Nada Yoga (The Sacred Sound) : Types, Benefits and Techniques
Sounds play a very important role in our lives. The quality of sounds is also as important, as the sound itself. It relates to one of the five sensory organs. The quality and quantity of sound matters a lot. You can utilize the science of sounds, in your yoga journey. If you want to delve into such subjects, you should enrol in a course at the best yoga school in Rishikesh.
You will be amazed to know, that you will connect to Nada, as per your state of consciousness. The four main levels of consciousness that govern your reaction to Nada are-
- Conscious or Awake state
- Unconscious or Dreamy state
- Subconscious or Deep sleep
- Absolute Consciousness
Now, you must understand, that these states of consciousness are not different from one another. You can compare these to a river. The awakened state is the surface of the water, the dreams are the undercurrents and deep sleep is the bed of the river.
- When you are in the awake state, you use the conscious mind. Additionally, you also use the unconscious and sub-conscious, but with consciousness. Some of the other realms also hover around, but you may miss them out.
- In the dreamy state, the conscious mind slowly sinks into the subtle levels. So, you may lose awareness of the outer world. You are also in touch with the subconscious, but with less awareness about it.
- In the deep sleep level, you lose touch with the realities and also the subtle realm. It is in this stage, that Yoga Nidra works the best. In deep sleep, you do not see images, or hear words, as you are in deep slumber, within your subconscious.
So, you need to know these, so that you can find out why you do certain yoga practices. Meditation and Yoga Nidra are the practices, which you can relate to, over here. So, what happens in meditation or Yoga Nidra? Find that out over here.
Meditation and Yoga Nidra
In yoga meditation, you are in awake state. However, you allow some subconscious and unconscious thoughts to come to the fore. You will learn to keep the mind concentrated on the object of focus, and will slowly learn how to break other attachments with the other objects around you. You will slowly allow the subconscious and unconscious to merge with your consciousness. Slowly, you will be able to step inside the doorway that connects to the self. The best yoga school will help you to unearth more such possibilities.
On the contrary, in Yoga Nidra, you leave the awake state and dreaming states. You will enter deep sleep, with guidance from your teacher, but with all consciousness. You will be awake, without impressions of the gross and subtle realms. It is one of the highest states of being, but not Samadhi yet.
The best Gurus will teach you about such aspects at Hrishikesh Yoga School. In this context, you must understand, that you are attracted to different Nadas, as per your conscious states. You must have heard the word, ‘Ragas’. These often coincide with different times of the year or seasons. You may feel some as comfortable, at certain times of the day, while the others may be uncomfortable.
Now, before you delve deep into the ocean of Nada Yoga, you must understand that it is a part of Laya Yoga. It is a practice that has the power to liberate you from old tensions. You will forget about your traumas, if you engage with it. It can be one of the psychosomatic solutions, to mind and body issues. Laya Yoga is mainly an ancient form of meditation, that can lead you to Samadhi. It mainly works on the chakras. You will be bewildered to know, that Laya yoga has the power to dissolve all Karmic connections. Laya Yoga helps in the proper distribution of energies or ‘Prana.’ The main aim of Laya Yoga is to help you attain supreme consciousness. It is about removing all the inhibitions from your mind. And, you can only do so, if you rely on your inner sounds. That brings us back to Nada. And, the context that we are out to reveal here, is Nada Yoga. You can study about the same in the 200 hour yoga teacher training in rishikesh.
Nada Yoga Revealed
So, as we have already mentioned, ‘nada’ means sounds. You can also call it the flow of consciousness. In the realm of Tantra, it is believed that sounds travel in four main realms. The frequency, strength of the sounds, and the fineness also differs manifold. The realms that we are out to discuss here are, ordinary sound, mental sound, visual sound, and transcendental sound.
Let us see, what they are.
- Para Nada– It is called as the transcendental sound. It is the sound, which has the highest frequency. Your sense organs will never be able to catch these sounds. You can even hear these sounds in the other dimensions, to be precise. That, mainly points towards other consciousness levels. You must be familiar with some of the high frequency sounds, which are a daily occurrence. They are do whistles and the sounds made by bats.
The human ears cannot hear sounds that are beyond a specific speed. After the sounds reach a certain level, they become inaudible to the human ears. You can still perceive such sounds, but inside you. However, not all people have the power to do so. The same applies to sounds that are below a certain level. It is researched and published, that the human ears cannot hear sounds below 16 Hz. You can still feel the vibrations at times. Some Para Yogis believe, that such sounds actually have no vibrations or movement. It is stillness to the core. When a Nada Yogi becomes one with it, only he can feel such sounds. Om is believed to be a manifestation of Para.
