Rijeka Seminar - Breath, Prana & Pranayama, 24-26 Oct 2014

A seminar held in Rijeka, on the subject "Breath, Prana and Pranayama", was accompanied by the blessing of beautiful clear sunny weather. Bura, the famous Croatian wind, blew away all the clouds and pollution, leaving behind only the wonderful fresh air and sunshine, thus creating ideal conditions for practising yoga and especially pranayama. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Vivekpuri, the leader of the seminar and a longtime disciple of Swamiji and instructor of Yoga in Daily Life, emphasised how our Croatian wind is excellent. He said that, "with its unusual strength and perseverance, it blows away everything that is bad; both from the air around us, and also the stupidity and bad thoughts from our heads. It leaves a void that is best filled with mantra and meditation."

So already the first day of the seminar, the wind helped to clear the stress created by the outer world from the faces of all participants, and regular sadhana, yoga and sunshine brought smiles and light instead.

The participants from Croatia and neighbouring countries enjoyed the sadhana, exceptional lectures and satsangs on the subject of prana and pranayama, as well as bhajans (songs); and in their free time they socialized and took walks in the beautiful surroundings of the "Hall of Culture of Yoga in Daily Life" and the Dharma Hostel.

Extending the concept of how the wind affects both the air and our thoughts, Swami Vivekpuriji continued: "What is outside is inside as well – it is a universal law, the principle of Sanatan Dharma. The principles that exist in the Universe, can also be found within ourselves, in our phenomenon. Prana permeates everything, and it depends on us what this prana will be like, and how we will react to the environment. We can explain this with terms used in weather forecasts. There are low and high-pressure areas, which determines the weather in a given area. We strive to become a high-pressure area. If we have enough energy, if we have good prana, nothing can influence us badly - but on the contrary, we can have a positive influence on the environment. We should not be affected by any negative force. We should be strong. What does this mean? Strong muscles, nerves of steel, powerful prana – harmony, yoga. How to achieve this? The quickest way is by doing pranayama and Khatu Pranam."

In the morning hours of the Saturday program, Sadhvi Anandi held the opening lecture "Prana is Food and Food is Prana", about the basic yoga principles of nutrition and cooking, the importance of using spices, and the prana we consume with food and drink.

The seminar ended with a greeting that said it all: "See you soon" ...