Simple Yogic Rules for Better Life
In my travels I’ve found a few things Yogi Bhajan said over and over again. It’s also repeated in the writings of the masters wherever you look. These are universal rules for living an energetic, yogic life.
1) Eat Little and Sleep Little.
First you should eat light of healthy food. When you eat lightly then your energy isn’t going to digestion and then your capacity to function energetically is boosted. If you eat heavy rich food full of sugar and processed heavy stuff then your body has to burn it up and that takes energy. Your sensitivity becomes dulled and so do you. Heavy food slows down the processes, including the neuron voltage, which Yogi Bhajan says is the basis for all higher functioning. The higher the neuron voltage the more capacity you have to live intuitively and flow with the infinite capacity of your nature.
Secondly, sleep little. The yogic lifestyle is about synchronicity with the biorhythms of the planet and the universe. We want to align with all the forces— the earth’s rhythm, the planets the sun and the moon and the greater cosmos. As an individual unit with limitations, we can increase our capacity to function as infinite beings if we align with energy as much as possible. This is why we practice especially on full moons and other celestial events; why we go to summer and winter solstice, etc. That said, the biggest alignment you can make is to get up before the sun. Ultimately 2.5 hours before the sunrise, local time. At that time yoga and meditation is 40 times more powerful than any other time. Why should you sleep little? Well when you sleep you go into the sub-conscious landscape. That takes life energy, or prana. The more you sleep the more you dream and run around the sub-conscious. By getting up early and practicing before the sunrise, you short circuit the dream world and burn up the sub conscious thought forms that keep you a slave of habits.
2) Align yourself with the lunar cycle.
There are three important days in the lunar cycle: the new moon, the 11th day of the new moon and the full moon. Yogi Bhajan recommended fasting on this day from before the sun to sundown. He mentions this in several different classes so there are options on how you can fast. You can just drink water, or water with lemon, or water with lemon and honey and if it’s too much for you to fast with your work schedule, you can eat lightly of a single fruit or vegetable. The idea here is to reset the glandular system on these lunar days. It’s another way of synchronizing your energy with the environmental biorhythm.
You can easily find out the dates of the new and full moons online through several lunar phase calendars. The get the 11th day of the moon you count the new moon as day one, then count to 11 and that is the 11th day of the moon.
3) Don’t rise after 4 AM and don’t eat after 4 PM.
There’s a lecture where yogi bhajan is talking about his health problems and how the doctors want him to do all these different things. He gives an ancient bit of yogic knowledge when he says: If you don’t rise after 4 AM you will never have a problem with your mind and if you don’t eat after 4 PM you’ll never have a problem with your body.