Concentration:

The Key to Success in Life's Endeavours

What is Yoga? Yoga is Hinduim's personal development program. Literally yoga means to unite, or to become one. In Yoga's context, this union refers to the yogi achieving oneness or uniting his or her consciousness with God. This in fact is the goal of Hindu practice, that is God Realization and the achievement of enlightenment.

According to Hindu philosophy, the soul reincarnates on earth many times for it to gain spiritual evolution, or spiritual growth with each life. The ultimate goal of the soul on Earth is to complete its spiritual evolution and gain liberation from the process of reincarnation. This liberation from rebirth is known as moksha. After moksha our soul lives in the Heavens until we unite with God in Vishvagrasa (total union with God).

Coming back to Yoga, Yoga practices are the practical application of Hinduism that lead to the devotee's achievement of the goals of Hinduism which are God Realization (Samadhi) and Liberation from the cycle of reincarnation (Moksha). In the pursuit of these goals developing concentration is cardinal.

When Yoga is mentioned, most people will generally think of meditation and yoga exercises. Actually, Yoga contains all the practices of Hinduism, including worship, virtous living and scriptural study. Yoga is in fact the science behind Hinduism, while Hindu living is the art of practicing Yoga.

The entirety of the practices of yoga is contained in the system codified by Sage Patanjali in the Patanjali Yoga Sutras more than 2,000 years ago called Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga means eight limbs or eight parts. The eight parts of Ashtanga Yoga are 1. Yama; 2. Niyama; 3. Asana; 4.Pranayama; 5.Pratyahara; 6. Dharana; 7. Dhyana; 8. Samadhi.

In this seminar, we are going to focus on 3 parts of Ashtanga Yoga that are most pertinent to developing concentration. They are Asana, Pranayama and Pratyahara.

Asanas are yoga exercises contained in Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is an exercise system that harmonizes the physical body with the spiritual energies within it. When done properly Hatha Yoga is able to remove stress, lethargy and depression from the mind. It is also a form of physical exercise for the body to keep it fit and healthy. When done in sync with breathing techniques and colour visualization related to a particular asana, Hatha Yoga can bring about amazing results in both our body and mind, including enhancement of concentration.

Pranayamas are breathing techniques that effect the state of our mind. It is mainly done to focus the mind into deep states of concentration. There are hundreds of Pranayama techniques that create all sorts of effects from increasing body heat to stimulating the kundalini force. In, and of itself, Pranayama is a very potent practice. Its potentness increases when done after preparing the mind for concentration by doing Hatha Yoga or doing pranayama after prayers.

Pratyaharas are techniques that focus the subconscious mind into a singular purpose. There are many varied techniques in pratyahara to achieve concentration of the subconscious (which is a much more powerful state compared to the concentration of the conscious mind). These techniques include japa yoga, colour meditation and affirmations. Pratyahara techniques aim to clear the mind from cumbersome or negative tendencies that obstruct the ability to concentrate the subconscious. It also works on the causal potential of our life, through auto suggestive techniques such as affirmations to develop a positive future for ourselves.

In this particular seminar on developing concentration, we are going to learn six Hatha Yoga asanas: Pavanasana, Siddhasana, Janu Sirshasana, Paschimotanasana, Sarvangasana and Sarvaasana; two pranayama techniques: yogasana pranayama and nadi suddhi; and one pratyahara technique: affirmations.

Before we learn these techniques we need to understand what concentration is and how it effects our life. We will skim through the basics of Yoga psychology to help us with this understanding.

Yoga is a holistic science. Thus the yogic perspective of the mind is divided into the physical and spiritual components. The physical component of the mind consists of the conscious and part of the subconscious mind; while the spiritual component consists of a deeper part of the subconscious mind and the superconscious mind.

The conscious mind constitutes the entire physical body, not just the brain. The brain and the rest of our body are the receptors of our collective mind to the physical world. The conscious mind is governed formost by the five senses of sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste. According to Patanjali's teachings the conscious mind is the smallest part of our mind, making up only 10 percent of our entire mind.

