Meditate!

 

Imagine that after everything you have experienced in your life to date, after all of the wonderful things you have already discovered and lived, you came to realise that there is a whole other “world” inside of you that you had never known existed. A place that you find so indescribably delightful to settle in that you want to visit very often, and stay there for as long as possible.

I am talking about a type of consciousness in which you feel no fear, no anxiety, no sense of time or space. Like being a small child who for the first time realises something new and wondrous about our world. How incredible to discover something like that at the age you are today!

This is as close as I can get to describing an experience of meditation, more correctly called dhyana (a Sanskrit word that has the prefix dhi – which means an expanded state of consciousness).

Today the word meditation is misused and overused and this has created a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding about this ancient and fascinating technique. It is sadly more common today to hear about people who don’t like to meditate and don’t want to practise than it is to hear of people who treasure it as a part of their regular routine. The reason is that the market has been polluted with “meditation techniques” that are ineffective and unappealing.  Often what is called “meditation” is nothing more than closing the eyes and becoming aware of thoughts and feelings; for the ancient philosophies, this is not meditation.

In the DeRose Method, meditation practice has a simple but well-structured process which includes other vital techniques, like breathing techniques and physical positions, to reach its real goal; a state of hyper-consciousness and self-knowledge.

In accordance with our matriarchal roots we practice in a very pleasurable way, and you will know that you are on the right path when you simply cannot pass a day without practising at least 5 minutes of your meditation; a day without meditation is a wasted day!

Join us on this fabulous journey personal evolution. You will not regret it!

 

The Body and its Limitations

One of the key differences of Swásthya Yôga is that we hold the physical positions for long periods of time, in order to maximise the benefits of the practice. However, when we start practising we often experience discomfort and this often stops us from getting the most of the techniques. It is easy to mistake this discomfort with the impression of having reached our physical limit.

Paulo Pacifici executing samakônásana

The limitations of the body: that is always in my mind when I am teaching and when I practise. How far can I push myself, or encourage my students to push themselves, without risking injury?

In simple terms an injury will only occur when we pass an individual, natural limitation; but how do we identify our REAL limitations?

Everyone, at least once in their life, has seen, or heard of, someone being hypnotized during a TV show and, under hypnosis, suddenly being able to do unbelievable things. Hypnosis works on the subconscious (the repository of the emotions), where usually our real limitations lie. Essentially, the hypnotized person achieves, or endures, things that they would never have thought possible if they were in their normal state of consciousness. So, we can conclude that, often, our limitations, as experienced in waking consciousness, are based on our state of mind and on our emotions, instead of on our real physical limitations.

I believe that to understand our limits we must work simultaneously to increase our body consciousness and to manage our emotions and mindset during the practice. In the Swásthya Yôga, this is achieved with the positions and the breathing exercises.

I am certain that we rarely ‘touch’ our real limits, but we can increase our reach by practising regularly, simply because you are working on your overall structure and expanding your consciousness.

Next time you practise and have a ‘strong feeling’, do not relate it immediately with pain but with the sensation that you’re developing your body. Injury will be caused if you go over your limits but those are a long way away!

Changing your mindset regarding the physical sensations that you have during the practice will help your physical and emotional development. Personally, when I hold a position for long time I try to keep in my mind that the sensation comes from something beneficial; this makes my subconscious accept it, and I can really enjoy what I am doing.

However, Swásthya Yôga has a General Rule of Safety which must always be observed when we practise:

“Push yourself without forcing. Any discomfort, pain, cardiac acceleration or excessive perspiration are signs from our body that you should be more moderate.” Prof. DeRose

 

A short interview for pulsedup.com about an ancient point of view.

Mentalization and localization of consciousness.

Today’s topic is mentalization, visualization and localization of consciousness.

Paulo Pacifici 2003

This subject often generates resistance in more skeptical people, who have reservations in accepting or using these tools, misunderstanding them as something of the mystical realm. On the other hand, those who keep an open mind about it have improved not only their practices, but their lives.

To the doubters, we can assure them that this is not a matter of belief, since these elements are based on observable facts that science can prove to exist and indeed to be powerful.

As soon as practitioners begin to better manage their breathing, to feel less anxious during the positions, and to develop stronger musculature to hold the body for longer, the next step to improve the practice is to use localization of consciousness, and later introduce mentalization techniques.

Sri Sivananda, the famous Hindu Master, said that “where there is consciousness, there is life”. It suffices to simply settle your mind on a specific part of your body in order to expressively increase the flow of blood into that area, consequently the energy and temperature.

Make this test yourself and see how it works.

