All of us at one time or other must have encountered a situation where in we had to bring all our inherent  strengths to a point to tackle the situation. By Bringing all our strengths while tackling a complex problem we can scare away the problem itself. Do you remember that childhood game of burning the hay with that Magnifying glass? All the sunrays falling on the magnifying glass will converge into one point and burn the hay or paper under it. 

From this we infer- like the beam of rays falling on the magnifying  glass, our mind too can converge all our thoughts in to one powerful beam. Yes, for this to achieve, you have take control over your mind, and controlling the mind can be done through Yogic exercises

Today more than ever young people the world over are turning to yoga to achieve better health, a fit body and above all the ability to cope up with the modern day tensions. In my view there is no stress called ‘Modern Day tensions.” Tension is as old as hills. But with the advent of cyber era and the associated  evils added new woes and tensions to the humans to the already long list of our most familiar stresses like traffic jams, transport, relationship stresses, office stresses and the list goes on.

Then what’s the solution to stay ailment free? How to achieve concentration for enriching and strengthening our inner faculties? There is no way out?

Yes there is. Yoga allows for absolute balancing of emotions.  It makes you remain in a state of equanimity. It means, you remain undisturbrd and unperturbed be it an occasion of joy or pathos.

 There are different kinds of Yoga exercises that stand in good stead for all. 

Before going into the details of a few Yogasanas, let’s know a little bit of Yogic terminology.

 Here, to make the things simple let me quote the example of tortoise. The first step to concentration is to relax the mind. See how a tortoise withdraws itself from sensory perceptions. This withdrawal is possible only through relaxation. Relaxation enables you to gather all the scattered energies and make them all into one. The idea is to equip ourselves to meet the day to day challenges with a much stronger ‘Combined force’.

As said earlier, we are geared up to face the challenges, because now we are in a relaxed state of mind. In this state, we take the help of a few Asanas to further fortify our self to enhance our mental and physical strength.

Remember all Asanas  should be performed with awareness. That’s tou should be aware of the changes taking place while doing the Asana. This type of exercise will certainly result in  increased levels of concentration. Let’s start with simple balancing postures like  ‘Eka pada pranamasana’. 

Eka Pada Pranamasana is a one legged prayer pose. Move on to more complex balancing postures over a period that require a higher degree of perfection. 

Eka Pada Pranamasana

Stand erect. Keep your feet together and arms by your sides.  Keep any object like a small statue or a decorative piece before you at a distance at your eye level. Stare at it straight and fix your gaze.

Now bend your right knee. Hold the ankle. Let the sole of the foot be placed on the inside of the left thigh.. See that the right knee is pointing  towards the side. Don’t leave the ankle till the body is steadily balanced. Regarding placing of the hands there are two ways. You can place your hands in front of your chest with joined palms in a Namaskar stance. Or if you are confident raise your hands above your head

Remember to breathe normally while doing this and don’t stop gazing at the distant object you kept before you.

If you are a beginner , it will be somewhat difficult to stand on one leg without losing balance. But regular and consistent practice will make you a master sooner than later.

Begin by holding the pose for 12 breaths on each leg.

Breath awareness.

Entire yoga revolves round breathing.  How you breathe, what’s the pace of your breathing  will open a plethora of clues about your thoughts and emotions.  Because breath is the bridge that connects mind and the body. 

intricacies of abdominal breathing.

 Anybody will know that with each inhalation and exhalation, the abdomen rises and falls. But how many of us are aware of our breath? Very less people  are aware of the intricacies of breathing.Become aware of your breath in the abdominal region. This means, observe the rise and fall of your of the abdomen with each inhalation and exhalation. Becoming aware of your breath while opening of your eyes or closing of your eyes, you are entering into the domain of a powerful source of energy and relaxation. Yogic relaxation is nothing but concentrated form of rest.

Trataka

Trataka is an exercise that involves concentrated gazing. Seeing a thing without batting the eye lid for  a certain period is Trataka. If this exercise is done on regular basis, your eyesight will become clear and bright.. Additionally one will be relieved from nervous tension, anxiety depression and insomnia. This results in focusing on the things without getting deviated. It goes without saying that Trataka will help the students immensely.

If done after sunset or before retiring to bed, Trataka will yield best results.