The subconscious mind is the store house of our memories and personality. All impulses that pass through the conscious mind gets stored in the subconscious mind as memory. Apart from the memory from the conscious happenings, the subconscious also stores our response or reactions to incidents that occur in our life and conclusions we develop from our experiences. This is the external part of our subconscious mind. There is a deeper or spiritual part to our subconscious. This is the place where our tendencies are stored. Tendencies meaning our personality that determines how we react to life's situations. If we could liken our mind to a computer, then the system and programs that run this computer is what is within this part of the subconscious mind. (The keyboard, mouse, monitor and cpu are the conscious mind). This deeper part of the subconscious mind is also known as the sub of the subconscious mind. This mind is developed as a result of life's experiences both spiritual and non-spiritual. This part of mind is more difficult to access compared to the conscious and external part of our subconscious mind. The yoga preparations in this seminar is intended to prepare us to access this deeper part of our subconscious so we can work on the program of our personality. This process is known as subconscious concentration. In its entirety the subconscious mind is much bigger than the conscious mind, constituting about 40% of our mind.

The deepest part of our mind, which is ultimately our truest identity is the superconscious mind. It holds within it our connection to God and the most spiritual part of our mind. The superconscious mind has many names such as the mind of our soul, Sat-Chit-Ananda and the mind of light are some of them. In the analogy of the computer, the superconscious mind is the electricity that turns the computer on. Within the superconscious mind is the ultimate form of intelligence that is wisdom. Wisdom is defined as the ability to to use knowledge at the right time. The superconscious mind is our link to Gods's presence within us. It is in here that the goals of God Realization and Enlightenment are discovered. This is the biggest part of our mind and it consists of 50% of the entire mind.

The dictionary definition of concentration is "the action or power of focusing one's attention or mental effort." From this definition, we learn that concentration is something we do to keep our or awareness on one subject in pursuit of a goal or an achievement. It is obvious how concentration is a key to success. Basically if we keep our mind focused on one subject, keeping at bay distractions and not giving up, we will naturally and eventually meet our goals.

Meeting our goals is how we identify success. The more personal, social, academic and professional goals that we achieve the more successful we are. According to yoga philosophy concentration is the key to this success. The better we are at keeping our mind focused on achieving the goal, the easier it is to reach it. The reason for this is that concentration enables us to unlock latent spiritual powers within our mind - and these powers originate from our soul - which enhances our memory and thinking with ingenuity, creativity and confidence. Indeed with concentration behind us no challenge is to big nor is impossible a word in our vocabulary.

We have all developed concentration to some extent - there are degrees to which we can develop concentration (more on this later). We begin as early as learning how to walk when we are toddlers. It takes a lot of concentration to focus the coordination of our muscles to begin to walk. Though much of this concentration occurs at an unconscious level. It is when we begin to talk and study language by organizing thoughts that we start to develop conscious concentration of our mind. Conscious concentration of our mind means using our will power or intention to focus our mind to achieve or learn something. This means that if someone is able to communicate clearly to others without causing confusion, it is an indication of the mastery of concentration by that person. In general people with good communication skills are most likely successful in one way or another. Thus one of the keys to developing conscious concentration is the study and proficiency in the use of language - this of course applies to any language.

Another way one can develope conscious concentration is to keep the mind on one subject for a set duration of time without allowing any distraction to break the continuity of the concentration. A simple practice to develope conscious concentration goes as follows. Take a small object that can be made a subject for concentration. For instance you can use a flower. It is preferable to start with an object that naturally draws your interest, but if that is not easy to find, just use any random object. Sit in a quiet place and put the object in front of you and gaze at it. Set at time limit for yourself. Good to start with between 5 and 10 minutes initially. It is best to set an alarm, so you don't need to be distracted by keeping the time. Then for the duration of the time limit, stay focused on the subject. You may close your eyes and occasionally open just to gaze at the subject. What is most important is what happens in your mind during this period. During this time the mind is only permitted four activities, they are:

At no time should the mind be allowed to be distracted from the suject of concentration. If you find that you have inadvertantly become distracted, then stop immediately and take note of the time. Lets say that on your first attempt you got distracted after 3 minutes. Then the next attempt you should set your goal to 4 minutes. It is good to do this practice at least once a day, twice is optimum. Gradually move your time period up by a minute each time you are successful in maintaining your conscious concentration. Your ultimate goal should be 15 minutes of unbroken concentration. When you reach this goal or even longer, you will have gained the ability of conscious concentration on command. Some rules to observe on when to do this practice are:

• Do not attempt this practice if you are sleepy or if you feel exhausted.