Place your hands over a table. For 5 minutes place all your attention on your right hand and visualize it surrounded by a red colour (red is stimulating). Forget and completely ignore your left hand, so your attention and intention are only on your right hand.

When the 5 minutes are up, compare your hands. You will see that the veins on your right hand are much more dilated than those on the left, and the temperature of your right hand is also higher.

This experiment shows that we can direct our mind to a specific part of our body and have some influence on it, consequently improving the vitality in that area.

When you next practise ásana, localize your attention on the area of your body that calls your attention. This action suffices to optimize the effect of the positions.

But you can do more. You can visualize colours surrounding those areas. Light blue has a sedative effect, orange stimulates and increases the energy in the area, green improves the general health.

The most important thing is the intention that accompanies every visualization.

If you don’t visualize anything but have a strong intention, for example to get stronger, your body will respond.

Always remember that your body follows your mind. Whatever you say, or think, is very likely to take place. Therefore, always be positive during your practice, and you’ll get the best result of every exercise you do.

Ásana practised in an ancient way

Everyone loves practising ásana (physical positions); they are amazing; they make your body strong, supple and definitely healthier. But why does almost every style of yôga practise ásana in a different way?

I can not tell you much about the others methods, as I don’t practise them, but I can explain ours and why is so effective.

India is, historically, one of the most invaded countries in the world.  Every great emperor in the world passed through there, including the Aryans, later Alexander the Great and most recently the British invasion. You can be sure that every single colonizer somehow changed and influenced the Indian culture and, consequently, Yoga. The most recent, and significant, change that happened in Yôga was the introduction of repetition of the ásanas. 

Ásana was traditionally practised with permanence, but when the British army landed in India the yogins of that time seemed to like the Western idea of working out the body with repetition and this new habit got stronger when Yôga was exported to United States.  

So, what do we lose by practising ásana with repetition? First of all, ásana should not be categorized as “gymnastic”. Ásana has not only the aim to make your body healthier, but, mainly, to achieve body-consciousness and self-knowledge. Body and mind being closely interrelated, the practice of ásana aims at mastery over the body with a view to securing corresponding mastery over the mind. Control of nervous and vital energies produces control of mental functions. The mind-body complex is brought under perfect control, the indwelling Self shines out and the higher self is realized.

I think it is only possible to achieve such delightful results with permanence of ásanas, never with repetitions.

When you stay in the position for a good time it acts deeply on the muscle fuses, the receptors inside the muscle cell that are connected with muscle tone, and with the protection against the risk of strain. The position, combined with focused attention and coordinated breathing, affects the muscle fuses, stimulating them to lower their defensive control over the muscle. The fibres of the muscles decrease their level of contraction and effectively stretch.

Breathing and Sports

To breathe; it is the first and the last thing we do in our life. We can spend days without eating, or even drinking water, but no more than a few minutes without breathing, because breathing is the primary way to feed our cells.There is so much to gain from knowledge about this subject, which is, generally, massively ignored or misunderstood, perhaps because it is a neurovegetative process in our body, which we take for granted because it is always happening without us even realising or paying attention to it. But without breathing correctly we limit our development and potential.

Breath!

But for a while let’s focus on how to use our breathing properly and the effect it will have on performance in sports or in any other physical activity that you practise, by using some DeRose Method techniques.

The biggest part of our lungs is at the base, the diaphragm, the abdominal area, and this part is responsible for ⅔ of your full lungs capacity. To access and utilise this part of your lungs you must re-educate your breathing habits by doing a few exercises.

Lying down or sitting with your back straight, place your hands on your abdomen and, as you breathe, feel that when you inhale deeply your abdomen moves out, when you exhale your abdomen moves inward. Memorize this rule; the air enters, your abdomen moves outward, the air leaves, your abdomen moves inward.

Throughout the exercises inhale and exhale exclusively through your nostrils, without making any noise. At the beginning it might feel a bit awkward, simply because your body has forgotten how to breathe deeply.

After learning this rule, we can try another exercise to improve your lung capacity and further develop your diaphragm. This time inhale deeply, expanding your abdomen outwards, in 4 seconds, hold your breath with your lungs full for 4 seconds, exhale, moving your abdomen inwards, in 4 seconds, and finally hold with your lungs empty for 4 seconds. This is a square breathing exercise; 4 seconds for each part of your breath. Practise it for about 5 minutes. By doing this exercise, your body will respond much better when you are in need of more oxygen during your sportive activity.

