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Part 1: A Welcome and Introduction to Yoga Respected guests, I am honoured to welcome, in my name and also in yours, a person of significant personality, a person who came on this path in the name of his spiritual master. His greatest wish is that the teaching of yoga spreads throughout the whole world, even in the West, so that people are released from tension and that yoga brings people towards happiness. That is why our guest, from childhood, was inclined toward yoga. After very hard training, which we can scarcely imagine, he received the title Paramahaṁsa. For your information, this title means a person who can distinguish truth from untruth. With this power, he came to Europe, to Vienna, and began to prepare the system "Yoga in Daily Life," which is now practiced all over the world. Our dear guest has organized World Peace Summits around the globe, where all borders are dissolved at these conferences. Even long-standing conflicts between nations, cultures, and religions are removed. He is also spreading humanitarian activities worldwide, which, in my opinion, are incomparable. In his homeland, he is building a large complex, an Āśram, prepared for people's spiritual development and for achieving good health. There is even a hospital for poor and old animals. I could speak much more about our dear father, but you came to see and hear the words of Swāmījī, not my words. Please allow me to introduce Paramahaṃswāmī Maheśvarānanda to all of you. Thank you. Thank you. It is an ancient tradition that we begin anything by chanting a mantra or prayer to harmonize and purify the energy. So first, I will chant some Sanskrit mantras. You may also notice we always remove our shoes when we come on the stage. The stage becomes a holy place, where we are blessed with wisdom—wisdom not our own, but from the ancient sages. We always consider the place where one sits and speaks, especially on spirituality, to be holy. Oṁ. Lead us from unreality to reality. Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from mortality to immortality. Merciful Lord, bless us with good health, mutual understanding, peace, and harmony. Peace, peace, peace. Oṁ Asato mā sad gamaya, Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, Mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya. Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Sarveṣāṁ svastir bhavatu, Sarveṣāṁ śāntir bhavatu, Sarveṣāṁ maṅgalaṁ bhavatu, Sarveṣāṁ pūrṇaṁ bhavatu. Loka samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu. Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. Salutations to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. In His divine presence, a good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Welcome to you all. I would also like to welcome the Vice President of the District Prešov, Engineer Milan Baran. Welcome also to Mr. and Mrs. Khanis, the former Defense Minister of Slovakia. He was kind enough to come to India and open a large chamber of Slovak culture in a rush room. Now, people around the world come to learn about Slovakian culture through this chamber. I express my gratitude to the mayor of this city, Poprad, who welcomed me warmly this morning. Unfortunately, he had to go to another city today, so he is not here. Many other dignitaries are here. Welcome to you all. Before I begin, could some doors be opened for air or ventilation? Thank you. Extra lighting makes heat. Dear brothers and sisters in Slovakia, I am very happy to be here in this part of Slovakia, sitting near the feet of the Divine or Holy Mountain Tatra. Mountains hold very special energy and radiance for us. We do not know the past; it is beyond our memory. But this mountain knows. What is justice and what is not justice? This mountain is the witness, for millions of years, of the history in this part of the world. I adore the mountains, I adore the ocean, and, of course, Mother Nature. Beautiful city Poprad, where I have been several times, passed through, and a few times I have given lectures. My visits to your beautiful country began in 1973. "Yoga in Daily Life" is taught and practiced by thousands of people here. It is a scientific system that has been practiced and researched several times in your beautiful country, in spas like Piešťany and Trenčianske Teplice. It is practiced around the world. Dear brothers and sisters, yoga is yoga. But it depends on how you explain and how you practice. The word yoga means union, or balance, or harmony. Where there is balance, there is harmony, and where there is harmony, there is unity. And where there is unity, there is divinity. So it is the balance, harmony, and unity within ourselves: our body, our mind, our emotions, our intellect, our memories, our decisions, and our actions. We as humans have the freedom to act in this world. If our actions are well-balanced