• Do not attempt right after eating a heavy meal or after having beverage that contain caffine or alcohol. Allow at least an hour after a heavy meal, one half hour after a light meals or after having caffinated beverages, at least half a day after having alcohol.

• Avoid this practice if you have a headache or fever. Forcibly focusing the mind for concious concentration can in some cases aggravate headaches or migraines. It is alright to do this practice after taking pain or fever relief medicine.

• If you are emotionally disturbed, settle the matter first and then do this concentration exercise.

So far I have described and discussed conscious concentration. However, this is not the central subject of this seminar. In fact the practice that was detailed earlier (above) is a common concentration developing exercise that can be found in many books on concentration. Instead what I want to discuss in this seminar is subconscious concentration.

According to Yoga teachings, there are three levels of concentration that are possible. They are (listed from the shallowest to the deepest level):

Pratyahara, or Subconscious Concentration is the main subject of this seminar. Dharana will be the subject of another seminar.

Subconscious Concentration is a deeper level of concentration compared to conscious concentration. As the word subconscious suggests, it is the foundation of the conscious mind. The subconscious mind governs our memory, intellectual abilities and personality. As in the analogy given earlier, where we liken the mind to a computer, the subconscious mind holds the system that runs this computer and organizes memory in the hard drive. Thus our subconscious mind inteprets what we see, feel, touch, smell and hear and determines how we react to these stimulus.

While the conscious mind is a go-between for the outside world to our subconscious, the subconscious has the potential to be a go-between for the outside world to our powerful soul. The reason I use the word 'has the potential' is because, in order for the subconscious to be this go between, it has to be programmed in such a way. The programming of the subconscious is what subconscious concentration is about. Thus you can see this process involves more than just keeping your awareness focused on one object. Before we get into the process of subconscious concentration it is important to understand how this level of concentration can effect us.

The subconscious mind is a powerful area of the mind that not only determines how we react to situations around us, but it can also 'create' situations in our life. Here are some examples to explain this statement:

• Some people are magnets for success. Just about any endeavour they get into is successful. This doesn't necessarily mean that the success comes easy to them, they do work for it, but when you meet such people they are always beaming with confidence and no matter how difficult the challenge, success seems effortless. This is explained as a function of their subconscious mind. He or she has the program for success in the subconscious.

• Some people seem more lucky than others. They always seem to be winning lucky draws, prizes and simply have the knack of being in the right place at the right time. Again, a subconscious trait causes this.

• While the above two are positive potentials that arise from the subconscious, there is also a dark side to the subconscious. Phobias are one of them. Some people are mysteriously afraid of certain situations. They may or may not know the reason for it, but their reactions to the situation is so extreme that it is seems unreasonable to someone who does not have the phobia. These extreme reactions because of phobias are negative functions of the subconscious.

• Just as a person can be a magnet for success because of the subconscious, the opposite subconscious trait canc cause a person to be a magnet for failure.

These are but a few examples of the workings of the subconscious. According to Hindu philosophy, the subconscious mind holds the seeds of sprouting karma. This means that some of the traits that we carry in the subconscious are inherited from karmas of our past life, therefore they come naturally to us as a result of the manifestation of the karma.

As you can see the subconscious is a very powerful area of our mind. You may be thinking, "I already have some negative and positive traits in my subconscious. Does it mean that I have to live with the negative ones for the rest of my life?" I can tell you confidently from my personal experience that the answer to this question is a clear NO. The subconscious mind is a part of you, it is not something out of your reach. In fact you have the power of mastery over the subconscious. This is a God given power that we all have. We can change the contents of our subconscious at will, keeping the traits we want and throwing away the traits that we don't want. The question is, how?

The area of the subconscious mind where our latent traits lie is not as easy to access and develop compared to the conscious mind. This is where the technique of subconscious concentration comes in. It is a more involved process compared to what we learned earlier (in the conscious concentration technique). The goal of subconscious concentration is to postively reprogram or to insert a new positive program in the system of the subconscious so it will automatically effect changes in ourselves and also in the situations around us.