When I am training I try to use nasal breathing as much as I can.  It’s probably not what you learned from your instructor or personal trainer but I find it much more effective for the simple reason that I better control my breath and consequently my internal rhythm. But if you think that is too tough to either inhale and exhale through your nostrils, at least only inhale using your nose. Avoid inhale through your mouth; if you do you are going to get much more tired than if you were using your nostrils. The air that arrives on your lungs needs to be the temperature of your body to be better absorbed and by using the respiratory channels you will be “preparing” the air to reach your lungs filtered, and in a much better condition.

When I am going uphill cycling there is a huge demand of oxygen from my body and the only thing that makes me go faster is sending more air to my diaphragm. I even push my abdomen out to force more air on the lower part of my lungs and after I try to breathe out as slower as I can, therewith reducing my cardiac rhythm.

Explore your breath and discover an inner world!

 

The Body and Limitation

The Body and Limitation

One of the key differences of the DeRose Method is that we hold the physical positions, the asanas, for long periods of time in order to maximise the benefits of the practice. However, when we are first practising we often experience discomfort and this often bars us from getting the most out of the techniques. It is easy to mistake this discomfort for us having reached our physical limit.

Paulo Pacifici executing dhanurasana

The limit of our bodies; this is something that is always at the forefront my mind when I teach and when I practise. How far can I push myself, or encourage my students to push themselves, without risking injury?

In simple terms an injury will only occur when we pass our individual, natural, limitation; but how do we identify our REAL limit?

Everyone, at least once in their life, has seen, or heard of, someone being hypnotized on a television show and the unbelievable things the hypnotized person was suddenly able to do. Hypnotization works on the subconscious (the repository of the emotions) of the human-being where, usually, our real limitations lie. Essentially the hypnotized person achieves, or endures, things that he would never have thought possible if he was in his normal state of consciousness. So, we can conclude that, often, our limitation, as experienced in waking consciousness, is based on our state of mind and on our emotions, instead of on our real, physical, limitation.

I believe that to comprehend our limits we must work, simultaneously, to increase our body consciousness and to manage our emotions and mindset during our practice. That is what, in the DeRose Method, the positions, asanas, and the breathing exercises, pranayamas, achieve.

I am certain that we rarely reach our real limits, but, even though we don’t “touch” our limit easily, we can increase it by practising often, simply because you are working on your overall structure and expanding your consciousness.

So next time that you practise and feel a “strong feeling”, do not relate it immediately with pain, but a sensation that you’re developing your body. Injury will be caused when you pass your limit and there is a long way to go to reach your limit.

Changing your mindset regarding the physical sensations that you have during the practice will help your physical and emotional development. I personally try to keep in my mind when I hold a position for long time; that the sensation is something beneficial; this makes my subconsciousness accept it and I can really enjoy what I am doing.

However the DeRose Method has a General Rule of Safety which must always be observed when we practise:

“Push yourself without forcing yourself. Any discomfort, pain, cardiac acceleration or excess perspiration are signs from our body you should be more moderate.”

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… but what is it?

WHAT IS YÔGA?

Is it gymnastics? A religion?

A fighting style? A flower arrangement?

Once upon a time a famous dancer improvised instinctive movements that were, however, extremely sophisticated thanks to his virtuosity and, because of this very fact, absolutely beautiful. This body language was not exactly ballet, but it had undeniably been inspired by dance.

The captivating beauty of the technique moved all those who watched; they were overwhelmed with its expressiveness, and asked the dancer to teach them his art. And so he did. In the beginning, the method had no name. It was something spontaneous that came from within and only echoed in the hearts of those who had been born adorned by a more refined sensibility.

As the years passed, the great dancer was able to convey a good part of his knowledge until one day, long after, the Master passed on to the invisible planes. His art, however, did not die. The most loyal disciples preserved it and assumed the mission of re-transmitting it. The pupils of this generation understood the importance of also becoming instructors, and of modifying nothing, altering nothing of the outstanding teachings of the first Mentor.

At some moment in History, this art received the name integrity, integration, union: in Sanskrit, Yôga! Its founder was entered into mythology with the name of Shiva and with the title of Natarája, Lord of the Dancers.

These facts occurred more than 5,000 years ago in the Northeast of India, in the Indus Valley, populated by the Dravidian people. Therefore, we will study the origins of Yôga in this period and find its original purpose, so that we can identify authentic teachings and distinguish them from others that have been compromised by consumerism and interference from alien and incompatible methods.

Shiva Nataraja

This text was extracted from the book, Tratado de Yoga (Yoga Treatise) by Professor DeRose 

Victoria’s Secret model practising DeRose Method

Tatiana Kovylina

Tatiana Kovylina executing a variation of kakasana

Tatiana executing Kapôdásana

Tatiana executing Natarajásana

Tatiana executing vrishikásana