In the last article, we had discussed how agnis in the body get activated by the basic acts of breathing and eating and how they trigger wear and tear of the body. Recently, a study by the BBC presenter Michael Mosley concluded that eating less makes one live longer. The Vedic texts explain this phenomenon with help of agnis and the rate at which they consume prana in the body. The agnis, which are constantly at work, cause you to age, even as you think.
People who are very intense, who want to go to the root of every issue, their mind is at work all the time. The thought process consumes the vital prana. It is limited in quantity in each cell. Your batteries (prana) are neither unlimited, nor are they rechargeable. Once it is consumed, the body perishes. For example, Bruce Lee was a fine martial artist but he had a lot of aggression (martial arts are not for showing aggression, rather they are meant for defense). His aggression consumed all the energy of the cell and so he died at 33 even though all his systems were working like that of an 18-year-old.
Thus, when you eat you age, when you breathe you age and when you think about reasons that make you age, even then you age! As we know every action has an equal and opposite reaction and this is an undisputed fact of physics. It is interesting to note, that in my book, “Sanatan Kriya: The Ageless Dimension”, which is a thesis on anti-ageing, I have discussed these concepts over a few chapters. Owing to some reason or the other, the body dies. Thus, the extreme symptom of ageing is death. Death lies in each and every cell and yog is the means to stall the process -- the breath that you take in, the food that you eat your thoughts and memories.
When you think about something that happened to you in the past or make plans for the future, this thought “cooks” up the cells as energy is being produced. You can test it for yourself. You will observe that whenever you are thinking hard, automatically your breath rate and pulse rate shoots up. Sanatan Kriya details living in the present moment— only now exists, there is no past or future, and also gives techniques, practice of which brings about control over your body and your cell. When you are in the present moment, eye muscles become still and the thoughts cease. It is the movement of eye muscles that creates thoughts in the body. When thoughts cease, the process of ageing is stalled. That is why in yoga, stillness is the key.
To become still, a very popular technique that yogis in the Himalayas practice, is called kaya sthiram or stillness of the body. For this lie down in shavasan. Take your awareness to the left big toe and still this toe with aid of your consciousness. Gradually take your awareness to the other toes, the foot, moving up the entire left leg. Repeat the process with the right leg, and the other parts of the body till the top of the head. Next, take your awareness to the various organs in the body, still them all including the heart and the brain. Throughout the process, maintain the awareness of your Guru, it is important, as it will catalyse the process. After sometime come back the same way. The power of the person who is able to sit absolutely still in a thoughtless state is unimaginable. Anything is possible for such a being. That is the state when all ripples have died down and the vision is crystal clear. This state of being absolutely still, reveals dimensions which are beyond logical explanation.
Yogi Ashwini is the spiritual head of Dhyan Ashram.
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