Please note: Certain errors unintentionally crept into the print version of this feature that appeared in the October 2017 issue. Please find the revised version below. We regret the inconvenience.
Life provides everyone with the potential to create healthy, happy lives with satisfying relationships. Only a few people learn to attain that balance by creating the life they desire. Creating a life of harmony is the way to be happy, says Guruji Sanjeev Krishna.
What is yoga? How does your studio differ from the others?
Remove the word yoga from your head and think of it as harmony, union, and coordination in whichever language you want. It’s not all about stretches but it is about being in that harmonious state of wellness. Yoga is knowledge, which basically empowers us to bring harmony into our lives. Knowing the art and science of these principles from a state of ignorance leads it to the goal without doing anything. It is mastering that makes the difference.
There is one difference between what we generally see at the so-called yoga centers and how a real yoga center needs to be for a student who comes for their physical and mental wellbeing. For example, at hot yoga sessions, you see teachers doing 26 stretches and each of the 26 stretches should be done exactly the way it has been conceived by the author. All teachers do it exactly that way, even the words are said in the same manner, you cannot deviate from it at all. So, this is what the students do. Today people are looking at losing weight but losing weight doesn’t mean only physical exercise; your metabolism can be weak, you may be depressed, you may be upset, you may have so many disturbances, that can make you eat despite doing exercise. The state of mind affects our well-being in myriad ways.
So, in conclusion, most centers are focused more on the physical aspect and we assume that the physical workouts are what a yoga center is supposed to do. The teacher here or the person who has developed the program creates a replica of himself to give to the world. So, anyone can learn and teach what has been taught to him/her. This is what is seen generally.
A yoga center should be a place where the teacher should give what the student aspires to get or achieve for his wellness, both physical and mental and not just what is given by the trainer or the center who engages themselves in such teaching imparted. “I may know hundreds of things but I must give you what you want so that I can feed your needs to bring harmony or wellness to your lives”. A yoga center is a place where you develop harmony in all the aspects of life. Now for you to understand this subject, I will tell you something that you will never forget what yoga is all about in your life.
Take the case of your mobile, this mobile is a hardware.
This hardware works with an energy called the battery.
You see displays on the screen when the battery is full, and when it is low, the display will be dimmed, that means the energy is low. The physical displays on the screen of the mobile is determined by two softwares: one is a compatible software and the other a default software. Default software is something that comes with the phone and you cannot change it. The compatible software is your contacts, your pictures, or applications /apps that you install.
So, a good mobile hardware with a fully charged battery and with a good display screen and with a default and a compatible software set for your needs makes you happy or in harmony with your mobile.
Yogic science is also the same in every respect. Your body is the hardware that works with our battery called the breath. We human beings have international charges and have an unlimited supply of this energy wherever we go. But the irony here is that 90% of the people only know to charge their mobile batteries but not optimize their own energy. So, learning the art of breathing is one way to energize us. And in an energized state all our displays of emotions will be much better than operating with a weak energy level.
All the displays we expose ourselves comes from the two softwares: default and the compatible. The default software of a human personality is our parentage and that defines our childhood and our adulthood. The important aspect is our compatible software that is comprised of our knowledge or education, our experiences and how our understanding makes us relate to the world.
Whenever there are imbalances in your compatibility you suffer. How do you develop that compatibility between a default and compatible software and to optimize our displays well on the screen of our life is our success? This is where yoga comes in; yoga is not just an exercise nor breathing, nor meditation, it is an art of understanding, to develop harmony; if you don’t know how to manage yourself you are creating issues for yourself. Why yoga features highest in health and wellness management is because of the depth of knowledge which a true yogi can understand and impart it to his/her students. A particular problem is addressed without looking at it holistically. Psychosomatic diseases are not hardware issues they are based on compatibility issues. So, you are just treating the hardware, called the body where the root cause is the software. Here is where a true yoga center gives you the knowledge to identify illnesses from the core whether it is depression, cholesterol, auto immune, anxiety or any other uneasiness called disease. It is the art of management; if you’re ignorant you are the patient, if you are knowledgeable you are the doctor.
