Q.1 Clearly define body harmony.
Ans. Body Harmony: -
Body Harmony is a continually evolving system that encompasses many aspects of bodywork. As an open system of treatment, it represents a philosophy that takes into account all aspects of the client: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Body Harmony sees the client, not the practitioner, as the true source of healing and their way as the path to that healing. A session typically begins with a discussion of the client’s issues and goals incorporating the “Equation”, which includes the client, the practitioner, the environment and reactions. The client is observed both still and in motion, so that an analysis can be made of body posture, movement and functions, relevant to the goals set by them. By listening to the body and following each person’s unique path, Body Harmony allows the body to unwind and release past traumas.
Body Harmony can release stress and tension, relieve aches and pains and restore natural body movement to improve function, posture and presentation. It can accelerate physical and emotional healing and resolve issues held in the body to allow enhanced health, harmony, vitality and communication, increased success and prosperity and improved interpersonal relationships. People using Body Harmony for healing experience a deep sense of relaxation and wellbeing, clarity, peace, a sense of being in control, and increased awareness.
Some of the illnesses that can be aided with Body Harmony treatment include:
Headaches and migraines Back/shoulder/neck pain or injury Jaw dysfunctions (TMJ) Repetitive strain injury (RSI) Sciatica Limited range of motion Poor blood/lymph circulation Asthma Stress and anxiety.
During a session of Body Harmony — which lasts for one to one and a half hours—the body structure, function and alignment will be discussed and assessed. The client may not be aware of what the body is displaying but the practitioner has been trained to see these changes and understand this unique language. A body harmony session will generally progress to hands-on work on the treatment table, for which the client remains fully clothed so that treatment is non-invasive. Body Harmony complements any other therapeutic modalities and psycho spiritual therapies.
Q.2. Difference between needs of body and self (I). (2009 - 10, 11 - 12)
Ans. Body: -
The food, clothes, shelter are the basic need of the body. In order to have nourishment body need food and water. The body needs food for its functioning and to get the energy. The body also needs protection from changing weather hence, there is a need for some physical facilities to protect the body. Clothes and shelter are thus needed to keep our body protected and sheltered from the extremities of weather. We may also need ‘instruments’. Instruments are needed for the right utilization of the body.
These needs of the body like food, clothes, shelter can be recognized as being ‘physical’ in nature or also called ‘physical facilities’ (suvidha).
The need of the body are physical in nature. They are needed only for some amount of time, so the need for physical facilities of the body is temporary in time, it is not continuous. It is also quantitative. These are fulfilled by physical facilities.
Self (I): -
The need of the self (I) is trust, respect, happiness, etc. I ensure the need of the body but these needs not of ‘I’. The need of I is essentially to live in a state of continuous happiness (sukha). The need of the self (I) are not physical in nature like trust, respect, happiness etc.
We want happiness and feeling of respect continuously and so also acceptance in relationship. We do not want to be unhappy even a single moment, or lose the feeling of respect for ourself for a single moment. Thus ‘I’ are continuous in time, unlike the need of body. It is not quantitative. It is qualitative because our feelings are qualitative. These needs are fulfilled by right understanding and right feelings.
Q.3 ‘The need for physical facilities is temporary’ - explain the meaning of this statement with any two examples. (2009-10)
Ans. ‘The need for physical facilities is temporary’. For example we need warm clothes during winter and lighter clothes during summer. Just because I have a good sweater, it does not mean that I will continue wearing it even in summer! Hence, it’s apparent that we do not need clothes continuously! We tend to change our clothing based on the weather i.e., the need for clothing for the body is temporary in nature. Similarly, I want to be in the house for only a limited time in a day. If I am retained in a room throughout my life, so as to be ‘protected’, it will be life imprisonment for me! The need for a house as well, turns out to be temporary.
We can hence see that be it food, clothing, shelter, or instruments, these are needed only for some amount of time, or we can say that the need for physical facilities of the body is temporary in time.
Q.4. Differentiate between the activities of the self and the body with example. (2009 - 10)
Related Questions -
Q. Differentiate between the activities ‘going on in the self’, ‘going on in the body with the consent of the Self’ and ‘involving both the self and the body’ with the help of examples.
