Niyama 4 - Faith

Faith- The ability to start and maintain an activity without knowing how it will end..

Can anyone guarantee the result of a project? If we were to insist on knowing the outcome before beginning any activity, we may never start. We start an activity based on certain assumptions. All we can guarantee is effort, not the result. To sustain effort over time and be able to keep going in adverse circumstances we need faith. Here, we experiences both eustress (motivation) and distress. Faith builds courage, awareness and success. Two elements contribute to faith

Patience: On the path of achievement, one experiences frustration, self doubt, loneliness, failure & learning. This does not mean that we are failing. The lessons are subconscious and take time to manifest as svabhava. One must be patient, have faith in our capability and keep trying.

Perseverance: Often one method does not solve the problem. One may have to try other ways to get to the solution, sometimes with no help, no recognition or money. Projects left midway only increase frustration, a sense of failure and stress.

Share your opinion and experiences

• What is the essence of faith?

• How we increase our ability to believe in ourselves?

• When does our faith in others increase?

• When do we lose faith in ourselves and others?

Niyama 3 - Svadhyayam (Introspection)

Sva means "self' or "belonging to me." Adhyaya means "inquiry" or "examination". The word Svadhyaya literally means, "to get close to something." It means to get close to yourself, that is, to study yourself. It could also mean meditation or contemplation.

This aspect has 2 sub-aspects.

Reflection: Means looking at oneself/state of the present/current state mapping. Here, the person not only reviews the situation objectively but also considers his present experience (do I like this? How do I feel? Why am I anxious?).

This element is one of the most important aspects of Situational Awareness as it is the most effective way of increasing jnana (conceptual knowledge). While it is easy to learn a skill, to learn the subtleties of the skill requires reflection on the subject.

Acceptance: This is the first step to finding a solution, accepting current state of being. We accept what we did and the consequences of our action. This opens the way for us to find solutions and a forward path with lower stress levels.

Acceptance can occur as a compromise or as consensus. The result of consensus is positive on everyone but compromise can result in pain. How does one deal with the negative impact of compromise?

What happens if no solution emerges?

Share your opinion and experiences

• What is the right time to introspect?

• Does introspection have a structure?

• What is the role of instinct & intuition in introspection?

• How does one weed out emotions when reflecting?

• What are the issues one faces when accepting reality?

• Why is reality hard to accept?

Niyama 2 - Santosham (Positive Thinking)

Santosham may be defined as gratification obtained by doing one’s duty

Happiness is fleeting, but peace is more lasting. Calmness not only increases clarity of thought, but it also calms others down. Another’s positive feeling always increases positive energy in us. How does one recognize this & more importantly, imbibe it?

There is no easy answer to obtaining this sense of peace. But, often, we do come across people who, though they may not be affluent, exude a sense of peace that lifts us also. How do they get it? It seems that there are two requirements: Doing the right thing in the circumstance and having realistic expectations.

Share your opinion and experiences

• How important is awareness of reality on Santosham (feeling of calmness).

• How do we generate this feeling of serenity within us?

• How importance is the ability of current reality in the feeling of Santhosham?

• How important is “confronting versus sidestepping issues” for achievement of Santosham?

• What is the impact of expectation on Santosham?

• How important is it to do your duty in order to achieve the feeling of calmness?

• What is duty? Where does it start and where does it end? How do we know we are doing our duty?

• How important is emotional stability in achieving a sense of peace?

• What happens to the feeling of calm when the solution is one of consensus as opposed to compromise? Which is better?

Niyama 1 - Soucham (Cleanliness)

There are two types of Soucham- Antarasoucham (Internal cleanliness) & Bahirasoucham (External Cleanliness).

In order to maintain hygiene or Bahirasoucham (external cleanliness), one must be aware of what one is doing; therefore there is an increased awareness in the individual. Since time immemorial, cleanliness has been addressed with varying degree of severity, from separation in certain times to strictures in different circumstances. Today, these are being followed to varying degrees by different people, but it is important that we understand how & why our elders thought it fit to impose these “Traditional cleanliness” rules.

