Arthritis and Yoga

 by Sampurnananda

Yoga gives us a powerful set of tools. Asanas (postures) working through the body, and Meditation, working through the mind, give us perspective and insight. Antar Mouna is one such meditational practice to help us experience our Self in Totality.

Why practise Antar Mouna? Because:

• we are suffering: the victims of inhibitions, guilt, tensions, compulsive thoughts and neuroses
• we have expectations about ourselves and we want to make progress
• we feel frustrated with our life
• we want peace of mind
• we want spiritual realisation

To practise Antar Mouna we take a little time out during our busy life to stop and see:

• what life is offering us
• how the environment, the outer world, and the inner world interact to influence our state of mind
• what puts us in a good or bad mood
• how we react; how our responses are based on anxiety, guilt and fear of criticism
• how our conditioning, concepts, beliefs and dogmatic principles stop us from experiencing life fully and acting spontaneously

How does Antar Mouna work? By being able to recognise and accept our fears, attitudes, hates and desires, we learn how to live with our emotions; in so doing, we can transform them.

Antar Mouna thus helps us to become more tolerant of the vagaries of the mind. We become more aware of the forces and contents of the subconscious and the unconscious. Thus our emotions, thoughts and energy states are transformed and cease to disturb our natural state of peace. We feel less bound by others, by the idiosyncrasies of fashion, and less paralysed by our own often unrealistic ideals, opinions and concepts.

The first step is to OBSERVE. This alone allows us to accept the vicissitudes of the mind and emotions. In this way, we start to experience the gaps between thoughts; gradually the duration of these gaps increases. In these gaps there is Inner Silence – the mind becomes calm and peaceful.

Through Antar Mouna, life becomes a spontaneous flow and expression of Joy; we become more creative.