Ayurveda and the Meditation for Vayu Siddhi
Sat Nam Dear Friends,
As many of you know, I have been considering moving the Wednesday morning class to Tuesday evenings at 5:30pm (still at Wild Mt.). I have officially decided to do this but will not be taking place right away. Class will be on Wednesday morning this week as usual and I will update you when the official switch is to take place (definitely by the first week in October but it could happen sooner). I hope this allows even more of you to attend. One of the greatest benefits of this change is that it will allow my beautiful wife, Simrit Kaur, to play music during the classes with me more often.
If you missed class last Wednesday, we did a beautiful meditation to “heal all sickness”. The meditation is said to give “Vayu Siddhi”. Vayu refers to the pranic winds that circulate throughout the body and mind. To stay healthy, the vayus must be circulating properly, in their appropriate directions (there are 5 of them), and without obstruction. When the vayus are out of balance, there is always a disruption in the mental or physical body. If there is deranged vayu movement, the result can be anxiety, fear, worry, negativity, as well as constipation or diarrhea (depending on the nature of the disruption), cold hands and feet, malabsorption, and other symptoms. Siddhi means power and refers to spiritual powers one can obtain from yogic practices. “Vayu Siddhi” then, is the power over the vayus. Coming from someone who has devoted a large part of his life to the study of Ayurvedic Medicine (the sister science and healing side of Yoga), believe me when I tell you that a large part of human life and health is maintaining a harmonious function of the 5 vayus. In Ayurveda, we have 3 doshas; Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are the bio-energetic forces that determine our state of health. Vata is the force of motion, Pitta is the force of heat, and Kapha is Stability and Sturcture. All three doshas must be in harmony for there to be health. If Vata is in excess there is an excess of motion, creating wear and tear, dryness and instability. This leads to the excessive break down in tissue and deterioration of the body and organs. Kapha is the opposing force of stability and structure. However if Kapha is in excess, then there is excess growth, stagnation, lethargy and sluggishness. Pitta is the force of heat and fire and controls digestion and metabolism. If Pitta is in excess there will be excessive heat in the body resulting in inflammation and burning of tissues. In Hindu mythology the three doshas are represented by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer deities. In the west, the three doshas can be equated to concepts of metabolism, catabolism and anabolism. For a healthy metabolism (Pitta) there must be a harmonious balance between anabolism (the building of tissue, Kapha) and catabolism (the break down of tissue, Vata). These are in depth concepts that I am only giving a general overview of so you may get the general idea. It is a well known and accepted fact that Vata is the king of the doshas. Vata is movement and without it Kapha and Pitta are worthless. It is also the dosha that causes the most problems. All of us have a unique constitution which will determine whether we are more prone to Vata, Pitta or Kapha problems. However, no matter what your constitution is, we all constantly deal with the wrath of Vata J. We are always doing-doing-doing—which is movement. Driving in our cars, conversating, going here, going there, doing this, doing that—you know. THIS IS WHY THE VATA AND THE VAYUS ARE SOOO IMPORTANT. And it is why I say that to calm vata and bring healthy flow to the vayus is partly the goal of human life and health! When the vayus are in balance we are calm, stable, can see clearly and are intuitive. Why? Because there is no excessive thoughts and motion in the mind preventing us from seeing what we naturally see when we are in a healthy state of being. Simple huh? When the vayus are balanced are elimination is healthy and regular, are digestion is good, and are circulation is good. When all of this is in harmony, then we as people are in harmony and we naturally serve our dharma, we naturally serve others, we naturally live for the enrichment of humanity and of the planet. This is a profound statement I am making that some people may not agree with but it doesn’t matter—I am saying it! When we are in our natural state of being, without the disruption of ill health, of dis-ease, of emotional and mental imbalance, then we naturally do what makes us happy. What makes us happy is serving, serving others happiness. There is no other way around it or to it. Happiness comes from selflessness, it comes from humility and it comes from acknowledging and accessing the spirit of God within you, then with that reaching out and touching the spirit of God within your brothers and sisters.
So with that said I will share the Meditation for Vayu Siddhi with you:
Posture and Mudra: Sitting in easy pose, place the back of the right hand into the palm of the left hand. The left thumb rests comfortably in the palm of the right hand while the right thumb crosses over the left thumb. Hold this hand position comfortably at the heart center.
Focus: Close the eyes, focus and the third eye and chant:
Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung
(the version of this mantra on Snatam Kaur’s Grace is a good one for this meditation, otherwise it can be chanted acapella in the traditional way, I can show you if you don’t know how at class
Continue for 11 minutes
To End: Inhale and suspend the breath in perfect stillness for 15-20 seconds. Exhale and relax.