(2012 - 13)
Q. Explain the activities of the Self and the Body. (2013 - 14)
Ans. Activities that are going on in the Self (‘I’): -
All of us think. This is something each one of us can verify. We also imagine, and this is very evident from the following example: you are sitting in the classroom, and there is a lecture going on. As you listen, you hear something and are suddenly reminded of an incident that took place years ago. Your attention is drawn to that incident, and you start thinking about it, and spend a few minutes there. After sometime, your attention shifts back into the classroom and the teacher is standing at your desk, and asks, “where were you?” — your body is here, but you were not ‘mentally here’. This happens with many of us — in the dassroom, and outside it. We may be sitting at home, and our mother may be calling us to eat. The words fall on our ears, but we are so engrossed in reading a book, or in front of the computer, that she has to repeat herself a couple of times before we respond! ‘What is happening in these examples? — we are fully engaged in activities in ourselves, in ‘I’. We are so lost in the thinking, or imagining that we don’t hear the inputs from the Body.
If you now start observing yourself, you will see that most of the time, you are engrossed in yourself quite oblivious to what is happening outside. This also usually happens when we are driving, or riding a bike for example. We may have driven for 30 minutes through heavy traffic, but we may have been lost in some thought, some imagination, some analysis most of the time — with the result that when we reach our destination, we are surprised that we are already there! These are activities that take place in ‘I’. Understanding, desiring, analyzing, imagining, choosing — are activities that take place in the Self (‘I’).
These activities are going on in us all the time, and we are usually unaware of them. If we start paying attention to them, we can become aware of them. We can also see that these activities take place irrespective of the state of the body. This is also something you can verify yourself — even when you are sick, the activity of thinking does not stop. You don’t think less or more based on whether you are hungry; Your capacity to imagine, does not change even when you are lying in a hospital bed — in fact, if you are sick and on a hospital bed, or at home at that time, you will see that you think and imagine a lot more, since there is nothing much to do! This tells us that these activities are going on in the Self, in ‘I’ and are not dependent on the state of the Body.
Activities involving both the Self (‘I’) and the Body: -
In the many activities we perform on a daily basis, we will discover a distinction between
the Self and the Body. We saw above that there are some activities that only take place in ‘I’. There are some activities that we do, in which both ‘I’ and Body are involved. Take the example of eating. Here, I first decide which food to eat, then make the choice to take the food inside the body, use my hands to carry the food to the mouth, use the mouth to chew the food and then swallow it. Thus, eating is an activity which involves both the Self (‘I’), where the choice is being made, and the Body, with which the activity is carried out. Now, who do you think is enjoying the tasty food that is being eaten? The enjoyment that one gets out of eating tasty food — who do you think enjoys it? Me, the Self (‘I’) or the Body? The answer is obviously: “I (my Self) am the one who is getting the taste of the food and enjoying it!” It is ‘I’ that gets the taste of the food, enjoys the food. Similarly, in walking, running, studying, doing my household chores, etc., both ‘I’ and the Body are involved. The decisions, and choices are made in ‘1’, and these are carried out via the Body. What about listening? When I listen, what is involved, ‘I’ or the Body or both? Think about it for a while.., say, your father asks you to get him a glass of water. But you are busy solving your maths problem. What happens then? The words fall on your ears, but you are unable to ‘listen’. The Body has received the words, but you (‘I’) have not attended to it. So, you do not respond. The participation of the body in this activity is to receive the words, and your (‘I”s) participation is to receive information from the Body, and get the meaning of those words. Thus, listening involves both- ‘I’ and Body.
Similarly the activities of tasting, seeing or smelling involve both —‘I’ and Body. To conclude, we can say that whenever there is involvement of the sense organs in the Body, then ‘I’ is also involved. You can now notice that tasting, listening, smelling, seeing — that use the body’s five sense organs also have an involvement of ‘I’. It is ‘I’ that receives information from the sense inputs, and provides direction to the five sense organs in the Body. Similarly, whenever the “work-organs” are involved, like hands or mouth or legs etc. then again you are involved as it is you who selects to ue them. For example — walking does not happen by itself — but only when I choose to walk, how much I decide to walk, how fast I walk and when I decide to stop; is all decided in ‘I’ and then it is instructed to the Body. You can yourself observe this, when you are walking. If you start paying attention, you will see that all the time, it is you (‘I’) that is taking the decision to walk, regulate the speed of walking, etc.
Thus, it all depends upon paying attention! As we pay attention to our daily activities with the distinction of I” and Body in mind, it becomes possible to distinguish that many of these activities like seeing, walking, smelling listening, etc involve both I and the Body,Activities that are going on in the Body.
