- Sri Krishna Search Amazon.com for bhagavad gita
Life can be extremely stressful at times. Although we struggle to get ahead, to provide security and maintain healthy relationships disruptions inevitably occur. Even when things are going well we are prone to worry about them. Stress-related illnesses abound and it is uncertain to what degree stress is implicated in all illnesses, as well as recovery. Within the area of mental health we see that depressive and anxiety disorders affect an increasing percentage of the population. Stress contributes to substance abuse, marital problems, problems at work and a general sense of dissatisfaction with life. There are definitely external sources of stress in our lives. Illness and death, job loss, difficult people, significant changes challenge us throughout life. A great deal of stress, however, is self-generated. It has to with our thoughts and behaviors. It has to do with our ways of perceiving ourselves and the world. As the ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus
put it, "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." Although the effects of stress on health have been known for some time now, we seem to have trouble changing our lives. Fast food, crammed schedules, chronic worrying, poor sleep and lack of exercise are common for many of us. Perhaps the main underlying source for all these is a sense of powerlessness. We get locked into habitual patterns and find it so hard to break out that we give in and in so doing sacrifice our quality of life along with years of our lifespan. We get locked into mental attitudes as well. Habitual negative judgments, defensiveness, the need to control others, etc. contribute to chronic unhappiness. The biggest problem is our inability to live in the present moment: too often we are busy ruminating about the past or anticipating the future. “The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.” writes Echardt Tolle in The Power of Now
. Psychotherapy can be one way of becoming aware of the subconscious thoughts that run our lives. So is meditation, or inner yoga.Yoga offers us a systematic means of managing stress in our lives. The physical practices of asana (postures) and pranayama (breath practices) help to reduce chronic muscle tension, balance endocrine functioning, dissipate nervous energy and contribute to an overall sense of well-being. The physical practices of Hatha Yoga have become increasingly popular in our culture. Yoga studios have become commercially viable and people come to practice slow-motion “yuppie calisthenics.” Many are not aware of the deeper significance of these practices. They may be primarily concerned with health or beauty, or with stress reduction and the relaxation which comes from practicing the asanas, or postures. The physical practices, however, are really just a prelude to the inner practices of yoga which work with the mind. Meditation is the core of true yoga practice which aims at a transformation of mind and consciousness.
Relaxation is an important part of yoga practice but there is much more to meditation than merely achieving the “relaxation response.” If we limit ourselves to the level of practice where we achieve temporary states of stress relief and relaxation we fail to make the lasting progress and lasting changes possible through a deeper commitment and involvement. Inner yoga is about exploring the deeper dimensions of our own beings, experiencing our connection with the spiritual source of our beings and awakening to our true nature. It is about opening to inner resources of joy, unconditional love, wisdom and freedom. In order to do this however we need to tackle the wayward habits of our minds and develop the capacity of a deeper “witnessing awareness” which allows us to observe our subconscious programming. It is the subconscious system of thoughts, beliefs and reactions within us that keeps us stuck, going around in vicious circles, unable to make real changes within ourselves and within our lives. It is also what keeps us stuck in a false ego-identity which is cut off from both God and each other. To borrow from Tolle once again, "At the deepest level of Being, you are one with all that is." (ibid.)
Part of our problem, a big part, is our cultural conditioning. We are generally taught to see ourselves as “skin-encapsulated egos,” as confined within the limits of our physical bodies. This is a normal part of development but it is not the end. The goal of life according to the Yoga tradition is to awaken beyond the physical and temporal limits of our bodies. The materialist reductionist paradigm which originated in the nineteenth century has limited us to being bio-mechanical beings. In this view who we are is determined by our bio-chemistry. With the discovery of DNA it seemed that we might be nothing more than “genetic robots.” Genetic research, of course, continues to be of great value. It is just that, if we limit ourselves to the reductionist and determinist model established around it we limit and disempower ourselves. We are more than our chemical components. We are beings of consciousness. According to Yoga philosophy, the body is a temporary vehicle for the soul, the light of consciousness within.
There is some scientific evidence to support this view. One might be the “observer-effect” found in quantum mechanics. QM finds that consciousness is somehow involved in the creation of the material universe on a submolecular level. Another is the developing field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) or psychoendoneuroimmunology (PENI). PENI explores the ways in which thoughts, emotions and behavior affect our bodies’ ability to fight off and heal from illness. “Understanding how the mind, the endocrine system, the nervous system and immune system all interact (better known as ‘psychoendoneuroimmunology’(PENI) is crucial in helping people conquer the stress in their lives and stay healthy,” writes Oakley Ray, Ph.D., in a 2004 review of research published in American Psychologist. Research indicates that personality lifestyle, environment and beliefs can influence the onset and course of disease.
If we accept that our attitudes and beliefs affect our bodies than we have to admit that we are not simply victims of biochemistry, or “bad genes.” More recent discoveries have lead to the new field of epigenetics. Epigenetics has challenged purely Darwinian ideas of how DNA functions. Epigenetic research has revealed that environmental factors affect patterns of gene expression. The DNA code doesn’t change but the way that it expresses in terms of health may. Bruce Lipton, Ph.D.
is a cell biologist who has done research into the way our minds, our beliefs, can affect us on cellular level causing epigenetic changes. He writes, “It is not gene-directed hormones and neurotransmitters that control our bodies and our minds; our beliefs control our bodies, our minds and thus our lives.” Again positive beliefs and attitudes contribute to health and healing, while negative beliefs contribute to illness and even death. One of the problems we face though is that we are often unaware of our thoughts and beliefs. They function subconsciously. Often we don’t think our thoughts as much as our thoughts think us. Again, meditation can help to bring our subconscious beliefs to the surface. It can also help us to establish more positive and empowering beliefs. Recent studies have shown that meditation not only improves concentration and memory, but has anti-aging effects as well. Scientists found an increase in the hormone telomerase, referred to as the anti-aging hormone. They speculate that cellular health and longevity comes about through meditation due to an increased sense of meaning and purpose in life as reported by meditators in the study. This in turn leads to an improved sense of control in life and a decrease in negative emotions leading to a “cascade of emotional and psychological changes” which are reflected in increased levels of telomerase. Yoga psychology has long told us that meaning, purpose, joy, love, etc. are to be found not in the external world of the senses but within ourselves, within our consciousness.
Join us for meditation groups in Riverside and yoga classes in Yucaipa, CA! You can contact me at turiyasaraswati@gmail.com for information.
References:
“How the Mind Hurts and Heals the Body,” Oakley Ray, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University; American Psychologist, Vol. 59, No. 1.
“Why DNA Isn’t Your Destiny,” John Cloud, Time Magazine, Jan. 6, 2010
Lipton, Bruce, Ph.D., “The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles,” 2005, Hay House, Inc.
“New Meditation Research: Putting the Om in Chromosome.” Wray Herbert, November 18, 2010 on Huffington Post.
