Yoga, too, has a strong focus on the flow of prana throughout the body, with the aim of unlocking
and freeing up your life force energy by moving into and holding various poses. Each time you
successfully hold a pose while breathing deeply, you’re effectively dissolving the blockages that
prevent your prana flow.
Various poses can unlock your prana in various ways. Forward bends, for instance, can unblock
prana to soothe, calm and ground you, while backbends prompt prana that provides a revitalizing
boost.
Calming the Restless Mind
Mind or manas is a store house of desires, thoughts and emotions. The thought waves or Vrittis,
form impressions or grooves in the mind. Every time a thought is repeated, impressions become
deeper and it becomes difficult to remove them. The thought waves are like a record player that
goes on and on, moving from one thought to another, from the present to past and surface as
pleasant or unpleasant memories. Pleasant and selfless thoughts bring peace and joy, while
unpleasant, selfish thoughts bring pain and misery.
Manas-mind, is the desiring or pleasure seeking part. Chitta -mind, is the subconscious part,
storing past experiences. Buddhi-mind, is the intellectual part, that is connected to the
consciousness providing knowledge of good and bad, intuition and wisdom. Ahamkara-mind, is
the false mind or ego, which is an embodiment of pride, anger, hatred, greed, jealousy and fear.
These negative emotions project negative energies and destroy the inner balance. If you learn to
control your ego and negative emotions, your mind will become strong, there will be more clarity
and you can solve many problems with ease.
The deep impressions formed in the mind by thought waves from the past are called Samskaras.
These are accumulated deep rooted impressions or habit patterns in the consciousness. Through
Svadhyaya or self-study of thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions and through Samyama or
deep sustained focus, we can transform the old habit patterns that harm and cultivate good
Samskaras and live happily.
Sage Patanjali’s ‘Yoga Sutras’ provide practical and scientific solutions to awaken and direct the
mind to the right path. ‘Yoga Sutras’ is a bible of 196 aphorisms, hidden with profound meanings.
Many saints have given their commentary on yoga sutras for everyone to understand and
practice in their lives.