Break The Age Cage

If you happen to take a flight at night, and if you get a window seat – just look out of the window when you take-off, you will see thousands of tiny dots of light coming from thousands of houses that lie below and if you peep into any of those houses, you will find people not very different from one another, going through similar life experiences – each one is stressed, each one is disturbed by the same set of problems – health, finances, relationships and/or emotions.

It is these stresses that weigh down an individual all through the life keeping him entangled in the everyday struggle and before one knows, the hair are grey, the spine is bent, the skin is shrivelled, the eyesight dim, the body is host to a plethora of diseases, and the stress…it only increases, never subsides- deteriorating the body further and faster. Psychological stress is in fact the prime factor expediting ageing in the body. Medically, the psychological stress is associated with shortening of the telomere length in our DNA as a consequence of which body succumbs to the diseases of old age. The research is detailed in the book 'The Ageless Dimension' and is now copied and published by Jue Lin et al at University of California.

Stress and life stressors are also the factor that sets us apart from our ancestors who led a stress-free life and were able to go on in a youthful and radiant body till the very last, for they had the key to creation…What our ancients knew and what we often forget is that the world outside is a reflection of the world inside. The source of disturbances around us stems from our own desires, the bondages that keep us entangled in the world outside and disturbed in the world inside. Just close your eyes for a few minutes. You will find your mind flooded with all kinds of thoughts – about your health, about parents, family, children, office, about finances, future security, about status and wealth, etc. Even when you think you are relaxing and are not exerting yourself physically, the mind is racing at supersonic speeds and your thoughts are consuming you. The book, ‘Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension’ delves deeper on the subject of thoughts and psychological stress and how it leads to ageing in the body. Here I detail a simple vedic technique from the book to deal with everyday stress by untying yourself from the clutches of desires and moving into the inner world.

Shanmukhi Mudra: At any point of time any one of your senses is always at work, all the time running after the objects of desire. The doorways to these desires in the human body are our sense organs. Shanmukhi Mudra shuts these doors to be able to experience the real world, which lies inside.

Sit in Siddhasan, keeping your back absolutely straight. Slowly raise your hands towards the face keeping the elbows at shoulder level. Put the thumbs inside the ear holes blocking any external sound. Then close your eyes and gently press your eyelids with the index finger. Ensure that no light enters. Then with the middle finger tips slowly press the nasal passage. Keep the pressure soft and release the pressure on the nostrils at frequent intervals to take in some air. With the ring finger and the little finger press the upper lip and the lower one thereby closing the 7 doorways to Maya, them being the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. Once all the doors are shut try and listen to the sound within, observe where it leads you. Do not stretch the breath beyond your limit.

Caution: In the beginning do not try and strain yourself by closing the nostrils as you might suffocate yourself. Breathe in after frequent and comfortable gaps.

Once you close these 7 gates or these indriyas then you tend to close the doorways to the external and artificial world and you begin exploring the reality within. The calmness and the peace experienced through this practice is amazing. This is an extremely effective technique for people with high stress life, suffering from insomnia and depression.

Stress followed by disease and ageing is because of avidya/agyan. It is impossible for a normal person to get vidya/gyan of reality and become stress free, a normal person is so tied up that he does not have the time or the inclination for anything beyond. Sanatan Kriya and Shanmukhi Mudra give a glimpse of reality which lies within and not outside...enough for one to get the inclination to discover more... time will be created for the practice without harming any other routine.

Yogi Ashwini is a renowned Yog Guru and author of books like Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension. He is also the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation. www.dhyanfoundation.com Twitter: @dhyanfoundation