The United Nations has declared June 21st “International Day of Yoga” – and out of the 193 member countries of the UN, 192 will be holding collective yoga sessions on that day. More than the gentle exercise of succeeding postures that result in overall physical and mental benefits for health, yoga is primarily the practice of union, as its Sanskrit root “yog” indicates. Union between what and what?
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the most famous sourcebook of yoga elaborates on the meaning of this “union.” The opening verse states:
Yoga is: the cessation of the activity (vrtti) of the mind (citta). Yoga harnesses the mind for the purpose of re-establishing it in its-self, as the ensuing verse states:
The idea of the observer (drastuh) turning the gaze to the “svarup” or one-self, one’s own self, is the essence of vedic teachings and can be found in all the sister vedic sciences, such as Ayurveda, and is particularly highlighted in Vaidya Mishra’s ayurvedic SVA lineage. There is not doubt about the health benefits of yoga. But nowhere is this more evident than in this favorite verse of Vaidya Mishra:
This verse translates into: “Health results when the self is established in its-self.” All of SV Ayurveda is driven towards the
practical application of this yogic formula: re-turning the self towards the self, bringing ourselves back home to ourselves, re-uniting ourselves with ourselves. But what does this mean?
In practical SVA terms, Vaidya explains this as the union between the mind and the satwa, or the “light of the soul.” If we were to picture our souls, we would see them as self-effulgent gems reverberating with eternal light. The light aura that surrounds our souls carries powerful life-force, or prana. The mind can be in state of connectedness or disconnectedness with that light. When it is disconnected, it gets led astray by the senses and their objects. When it is connected to this light, and grounded by it, then its actions are life, health, and evolution supporting.
Vaidya Mishra’s SV Ayurveda is geared towards driving the self back to its-self through the full panoply of ayurvedic practices: herbs, diet, routine, marma therapy, transdermal applications, etc, because the disconnection of the mind from the satwa results in the
greatest ill-health, also known as: “pragyaparadh.” This can be roughly translated into the “greatest mistake of the intellect.”
The Charak Samhita, the sourcebook of Ayurveda, says: “dhi drithi smriti brahmsaha it pragyaparadha.” What is this “mistake” of the intellect? It is when “dhi dritti and smritti” or the “gathering, storing and recall of information” – primary tasks of the mind, are not working in harmony. When the mind is literally fighting against itself, then it is in a state of pragyaparadh, then an individual is unable to keep proper coordination between manas or thinking, vacha or speech, and karmana or action. Charak Samhita further says: “pragyaparadh tridosha prakopanam,” pragyaparadh unsettles all 3 doshas of the body, inducing certain dis-ease and illness. Disease has its root in the healthy functioning of the mind. The mind can only be healthy when it is in close harmony with itself, basking in the light of its own satwa!
When the mind is not established in its-self, or as Vaidya Mishra would say, in its own “satwa,” the light of its soul, then it gets carried away by the horses, the senses, and is in an unhealthy un-yogic state. When the mind is a-yogic, then it can be led astray into destructive activities that do not support the 3 pillars of life: a) diet or ahar; b) sleep or nidra; c) brahmacharya or life-supporting code of conduct, resulting in further pain and suffering.
SV Ayurveda has many simple and quick yogic techniques to induce the state of yogic self-effulgent joyful peace, where the mind is connected to its own satwa and enjoys endless wave upon wave of bliss.
SVA Marma Massage, in particular the Samadhi Set, have been put together by Vaidya to give the immediate experience of this yogic experience through the science of marma touch, sound therapy, aromatherapy, as well as herbs. The Samadhi Set brings together 5 different modalities to draw the mind back in. The marma points that are selected – tala hridiya, kant, sthapani – are key points that support the mind’s re-turn upon its source, while simultaneously opening the heart lotus to allow its full light to reverberate to the mind. The wild-horses, or senses, are pacified, without having to force them violently. See the article on “Samadhi Set” on www.vaidyamishra.com/blog
Vaidya Mishra also teaches the special advanced technique of kurma pacification. The kurma is the energetic turtle that 
resides in the lower abdomen. It it the reservoir of soma. It is also the root of the lotus that blossoms in the heart.
In addition to the kurma and the heart lotus, Vaidya Mishra also talks at length about the “bramharandra” or the primary gateway of prana into our body, the thousand-holed pranic filter that is located at the top of heads, that lets in just enough cosmic pranic energy suited to each individual’s physiological needs.
The objective of all yogic practices is to induce more prana. Prana is what we all thrive on. A yogic settled state of silence bliss ushers in waves of pranic energy, grounding us in total mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
You can now let that peaceful joy unfold in your heart through Vaidya Mishra’s Samadhi Set, or one of his many other SVA modalities for enhanced yogic bliss and balance!
addition to our ongoing daily professional or familial obligations, we may find ourselves carried away by the whirlwind of back-to-back parties; endless shopping lists; painfully crowded malls and supermarkets; under-the-gun baking, cleaning and entertaining; family obligations and traditions that may involve challenging emotional settings. So it’s very easy to lose sight of ourselves and get caught in dizzying activity, compromising our own health. By the time it’s finally time to celebrate, you’re probably already exhausted having tried to make things perfect for everybody, but your diet is off, your can’t seem to get a full night’s sleep, and you are mentally tense, emotionally fragile – in a word: you’re a wreck! True, you may not be able to change how things are going to unfold and how stressful they are going to be, but you can manage how you are going to go through and respond to the stress.
and body release specific chemical toxins, such as cortisol, that create metabolic imbalances that trigger inflammatory conditions. Stress compromises your body’s acid-alkaline balance, bringing down your immunity and making you prone to ill-health, weight-gain, depression, and more. Did you know that you can correct your body’s response to stress? This involves more than a mind-over-matter trick – when stress is at its peak, it’s hard to stop and regroup no matter what you tell yourself to do. However, with Ayurveda, and specifically SV Ayurveda, we learn that there are herbs and ingredients that can naturally boost our bliss, or “correct” our behavior by increasing the “happy chemicals” in our brain: serotonin; dopamine; endorphins. With Ayurveda, you can also help curb those undue holiday errings of the senses: the overeating; the hang-overs; unruly sleep, etc.
will highlight everything that may have recently changed in your lives — a divorce, a death in the family, estranged family members, etc. If you are missing someone special this holiday season, if someone close to you has recently died or you can’t be with loved ones, first thing is to tell yourself it’s ok to feel sadness and grief. It’s OK to take time to cry and express your feelings, to give yourself the space to work through your emotions instead of suppressing them. You should not force yourself to be happy just because it’s the holiday season! But do not dwell on the sadness longer than you need to. Acknowledge it and release it. But isn’t that the tricky part?! How do you release sadness?
obligations and errands run us down. Due to mental and physical over-activity prana and vyana vata go out of balance, leaving us feeling frazzled, unable to settle down, and constantly haunted by the feeling of “always more to do!”
nd sip. This tea will enhance your sugar metabolism, by converting the sugar molecules into energy.