and well-considered, they will bear better fruit for the world. So yoga is designed for the well-being of humans. We are responsible for the protection of the entire planet. Our life depends on this planet. The health of the planet, the balance in nature, depends on our health. Therefore, the first point in yoga is good health. We must realize we cannot buy health somewhere. We have to gain good health, either through movement or through nourishment. There are different kinds of nourishment. There is solid nourishment, which in yoga we call a sāttvic, vegetarian, balanced diet. We should not eat for joy only. We should eat consciously, considering how it will influence our being, our body, our emotions, our thoughts, and so on. Then there is liquid nourishment. Whatever we drink influences our body. The best drink is always pure water. In your language, you say, "water is life." That is true. I think some Slovakians who immigrated to other countries loved the world and water so much that he gave the name to his company: Vodafone. Wherever I go in the world and see Vodafone, I ask people, "Do you know what 'Voda' means?" In Australia or Canada, they say, "No, we don’t know. We only know it’s the name of the company." I always explain it to them; their logo is also a drop. A few years ago, you had an international conference on water in Levoča about the quality of water in Slovakia and some lakes polluted in the last century. Groundwater is suffering, but anyway, we are not talking about this. I am talking about yoga. We respect. Respect can also mean trust. Or trust can be that we believe. And whether we believe it or not, it is like that. That is the five elements, and you all know which are the five elements. Our body, as we all know, is a combination of the five elements. Only the heavenly engineer could do this. In nine months, such a body is finished. How many systems are created? The fine nerves, channels, muscles. Only doctors know. The brain, the brain centres. Till now, no engineer or scientist has been born who has proved that one can create a body like this and blow in the soul. This is the work of the divine. You may say God, or nature, whatever you believe, but it is. So this unity of five elements, that is yoga. Now, how to keep these elements in good condition, in pure quality? If we can, then we can enjoy a healthy, long life. For what? The aim of human life is to become one with God. So yoga means union: the union of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. We are all part of that cosmic consciousness. As a soul, we are individual. As consciousness, we are the universal one. And all of this is playing within these five elements. So, the best drink we can have is pure water. If you have certain diseases—blood pressure issues, stomach problems, blood problems, skin problems, and many others—some we can cure, some we cannot. We have to go to a doctor. I personally respect allopathic medicine too. Anything which helps us is good. The best advice I can give you, if you like to do it, is to have a copper pot with a capacity of 2-3 liters of water. Fill it with water and keep it in your room at room temperature, not in the fridge. In the morning when you get up, try to drink five or six glasses of that water. It’s not easy because we are used to drinking coffee, but try. After you begin your activities, you can go walking or do some exercises. It is proven that many diseases are cured through drinking clean water. Please try. You will see, within three months you will feel completely different. That is the miracle of water. The environment is also nourishment. When you are with your friends, how happy you are. With your family, how happy you are. Or if you are in prison, how unhappy you are. This is the environment. Our psyche changes according to the environment. Therefore, always go to good societies, good people, and nature. Take nature walks. Thinking is nourishment. If you have positive and healthy thinking, you will be healthy. If you have negative thinking, you are polluting yourself. Positive thinking means you are enlightening yourself. I used to say, if you can’t dry the tears of others, don’t be the cause of the tears. This is also not easy, but if we would like to do it, it is very easy. So the solid nourishment, liquid, environment, company, and thinking—this is very, very important for a yogī or practitioner to live a healthy, happy life. Then come the movements. Movement is very important. If one has to lie down on a hospital bed the whole day without moving, it is very hard. The body needs movement. Yoga is balanced movement; it is called psychosomatic movement. Yoga is very personal and independent. You don’t need anything. Wherever you are, just have one or two square meters of space, and you can practice. There are so many different exercises. Even now they are doing them