I underwent Ananda Spurana Program (closely translates as Life Bliss Program) the last weekend. Earlier a colleague had literally run out of words describing the 'experience'. It got me curious and there I was at the centre to bliss out. It is an introductory level 2-day meditation program that works on the seven energy centers (chakras) in our body. The program is organized by Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a worldwide movement for meditation and healing. Nithya Dhyaan is a unique meditation technique devised by Paramahamsa Nithyananda and Ananda Spurana Program (ASP) is the precursor which looks at cleansing the seven energy chakras.The energy chakras (picture courtesy: Dhyanapeetam.org) when blocked by the negative emotions affects your well being and ASP helps eliminate the negativity in you. More about energy chakras in another post. Though I found the introduction to each meditation technique a little sleep inducing, the meditations as such were interesting and left me refreshed.
We were a small group of 11 people from different backgrounds, out of which 7 were ardent followers of Swamiji and were already practising Nithya Dhyaana. At the end of the first meditation which focussed on the Heart Center (Anahata Chakra), I could feel an energy wave propogating through my body. This tells me I might have had a heart blockage ;) Another interesting thing was out of 7, 6 exercises were done blindfolded. At the end of some meditations, I found myself at an entirely different location from where I started, without realising that I moved. The last meditation was Nithya Dhyaana itself which probably was the longest with 7 minutes of chaotic breathing followed by 7 minutes of humming in Vajrasana. This is followed by 7 minutes of bringing awareness to the 7 chakras. Then 7 minutes of silence and 10 minutes of listening to guru mantras (chantings). A mantra that goes like 'Brahmanandam paramasukhadam' was a familiar one from Rig Veda which used to be one of my school prayers. It's a pleasure to silently listen to these mantras.
I haven't undergone any major transformation. But last night I had the best sleep in some time and am smiling a little more than usual. It's definitely an experience to cherish. The guided meditation CD costs Rs.100/- which comes with a booklet that explains the process. Once you have your chakras activated, you can meditate playing back the CD. I'm not sure if I would become a part of the Nithyananda community but I intend to practice Nithya Dhyaana. If that makes me a happier person, why not!
We were a small group of 11 people from different backgrounds, out of which 7 were ardent followers of Swamiji and were already practising Nithya Dhyaana. At the end of the first meditation which focussed on the Heart Center (Anahata Chakra), I could feel an energy wave propogating through my body. This tells me I might have had a heart blockage ;) Another interesting thing was out of 7, 6 exercises were done blindfolded. At the end of some meditations, I found myself at an entirely different location from where I started, without realising that I moved. The last meditation was Nithya Dhyaana itself which probably was the longest with 7 minutes of chaotic breathing followed by 7 minutes of humming in Vajrasana. This is followed by 7 minutes of bringing awareness to the 7 chakras. Then 7 minutes of silence and 10 minutes of listening to guru mantras (chantings). A mantra that goes like 'Brahmanandam paramasukhadam' was a familiar one from Rig Veda which used to be one of my school prayers. It's a pleasure to silently listen to these mantras.
I haven't undergone any major transformation. But last night I had the best sleep in some time and am smiling a little more than usual. It's definitely an experience to cherish. The guided meditation CD costs Rs.100/- which comes with a booklet that explains the process. Once you have your chakras activated, you can meditate playing back the CD. I'm not sure if I would become a part of the Nithyananda community but I intend to practice Nithya Dhyaana. If that makes me a happier person, why not!
Posts
9 comments:
here i am babe....so this is the weekend meditation you mentioned....interesting....the thing where you move without you knowing it sounds uncanny though.
Yeah! One meditation method 'Gibberish' to open the navel center required to talk anything but sense, basically to cry out your heart. Recollect things that hurt you in the past, things you still haven't let go off and scream. Yell at no one in a language you don't know. :) The idea here is whatever you say shouldn't get registered in your mind. This was done blindfolded. When I was done 'talking nonsense' and remained in silence for the next 10 minutes, I felt a lot lighter and also realised that the cloth was wet. When I took off the blindfold, I was elsewhere. A little away from where I was, facing a different direction.
Another meditation required to just lift legs one by one in different paces with the tandav music in the background. I finished it in some other corner of the room, but that makes sense, right?
There is a program in Chennai called introduced and promoted by the late Vedathri Maharishi called Simplified Kundalini Yoga. A word of caution though - awakening the chakras, Kundalini are major excercises for your body, phsyche and stuff. Do it with extreme caution. Do post your experiences.
Yesterday at work we had a session on Yoga by a coworker. He mentioned about this Vedathri Maharishi and the simplified yoga he advocates. It's a matter of pride that I have a great yogi in my family, Swami Vishnudevananda (attained mahasamadhi in 1993). He is considered the authority on Hatha yoga. As I said awakening the chakras was required to practise Nithyadhyaan. It was done under guidance. The Nithydhyaan guided meditation CD comes with the statuatory warning that don't try it with out cleansing the chakras.
isnt this that happydent swamy's cult..grinning ear to ear..bushy locks..hmmm fishy..
whadya mean by-"At the end of some meditations, I found myself at an entirely different location from where I started, without realising that I moved"... :O
and who is swami vishnudevananda???
njan arriyathe oru great yogi..
Well to your first comment, yeah you are right about the swamy. At times I feel he has an uncanny resemblance to Rimy Tomy ;) Jokes apart, this guy doesn't claim he's god and for a change says you are god. I really don't mind if someone tells me I'm divine :)
The meditation where I moved, check out one of my previous comments. Well anyway those were done standing at ease not sitting down. Say I moved while sitting down, don't you think I have all that it takes to go for the likes of Dance India Dance, Boogie Woogie etc.
You don't know Swami Vishnudevananda! Surprising, I thought you are a walking encyclopaedia :D He happens to be Valiacha's cousin brother (originally from Nemmara). Check this out for more info... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vishnu-devananda
He was quite a celebrity in his time, also known as flying swami.
Here are some more links
http://www.yogatravel.co.uk/yogadevananda.htm
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/teachers/swamiji/swamiji.html
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Post a Comment