Do you think what I have said is right? How do you know? Initially you didn’t know, now you know it’s right because it makes sense, you find it logical. Anyone in the world can understand this but you are getting this information in bits and pieces hence you are confused. That is why I’m telling you yoga is the core essence of learning to manage the art of self-management.
What is new at Sanjeev Krishna Yoga?
Sanjeev Krishna Yoga is a center where this yogic science is imparted in all fullness’s; it has all the applications to help at all times to support anyone who steps into this place on all levels that they are looking for whether it is physical, mental, emotional and wellness in all respects.
Based on the principles that I just mentioned above, I have also initiated a master program called “Rhythm of Life. This covers all the five dimensions of a human personality to rectify all the imbalance at any stages in life. Be it in the young or old, healthy or unhealthy, balanced or imbalanced, spinal or a back-pain issues of any type, diabetes, auto immune and psychosomatic issues of any type. Because all these are the compatible software issues developed over a period of time and which had transcended into the physical body.
What are the five dimensions of a human personality?
“Sharira”-means the physical body, “Prana” – the breath, “Mana” – the mind, “Vijnyana” – the intellect and “Ananda” – Happiness/blissful state. When all the four lower layers are in harmony /symphony, you will enjoy the fifth state of a human being called happiness.
Managing these five koshas or layers of a human personality to maintain, retain and sustain balance at all levels in human beings, daily life is what I teach. I support with immense knowledge on all these aspects to enable you to develop a state of discipline making you strong and deal with yourself to understand the art of self-management in such a way that your personal, family, business or corporate life will give the best and you can contribute the best in the world of yours at all times in a better way. The essence of life turns into a harmonic existence.
Giving knowledge to the world is my vision and my mission so that every person can live happily, peacefully and develop himself to understand his strength, his weaknesses and the harmony within. Meditation is antivirus installation I would call it, so this takes you away from all slavery of the mind to a state of freedom and to realize your full potential. When you are ignorant your true version does not manifest but when you pass your days with knowledge through the Rhythm of Life program, you are enlightened and you can be a better version of yourself. Hence imbalances such as psychosomatic and autoimmune diseases are balanced and you recover to be a better version of your own self in 12 days and if the practice continues, you can be the best version of your existence in life always.
Your initial teacher /Guru was a Siddha Yogi . Could you explain more what that is and the importance of having a Guru to teach yoga?
At the age of 12, I developed a keen interest to learn this knowledge, I don’t know why. Maybe one of the reasons could be that I was living with my aunt as my father had a transferable job, this I think may have led to question my life, living away from parents etc., and this led to many gurus.
Siddha yoga means that you blend with nature, in all respects with no family bondages. These yogis are highly developed humans and live in a community with similar yogis and they live beyond the earthly attractions. They evolve themselves to a high state of harmony and are detached from the world and its attachments. If you have noticed, if you become too attached, people want to detach from you. And when you detach from the world or rather do not depend on anyone, the world wants to attach to you.
The essence of knowledge here is what the Mahamrutunjaya mantra teaches us.
Om Tryambakam Yajaamahe
Sugandhim Pushtti-Vardhanam
UrvaarukamIva Bandhanaan
Mrtyor-Mukssiiya Maamrtaat
We are a three-eyed entity or an existent being with two physical eyes and one mental eyes that can have deep insight and farsightedness and this is what gives us our life’s fragrances and nourishes us all.
As, in due course of time, how the stem of the cucumber weakens, and the gourd if freed from the mother plant /vine, so like that let us all mature ourselves and be free to serve and contribute to the world in all fullness’s.
A very beautiful science of how to develop a sense of detachment so that you can attach better with the world.
I went to different schools of this unique science over a period in my life time and also gained immense knowledge on this life science from very many masters who came into my life at different times and my love and my passion led me to many of them who influenced my life in this lovely knowledge. In my experience, the real Guru is within all of us. This guru has to relate to all the teaching from all the gurus or teachers and this alone makes me what I am. You must manifest the teacher within you and learn from everything around you.
