Seeker_of_truth

The only ashram I've visited is Sadhguru's isha yoga center at Coimbatore. Check if it meets your needs: http://isha.sadhguru.org/isha-global-centers/isha-yoga-center/

Thank you all for your replies.

What are your opinions on MBTI ? How do you use it for self improvement (if it could be used) ?

@How to be wise @SFRL Hey I already took the test. I know my personality - INTJ. I've read a lot about MBTI. I just want to know how "you" guys use it for personal development...

@Joseph Maynor Download sadhguru app. You'll get some basic practices. I've tried isha kriya and nadi shuddi in it and I've got decent results with isha kriya. I don't know what kind of result I'll get through nadi shuddi but I'm keeping up the practice... I've just started doing yoga namaskar but since it has some weird dietry condition, I'm not able to do it regularly. Give it a try. They also teach something called upa yoga (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGF2MLdIz8). If you are interested in doing kundalini yoga i think you should sign up for their programs. They teach those things only through their programs. Check their website for more info. Also check this blog : http://isha.sadhguru.org/yoga/yoga_articles_hatha_yoga_asanas/asanas-guide-align-divine-sadhguru/

Have you checked some of Osho's videos ?

Some of Arjuna's relatives were good people and uninvolved in the cause of the war. But they still chose to battle Arjuna just because it was their duty. Now is this a healthy ego ? If it was a healthy ego they, I think they would have joined to battle with arjuna for the betterment of the society. I think it was egolessness which made them to do just their duty and forget about personal preferences. Krishna asked arjuna to forget his personal preferences and asked him to do what was needed from him. Don't you think that might be a teaching to drop his ego ?

Hmm... Thanks for the clarification.

So what does Osho mean when he says witness the ego ? When you watch if the ego disappears then how do you witness the ego ?

So to be aware of the ego means that we should be aware of that identification, right ? So if I'm the child and if I want to be aware of the ego, then I should look for and be aware of the identification that I made that caused those needs for appreciation,love,etc., right or not ?

Okay, I was just giving an example. If you are that child, what would you identify as ego in that situation ? Is the need the ego ?

@Prabhaker What do you mean when you say watch they ego ? If you take this example : "Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is valuable, he feels he has some significance. A center is born." Now what is it that you've to be aware of in this situation ?

Yesterday I saw a discourse of Osho (https://youtu.be/xR_fnaingYA) where he said that the ego must first be allowed to grow. Only when it is ripe, when it is a burden to carry, it will drop on its own and thus there will be no one who is dropping it and thus no ego will be left. So Osho says allow ego to grow to drop it. I've watched a lot of videos of sadhguru where I think he advises to drop it. "Be a little less of what you are", etc. I think the second advise is for those whose egos are ripe and they are already suffering so much because of it. Now I'm confused on what to do... How do I know if my ego is ripe or not ? After I knew about the concept of ego, I could see how my ego was responsible for my sufferings. How me playing my role prevented me from playing another role which I needed to play in some circumstances. Since then I started to mess with it. Whenever I could catch myself suffering the negatives or too much positivity of my ego, I would step back consider the options available and see if I could do something that I normally would be hesitant to do. Hesitant because that's not my normal way of doing things. So I started doing things that I normally wouldn't do. I felt like playing a game and I think it has left me more happy. Sometimes happy just because I did something that I wouldn't have done normally and that felt like an achievement (This makes me think if I'm actually changing my ego instead of dropping it and I think this is the trap that Osho talked about in that discourse). But till now for my entire life I don't think I have ever been depressed. Sometimes I would feel really down but it never lasted long. Or maybe I never let it last long... I would find things to get myself going again when I'm feeling crappy. Does this mean I've never let my ego grow so much that it could cause me a lot of suffering that I couldn't manage ? So does that mean my ego isn't ripe enough to be dropped ? But the thought of growing the ego when I know its the cause of suffering is scary... And the suffering is not only for me but also I would be causing some amount of suffering to everyone around me. And Osho says to grow the ego consciously... How the hell do you do that ???

@Prabhaker The ego drops when it is ripe. Its drops when we become a witness. Okay.... So I've to simply wait and watch and not mess with it till it ripens ?

@Loreena I've read this thread, its from one its replies that i got this question. I think the things that you've quoted don't answer the question of how to grow ego consciously, it just explains the traits of egos.

@Prabhaker Being an osho expert (), I think you can say something on this.?

