Surya Namaskar

"Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it." - Maya Angelou

Can you Manifest through Surya Namaskar?

PUZZLED!!!

You must be thinking that Surya Namaskar is just a Yoga technique and not Aladdin's magic lamp..., my dear friends, you are in for a surprise!!!

I am going to tell you how I was taught to make Surya Namaskar my GENIE...

HUKUM MERE AAKA!!!

But before that, I am going to share my personal journey on how we turned the tables with Surya Namaskar.

Yes, you are reading it right.

Can we manifest our desires from this simple technique? Can we tune our energies with The Universe with this simple sutra (formula)?

Let me explain how, when, where, why along with my personal journey.

Jan 2012, on my birthday I got a gift from my hubby, 'an exit paper'. We had lost our new factory to our partners. With nothing in the pocket and all our investments down the drain, it left us devastated. This whole bankruptcy put our lives in turmoil. With zero bank balance and no work, we had no vision, and the idea of being jobless brought shivers down our spine. Sid tried his hands on the job front but it wasn't easy to get a job as he had been an entrepreneur all his life. I thought of starting with a job as well, but with a child and poor health (IBS by birth), it all seemed impossible. I could not accept our downfall and the thought of why—why us and why our factory, what went wrong, were the questions that would run in my head. Maybe because of my prarabdha karma I realized. Then I decided to look into ancient scripture for my answers.

Finally, in 2014, I found my Vastu guru, who promised to teach me Vastu, Astrology, and other Vedic Sciences. With hope in my heart, I started reading the scriptures but found it difficult to understand them as they were all in Sanskrit and Hindi. Nothing was working well in our lives. My marriage was falling apart, my son was getting older with increasing demands from school, the fees itself was touching the sky, my health was at an all-time low and my relationship with my in-laws was turning sour. I was too desperate for a decent life. I was ready to do whatever it took to survive and give my son a decent education.

I surrendered to my Vastu teacher and ancient Vedic scriptures with complete faith.

My Vastu teacher, Shiv Sir, asked me to bring a simple change in my life. He said if I wanted my life to change, I will have to alter my pattern.

He always quoted examples and explained to me through this simple pasta recipe:

Pasta+ salt + pepper= simple pasta

Pasta+ salt+ pepper + vegetable= healthy pasta

When we make pasta in a simple way, we get simple pasta. But when we alter it and add some vegetables, the taste changes and we get a healthier pasta.

Similarly, when we run our lives with a certain routine, we get the same results, but the moment we bring some positive changes, we get an enhanced result.

"Break the Pattern", that's the trick.

क्षणप्रतियोगी परिणामापरान्तनिग्रार्ह्यः क्रमः॥३३॥

The sequencing process of moments and impressions corresponds to the moments of time and is apprehended at the endpoint of the sequence.
-Patanjali Yog Sutra,4.33

Break the pattern of sequencing to transcend time: Most of the time, we are caught up in time, identifying with those same thought patterns, whether gross or subtle in nature. If you break the identification with the patterns and the sequencing process, then you break the process of time, space, and causation.

To break the pattern, he gave me the biggest secret: Doing the Divine practice of Surya Namaskar.

When?:

The best time to do Surya Namaskar is before sunrise. So, while the sun is rising, we are already doing the Sun Salutation, empyrean!!! We are welcoming our celestial being with our hands folded. Definitely, an empty stomach is ideal.

Where?:

As per Hatha Yoga Pradipika, hatha yoga practice must not be under the open sky. It must be done in a closed room with good ventilation. While performing difficult posture or deep dharana, the notion is that a bird, or a housefly, can disrupt our practice. Any sudden reaction is harmful to our body and mind.

How?:

In my teachers' training course at Sivananda Ashram, they taught us to do Surya Namaskar at a slow pace. We would inhale while going back and exhale while going down. It is important to follow our breath while doing the asana. One or two sets are enough.

But when I do 108 rounds at a time, then breathing is not to be concentrated upon as it becomes a cardio exercise. This takes me about 45 minutes but it's so refreshing. After a point, it becomes a mind game.

A Manifestation affirmation:

Shiv sir advised me to make a one word affirmation. He said to have one wish at a time and to say that word in any one pose. Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodha, only with a calm mind can things materialize. Any confusion and our idea will get diluted. So one thought, one word.

So I chose the Parvat asana, the downward dog pose. I would say the desired outcome in one word, "Success". In 2014, I was struggling for survival and running to make both ends meet. So, I hoped to have a distinguished career. And by God's Grace, there has been no looking back. My books have been in the Amazon bestsellers' list for over ten times in the year 2o20. I have represented my country at the United Nations. And I do Vedic Vastu consultancy across the world.

I still practice it and say, "Kripa" most of the time as Lord Sri Hari alone knows what's best for me, though the entrepreneurial and rajasic energy in me overpowers me at times and I demand certain things which are needed in Grihasthashram (gaadi, kapada aur makaan). Jokes apart. Unless we dream, we don't grow.

Why?:

Sometimes we are so stuck in a difficult situation that we need a powerful hand to get us out of the whirlpool. It's like a whirlpool, and if the right hand doesn't appear, we get pulled inside it, thus making things worse for all family members. So I feel that if we have to work hard to achieve something, then it's just a small price that we have to pay. I paid by sacrificing my early morning sleep. But the Universe is so generous that it finally gave me my GURU, my source, my Sri Hari.

When we are in Parvat asana, our Prana Shakti travels downwards from the spinal cord to the pineal gland, blood rushes to the brain, the hypothalamus gets activated, this is when we hold our breath and make a wish, our mind aligns with the Universe and voila! The magic happens.

We are in a pose of surrender as well. Unless we surrender. Our ego does not break and things are tighter. Once we are flexible and empty, Universe provides us with positive energy, and our desires get fulfilled. Our desires are a spec of dust in this vast Srishti (creation). Ultimately, it's all empty (Shoonya).

My dream is basic i. e good health, decent wealth, and great prosperity. And with Hard Work, Good Intention, Right Karma, Time, and Grace we can achieve it all. If our heart is pure, we can attract the right energy, and that's the most important part of manifestation.

So all in all, this is a powerful technique that worked wonders for me.

I also chant the 12 Mantras of Lord Surya (pic attached). One mantra for each posture.

My YouTube videos on Surya Namaskar: (I have reduced 8 kgs since 2014, hehe. Blog on weight loss, for some other day)

Surya Namaskar in Bangalore

Surya Namaskar in Nepal

Surya Namaskar in Jaipur

There are many other benefits of Surya Namaskar, but that's for some other day, some other time...

Till then you can get your hands on this amazing book: Surya Namaskar by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Bihar School of Yoga.

Dedicating this blog to my sister-in-law, Isha Rani on her bday-3rd September.

Featured image from Unsplash by Amauri Mejia