Sri Gurubhyo namaH

HariH OM

Stress Management, Spiritual growth,

Happiness and Peace

using Yoga and Energy Psychology

By Vasudeva Murthy

Introduction:
1
This article shows how techniques of Yoga and Energy Psychology can be used to lessen
stress, increase peace and happiness and achieve spiritual growth. These positive states
are tied to emotional balance. The emotional balance ("sthithaprajnathva"), as it is called
2
in the Gita, is used to enhance spiritual growth. This article describes how the principles
and techniques of Yoga and Energy Psychology can be used to reduce stress, achieve
emotional balance, peace and spiritual growth.

People who are reading this will be able to use these techniques to get immediate practical
benefits.

All these techniques described here use discipline of the mind to achieve peace,
happiness and spiritual growth. Sri Bhagavad Gita, Kathopanishad and many saints like sri
purandara dAsa have said that the control of the mind is very essential to the spiritual
3
growth. Sri Bhagavad Gita and KaThopanishad say that an indisciplined mind results in
unhappiness and bondage, where as disciplined mind results in happiness and liberation.
kaThopanishad gives a beautiful analogy where the soul is said to be a charioteer, the
senses are the horses and the mind is the rein controlling the horses. If the sense horses
are properly controlled by the mind, then the soul makes good progress. If the sense
horses are not properly controlled by the mind, the horses go off track and go to a path of
4
negative consequences. Sri Purandara dAsa has said that all spiritual practitioners have to
eliminate negative tendencies of the mind. Gospel of Thomas also says this in a very

1. Energy Psychology is a modality that utilizes energy meridian treatment to effect

psychological changes
2. "Stitha prajnathva" is used for Aparoxa jnanis in traditional commentaries of Gita. Here
we are using the term to denote Emotional Balance and evolution in spiritual growth
towards enlighternment
3. mana eva manushyANAm karaNam bandha mokshayoh - Mind is the sole determinant of
bondage and liberation (Gita) yastu vignanavan bhavati samanaskaH sadAsashuchiH, sa tu
tatpadamApnoti yasmadbhUyo na jAyate || (kaTopanishad)One whose mind is clean and
disciplined, he reaches a stage from which there is no rebirth.
4. manava shodhisa beku nitya- We have to filter out negative tendencies in the mind
every day

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 5
emphatic manner that the negative emotions need to be released or let god . If they are
not let go, they will take a person from the good path. Patangali says that Yoga is the
6
process of controlling the tendencies of the mind.

This article describes practical techniques for dissolving negative tendencies of the mind and
obtaining inner purification, inner silence and peace. A recommended daily practice is also
given at the end.

Note:

This article provides an overview of the techniques. The reader can get basic knowledge
about the techniques and how they can be used in this article.There are lot more details
with each of the techniques. The reader can get more knowledge by using the Web
resources of the techniques. It is recommended that the learning be done under a qualified
teacher to get full benefits of these techniques.

Methodology:
This article describes the causes of stress and the various practices to dissolve stress and
negative emotions. Please don't take anything that is said here on faith. Everything that is
said here can be verified in practice. Most of the techniques have a very high success rate
of above 90%, but some people can like some techniques more than others. So, please try
and figure out which techniques work for you.

What is stress?
Stress is a condition where there is some aspect of the outer reality of the world that we
don't like intensely. We want to change that condition with passion. This results in huge
negative emotions and thoughts in our system whenever that outer reality manifests.

If we question ourselves about what is causing the stress and the actual reason behind
stress and be honest with ourselves, we can see that the stress is caused when one of our
ego based desires is not satisfied.

We can see from here that Stress is generated by wrong internal concepts in the mind and
not from external circumstances. Regardless of the external circumstances, when we have
good sleep, we are not stressed. This shows that stress arises only when the mind is active.

How do we avoid stress?

The basic condition of avoiding stress is to let go of negative emotions. This article
describes various yogic techniques that can be used to let go of negative emotions. It is
possible to dissolve negative emotions quickly with the practices described later in the

5. "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not
bring forth what is
within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
6. "YogaH Chitta vritti nirodhaH" - yoga is controlling of tendencies of the mind.

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paper. By dissolving the negative emotions to external circumstances, we will have less and
less stress in our lives. The world remains the same, but there will be a change in how we
react to external events that cause the stress.

We can also see that spiritually advanced persons will have extremely bad external
situations, still they are not affected by this. An example of this is Sri Ramakrishna
paramahamsa had various illness and cancer in his body. It did not affect him one bit
mentally.

Even if we are not as advanced spiritually as Sri Ramakrishna paramahamsa, by learning to

let go of negative emotions and programming of negative emotions, we can reduce the
stress quite a bit.

