Modern yogis have crossed the snow borders of Himalayas and now feel quite comfortable in big cities. They are among top managers, CEO’s of financial structures and public figures, since first of all yoga is a knowledge. Knowledge of how to control yourself, how to achieve your goals, how to maintain your energy at a high level, and therefore your life. For this knowledge, we went to the Sanjeev Krishna Yoga Center on Al Wasl Road in Dubai.
What is yoga? Many people mistakenly think that yoga is a stretching exercise. However, yoga is much more subtle, complex and surprising thing than asanas. Yoga can change your life to the same extent that a 6-cylinder engine, put in place of the former 4-cylinder, can change the power of the car. Or as if you put a processor in your computer that is 2-4 times more powerful than the previous one. The shell would remain the same, but the computational and distinctive abilities, strategy, performance and speed of your computer would be much better.
But yoga needs to be carefully and patiently studied. First of all, yoga (without going into different philosophical definitions) is a system of psychophysical practices aimed to archive balance of your body and mind. Yoga unites the mind and body, with the help of yoga you gain support from the center inside, which means that it will be difficult to confuse you.
Yoga is somewhat similar to psychology and psychotherapy, in the sense that they all work with human consciousness. There is only one “but”– modern psychology recognizes the mind, the intellect and the field of the unconscious, while yoga, in addition to the above, also recognizes the highest essence in a person, or the soul, which is decisive. This is the fundamental difference between Western and Eastern approaches to the human study. Both of them have nothing to do with religion. Yoga is outside of religion and can be applied by all people.
Asanas, or hatha yoga, which is now taught in almost all fitness clubs, is only one part of the 8 steps of classical yoga. And not the main, but rather the preparatory. Before proceeding with breathing exercises and meditation, body needs to prepare, stretch, open its energy channels. For this, Hatha Yoga was originally developed. According to Rishi Patanjali yoga consists of 8 limbs (including self-discipline, ethical principles, asanas, pranayama, detachment, concentration, meditation and samadhi) and is more similar to the system of practices and knowledge of the spiritual and physical upgrade of a person, to reveal the maximum potential in him. And if we compare our body with a very advanced gadget, then yoga is the tool that recharges you with energy. When you have a lot of energy – you love everyone, everybody loves you, you want to communicate and you have strength to achieve your goals. Low energy – you want to be left alone.
Therefore, with the right approach and proper guidance with the help of yoga you can achieve very impressive results. Forget ascetics who meditate in cold caves. Modern yogis above all are effective and realized managers of their lives. They know how to reach their potential, how to control their mind, how to increase their energy, how to control their anger. That is why this knowledge will be useful to anyone who at least think about self-development.
All of this is written to explain what Sanjeev Krishna is teaching in his center. Of course, you will find there different types of physical yoga, such as hatha, zero gravity, ashtanga and ashtanga vinyasa yoga, but still the most interesting is Rhythm of Life (ROL), the author’s course taught by Sanjeev Krishna himself. Don’t anticipate only asanas – he will give you the knowledge that will help to further balance your life and upgrade your current level.
Many people specifically go to Kailas, Dharamsala or Rishikesh to get such knowledge attending different retreats. But now it can be done in Dubai on Jumeirah. You will get the same knowledge based on the ancient classical Yoga Sutras.
Sanjeev Krishna himself has been practicing in Dubai for over 14 years, more than 6,000 people have passed through his center. He often conducts trainings and lectures in large companies like ENOC, Mars, GEMs, Emaar and others. This is the only yoga studio accredited by the Council on Yoga Accreditation International and awarded by Ministry of Health & Prevention of Dubai for participation in the World Health Program.
So, what can one expect from the Rhythm Of Life? First of all, you will learn the techniques of pranayama or breathing exercises. Why you need to know it? Our mind constantly jumps from one thing to another. Smells, music, visual pictures, someone’s words or different situations that happens around you always distract and confuse your mind. As a result, thoughts jump like crazy and you are continuing the internal dialogue 24 hours a day. Yogis have long noticed that the fickleness of the human mind is associated with breathing. By controlling your breath your control your mind and emotions. You do not need to breathe much – you need to breathe correctly. By calming the breath, you calm the mind. With a calm mind, you can make better decisions and therefore become more successful. Pranayama also increases vital energy through the control and regulation of its flow in the body.