Activities that are going on in the Body: -
The Body is a set of ‘self-organised activities’ that are occurring with my (‘I”s) consent but without my (‘I”s) active participation. These are functions like breathing, various organ functions, digestion, etc. and we will call this categoty of functions as ‘bodily functions’ or simply the activity of the ‘Body’. An activity like breathing happens by itself and there is no active participation of ‘I’ in the performance of the activity. However, this breathing continues with my consent, i.e. I can choose to stop breathing when I want to, but do not have to pay any special attention to keep breathing. Each one of us can easily verify this — all we have to do is start paying attention to it!
Q.5 Differentiate between the activities of knowing, assuming, recognizing and fulfilling with the help of example. (2010 - 11)
Ans. We assume - we all make assumptions. We say “I assumed this was true, but I was wrong”. Example: if I see a snake and assume it to be a rope, I shall respond differently to it (recognition and fulfillment), than if I take it to be a snake itself. We call this activity ‘assuming’ or ‘manana’.
We recognize - we all recognize things today, we recognize a variety of things. Like, we recognize water, our parents, friends, etc. We call this activity ‘recognizing’ or ‘pahachanana’ The recognizing in ‘I’ depends on assuming.
We fulfill - once we recognize water, we take it, when we recognize a friend, we greet him/her, when we see a wounded dog, we try and help it. This response that follows recognition is called the activity of ‘fulfilling’ or nirvaha-karana. The fulfillment depends on the recognition.
Assuming, recognizing and fulfilling are activities that we all do, irrespective of whether we are aware of it or not. There is another activity that exists in us (in ‘I’) that we are largely unaware of or have not explored properly. We tried to explore this activity, get a glimpse of it, via our natural acceptance. This activity is called ‘knowing’ Knowing means we have the right understanding — the understanding of harmony at all levels of our living. As a result of knowing, we understand reality, as it is.
When we have the right understanding, when we have the knowledge of reality, it is definite, and then assuming becomes according to the knowing, and hence recognizing and fulfilling becomes definite, or according to knowing. Until then, it is subject to beliefs and assumptions, and this keeps changing.
Now, we can write (in ‘I’):
Knowing or janana - leads to
Assuming or manana - Recognizing or pahachanana - Fulfilling or nirvaha karana.
leads to leads to
Q.6 Explain the relation between the self and the body. What is the responsibility of the self towards the body ? (2009-10)
Related Questions -
Q. How does the Self assume the responsibility towards the Body? (2012 - 13)
Q. Explain the co-existence between the Self and the Body. How does the Self take care of the Body? (2013 - 14)
Ans. The human being is a co-existence of the self ‘I’ and the body. The ‘I’ is conscious in nature while the body is material in nature. There is exchange of information between ‘I’ and the body. I want to live, and the body is used by me as an instrument. Just living is not sufficient for me, I want to live with continuous happiness. The body needs nourishment and protection, for which food, clothing etc. are required. Right utilization of the body needs instruments or equipments. Self is to understand and live in harmony at all four levels of living. Production, protection and right utilization of physical facilities or needs of body is only a part of self. Self is the seer, door and enjoyer, body is an instrument. I am the one that decides for doing things. Sometimes, I express these decisions via the body.
The feeling of responsibility in the self (‘I’) for nurturing, protection and right utilization of the body.
As I come to realize that the Body is my instrument, and that the Body needs to be given nutrition, protected from the environment and utilized to work as an efficient and effective tool for the right purpose, I become responsible to the body. This sense of responsibility flows naturally and does not have to be imposed. Thus, there is no feeling of control or imposition, but a feeling of responsibility that is regulating the way we take care of and use our body.
When I live with Sanyama, there is harmony among the different parts of the body and the body acts according to me as a useful instrument. Thus, we define Svasthya as having two elements:
Svasthya (Health): -
1. The Body acts according to the needs of ‘I’,
2. There is harmony among the parts of the Body.
So, Svasthya is the condition of the Body where every part of the Body is performing its expected function. There is harmony within the Body and it is fit for use by the self.
On the part of the Body, its being in harmony with ‘I’ is conducive to Svasthya-its fitness and readiness to serve ‘I’. In fact, the word ‘Svastha’ literally means being anchored to the self, being in close harmony with the Self.
There is a strong coupling between ‘I’ and the Body. If I am in disharmony, say in anger or stress or despair, it immediately starts affecting the Body adversely. It is now well established that there are many diseases of the Body that are caused or accentuated due to disharmony in ‘I’. On the other hand, when there is a strong disturbance in the Body manifesting in the form of severe pain, it distracts ‘I’ from its normal functions.