- Pashyanti– This is the second level of sound, in Nada Yoga. It is believed to be coarser than Para. Some of the Vedic scripts have also mentioned, that one who is working towards enlightenment, can even see this sound. The dimension of sounds that you feel in your dreams is Pashyanti. You can call it a mental sound. You can only hear such sounds with your inner ear, not the physical ears. Learn about such sounds in a detailed manner, when you study the yogic scripts in the sound healing course. When you hear the words and sounds, without any consciousness of the external environment, it is called as Pashyanti. The outer sounds slowly disappear from the realm, and then only you can hear such sounds.
- Madhyama – Now, we come to another sound that has fewer vibrations than Para and Pashyanti. It is very fine as well. So, you can rarely hear such sounds. Whispers are basically included in this category of sounds. It is a middle-level sound.
- Vaikhari – The coarsest of all the sounds is Vaikhari. It is a physically produced sound, which is also regarded as the spoken word. When you rub or hit two things against one another, these sounds are produced.
According to the Metaphysical realm, it is believed that the physical, the mental, the spiritual, the psychic, and the intellectual, all are an outcome of Nada Universe. All the Nada yogis believe that reality is the actual manifestation of the vibrations. It is the vibrations that does not vibrate at all, or vibrates at such a high frequency, that humans cannot hear it. The original nada has the highest frequency and vibrations. It is staunchly believed, that when something vibrates extremely violently, it reaches the point of stillness. According to the Nada yogis, everything originated from the infinite sound. You will be able to find out more about these in detail, in the Upanishads. Hrishikesh Yoga School has included the study of the Upanishads, in their 200 hour yoga TTC syllabus.
Now, you will be amazed to know another fact about Nada. And, that is, music also materializes from Nada. The main purpose of Nada Yoga practice is to find the innermost sounds. However, you cannot just discover it at one go. You need to start from the external coarse sounds. So, you can also say that the very existence of life, took place from the Nada. Nada is the originator of the whole universe, to be precise. Nada Yoga is the amalgamation of the self with the sounds. In this realm, mantras also play a very important role. The instruments in music, like the harmonium and the singing bowls, are also a part of the realm.
What Does Hatha Yoga Pradipika Say?
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says, that it is also one of the most powerful forms of meditation. After you have mastered the asana, pranayama, bandhas, meditation and kriyas, in order to reach the level of Samadhi, you need to practice Nada yoga.
The unique texts also describe Nada Yoga as a musical meditation. You can read about the same, being divided into two parts. Anahata and Ahata. Anahata is the internal aspect, whereas, Ahata is the external one.
- Some people say that the former, Anahata is referred to as the cosmic sound, like Om. Others say, that it resembles the sound of the bees. There are still others, who say, that it resembles the sound of the heart. In Anahata, you do not produce sounds by hitting or striking two objects. Moreover, it refers to the sounds, without any limit. They relate to the mystic sounds which the yogis hear at the beginning of meditation, and which also guides them. It is also called Nada Anusandhana. This can only happen as a part of the purification process, which occur just after Pranayama. If the seeker is putting in utmost concentration, then only he can hear such sounds. If you are in deep meditation, then only you can hear the Anahata sounds. The deeper you go, the better or faster you reach the higher consciousness.
It also forms the basis of all the six chakras. You may not be able to hear the Anahata, at the lower level chakras, below the Heart chakra. However, when you activate the upper chakras, you can hear the Anahata sounds. The upper chakras are ruled by lighter elements. Anahata Nada manifests itself in the form of waves and also in the form of the sounds of the conch. Take for example, the sounds of the flute, which is so melodious, that you reach a different realm mentally. You also find calmness settling in. There are ten different sounds under Anahata. They correspond to the different kinds of instruments and tools. In Kundalini yoga, the Shakti corresponds to the Anahata.
- Ahata is the Shabd Brahma. You can only hear such sounds, like speech and when things strike against one another. You can clap both your hands and listen to the sounds. It is a way of projection of the universe. It is truly based on the cognitive abilities of the human beings. These shabdas are made up of akshara.
This context takes you to the features of Nada-
They comprise Shruti and Swara. Shruti is the name given to the intervals in the pitch of a musical tone. Swara on the other hand, is the sound that manifests itself. You can refer to it as the vowels. They can also be called notes in music. You will be amazed to know, that there can be no sound, music or vibration, without the Nada.
You can practice Nada Yoga in meditative postures like Padmasana or Sukhasana. If you want to learn about the practice in more detail, visit Hrishikesh Yoga School today.
