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Background articles
Background articlesAbout Dru YogaThe Dru Bhagavad Gita arises from the training Mansukh Patel, John Jones, Savitri MacCuish and Chris Barrington received in Dru Yoga, which they received from Mansukh's parents who had participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha campaigns in India. Mansukh and family emigrated to the UK in the 1960’s, and Mansukh’s parents went on to give guidance in the Dru tradition to Mansukh when he was studying at Bangor University, North Wales, UK, as well as a small group of his colleagues there: Annie Jones, Chris Barrington, John Jones and Rita Goswami. In the early 1980’s, Mansukh and colleagues began to teach Dru Yoga for the first time in the West. When you discuss Dru yoga with Mansukh, Annie, Chris, John or Rita, they will invite you to begin your experience of Dru Yoga with the fundamental pattern of any Dru Yoga class: I Activation Activation Energy Block Release Mansukh, as well as Chris Barrington, head of the International School of Dru Yoga, describe how EBRs use movements, breath, hand gestures and visualizations to release the blockages of energy which lead to 'dis-ease', stress and painful emotions. Mansukh and Chris point out that EBRs are accessible to anybody, and easy to perform. As in all Dru Yoga practice, success lies in awareness of your movement, rather than your physical accomplishments. Dru Postures and Sequences Annie Jones goes on to describe how once you have released blockages with an EBR (Energy Block Release sequence), your energy is free and available for you to focus and direct. Dru Yoga sequences and postures aim to help you direct your emotional, mental and physical energy so that you can handle just about any situation in life. Mudras Mostly, mudras are hand gestures that create subtle changes within the body that affect our mental, emotional and physical states. Anyone who has given a 'thumbs up' or made the 'peace sign' with two fingers in a V knows the power of gestures. You might have met some less complimentary mudras in a traffic jam! Mansukh describes how mudras work by using different finger positions or attitudes of the body to redirect your energy in a way that cultivates specific thought patterns or qualities of mind. There are mudras to create courage, compassion, wisdom, strength of mind, joy... the list is almost endless! In Dru Yoga, mudras help you step out of the world of action into a world of pure being. Mansukh’s parents were keen to emphasise that most of yoga's many facets require action - movements, breath control, even visualisations require mental action. However, we are human ‘beings’, not human 'doings'. Once you assume a mudra, all movement ceases. You gain respite from the world of action and an opportunity to reconnect with the original, exhilarating state of pure being we all have within. Mansukh has included a number of powerful yet easy-to-use pranayama exercises in The Peace Formula. Science shows that if your breathing is shallow or irregular you are more likely to suffer from stress, disease or emotional reactiveness. Alternatively, if you breathe deeply, slowly and regularly, you are more likely to be full of vitality, centred, wise and fun to be with. Pranayama is the ancient yogic science that teaches you how to control the life-force within your body, through controlling the breath via various breathing exercises. According to Annie Jones, the yoga tradition links each part of the breathing cycle with important parts of the psyche and emotional responses. For instance, if you breathe primarily with your diaphragm, you are more likely to have difficulty with anger. Or if you breathe primarily with your chest or upper lung region, you could be prone to low energy or even depression. Yet if you breathe naturally in a complete breathing cycle, emotional stability, vitality and clear thinking can be yours. According to Annie Jones, it is an easy choice to make! Dru Yoga's unique Pranayama energy block release movements help you expand and free the breathing process, while training you to master each part of your breathing. From there, the practice of pranayama leads a student to an understanding and control of the subtle energies of the various layers of our body (physical, subtle, emotional, intellectual and causal). Eventually, when the more advanced techniques have been mastered, it is possible to control your internal energies - your thoughts, emotions, physical well-being and so on - by thought alone. Meditation Mansukh Patel guides the reader into a number of Dru Meditation techniques in The Peace Formula, although these are only a small subset of many. The culmination of a Dru Yoga class, Dru Meditation takes you quickly into a richly satisfying state of contentment and fullness in which you become aware of the immensity of the healing silence deep within your heart. Chris Barrington has pioneered the first Dru Meditation Teacher Training courses, and describes how the success of Dru Meditation lies in its ability to give you the right tools to bring you contentment - no matter what your state of mind. Each time you sit down to meditate you are likely be in a different frame of mind. So, if you are tired, Dru Meditation gives you techniques that energise your mind and body. If you are agitated, then you would choose a different technique designed to help you calm down. If you are stressed or scattered, still more techniques would help you relax and ground yourself. Regardless of how you feel, Dru Meditation gives you a way to
get into that deep, relaxing and rejuvenating stillness that lies
at the heart of meditation. For more information, consider:
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