If there is Sanyama, health can be ensured and if Sanyama is not there, a good health can also be lost. So, Sanyama is vital for the Svasthya and needs to be given due priority.
Q.7 Explain the sanyam to evolve the mind with the heart. How can we connect the mind with feelings composed of compassion and love?
Related Questions -
Q. Define sanyam. (2011 - 12)
Ans. Sanyam is usually defined as restraint in English, but restraint does not convey the exact meaning. The word ‘sanyam’ is composed of the two Sanskrit roots ‘sam’ and ‘yam’. Yam is like yama in the Yoga Sutras – a state of mind which you hold and are able to cultivate and develop. Sam means total – the total personality, the total expression, the total behaviour, all the dimensions of human nature. So sanyam literally means that all the dimensions of the human personality are taken through a process of transformation and beautification, and that state is maintained and developed.
Sanyam works at various levels: first the sensorial level, second the mental level, and then at the psychic and spiritual levels. Sanyam, or the process of transformation, applies to each and every expression in life, including behaviour, attitude, speech and thought.
What is the purpose of sanyam? The psychoanalysts of the past and modern ages have described different states of consciousness. The mind is the interactive consciousness, the surface of consciousness. There are further classifications according to the intensity of experience: conscious, jagrat, subconscious, swapna, and unconscious, sushupti. But what is the conscious mind, what is the subconscious mind and what is the unconscious mind?
Conscious mind: -
We can describe the experience of jagrat and how one responds to the activities of the conscious mind. Right now you are outside and there is light everywhere, everything is illuminated. You can see as far as you want to see; there are no obstructions in the way – that is the conscious dimension. However, you cannot be aware of the entire conscious dimension at the same time, just as you cannot be aware of your total surroundings or environment at the same time. You don’t know what is happening behind you, yet you are not sleeping. You don’t know what is happening beside you, yet your eyes are open. You don’t know what is happening below you, yet you are aware. So where is the focus?
Here is an example. You are looking at me, the torch light of your attention is on me, yet many things are happening around you. There is the sound of birds singing and the noise of cars and music. There are objects, trees, flowers and buildings around you and behind you. You know they exist, but if you want to bring them into focus, then you have to consciously listen to them or look at them. The focus, the torchlight of consciousness, is awareness, attention. If you look somewhere, the consciousness shifts. You are awake, you are not sleeping, you are not dreaming or fantasizing, but if you simply look away, the focus shifts. So even in the conscious dimension, our awareness is limited to the present experience that the senses are attached to. Our senses have their own limitations; they cannot be aware of the entire creation all at the same time. You can look either north, east, south or west, but not in all four directions simultaneously. That is the nature of jagrat consciousness. Everything is illuminated yet the focus of awareness is only on one object, which is highlighted due to its involvement with the senses.
What happens in this process? While you are watching that building, someone behind you gets out a gun and takes aim at you. The same thing happens in the mind too. All these various expectations and ambitions which you can’t face develop. They manifest while you are looking the other way. You don’t even know where they have come from, but suddenly you find yourself confronting that obsessive passion, that obsessive aggression, for no apparent rhyme or reason. One minute ago you were at peace with yourself and one minute later you are disturbed. All this play happens in jagrat, the conscious level.
Subconscious: -
What is swapna, the subconscious? Inside the building there is light, but no direct sunlight. It is dim, and if you need to work there, you turn on the light. The light in each area of the building illuminates a particular area only. The subconscious is like the conscious mind, but instead of being fully illuminated by the all-pervasive sunlight, it is now illuminated in parts by individual bulbs which represent the memory, the impressions, the thoughts, ambitions, strengths, weaknesses, desires and passions. All these areas are being illuminated independently, not by homogeneous lighting, but by individual bulbs which only illuminate that particular area. So when you go to swapna, it is neither bright nor dark. Each bulb represents an individual experience, memory or quality. That is the subconscious.
Unconscious: -
The characteristic of the unconscious is absence of light, absence of awareness, absence of knowledge or experience. Everything exists, but there is no connection, no relationship, just as the colours and forms of trees and flowers exist at night, but you don’t see them. Everything continues to exist, waiting for the light to shine. This is the unconscious.