How Do Problems Persist?

Problems and pain etc. are also mental labels that we attach to undesirable experiences.
We instintively resist undesirable experiences. On of the definitions of stithaprajnatva
(unpertubability) in Gita is that we need to consider pleasure and plain and other dualities
of life with the same attitude. If we are open and fully welcome all experiences, you will
experience that the problems and pain goes away quickly and there will be much less
suffering. By resisting the undesirable situations, we make the situations worse and keep
the problems alive.

It is said that "things that we resist, persist". Situations that we don't like stay longer
because our resistance to them. If we completely accept and love undesirable experiences,
they will quickly dissolve.

Destructive power of negative emotions:

First we need to understand the destructive power of negative emotions. The negative
emotions cause lot of damage to the body. The study by the HeartMath foundation has
found that even if we are mildly upset for 5 minutes, bad hormones released into the blood
stream stay for 24 hours. When we have negative emotions, we are injecting low levels of
toxins into the body. This is why it feels so uncomfortable to have negative emotions in the
body. If you mentally scan your body, when you have negative emotions, you will realize
that many parts of the body will be tense. Your breath will be shallow. Prolonged
conditions of these negative emotions, i.e., tension in the body, toxins in the blood stream
and shallowness of breath will cause long term health damages.

So, it is in our own best interest and health, to remove negative emotions as quickly as
possible. Even if the other person has swindled us or behaved very badly, it is better for us
to dissolve negative emotions about that person as quickly as possible.

Letting go of negative emotions does not mean that we have to be passive or be inactive.
Letting go of negative emotions and being neutral increases our effectiveness and we can
take the appropriate action after careful thinking with emotional balance. After the negative

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emotions are let go, people will have more options to solve a problem and will be able to
come up with better solution

Every thought affects our body:

Every thought is a subtle vibration in the mental plane, that has a subtle effect on our body.
Every thought creates an impression or samskAra. Every persistent thought creates a
deeper impression. Every negative thought and belief affects our body. If we think that we
not good enough or not capable of success, it affects some organs and meridians inside the
body (Meridians are described below). Let us suppose that some bad event happens to
somebody we know. If we think the thought, I wish it never happens to me, that also
creates a negative impression.

We should be monitoring every thought we have, especially the negative thoughts. We

should drop negative thoughts as soon as we notice them.

Emotional component of Diseases:

Word "Disease" can be split into Dis-ease. According to Yoga and Energy Psychology, most
of the diseases are due to dis-ease in the mind. This is pointing to the fact that when the
mind is not at ease, it leads us on a path of disease. Studies have shown that persistent
negative thoughts and emotions can cause long term diseases.

Why do some people and some events push our buttons?

We find that some people and events cause automatic reactions in us. This is due to the
fact that these reactions are programmed into the subconscious mind. Most of us are not
aware of the subconsicous mind and its automatic triggers inside it. These hot buttons can
be due to simple word or a look or a smell from others. These simple sensory inputs can
cause intense dislike, revulsion etc. This automatic reaction is due to subconscious
programs inside us. In the energy body, these programs are seen as energetic blockages
that block the free flow of energy. Dissolving these blockages results in greater ease and
freedom.

Each external event can act upon some program inside our subconscious mind. Some of
the examples of the programs and the reactions they produce are given below. Let us take
the example of our children misbehaving. This is usually the most common program all
parents have. This is an ego based program of wanting to control others and wanting
others to behave in a manner that we want. When our children don't behave according to
our expectations, the subconscious program results in the emotion of anger inside us. In
another example, if our boss is upset about our performance, this can cause an emotion of
fear inside us.

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Now consider the same situation, where the program of wanting to control others has been
removed In this situation, the children can still misbehave as before. Now since the
program has been removed, there will be no reaction of anger. Instead the parent will be
able to react to the situation calmly and with full discrimination. This will result in handling
the situation with no negative effects on the body with full peace and harmony in the body
and the mind.
Now, the parent can take appropriate action with calmness and peace. This may involve
having the good conversation with children about consequences of bad behavior and setting
appropriate boundaries jointly with them. The end result is that the situation can be
resolved without all the negative side effects.

Conditioned Mind and Benefits of Dissolving Patterns of

Limitations:
Our mind is conditioned by all these patterns of limitations that we have described above.
Such a mind is called conditioned mind. It is also refered to as Monkey Mind in some
religious literature. Such a mind goes on wandering in well known patterns of limitations
drawn by the samskAras or vAsanas or impressions from past karmas.

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The whole process of spiritual progress is to dissolve these patterns of limitations in our
minds. As you dissolve these patterns, you will begin to experience greater freedom and
spiritual growth. Your body will become lighter and you begin to experience emotional and
physical healing.