In 1330s, a plague hit China and spread to Europe in 1347 and by 1351 had reached all corners of Europe & the Middle East. It had the effect of killing around 35% of Europe’s population (35 million people in 2 yrs). Overall, it reduced the world’s population from 450 million to between 350 & 375 million. During this time it was noticed that Jews, living in Ghettos, away from the village suffered lower deaths. This was on account of strict Rabbinical Laws on cleanliness followed by them. The water that they used was from the wells in their backyard & not the community wells, this lead to greater control over bacterial infection. Also, injunctions on personal hygiene & disposal of waste ensured that the carriers, rats were less likely to infect the community.

In India, there are strict rules for cleanliness, especially when eating. Indian’s eat only with the right hand. Eating from another person’s plate, something that has come in contact with your mouth, your saliva or your plate is not allowed and called 'jootha' (in North India), 'ushth' (in Western India), 'etho' (in Bengal), 'aitha' (in Orissa), 'echal' (in Tamil Nadu), 'enjulu' (in Karnataka), or 'engili' (in Andhra Pradesh).

In many parts of India, after touching food that has been cooked, one is allowed to ghee, milk, curds etc. only after washing.

It is also normal in many parts of India to separate utensils for cooking and utensils for eating.

Share your opinion and experiences

• Is cleanliness an important factor in achieving situational awareness and reduced stress?

• Cleanliness is next to Godliness… why did our ancients say it?

• What are your views on the Indian rules of hygiene?

• What is Internal Cleanliness? How does one clean one’s thoughts?

• How does one avoid internal pollution?

• Why is cleanliness given such a high priority in the scheme of self improvement?

• What is the impact of cleanliness in thinking and improvement?
• Which is better? Toilet paper or water?
  

Niyama (Inward Focus)

Often, we are accused of acting. What do people mean when they say we are acting? Do they mean we are saying something that we have no intention of doing? Or misrepresenting the truth? Or operating at a surface level without being genuine?

Is it possible for a person to portray consistent behaviour when one’s Karma (action) does not match one’s Dharma? Can such behaviour inspire trust in others? Will such behaviour stand under pressure? What about the resultant stress that is generated?

In order to portray a consistent personality to society, one must be properly integrated as an individual. This is Niyama and is the foundation of Yama. Niyama increases internal awareness, resulting in better assessment of reality, leading to proper management of situations and lower stress.

Niyama means rules or laws, for personal well being. Niyama refers to the attitude we adopt toward ourselves and our actions. When Niyama is followed, our ability to interact with the external world in a peaceful manner is enhanced. It is about stabilizing our relationship with our environment, being at peace with ourselves and our actions. Niyama is a key aspect of Dharma.

Inward focus increases awareness of Dharma so that our actions with the external world are congruent with our natural state of being. The objective of this step is to integrate personal thoughts, words and deeds into a cohesive whole, resulting in clarity of focus, understanding of requirement and peace in actions.

Niyama has 6 elements: Soucham (cleanliness), Santhosham (happiness), Faith, Accountability, and Referencing.

Yama 6 - Aparigraha (Equanimity)

Ability to react evenly in any situation ensures lesser extremity of reactions, thereby ensuring easier recovery from a situation.

Aparigraha means "hands off" or "not seizing opportunity." On an extended scale it can mean equanimity.

The human safety system is designed to evaluate any situation on the basis of “Do I like this or not”/ “Is this good for me or not”/ “Is he friend or foe”. This evaluative system then takes a position based on the data available and prepares a coping action. In many cases, the brain decides based on previous information available with it, and this may not be appropriate to the situation and result in over-reaction. This is why equanimity is important.

Equanimity is the non-judgmental attitude that we take to ensure that we are fair to ourselves & others when taking a decision. It removes bias, hasty, ad hoc & ill -considered decisions.

Share your opinion and experiences

• How do you keep your equilibrium in any situation?