This is also a useful youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/KriyaYogaOnline/videos

@Vinsanity Sadhguru's isha yoga foundation is a good place to learn yoga. I think their primary focus of teaching yoga is for enlightenment and physical benefits are secondary.They have also have a center at USA apart from their center at Coimbatore, India. Google about it for more info. This is sadhguru's youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/sadhguru/ Watch a few videos to get a better idea about his methodology. They also have a website (I'm not able to give the link as it says the site is temporarily down. So google it). They don't provide a lot of yoga tools in youtube. I think its because they want to impart correct yoga and that they think can only be possible to be provided when you can interact with them and they can with you. But still there are a few tools available in youtube which you can either go through using their website or through their youtube channel (It will be hard for you to search for those videos through their youtube channel as there are a lot of videos there, so I recommend to use their website). Also there is a free basic meditation that they teach online called isha kriya (www.ishafoundation.org/Ishakriya). They also have a blog : isha.sadhguru.org/blog/ Mostly they teach yoga only through their yoga programs. In India they conduct these programs in many cities, I don't know about USA so check it through their website. Go through their website to know more about the different systems in yoga that they teach. Most people attend a introductory program called Inner engineering. There also specific yoga systems they teach for specific needs like for building physical strength and endurance they have angamardana, for just daily exercise type of yoga for physiological benefits they have upa yoga, for spirituality they have surya kriya, etc. Once you complete some basic programs you can attend advanced programs. Some people who want to fully give themselves to this path become full time volunteers at isha (isha is a fully volunteer run organization). There is also an option for part time volunteering.

@wingsofwax I hear sadhguru say a lot of times that its very important to do yoga correctly. Especially those yoga that are said to involve your energy body. Sun salutation is definitely one of them. If you are interested in yoga, you should visit sadhguru's website and his youtube channel. There are a few yogas which are taught in those youtube videos which are safe to do without initiation. You can try those if you are interested. The only people whom I know that teach proper yoga are sadhguru's isha yoga foundation. There are many people who claim to be yoga teachers but for most of them their knowledge is questionable. So be careful.

Leo's videos

@Milos Uzelac If you are aiming at improving flexibility, here are a few exercises that help. I generally do this everytime before my cross-legged meditation session as it serves like a warm up and hence makes me able to sit comfortably easily.

@Afonso I can very much relate to you dude. I'm also the analytical type of guy, always in head, no social life and I also go through this envy thing often. I'm doing my best to reduce the regrets in my life and here is some things that you can try doing. Try taking an MBTI test and find what's your type. If you are one of those rare personality types you can discover that you are not weird. If you think you are weird you can accept the fact that your brain is wired to be so. Some types find it hard to do things other types do easily without effort. If that's the case you may start envying them. What I think you gotta do is know your weakness and gradually work on it. But you also have your strengths which those people envy of you. Also your ego is the cause for your envy. I found that as I kept working on it breaking the boundaries that the ego set, I have less regrets. Sometimes when these negative emotions like jealousy and envy hit me hard, I open a text document and start typing whatever I feel like. Just yesterday I was hit by them and I started typing and soon it turned into an inquiry. I was wondering why am I feeling uncomfortable at times living the lifestyle that I live. This made me get into thinking mode (my default mode) and after I got some answers and checked if I still had those emotions, they were not. Sometimes just a good night sleep can make me forget all those shit and get going happily with my life. Also there is this meditation that I currently do called Isha Kriya (http://www.ishafoundation.org/Ishakriya). I thought this was a normal meditation but this is a lot more different that a normal meditation. I've been doing it for 2 months and this is what I've found about this meditation. I may be wrong given that its just 2 months but these are the benefits that I can notice right now. The first is that I don't think this meditation is for enlightenment experiences or to reduce your ego, etc. I think this is a meditation to make you feel happy and reset your energies. If you think you need some peace of mind then give this a try. Its a very simple meditation and doesn't require a lot of effort to do. The only effort is to set the habit of doing it 2x every day. Also you don't get the benefits immediately. You need to wait for at least a month. If you are planning to do the isha kriya then I also recommend you do a pranayama called nadi shuddi(http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/video/yoga-for-peace-nadi-shuddhi/) if you have the time. It just takes 4 minutes.

About 2 years ago I went through a similar problem. I practiced focus on breathing meditation but what I did is that I controlled my breath instead of just being aware and that caused some pain in the chest whenever I inhaled for some days. I didn't have any changed breathing pattern though. Then I totally stopped doing meditation for 1/2 an year. So what I think can be done is that you completely forget the breath until you think you can go back to it. Meanwhile I think you can try some other techniques. I've read that with concentration, your breathing pattern changes to become deep and slow. So I think to correct your irregular breath you can try some concentration exercises. Needless to say don't have breath itself as the concentration target as you have problems with controlling it instead of just watching. Btw, what yoga exercise do you think caused it ?

One thing is that as you keep sitting regularly, your flexibility will improve. I've read that the numbness when we sit in a cross legged posture is not due to blockage of blood flow but rather some nerves getting compressed and thus not being able to send signals to/from the lower part of the leg and thus we don't feel anything there. What I've noticed is that as my flexibility improved with my sitting posture and if I place my legs in a certain way, there have been times when my legs don't fall asleep. But I've never experienced what you have said that, it was woken up instantly. For me these days it takes about 10s to fully be able to feel them, then for about 60s or more I have to wait for the pins and needles sensation to go, then I can start walking. (Sorry thought I could maybe answer something, but that's all that I know).