We
welcome visitors to this website
to a fascinating and relatively
unknown yoga - Swara Yoga.
The
word SWARA
in Sanskrit, means sound
or
musical
note; it also means the
continuous flow of air through one
nostril. And we all know that YOGA
means union.
So Swara Yoga is the science which
is about the realization of cosmic
consciousness, through the
awareness or observation, then
control or manipulation of the
flow of breath in the nostrils.
Swara yoga is an ancient tantric
science which involves the
systematic study
of the breath flow through
the nostrils (or swara) in
relation to the prevailing phases
of the moon, time of day and
direction . Although we think of 'pranayama'
when we think of techniques
associated with the breath, in
Swara yoga, it is the association
of the breath in relation to the
activities or phases or positions
of the sun, moon, planets,
seasons, time of day, with the
physical and mental conditions of
the individual and then taking the
appropriate action according to
these subtle relations. For
example, knowing the moon phases
and checking the flow of your
nostrils before you get out of bed
in the morning and letting the
corresponding foot be the first to
touch the floor and make the first
step, is a simple practice that ensures success in
everything that happens for that
day. The first foot to touch the
ground will get the prevailing
'successful' flow of energy from
the cosmos.
Swara
yoga is an ancient science
existing since before the Vedic
period, over ten thousand years
ago. It was a secret science, only
available for the select few,
specially kings and dedicated
sadhaks. It was kept as a closed
secret by the ancient sages and
saints who had intuitively
received
this knowledge from the Divine.
This
ancient divine knowledge was
available only for sadhaks, to those
who had risen above the worldly
and mundane affairs of life, those
who had a spiritual attitude, and
the dedication and devotion of a
disciple, so that this precious
knowledge was kept pure and it
didn't go into the wrong hands. It was
used for yearly predictions and
other divinations. It was used for
those who had mental, physical,
emotional, and spiritual problems
so that they could get rid of
their problems by using this
divine knowledge of Swara Yoga.
Also, it was useful for the Grahastha,
the householder, in day to day
matters. It was
commonly used for general future
predictions as well as in special cases
such as making wars go according
to the wishes of the king, or for
having a divine child. It was
used to choose an auspicious time,
start special jobs, journeys,
wars, building etc. and for
creating harmony in world affairs,
predicting the time of death, and
to deal with planetary effects,
astral forces and negative effects
of planets of the zodiac and the
constellations.
Through
the knowledge of swara yoga one
can become free from all kinds of
negative influences of one's destiny and can achieve heightened
awareness. The swara yoga
practices related to breath were
used understand the governing
forces of life, to understand the
nature of the universe and effects
of the elements on body and
mind by observing the different
patterns of breath. Further, it
was used to go
beyond the limitations of the
mind. Swara yoga is a tantric
science coming from the Agama
Shastras and from Shaiva Tantra,
where Lord Siva is the guru and
Shakti is the disciple She asks
questions about nature and the
governing forces of the universe.
Lord Siva gives this precious
knowledge of swara yoga to Shakti.
Other tantric traditions also
existed such as Surya tantra,
Ganapatya tantra and Vaishnava
tantra. Today only two tantric
techniques are commonly available,
Saiva and Shakta tantra.
The fascinating thing about Swara
yoga is that just by being aware
of the swara (dominant nostril) in
relation to the environment, you
can manipulate the results of what
you are about to do. In other
words, you can find out which is
going to be the successful route
and then follow it. It can be as
simple as checking your nostrils
before setting out of the house,
noting the direction you wish to
go in and then choosing the
appropriate foot with which you
will make your first step,
to ensure success and
positive outcomes for everything that
follows thereafter.
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