The subconscious mind holds our traits or personality as vibrations. These vibrations are spiritual (not electro-magnetic) potentials, be it negative or positive. These vibrations then act to attract situations around it that complements it. If the vibrations in our subconscious are overwhelmingly positive then we attract situations around us that are positive, including people of a like-mind. The same happens vice-versa, where negative attracts negative. The process of subconscious concentration involves inserting a preconceived vibrations into the subconscious mind. Once this vibration is sufficiently impressed in the subconscious mind, it then works automatically to create the types of situation you desire in your life. Thus you can imagine the great potential of subconscious concentration.

Note: From this point on, the area of the subconscious described above will be referred to as the sub of the subconscious.

Hatha Yoga are yoga exercises. For the purpose of subconscious concentration we will learn five Hatha Yoga asanas (poses). They are Pavanasana, Siddhasana, Janu Sirshasana, Paschimotanasana Sarvangasana, and Sarvasana. Hatha Yoga is an essential element in this subconscious concentration technique because it calms the conscious mind and clears it quite effectively of emtional disturbances. Without clarity in the conscious mind one cannot access the sub of the subconscious.

Part of doing Hatha Yoga properly is to breathe diaphragmatically. This is called yogasana pranayama and is part of this step of subconscious concentration. While doing these Hatha Yoga exercises strive to breathe diaphragmatically. Try your best, if it is difficult to do initially, you fall back to your normal breathing. Eventually you will get the hang of it. For Step One of Subconscious Concentration doing the yoga asanas is more essential than the breathing style. However, no matter how you breathe, the breath should be inhaled and exhaled deeply and slowly at a relaxed pace.

Below are the Hatha Yoga Poses to do in sequence to prepare ones body and mind for subconscious concentration.

1.3.2 Step Two: Pranayama

Pranayama is breath control. Pranayamas involve different methods of breathing. According to Yoga philosophy, the patterns of our thoughts and emotions are intricately linked to the pattern of breathing. If you are aware of it, you will find that your breathing pattern changes as you go through different emotions. For instance when someone someone is angry, their breathing will follow a pattern of paused breath and spurts of shallow breath. When someone is peaceful, their breathing pattern is regular, slow and deep. This is the reason for the conventional advise that, when one is angry, he or she should take a moment and take some deep breaths. A minute or so of slow deep breaths and the anger will begin to subside.

The art of Pranayama was revealed to Hindu Rishis by God as part of Yoga teachings. As such there are various types of pranayamas for many reasons - from changing moods to improving health to stimulating the primordial Kundalini force within. Many of the pranayamas are done in conjunctions with visualizations and syllabic mantra chants.

For the purpose of subconscious concentration, pratyahara, too, there are many kinds of pranayama for different purposes. The best pranayama that meets our needs in this particular practice is called Nadi Sudhi.

After performing Hatha Yoga, the mind should be naturally calm and collected. It should be easy to focus the conscious mind. This is the optimum time to begin concentrating the subconscious. The best way to access the deeper, more spiritual areas of the sub of the subconscious, which lies beyond the area that stores memories is through pranayama. For our purpose of reprogramming the sub of the subconscious the best pranayama is Nadi Suddhi.

Nadi Suddhi is a common pranayama technique used in yoga practices because of its broad scope of application. Nadi pronounced Naadi, in Indic languages means nerve channels. It refers to both the spiritual and physical nerve channels of our body that carry electro-magnetic and spiritual currents. Sudhi, is the verb for the word Suddha which means purity. So Nadi Sudhi means nerve channel purifier.

The effect of nadi suddhi is to focus the mind to a soft point (as opposed to a sharp or intense point), energize the mind with prana shakti, harmonize the mind and body to a calm and quiet state by balancing the our physical and spiritual nadis to an equilibrium.

In english nadi suddhi pranayama is generally known as alternate breathing. What alternates is the inhalation and exhalation of the breath that switches from right to left nostril and vice-versa.

For subconscious concentration purposes do nine cycles of nadi suddhi. You will be able to feel the effects of nadi suddhi after the practice. You will feel very calm, collected and concentrated. If you are sensitive to it, you can feel the sushumna nadi, which is located within your spine's core, get stimulated and energy in the form of prana (life energy) rush into the brain cavity.

