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The Energization Exercises are based on the ancient teaching that the entire material universe is a condensation of energy. Scientists have long ago discovered that matter is energy: we can explode the atom and convert matter into energy.
True yoga, as you know, was never like gymnastics or sport. The cornerstone of the ancient yoga science has always been energy control (pranayama). But that control is impossible without a perception of energy. If you don’t first feel something, you can’t control
The famous scholar of Yoga, Georg Feuerstein (1947–2012), defines it like this in his acclaimed Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga: “Prana-dharana (the concentration of life force) is the technique to project life force (prana) into specific parts of the body, to restore a particular organ. To this practice, mentioned in the Tri-Shikhi-Brahmana-Upanishad (II,109), is attributed the ability to eliminate all illness and fatigue”.
The primary purpose of the Energization Exercises is to recharge the “body battery” with cosmic energy. That life energy is the source of youth. It renews, regenerates, heals, and strengthens your body cells from within. The following affirmation perfectly reveals the true purpose of the Energization Exercises. Repeat it, while following Yogananda’s advise to concentrate “on the forehead”:
To explain more clearly: yogis, after being instructed in the right mode of living (yama & niyama), learn energy control (pranayama). Withdrawing that energy, they attain a state of complete interiorization (pratyahara), which takes them toward deep inner concentration (dharana), then into true meditation (dhyana), and finally into ecstasy (samadhi).4
Our goal is not to perform astounding miracles, but to obtain a healthy body, a happy mind, a deep spirit and to reach our highest goals.
Even in old age he never missed practicing the Energization Exercises. He completely understood their value and importance. They form, he said, the very basis of Yogananda’s teachings. At the center of these teachings one finds this basic secret: energy control. Practiced correctly, the Energization Exercises are life-transforming.
On the CD, Removing All Sorrow and Suffering, he explains that energy, distributed evenly in the body, is what keeps diseases from settling. He adds that there are millions of germs in our mouth and nails, but they don’t attack us: we don’t have to be afraid of germs, because if our body is electrified, they’ll be electrocuted. “That’s what asana, posture, does and the tension exercises are much better than even the asanas, because they electrify the body.”
himself gave a good example, as Durga Mata writes: “Master never missed doing his exercises, no matter where he was or how late at night or how early in the morning. I remember many times he, and all of us, stood in front of a hotel, or on a side street, highway, or beach to do our exercises, whether there were passersby who looked at us wonderingly or not. Then after exercising we went for a walk. Master was very adamant that we continue to do our exercises.”
Prana and the BODY An essential feature of prana is that it heals through its inherent intelligence and power. In fact prana is, as we shall see, the only true healing power. It is the vis medicatrix naturae (“Nature is the physician of diseases”) of Hippocrates: the power of self-healing within our body, which defends and rebalances it, counteracting bacteria, viruses, sickness and injury.
AI Summary
The Energization Exercises of Yogananda by Jayadev Jaerschky presents key insights from the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
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Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
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