Column: Yogi Ashwani

Withdraw inwards

IDo you feel stressed and bothered most of the time? Do you have many decisions to make and each one clamoring for your attention? Don’t worry, you are not alone. Thankfully our ancients understood the human being and the source of all the disturbances ailing him. Nothing has changed; the disturbances still exist as do their cause—desires. The bondages that keep us entangled in the world outside and disturbed in the world inside. Knowing all this the rishis gave us a technique for untying ourselves from the clutches of these desires and move inwards into the inner world. This helps in quieting the mind and giving clarity of thought. Try it for yourself and feel the difference.

Shanmukhi Mudra: At any point of time any one of your senses is always at work, all the time running after the objects of desire. The doorways to these desires in the human body are our sense organs. Shanmukhi mudra shuts these doors to be able to experience the real world, which lies inside.

Sit in Siddha asana keeping your back absolutely straight. Then slowly raise your hands towards the face keeping the elbows at shoulder level. Put the thumbs inside the ear holes blocking any external sound. Then close your eyes and gently press your eyelids down with the index finger. Ensure that no light enters. Then with the middle finger tips slowly press the nasal passage. Keep the pressure soft and release the pressure on the nostrils at frequent intervals to take in some air. Using your little finger shut the mouth. Once all the doors are shut try and listen to the sound within, observe where it leads you. Do not stretch the breath beyond your limit.

Caution: In the beginning do not try and strain yourself by closing the nostrils as you might suffocate yourself. Breathe in after frequent and comfortable gaps.

With the ring finger and the little finger press the upper lip and the lower one thereby closing the 7 doorways to Maya. The 7 doorways being the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. 
Once you close these 7 gates or these indriyas then you tend to close the doorways to the external and artificial world and you begin exploring the reality within. The calmness and the peace experienced through this practice is amazing. This is an extremely effective technique for people with high stress life, suffering from insomnia and depression..

—The writer Yogi Ashwini Ji is the head of Dhyan Foundation, Delhi.
For Details contact: ashwiniyogi@yahoo.co.in

May 2007

 >> Cover Story
 >> From the Editor
 >> Young India
 >> Travel & Tourism
 >> NRI-PIO Section
 >> Hot Types
 >> Mail From Reader
 >> Business News