• How do you recover your equilibrium if you lose it?

• Is it possible to remain calm in any situation?

• Is ability to remain calm hereditary?

• Why are some people naturally calm?

• Can prayer help our ability to remain calm? Why?

• What is the impact of equanimity on others?

• Equanimity and emotional intelligence - How are they related?

Yama 5 - Valour

Our ability to retain our Dharma (values), yet get the job done. It could also be the ability to challenge the status-quo without compromising Dharma of others, making them insecure such that they react without considering the fall-out of their actions.

How often do people come out of meetings, discussions, or conversations feeling stressed, utterly frustrated, steam-rolled and exhausted? The reason: inability to stand up to one’s own point of view resulting in being forced to work in a direction that is outside one’s zone of comfort/values/Dharma.

Such situations unleash frustration, anger and stress in everyone. Ability to stand up for one’s point of view requires courage, conviction, ability to face fear, ability to sacrifice and willingness to act on one’s beliefs. This needs to be done without triggering a violent reaction in others.

Share your opinion and experiences

• How do you maintain your position without offending others?

• What are the qualities a person requires in order to stand up for his Dharma (values)?

• How do you handle fear when opposing authority?

• How do you manage the feeling of arrogance when your subordinates, children and other juniors oppose us?

• How do you reconcile to the reality of any situation? How do you know when to stop pushing?

• What happens to whistle blowers? How do they manage the conflict between duties to their country versus duty to mankind?

• Which is more important? Duty to family, duty to country or duty to mankind?

Yama 4 - Diversity

Ability to respect and imbibe dharma of people of various gender/ cultural/ religious/ colour/ countries etc. ensures acceptability of ideas & lower stress.

With business crossing borders, one person’s actions could be interpreted as another person’s insult, resulting in stress. Sensitivity & awareness to the other’s cultural, racial background is one of the most important requirements today. Ability to remove sexual bias in business relationships is an important personal development requirement. Correct interpretation of verbal and non verbal signals is the key to peaceful relationships and lower stress.

Diversity is being able to work with other people’s Dharma & Svabhava to a common goal without sacrificing your own

Share your opinion and experiences

• How do you adjust to other people’s opinions without creating discord?

• How do you adjust to diversity in food?

• Diversity in dressing and its impact on people, their opinion of others & relationships.

• How do you adjust to diversity in religion and value systems?

• How do you adjust to diversity in age?

Yama 3 - Team

Ability to develop a common Dharma from the Dharma of diiferent people and ensure that the common objective is met.

A team is a collection of people with a common objective (Dharma – value system). What makes this entity so important? How does the performance of a well-trained & led team make a difference?

Example: Let us compare two different football teams, one of novices and another of professionals. Novices normally never play in any single position. In any game, one person would kick the ball and everyone would run after it. As a result, everyone wants credit for the goal and this gives rise to prima donnas, who never pass the ball. On the other hand, professional team members are specialists who maintain their own positions. Though each team member has his own characteristic style of playing, the team operates on the principle of give and take, with one Dharma (value system). As a result, the team wins.

Teaming is not confined to physical possessions but also includes the ability to share thoughts, information, credit and criticism.

Share your opinion and experiences

• How do we integrate different team requirements to a single objective?

• What is the role of the team leader? Why is he or she important?

• How does one resolve intra-team conflict?

• How important is communication in a team?

• Is hierarchy important in a team?

• Is structure important in a team?

• What is the impact of a prima donna (one who constantly hogs the limelight?)

• What is morale? How important is it to team dynamics?

• How do you motivate a team in difficult situations?

• How important is giving due credit to team motivation?

• What happens to a team where politics & favouritism are high?

Yama 2 - Hrta (Integrity)

Doing what is right, not what is convenient. When we work with integrity, we inspire trust; this makes our Dharma acceptable & less fearsome to others...

