushing limits is just to try out all kinds of new things.

Now I decided to try (ashtanga) yoga, the most popular version known in western countries. Ashtanga yoga, to my understanding, has been derived from hatha yoga, which is the most physically-concentrated of the various yoga families. For westerners (länkkärit), doing yoga in many cases involves getting a graceful body figure by developing muscles and by getting them to stretch in the process. Apart from the previous, for me yoga is equally important as a tool for learning the controlling of body and mind through asanas (postures) and vinyasas (movements). The breathing technique (Ujjayi) and muscle locks (Mula and Uddiyana bhandhas) are yin and yang in energizing the body, mind and spirit in the process of doing the actual yoga.

Every time I do yoga, at the time I feel I am pushing my limits, since I stretch about as nicely as a crow bar, but I always bend myself more than what is recommended, since I want to stretch. Bu man, the feeling I get after 1½ hours of doing this stuff..it's surreal, especially after the 10 minutes of relaxation in the end of the session. I feel like.. nothing's troubling me after that, that everything is fine, and I get one step closer of understanding how my body works and what is beneath it. The best thing is the immense spiritual feeling I get.. I believe the better we know how our energies flow in our body the better our mind is able to get deeper and more meaningful experiences.

Of course, I want to utilize my feelings of deepness in other areas of life.. :) I stumbled upon the concept of tantric sex. It's funny, because the concepts in it aren't actually that far away from what I have been more or less doing for the past year or so. When I started to think about it, I have felt more close, intimate and united when having sex than what I've felt previously. It is more about the atmosphere, the presence of the two and being present, than it is about doing some things. It does not need to be anything particular, if the mood is right. I realized it can be an immensive experience just to hold hands or to just "be", as long as the sexual energy is vibrating throughout you both and mingling together. The moment is perfect as it is. This is where, for example, breathing technique can be helpful. I guess that's why a short meditation session before doing anything more is of help. This way, a) the mood sets and b) breathing has energized ones' bodies and minds. This way, the whole experience of sex can become something... undescribable.

But I don't know, I mean, I just only today read about this stuff. It seems the path to spiritual enlightenment comes with all kind of nice bonuses. All this spiritual stuff seems to be interconnected, to result in same kind of deductions about how something really feels good. Be it sex, nutrition (both mental and physical), etc. It just all comes naturally, when you really get down to the business of getting to know yourself and wanting to develop in an open way. Of course, it always helps if there are people guiding you and nudging you towards the right directions.. :)

It felt a bit awkward, as it usually is with Finnish culture, when our yoga instructor today started to do mantras and made us repeat them. However, she said few words that stuck with my mind. That's how I got the idea: "listen to Juno Reactor's Navras when I get back home!". SO that's what I did. Below you can find the lyrics.

--

Asato ma sad gamaya
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
mrtyor mamrtam gamaya

Om shanti shanti shanti (these are the words :) )

Jnani manasa saha
Buddhis ca na vicestate
Tam ahuh paramam gatim

___

translation:

From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.

Let there be peace everywhere

When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.