This week we will be doing the yoga set for “Body Adjustment to Elevate the Spirit”
See you there
As many of you know, I have been considering moving the Wednesday morning class to Tuesday evenings at 5:30pm (still at Wild Mt.). I have officially decided to do this but will not be taking place right away. Class will be on Wednesday morning this week as usual and I will update you when the official switch is to take place (definitely by the first week in October but it could happen sooner). I hope this allows even more of you to attend. One of the greatest benefits of this change is that it will allow my beautiful wife, Simrit Kaur, to play music during the classes with me more often.
If you missed class last Wednesday, we did a beautiful meditation to “heal all sickness”. The meditation is said to give “Vayu Siddhi”. Vayu refers to the pranic winds that circulate throughout the body and mind. To stay healthy, the vayus must be circulating properly, in their appropriate directions (there are 5 of them), and without obstruction. When the vayus are out of balance, there is always a disruption in the mental or physical body. If there is deranged vayu movement, the result can be anxiety, fear, worry, negativity, as well as constipation or diarrhea (depending on the nature of the disruption), cold hands and feet, malabsorption, and other symptoms. Siddhi means power and refers to spiritual powers one can obtain from yogic practices. “Vayu Siddhi” then, is the power over the vayus. Coming from someone who has devoted a large part of his life to the study of Ayurvedic Medicine (the sister science and healing side of Yoga), believe me when I tell you that a large part of human life and health is maintaining a harmonious function of the 5 vayus. In Ayurveda, we have 3 doshas; Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are the bio-energetic forces that determine our state of health. Vata is the force of motion, Pitta is the force of heat, and Kapha is Stability and Sturcture. All three doshas must be in harmony for there to be health. If Vata is in excess there is an excess of motion, creating wear and tear, dryness and instability. This leads to the excessive break down in tissue and deterioration of the body and organs. Kapha is the opposing force of stability and structure. However if Kapha is in excess, then there is excess growth, stagnation, lethargy and sluggishness. Pitta is the force of heat and fire and controls digestion and metabolism. If Pitta is in excess there will be excessive heat in the body resulting in inflammation and burning of tissues. In Hindu mythology the three doshas are represented by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer deities. In the west, the three doshas can be equated to concepts of metabolism, catabolism and anabolism. For a healthy metabolism (Pitta) there must be a harmonious balance between anabolism (the building of tissue, Kapha) and catabolism (the break down of tissue, Vata). These are in depth concepts that I am only giving a general overview of so you may get the general idea. It is a well known and accepted fact that Vata is the king of the doshas. Vata is movement and without it Kapha and Pitta are worthless. It is also the dosha that causes the most problems. All of us have a unique constitution which will determine whether we are more prone to Vata, Pitta or Kapha problems. However, no matter what your constitution is, we all constantly deal with the wrath of Vata J. We are always doing-doing-doing—which is movement. Driving in our cars, conversating, going here, going there, doing this, doing that—you know. THIS IS WHY THE VATA AND THE VAYUS ARE SOOO IMPORTANT. And it is why I say that to calm vata and bring healthy flow to the vayus is partly the goal of human life and health! When the vayus are in balance we are calm, stable, can see clearly and are intuitive. Why? Because there is no excessive thoughts and motion in the mind preventing us from seeing what we naturally see when we are in a healthy state of being. Simple huh? When the vayus are balanced are elimination is healthy and regular, are digestion is good, and are circulation is good. When all of this is in harmony, then we as people are in harmony and we naturally serve our dharma, we naturally serve others, we naturally live for the enrichment of humanity and of the planet. This is a profound statement I am making that some people may not agree with but it doesn’t matter—I am saying it! When we are in our natural state of being, without the disruption of ill health, of dis-ease, of emotional and mental imbalance, then we naturally do what makes us happy. What makes us happy is serving, serving others happiness. There is no other way around it or to it. Happiness comes from selflessness, it comes from humility and it comes from acknowledging and accessing the spirit of God within you, then with that reaching out and touching the spirit of God within your brothers and sisters.
So with that said I will share the Meditation for Vayu Siddhi with you:
Posture and Mudra: Sitting in easy pose, place the back of the right hand into the palm of the left hand. The left thumb rests comfortably in the palm of the right hand while the right thumb crosses over the left thumb. Hold this hand position comfortably at the heart center.
Focus: Close the eyes, focus and the third eye and chant:
Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung
(the version of this mantra on Snatam Kaur’s Grace is a good one for this meditation, otherwise it can be chanted acapella in the traditional way, I can show you if you don’t know how at class
Continue for 11 minutes
To End: Inhale and suspend the breath in perfect stillness for 15-20 seconds. Exhale and relax.
This week we will be doing the yoga set for “Body Adjustment to Elevate the Spirit”
See you there
posted by Jai Dev Singh | 11:34 AM
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