What is integrity? Is it honesty? In the context of Situational Awareness, integrity is not about honesty alone; it is about aligning oneself to the Dharma of the objective to be attained (understanding the value that is being created), willingly sacrificing one’s personal needs to the higher needs of the Dharma (value) being created, and working with complete shraddha (commitment, devotion and single-mindedness) to achieve the objective. This quality of steadfastness to a higher value objective inspires and maintains trust with those we interact because our communication removes selfishness. These actions keep stress levels low and awareness levels high.

The ancient Aryas & Greeks operated on a common concept called Hrta (Sanskrit- Law of righteousness or Arête- Ancient Greek Law of Perfection). Hrta has three components: Satya (truth), Yagna (sacrifice) & Vaq (word). This law has tremendous relevance even today.

Satya in today’s parlance may be translated to; understanding of our objectives, the focus, or the target to be achieved.

Yagna can be roughly translated to sacrifice, effort required, resource required, process to be followed.

Vaq today is communication; taking people along, being diplomatic, saying the right things, being transparent, etc.

Share your opinion and experiences

• Is it always possible to maintain a level of integrity?

• How do we maintain integrity in our personal life, like paying taxes?

• How do we teach integrity within our family, especially with our children?

• How do we maintain integrity when we move in society, on the road, at the bus stop, at a restaurant?

• How do we maintain integrity at work, as a superior, subordinate and peer?

• Business integrity; Is it possible to work with integrity with our suppliers & customers?

• Integrity & public life people like politicians, civil servants, police etc; How does it impact Dharma of a nation?

Yama1 - Ahimsa ( Non Violence)

Ability to react in a non threatening manner to stimulus. This occurs when the stimulus is contrary to our Dharma. Ahimsa is the ability to control anger, frustration and negative emotion while giving positive feedback.

To understand non-violence, one must understand violence & its relationship to anger, fear, frustration, ambition and power.

Violence covers a vast spectrum, from subtle abuse to genocide where entire populations are exterminated. It also includes killing of animals, plants and all elements of nature with which we need to live in harmony. It includes injury to the self.

Control is incredibly difficult. Control requires a heightened state of awareness for to stop violence one must catch it as it develops. Control of this element is the key to progress in stress management and Situational Awareness.

There are 3 types of violence: Tamasic (confused), Rajasic (Passionate) & Sattvic (Balanced).

Tamasic violence comes out of lack of knowledge and is driven primarily by fear and confusion.

Example: All forms of segregation and separation, whether of colour, caste, religion or creed arise out of ignorance because there can be no difference between living beings.

Rajasic violence primarily out of passion and is driven by emotions such as anger, lust, greed, ambition etc.

Example: All forms of sexual assaults are driven by Rajas.

Sattvic violence is very difficult to achieve and is characterized by high communication and patience.

Example: A parent scolding a truant child. When the parent is trying to push his or her own agenda on the child, then it is Tamasic. When the parent scolds the child because he or she is afraid of what society will say, then it is Rajasic. When the parent scolds the child for deviation of a value that has been explained often, then the reason is Sattvic. This is characterized by the parent trying to separate the person from the problem. Violence is used as a tool to drive home a point after various methods such as sama (discussion), dana (inducement), bedha (discord) have failed.

Share your opinion and experiences

• Can we control anger?

• How do we control anger?

• What happens when things go wrong?

• How important is communication in managing anger?

• Importance of patience in management of violence.

• Does our ability to control violence improve with age?

• How do you convert a Tamasic anger to Sattvic anger? Try it today…

Yama - Outward Focus

Do we control events? Often we cannot. We frequently react to events. This can generate stress in us, especially if we find ourselves in situations that we have difficulty in coping with. We also get stressed by the reactions of others if we or others are confrontational, insensitive or irrelevant. Our reactions to external stimulus and our ability to work with others in a peaceful manner or bring peace into our relationships are the fundamental building block of a sustainable solution for stress.

Yama is the first element of Situational Awareness. It enables us to and live a a life where our actions leave us as well as those we interact with a sense peace. It results in us being able to enjoy a stable and balanced relationship with our environment.

