Rainbowhill

Anonymous asked: Hello!! Since you commented on my infographic "An Overly Brief and Incomplete History of Yoga" back in the day, I just want to let you know I've finally made it available in poster/art/postcard form at redbubble. And have a great day! Ali

Thanks Ali, that’s awesome. Folks, if you are interested visit Ali’s blog or her redbubble page for the poster. Also available, “Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga”.

21:57 8th Mar 2012

Notes: 6

Reblogged from thitime

Tags: science tsunami meditation consciousness music yoga

thitime:

Brain Pulse Music

Description coolhunting

Music recorded from EEG waves helps to heal tsunami victims

In the wake of last year’s devastating tsunami, artist Masaki Batoh sought to address the emotional wreckage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The multi-talented Batoh has combined two decades of acupuncture work with his career as head of the musical group Ghost to create an album dedicated to those affected by the event. Dropping tomorrow, Brain Pulse Music (BPM) sets traditional spiritual tracks alongside music recorded from the brain waves of patients.

“Music and acupuncture treatment are really one and the same to me, an extension of my spiritual expression,” explains Batoh. “It’s a very natural thing.” The musician wanted to produce an album that would help the healing process in the same way that acupuncture relieves stress. “The Japanese were hurt and beaten down by the great quake, very frequent aftershocks, no fuel at gas stations, no safe food and the explosions of nuclear reactors hit by the quake and tsunami,” he recounts. “This is the requiem for dead and alive victims.”

Two of the tracks on the album were created by recording signals from a modified EEG machine. The songs are purely improvisational, created by non-musicians in therapy-session settings. This method comes from Ghost’s history of using improvisation, during which band members would be kept in separate compartments to minimize communication. Batoh specializes in treating developmentally disabled patients, and the machine is designed to help them normalize brain levels. By providing an audible response to cognitive changes, they are able to learn to gain some control over their mental activity.

The machine itself involves a headgear sensor that communicates with a motherboard. EEG waves are sent via radio to the motherboard, which outputs the signal as a sound image. Eventually, the “performer” learns to control the signal and can actually create music from their mind. The goal is to quiet the mind to a meditative state and allow the sensors to interpret the slight pulsations from the brain. Created by an electric pedalboard company, the custom-built machine is modeled off of medical EEG recording equipment.

The other tracks on the album come from the Kumano manuscript, Batoh’s name for his replications of religious melodies heard in his youth near the sacred Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route. Hoping to effect positive change in the recovery of his countrymen, Batoh is donating profits from BPM towards a fund for orphaned children. Additionally, the Brain Pulse Machine has been reproduced and is available for purchase.

Check out the video of Batoh’s BPM Machine at work, along with the two brain wave tracks from the album.

The object of yogic meditation is to still of the fluctuations of consciousness. Bringing the fluctuations of electrical energy within the brain under audible control through the use of a feedback loop, such as the BPM, is a way to train the mind to deal with trauma. Telemetry, the monitoring of physiological phenomena is an accepted part of medical practice, especially in sports medicine where it used to assist athletes to achieve personal bests (HR monitors are just one example).

20:53 6th Mar 2012

Notes: 72

Reblogged from tojohn

Tags: monkey mind yoga meditation mind

handmadehealth:

Why we all need yoga in our life

Ever had this feeling?

Identifying with our thoughts is a symptom of the monkey mind, a mind that goes on chattering to itself without any real purpose. With practice it is possible to witness thoughts arising, and without judgement or attachment, let them go on so that we are not distracted or disturbed by them.

Patanjali gives the most succinct definition of yoga in the second sutra of the first book on contemplation. (Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1.2)

The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is yoga

The thoughts arising spontaneously from the mind field are to be tamed, quietened, stilled and then set aside through practice and non-attachment.

What is your antidote to a chattering monkey mind?

16:29

Notes: 7

Reblogged from setsurenka

Tags: yoga Asanga Buddha Abhidharma mind

image: Download

setsurenka:

“Abhidharma.”

In the West Abhidharma is generally considered to be the core of what is known as Buddhist Psychology. It can also be said that Abhidharma sets forth the method of attaining enlightenment and describes the path according to one who’s practice is yoga.

From the BuddhaNet eBook - A Manual of Abhidharma

Abhidhamma explains the process of birth and death in detail. In addition to defining consciousness, it also analyses and classifies thoughts mainly from an ethical standpoint. Various types of consciousness are also set forth in detail, as they arise through the six sense-doors.

15:28

Notes: 5

Tags: yoga zazen breath

How Good Are You At Breathing?

If living is a form of art, then one needs to practice it to get better at it. But do we really live our lives with this focus in mind?

Really enjoying your perspective Masafumi, it is the attention to small details that makes one a conscious participant in the art of life. Osho compares life to a dance at times and silent meditation at others. How well you move between the two points is a measure of how much you have learned about living.

A yogi measures life by breaths not by years. You might enjoy this guide to zazen (and breathing) by Taigen Shodo Harada Roshi. I’m on day 14/40 of 108 rounds a day of soham (measured breathing) meditation. What I find with attention on breathing the mind becomes clearer and I can accomplish more with less emotional investment, less stress.

10:15 19th Feb 2012

Tags: yoga meditation

61-Points Online Guided Meditation

Found this great guided meditation MP3, but keep falling asleep at my left elbow. I don’t think that’s meant to happen.