Inner Purification, Inner Silence and Inner Guidance:

Another benefit of purification of the Inner emotional patterns is the expanding inner
silence that should pervade all our activities. Inner Silence results in increasing
imperturbability during all times. Inner Silence also lets the inner guidance shine through
whenever it is required. This kind of inner guidance also called intuition or sAkshi can also
guide us throughout our lives. This inner silence is our best friend and always has our best
interest at heart. By starting to listen to this inner silence, we will get a reliable counsel
and friend to guide us through the turbulent waters of life.

Scale of Emotions:

Etymological meaning of Emotions is "Energy in Motion". Strong emotions represent

energy in the body. Release of strong emotions create freedom in the body.

Here is a scale of negative emotions from the most negative to the most positive. We can
check ourselves, and see where we are spending the predominant portion of the day.

Negative Emotions (starting with the most negative):

• Apathy
• Grief
• Fear
• Lust
• Anger
• Pride

Positive Emotions (Going towards the most positive):

• Courageousness
• Acceptance
• Peace

Details of negative emotions:

Apathy is the most negative of the emotions. When somebody is in an apathy state, they
don't take any action at all. They sit in a corner and sulk. As we go higher and higher on
the emotion scale, we are able to take more and more action. But the action that takes

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place has negative consequences if the emotion is one of the negative emotions listed
above.

In Apathy, Grief and Fear, the negative emotions are turned against the person
experiencing it. In the states of Lust, Anger and Pride, the negative emotions result in bad
effects on the people around the person who is experiencing it.

On the positive side, Peace is the most positive emotion. Rishis will be in this state. There
is no outward action here as well. In this case, the person is able to take action if the
situation demands it. Apathy and Peace are mirror images of each other at the opposite
ends of the emotional spectrum.

Grief:

Grief is a negative emotion that is normal behavior when some loss happens in our lives.
Under lying feeling is a feeling of loosing a person or thing. We want to change the
emotion of grief to love. If we understand the true nature of beings or things as explained
Bhagavad Gita and upanishads, then we realize that all beings are enternal and loss of a
person or thing is just a change in the existence of the person/thing in the physical realm.
We can love a person or thing regardless of if they are in the physical plane or not.

Pride:

Pride has a lot of positive aspects to it, but it has some negative elements of arrogance
and ego associated with it. I would say that Pride is 70% positive and 30% negative. 70%
positive energy lets us accomplish lot of things in the world. 30% negative energy can act
as a hook to keep us stuck at that level and prevent us making spiritual progress. It is
better to move from Pride to Courageousness and beyond. This will enable us to accomplish
things in this world and not be stuck at a lower level.

How to check your spiritual growth

We can check where in the above sequence do we spend most of the time in a 24 hour
period. This gives a good indication of our spiritual growth. More we grow spiritually, more
time will be spending in positive end of this spectrum. This gives a very practical means of
measuring our spiritual growth. We should strive to spend more and more time in the
positive side of the scale. We can measure ourselves at the end of the day, how much time
do we spend on the positive side of the emotional scale vs. the negative side of the scale.

Practice Tip:

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Diary writing is helpful in keeping track of where we spend most of the time in the scale of
emotions.

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Concept of Pancha Koshas (Five Sheaths):

We have to learn the concept of Pancha Koshas to understand some of the techniques for
Emotion dissolving. Concept of the Pancha Koshas has been explained in the Taittiriya
upanishad.

1. Annamaya kosha, Sheath of the Physical body

This is the physical body that we are familiar with that is nurtured by the food we eat. To
excercise this body, the traditional Yoga Asanas are used.

2. PrANamaya kosha, Sheath of the energetic body

This is the subtle body that consists of prANa, the subtle energy and the breath. The
chakras and the nADis are in this layer. prANa is called Qi or Chi and nADis are called
Meridians in the Chinese Yoga. Any disturbances such as as congested energy or energy
blockages are manifested first in this layer before they show up as illnesses in the physical
body. Illnesses can be cured by dissolving the energy blockages. Accupuncture, Chi Gong,
PraNic healing and various prANayAma techniques act on this kosha.

3. mAno maya kosha, sheath of the mind

This layer consists of the thoughts, emotions and the mind. Techniques of concentration,
self-inquiry act on this layer of the mind. The tendencies of the mind manifest in this layer.
Yogic practices of concentration, self-inquiry, visualization, beginning stages of meditation
act upon this layer or kosha.

4. Vignayamaya kosha or the sheath of the intellect:

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 This sheath consists of the discriminating intellect and the sattvic shraddha. This is very
important for the right understanding. manana and nidhi dhyAsana and meditation act
upon this layer of meditation.

