Why I Love Teaching Yoga

By Alexis Corchado 

©Jeffrey Vock

I’ve always been told that I have a natural teaching ability... So after a while, I accepted this opinion as fact and majored in Elementary Education in college and substitute taught as well.

But my major of choice became a drag and substitute teaching on and off for ten years in one of the worst school districts in the country wore my patience very thin. Many times amidst the chaos of the classroom I wondered to myself, “Why aren’t you teaching something you truly love with individuals that will appreciate your effort and commitment and in a loving and nurturing environment?” It was time for change and the immediacy could no longer be ignored.

Fast forward to last spring when the decision for change was finally made. After being re-acquainted with Yoga after a few year hiatus, it dawned on me: This is it! This is that “thing” I had been searching for.

I had instantly fallen in love with Dharma Yoga because I felt as though this was the Yoga of millennia ago; it felt authentic, natural and classical and I was in a state of fascination after that first asana class with Sri Dharma Mittra. It took me a nanosecond to decide that not only would I be a student at the Dharma Yoga Center, but that I would also enroll in the next Life of a Yogi 200-Hour Teacher Training scheduled. I decided then and there that I would teach Yoga and I knew that this would bring me joy, satisfaction, and happiness.

©Jeffrey Vock

Upon completing the LOAY Teacher Training (which was an experience worthy of its own blog post!), I was profoundly changed physically, mentally and spiritually and I was ready to take the gift of knowledge imparted to me by Sri Dharma and the Dharma Yoga teachers and share it with the world, or at very least anyone receptive to yoga!

As I sit here typing these words, I know that it was a wise decision to pursue Yoga as a vocation. 

So what is it that I love most about teaching Yoga? 

• I find great enjoyment in sharing that which has impassioned me. Yoga has become my life to a significant extent. It is a love affair of sorts, and having the opportunity to expose another to the subject of my new found love is priceless.

• I’m sure many teachers can relate to the incomparable feeling of taking a newcomer to the practice, (one who is sometimes full of judgments and reservations) and completely changing their outlook at the end of a class.

• I’ve experienced with my students a shift in their perspective as well as their new found body and health awareness. I’ve observed long held misconceptions shatter and this fills me with a tremendous sense of contentment.

• But it is the progress I observe in my students practice that is perhaps the reason I most love teaching Yoga.  In just a couple of classes I’ve seen students with very little flexibility and strength improve drastically. It is a wonder to share this with the students, some who have a tendency towards pessimism about their own abilities.

• But Yoga being far from just a physical experience has also provided my students with a sense of what can be and what is possible on the mental and spiritual planes. I’ve taught public school teachers, who are some of the most stressed out individuals I have ever taught, and heard their praise of the limitless fruits of relaxation and gentle Pranayama. They speak of their sense of being transported to a different place, one where life is allowed to play itself out free of constraints created by time or obligations.

• I’ve observed my students roll up their mats less jittery and unhappy than they were one hour previous. For 15 minutes at the end of class they experience a little slice of bliss. The fact that I facilitate this experience is one that I don’t take for granted no matter how many times it happens.

• Yoga is amazing because it is a form of therapy for the teacher also.  When I’m fully present and in the teaching zone, not talking too much and giving my students the space to experience their poses, I find myself losing track of time and my own mental preoccupations. It’s just my students, their mats, and I, in one cohesive unit.

©Jeffrey Vock

As I complete my internship, I find myself increasingly excited about the prospect of teaching Yoga on a more full time basis. The more I teach the more aware of my student’s needs I become. Whether it’s the ongoing process of simplifying cues, offering variations to practitioners with different needs, or learning the art of pacing within a class, the challenge of instructing Yoga within itself is an element that makes me love teaching it even more.

The fruit of Yoga manifests itself in a myriad ways: confidence, physical and mental health, and a sense of who we really are beneath the veil of Maya, or illusion, are increased and nourished by this ancient practice. Being a guide for individuals on this path is what makes being a teacher of Yoga one of the noblest professions. Oh, and not many jobs allow you to come to the workplace in Prana Pants and a tank top :-) 

Alexis Corchado lives in Union, New Jersey. He has been practicing Yoga for about two years and is in the internship phase of his LOAY 200-hour Teacher Training. Off the mat you can find him playing in the mountains or on the beach or dancing the night away to Salsa and Merengue. Nature is his biggest inspiration and having a sense of place is part of his passion. Alexis is forever grateful for the presence of Dharma Yoga, and all that it represents, in his life.  

