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patajali yoga sutras to achieve balance of mind

THE OBSTACLES IN GETTING TO A EQUINIMOUS BALANCED MIND -

THE FIVE OBSTACLES विक्षेपों DISTRACTION

THE OBSTACLES TO BE REMOVED WITH PRACTICE

चित्त-प्रसादनम् WE get a purified or happy mind .

The mind becomes purified by cultivation of feelings of friendship, mercy, gladness and indifference respectively towards happy, unhappy, good and evil creatures

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yoga is toning the vagus nervous system

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The vagus nerve   also known as the tenth cranial nerve, cranial nerve X, or simply CN X, is a cranial nerve that carries sensory fibers that create a pathway that interfaces with the parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. It comprises two nerves—the left and right vagus nerves, each containing about 100,000 fibres—but they are typically referred to collectively as a single subsystem.

The vagus is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body and comprises both sensory and motor fibers. The sensory fibers originate from neurons of the nodose ganglion, whereas the motor fibers come from neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the nucleus ambiguus.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS), sometimes called the visceral nervous system  /  the vegetative nervous system, is a division of the nervous system that operates internal organs, smooth muscle and glands. The autonomic nervous system is a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions, such as the heart rate, its force of contraction, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination. This system is the primary mechanism in control of the fight-or-flight response

The autonomic nervous system is regulated by integrated reflexes through the brainstem to the spinal cord and organs. Autonomic functions include control of respiration, cardiac regulation (the cardiac control center), vasomotor activity (the vasomotor center), and certain reflex actions such  as coughing, sneezing,    swallowing and vomiting. Those are then subdivided into other areas and are also linked to autonomic subsystems and the peripheral nervous system. The hypothalamus, just above the brain stem, acts as an integrator for autonomic functions, receiving autonomic regulatory input from the limbic system.

 The autonomic nervous system has historically been considered a purely motor system, and has been divided into three branches: the sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, and the enteric nervous system. 

The sympathetic nervous system is often considered the "fight or flight" system,      while the parasympathetic nervous system is often considered the "rest and digest" or "feed and breed" system. In many cases, both of these systems have "opposite" actions where one system activates a physiological response and the other inhibits it.   An older simplification of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems as "excitatory" and "inhibitory" was overturned due to the many exceptions found. A more modern characterization is that the sympathetic nervous system is a "quick response mobilizing system" and the parasympathetic is a "more slowly activated dampening system", but even this has exceptions, such as in sexual arousal and orgasm, wherein both play a role.

There are inhibitory and excitatory synapses between neurons. A third subsystem of neurons has been named as non-noradrenergic, non-cholinergic transmitters (because they use nitric oxide as a neurotransmitter) and are integral in autonomic function, in particular in the gut and the lungs

In neuroscience, an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is a postsynaptic potential that makes the postsynaptic neuron more likely to fire an action potential. This temporary depolarization of postsynaptic membrane potential, caused by the flow of positively charged ions into the postsynaptic cell, is a result of opening ligand-gated ion channels. These are the opposite of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs), which usually result from the flow of negative ions into the cell or positive ions out of the cell. EPSPs can also result from a decrease in outgoing positive charges, while IPSPs are sometimes caused by an increase in positive charge outflow. The flow of ions that causes an EPSP is an excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC).

Although the ANS is also known as the visceral nervous system and although most of its fibers carry non-somatic information to the CNS, many authors still consider it only connected with the motor side.  Most autonomous functions are involuntary but they can often work in conjunction with the somatic nervous system which provides voluntary control.

   Autonomic nervous system, showing splanchnic nerves in middle, and the vagus nerve as "X" in blue. The heart and organs below in list to right are regarded as viscera.

The autonomic nervous system has been classically divided into the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system only (i.e. exclusively motor). The sympathetic division emerges from the spinal cord in the thoracic and lumbar areas, terminating around L2-3. The parasympathetic division has craniosacral "outflow", meaning that the neurons begin at the cranial nerves (specifically the oculomotor nerve, facial nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve and vagus nerve) and sacral (S2-S4) spinal cord.