Yama has different meanings, "rein, curb, or bridle, discipline or restraints". In the present context, it means "self-control or forbearance" when dealing with the environment. Patanjali's Yoga Sutra mentions six key elements in Yama that cover all aspects of personal behaviour with the external environment.

The key to effective implementation of Yama is to be able to align our Dharma with that of others without sacrificing our own dharma, yet achieve the common goal and retain or grow the relationship.

Elements of Yama: Ahimsa (Non-violence), Hrta (Integrity), Diversity, Teaming, Valour and Aparigraha (Equanimity). When one understands and implements these elements, there results a tremendous sense of peace because those that interact with us stop feeling threatened by us and our actions. This allows us to achieve our objectives better with lesser emotional investment and at the same time lead and mentor others to work within their Dharma because we know when and where to apply our energies for maximum effect.

Share your opinion and experiences:

• Do we control events?

• What is the best way to react? What is the end we should aim for?

• Is it possible to achieve a win-win solution every time?

• If we cannot achieve a win-win solution, then how should we manage the situation?

• How do we react, ensure success, yet ensure peace in any reaction?

• How important is transparency in a reaction?

• How important is it for us to respect the other person’s Dharma in a situation?

• How do relationships get affected? Why do they get disturbed?

• What does it take to restore a disturbed relationship?

• Can a relationship be one-sided? How do you manage an important one-sided relationship?

• How important is patience in a relationship?

• How important is communication in maintaining relationships?
  

• How do you use communication to diffuse tension?

Resolution - Measure of Progress

What is yoga? The root of the word yoga is yuj or to join, joining the various aspects of our personality into a cohesive whole so that the person is able to live a wholesome life. Raja Yoga is considered to be the Raja (king) among Yoga Shastras (a text of experience) because the king works at a material level and this form of yoga is more attuned to normal living and does not require one to go deep into spiritual life. By design, it has two levels- a beginner’s level for self-improvement in daily life (Kriya Yoga) and an advanced level (Samyama Yoga) for one who wishes to delve deep into the esoteric.

The world has become smaller and success lies in our ability to handle rapid change. This change could range from diversity issues in the form cultural, racial or sexual biases to assimilation of technical and business information; or issues as mundane as handling jet lag and cross cultural food.

The process of confronting, accepting, assimilating and responding to reality is not easy, especially when each experience is new and traditional/ “ready recipe” responses are inappropriate/ inadequate. This continuous need for “ground up” response tests our entire value and belief system and stresses us.

We live in an objective world. Everything we do and are conditioned to be is a product of the objective world. We constantly think and work with metrics, whereas nature works on different rules, sometimes in conflict with our own.

Example: Consider time. We constantly plan our lives to the clock, but does the Sun care? Do the winds and tides plan? Does the typhoon that ravages the coast announce its intention? What happens when we are engrossed with something we like? We forget time which for us, becomes the gap between when we remember starting the activity to the moment we became conscious of ourselves again. When we say that we lost ourselves, what does that actually mean? We had channalised our energies is an activity that so engrossed us that our consciousness was completely merged with the subject, achieved the state of Yoga. Therefore, time can only be defined as “the gap between two states of consciousness”. That is the time when we are completely aware of ourselves.

Therefore, if we could keep ourselves engrossed in the present moment, we would be able to operate in any situation with clarity and balance and with far lesser confusion or passion. This will increase our level of consciousness or awareness and allow us to realize our full potential. This is Situational Awareness.

Measure of Progress

How do we know that we are succeeding in our efforts? From first principles, we know that stress occurs when we get tipped off our internal balance (feeling of peace) or perceive a lack of congruence with our value system, Dharma. As we progress along the path of Situational Awareness, we will notice many changes occurring within us. Mainly, there will be an increased sense of peace as we begin to understand how to deal with change and with that which is not aligned with our Dharma. This will result in a feeling of peace that covers us, our family, neighbours and those that interact with us. As this feeling of peace increases, we will get greater confidence in our ability to manage our lives.

