Fondly known as “The Most Charming Lady of Yoga”, Yoga Guru Maa Dr Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra is the Director- The Yoga Institute and the President of Indian Yoga Association. With an earnest desire to be a yogi she started practicing yoga at a tender age of 10 years. She has been in forefront of The Yoga movement for last four decades, as a teacher, teacher-educator, an excellent communicator in the Television medium, and as an author of numerous books on Yoga & Total health. Today she’s a proud Guru of more than 60000 Yoga Teachers across the globe spreading the noble mission all over. As part of Webisode 27 of Online Gurukulam- Learn with Masters, we bring you excerpts from our one-to-one interaction with Maa Dr Hansaji Yogendra on January 1, 2023 on our social media platforms. Here are the excerpts
How would you define Yoga?
Yoga is a science of living of the ancient Indian culture. Yoga is an applied science. It helps you control your mind. Everybody knows that anger, hatred, jealousy, worrying, tension are negative emotions that we need to get rid of. But how many of us really apply it. Yoga is a science. Science can be proved. When Yoga is practiced regularly it give results. Yoga is a journey of self-development. It is a science that helps us to become from animal to human to super human and then finally helps attain a godly state.
It is said that for Yoga teaching to be effective, true and complete, they should come through Guru-shishya parampara. Do you think the modern day yoga gurus and disciples fit into the previously set parameters so as to take the lineage forward?
Yoga has to be slowly and gradually learned and lived. From childhood only we have to inculcate yoga. We have to teach children what to do instead of what not to do. The teachers today have to be creative to give children simple and practical lessons. Teaching should be done in such a way that we induce thinking in the children. We should make them leaders and not followers.
Guru-shishya parampara has to change to the extent that every human is confident enough to be able to take care of themself, become responsible and becomes a leader and not a follower.
Do we really understand the purpose of Yoga?
Purpose of Yoga is complete mastery of oneself. Body and mind becomes your instrument and you use your instruments to your need and according to your way. I am not the mind but I have the mind. You should see that you should be able to use your buddhi (intellect). If practiced regularly, yoga allows us to remain unaffected by the external factors. It allows us to maintain balance. It allows us to be focus and concentrate completely on your duty.
You are the torch-bearer of such a strong legacy. Started in 1918, The Yoga Institute has been teaching and spreading awareness about Yoga since a century. How has the journey been?
The Yoga Institute is 103 years old. Shri Yogendra ji lived for 93 years and showed us how a person can have full mastery over oneself even in death. Dr Jayadev Yogendra ji also did the same. At TYI, we follow the oldest tradition of yoga followed by Lord Ram and Shri Krishna ‘Yoga for household’. They used to live in their Gurus’ ashram and practice and live Yoga. Initially, when the land was acquired for TYI, it used to be a jungle. Even though things have drastically changed in present times, we still try to follow the traditional Yoga. I have to carry that legacy. I have the responsibility to carry forward and I am going with the flow. I believe in whatever I am doing. I follow Yoga, practice Yoga and teach Yoga.
The world has been able to retain the ancient wisdom, however the challenge remains to go beyond the technique and grasp the essence of Yoga. Your views
We have to do the training. Challenge remains that in this materialistic world we need to place money at its own place. We have to start using intellect. Yoga is an ocean. People have limited interest. They don’t want to absorb Yoga in its true sense. They want to learn a little and start earning quickly. In this challenge, we somehow try to help such learners by imbibing philosophy, psychology into technology. We make them practice asanas and meditation but with the dharma bhav— Concept of duty. This makes things much deeper and richer. This also helps in altering the egos. As we attain more and more gyan we get less affected by the external factors i.e. Vairagya Bhav. A stage comes when nothing affects and bothers and we are able to enjoy every moment of life.
Mind usually holds on to negative remarks while completely forgetting compliments it must have received. Can yoga helps us in controlling how we react and save us from difficult situations.
It is only Yoga which will help. It is up to you how you train your mind because it will slowly and gradually happen. It is totally up to you to see good or bad in a situation. Positive or negative, it is individual’s choice. When human starts holding on to negativity then it becomes a problem. Negativity has to be handled well.
We are all born with a particular nature. We should understand and work on ourselves accordingly. Everybody should know about their Jathi and should be able to overcome their weaknesses.
Second is Aayu. We should not live in the fear of death. If you are born you will as well die. It is a cycle. Death is not negative. We should accept death as it is sure. Rather we should think of how we can live a happy life.
Third is bhoga. What you have to go through you have to. Every human goes through physical pain. Pain is inevitable but suffering is your choice. While you suffer pain don’t extend your pain.
The classical yoga literature is filled with insightful wisdom about the mind, offers numerous meditation techniques, describes the subtle chakras, reveal astounding secrets if the breath and much more. Still the majority of us focus on Asanas. Why?
People want something easy, they don’t want to go deeper into it and somehow that is how the world and people are. The external world has to be perfect. Internally, the person has to be strong. If you can focus on something for a long time then you are experiencing your chakras.
In a day, a person has 60,000-80,000 thoughts coming to the mind. They come and go. By the time you train your mind and make it steady you have already lived most of your life. And if you haven’t worked on your body holistically you may face problems like Alzheimer, Parkinson and others because the world is full of problems and people get affected.
Don’t complicate your mind under the name of chakras. Follow simple yoga techniques but regularly. Once you become yogmay, internal progress happens naturally. Chakras open up naturally. You don’t have to forcefully do it. Chakras are the bundle of energy from yourself. Same with meditation. It is something that should be practice every day. The Yoga Institute has launched Nispand— a Meditation App. Anybody can subscribe it. We have guided meditation sessions for all. It is really helpful.