The autonomic nervous system is unique in that it requires a sequential two-neuron efferent pathway; the preganglionic neuron must first synapse onto a postganglionic neuron before innervating the target organ. The preganglionic, or first, neuron will begin at the "outflow" and will synapse at the postganglionic, or second, neuron's cell body. The postganglionic neuron will then synapse at the target organ.

Cranial Nerve Zero has Vestigial functions -

Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species.  Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on comparison with homologous features in related species. The emergence of vestigiality occurs by normal evolutionary processes, typically by loss of function of a feature that is no longer subject to positive selection pressures when it loses its value in a changing environment. The feature may be selected against more urgently when its function becomes definitively harmful, but if the lack of the feature provides no advantage, and its presence provides no disadvantage, the feature may not be phased out by natural selection and persist across species.

Examples of vestigial structures (also called degenerate, atrophied, or rudimentary organs) are the loss of functional wings in island-dwelling birds; the human vomeronasal organ; and the hind limbs of the snake and whale.

A pheromone  'to bear',   hormone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavior of the receiving individuals.There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology. Pheromones are used by many organisms, from basic unicellular prokaryotes to complex multicellular eukaryotes.Their use among insects has been particularly well documented. In addition, some vertebrates, plants and ciliates communicate by using pheromones. The ecological functions and evolution of pheromones are a major topic of research in the field of chemical ecology.

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yoga is living life skillfully

There is duality in the Human nervous system, one part of our nervous system tries to react to external stimulus, other part tries to normalise the nervous system and bring it back from reaction mode.  Toning and Training of Vagus Nerve can help bring balance between these DUAL parts of our nervous system.  Doing Yoga / Surya Namaskar / Meditation can help tone  our Vagus nervous system.  By doing Yoga we tend to do our work in the best possible way

Patanjali Yoga Sutra #16     -  Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

‘Yogaha karmasu kaushalam’ Skill in action is yoga 

As you all know, there are three gunas or qualities. They are sattva, rajas and tamas. Three gunas come into our life in cycles. When sattva comes, there is alertness, knowledge, interest and joy in everything. When rajo guna comes, more desires, selfishness, restlessness and sadness arise in us. When tamo guna comes, delusion, attachment, lack of knowledge, lethargy, all this comes. These three come in life, turn by turn. But one who is centered will watch, witness and just move through that very naturally, innocently, without being averse to it.

 

When aversion comes what happens? You are promoting it. Whatever you are averse to, you stay with it and whatever you crave for, you continue to crave for it. You allow the craving to continue. Without craving or aversion, moving through the guna is pure skill and that is yoga. It is said: ‘Yogaha karmasu kaushalam’ - the skill in action is yoga. Yoga itself means skill. Yoga is the skill to live life, skill to manage your mind, skill to deal with your emotions, skill to be with people, skill to be in love and not let love turn into hatred.

Everyone loves in this world. Everything loves, but that love does not stay too long as love. It immediately becomes hatred, almost immediately. But yoga is that skill, that preservative which maintains love as love throughout.

Question from the audience: Dear Guruji, if a habit is developed of separating oneself from everything in an artificial way, you will lose spontaneity, attunement with nature and will not be fully engaged in life by giving your 100 percent. How do you walk this tightrope? How do you know if you are too far from one side and the other?

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Dispassion does not divide you. In fact, it connects you. It connects you to the present moment totally. When you are not dispassionate, you are linked to the past or future. So, you are not connected to the present. Therefore, you are more divided.

When your mind is hoping for something or when you regret the past, you are not with the moment. But when you are centered, you are in the moment. So, when you are eating, you can taste every bite. You can enjoy every bite. Every look, every sight is fresh and new. Your love is like the first love. You look at everything like it is the first time.

WHAT IS VAGAS NERVE , HOW TO BALANCE OUR DUALITY, ATTAIN CHITTA VRITTI NIRODHANA AND attain  चित्त प्रसन्न - pleasant happy mind, which is free from obstacles / cyclical thoughts stated in patanjali yoga sutras 1.29 to 1.36

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