12 Recommendations to Assure Radiant Success in Yoga in 2014 and Beyond

By Sri Dharma Mittra, edited by Adam Frei

1.    The secrets to success in yoga are constant practice, lots of repetition and perfect obedience to the teacher and the teachings.

2.   Do something occasionally to radically shift the mental state, i.e.: spiritual singing (Kirtan) with enthusiasm or try sneaking up on someone without a heart condition and scare them.

3.   Come to recognize that Asana (posture practice – the 3^rd limb of yoga) is a great tool and help, is part of the overall process of purification that is yoga and leads to radiant health and wellness when done regularly, but on its own is not yoga.

4.   Hold the breath a little each day, i.e.: do the main breathing (Alternate-nostril Pranayama) each day.

5.   Meditate, but meditate in a way that's productive. Going into a trance state where you don’t know who or where you are may leave you feeling some bliss, but will not help you to attain Self Knowledge. Study the yoga scriptures and bend the thoughts to always trying to discover the how and why of everything. Then you will indeed make rapid progress in yoga.

6.   Remember G-d always and learn to recognize Him in everything. Be kind to everyone. By placing yourself in others, you develop compassion.

7.   Recognize that making your best effort each day is more important than perfection in the practice.

8.   Engage regularly in Karma Yoga. Taking action dedicated to others and with no expectation of any fruits from said action is a Sadhana or spiritual discipline that is available to all. Do it because it has to be done and expect nothing.

9.    Study scripture / follow something outside yourself to ensure that you are on the path, and not being led astray by the ego.

10.Observe Yama and Niyama – the Ethical Rules and Yogic Observances – the first and second limbs of classical, Eight-limbed Yoga. If you don’t know what they are, find out and put them into practice. Without Yama, there is no yoga.

11. Clean up the “house” (the body) and the diet, or else you go no-where. Eating flesh or other animal products represents a lack of compassion. Work on your compassion every day through the choices you make concerning the manner in which you feed this body since this has a great effect upon the mind and your spiritual progress also.

12.Be receptive. Discover your tendencies and do lots of what helps you to make rapid progress, i.e.: the style of yoga and / or the teacher and techniques best suited to you. Once you find what works for you, do it every day without fail. Then you will surely achieve radiant success in yoga. 

Legendary yoga teacher Sri Dharma Mittra first encountered yoga as a teenager before meeting his Guru in 1964 and beginning his training in earnest. Sri Dharma founded one of the early independent schools of yoga in New York City in 1975 and has taught hundreds of thousands the world over in the years since. Sri Dharma is the model and creator of the “Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures”, the author of ASANAS: 608 Yoga Poses, has released two DVD’s to date – “Maha Sadhana” Levels I and II, and the Yoga Journal book Yoga was based on his famous Master Chart. Sri Dharma continues to disseminate the complete traditional science of yoga through daily classes, workshops and his “Life of aYogi” Teacher Trainings at the Dharma Yoga New York Center and around the world. For more information on all things Dharma, please visit: http://www.dharmayogacenter.com.

Adam Frei was born in Stamford, Connecticut, grew up in the wilds of West Redding, and is now a New Yorker. After years of mostly solitary Sadhana practice, he found his way to Yogi Sri Dharma Mittra. His entire practice changed during that first Master class, and he must have done something extremely rare and good in a previous incarnation to have finally met the teacher in this lifetime. He is grateful to have taken part in the transformative Dharma Yoga 200 and 500-Hour “Life of a Yogi” Teacher Training intensive immersions. They helped him understand that teaching is just one more component of practice as we all strive to copy the teacher in word, thought and deed. He has been teaching at the New York Center and beyond ever since his first teacher training and, after years of involvement with the Teacher Training programs on the staff side, is now blessed to be the director of these programs. 

Om: Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Too Afraid To Ask

By Kali Om (Cara Jepsen)

"Brahman is Om, this whole world is Om." ~ Taittirya Upanishad

"Om is the bow; atman is the arrow; Brahman is said to be the mark. It is to be struck by an undistracted mind. Then atman becomes one with Brahman, as an arrow with the target." ~ Mandukya Upanishad

Mispronounced, misunderstood, and misconstrued, the sacred Om, or Aum, is the root of all mantras and contains all the sounds in the world. Yogis believe the Aum is one and the same as Brahman, or the ultimate reality underlying the phenomenal world.

