Art Of Living

Feb 3rd My 1st AOL class from 6 – 9:30 P.M by Mrs.Bhavani from California.

Founder of AOL is Shri Ravi Shankar.

Switch off cell phone completely.

Prana is the life force-breath.

Ujjayi-Ut + jay = victory over mind- inhale and, exhale

BBMINES- body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego & spirit or God or consciousness.

Pranayam-3 types

The process is inhale until count 4, hold your breath for count 4, exhale until count 6, and hold your
breath until count 2. - Also called 4,4,6,2.

1> Hold your 2 fingers of your both hands on hips sideways as if hands can hold a coke can. Inhale
&hold your breath & exhale.
2> Same way, hold your arms w/both fingers and Inhale &hold your breath & exhale.
3> Put your hands up straight facing the palms and then bring down half way until shoulders,
hands v or cone shaped, touching the back of your shoulders. Inhale &hold your breath &
exhale.

Basthrika: Put your fist near your shoulder, relax. Inhale & bring your hands up, make a fist, exhaling
bring your fist down touching your ribs but fist & hand to the side (not back or flat)

AUM

It reps A for BrahmA, U for VishnU and M for Maheswara.

When you say A, it should come from below navel point- all down parts of body

When you say U, it should come from stomach till throat.

When you say M, it should come from throat till head.

If you do pranayam etc your nervous system will work very well peacefully; stress free.

1st day HOMEWORK

1>Do AUM 3 times.

2> Pranayam-3 sets

3>Basthrika-Do it 20 times thrice with break of 20 seconds. Altogether 60 times.

4> Before sleeping, do just pranayam- inhale & exhale 10 times.

Last night after the 1st class, I thought I was tired and would get a good night’s sleep. But frankly
speaking, I didn’t get sleep at all no matter how much I tried. Reason is- Sudarshan Kriya makes one
alert. Don’t do it before sleeping.

Feb 4th- 2nd class

Today we answered the 2 questions we were asked yesterday-

When do you feel happy?

I pondered much over that question. I thought so many things that would make me happy. But they all
give me only temporary happiness. I feel happy only when there is a balance between the materialistic
life and my spiritual life.

What do you need to feel happy?

I need self-satisfaction and self-realization.

Good that she made us think on such questions. We need to sojourn inwards to answer such questions.
AOL class gave me a chance to do it.

We practiced Om, Pranayam, Basthrika again.

SudarshanaKriya: su= good, darshana- vision, kriya-action of breath

Proper vision of who you are through breath; fotsteps to meditate easily.

Eyes closed no matter what happens she said. She switched on Sri Ravi Shankar’s audio cassette-I
prayed for his guidance in this regard and that he himself should lead us who are treading on the right
path.

She made us do the Pranayam breathing several times, with Guruji chanting ‘Soham’ which means ‘I am
God.’ This concept is not new for me as I heard it direct from Bhagawan Satya Sai Himself several times. I
was reminded of Swami when He said that our breathing rhythm is nothing but SO HAM. Guruji chanted
SO and we inhaled. He chanted HAM and we exhaled. She made us do several times that I had to grab
my will power to continue maintain that pace. I was thirsty, tired waited for it to get over too.

Next she made us lie down on our backs with eyes still closed. I felt little heat on my back while doing it;
sometimes breathless; little tinge on my left hand. Little numbness and I was almost asleep and realized
and came back to my senses. At times I didn’t even feel my body. I was in bliss. Guruji’s words- feel your
left foot, leg, thigh etc made us feel good.

She made us narrate our experiences one by one. She said every one’s experience is different as every
individual is unique.

Homework- To ponder more into life

1> When will you be happy?

2> What do you need to be happy?
3> Where are you?
4> What are you?
5> Who are you?
6> What did you do in your life that brings out the divine qualities in other people?
7> What have you done that brought you fulfillment in your life?

5 important aspects / principles of AOL:

1> Opposite values are complementary.

2> When you point one finger at others, 3 fingers are in turn pointing are you.
3> Don’t become football to other people’s opinions
4> Don’t see intention behind others’ mistakes. (If you see intentions, you will be in tension.lol)
5> Present moment is inevitable.
Where you put your attention in life GROWS; put attention on positive things and give some time to let
them happen.

Caution or TO Dos before practicing Pranayam & Sudarshan Kriya

Firstly, switch off your cell phones (lol) eyes closed, no leather.

This needs to be done once a day; allow some air to flow in & out; keep windows or doors open;

No incense sticks or fragrance; not before sleeping as your minds tends to be very active after this
process. You can do it early in the morning with empty stomach or 1 ½ hours after breakfast or 2 ½
hours after lunch or early in the evening before 6 P.M.

This is useful for the Body, Breath & Mind- physical exercise to the Body, Kriya for Breath and
Meditation for the mind.

Daily practice of Pranayam & Sudarshan Kriya-Procedure

1> 3 stages of Pranayam in Vajrasana using Ujjayi breath. 4-6-6-2

1st stage- 8 breaths
2nd stage-8 breaths
3rd stage-6 breaths

2> Bhastrika: Vajrasana-Vajrasana using Bellow’s breath (normal breath with no holding of breath)
3 rounds of 20, 20, 20 with 20 seconds break for every cycle.
Vajrasana- for spine to be erect and good.

3> Sudarshana Kriya- sit cross legged or Sukhasana- asana that is comfortable to you.
Hold breath and start chanting AUM 3 times.
Soham breath: 20 big circles, 40 medium circles & 40 small circles. Do this set in this sequence
3 times altogether coming to 300 times. At the end, do 8-10 big circles.
Lie down for 5-10 minutes. Sit and meditate. Open the eyes very slowly.

You can buy meditation pillows to use for Vajrasana.

My Conclusion: AOL is a very nice experience for me. I always wanted to learn how to place my first
steps in the field of Meditation. I wanted to live in the Present for it is Omnipresent where the past and
the future lie in the present. I am sure this course taught me to learn to purposely live in the present like
my breath. This taught me to accept people as they are; not to judge people at the first instance. Let
people think what they want, let us not get affected by their thoughts or actions. As Mrs.Bhavani said-
Don’t become a football to others’ opinions. This course brought out the innocent little child in every
participant. I would definitely recommend this to everyone I come across for it brings change an inner
change to every being. Such courses need to be encouraged for all kinds of people to experience the
true nature of a human being. I thank Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji for helping us tread on the right path and
Mrs.Bhavani for teaching us so well with patience and love and Sudhir for being an instrument to help
people choose the right path. No doubt ‘Art of Living’ course taught us the real art of living.