There are four distinct levels of development in the road to the feeling of peace. They are Jagrat (Wakeful state); Swapna (Dream State); Sushupti (Awareness State) and Turiya (Superconscious State). Clearly, the turiya state is meant for mystics and not for daily application. However, the other states can be used as metrics for judging progress.

How do we judge these states? Jagrat (Wafeful State) is when we are conscious of what is going on around us. Swapna (Dream State) is when we see images and intentions, not activity. Sushupti (Awareness State) is when we are conscious of an awareness that goes beyond the material level. The three states will manifest as shown in the matrix below. These are nine combinations that the practitioner can experience in the path of Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness is highest when, in any of the nine combinations, one experiences a sense of peace. This sense of peace means that the gunas and energy centres are in balance.

The first name decides which level predominates. The ability to remain in the level appropriate to the situation is the key to measuring progress.

Example: Creativity would rise from a Swapna row matrix.

Example: Driving requires one to be in the Jagrat state. Here, a person must be aware of what is in front, back and beside him. If the person were to be in Swapna state, then obviously chaos would result. Sushupti state is also not advisable as in this state, the person is focused inwards and the muscles are in a state of rest. So, in Sushupti state, the person would drive with high level of awareness, but at a very low speed.

Resolution - Situational Awareness

Any stress situation has two elements: the stressor and our coping action, out of which the only the latter is truly in our control. Our ability to cope effectively is limited only by our capability, our ability to assess the situation, decide on what to do, effectiveness in implementing the decision and dealing with the consequence of our action.

Elements of Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness is a stress management product that addresses solutions at two levels; an intervention to manage the immediacy of the situation and a developmental aspect where the lessons (vijnana and jnana) are imbibed, resulting in us being able to either avoid the situation in future or to deal with it more effectively.

Intervention. In many new or difficult situations we often feel overwhelmed, experiencing a kind of psychosomatic hijack characterized by a feeling of being out of control. We need some tool that clears the clouds of confusion and brings a sense of clarity and balance.

Development. This solution is used in the following cases:

Often, we react without fully understanding the situation. This results in a stress residue after the situation has passed. These stresses need to be purged in order that we remain in reality and at peace.

Some situations are long-term and need continuous attention. This means continued focus on incremental improvements to bring the situation under control.

Finally, all experiences result in learning at both, vijnana (transactional) and jnana (value) levels. The faster this assimilation occurs, the better will be the capability of the person to manage a similar experience again.

Any stress management tool we use must cover the following areas related to us:

• Ability to interact with our environment in such a way that we retain our sense of peace and keep the peace with our environment.

• Ability to digest and assimilate inputs from the environment, extract and assimilate the essence of our experience, reference and understand concepts and build a base for better interaction with the environment.

• The opening up of the world has thrown up many opportunities and challenges. The cost of assuaging ambition is often very high in terms of health, relationships and other lost opportunities. The ability to prioritise and balance these requirements is very important.

• As we move to extract more from life without losing our sense of peace, a key requirement is our ability to retain emotional integrity, dual brain operation (left and right/ logical and creative) and high oxygen absorption. The reason is that without such a balance, thinking can become polarized, leading to stress.

• Finally, our ability to process data needs to be enhanced. The ability to handle multiple situations, each with its own demands, is the key to the effective utilization of our time and energy.

Situational Awareness is an exercise in capability building, directing our energies to generating maximum effectiveness for the time that we are alive. This means understanding the objective of what we are setting out to do, putting together a plan that has measurable milestones, eliminating waste in the form of frittered energy, fear, etc., in our operations, communicating effectively, learning continuously and being aware of what we are doing.

This consists of 5 steps which form part of Kriya Yoga of Raja Yoga:

Yama (Outward Focus): Being sensitive to the Dharma of others so that we are at peace.

Niyama (Inward Focus): Align our faculties to Dharma so that we build a foundation of values that improves yama and results in reduced stress experiences.