But sometimes the meaning - and pronunciation - can get lost. A couple of years ago, I was waiting for a large class to end so I could teach a workshop. The class finally finished with three loud, wall-shaking "Ums." Not the "Aum" that rhymes with "home," but "Um," which rhymes with "thumb."

The Aum and all the mantras that spring from it are like asanas for the mouth and should be pronounced with care and concentration as well as with proper motivation, faith, devotion, and understanding. In the scriptures, the Om or Aum is also referred to as the Pranava, Omkara , and Udgita .

According to yogis, the sound and form of Aum is the same as God. The Rig Veda says, "In the beginning was Brahman, with whom was the Word, and the Word was truly the supreme Brahman." The Bible says something similar: "In the beginning was the Word" and "The Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Most mantras begin and end with Aum; it is the highest of all mantras or divine words, as well as Brahman itself. In the Bhagavad Gita , Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, "I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable Om. I am also the Rig, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas."

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali also state that the Aum is Isvara , or God: "The sacred word designating this creative source is the sound OM, called Pranava. This sound is remembered with deep feeling for the meaning of what it represents. From that remembering comes the realization of the individual Self and the removal of obstacles."

Because the Aum is considered to be one and the same as God by many yogis and Hindus, it should be treated with respect. Having it tattooed on the foot or ankle or printed on a pant leg or across the buttocks or on shoes or a meditation cushion or a yoga mat (where the feet step on it), or placing the Om symbol on the floor are considered highly disrespectful by many Hindus and yogis. Knowingly offending others in this way is a violation of ahimsa, or non-harming.

The Aum has four parts:

n  The first is the "A," which sounds like the "a" in father and is pronounced in the throat, with the mouth wide open. It is usually fairly short.

n  The second is the long, loud "U," which rhymes with shoe and is pronounced with the mouth actively shaped like an "O"--not with a slack mouth. The sound rolls over the tongue.

n  Then the mouth slowly closes and the sound becomes the "M," which is pronounced mmmm with the lips together, creating a pleasant vibration.

n  The fourth is the silence that follows. My guru, Sri Dharma Mittra, says that during the silence one should focus on the vibration behind the forehead and repeat Om mentally.

The three parts of the Aum represent the three states in the manifest world:

n  the A is the waking state (represented by the bottom curve of the Aum symbol);

n  the U is the dreaming state (the middle curve);

n  and the M is the state of deep, dreamless sleep (the top curve).

n   The silence that follows represents the fourth state or turiya --pure consciousness, the goal of yoga. It is represented by the bindu , or dot, at the top, while the curve separating it from the rest of the Om symbolizes maya , or illusion.

The Aum also relates to the three bodies:

n  the A is the gross body;

n  the U is the subtle body;

n  and the M represents the causal body.

It also contains the three gunas , or qualities of the phenomenal world that are constantly shifting: A is rajas (action), U is sattva (harmony), and M is tamas (inertia). Finally, Aum represents the Hindu trinity: the A is creation or Brahma, the U is preservation or Vishnu, and M is dissolution, or Lord Shiva.

Yogis believe that what you are thinking of when you die is where you will go next. So if you only learn one mantra in this lifetime, let it be the Aum, which represents the supreme goal. If Aum is always on your lips when you are alive, it will be in your mind when you pass.

As the Bhagavad Gita says, "He who closes all the doors to the senses, confines the mind within the heart, draws the prana into the head, and engages in the practice of yoga, uttering Om, the single syllable denoting Brahman, and meditates on Me - he who so departs, leaving the body, attains the Supreme Goal."

Aum Meditation - learned directly from Sri Dharma Mittra There are many Aum meditations. This one is suitable for all levels. Face east or north. Sit tall on the floor or a chair, with the back of the neck in line with the spine. Inhale, and exhale, create a long, loud, resonant Aum. The mouth is wide open during the A, in the shape of an "O" during the U, with the lips coming together for the M (the M should last for at least one third of the Aum). Then remain silent and do an internal mental Aum, while focusing on the vibration between the eyebrows, behind the forehead. Then repeat - a verbal Aum, followed by a mental Aum. Keep repeating for ten minutes. This practice stimulates the pituitary gland, activates the sixth sense, and is an antidote to depression.

Kali Om (Cara Jepsen), E-RYT 500, lives in Chicago, where she has been teaching yoga since 1998. She first studied with Sri Dharma Mittra, in 1999, and has completed his 200, 500 and 800-hour teacher trainings. She also studied five times in India with Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga master Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and has completed trainings in Hormone Yoga Therapy, therapeutics, senior yoga and ashtanga vinyasa yoga.  She also specializes in yoga for back care, yoga for depression, and yoga for menopause. She will lead a yoga and meditation retreat in Belize February 9-16 in near Chicago April 12-13.  For more information, visit www.yogikaliom.com or e-mail kaliom108@yahoo.com.