Have you noticed how frequently we try to solve a problem while being stuck inside the problem? Often the solution lies outside. This is what Sanjeev explains in his course – how to transcend the framework in which you have placed yourself. After that amazing things can happen – questions that you could not find the answers to disappear as unnecessary. And when there are no questions, there are no problems.
But the most importantly – you will be given the knowledge of meditation. Despite all outward simplicity, it is very difficult to meditate properly. In silence the mind can throw out different tricks, and it is incredibly difficult to calm it down. That is why meditation is preceded by hatha yoga and pranayama – this is how the external ballast of unnecessary information that has accumulated in you is removed. You are cleaning your inner channels and relaxing. Meditation is too intimate and delicate process, but with this only technique greatest results can be achieved. That is why meditation is the main concept in yoga. Ancient Indian Rishis attained the highest spiritual knowledge that modern science is only now discovering exactly during meditation only.
Therefore, with the right approach and proper guidance with the help of yoga you can achieve very impressive results. Forget ascetics who meditate in cold caves. Modern yogis above all are effective and realized managers of their lives. They know how to reach their potential, how to control their mind, how to increase their energy, how to control their anger. That is why this knowledge will be useful to anyone who at least think about self-development.
All of this is written to explain what Sanjeev Krishna is teaching in his center. Of course, you will find there different types of physical yoga, such as hatha, zero gravity, ashtanga and ashtanga vinyasa yoga, but still the most interesting is Rhythm of Life (ROL), the author’s course taught by Sanjeev Krishna himself. Don’t anticipate only asanas – he will give you the knowledge that will help to further balance your life and upgrade your current level.
Many people specifically go to Kailas, Dharamsala or Rishikesh to get such knowledge attending different retreats. But now it can be done in Dubai on Jumeirah. You will get the same knowledge based on the ancient classical Yoga Sutras.
Sanjeev Krishna himself has been practicing in Dubai for over 14 years, more than 6,000 people have passed through his center. He often conducts trainings and lectures in large companies like ENOC, Mars, GEMs, Emaar and others. This is the only yoga studio accredited by the Council on Yoga Accreditation International and awarded by Ministry of Health & Prevention of Dubai for participation in the World Health Program.
So, what can one expect from the Rhythm Of Life? First of all, you will learn the techniques of pranayama or breathing exercises. Why you need to know it? Our mind constantly jumps from one thing to another. Smells, music, visual pictures, someone’s words or different situations that happens around you always distract and confuse your mind. As a result, thoughts jump like crazy and you are continuing the internal dialogue 24 hours a day. Yogis have long noticed that the fickleness of the human mind is associated with breathing. By controlling your breath your control your mind and emotions. You do not need to breathe much – you need to breathe correctly. By calming the breath, you calm the mind. With a calm mind, you can make better decisions and therefore become more successful. Pranayama also increases vital energy through the control and regulation of its flow in the body.
Have you noticed how frequently we try to solve a problem while being stuck inside the problem? Often the solution lies outside. This is what Sanjeev explains in his course – how to transcend the framework in which you have placed yourself. After that amazing things can happen – questions that you could not find the answers to disappear as unnecessary. And when there are no questions, there are no problems.
But the most importantly – you will be given the knowledge of meditation. Despite all outward simplicity, it is very difficult to meditate properly. In silence the mind can throw out different tricks, and it is incredibly difficult to calm it down. That is why meditation is preceded by hatha yoga and pranayama – this is how the external ballast of unnecessary information that has accumulated in you is removed. You are cleaning your inner channels and relaxing. Meditation is too intimate and delicate process, but with this only technique greatest results can be achieved. That is why meditation is the main concept in yoga. Ancient Indian Rishis attained the highest spiritual knowledge that modern science is only now discovering exactly during meditation only.
A good bonus of the course will be a healthy diet. I have never tried such delicious salads and super-healthy juices and drinks. It turns out that their recipes are more than 2 thousand years old. It would be great if such food would be sold in Dubai at least somewhere.
