Concise Yoga Practice for Senior Citizens

The concise yoga practice for senior citizens is meant for persons aged 60 years & above who have usually retired from their active life. The basic purpose of concise yoga practice is to remove lethargy of body & dullness of mind and to stay active. It can be practised daily for half an hour to one hour in early morning hours preferably in empty stomach.

The following asanas and pranayama can be practised as concise yoga practice:

Asanas:

1. Tadasana
2. Dandasana
3. Makarasana
4. Sukhasana
5. Savasana

Pranayama:

1. A-kara, U-kara, M-kara, A-U-M Chanting
2. Cin Mudra, Cinmaya Mudra, Adi Mudra, Brahma Mudra
3. Kapalabhati
4. Nadi suddhi pranayama
5. Bhramari pranayama

Prayer:

The yoga session starts with recitation of prayer with mantras and shlokas about glorious manifestations of Universal Power and ends with wishing health, happiness and peace of the mankind.

After attending yoga classes meant for elderly persons for about 9 months in Dhrti Yoga Studio BTM 2nd Stage Bangalore under Qualified Director and Trained Yoga Instructor, I have developed the above concise yoga practice and practising the same since April 26, 2010 for more than 2 years as swadhyaya of yoga daily at home as a senior citizen.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda
Yoga Practitioner

Manifestation of Divinity in Spirituality

Spirituality or adhyatmikata means that which deals with ‘what is within man’ i.e. spirit or self or atman which is divine. Spirituality thus is the process of manifestation of divinity in man. A man with spiritual orientation reflects divinity in his thoughts and expressions.

Spirituality is the method through which one learns, and succeeds, in overcoming his lower nature which is manifested in form of egoism, jealousy, lust, greed and so on. His mind is transformed by spiritual practices such as prayer and worship, yoga and meditation, reading scriptures, reciting mantra, repeating japa, selfless action and service & the like. Thus a spiritual aspirant succeeds in attenuating his lower nature by the above methods or practices. When one`s lower nature is subdued, one`s higher nature starts manifesting divinity. This manifestation of divinity in man is the essence of spirituality.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda

Distractions and Obstacles in Yoga Practice

The distractions and obstacles which hinder the aspirant`s practice of Yoga are:

1. Vyadhi-sickness which disturbs the physical equilibrium
2. Styana-languor or lack of mental disposition for work
3. Samsaya-doubt or indecision
4. Pramada-indifference or insensibility
5. Alasya-laziness
6. Avirati-sensuality, the rousing of desire when sensory objects possess the mind
7. Bhranti Darsana-false or invalid knowledge, or illusion
8. Alabdha Bhumikatva-failure to attain continuity of thought or concentration so that reality cannot be seen
9. Anavasthitattva-instability in holding on to concentration which has been attained after long practice

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda
Yoga Practitioner

Spiritual Quest

It depends on the individual which goal he is looking to achieve: one that relates to the physical body (materialism) or the other one that relates to the soul (spirituality).It is the mind which is the guiding light in our spiritual quest. We should look upon it as a great fortune that for some reason or other, if our mind possesses an attraction for the higher goal of spirituality.Of course, we have to steadily proceed in the spiritual path with perseverance to achieve the spiritual goal.

Leading a worldly life, no one can by his own individual effort ever hope to attain spiritual goal. So the help of another person-teacher or guru, who has himself got self-realization, is absolutely necessary. The guru, who has walked on the path himself, can easily take the disciple step by step on the ladder of spiritual progress. As a Shirdi Sai devotee, I have been following the teachings of Sadguru Sai Baba in my spiritual quest.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda

Attaining Samadhi for three days by Shirdi Sai Baba

As described in Chapter 43 & 44 of Shri Sai Satcharita, Sai Baba attained Maha Samadhi and left His mortal coil on the day of Dasara dated 15th October 1918. Thirty-two years before i.e. in 1886 Baba had made an attempt to cross the border line by attaining Samadhi for three days. On a Margashirsha Pournima (Full moon) day, Baba suffered from a severe attack of Asthma. To get rid of it, Baba decided to take His Pran high up and go into Samadhi. He said to Bhagat Mhalsapati, “Protect My body for three days! If I return, it will be all right, if I do not, bury My body in that open land (pointing to it ) and fix two flags there as a mark !” After saying this, Baba fell down at about 10 p.m. His breathing stopped as well as His pulse. It seemed as if His Pran left the body. All the people, including the villagers came there and wanted to hold an inquest and bury the body in the place, pointed by Baba. But, Mhalsapati prevented this. With Baba`s body on his lap, he sat full three days guarding it. After three days passed, Baba showed signs of life at 3 a.m., His breathing commenced, the abdomen began to move. His eyes opened and stretching His limbs, Baba returned to consciousness (life) again.

Ananta Koti Brahmanda Nayaka Rajadhiraja Yogiraja Parabrahma
Shri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jaya.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda
Shirdi Sai devotee

Yoga in the West

Yoga has now become a very popular activity in the west for last few decades. Modern Yoga gained momentum in the west during 19th Century CE after Swami Vivekananda travelled to west and came in contact of the people of the western world. With time several yoga masters went to west from India and brought popularity to this discipline in the west. The Yoga was formally introduced in the west through translated versions from Sanskrit to English. The Hatha Yoga became the most popular form of Yoga in West based on basic features of yogasana and pranayama. Gradually the Patanjali`s yoga sutras of Ashtanga Yoga or Raja Yoga gained acceptance.

Way back in March 2010, when I started writing article on Yoga posted in Yoga Website basing on my knowledge and practice as a Yoga Practitioner; hardly had I known that Yoga is as popular in the West as in the East. In course of time spanning almost 2 years, I had published a good number of articles on Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga. Frankly speaking, I was convinced about popularity of Yoga in the West, when Yoga Practitioners of the Western Countries took great interest in reading the posts published in my blog Yoga and Spirituality through World Wide Web and posted their comments on my articles on yoga. It is a great pleasure on my part to observe that the articles ‘Yoga for Arthritis of Elderly persons’ in Hatha Yoga and ‘Yama and Niyama in Yoga’ in Raja Yoga have earned so much popularity in the West that those articles are frequently viewed by the readers of various Western Countries in the translated versions from English to their national language.

Now I can personally understand, Yoga has got Universal and International recognition.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda
Yoga Practitioner
Bangalore India

Compatibility of Spirituality and Religion

The compatibility of spirituality and religion is that spirituality is the essence of a seeker`s quest, while religion is its outward manifestation. A seeker`s quest for spirituality begins when he begins to enquire into the purpose of existence and when the quest of spirituality matures, the seeker gets eternal joy and bliss. When that joy is shared with other seekers, it becomes religion. Whereas spirituality is based on the assumption that a transcendent reality exists beyond the material world and that is the domain of supreme consciousness; for religious minded it is God.

Spirituality is individual specific and depends on the personality of a person. The founders of different religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam were spiritual people who, out of their love for humanity, shared their experiences with all and established certain religious rituals so that even those who were not spiritually evolved could benefit. Religion organizes people in a particular way designed by its creators for a specific purpose and need in mind at the time of its onset. The practices keep on changing over the time keeping the changes in the society.

It doesn’t matter, whether one turned spiritual first and then turned to religion or were deeply engrossed with religious rituals and then decided to find the meaning behind it. A sincere seeker can begin anywhere, either with spirituality or with religion.

Dr.Mahesh Chandra Panda