    

   

Ten Great Quotes To Inspire You

by Sorsha Anderson

“You are never bereft of your inner guidance.” ~  Jane Roberts

“Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

“You are never too old or too broken.  It is never too late to begin, or to start all over again.” ~ Bikram Choudhury

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.  Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Being willing is not enough.  We must do.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

“Any path is only a path, and there is no affront to oneself or to others in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you.  Look at every path closely and deliberately.  Try it as many times as you think necessary.  Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question - does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use.” ~ Carlos Castaneda

 “A good stretch is like a yawn.  One doesn’t feel satisfied until it is complete.” ~ Unknown

“Knowing Love, I will allow all things to come and go, to be as subtle as the wind and take everything that comes with great courage. As my teacher would say to me, Life is right in any case. My heart is as open as the sky.” ~ from Kamasutra: A Tale of Love

“As with a labyrinth, you must sometimes move away from the place you long to be in order to eventually come to the heart of the matter.” ~ Sorsha Anderson

ॐ

____________________________________

Sorsha Anderson is a certified Dharma Yoga Teacher who lives and teaches in Vermont.  She has been practicing since 1991 and worked with very gentle and restorative yoga until her 30's when she wandered into a hot and sweaty, but meditative vinyasa studio.  Neither a dancer nor gymnast as a child, and after having had two children, she surprised herself by balancing in crow for the first time at 36.  She never looked back.  Sorsha approaches each new pose with a sense of optimism and adventure and delights in encouraging others to try what only seems impossible at first glance.  She particularly enjoys teaching older women who are trying to find their way back to their bodies after a sometimes very long absence.  Sorsha is thankful to have found her way to the Dharma Yoga Center and makes the trip from Vermont as often as she can.  She offers gratitude for the beautiful physical and spiritual teachings of Sri Dharma Mittra.  

What is a Mantra?

By Alan C. Haras

©Natasha Phillips

In the 3^rd and 4^th centuries, many spiritual seekers left Europe and traveled to the Egyptian deserts to approach wise men and women who had been living prayerful lives looking for God.  When they finally arrived at the cell of these wise men and woman (abba or amma), tradition says that these seekers would ask: “Abba, speak to me a word, by which I might have life.” They might then receive a “prayer-word” or some brief instruction.  The pilgrim would take this “word” back with them to their home country and build their spiritual life around this one “word.” 

In the yogic tradition, these “words of power” are called mantras, and they are traditionally whispered into the ear of the disciple by a guru.  The guru is someone who has realized the essence of a mantra.  The Sanskrit word guru actually means “weighty one”.  These gurus have gravitas, and their words carry a lot of weight.  Because the guru has yoked their mind and heart with Truth, when they are approached by a seeker who is humble and sincere, the Truth emerges from them as the perfect thing the student needs to hear to continue their journey.  Indeed, such words give life to the soul who is thirsty for God.

Traditionally, at the time of initiation one receives a mantra, a mala (rosary) and a spiritual name.  The ceremony marks a new birth for that individual into their spiritual family.  But in order to realize the full benefit of the mantra it should be “awakened and put into action.” 

©Jeffrey Vock

Along with receiving the mantra comes both the permission to us it, as well as transference of psychic power from the master.  The mantra contains within it the enlightened wisdom of the spiritual preceptor, and like a zip file, must be unpacked through continued repetition to reveal its full meaning and power.   

 The word mantra comes from two Sanskrit roots – man or manas which refer to the mind/heart, and tra which means “to protect”.  The root tra also means “to cross over” and comes into English words such as “travel” and “traverse”. 

The practice of mantra protects the mind and heart from distraction, and helps us to cross over the discursive mind.

There are many types of mantras.  Some are used to produce specific results - to overcome illness or to achieve worldly success - while others are employed solely for the purpose of Self-realization.

©Jeffrey Vock

Mantras sung in the spirit of devotion, with melody and rhythm, are known as kirtan – the foundational practice of bhakti yoga.  Other mantras are performed silently, like the Hamsa/Soham mantra which is produced effortlessly by the sound of the incoming and outgoing breath.  But the Guru Mantra is given special importance in the world of mantras. 