Pranayama is important for subconscious concentration because it is the key for accessing the deeper recesses of the subconscious mind which is beyond memory and where lies our personality traits. This area is also called the sub of the subconscious mind. When the conscious mind is quiet and the surface level of the subconscious is quiet (not filled with distracting thoughts and emotions) our awareness will naturally be in the sub of the subconscious mind.

Now that you are in the sub of the subconscious mind with a cache of prana shakti generated from the pranayama, your next step is to use this energy to 'burn' an impression in the sub of the subconscious of what you want to manifest in your life. This takes us to STEP THREE.

Additional Note on Nadi Suddhi: If either or both of your nostrils are blocked you will not be able to do nadi suddhi. In this situation take some remedial measures such as sinus clearing medicines so the sinuses are clear before doing nadi suddhi. Do not do nadi suddhi with blocked nostrils by forcing the breath in or out. It will not bring about the desired effect from this practice. The breathing pattern for nadi suddhi should always be deep, relaxed, unimpeded and comfortable. If you are not able to clear the nostrils immediately, do this practice at a time when your nostrils are clear. If it is perpetually blocked and you have no other options, skip this step and go to STEP THREE, though this should be the very last resort.

Affirmations are essentially sayings that we repeat to ourselves over and over to generate desired result such as hope, inspiration, courage or material needs. I am sure you have heard people say that if you believe something strong enough it will happen or if you constantly think about something it is likely to happen. Such saying refer to the power of affirmation.

Affirmations is actually the main way we shape our future, and most of us use this power within our mind unconsciously. For instance when we have an unwavering dream about our future, especially our ambitons, and the ambition gets fulfilled. This is a function of affirmation. Basically we constantly impress the conscious and subconscious with the dream to the point that the dream becomes a deep seated impression in the sub of the subconscious. Once firmly rooted in the sub of the subconscious it will, by order of nature get fulfilled unless a conflicting impression is impressed in the sub of the subconscious. In the practice of subconscious concentration, we are using this same natural process for shaping our future. However, with the understanding of how the mind works in Yoga, this technique of subconscious concentration accelerates the natural process, from start to manifestation by many folds.

We also use affirmations to shape our future through our prayers and by repeating mantras. Chanting mantras in the practice of japa yoga is a classic example of affirmations are traditionally used. It is also one of the reasons that in Hinduism there are many forms of God, each depicting a different purpose. For instance if we need wealth we pray to Goddess Lakshmi or Lord Venkateshwara; if our goal is education, it is Goddess Saraswathi or Lord Dakshinamurthi; if it is courage it is Goddess Durga or Lord Rudra. The images of the Gods or Goddesses are naturally programmed in our minds in our culture to have meanings such as wealth, health, education, courage and so forth. When these images are held in our mind in a prayerful mood with constant repitition of the associated mantra, we have all the ingredients necessary for subconscious concentration to create an impression in our sub of the subconscious to manifest our desired results in the future.

In this seminar we are not going to discuss traditional mantras. Instead we are going to understand how to create our personal affirmations, our personal mantras if you like, to manifest pinpoint situations in our life, by understanding and taking advantage of the natural process of impressing the sub of the subconscious. As mentioned earlier, when we do japa yoga we have all the ingredients for subconscious concentration. Let us break down these ingredients contained in the practice of japa yoga as follows:

The prayerful mood concentrates the conscious mind by calming emomtions and directing our thinking by focusing our thoughts on God. In this technique of subconscious concentration we achieve this by doing Hatha Yoga.

In Japa Yoga, while we chant a particular mantra we hold our concentration by visualizing an image or images of God. Visualizing is a key element in successful subconscious concentration. In our practice of affirmation, we will visualize a circumstance or an event instead of an image of God.

Chanting the mantra repeatedly has two important purposes. First is that the mantra sounds in sanskirt adds prana shakti into the mind. Second, its repeated chanting evokes the emotion of confidence or success, that whatever we want to accomplish will indeed happen. When doing our affirmation practice, since we are not using sanskrit intonations, we do pranayama to fill our mind with prana shakti. The second part of inspiring positive emotions is the function of the language in which our affirmation is composed.

