Q and A of the week - No.9
In the age of Mirror home gym and various form of online yoga classes what are your views on practicing Yoga through these media?
Login
For your soul
Night of Consciousness - Maha Shiva Ratri
3 minutes
Maha Shiva-Ratri —The great night of awakening, dissolution, and insight. It is a night dedicated to Shiva. A night to rise from the corpse-like shava state to a Shiva-like state of consciousness.
Meaning: Shiva is the consciousness principle. It is what is left when everything else is taken away. It is what is present as a subtle undercurrent in everything be it living or not, animated or not, human or animal, object or subject.
Maha: greater than greatest, grand
Shiva: Consciousness, nothingness, fullness of emptiness, Shunya
Ratri: Ra means "to give" and tra "to protect," the night that nourishes, the grand night of dissolution
On Maha Shiva-Ratri
The night of light
The light of the night
With the fullness of the moon, may you be emptied
As the night sets in, may you be awakened
In a moment
Take a dip in the space of the body
The surrounding space
Only a moment is enough
If we are present with all that we are
Neither the mantra, nor the mudra
Neither the asana or the prana
Simply dive in the void
Let the dark of the night
Transform into the light of the night!
Do one or a combination of five practices listed below for the sake of awakening your own insight, to bring forth what lies dormant in us as consciousness. May we rise from Shava to Shiva.
1) Listen: Simply listen to the Maha Mritunjaya Mantra 108 times (here)
2) Chanting with Nyasa: Mental chanting of the mantra Om Namaha Shivaya with divination of the various chakra regions by touch.
OM focusing upon/gently touching the center of the eyebrows
NA focusing upon/gently touching the lower abdomen
MAHA focusing upon/gently touching the middle abdomen
SHI focusing upon/gently touching the navel
VA focusing upon/gently touching the heart space
YA focusing upon/gently touching the throat center
Continue by repeating as many rounds as you enjoy!
3) Practice: Yoga Nidra or Third Eye Meditation
4) Observe: Mauna—conscious silencing of the mind by practicing silence of speech and all forms of nonverbal communication for a couple hours in the evening. Avoid reading, writing, watching, listening to anything in this time period. Simply mentally recite your personal mantra, Om Namaha Shivaya or Mahamritunjay Mantra.
5) Hold: Shiva-Linga Natraja Mudra after meditation—hold it comfortably for few minutes. Check it out in the book Mudra: The Sacred Secret.
Happy Maha Shiva-Ratri! May the Shava rise from Shiva and may the Shiva attain Sada Shiva state.
PREPARE FOR YOGA NIDRA WITH THESE THREE PRACTICES
Want to know more about Yoga Nidra? Join me Yoga Nidra Training, Starting February 6, 2025.
✅ CEU's from Yoga Alliance and IAYT
✅ Attend Livestream/Watch Replay
✅ Apply for Partial Scholarships and Installment Payment
✅ 50% off for Repeat Participants and Indian Residents
Also on library
What does it mean to sign up for a yoga training
It means to wake up to ourSelf. It means to stop blaming. It means to take responsibility. It means to recognize, face, accept and transform our weaknesses.
Chakras- Are We Spinning the Wheels?
Chakras are not fancy or mystical, they are facts. We simply need to sharpen our instruments with which we perceive them.
As human beings, we have always been mesmerized and attracted by mystical concepts and experiences. This is where we are mistaken about Chkaras. What is mystical to us with our limited readiness, preparation and even more limited experiences is real to the Yogis/Yoginis.