in airplanes, and I am surprised to see. In an aeroplane, what they are doing is the first part of Sarvahitāsana of "Yoga in Daily Life," which you have in your yoga book. Thirty-five years ago, I offered it to them, but they didn’t take it. Now, of course, they don’t mention it’s yoga, but they mention some good exercise. In yoga, we have three different kinds of movements. The first is dynamic movement, which should warm up our body—body-warming exercises, but not too hectic. These dynamic movements warm up our muscles and make them more flexible. Then comes stretching. After that come the postures. If we do this systematically, it will influence your entire body positively: the glandular systems, the limbs, the organs, the ligaments, the joints, the whole body. We will have a demonstration, and I think some demonstrators will come here. After the physical exercises, what we call āsanas, then comes the breath. When we were born, what did we do first? We inhaled. And what will we do last in this life? Exhale, and we will not be able to inhale anymore. Imagine the ocean from one shore to the other shore. That is our life. Between one shore and the other, there are only waves. If the waves are calm, everything is beautiful. If the waves are very high with storms and hurricanes, it is very restless. So breath is life. Life is the breath. Mother Nature has given a guarantee. How many years' guarantee do you have? It means how many times you have to breathe. Then you have no more breath, no more credit. Life is finished. There is a battery charging. Now they say, "How many times can this battery be charged? Then the battery will be finished." If we use the battery too much, we have to recharge often. If we use it less, then the life of the battery will be long. Similarly, according to yoga, using your breath quickly means you are shortening your life. Therefore, always breathe slowly. Now, there is something like, for example, when you are running or jogging, naturally your breath quickens. That is counted as a training exercise. A sportsman has a very balanced, relaxed breath. That is the sign of health. So in yoga, especially, the breath is beautiful and very important: what we inhale, how we inhale, and how we exhale. There are techniques on how to reduce toxins from the body, especially for people abusing drugs who would like to give up. Alcohol is also a drug. You know very well the problem your country is facing through alcohol, and we know the whole world is a victim of alcohol. Young people destroy their beautiful lives. How many families are destroyed because of alcohol? How many millions of children are without parents or have only one parent? How many women or men are unhappy because of alcohol? The decision is yours whether to use it or not. If you would like to give this up and purify all the toxins from the body, including from heavy drugs, then there are two techniques: drink a lot of pure, clean water every morning without soda, and practice prāṇāyāma. Prāṇāyāma will purify our whole system. Prāṇāyāma means breath exercise. There are three levels of breathing: the abdominal breath (by the diaphragm), the chest breath. All creatures who breathe rapidly through the chest have a short life—dogs, rabbits, and so on, because they breathe like this. Those who breathe from the diaphragm have a medium length of life. We often breathe only from the chest because we wear tight dresses and want to expand our chest, constantly pressing the stomach in, which is not healthy. Breathe through the stomach slowly, like a crocodile or like a turtle living in the water—a slow breath. We will demonstrate this also. So breath is life, life is breath, the air principle. We inhale the cosmic energy; the flame of our life is nourished by the cosmic mother. After that comes relaxation. Stress is all over the world. We who live in this modern world are full of stress. Nearly every human is a victim of this stress. And due to humans, animals are also in stress: dogs, house pets, cats. In America, they have yoga for dogs. Did you know this? Well, I will send you some articles. Yoga for dogs means you go with your dog, you learn to relax, and your dog also learns to relax. There are certain exercises, I don’t know which they are doing. You know that often a husband or wife is too violent to each other, or the husband is very angry, then the court gives an order to that man, if he was too violent to his wife, as a punishment he has to attend three years of yoga class. He has to bring every month, for three months, a certificate from the yoga teacher that he attends the class. Part 2: Yoga in Daily Life: Harmony for Body, Mind, and Soul After three years, a person learns how to accept mistakes, how to rid themselves of aggressivity, to understand ethical principles, what life is, and what the life of others means. After three years, that