5. Anandamaya kosha or the sheath of the bliss:

This is the subtlest of the layers and comes close to the inner most nature of the soul.
This layer can be accessed in the samAdhi state or turIya state.

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Energy Psychology:

Energy Psychology is a set of techniques that utilize the subtle energetic pathways in the
body to make psychological changes. These subtle energetic pathyways are called Energy
Meridians in the Chinese healing traditions and nADis in the Indian Yogic tradition.

Some of the methods of energy psychology are discussed in this paper. These techniques
primarily act on the pranamaya kosha or energetic body sheath as described in the previous
section. Emotional Freedom Technique and breathing techniques described later are some
examples of the Energy Psychology techniques.

Emotional Management and Energy Meridians:

Emotional issues show up as blockages in the Energy Meridians. Energy psychology

techniques utilize methods to clear the blockages by tapping or using breathing techniques
to clear the blockages in the Energy Meridians. These techniques provide a quick way to
resolve long standing emotional issues in the mind by clearing the corresponding blockages
in the meridian systems.

Now we will go into the details of the Emotional Management techniques.

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Practices for Letting Go of
Negative Emotions:

All of these techniques will enable us dissolve the negative emotional patterns that were
described before.

PrANayama:
This practice of deep breathing acts on the prANamaya kosha (the sheath of the subtle
energy) described above. The effects can be felt in the calmness of the mind and reduction
in the thoughts or on the mano maya kosha (sheath of the mind).

Connection between breathing and Stress:

There is a direct relationship between the speed of the breathing and the emotional state of
the mind. This you can check and verify yourself. Consider the situation when you are
relaxed, such as walking on a secluded beach or forest or listening to your favorite piece of
music. You can notice that your breathing will be very slow. You can also notice that
when you are anxious or worried, your breathing will be shallow and fast.

Normal breathing pattern for most people is about 2-3 seconds for each inbreath and
outbreath. By using these breathing techniques, we can make the breathing pattern to
be 8-10 seconds for each inbreath and outbreath.

Different kinds of breathing techniques:

Belly Breathing:

If we make sure that belly is moving during breathing. Using belly based breathing will
cause greater relaxation. You can observe the just born babies breathing through their
belly. As we grow older, we forget this form of breathing.

Before you start breathing, place the tongue on the top part of the mouth cavity, just
behind the teeth and keep it there throughout this breathing technique.

You can place a hand on the belly to make sure that belly is moving. There are two kinds
of breathing here.

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 • normal breathing: Here the belly expands during in breath and contracts during out
breath.
• Reverse breathing: This is more difficult should be done after being comfortable
with normal breathing.

Other visualizations:
Once you are comfortable with the basic belly breathing, you can do some more
visualizations. First visualization is to imagine the in breath going to an energy center
called Dan-tien located about two inches below the navel.

After you get comfortable with this, they we can go on to other visualizations.

Benefits:

This style of breathing relaxes the whole body in a very short time. The internal organs
in the stomac are massaged and improve their health.

Yoga breathing techniques:

These techniques normally done using alternate nostril breathing.

Alternate Nostril breathing (Anuloma viloma prANAyAma):

Here you take breath in one nostril and exhale in another nostril. This basic technique will
cleanse your body and mind. It will calm you and your body will become relaxed. You can
start with 4 seconds breathing on in breadth and out breadth. You normally do the counting
by counting 1000,1001, 1002 etc mentally or on the fingers of the other hand.

Details of the alternate nostril breathing is given here.

http://thehealthylivinglounge.com/2009/06/16/12-great-reasons-to-start-alternate-nostril-
breathing-today/

Here are different variations of the alternate nostril breathing:

• 6-4-2 breathing: Here there are 6 counts inhale, 4 counts exhale and 2 counts
hold the breath
• 7-1-7-1 breathing: Here are there are 7 counts inhale, 1 count exhale, 7 counts
exhale in the other nostril, and 1 count hold the breath

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 • 6-3-6-3 breathing: Similar to above. This is a more advanced breathing and should
be done after the 7-1-7-1 breathing is mastered.
•

Note: You can try out these variations and do the one that suits you the most.

One sequence of breathing consists of :

• Inhale through left nostril (a seconds), optionally hold breath in (for b seconds),
breath out through right nostril (c seconds) and hold breath (d seconds). Inhale
through the right nostril (a seconds), hold breath (b seconds), exhale through left
nostril (c seconds) and optionally hold the breadth (d seconds)
•
• Please do 5 minutes of full sequence of 7-1-7-1 breathing and 6-4-2 breathing to
begin with

Taoist Breathing:

This is a simple but powerful breathing technique from the Taoist yoga. This technique also
achieves emotional balance and improves physical health.

