Saucha

Hatha Yoga describes six processes, also called Shatkarmas, Kriyas, or Shatkriyas which can be utilized to purify the body and mind. Shatkarma means six actions. The internal organs are usually full of impurities which can make yoga practice difficult, and it is thought to affect not only the physical body, but the subtle body, the shakti and the mind, one must purify themselves as much as possible to make the body/mind/soul ripe for spiritual transformation. Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes these processes in their entirety, but here is a short synopsis of each technqiue or practice. The six actions considered key in yogic practice are:

1. Dhauti (Agnisar Dhouti) - cleaning the stomach

2. Basti (Vamandhouti) - cleaning the colon

3. Neti - cleaning the nasal passage

4. Nauli - cleaning the abdominal organs

5. Kapalabati - cleaning the respiratory organs

6. Trataka - clearing the mind through gazing (externally or internally)

Practicing Purity:

Suacha & The Trouble

with Television

While the world is ephemeral, it is also a place of many choices. We must live in the world and not be of it, but it is much easier to reach higher states of consciousness, to stay present in the NOW of life, if we eliminate certain impurities from the mind and body. Patanjali described saucha in his eight limbs of yoga, not only as a means of purifying the toxins from within the body wih practices like Neti, which now, even Oprah has made popular, but also by eliminating toxic thoughts or things which cause them. The media we subject ourselves to gives us a steady stream of 'mind-pollution.' It is no wonder that the world we create follows in the same vein. Our world manifests itself based on our most prominent thought patterns. By limiting the amount of toxic mind-food we feed ourselves, we can achieve saucha, or purity, in the same way that Patanjali intended. One of the ways we pollute our minds most is through television.

After a long and tiring day sometimes all we want to do is flip on the tube. Forget about sitting in meditation or practicing mindful breathing. We just want to escape. Television provides that outlet for many of us, but if it is so relaxing why are many experts now telling us that too much television is not good for us? If you think you are relaxing your mind when you watch TV, you are, but there is more to the picture.

When we meditate we experience brain wave states similar to those of deep meditation, but the difference is important. Many studies have proven that while watching TV our minds enter a brain wave state called alpha – the brainwaves oscillate around 8 to 12hzs. In this state we are very suggestive to new thought and can have insight into our usually unconscious brain wave patterns. But this only happens when spikes of Beta are occurring inside the alpha waves – and this is the different pattern that long-time meditators experience. They do not shut down the mind, they simply relax it. Watching television basically shuts down the mind – making us apathetic, lazy and very suggestible. This is why advertisers and media companies spend millions of dollars on commercials – they want to get us in this state of mind, one very similar to that of hypnosis, and then feed our brains with all the products we need to buy, all the medications we desperately need for our “illnesses” and essentially feed the ego’s need for self-aggrandizement through an association with the material world – not just that of cars and clothes and celebrity, but just the world of things in general – this is the ephemeral world the Buddha talks about – the world of endless suffering. It is not at all ironic, once we understand how television affects the mind that Herbert E. Krugman, manager of corporate public opinion at General Electric, did research on the differences between television and print media. He found that television, unlike print media, did not allow the viewer to fully comprehend the advertising message. In spite of this fact, television ads increased brand preference. Since this research conducted in the 1960s, television ads are even more popular amongst advertisers.

Further studies by Krugman and later Bryce Gyngell, the former chairman of Australia's Broadcasting Tribunal, as well as others, showed that brain activity changed from left to right-dominated thinking. Although meditation also utilizes right-brain thinking – the area of intuition and creative insight, it does so by continuing to communicate with the left brain – for balanced brain functioning. In fact, the communication between the left and right hemispheres is greatly increased in high states of meditation. The corpus colossum which divides the brain in two is actually composed of over 200 million nerve receptors. Advanced meditators use the entire brain and utilize what is called whole brain functioning. Television watchers are essentially drugging themselves out so that the left brain is numbed. This is why it feels (temporarily) good to watch television. Although the addiction is not chemical, it is indeed an addiction. Watching TV leads to a pleasurable sensation (if only momentary before the apathy, brain fog and lethargy kick in) which leads to “positive reinforcement” which causes us to seek out television again. We’ve all experienced the addictive quality of television. You can sit down to watch an hour long program and before you know it four to five hours have passed and you have watched absolute garbage. You have filled your head with countless numbers of ads, violent images and ridiculous programming.

This is not to say that there are not quality programs which actually encourage us to utilize our minds rather than to go numb – they are out there – but unfortunately, the majority of programming is not for our highest good. In Food of the Gods, Terence McKenna tells us, “The nearest analogy to the addictive power of television and the transformation of values that is wrought in the life of the heavy user is probably heroin.” Conversely, meditation helps us to engage more fully with life and to be more present for it. Specifically, meditation increases learning ability, creativity, mental clarity, and intuition. It also changes neural structures so that our emotional and physical health is improved. It reorganizes at a higher level of functioning every time we meditate and reach a new threshold. The brain is entrained in a different way than when we watch television. Instead of believing we have to go out and ask our doctor for a new prescription allergy medication, we start to perceive the ways we create our own illness through greater clarity in our minds. We realize we have many more choices than we previously imagined. We practice what in yogic terms is called upekkha or equanimity. Instead of running away from our difficult day at work, we can embrace it and then release it.

The facts about right and left brain functioning while watching television raise an important question about many of the learning disorders our children are coming up with as well. Attention Deficit Disorder and various learning disabilities may actually, in part, be caused by the repetitive watching of television. Of course, no one in the television industry wants us to know that the precious half-hour mothers glean when their children are watching the Teletubbies may not be the best thing for their two-year-old's developing minds. The Journal of Advertising Research found that reading a paper caused the brain to be much more alert and active than watching a news program. It is no wonder that children have a hard time learning to read or do complicated analysis of facts if their left brains are completely turned off.

If you must watch television try to limit the number of hours you watch. Try to choose your programs carefully and make sure you are not polluting your mind with images and thoughts which will later cause more karma for you to process. Turn off the commercials, or tape your shows and fast forward through the junk. Set a timer so that if you get into that addictive zone where you can’t seem to find the off switch, you will have a littler reminder that your brain is now being turned to mush! Instead, try meditating, doing a little yoga or taking a walk. You will not only feel temporarily better, but the effects of your stress-relieving will continue to benefit your mind instead of raze it.

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YOGA HALE

Yoga: Sanskrit Word Meaning, to Yoke Oneself to God Hale: Hawaiian Word for House