You may be wondering, why go to the extra effort of creating our own affirmations, when we can use mantras; and you may also be wondering what extra benefits are there in doing affirmations instead of japa yoga. Lets understand the differences between the two practices:

•The most obvious difference will be that mantras are general, whereas affirmations are very specific. For instance, when we chant the gayatri mantra for learning, the impression that goes in the mind is to become learned and wise in general. Whereas with affirmations, we can concentrate the subconscious on specifics. For instance if a law student's goal is to obtain his or her degree with distinction, he or she will then create an affirmation with these goals incorporated into it. An example of such an affirmations: I can and I will obtain my law degree with first class honors this year. This same difference applies to other goals of life, such as health, happiness, wealth, social and spiritual life. One can say, mantras are best used for long term general goals, whereas affirmations fulfill our short term goals.

•The other important difference is language. Subconscious concentration and 'programming' works best when we understand what we are saying. In fact, in affirmations, the choice of word is very important. First of all it has to be in the language one is most familiar with, basically this is the language we use when we think. Secondly the choice of words have to be words that evoke emotions in us. Because of this, if two people are creating affirmations for the same purpose, they will most likely be different. In fact the affirmations created by one person will probably not have any or much effect for another person, simply because the choice of words does not stimulate anything in the other person. Sanskrit mantras on the other hand, are largely not understood by most of us. The reason they still work for us is because the language has incorporated into it mystical sounds that can stimulate the necessary emotions in most people. This is why sanskirt and latin which are both mystical languages are undying, despite not being used in conversation anymore. Again as in the previous point, sanskrit mantra lends itself best for long term general goals, where as affirmations in the language of our choice is best for short term goals. However if you have a good command of sanskrit, or better still if it is your mother tongue, then your affirmations can be done just as well in sanskrit. People will then be more likely to accept the affirmation as a 'mantra' because of the language.

Once you have created your affirmation, which is the crux of the practice of subconscious concentration, the next step is to use it properly. You need to know how many times to repeat the affirmation, what you should do while saying the affirmation, how many sessions a day to do and for how many days.

These three parts of an affirmation are crucial to implanting impressions in the sub of the subconscious mind. The sub of the subconscious only registers impressions if they are associated with intention (which is the role of the spoken affirmation), a scene or an event (the role of the visualizations) and accompanying emotions (the role of the stimulated emotions). Without any one of these, the impression will not register in the sub of the subconscious strong enough to take root for future manifestation. However, with these three elements present, accompanied with the accumulated prana gathered from the pranayama, a strong impression can easily be planted into the sub of the subconscious mind.

It is very much like planting a seed. To grow a tree, you need to plant a seed give it fertilizer and water. In this analogy, the seed is the affirmation, the visualization is the water and the emotions are the fertilizer. The prana shakti that is accumulated in the mind from the pranayama and hatha yoga exercises are like the sunlight and air that the seed needs to grow to a strong and healthy tree.

So remember when saying the affirmation: Say It, See It and Feel It.

The number of times you repeat an affirmation is not as important as how it is spoken, as explained above. Generally you can take your time with each repetition. You can say the affirmation, see it and feel it in three separate steps like this:

It may take as much as 30 seconds or longer to go through one cycle of this process. My guru usually recommended repeating the affirmation 9 times each session. If your affirmation has long sentences and not so easy to memorize, you may read it as you are doing your affirmation sessions until you have it well memorized. However, after reading, close your eyes and do the visualizing and emotional stimulation. Then when you are ready open your eyes and read the affirmation for the next repetition.

Again remember that the number of times you repeat the affirmations is not crucial. Even if you only have time to do three repetitions, that is fine, so long as all the steps are done conscientiously. It is no point repeating the affirmation 30 times without bothering to really visualize or feel the emotions. This only amounts to a waste of time.

Once a day is sufficient. You may do more if you like, but if you do all the three steps of Hatha Yoga Asanas, Pranayama and Pratyahara the frequency of once a day is all you need. One entire session of subconscious concentration usually lasts between 20 minutes to 30 minutes. If you have the time, you may do it for a maximum of three times a day. Do not do more, thinking the more you do the faster you reach your goal - NOT TRUE.

Be careful not to get obsessed with this practice. Time is needed for the seed in the sub of the subconscious mind to sprout and grow. If we go back to the analogy of planting a seed properly so it grows to a healthy tree, realize that if you pour too much water and put too much fertilizer for the seed you will kill it. Similarly with the impression you are planting in the sub of the subconscious mind. You have to plant it, perform your responsibilities at the right time and let nature take its course.

