Day5 Workshop4

Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita deals with the yoga of meditation and this is what Swami Samachitananda expounded on today. He talked about the need to prepare the body and the mind for the realization of the soul. Its not either the mind or the the body that is the real self, and this self can be realized through meditation. But practice is the most important thing here. He says reading scriptures alone does not do anything - they are merely the script for the action-the practice. Further discussion on how to meditate, how to prepare our body and mind and what is the ideal environment/ambience we need to create for meditation he said he would elaborate in the next lecture.

The workshop consisted of exercises while lying on our stomach, all of which are very beneficial for stregthening the spine, the entire back, especially the lower back. The shalabahsan (locust or grasshopper), the naukasan (canoe), the bhujangasan ( serpent), the dhanursan (bow string). After this the participants were individually taught the exercises done while sitting up, pachimottnasan (forward bend), akarnadhanursan (archer's stance), the ardhamaschidrasan (spinal twists excellent for those suffereing from diabetes), the gomukhasan (cow) and ustrsan (camel). Each of the exercises massage different internal organs and improve their efficiency.