TV Channel

Oṁ asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, mṛtyormā amṛtaṁ gamaya, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Merciful Lord, lead us from unreality to reality, lead us from darkness to light, lead us from mortality to immortality. Peace, peace, peace. Salutation to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent, in His Divine Presence. Very good evening, dear brothers and sisters. I am especially happy to be in Sarajevo, a city I have known from the Olympic Games. Finally, the time has come for me to be here. This evening is dedicated to the well-being of humans: Yoga in Daily Life. This means to practice every day, to lead your life according to yogic principles. Our subject today is yoga and health. You know, the most ancient medical system is called Āyurveda. Āyur means life, age—our age, how young or old we are. Veda means knowledge. Thus, Āyurveda is the science of life. Through nourishment: anything we take into our body is nourishment. Food, solid or liquid, air, as well as movements, the environment, the atmosphere—all belong to our well-being. The first mantra or instruction in Āyurveda is "phala sukha nirogī kāyā." First, happiness is good health. Nothing external can make us truly happy. Your money, house, properties, partner, children—they are all temporary. Real happiness is when you are healthy. Some Western scientists have said health is not everything, but everything is nothing without health. The great saint Swami Vivekananda said, "Life means health." Therefore, yoga is, first and foremost, designed for the well-being of humans. It is the science of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. The great sage Patañjali said yoga practice begins with discipline. Self-discipline is the key to success. Only those who have discipline can be successful. Therefore, your practice needs discipline. Health cannot be bought, but health can be gained through exercise. There are four main principles to follow if you practice yoga and wish to be healthy and happy. First, Āhāra—our nourishment. Second, Vihāra—where we spend our time. If you go for a walk in nature, you have very good air and oxygen. If you go to some clubs with closed windows, the air is not good. So be aware: where are you going? With whom do you spend your time? Then comes Ācāra—behavior. How do you behave towards your friends, parents, children, nature, and animals? And then comes Vichāra—thoughts. Negative thinking has a negative influence on your health. In psychology, they say negative thinking means poisoning yourself. So, how do you think? What you think, you will feel. These four things—diet, environment, behavior, and thoughts—will take care of your health. Now, health means not only the physical body. We have different bodies: the five kośas or sheaths. These are the body of nourishment (the physical body), the energy body, the mental body, the subtle body, and the causal body. Anything that happens to us will first influence our subtle, psychic body. Any kind of illness first attacks our astral being. Our energy body changes its vibration, which we don't see, but later we feel physical discomfort or pain. When that energy turns into negativity and attacks your physical body, it is already too late; the problem is established. There are many ways to seek treatment. I must say allopathic medicine is also very important. Scientists and doctors have done a lot of research; I would not neglect that. Some people say, "Oh, don't take this medicine, it's all chemical," but only a healthy person says this. I will not say this medicine cannot save our life. But don't take it unnecessarily. So, I believe if there is no other treatment, we should not reject allopathic medicine. Similarly, there is Āyurvedic medicine, which is also very good, but it is a slow and sure process with few side effects. Āyurveda includes what we call naturopathy and diet. Then there is pranic healing treatment. To some degree, yes, it functions; to some degree, it doesn't. It is more psychic—you accept that energy and you feel it is helping you. So, there are different therapies in the world. Now, yoga is our main subject today. Before I say more, a question can be: can yoga cure every kind of illness? No. If there is a virus, disease, or infection, yoga cannot help. If there is an accident and an operation is needed, yoga cannot help. Therefore, we have to be very open and take that which will help us. This is my experience and suggestion. Yoga is a very ancient system. Nothing on this planet is older than yoga. Literally, the word yoga means union—the union of individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. Yoga means harmony: harmony of body, mind, emotion, intellect, memory, and consciousness; harmony with nature and the elements. There are many different kinds of yoga. In this modern world, many people are developing new things and calling it yoga. Someone asked me a few days ago, "Swamiji, do you know the yoga called 'wine test yoga'?" You can never learn enough; there's always something to learn. I said no, I don't know this. Well, there are now new movements where people go to practice yoga and afterwards drink alcohol. Definitely, that is not authentic yoga. Every day, people develop new things for commercial purposes. Yogis were observing nature. How does nature maintain its health and balance? Yoga is divided into five main parts: 1. Karma Yoga: Work is worship. Helping hands have more value than folded hands. Help the needy, whether human or animal. Where help is needed, argument is not needed. Karma yoga means do not expect the fruits of your deeds. Don't expect a "thank you." Do it from your heart for the well-being of others. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa said through karma yoga, your spiritual practice will be successful. Karma means action. There is a cause, an action, and a result. What comes out of it is your destiny, your kismat. Where there is action, there is reaction. Good action has a good reaction; bad action has a bad reaction. Do good, get good; do bad, face bad. 2. Bhakti Yoga: The yoga of prayer and devotion. There is God, and there is His divine blessing. 