person is completely different, and he or she becomes a good yoga teacher. Yoga is also prominent in New York. I was there last year for ten days, two or three times. In many companies, I was invited to give yoga lectures, and to many media outlets. Those of you who have been there may know that any company with more than twenty employees has a yoga room in their office. At lunchtime, all employees go there to practice 35 to 40 minutes of yoga, paid for by the company because, after practicing, the employees are more capable of working and concentrating. Also, in many schools there is yoga, and the students there have the best results. In our school in Jadan Ashram, which was mentioned here, we started with 150 students. In five years, we have more than 1,500 students and we don't have space for them. But what I want to tell you is that, according to the year-end results, the Jadan Ashram school has the best results in the whole district. This comes out in the newspapers. So, children also become calm. Unfortunately, many television programs are filled with weapons. Yoga makes a human a real human—not a terrorist, not a criminal, not a fanatic. It instills an understanding of love for nature. So, relaxation—yoga for the dog or for humans—is relaxation. In Vienna, Austria, I had yoga classes for diplomatic people. In 1972, a lady from the American embassy was there, and after one month she asked me a question: "Swamiji, is it possible that my practicing yoga influences my husband?" I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Since I practice yoga, he is very calm, very relaxed." I said, "Yes, ma'am, because you were the cause of his restlessness." So, definitely, when you practice, your husband will be more relaxed. Or your wife. A good husband or good wife will advise their spouse to practice yoga. She asks every day, "Darling, did you practice?" "What? Yoga? No, I don't want to. It's your way, not my way." She says, "OK, I'm going to practice. Won't you like to join me?" A man can never say no to his wife. Of course, man is the head. All decisions man has. Woman is the neck. He is deciding, but he cannot say yes or no without the permission of the neck. So the neck is taking care of the head. Relaxation. After that comes more meditation. It develops into meditations. So this relaxation and meditation are called anti-stress techniques. It is a balsam for anti-stress, a mental balsam. Yoga is designed for humans to be healthy, to be good, and to take care of nature. Yoga in Daily Life is designed carefully according to ancient, authentic literature—ancient wisdom for modern times. There are many high aims in yoga: energy centers, chakras, awakening of the Kuṇḍalinī. It is a science of body, mind, soul, and consciousness. The unconscious level is where our past life's destiny is dormant. The subconscious level is where all our impressions and experiences from this life are dormant. The conscious—we are just now awakened and ready to receive anything; we are prepared to accept anything. Higher consciousness—that's meditation. And finally, at the end of life, it is called cosmic consciousness. These are the main levels of consciousness: unconscious, subconscious, conscious, higher consciousness, and cosmic consciousness. Within these levels of consciousness, there is what is called the Self, and that Self is aware of all this. Let's say you are sleeping and you dream. You were on the peak of the Tatras. Beautiful day, beautiful flowers, good air, nice oxygen—oh, it's beautiful. Then you went to a hut and had a very nice meal. Mostly we dream of eating when we are hungry at night. Then you wake up. How do you know that you were dreaming? How did you know that you were dreaming? When we go to the dream world, this reality disappears. When we come to this world, the dream reality disappears. Similarly, there is one who is constantly observing or witnessing the dream level or this conscious level. So, dream, sleep, and awakened—these are three levels of consciousness. Every day we are pendling. Which is connected with past destiny, and we are victims of the destiny, which is connected with our subconscious, our emotion, and psychic, and which is connected to our everyday life. We are struggling for it. We are 24 hours moving in these three quarters. If we come, through meditation or relaxation, to the higher consciousness, then we are able to overcome or solve the stress we have in different situations of our life. Finally, this human spirit or human consciousness merges into the cosmic consciousness. Feelings, pain, love, pleasantness—animals also have feelings, but they do not have this opportunity. We humans have a powerful tool to realize this. So yoga is for our good health, the well-being of our entire life, to create a happy, good family and world, and finally to realize that God in which we believe. God is