Asana (Lifestyle Management): Living life in a balanced manner so that we understand all aspects of living to get a well experienced svabhava.

For exercises, we recommend usage of Yogasanas because they are easier on the body, easy to learn & do, do not require expensive accessories/ equipment and yet keep the body fit.

Pranayama (Breathing Techniques): Breathing is critical to our physical, intellectual and emotional stability and reduced stress. We teach various methods of breathing, each designed to optimize absorption of oxygen into the system.

Pratyahara (Mind Control): Concentration is the ability to channalise all our faculties in a single direction (ekagrat) to achieve the objective. Clutter and confusion is avoided when meditation is done regularly. Lower stress results in better decision making capability.

Resolution - Intro

Stress is experiential and very personal. Only the person experiencing it knows the discomfort of stress. Time, place, situation and capability, all could trigger a stress reaction in us. A situation that stresses one need not stress others, even those genetically related. Also, that which stresses us at any point in time, need not stress us at other times.

Example: We all watch movies. Whenever we go with friends or family, each person has a different view on how the movie was, whether he liked it, which his or her favourite character was and why. This is because; the movie impacts each of our svabhava’s differently. This happens in difficult situations also, which is why, the impact of stress on each of us is different, which makes it very personal.

How stress impacts us can be gauged from the impact the stimulus has on the hierarchy of needs as propounded by Abraham Maslow. Safety and security issues generally take priority over social issues.

Example: Assume the following events occur simultaneously; the landlord serves us with an eviction notice, our child has suddenly developed fever, the cooking stove breaks down, our neighbour complains that the dog bit her cat, our favourite dress disappears and finally a wild looking man, obviously on drugs, breaks into the house with a gun and threatens us.

Until the wild looking man is diffused, we will never think of anything else because the man affects our safety and he is completely out of our control. After he leaves, we will try to get the child to the doctor and because the car is required, we will try to fix that. The child is a responsibility, it has no control over its ill-health and potentially affects our feeling of security. Finally, we would try to diffuse the neighbour because it affects our social needs, before leaving for the doctor. Everything else would be tackled later.

When we are confronted with multiple situations, we try to prioritise as mentioned above. Just imagine, if in the above example, the parent was to mix up priorities and start searching for the missing dress. There would be chaos and confusion, if not disaster.

It is the here and now requirement that grabs precedence. Our ability to remain in the present and be able to recognize the priority of reality is key to our ability to manage stress.

The best way to deal with stress is to manage it as the experience unfolds and the stress begins to manifest itself; to take the stimulus, test is against our dharma before responding. Keep an open mind to learning and be sensitive to impact on others.

Once stress is managed in accordance with Dharma - our value system, there is a feeling of peace which enables us to live a better life. Therefore, we need to be able to understand our Dharma and find a way to manage our response to stress without deviating from this value system.

This ability to manage stress as it occurs is called Situational Awareness.

Situational Awareness may be defined as the degree of accuracy by which one’s perception of his current environment mirrors reality

Situational Awareness manifests itself as perceptions. Perceptions are images of reality that get generated by Guna and these differ from reality. This is called Awareness Gap. Therefore, the quality of Situational Awareness is determined by our Guna balance and manifests itself as our svabhava.

Factors that affect Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness drives the ability of our svabhava to meet the needs of any situation; on the speed with which we process information from our environment, face it off against our dharma, determine a reaction, evaluate the response in terms of risks and benefits, and act on it. Svabhava conditioning is therefore the key to heightened SA.

Some factors that affect SA are:

• Will: The drive to affect the outcome in our favour.

• Genetic: Inherent situation handling tools that we are born with.

• Conditioning – Environmental, culture, school background, home, etc., determines our ability to handle various situations in the right manner.

• Classification: By nature, some situations are more difficult to manage than others.

Example: The death of a close relative is more difficult to handle than an argument at a traffic signal. A natural calamity like war is more difficult to handle than temporary discomfort like missing a meal or not eating your favourite dish.