3. Rāja Yoga: The yoga of self-discipline. 4. Jñāna Yoga: The philosophical path. Know thyself. Who are you? What is the ultimate truth? From where do I come? Why did I come? Where will I go? 5. Haṭha Yoga: Haṭha means to do something where you need more self-control and discipline. Haṭha yoga has six techniques only; it is also known as ṣaṭ-karma. Here, people often understand Haṭha Yoga as practicing āsanas. Āsana is a part of Rāja Yoga, not Haṭha Yoga. Prāṇāyāma is also part of Rāja Yoga, though in Haṭha yoga there is one technique that is a prāṇāyāma technique. These six techniques of Haṭha Yoga are: 1. Netī: Cleaning of the nose. Every day, clean both nostrils with water. There is a special pot with lukewarm water and salt. You put the spout into one nostril, and water flows through the left nostril and comes out through the right nostril automatically, then vice versa. It is very pleasant, very good for your eyesight, sinuses, headaches, or heaviness in the forehead. This technique is called Jal Netī ("jal" means water). It helps with sinus problems and allergies like dust or flower pollen allergy. It takes only a few minutes in your bathroom. 2. Kapāla Bhātī: After Jal Netī, some water remains inside, so we clean it with Kapāla Bhāti. "Kapāl" means forehead and sinuses. It is done with more pressure on the exhalation from the abdomen. Then you do it through one nostril at a time. The whole day you will have a pleasant feeling. Your eyes will be relaxed, vision will be good, head and face muscles relaxed. You will look like you are smiling. 3. Dhautī: A yogi observed an elephant with acidity drink water from a lake and then vomit to clean its stomach. The yogi, who also had acidity, did the same. So, if you have problems with acidity, heartburn, or a sour, burning sensation after eating, the best treatment is Kunjal Kriyā (Dhautī). How to do it? Only in the morning on an empty stomach, drink one or two liters of water at body temperature with a little salt, as quickly as you can. Then lean over your washbasin or bathtub, press with two fingers on the back of the tongue, bend forward, and all the water will come out. You will have a beautiful feeling the whole day. It can also help with asthma, allergies, and breathing problems. It is not a miracle; it is a yoga technique that helps whether you believe in God or not. 4. Bastī: In modern medicine, this is called an enema—cleaning of the intestines. It needs two to three hours and should be practiced four times a year at the beginning of each new season. Now is the right time for Śaṅkh Prakṣālā. You drink about 5 to 10 liters of water, and as clean as you drink, that clean should come out. Your yoga teacher can teach you this. You will never have digestion problems, constipation, or gastric issues. You can eat as much as you like without gaining extra kilos; your body will reduce them. It is the best way to lose weight and keep a good figure. 5. Naulī: This is a little difficult to learn. It is the churning of the stomach muscles and intestines. It is a very beautiful practice that takes time to master. Yogis challenge that those who do this kriyā every day will have no problems; you will never get cancer, and it helps with diabetes, blood pressure, and many other issues. But you have to practice. Discipline is key. 6. Trāṭak: Concentration. Concentrate on the tip of a candle flame that does not smoke. In the evening, with closed windows, gaze at the flame for a minute, then close your eyes. You will see the flame inside. But don't believe you are enlightened yet! It will calm your thoughts. Daily practice makes stress disappear and develops memory and concentration. There is one miracle in this tratak for children aged four to twelve who wet the bed. Teach them this evening practice just once, and the problem can be finished. These six techniques—Netī, Kapālabhātī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, and Trāṭak—will bless you with good health. You will realize how healthy you are. Then, of course, you go to your yoga practices: āsanas and prāṇāyāmas. According to original yoga, we have three kinds of exercises. First, body-warming exercises (yog-vijayam). Then comes stretching to remove tensions from the muscles. Then come the postures. Yoga postures are psychosomatic movements; they help your physical body, mental body, subtle body, and your control over emotion and intellect. If you want the complete benefit of yoga, dedicate one and a half hours every day. Just ten minutes or half an hour is like fast food—it's not good. Morning is best. Get up a little earlier, do your yoga exercises, enjoy your breakfast, and go to work. All day you will be happy, relaxed, and feeling divine. Help yourself. Yoga postures improve immunity in the body, meaning you will be able to fight against many diseases. Prāṇāyāma: prāṇa means vitality, life force; āyāma means exercise. What did you do first when you were born? First, you inhaled. The second thing was crying. So first we inhaled, and the last thing we will do in this life is exhale, and we will not be able to inhale again. It is one long breath from birth till death; between are only the waves of inhalation and exhalation. Breath is life. Without breath, we cannot exist. Our whole body is breathing. But there are techniques on how to get more oxygen and train our body. The difference between sport, gymnastics, and yoga is this: yoga is done slowly and with relaxation. After that, you meditate or concentrate. Then you have your healthy nourishment. Eat organic, vegetarian food for good health. Drink good water, less beer, and less alcohol. Try to have healthy drinks. God has given such beautiful nature. Your country has very good soil, nature, and water. Now it depends on you. Your life is in your hands. A healthy life is a happy life; an unhealthy life is a suffering life. So that is what I call Yoga in Daily Life. We will learn more tomorrow. Thank you.