The Light Yoga Space bringing Sivananda Yoga to North, East and Central London
100 De Beauvoir Road London N1 4EN | lightyogaspace@gmail.com | 020 7254 9697 | 07956 208 666 | 07812 982 858
The Five Points of Yoga
Yoga is not just an exercises routine but an entire lifestyle of physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being. Swami Vishnudevananda encapsulated the main essence of yoga in these five points:
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3. Proper Relaxation
Proper Relaxation
When the body and the mind are consistently overworked, their natural efficiency to perform diminishes.
With our busy lifestyles even our relaxation choices can be quite stimulating. Watching telly stimulates the mind and the senses with a barrage of information and visual stimulation. A pint at the pub may be a fun and enjoyable evening but is again stimulating to the nervous system. Many of us with our fast paced dynamic lifestyles have even forgotten that we need to relax and recharge at all.
Even while trying to rest, if we are unable to let go of muscular and mental tension, we are still expending a lot of unnecessary physical and mental energy. Overtime the inability to relax properly can create stress disorders and physical and mental discomfort.
Much of our energy is often spent keeping the muscles in continual readiness for work, than in the actual useful work done.
A yoga practitioner aims to experience relaxation in every action. Being able to approach life from a position of calm relaxation is a practice developed through yoga. In a Sivananda yoga class we practice relaxation in every Asana, throughout the breathing exercises and we always close the class with a deep guided relaxation practice.
Learn to Relax in the Asana Class
During the guided yogic relaxation at the end of the yoga class there is no unnecessary energy being spent. So deep relaxation is encouraged. In this yoga practice we learn about three levels of relaxation Physical Mental and Spiritual
Physical Relaxation
Firstly we rest the body by putting it into a position where it doesn’t need to make any physical effort at all. ‘Shavasana’ (the corpse pose) We lye on our backs with our feet and legs apart.
Through guided relaxation techniques and visualisation we send suggestions to the body parts to fully relax.
‘I relax my feet, my feet are relaxed’
‘I relax my legs my legs are relaxed’
...and so on.
Mental Relaxation
Once we have worked our way through the physical relaxation we bring our awareness to the mental relaxation. Allowing the mind to let go even temporarily of the thoughts and emotions that stop us from attaining deeper relaxation.
Spiritual Relaxation
The Spiritual relaxation is a knowing that we are neither just our body nor our mind. That by letting go of our ego attachments, sense distractions and earthly concerns, true and sublime relaxation is possible. We use our imaginations to visualise an image of deep stillness and peace to give ourselves a taste of this ultimate bliss.