Finally I want to say that if you want to change anything in your life, do not sit and wait. Start acting. If it will not work – try something else. That is what distinguishes the leader from the subordinate. After all, the leader is not the one who leads people to the bright future. Leadership is how you build your life – passively or actively. The difference lies in your view of life, in the details of your lifestyle, in the everyday habits that shape your destiny. During the course you will find some surprises and revelations, which definitely help you to change your way of thinking.
Yoga will teach you introspection. You can manage your thoughts and desires and better understand yourself and life in general. You will definitely become calmer and get rid of stress. And if you do it seriously, you will develop mental and spiritual skills.
And remember: we sleep an average of 8 hours a day. This means that we spend in a dream 10 days a month, 4 months a year. The remaining 6 months we, as a rule, dream of something, we spend one month on vacation, and only one month we do something. And then we wonder why nothing happens in our lives. Take responsibility for your life. You only have this day, only this moment. The past and the future are only in your head. But you live here and now.
For more details about yoga, I spoke with Sanjeev Krishna personally.
Sanjeev, you are from India originally, but you started teaching yoga and opened your center in Dubai.
Yes, I started teaching here in Dubai. Before I worked for 13 years in large corporations, in banks, and in transport logistics companies. But I always collected knowledge of yoga and learned from different Masters. Yoga is an evolution of human development, self-realization, knowledge that helps to unlock the potential inherent in you. And this knowledge is infinite. I arrived in Dubai 15 years ago – then I was the regional director of a housing company and talked a lot with my general manager, since we were from the same banking group. And I began to teach him. Then gradually I began teaching yoga in Dubai. But I decided that if I would do it seriously, I would do it my way. I had my own vision. Yoga is too important and precious for me to teach it mechanically, superficially, only commercially. Yoga cannot be just a business, it is something else. At first I opened a center in Karama, and word of mouth did its job – people came to me. We worked there for more than 10 years, and two years ago opened a new center on Jumeirah on Al Wasl Road. I did everything here by myself, the whole design. And this is not only a yoga studio, but also a center for martial arts Kalari, you can hardly find something similar in the UAE. At the same time, Kalari is an ancient combat training system that is still based on yoga.
Who were your teachers?
At a very young age I began to read books on yoga, and at the age of 14 I became a student of the Siddha Yogi Sri Thankappan, a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda. He found me himself and asked if I want to get yoga knowledge. I was with him for 6 years right up to the end of his life. Then I wanted to deepen my knowledge and began to learn different schools and traditions. For three years I studied Kriya Yoga at the YogodaSatsanga Society of India founded by ParamahansaYoganada (the author of the famous book “Autobiography of a Yogi” – Ed.). Then I studied Siddha Samadhi Yoga under the guidance of Rishi Prabhakar and gained the greatest knowledge there. Then I studied at the Bihar School of Yoga under SatyanandaSaraswati, disciple of Sivananda.
These are all authentic, classical, most respected yoga schools of India. But this knowledge has no end. As a result, having synthesized everything, I came to the stage of designing my own program and opened my center. Based on one platform I wanted to combine different schools of yoga. In my program, I pay big attention to life management. A lot of timearegiven to explaining reasons of diseases caused by psychosomatic problems which we carefully work with.
What effect can a person get from yoga?
It depends on your intention and on whether you are ready to devote yourself to this knowledge entirely, whether you are ready to discipline your life. All negative emotions affect your mind and body. If you do not accept the situation, you resist. In yoga, you can dive into the molecular level, I tell about it in details during my class. Your negative emotions, like toxins, poison the body, which is why diseases are gradually forming. This is psychosomatics. It is necessary to take the situation actively, to take the initiative in your hands, to take actions. As soon as this happens, you wake up, you have the power and energy. Through certain knowledge and techniques, we help to cope with many diseases, including diabetes, diseases of the thyroid gland and the musculoskeletal system, high blood pressure, migraines, depression. This knowledge has a very deep impact. Therefore, when nothing helps, many doctors send patients to me.
Do you dissolve physical and mental blocks?
I do nothing. I just explain, I share knowledge – people do all themselves since these abilities are embedded in every person. We can all be much more than we imagine. And it always works. There is no miracle here. Each of us can do it. Knowledge is so direct and clear that you will understand and begin to apply it.
Can we learn how to control our mind?
We can. We can control everything with our mind. As a result you will begin to control not only your mind, but also your life.
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