Body As Light Field Report

Body as Light Field Report

Interview with a Senior Student of Sahaja Yoga Meditation

Helin Matta

210 930 667

Kine 4370: Body as Light – Survey of Meditation Practices Ancient & Current

School of Kinesiology & Health Science

York University

Course Instructor: Noah Wayne

October 15, 2014

Meditation comes in many different forms and affects each person in a different manner. With that being said, the underlying ideas and notions are consistent throughout. The universal philosophy behind each and every meditation practice is the idea of attaining inner peace by finding the balance amongst mind, body and spirit (Jyotirupananda, 2009). When working toward the connectedness of these three realms, a sense of wholeness may then be achieved.

The class was instructed to sit quietly with crossed legs and palms facing up rested on the knees. The instructor guides the class to move the right hand to various places on the body while speaking different mantras. When this was completed, the class was instructed to feel the flow of energy from top of the head silently in meditation, with soothing music playing in the background. Similar to Vipassana, the class was also instructed to observe the thoughts they are having and feel the flow of positive energy entering the body when inhaling, and feeling the release of negative energy upon exhalation. Upon the completion of the class, a senior student was able to answer a few questions regarding Sahaja yoga meditation. Christine is senior student at Sahaja meditation centre who had been avidly engaged in meditation for about 7 years and had been attending this particular class for 3 years. Christine has practiced many forms of meditation throughout the years such as Vipassana, Tranquility meditation and Holistic yoga. However, she has chosen to be most actively engaged in Sahaja yoga. In Christine’s words, Sahaja yoga meditation is about achieving self-realization and connecting with spiritual energy. Christine was introduced to Sahaja yoga meditation by a friend who suggested that she attend a class with her one day for fun, believing it would be beneficial to her.

As a nurse, witnessing death was not uncommon for her and she found that it always brought her down. Through the use of meditative techniques she was better able to deal with loss in a healthier way and did not allow negative thoughts to affect her as much. Meditation enabled her to observe her thoughts and feelings and quiet her mind. This “quieting of thoughts” in turn gave her a sense of peace to better cope with tragedies around her. She has not encountered any negative effects of Sahaja meditation, only positive. She has noticed that her health has improved overall, physically, mentally and emotionally. One study showed that Sahaja yoga has shown improvements in memory, vigilance and anxiety levels (Sharma et al., 2006). People suffering from depression showed improved cognitive functioning (Sharma et al., 2006). According to Sahaja Yoga literature, Sahaja Yoga meditation can cause a “Kundilini awakening” that takes place in the Limbic system, causing feelings of deep relaxation as well as vibratory awareness of the warm/cool breezes felt in the palms and top of the head (Sharma et al., 2006). Progress can be seen in different cognitive domains in patients suffering from depression, which may be brought about by a better neuroeffector communication which affects expression of neurotrophic factors, to regulate the neurotransmitters like serotonin and nor epinephrine (Sharma et