Tools of Yoga
.
The basic tools of yoga are
breath awareness (known as
pranayama), meditation, positive
affirmation (known as mantra),
visualisation, postures (known as
asanas), relaxation and voice
work(known as chanting). All of
these tools can be utilised to
promote a sense of wholeness.
The basic tools of yoga are breath
BREATH AWARENESS
MEDITATION
Meditation is a way of
quieting the mind. There are
many meditation techniques,
the most simplest being to
focus your attention on your
breath. You don’t have to sit
in lotus posture or even cross
legged,you can simply sit in a
chair, preferably with your feet
on the floor and your spine erect
(or you are likely to drift off into
sleep!)
POSITIVE AFFIRMATION
You can use positive
affirmations or “mantra” in
meditation if you have a
particularly active mind. A
traditional yogic mantra is “Om
Shanti Shanti Shanti”. (Shanti
means peace) which you repeat
over and over in your mind as
a way to distract your thoughts!
You could alternatively repeat
“I am Peace” if you don’t fancy
Sanskrit or make up your own
positive statement.
VOICE WORK
Voice work (know as chanting)
is the repetition of a “mantra”
or positive statement out loud.
You can chant traditional yogic
ones as I mentioned above
or make up your own
statements and sing them
repetitively, you can chant “OM”
or “AUM” or simply the vowel
sounds of a, e ,i, o and u.
Voice work is excellent for anybody
that is self conscious. It helps to
overcome shyness, assists in
creating confidence in expression
through the voice. Each sound
also creates a soothing vibration
that can be felt in the body.
Breath awareness can be used to
keep the body healthy and the mind
calm. By breathing optimally you are
firstly going to increase the amount of
energy that is available to you, then
by becoming aware of the effect the
breath has on the body, you can very
quickly change the state of your mind
and the normal reactions you may
have to stress just through increased
breath awareness.
POSTURES
Yoga postures are stretches that
help to realign the body to bring
about good posture, flexibility,
strength and tone to the body,
whilst many gently massage the
internal organs, assisting the
body to cleanse and detoxify.
Each movement is linked with
breath awareness.
RELAXATION
Relaxation is so important in
maintaining balance and
wholeness, as night follows day so
must our bodies rest after action if it
is to remain healthy. Many of us
never fully relax even when
sleeping, as the mind continues to
be active the body is not completely
at rest.
Yoga nidra relaxes the muscles and
releases tension in the physical
body whilst the mind stays
conscious but still. This allows the
nourishing subtle energy of the
breath (known as Prana) to flow
freely, and complete relaxation to
take place. Many of us need re-
educating on how to relax properly.
Sitting slouched on the sofa
watching television while the mind
is worrying about the one hundred
and one other chores we have to
do but lack the energy, often results
in more exhaustion, guilt and the
inability to finish ones chores!
Taking just a minute to sit and be,
allowing the body to open and the
mind to quieten can instantly re-
energise our whole systems,
especially when we are lacking in
energy and clear perspective.
Learning to act in a relaxed manner
is also beneficial to maintaining a
feeling of wholeness. When we do
this we are less likely to fall into the
patterns of energy spurts followed
by depletions.
