Interview with a Yogini

This month we interviewed Ms. Meera Narayanan an MSc (Yoga therapy ) Gold medalist, BSc Yoga Therapy from SVYASA University, Co founder of Eternal Yoga.

This interview encapsulates the essence of Yoga as defined by Meera Narayanan who spent more than half of her life towards understanding and practicing Yoga. She is being interviewed by Riya Davda who is currently a teacher of Yoga at LuLuLemon Bangalore.

Riya: Welcome Ma'am, we are honoured to have you today. Thankyou for taking time out of your busy Schedule to shed some light on Yoga and it's Mechanisms. my first question to you today is - Define Yoga in your words.

Meera: First and foremost, I would like to salute all gurus. I follow a parampara called Arsha Sewa Parampara ( Arsha means by the Rishis ) founded by Swami Chinmayananda. Yoga originates from the word 'Yuj', which means - to join. So some people propound it as Jeevatma merging with Paramatma. Yoga as we all know was founded by Guru Patanjali and he starts by saying 'Ath Yoga Anushasanam' which means this is Yoga practice. He starts by telling us the first Sutra

( principle) that is " Chitta Vritti Nirodah" . Yoga in practice can be defined as the Goals, the Means and the Process.

The Goal is " Chitta Vritti Nirodah "where Chitta is denoted by the mind, whether it is the subconscious, the unconscious or the non-conscious mind. Mind exists in five states Kshipta, Moodhah, Vikshiptah, Ekagrah and Nirudhah. Kshipta denotes a mind that is scattered everywhere. Moodha is a mind which exhibits significance of Tamo guna, leading to delusion, wrong understanding, sluggishness, laziness etc. Vikshipta is the state where Rajas and Tamas are predominant, but there are glimpses of Satva. In this state people can introspect and get into holistic practices. Ekagrata is that state of mind where Satva is predominant but there are glimpses of Rajas and Tamas, focusing becomes easier. Lastly is Niruddah state, where Satva or clarity is predominant, actions are driven by awareness, and not impulse. Yoga practice gently moves us to be in this Satvic state of mind where we are constantly in present moment, and thus experience the intensity of life, making life fulfilling. Every other experience, which we go through with our external senses are very discreet and inadequate, thus igniting the cycle of dissatisfaction and unhappiness . Vritti is the thought. Mind, in the natural process of bodily functions has a constant work, which is to generate thoughts. Nirodah does not denote blocking the mind, it rather means disciplining the mind. This is exemplified by one of the great saints Sadashiv Brahmendra where he says,- 'Rajas Tamo vrityoh Nirodah' is Yoga. This put simply means to discipline the Tamas and Rajas of the mind and turn it towards Satvic .

Riya: What prompted your journey towards Yoga.

Meera: Most of the people who join Yoga do it for health reasons, or for adding variety to exercise regime, or reducing weight and so on. I used to practice Yoga at 16 years of age, but somehow left it post marriage. As our family grew and my husband used to be on postings out of state for many months, I started feeling pressured with too many responsibilities, and the corroborating vagaries of life. I started feeling suffocated and felt that I did not have much breathing space. Since I had done Yoga earlier, it then came back to me and I started seeking a Guru. I was lucky to have done my Shiksha under the aegis of Mr. Srinivasan Reddy who was the Director of Ayush at that time. I embarked on this journey of intense Asanas. It was difficult, but it helped as I felt that surge of free energy that helped me overcome the feeling of suffocation. Yoga helped dismantle the boundaries that I had created for myself. The force, and the discipline, and the sweat just opened up the life force Energy within me. From there I just got some ground to hold onto and then moved forward on my journey of Yoga. Thus Yoga was my calling.

Riya: So you mentioned discipline as part of your practice. What is the role of discipline in Yoga.

Meera: That is an important question. In the materialistic world in order to achieve something, for example in the Sports field, we see the discipline and investment in terms of time, in order to achieve the required results towards a sportsperson's destination. It is the same in Yoga too, but the problem arises when you don't know what you are looking for. While practicing everyday you can see the benefits that arise from these Asanas and the breathing practices. There is a 'feel good' factor, but after being consistent with the practice, for a long time we realize that Yoga has improved the energy field. Just as much as your mind, has an influence on the body, similarly the body has an influence on your mind. So, when you are introducing a certain set of practices in the form of breathing, asanas or chanting, then you realize a sudden flow of free energy. Everyone irrespective of their achievements has faced suffocation or a psychological pressure, which hinders our ability to live our life to the fullest. We try to live our life to the fullest only through external means, which is in accordance with our limited knowledge. However, when we follow a Yoga regime regularly, we become more alert, and aware and then we are bound to stick to a routine. Missing it for a single day causes suffocation and restlessness. Discipline in terms of a wholistic approach needs to be just the trigger, then your wholistic practice will take you forward along with it. To cite an example, we see how sleep makes us feel rested, although sleep is equivalent to Tamas, yet people go to the extent of popping pills just to get some sleep. While sleep is a natural process, Yoga is a conscious choice and whenever we need that fulfillment we step on the mat. Discipline is required but not for long; later Yoga becomes intrinsic, and it coaxes you to discipline yourself.