In the beginning, start with and practice step 1 only for the first couple of days. Then add
the next step every couple of days. In the end , you should be doing all the six steps for
the required number of cycles.

Step 1: Be aware of the breath and breath until the throat. Have continuous conscious
awareness of the breath - Repeat 2 times 10cycles
Step 2: Be aware of the breath and breath until the Chest -2 times 10cycles
Step 3: Be aware of the breath and breath until the Lower Tan-Tien - 2 times 10cycles .
Lower Tan-Tien is an energy center about two inches below the navel. You can get a feel
for this center by focussing your awareness in that area.
Step 4: Be aware of the breath moving from center channel throughout the body cavity.
Belly breathing - 2 x, 10 cycles (You can place a hand of the side of the belly and watch it
move)
Step 5: Be aware of the breath moving from center channel through the sides - 2 x, 10
cycles ( You can monitor the breathing through the sides by placing a hand on the sides of
the body)
Step 6: Be aware of the breath moving from center channel through the upper back. -2 x,
10 cycles

Benefits:
prANayama provides tremendous benefits for calming and centering the mind. Each of the
prANAyAmas have specific mental and physical benefits.

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Emotional Freedom Technique:

Introduction:
This technique is an energy meridian based technique to dissolve negative emotions and
distress. This was discovered accidentally by Dr. Roger Callahan in 1981. He was
accidentally tapping on meridians while treating a patient for phobias. He found that
phobias disappeared completely, when he was tapping on some meridians. Dr. Gary Craig
modified this technique and made it easier for people to access this technique.

This technique acts on the prANayamaya (Sheath of energy body) and manomaya (mental
sheath) koshas.

Methodology:
This technique assumes that all physical, emotion and mental pain is caused by energetic
blockages. These blockages can be removed at tapping on some meridian points. It is very
simple tapping at 7 or 8 meridian points.

Method:

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

The Basic Recipe

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About EFT Video (7 minutes): http://youtube.com/watch?v=9nRY3UtTHvo

EFT 5 minute tap along video: http://www.youtube.com/user/kinesiologyinstitute

How to use EFT:

You can use EFT for any emotional, physical issues and for Performance improvement. You
start with emotional issues first because emotional issues can cloud or be the cause of
physical issues.

Guidelines:

• Please try EFT on any emotional issues big or small. It can be as simple as minor
fear of small animals or major fears and phobias.
• For physical symptoms, please check the emotional issues first.
• Go back into the past from the beginning of your life and list out any events that are
still having emotional charge. Play a mental movie of these issues that still have an
emotional charge. Use EFT technique to dissolve any negative emotion in the past.

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 • Phrasing of the set up phrase is important. You will get a hang of the usage of the
right phrases by practice.

Uses and Benefits of EFT:

• EFT can be used whenever there is emotional or physical disturbance that may be
big or small.
• EFT has been used in wide variety of emotional issues, starting with small fears to
severe anxiety, phobias and depression. For more severe problems, the practice of
EFT has to be persistent over a period of time. It may also be necessary to work
with a EFT practitioner in such cases.
• After the emotional symptoms are taken care of physical symptoms can be
addressed. EFT web resource listed below has several case studies of physical
healings. It should be warned that EFT is not a substitute for medical treatment,
even though case studies have shown that it can accelerate or aid in healing.

Complex issues:
In some cases, healing may take some time. This is because the issue is complex and there
will be many layers of issues. Each one of them need to be peeled off like the onion skin.
So, we have to be patient, use the right set up phrases and remove the layers one by one.

Resources:
• EFTuniverse.com has EFT case studies done by Dr. Gary Craig. There are separate
links for emotional issues, Pain and Physical issues, Weight loss and Performance
improvement. These show actual studies where improvements are found for these
cases. This is a very good resource for learning the EFT.

Use of EFT for Performance Management:

• EFT Universe.com has a section on Performance Management using EFT. The basic
premise is that one can clear any negative thoughts or "but" statements that the
mind throws up. These act as barriers to achieving things. Removing these kinds
of thoughts and emotions, increases the chances for success.
• This can be used in sports, in tests for students and to improve performance in area
of human performance.

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Self-Inquiry Techniques:

Introduction:
Self-inquiry techniques can be used to let go of negative emotions and further spiritual
growth. I will describe two powerful self-inquiry techniques. These techniques inquire into
the nature of the negative feelings and emotions. There are two techniques that are
popular in the West. They are both simple, yet powerful. They can be used to dissolve
negative emotions very quickly.

These are powerful methods for inner work. As with all practices, persistent and regular
practice is necessary to achieve results quickly.

Sedona Method:

Sedona method is a technique to dissolve negative emotions and achieve peace and
happiness. Sedona method says that all of us have peace and happiness at our core. We are
covered by negative emotions and feelings. As we gradually remove these negative
emotions and feelings, we experience more and more of this peace and happiness.

