Consciousness Altering Substances And Yoga

buddhaBoy From the beginning of time, humans have been experimenting with different ways to shift and expand the way we see and experience life.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Santa Fe at a training with John Friend, and I found a new method of altering consciousness that left me high and happy without side effects or legal considerations.

Here’s the blog post describing that experience. Forget the bong, try a Gong Bath.

Now, aboriginal people around the world have used sacred medicines, such as peyote and ayahuasca, to attune with a bigger energy, heal and change themselves. Cannabis, that controversial plant, has been widely proven again and again to have more uses from hemp to healing than any other plant we know of.

(Regardless of your ideas of marijuana, I invite you to watch the award winning documentary “The Union”. You’ll learn a lot!)

As evolution continued, the natural sources of consciousness altering substances were themselves altered to create some of the more dangerous drugs available today. Some of which are used on a daily basis by much of the world; I’m speaking of coffee, alcohol and tobacco here.

Now, the whole subject of natural, synthetic, sacred and recreational substances is a debate I’m not going to go into here. Rather than saying something is ‘bad’ or ‘good’, it is more liberating to use discernment in order to decide if it is life enhancing or not; will it help you reach your goals as a human being… Every person has their own path. And that’s all I’ll say about that at the moment.

However, there are other ways to alter your consciousness; other substances, if you will, which don’t entail the varied effects of drugs.

The practices of yoga and meditation are fine examples. They shift your mood, your perspective, and can even change your internal chemical and hormonal states.

Sound and mantra are powerful tools, and a good example is my Gong Bath experience.

Since you probably don’t have a gong bath handy, here’s another option:

This mantra brings deep peace. Try repeating it and see how you feel.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

If you want to know more about mantra, check out this article on Yoga Chanting and Mantra

One thought on “Consciousness Altering Substances And Yoga”

r4i

November 11, 2009 at 1:56 am

Hi,
Yoga is beneficial for the health in ways that modern science is just beginning to understand. Even though it has beenapplied with therapeutic intention for thousand of years, Yoga Therapy is only just now emerging as a discipline initself.
More health care practitioners are starting to include yogic techniques in their approach to healing — andmore yoga teachers give a therapeutic intention to their teaching. People who have never tried yoga before are startingto consider including Yoga in their treatment plan.
As science begins to document the importance of understanding the interrelation of all existing things, it looks to Yogawith an intrigued eye, for Yoga speaks Unity in every word. As yoga techniques are researched and new data is gathered,it becomes easier for science and the medical establishment to understand and accept the benefits of Yoga Therapy.Yet there is still not one consensual definition of the discipline.
In order to arrive to an adequate definition and tocome up with proper standards for Yoga Therapy, it is crucial at this early stage to properly address some delicateprofessional and ethical issues. At the same time it is important to educatethegeneralpublic about Yoga Therapy’sbenefits and careful use.
so this article will really helpful to me..

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