Finding light in darkness
How do we find light in darkness through spiritual states such as pranayama, yoga and meditation ?
When we are in the space of darkness, dullness, sluggish, gloom, inertia, and lack motivation, even our thinking is hindered. Then we say, we are Tamasic, one of the three Maha Gunas divisions. Our clarity is hindered in the thalamus where we integrate sensory information that helps us to construct our sense of reality. Feeling Tamasic can become more noticeable during winter/fall season, however, there are challenges we are faced with, experiences that shape our life, at any given moment of the human life cycle, where we suffer from illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, or trauma.
If our goal is to be able to “find light in the darkness” we can to train our neural pathways to function in certain way,, either through behaviors where our brain cells communicate with each other to create impressions which eventually will become automatic, until the behavior becomes the new normal. A different system in the way we think and use our memory.
Pranayama, Yoga, and Meditation is a simple and pragmatic way to attain clarity in our daily activity in life. We can attain mind calming by training the mind, that is our memory bank, in order to bring to fruition to our intellect, also called the Buddhi. In yoga sessions we begin by centering ourselves, in simple terms centering is “self-awareness” that means to become aware of ourselves, our surroundings, and more importantly being aware of our personal power, and abilities.
When our sympathetic nervous system creates adrenaline and cortisol in our bodies to “keep us safe” our bodies are not able to regulate unless we are trained or have the tools to help us maintain calm and relaxed until our bodies and brains connect again and realize that we in the “rest and digest” divides. Then, our heart and body begin to regulate, slow down, and we become relaxed and dopamine and serotonin are released in the brain and we begin to feel calm and content.
In short, according to the yogic understanding of Sadhguru, it is believed that there are “16 dimensions to the human mind”, one of them being, Manas (the mind). It is believed through the Maha Gunas is how we relate to our circumstances mentally and energetically. The other two Maha Gunas are believed to be, Rajasic, high energy and Satvvic, where we want to be, balanced energy. We can succor to minimize unpleasantness by 57% and gain a balanced energy and maintain a positive mental well-being by creating changes in the brain though pranayama, yoga and meditation if we incorporate a minimum of four- twenty minutes of mindful sessions in our day.
According to Julie Dirksen, form “Design For How We Learn”, states, encoding for retrieval, or how will it need to be used” is key when considering how we want to use the information we have adapted in our lives.
Finding light in darkness, is a practice that we must apply to be able to retrieve with our practice.