Basics of the Sedona Method can be found in youtube and in blogs in the web. The basic
technique consists of asking three questions to dissolve negative emotions. These questions
consist of:

• Could you let go of this feeling ( or negative emotion)

• Would you let go of this feeling?
• When can you let go of this feeling?

There are no right or wrong answers to this question. By asking these questions, you begin
the process of letting go of negative emotions.

Benefits:
• Sedona method has been used in healing anxiety, fear, grief, anger and other
negative emotions. You can find number of testimonials in the Web about the
effectiveness of the Sedona method.
• Sedona method can be used to let go of addictions.
• The Method can also be used to set and achieve goals.

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 • The Method can also be used to get clarity on decisions and make decisions about
any issue from the heart

Guidelines:
• Please try this out on small issues first until you get a hang of this method.
• These questions should not be answered in the mind, but from the heart. This is
not an intellectual excercise, but an intutional excercise.
• Feel the question in your body and get the answer from the heart without doing
logical thinking about these questions.
•

Another way to let go of negative emotions:

Another way to let go of negative emotions is to welcome negative emotions. Normally we

push away or dislike negative emotions. Here we welcome or at least stay neutral and
watch the negative emotions. This will also help dissolve the negative emotions.

Loving all method:

Here we love or accept all feelings, emotions, things, people and everything that surrounds
us. This is a very powerful spiritual practice that can take us to very high levels.

In the beginning, we may not be able to love some people completely. This is particularly
true of some people who have hurt us or harmed us. If loving people is not possible, we
should start by accepting people as they are with all their faults.

Try reading these statements and allow them to sink into you. Allow about 4-5 seconds or
higher for these statements to sink into you and feel them acting inside you.

• Love everything you perceive, exactly as it is.

• Love everything you experience, exactly as it is.
• Love every thought you have , exactly as it is
• Love those thoughts that you think are good, exactly the way they are
• Love those thoughts that you think are bad, exactly the way they are
• Love your emotions, exactly the way they are
• If you feel happy, love your happiness, exactly the way it is
• If you feel sad, love your sadness, exactly the way it is
• If you feel courage, love your courageousness, exactly the way it is
• If you feel fear, love your fear, exactly the way it is

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 • If you feel love, love your feeling of love, exactly the way it is
• If you feel anger, love your feeling of anger, exactly the way it is
• Love your body, exactly the way it is
• Love the objects that you see, exactly the way they are
• Love everything people do, think, say or do exactly the way it is
• If somebody says something nice to you, love what the person says, exactly the
way it is
• If somebody says something mean to you, love what the person says, exactly the
way it is
• If something nice happens to you during the day, love it exactly the way it is
• If something horrible happens to your day, love it exactly the way it is
• Love everything that happens, just the way it is
• Love every activity, exactly the way it is
• Love every experience, exactly the way it is
• Love everything, exactly the way it is
• Imagine a shower of love falling on your head and showering your entire body with
love
• Feel the love energy in your heart, imagine the love energy expanding in your body,
reaching all the cells, blood vessels, nerve endings, lymph nodes, all the major
organs. Imagine filling the entire body with loving and healing energy. Imagine all
the cells, blood vessels, nerve endings, lymph nodes, all the major organs etc.,
being filled with love energy and shining with bright love and healing energy.
• Imagine the love energy filling all aspects of your personality and filling them with
healing and loving energy and making it whole and complete
• Imagine the love energy expanding from the heart into all the areas of your home,
all the family members filling them with loving energy
• Imagine the love energy expanding into all your friends, your whole city , the whole
country .
• Imagine the love energy filling the whole universe and all the people inside

Bhakti as Love:

In sanskrit there are multiple words for Love. Love with people who are superior to us is
known as Bhakti. Love with people who are at the same level is called Sneha. Love with
people are younger in age is called Vatsalya. In English we use the same word in all cases.

Sri Jayatheertha gives an a beautiful description of Love.

Devotion to the Lord is that continuously surging flood of deep love & attachment to the Lord of the
Universe, which is impregnable by any amount of obstacles encountered in its march. It should be of such
a quality & texture as would transcend all other forms of love which one may bear towards one's own self,
or to his nearest & dearest ones in life, or to his most cherished possessions. It should be founded on an
unshakable intellectual & emotional conviction in the Majesty of the Lord- as the embodiment of all
7
spiritual excellences.

7. parameshvara bhaktirnAma niravadhika ananta anavadya kalyANaguNatva GYAnapUrvakaH

svAtmAtmIya samasta vastubhyo aneka guNAdhiko antarAya sahasrenApya pratibaddo nirantara
premapravAhaH

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

This description shows the level of love that we should aspire to.