The activities and contents of the conscious, subconscious and unconscious are reflected in our life and in our character. In each the limited conditioned nature is tamasic. The purpose of sanyam is to transform these tamasic states of consciousness which at present are focused only on association between the senses and the object, so we can derive the appropriate wisdom and experience.
If you want to generate electricity from a flowing river, first you need to contain the flow by building a dam which holds it, lets it build up and gradually, in a controlled manner, allows it to pass through an outlet with force, thus creating another type of power, hydro-electric power. You are not drying up the entire river bed, but you are ensuring that the normal flow in the river becomes the cause of a greater energy source for a particular purpose. This controlled and guided action is known as sanyam.
Managing the senses: -
The practice of sanyam is firstly sensorial. The association with the senses – taste, visual and tactile impressions, smells, sounds – has to be curbed because it is the senses that give birth to cravings and desires. The eyes look at a flower. They recognize and appreciate the beauty, the colour, the smell. Suddenly a desire comes: “It’s beautiful, I want it!” It is natural for this desire to come up. But this desire has two parts: the first part is recognizing that the flower is beautiful, the second part is wanting to possess it. The association of the sense organs with the object has given birth to a desire to possess it. The beauty was seen by the eyes, but the idea of possession came after the beauty was appreciated by the mind. This applies to everything – luxuries, houses, cars, stereo sets, TV sets, boyfriends, girlfriends, everything comes in this purview – and then emotional and intellectual responses are evoked.
Managing these emotional responses is the next item of sanyam. If you stop at the point where you say, “The flower is beautiful,” that is sanyam. If you bring in the second part, “I wish to possess it,” then it is no longer sanyam, it becomes swartha, selfishness. Sanyam is appreciation of beauty; swartha is the desire to possess it. Sensorial sanyam has to come first. There is nothing wrong with a desire for pizza, but if you think about it every day, the desire becomes an obsession. So first the senses have to be managed through sanyam.
Managing the instincts: -
After the senses, the four instincts: ahara, craving for fulfilment and satisfaction; nidra, craving for relaxation, sleep and comfort; bhaya, insecurities and fears; and maithuna, sensual passions, have to be managed through sanyam. We become so caught up in our own instinct-generated thoughts that we bind ourselves to different ideas, objects, environments and climates, both external and internal. If we can learn not to bind ourselves through the tiny proddings and associations of the instincts, then a lot of mental and psychological problems can be solved.
One simple idea can become an obsession and become so powerful that it can change your mental attitude and behaviour completely. This is known as instinct and often there is no conscious control over it. Many people’s behaviour is compulsive; they are compelled to behave in a certain manner. Some people can’t live without being negative; they will always find a way to pass a snide remark, yet they don’t realize they have done so. This absence of awareness of one’s own actions, behaviour and attitude is also changed by sanyam.
Sanyam – food for the soul: -
It can be said that food is required for the body, pleasure for the mind and sanyam for the soul or atma. The body cannot survive for long without food. Food nourishes and vitalizes the body, and therefore we exist. Food creates prana, which maintains the physical structure. If you don’t eat, the prana will gradually become depleted, the vitality will go and the body will become weak and sick.
Pleasure plays the same role for the mind. If one is continually under pressure and tension, the mind gets bogged down in a very black state from which it cannot extract itself. To remove that state, pleasure is necessary. It refreshes the mind, it refreshes the mental pranas. If you read a good book, the mind changes. If you watch a good movie, play, joke and laugh, there is a temporary shift. These temporary shifts take the mind away from its areas of frustration and anxiety, and revitalize it.
Sanyam plays the same role for the soul. The soul is an energy. It is a shakti like the mind is a shakti. But it is more subtle than the mind. The body is the gross manifest form of this shakti, the mind is the subtle form of this shakti, and the spirit is the causal form of this shakti. But are we looking at the body and mind and ignoring the soul?
We take care of the body and mind because we identify with them, and they are more visible, tangible and understandable. But the spirit is the real self within us, and that energy becomes affected by the states of the mind and the body. The only way to release the energy of the spirit is through sanyam. In this context, sanyam means to hold a balanced attitude so that the instincts, obsessive desires and dim, unlit areas of the psyche that drag us away from expressions of the heart or soul can no longer distract us. We restrain selfish impressions that the mind or the senses would naturally gravitate towards. In this way sanyam helps realign the consciousness so we express the energies of atma, the soul.
The body, mind, emotions and spirit have to be seen as one unit. In this way we can understand how to reach the dimension of the spirit by using the body and mind to express compassion and love, the language of the heart.