only one, but we gave different names, so it doesn't matter. Finally, we will come to that one, which is the real one. This is what I mean by yoga and daily life: harmony for the body, mind, and soul. In these two days—tomorrow and the day after tomorrow—we will work on something more concrete regarding these points. And now I will call the demonstrators. I thank you for your listening. If you have any questions, write them down and pass them. Thank you. The water from Poprad is well water. So, let's see how to begin yoga exercise. Lie down and relax. People think relaxation is boring. That's wrong. When you are very tired and you are sleeping on a very comfortable bed with good temperature, it's not boring; you enjoy the sleep. So after a whole day's work, we relax. This position is called Ānanda Āsana, where you are relaxing the whole body. You can lie down on your stomach if you want, or on your side, or on your back. First, you have to relax, to become aware of your body, your breath, your thoughts. You withdraw yourself from the external world, and you get yourself to be with thyself. Now you feel your body. You know that you are living. Now, please slowly move your hands and legs. Deep inhale, exhale, and sit up. Now we will do the first dynamic movements. Please stretch your legs and move your feet front and back. It's stretching as well as a dynamic movement. You can do this while sitting on a chair or anywhere. Thank you. Now, legs apart, and rotate your feet at the ankle. Other direction. Very good. Now hold your left thigh with locked fingers under the thigh. Heel a little up. Inhale. Exhale and bend the knee, and touch your nose to your knee. Inhale and stretch the leg out. So, one, two, three, four. With the right leg: one, two, three, four, five, six. With both: one, two, three, four, five, six. Okay. Now we call the boat rolling. So, go ahead. It is at the same time stretching and dynamic movements. It warms up your body. Other direction. Palms up. Very good. Now stretching. Hold your toes, Paścimottānāsana. So, hands on the thighs. Inhale, hands up. And exhale, bend forward, hold your toes, Pāścimottānāsana. Stretch your body. Press your knees on the ground. This is a stretching posture, but it is also called Paścimottānāsana. Paścim means your back—back stretching, also our hamstrings, thigh muscles, calf muscles. Hey boy, don't be nervous. Don't move too much. No movements, no moving. Slowly inhale and come up, hands up, and hands down. Now, another dynamic movement, as well as stretching, is called Marjari. So you go ahead and do it yourself. This Marjari, if you can do it every day, it's a blessing for your back. Good for digestion, good against constipation, and it's very, very good for your lungs. You inhale deeply, and you exhale slowly. It's also very good if women have problems with menstruation cramps. Immediately, it will release the pain. Also, very good for the prostrators. This is a blessing posture. So nine, up, ten. Stand up. Stretching as well as body warming. It's called Tāḍāsana. Interlock your fingers. Legs together. Hands on the head. And slowly stretch the body. Stand on the toes. And back. One, one. Thank you. The āsana, the posture: Ardha-matsyendrāsana. Do you know this? Yes. It is very hot here. Do they not have air conditioning? Or air? No, only ventilation. Oh, it's only for the visitors. What? Air conditioning? We are not visitors. It's not here on the podium. Only for people? Yes, only for people. Yes, this air conditioning influences only the people sitting in the... Dobrý je. Down. Ej, počkaj, počkaj, what are you doing? Ne, ne,... ne. Sit up, sit up, sit up. Postavte sa. You are yoga teachers? Oh, boys. Ardha Matsyendrāsana. They are yoga teachers. I will teach you again. Bend your left knee and place the foot outside of the right knee. That's it. And now bend your right knee, and the foot goes to that side. Now turn to the opposite side. Yes. And hold yourself. Hey girl, look to your brother. Thank you. You know, there is also one symptom which humans have, that's called nervousness. And sometimes when you are on the stage, in front of the master also, it's very natural that you are in another consciousness. