ONE THOUGHTLESS MIND

 The last few years of the late nineties were a different era altogether. Nobody even imagined the technological advancement that we have right now. Internet and smartphones which were supposed to be luxury tools for saving time became an integral part of everyone’s lives. Today we have digital platforms to get ourselves entertained but back then we didn’t even have any channels to choose from, the monopoly was held by Doordarshan. The only form of entertainment we knew was to either tune the antenna and watch News or to wander around the town playing outdoor games with friends and every kid chose the later one. Life was fine, and then one fine Sunday evolutionary process kicked in and even we got hooked to television.

I had just come back from my morning session of games and found my complete family sitting right in front of the television watching opening credits of a new serial which I had heard a lot of buzz about. The serial was being aired on Doordarshan and the opening credit of that show had a man sitting on the ground with his legs folded and a straight back aligned with seven small glittering colorful circles starting from his head to end of his backbone.

Yes, it was SHAKTIMAAN being aired on the Television.

Years later now, I don’t remember much about the show but that first visual somehow got stuck in my head because later in the first few episodes it was established that whatever powers that Superhuman had was somehow connected to him being able to hold that position for long. As a kid, I had no idea what that position was called but years later and months after starting yoga myself I found out that what he did is a type of meditation.

Meditation is rooted deep in the yogic sciences and to explain in layman terms it is a type of breathing exercise that helps us to train our awareness. What that superhero did was one of the kinds of meditation which is ancient and interestingly rooted in India.

CHAKRA MEDITATION

What he did was the final posture of meditation which is supposed to be followed by six different Asana before starting it. Each of those asana stimulated the energy centers in our body which in turn brings the body and mind coordination back which we have lost in our usual lifestyles.

·         Muladhar   (Vrksasana, For Root Chakra or Spinal Cord)

·         Svadhisthana (Deviasana, For Sacral or Pelvic Chakra)

·         Manipura   (Navasana,  For  Solar Plexus Chakra)

·         Anahata     (Ustrasana,  For Heart Chakra )

·         Vishuddha (Salamba Sarvangasana For Throat Chakra)

·         Ajana          (Sukhasana For Mind Chakra

·         Sahasrara   (Savaasana For Consciousness Chakra, the final Meditative Pose)

                                                 

A few weeks and books later I realized what powers Shaktimaan had, were just an exaggerated form of abilities that Yoga and Meditation can help you achieve. There is enough scientific evidence to prove that Yoga and Meditation hold your hand and takes you closer to your real self and consciousness which is beyond just the human intelligence and that consciousness helps you to push your mental boundaries in real life, to grow and keep evolving all the time.

But all of this information could not answer the simple question I had as a child.

Can holding some posture for long really give someone superhuman abilities?

And the real answer was always within me. It actually depends on how we perceive what superhuman abilities are.

Flying in the air and punching through a concrete wall are indeed Superhuman powers but are they rational, NO. At the same time if we consider someone who is Extremely better at any given task than an average human being, can that be considered Superhuman? Now, because they are just better at normal human abilities, I consider those powers to be rational.

Just take an example, for instance, we cannot make a simple decision of what dress to wear for a party and stress out ourselves and then finally make a compromised decision but there are people who are making multi-million dollars decisions on every single day of their life and almost each one of it works in their favour.

BILL GATES is a regular meditator and the meditation that he follows is Guided Meditation (A type of meditation where one just follows instructions from a Guru or a Teacher)

If we scream at a live concert for just an hour it is usual for our throat to get soar for next few days but at the same concert the Singer who sings for hours without pause and with all the proper octaves in every word they sing, won’t get that same problem. Isn’t it a  superhuman power? KATY PERRY  is an avid meditator too.

Every gym freak tries to incorporate muscle-mind coordination in their workout sessions for better results in less time but only a few can actually achieve it. A guy named ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER does that and he does it with the help of Transcendental meditation (A form of meditation where one chants a customized word or a word given by a guide. OM is widely used all over the world)

This is not it. The list can get a lot longer - Will Smith, Steve Jobs, Elen D Generes and the list won’t just contain the Old and Experienced legends but the Young and Energetic ones too. Entrepreneurs like RANVEER ALLAHBADIA (founder of Monk entertainment, Age 24) and HARSHIL KARIA (founder of Schbang, Age 31) are also following the cult of being a Meditator.

THE REAL SCIENCE BEHIND IT

Meditation in Yogic sciences is considered to be a state of a thoughtless mind but at the same time Yogic Sciences also talk about how challenging it is to achieve this state but if one starts practicing it every day he will realize that the actual benefits are never in the destination but rather its in the journey. It is the journey that actually benefits them.

A meditator, every morning after holding a comfortable pose (Padmasana or Shavasana according to Yogic Sciences) is supposed to focus on his breath for just 20 minutes a day and pull back his consciousness concentrating on breaths every time it wanders around on his train of thoughts. Nothing will happen for the first few days but one day the actual Magic Happens.

Meditation allows blood flow to the frontal cortex of the brain and reduces the secretion of cortisol which is a stress hormone. An increase in blood flow and low secretion of cortisol will help you enhance your mental abilities and reduce the stress in life. Practicing it daily will ultimately take you to a time where you meet a calm and composed form of yourself, who is actually hidden in this competing and stressful world.

There are enough shreds of evidence in science that decisions that flow through a calm and composed state of mind are always the best ones. Now imagine every decision that you make starting from tiny ones like what to eat (considering the actual pros and cons of the food you eat), moving on to huge decisions like what type of career you choose(looking at the impact which it will hold for a long term in your lives). If they are taken by the best version of you, they will always lead you to a bright and better future and that’s what the science behind it tells us.

If one wants to have in-depth knowledge and experience about meditation, there are various camps like Vipassana which is free of cost in-house programs conducted all over the world. It was initiated by Satya Narayan Goenka who himself started Meditating just as a help to combat his migraine and eventually discovered the hidden perks of it and eventually dedicated his complete life in teaching others the art of meditation.

Google has stared an initiative - Search Inside Yourself (SYILI) which is an online program for Mindfulness Meditation (A type of meditation where one just focuses on their breath and be conscious of their body and surrounding) 

After reading and researching all about the meditation, how it is practiced, and what benefits it will lead one to I finally found an answer to satisfy that curious kid in me.

Meditation will not give you any type of “Multiple Super Powers” but it will certainly pull you close to that one superhuman skill which is the ability to find the real you. The one who will be the best version of you.

Author                                                Piyush Janbandhu
Co-author and editor                       Shruti Ramteke
Picture Courtesy                               Saurabh Mandaokar

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