The mantra given by one’s guru at the time of initiation provides invisible protection for the disciple, and acts like the “red phone” at the White House during the Cold War – it is a direct line to the Supreme. 

Swami Satyasanghananda says that “the mantra is a link between you and the cosmos, between you and the deeper mysteries of the universe.” The specific number of the syllables in the mantra given by the guru is designed to make up for any deficiencies in the disciple’s aura or energetic body.  The more one recites the mantra, the more one gains spiritual wealth.

By establishing the psychic link with the guru through recitation of the mantra, one becomes receptive to spiritual guidance across all planes of existence, and is able to stir the spiritual awareness which resides in one’s spiritual heart.

As Sri Dharma Mittra says, the outer guru shows you how to find the inner guru, situated in the right side of the heart, in the center of the chest.  The practice of mantra is one proven method for gaining access to this sacred chamber of the heart - the goal of all spiritual disciplines.

1.     Yogi Gupta, Yoga and Yogic Powers (New York, Yogi Gupta, 1958), 52 - 62

2.     Swami Satyasanghananda Sarasvati, Light on the Guru and Disciple Relationship, 101

3.     Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, (Paraclete Press) quote taken from Introduction.

4.     Maha Sadhana bySri Dharma Mittra (DVD) – Spiritual Discourses, The Importance of a Teacher

____________________________________________

Alan Haras (Bhaktadas Om) is the owner of Hamsa Yoga in Lake Orion, Michigan.  He holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Michigan State University, is finishing up a two-year training in Spiritual Direction from the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, and is pursuing his Masters in Religious Studies at the University of Detroit Mercy.  He has been blessed to spend three years studying Advaita Vedanta with Dr. John Grimes, ten years studying the Jivamukti Yoga method, as well as having spent time in India with the late kirtan-wala and bhakti yogi Shyamdas.  In 2012-13, Alan completed the 200, 500 and 800-hour Dharma Yoga Life of a Yogi Teacher Trainings with Sri Dharma Mittra, made a 12-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  As a teacher, he is deeply grateful for the opportunity to offer "the greatest charity of all" - sharing and promoting spiritual knowledge.

15 Truths I learned from Sri Dharma Mittra

By Sorsha Anderson

Picture by Natasha Phillips

1. To make progress you must learn to do three things: Fast, keep silent and wait...
2. Breathe as slowly as possible for an hour and watch your cravings disappear. 
3. See yourself in the practice you are not able to access right now.  Imagine yourself in it.   
4. Do the work.  Not because you expect results, but because it’s work that needs to be done.  
5. In the beginning, do the poses any way you can. 
6. You can become king of the gods by watching…
7. Cultivate compassion--the rest will come. 
8. Expect nothing.  Do it because it has to be done. 
9. Avoiding discipline is a trick of the mind.  It enjoys its pleasures.  The mind will throw you down.  It is powerful. 
10. There is no ‘mine’.  Where there is ‘mine’, there is bondage.
11. Be kind to all beings.  Everyone passes through the same obstacles.
12. You can reach higher states with drugs, but there is a blackness behind it.  You despair because you know you cannot get there without the help.  When you achieve higher states with meditation, you feel bliss because you realize no one can take it from you.
13. Yoga is…perfect obedience to the teacher.
14. Drop the elbows. Don’t think!  Forearm stand!
15. After enlightenment, there are plenty of exciting jobs for you to do! 

_________________________

Sorsha Anderson is a certified Dharma Yoga Teacher who lives and teaches in Vermont.  She has been practicing since 1991 and worked with very gentle and restorative yoga until her 30's when she wandered into a hot and sweaty, but meditative vinyasa studio.  Neither a dancer nor gymnast as a child, and after having had two children, she surprised herself by balancing in crow for the first time at 36.  She never looked back.  Sorsha approaches each new pose with a sense of optimism and adventure and delights in encouraging others to try what only seems impossible at first glance.  She particularly enjoys teaching older women who are trying to find their way back to their bodies after a sometimes very long absence.  Sorsha is thankful to have found her way to the Dharma Yoga Center and makes the trip from Vermont as often as she can.  She offers gratitude for the beautiful physical and spiritual teachings of Sri Dharma Mittra.

Psychic Transference

by Sara Schwartz  

When I first heard Sri Dharma Mittra say, “Psychic attack” I wasn’t sure I heard him right. How can an attack be psychic? Does it hurt? Then I pictured an exorcist type of event with convulsions. I was skeptical.  