Riya: You have had a long journey of Yoga and you also worked on a research project. Can you please share some major findings that would benefit all of us.

Meera: I did my research from SVYASA University and they have a extensive Yoga research program . In second year every student has to take up a research project. In those days I used to visit schools and colleges as a freelance Yoga instructor with my two other colleagues. During our visits, while sitting in the staff room, I heard the teachers complain about a lot of physical pain and anxiety. One fine day, I had the realization that conducting research on teachers is quite imperative. It seemed clear to me that the kind of lifestyle they follow is the main reason behind their psychological and physical pain. They would stand for hours and endure pain in their joints. The three of us had many topics to research with respect to teachers, especially the more common musculoskeletal disorders that occurred due to their lifestyle. They were enduring chronic pain which would cause them to shout at their students and it also affected their family life. They would fall sick frequently due to their low immunity. Some of them had developed phobias as well. I was very lucky  because one of the teachers recommended us to take up a study in Lawrence School  HSR Layout and we got a group of 40 teachers as sample and we did almost 40-50 days of intervention (At least an hour of stay back after the school hours ). We had a study group and a controlled group. While we gave just regular stretches to the controlled group, we gave yoga asanas to the study group to measure the efficacy of Yoga with respect to their pain intensity and functional disability . We formulated pain intensity index, and functional disability questionnaires derived from authentic sources.

We were surprised to see significant improvement in teachers w.r.t pain just within two weeks of intervention. The stretches had positive impact because Yoga is  that kind of practice, that will help you to stretch fully and thus release the involuntary tension that develops deep within our muscles and internal organs . We released this tension through stimulation of asanas and relaxation, breathing practices and relaxation techniques. The group of sampled teachers in response to Asanas and breathing and relaxation techniques felt the immediate effect with their mind being calmer and reduction in pain. There is this concept called phantom lame - that is  something psychological relating to pain. Till late 20th century, people thought it was something to do with tissue, nerve or cell  damage, but later they discovered that a lot of psychological influence on this pain of the body and it can be triggered by the state of your mind. Placebo intervention proved that episodes of acute pain can be cured by a simple placebo intervention . Placebo is a replacement of any medical intervention ( for example plain sugar balls ) which has no therapeutic value, with the purpose of giving confidence to the patient. Our sample was put to one hour of asana practice where we introduced simple to moderate asanas which were followed by breathing practices and last 15 minutes were automatically went into deep relaxation .  These 40 days showed progressive and significant improvement in quality of their lives and pain management as there were self attested questionnaires that they were required to fill every week. Similar trend was seen by other researchers who were marking for anxiety, depression, mood swings, anger management  thus showing significant improvement in their quality of life. For many the phobias also eliminated. After 40 days many enrolled for classes and continued because of the positive impact. The research was published by one of the journals from Boston, as the study was conducted under the guidance of one of the teachers from Boston.

So research helps to establish the relationship between mind and body. All the fears are a result of the conditioning of our mind, Yoga helps to shake this up. Yoga helps in shaking up The cluster of thoughts that are built over time transforming into our belief system. Yoga loosens these clusters and all the psychological boundaries with which we are bound thus releasing positive energy, and this makes us happy.

Riya: After having worked so long what practices are personal to you and what are your offerings.

Meera: I always prefer Viniyaasa as it is a practice that has complimentary flows and it completes the release and channeling of our energy. Like it is mentioned in the book ‘Ikigai’ , once we are comfortable with a flow, we become more efficient , the same goes with our energy flow. Always stick to a flow of asanas propounded by a guru and make progression to moderate, simple or complex. Initially the focus is on limbs, and then it moves to breath, and finally, it should be the thoughts to help break our compulsive behavior pattern. As we all know thoughts block the free flow of energy inside our body, so one has to aim at reaching there to gain maximum benefit of Asanas.

I offer only online classes to a batch of students and I am a pre natal certified Yoga instructor . The purpose of a yoga instructor is stimulation and relaxation. The success of any Yoga teacher will depend on how She/ he performs on these two parameters.

Riya: Thank you again Ma'am for your time and for these elaborate answers.

Meera: Thank you