The time of day for performing the affirmation session is also not so crucial, though it is good to have a routine time, so it gets done. However if you are not able to manage to stick to the time, keep the goal of doing the affirmation at least once a day a firm one. You can do the affirmation session first thing after you wake up, as part of your morning routine. You must be alert when doing the affirmation, not drowsy or sleepy, so freshen up first. You don't need to have a bath first or do the affirmation in a particular place such as the shrine room. You can do the routine anywhere you are comfortable.

It is also important to perform the affirmation session when you are not distracted by hunger or thirst. However, do not do it right after eating or drinking beverages. Do the affirmation at least one hour after a heavy meal or 30 minutes after a light meal or drinking a beverage. You may however, do this practice immediately after drinking water, especially if you doing your affirmation session in the morning before breakfast.

It is pointless to do a session of subconscious concentration after consuming alcohol or other strong stimulants. If you have had caffieinated drinks do the session at least 30 minutes after. It is alright to do this practice after taking pain relief medicines, except if they make you drowsy or sleepy.

My guru advises that an affirmation practice should be done everyday for nine days to create a strong impression in the sub of the subconscious mind. This means, even if you are looking too achieve your goal within six months of starting the affirmation, you don't need to do the affirmation everyday for six months. Nine days is sufficient. After that you can work on a different affirmation. Occasionally if you feel like you need to do the affirmation again, a three day booster can be done. You just have to feel it out after the nine days. Your own inner wisdom will be your guide on this.

It is not recommended to work on more than one affirmation per session. It will in fact be counter productive as the impressions in the sub of the subconscious can get mixed up and end up with a confused or aimless end result. The rule on this is very firm, work on one for nine days and then move on to the next one. Prioritize your needs and work it into your schedule appropriately.

One of the challenges that a beginner learning about subcoonscious concentration or affirmations usually faces is that it seems too easy. That is, how can simply repeating a statement over and over again, effect change in our life and even move forces of the world. To answer this doubt one must explore how affirmations really work.

The first misconception that we must quell is that our minds are mere thinking machines that can only passively process thought. That thoughts are imaginations of our mind, which in and of themself are inanimate or physically non existent. This is a big misconception especially from the Yogic point of view, because, according to Yoga all elements of Creation, physical and spiritual are part of the mind and reality. My guru taught me that the whole universe is contained within me. He explained that perception is the real reality. Without perception we cannot experience the world outside or inside us. And it is the power of perception that shapes reality. How this is done is through thoughts. For it is through thoughts that we devise plans and learn to manipulate the world around us. If not for thoughts as the vehicle for intelligence there can be no invention by human's. It is through the power of perception and thoughts that we have all these modern conveniences and live a life on earth not as simple animals, but as super intelligent beings apart from animals. Thus thoughts have the power to create and even shape the world around us.

It is probably easy to grasp, how thoughts have power to shape the world around us, but what I am suggesting to do through affirmations is actually effecting change through the 'unconscious' realms of the mind. A part of our mind that we are rarely aware off. How can this be even more powerful than thoughts and perception, as yoga philosophy suggests? Well it is the realm of the 'unconscious' within us that drives the very way we think. As explained earlier a successful person, has the program of being successful within his or her sub of the subconscious. How does this effect this person? Well, for one thing, because of this program, they have a natural and powerful drive for success. They are not stopped or depressed by challenges. Failure is not in their vocabulary. They are driven by a gut feeling that comes from deep within them that keeps the light of success and confidence shinning. This is their real power, and this power goes even beyond their physical and mental abilities and attracts successful situations to them. We normally know this as luck. But it actually has nothing to do with luck, but instead the forces of the universe obeying this program of success within the person.

Where does the this 'unconcious' part of our mind get its power? The answer according to Yoga teachings is from our indestructible soul, our atma. Where does the atma get its power? From God Himself, who resides in deep in the core of our soul. In other words the affirmations that we place deep in our mind gets its power to manifest the situations in our life from God Himself. It is in a sense a type of prayer to God, albeit indirect. You see everything ultimately leads to God.

Thus we conclude this Yogic Personal Development Seminar with this challenge. Make the difference you want in your life. Realize your dreams through subconscious concentration. This ability is within all of us. It is up to us to use all our God given tools within us to their fullest potential.