As Michael Talbot explains in his book The Holligraphic Universe, “Psychic and spiritual phenomenon have played a significant role in aspects of our culture, but because they are not easy to rope in and scrutinize in a laboratory setting, science has tended to ignore them.”  

©Jeffrey Vock

Luckily, Sri Dharma is not bound by conventional scientific thought processes, and openly invites one to explore psychic phenomenon. Through the Dharma Yoga Life of a Yogi 500-hour teacher training, I began to learn what a psychic attack was. Slowly, the skeptic inside me turned from a judge into an observer. 

I learned that a psychic attack might be a thought that is not yours. A psychic attack might feel like you have a dark thought or craving that isn’t yours. For example, I might be walking down the street and suddenly crave a hot dog. I know I don’t like hot dogs, not even vegan ones. Perhaps it’s the person next to me who sees the cart and is tempted by its fare. Because we are all a part of the giant mind, her thought became my thought. 

A more obvious example might be when someone gets mad at you. His or her anger jumps into the pit of your stomach and you can feel it! That’s a psychic transference. Nothing physical actually happened between you, but you can feel the anger physically and emotionally. 

Subliminal advertising is a tangible example of a psychic attack. In 1957, James Vicary flashed, faster than most people can register, an image of popcorn and soda on a public movie screen. He found that the concessions sold more with this subliminal imagery. While this study was later debunked, it set off subliminal advertising fever. Later studies found that we are stimulated by these subliminal (often sexual) images in advertisements.

A psychic attack might be a mood. These moods can pass between lovers, friends, or even strangers. Riding the subway without your psychic defenses up can be a really harrowing experience. People are already in a bad mood when they have to be trapped in a small metal container and hurled through space at more than human speeds. Airplanes have the same general anxiety about them.

(Sometimes you can see a smile or hear good music, so these journeys aren’t always all bad!) 

©Sandra Pintaric

How do you combat a psychic attack? By strengthening your aura.

Yogi Gupta, Sri Dharma Mittra’s guru, in his book Yoga and Yogic Powers, instructs, “Rhythmic breathings, Nadi Purifier Breathing, Nadi stimulator breathing and Nadi Vibrator breathing are some of the techniques which will enable you to create a strong psychic aura of thought...”  

The psychic aura of thought happens on the subtle plane, which exists within the stage of the gross plane. The gross plane is your physical body, people on the subway, the subway car. The subtle plane is the amount of energy you feel you have in your body, all the thoughts and emotions of you and the people around you, and the hum of the engines. 

Because the gross and subtle planes are interwoven, he says, “...a strong psychic aura of thought, mingled with the forces of life, mind and prana, will serve as protection against a psychic attack.” 

Practicing the pranayama techniques will build your subtle psychic defenses and keeping your body healthy will help you on the gross level. Try an asana practice, cardiovascular exercise, drinking plenty of fresh water, eating raw/unprocessed foods, and reducing your consumption of animal products (where the fear of the animal might psychically make its way into your body). These are all ways you can help the prana energy flow clearly through your physical body.  

For your mind you need positive thinking so that the prana can flow freely. Yoga Gupta describes, “If the Great Lakes are full of sand, the ships can’t move through them.” So you have to clear your mind of heavy thoughts so the prana energy can sail free on the still waters of your mind. 

For your spirit, to purify your 72,000 psychic channels- the Nadi’s- that conduct prana through you, you can attend Sri Dharma Mittra’s Psychic Development classes twice a week.  The psychic development techniques help clear out and strengthen this weblike psychic shield of your astral body. 

Sri Dharma and any of his teachers can help you learn Rhythmic Breathings, Nadi Purifier, Nadi stimulator, and Nadi Vibrator breathings. Additionally, Sri Dharma recommends regular chanting of the Mantra for Purification, to purify your body and surroundings. 

Awareness of psychic attacks is key. Please, do not be afraid of psychic attacks or resentful towards anyone you feel is psychically attacking you. The goal is to strengthen your resolve to live a strong, positive, and healthy life. Keep your mind tuned into this positive direction and, as Sri Dharma says “may you acquire enough energy for the practice.”

_____________________________________

Sara Schwartz lives in Queens, New York with her husband Yancy. She currently teaches at Yoga to the People, where she received her 200-hour certification in 2010. She recently graduated from the Dharma Yoga Center Life of a Yogi 500-Hour Teacher Training. "Offer up the fruits of your practice" is her favorite advice from Sri Dharma Mittra. She is so grateful for the guidance of Sri Dharma and all of his teachers.