Letting Go of Problems:
Problems and pains can heal quickly if we welcome the problem situation or the pain and
the fact that we intensely want the problem to go away. By welcoming both these emotions
and thoughts together, the problem and pain will reduce and can heal easily.

Direct Self Inquiry:

This is the method used by sri Ramana maharshi. This consists of meditating on the
question "Who or What are you?" If the mind wanders from the question to another
thought, ask the question, "who is thinking that thought"?. or "if you are more than that,
who are you?" This will lead back to the question "Who or what are you?"

One session might go like this.

"Who are you?"

"I am Gopala krishNa"
"If you are more than that, who are you"?
"I am the body"
"If you are more than that, who are you"?
"I am the mind"
"If you are more than that, who are you"?
"I am the soul"
"If you are more than that, who are you"?
"I am the consciousness"

..
Pretty quickly you will drop into silence as mind can not go further in answering the
question. This is a good way to stop the mind and experience the stillness inside all of us.

There is the book called "Sedona Method" by Hale Dwoskin that has lot more details. You
tube also number of videos by Hale Dwoskin.

Sedona Method was invented by Lester Levenson. His two students Hale Dwoskin and Larry
Crane are the primary teachers of this method. Larry Crane also the method as "Release
Technique"

Resources:

• Book called Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin

• Web site called www.releasetechnique.com

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

 • Youtube videos - Search for "Sedona Method"
• Good Introduction to the method is at http://tomstine.com/the-sedona-method-
review/
• Book called "The Most Direct and Rapid means to Eternal Bliss" available at
http://www.amazon.com/DIRECT-RAPID-MEANS-ETERNAL-BLISS/dp/0979726794/
ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294204720&sr=8-1. It is also available on the
internet at http://www.albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/contents.aspx

Visualization Technique:
You can also let go of the emotions by visualizing that the negative emotional patterns,
impressions and complexities are going away from your backside as black clouds. Hold this
thought and visualization for 15-20 minutes. This technique is from the Sahaj Marg
tradition. This technique is very useful in removing the daily impressions, events that have
emotional impact very easily.

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

The Work:
Introduction:

This is another powerful self-inquiry method that has become popular recently. The Work
was invented by Byron Katie. This method also asks simple questions to turn around
perceptions that lead to negative thoughts and emotions. This is also a simple, yet powerful
method to let go of negative emotions.

Method:
The method consists of the following steps:

• Fill a questionnaire called Judge your neighbor worksheet

• Ask your self four questions
◦ Is it True?
◦ Can you absolutely know that it is true?
◦ How do you react when you believe that thought?
◦ Who would you be without that thought?
• "Turn around" the concept that you are questioning with three examples of the turn
around

Benefits:
Benefits are similar to above methods.
• Dissolving negative emotions such as fear, grief, anxiety and stress
• More energy and more peace
• Mental clarity
• Move through life with ease

Resources:
• Website www.thework.org
• Books by Byron Katie: Introductory work: Loving What is: Four questions that can
change your life
• You tube videos: Search under Byron Katie
•

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

 Meditation:

Introduction:
Meditation can be used for emotional clearing and to achieve mental clarity among many
other spiritual benefits. This is the simplest method and yet it is hardest to keep continuing
with the practice.

Method:
There are two main methods of meditation that are used in this area. In the meditation,
you need something to anchor and prevent mind from wandering around. This anchor can
be breath in breath based meditations or a mantra in mantra based meditations.

Mediation using breath as anchor (Mindfulness Technique):

These methods are classified under the term Mindfulness techniques. Here you are
watching your breath and are focussed on the breath. You are aware of the breath going in
and out your nostrils. If your mind wanders else where, bring it back to the breath in a
gentle fashion.

The key is to be very kind and gentle when your mind wanders to some other thought.
Slowly and gently bring mind back to focus on the breath.

This meditation can be done from 15-45 minutes. There are some recordings that can
help you to get started if you are not familiar with this.

As we become more adept at the technique, you can begin to focus of energy of the body
and the sensations of the body as an advanced technique.

Regular practice is essential for success.

Meditation using mantra as an anchor (Mantra based meditation):

Here an mantra can be used as an anchor for meditation. If you have been initiated in a
mantra, you can use that mantra for meditation ( for example: Gayathri mantra, narayana
mantra, krishna mantra, shiva mantra etc. It can also be focussing on any other spiritual
teacher that you use such as Sri KrishNa, Shiva, Jesus, Mohamed etc.). One teacher
recommends starting with "I AM" as a starting mantra.

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

Each of the mantra has different effects. You can try out couple of mantras to see which one
suits you the most.

