(Below is a continuation of the post The Power Of Yoga)
Yes, it has some impact. See, we are all energy. So we catch energy from others also. We get influenced by others.
If someone in the group is mad, you also get mad. I think everybody has experienced this. Suppose you come in a room where someone is shouting and yelling, something happens to your brain. If you understand the quantum physics, then you will understand how this also works better.
A field gets created when more people sit and meditate. So automatically group meditation becomes deeper. But if you listen to some knowledge and you get some training, you can sit alone also and have the same impact.
Shall we put the cart before the horse? In the beginning you start with twenty minutes a day so that you get into a practice, and then what happens is that the calmness and peace stays with you throughout the day. It becomes a meditation for twenty-four hours. It takes a little time and practice, then it will happen.
Do things with mindfulness, slowly, step by step. But first that should not be an excuse. Some people take it as an excuse, 'Oh I am in meditation twenty-four hours. But mind is going buzz buzz buzz, like that.
So these twenty minutes will get you into the habit of being still. Then gradually, if you have more time, a few more retreats and you can pick up the speed where you will find that it doesn’t matter if you meditate or you don’t.
I leave this thought with you, because with this thought you will find ways to bring them in. You can either tell them, or you take up some research on pre-yoga and post-yoga and come up with a paper. Submit the paper and invite people for a discussion. I think scientific tempered people will not be in a closed mindset. If someone has a very closed mindset, I wouldn’t call them scientific, they are prejudiced.
Thirty years ago, when we wanted to do a course in Boston for convicts, people thought it is weird. They just gave us a very small and dusty room, with 9 convicts because we insisted that we want to go in there. But today that is not the case.
Today yoga is being accepted in many of the prisons. People have accepted it and they find a big difference in the way they look at life.
That’s it. So this is the first experience. 25 minutes passed by and you did not feel the time. All the hovering thoughts somewhere became calmer, and you feel relaxed in the body. These are signs of meditation.
You know, it will take longer than just one session. There are several CDs on meditation. In the beginning you can take those CDs and sit and listen and practice. Then you may not require CDs later on.
It will be as obvious as a pain in the leg. So when you have a pain in the leg, you don’t have to go and ask someone, is my leg paining? No!
It is a personal experience. So the same thing will come up with you. You will feel absolutely at home, totally energized, like every cell of your body is vibrant with energy.
In fact, you don’t need a yoga teacher if you observe any kid. Every baby from the time it is born till the age of three, has done all the yoga postures, breathing, meditation, everything. So by birth we are all yogis. We have done it, but somewhere later on we just forgot it. We dropped it, that’s all. This is only going back to where we began.
Just this morning I spoke with the people in Nepal. It is all in place. Katmandu is getting back to normalcy. Of course, we lost five thousand lives. In the interior villages where help is needed, our people have already started going there.
It is a natural calamity, so if you want to be of part of it, or do any work there, we have IAHV, an organization which is helping with fund raising for the people in Nepal. We would be building homes; we would be giving them solar lights.