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Now, dear brothers and sisters, now is your chance to practice. Don't miss the chance. After half an hour, nobody will teach you here. So, best would be if you take your shoes out. You lie down. You know how many hours your foot is in the shoes? Now you finally liberate your toes. A little bit, contract the toes and stretch the toes. And put a little bit of stress. What we are going to do is an anti-stress relaxation. Or you may call it meditation. Meditation follows these techniques. So you are welcome to do this with your index fingers and thumbs touching together. It helps to relax the thoughts. Palms either up or down, touching thighs or up. You may lean on your chair, and in this hall, there are many things to see. So whatever you want to see, look at it now. After, we will close our eyes, and there will be nothing new to see. I have a toy with me, boys and girls. I know you like the toy. It's this one. I press the red button longer, and something beautiful happens. Then I close it. Thank you. If you can do it too, now slowly close your eyes. Make yourself comfortable. Feel comfortable. And relax the whole body. Withdraw yourself from the external world. Be aware of your being here in this hall. Take one deep inhale and exhale, and relax the whole body. No concentration, no imagination. Just be aware of your being here in this hall. Feel and relax your toes. Feel your foot soles. And feel your calf muscles. Feel and relax your knees—no movements, just be comfortable and consciously relax your thighs. Relax your hips and relax your stomach muscles. The whole trunk of the body, just relax. Relax your elbows. Feel your palms and fingers. Feel your lower arms. Upper arms. Your shoulders are relaxed. Relax your neck. Relax your jaw. And face muscles—your lips are relaxed, eyelids are gently closed. Feel your whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Completely relaxed. Úplně uvolněte. The whole day has passed. You are working hard physically and mentally. Now it is time—no tensions at all, either physically or mentally. Just relax. I am relaxing. I feel so relaxed. I am comfortable. I feel my whole body relaxed. Now feel your breath. Yes, I know that I am inhaling. I know that I am exhaling. Time of inhalation: my body is recharging cosmic energy, life force—Prāṇa Śakti. And at the time of the exhalation, your body is exhaling all kinds of toxins, and you feel relaxed. I know that I am inhaling. My breath. Thanks to God, I can breathe healthily. Try to relax inwardly. For the time being, just let be all the sorrows. Relax. Uvolnite sa. Uvolnite sa. Relax. Uvolnite sa. Relax your body. Relax your breath. Be one with thyself. Now relax. Feel and follow the breath. I know that I am inhaling. I feel my breath. I know that I am exhaling. I feel a little warmer in my nostrils. Feel and follow your breath. I know that I am inhaling, and I know that I am exhaling. Feel the warmth in the nostrils. A few times, deep inhale and exhale. Consciously, deeply inhale and exhale. And feel your whole body. The body is relaxed. Become aware of your being here, my voice, and try to become extrovert. Slowly move your toes, contract your toes, stretch your toes. Move your fingers, close the fist, open the palm, close the fist, and stretch your hands. A little bit towards your knee, fold your palms together, rub the palms, and place the hands on the face. Put your hands on your face, open your eyes, and move your hands. This you may call a deep relaxation. Your continuing becomes a meditation. That is the best way; it is a key to the meditation. I know that today so many brothers and sisters around the world are watching this webcast. I would like to send them many blessings from the beautiful country Slovakia, the beautiful city Poprad, near the high mountains Tatras. All dear brothers and sisters around the world. This weekend we will continue this program more, and you know that beside us there is another hall; many people couldn't fit here. They are sitting in another hall with a big screen, so I wish them also all the best and blessings. Thank you for your coming. I wish you good health, harmonious and happy long life. And if you come tomorrow, see you tomorrow. Otherwise, somewhere, definitely, here or there. I thank the organizers and all who were working with them. And once more, the mayor of the city, who helped a lot so that we could be here. Thank you, and God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Dear Swamiji, let me please thank you in the name of all the people present, and also with my own name. Not only that you stayed with us in such a hot condition, but mostly because of your devoted words, and we could spend golden minutes with you. As one saying from two thousand years ago stated: the world of the sands is like a seed. They could be dried on the rock. They can even be found in soil which is not so good, so they will not grow up. But if there is good soil, they will grow. And I am sure, and I hope you will agree with me, that here in this hall there is much of the good soil, and a lot of trees of wisdom will grow from your seeds. Once again, thank you in the name of Yoga in Daily Life, Poprad branch. And we would be very happy if you come again. We would like to give you flowers as words of our thanks. Together with Swamiji, this hope should survive also in the days later. Thank you very much. I want to thank Peter for his beautiful words and his team. God bless you all. I hope I'm doing the right thing.