• Health: The current state of Physical, Intellectual and Emotional being determines our reactions in any situation.

• Faith: The ability to start an activity without a clear idea of the possible outcome determines the level of stress experienced.

• Self Esteem: This is a very strong source of stress and is driven by factors such as fear of failure, lack of confidence, lack of domain knowledge, lack of environmental support and previous negative experience.

Energy Centres and Stress

Centres and Stress: The centres pulse with energy. When the centres are normal, there is are no side effects. When they are depleted (we can feel a sort of emptiness in the region) or when they are congested (we feel heaviness in the region), there are psychosomatic side-effects. Organs in the affected region are impacted.

Centres and Motivation: Psychologically, one can correlate the functioning of the centres with the psychological state as propounded by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “Theory of Motivation”. Maslow propounded a hierarchy of needs which motivate or stress us. The psychological states propounded by Maslow correlate very closely with the energy centres.

This correlation comes of use when we try to find solutions to stress because it is known in Yoga and other forms of Oriental healing that rate of energy flow through these centres changes the behaviour of the person.

We use the correlation to find associations between our stressors and the points in our body where they impact us and finally use this understanding to calm the impacted area down using asanas, pranayama and pratyahara.

The Energy Centres

Ancient Oriental texts on this subject from India, China, Korea, and Japan speak of many energy centres, but all agree that there are six major centres in the human body that control all major functions.

Base Centre (Muladhara): The first center aligns itself with coccyx between the anus and the genitals. This Center affects the physiological aspects of the individual- the overall energy levels, feeling of safety, and overall health.

Example: Have you noticed that people in difficult situations squirm in their seats? At an official review, where something has gone wrong and the criticism is very personal, one will feel acutely uncomfortable at the anus and feel an urge to go to the toilet. There will be an urge to shift in the seat. This is the action of rocking the coccyx with the intention of energizing the muladhara chakra.

Sex Centre (Svadhishtana): This centre corresponds to the sacral region around the genital area. This center affects the sexuality and communications skills of the individual. Control of this centre results in strong nerves and emotional stability.

Example: When we are in a heated argument, do we notice that sometimes there is an ache in the lower back when the discussion is over? This occurs because, often, we are trying to convince the other person to accept our point of view and there is great tension in the need to effectively communicate. This strains the lumbar arch and results in the stress.

Stomach Centre (Manipura): This centre is placed around the navel and corresponds to the lumbar area of the spine. This is a center that controls our social skills.

Example: Often, we hear about taking a decision from the gut, the gut feel! How is that possible? After all it is the brain that decides. Or is it? The stomach does have a role, for the Manipura with its acids & bile does signal comfort in a social environment to the person.

Heart Centre (Anahata): Placed at the centre of the chest, this centre responds to the thoracic region on the spine. This is the centre of emotional energy. A clean centre is essential for emotional stability.

Example: Blood pressure is directly related to anger and speech. Generally, doctors advise a person to reduce speaking after a heart attack. Why? Because the heart does get excited and the impact of adrenaline has a direct impact on the heart & lungs.

Throat Centre (Visuddhi): This centre is placed just above the Adam’s apple and corresponds to the cervical region in the spine. This centre is the point where the thyroid, parathyroid and lymphatic system reside. It controls metabolic activity. Since metabolism is the ability of the body to convert food into usable energy and rebuilding of cell tissue, this is a critical area.

Example: When we are afraid, we often feel choked! Why? Because the Visuddhi gets depleted of energy and the chocking action impacts the thyroid & parathyroid. Over time, depletion of this centre can lead to cervical spondylosis.

Forehead Centre (Ajna): This center is placed between the eyebrows in the front of the cranium. This is the centre that controls centers. It energises the pituitary and endocrine glands. This centre is the primary input point for “Fight or flight” stimulus.

Example: Indians apply a dot over this centre called a Tilak. The objective is to screen the centre with neutral agents such as ash, antiseptic such as turmeric or a cooling agent such as sandalwood.