Mantra should be repeated silently. The mantra is used as an anchor to focus the mind.
Just as above, if the mind wanders away from the mantra, gently and with kindness, bring
back the mind to the mantra.

There is no need to count the mantras. You should just repeat for a specific period of time.

This meditation can also be done from 15-45 minutes. Regular practice is essential for
success.

Note:

You should try to get mantra upadesha from a Guru. People who have gayathri mantra
upadesha or upanayana, can do meditation on gayathri mantra. This is the essence of
sandhya vandana. Unfortunately, most people just do mechanical repetition of gayathri
mantra and do not get into meditation using gayathri mantra.

If you don't have upadesha of a mantra, you can try the mantra "I AM". Just repeat
silently the words "I AM". This is a very powerful mantra that can create inner silence .
More details are at: Mantra based meditation

Mantra itself stops at higher levels of Meditation:

After we become skillful at the meditation and our concentration increases, we can stop
repeating the mantra after couple of times and just concentrate on the thought of the
mantra and its meaning . Sahaj Marg system emphasises this form of Meditation. It is a
very powerful method of meditation.

Benefits:
Meditation offers innumerable benefits. Some of them are:

• Quietness of the mind

• Peace and Relaxation
• Mental clarity
• Spiritual growth
• Emotional balance
•

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

Recommended Practices:
Daily practice is very essential for progress. These are minimal set of practices that can be
done every day. More time is always better. If you can do 45 minutes to an hour of
practice, that is better.

17-20 minute practice:

This can consist of

• 2 minutes prayer
• 5 minutes pranAyama
• 12 minutes mantra based meditation
• 1-2 minutes to recover from meditation

30 minute Practice:

This can consist of:

• 5 minutes prayer
• 5 minutes prANAyAma
• 20 minutes mantra based meditation
• 1-2 minutes to come back from meditation

45 minute Practice:

This can consist of:

• 5 minutes prayer
• 5 minutes prANAyAma
• 30 minutes mantra based meditation
• 1-2 minutes to come back from meditation

10,000 hours of Practice:

Popular author Malcom Gladwell says that to be outstanding in any field, be it music or
sports etc., one needs about 10,000 hours of practice. Constant practice is the key to
success in any field. It applies to the field of spirituality as well. Even if we put in 300-500
hours of practice, which should be about an year with one hour of practice every day, we
will advance in the field of spirituality.

So, please practice at least 30-45 minutes every day consistently, and you will see a big
difference in your life in about couple of months.

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

Review at the end of day:
Review the events of the day at the end of the day. Let go of any event that has emotional
charge by using the Visualization Technique, EFT, Sedona method or self inquiry. You can
do this after you finish all the major work of the day. This review will help to get rid of any
negative emotional patterns and limitations that have been generated during the day. You
can also use it to get rid of the older impressions as well.

For use thoughout the day:

Use EFT, Sedona method and other techniques in the evening or whenever you get a small
break during the day. Over time, these techniques become natural and can be used
effortlessly throughout the day.

Some of the breathing techniques, breath awareness techniques, body awareness

techniques and self-awareness techniques, remembrance of God can be used throughout
the day. More often you use these techniques, easier it will become.

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

Resources:

• Sahaj Marg meditation : A powerful heart center based meditation

practice- www.sahajmarg.org
• Mindfullness meditation: Books by John Kabat-Zinn ,
http://www.mindfulnesstapes.com
• You tube videos : search on mindfulness or John Kabat-Zinn
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc) Mantra meditation: Web site:
http://www.aypsite.org/ - Has number of lessons on advanced yoga practices and I
AM meditation
• Book called "The Most Direct and Rapid means to Eternal Bliss" available at
http://www.amazon.com/DIRECT-RAPID-MEANS-ETERNAL-BLISS/dp/0979726794/
ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294204720&sr=8-1. It is also available on the
internet at http://www.albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/contents.aspx

Other Techniques:
There are other techniques that can help. I have not elaborated them due to space
constraints.
• Yoga Asanas
• Qi Gong and Tai Chi
• Other Energy Psychology techniques such - Be Set Free Fast (BSFF), Ask and
Receive (http://askandreceive.org)

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project

Summary:

Here we have provided a summary of the techniques for stress management, letting go
of negative emotions and achieving peace and happiness. Techniques also have other
hidden dimensions and also can get you far on the spiritual path if practiced properly.

Consistent practice is essential for success just like any other human endeavor.

I recommend diary writing or reflection at the end of the day to measure your progress.
This is quite important.

Best wishes to you. I hope that you will get the benefits of stress management,
happiness, peace and spiritual growth by using these techniques .

You can contact me at vasu_murthy@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

sri krishNarpaNamastu

(c) Hindu Renaissance Project