"When you call God from the depths of your heart day and night, He will come to you and take your life in His loving hands."
Yoga is no longer simply physical training for you, but rather a method to control and overcome inner disturbances and restlessness, such as poor concentration, dissatisfaction, depression, etc.
Sage Patanjali states in his Yoga Sutras that the substance of thought (Chitta) is a product of nature (Prakriti). When the thought process is directed towards an object it takes on the form of that object. This phenomenon is called Chitta Vritti, which can be roughly translated as “mental state”. Since the objects to which the mind is directed vary, the Chitta Vrittis vary as well, and a false identification of our Self (Purusha) with these varied modifications takes places. Through the Yoga practices we can achieve a controlled stilling of the Chitta Vrittis (“Chitta Vritti Nirodhah”) and with this, liberate the Self from the erroneous identification with the changing states of consciousness.
Besides the Asanas and Pranayamas, a further step is now included in the daily practice - deep concentration. This is often mistakenly called meditation however, meditation is much more than concentration. One cannot practice meditation, it arises by itself in the same way that sleep suddenly overcomes us without us being able to distinguish the exact moment we fall asleep.
Concentration is a preliminary practice for meditation, with the goal being to observe and to calm the body, mind and senses. If our ability to concentrate is not strong enough, we either become restless or fall asleep. Both prevent us from going into meditation. That is why in the practice of concentration we aim to overcome both restlessness and sleep. The techniques that are described in the following levels are certain to develop the ability to concentrate for those who would like to reach a genuine level of meditation.
Some advice for your success in Yoga:
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Live as a vegetarian.
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Stay away from drugs. Drugs damage the health of both body and mind, and severely hinder your Yoga development. Avoid the mistake of thinking that your will-power is strong enough that you can decide at any moment to stop taking drugs. It never is.
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Avoid alcohol and any kind of excess. They are obstacles on your Yoga path, which can ruin all endeavours.