Akhanda Manadalakaram Vyaptam yena Charaacharam
Tadpadam Darshitam Yena Tasmai Sri Guruve Namaha
Under the canopy of the sky there are living and nonliving things whichever give you knowledge that is also your Guru.
When an animal gets hurt it doesn’t go to any hospital by itself, it goes and eats grass or takes rest, here nature is the doctor telling the animal what to do. We have observed these animals and since then out of eighty-two thousand species, 84 important postures of yoga came into existence. Nature is the creator. Nature is the best teacher in the world so this is a science.
You are often referred to as a Guruji and also as a Healer. Please expand on your role as a Healer.
Guru means a teacher. I’m not a healer, you yourself are healing through the knowledge that I have imparted to you and enlightened you with, as a result of which healing happens. It is you who heals yourself. I initiate it. I would like to make it very simple.
Why do so many people find it difficult to meditate? How does meditation change our soul?
This is because they are not relaxed. You go and sit in a place of prayer and your mind will not be there after five minutes, but everywhere else. That’s why in this program, I give them the essence of relaxation, it gives you three hours of deep sleep and complete relaxation; even psychosomatic diseases vanish. There’s a science behind. The core is how you can gain the knowledge to relax.
In my view, you cannot really be a true student of yoga without including meditation. Meditation is not an option it’s a necessity in today’s world. Why? For example, someone comes to you and asks you for some advice, you’re the best advisor if you have noticed, but when it comes to your problem how do you deal with it? When it’s your problem you are emotionally bound, when it is someone else’s problem you’re relaxed. So, when you’re relaxed you can give better solutions to problems. You need to be relaxed to be able to make the right decisions.
There are many forms of pranayama breathing techniques for beginners, which techniques do you recommend that we start with and why?
What is pranayama? Prana means the vital life energy not only in you; anything that moves is prana. Prana is the life energy sustaining, maintaining life in the world. You can start with energizing pranayama’s and purification pranayama’s. These two are the fundamentals that can help you to keep up because all the imbalances: physical, mental, emotional affect your breath.
How can yoga really help with weight loss and diabetes?
Of course, it can help. I have an example of a person who lost 9kgs in 12 days while doing the Rhythm of Yoga program. It works on the principle of Pancha Kosha Shuddhi which helps eliminate all the imbalances in the mind and body giving you the desired result.
What exactly is a mudra? And how can they benefit in our daily life?
Mudra is a gesture, if you see your body has electromagnetic waves and current. Your five fingers represent the five elements; Earth element, Water element, Air element, Fire element, and Space element. Mainly the heat and breath sustain, so if you keep your finger and thumb touching you’re rejuvenating the energy back into the system and this is one of its kind called is a mudra. So, you’re diverting your own electromagnetic current of the body waves into your own system adapting certain gestures and postures in the hands.
How does one move from simply practicing hatha yoga to leading a more spiritually connected life? Does one have to be religious? Of course, reading Patanjali Sutras is important, especially following Niyamas and Yamas.
What is Ha and tha first of all? Ha means moon, tha means sun; moon means cold and sun means heat, cold is death. Balance on a physical level brings in balance in in life.
Astanga yoga for every person is like a ‘May I help you counter?’ to make you understand and is a guidance rendered by the Great Saint Maharishi Patanjali who has compiled ‘Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras’, the aphorisms of yoga, in which he provides an eight-limbed approach for the well-being and purification of body, mind and soul.
Indian thoughts and the philosophy is to give this life science to every living human beings.
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
May All become Happy,
May All be healthy.
May All goodness and Auspicious prevail in all lives,
May none Suffer.
And may there be
Peace, Peace, Peace.
……………………………………….
By Viki Shah
Sanjeev Krishna Yoga is a Dubai-based wellness institute catering to individuals who care for their wellbeing and other’s happiness in life.