Yoga in Ayurveda is not simply about various postures and breathing techniques for healing generic diseases as many think.

Traditionally, Yoga was used in India as per a person’s physical constitution (prakriti) and disease condition (vikriti).

Ayurvedic Yoga incorporates working with pressure points known as “marmas”, and also brings in various massage techniques to mantras (sacred chants) for these.

Various mantric sounds also have a part in sound-therapy in Ayurveda, which relate to various gods and goddesses corresponding to the energies of the Ayurvedic biological humors as Vata (wind), Pitta (bile) and Kapha (phlegm), to increase to reduce them.

As with astrology and use of gemstones and colour-therapy, Ayurvedic Yoga uses various asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing techniques) and meditations (dhyanas) as per your biological humor description of Vata-Pitta-Kapha, and hence is a personalized complete Yoga system for you.

This includes mudras (hand symbols) that also press on various pressure points in the body, as well as various smells that can affect the mind, and as mentioned various mantras, deities, postures and breathing techniques and other methods that can help your mental and physical health, on a day to day basis.

If you are interested, we can also give you specific mantras and chants for deities specific to your astrology and conditions and spiritual beliefs, from the powerful path of the Goddess down to Lord Dhanwantri, the deity of healing.

Ayurvedic Yoga is really an aspect of Bhutavidya (Ayurvedic Psychology) that helps calm the mind and senses, using the above techniques described, and also along with astrology also.

As noted, there are also many levels to it, and we also give a personalized Yoga regime based upon your own disease and biological constitution according to Ayurveda.

 This is quite different from the usual Yogic approach of the West, which is to enforce some kind of one-off treatment for all.

This was not the traditional nature of Ayurvedic Yoga.

For example, Yoga must be combined with an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet in harmony with your disease and constitution, as well as Yoga practices.

A person who is a large kapha-type build for example, would not be good doing such things as Lotus-position nor breathing techniques that bring coolness to the body, as these practices would derange their condition more.

Marma massage, Mantras and use of deities, fragrances as incense colour therapy all form aspects of the true Ayurvedic Yoga also, and are important integral parts of Ayurveda, such as we can also teach you.

As part of our Ayurvedic consultations, we will mention various practices that are helpful to you along these lines, and if you wish, we can include some traditional Hindu practices, deities and mantras to help you also, if you are so inclined, or just wish to know more about these.

Understanding these is very important, as also their astrological counterpart.

For example, the elephant-faced Ganesh, the god who removes obstacles and grants luck in Hinduism relates to the kapha dosha or phlegmatic humor and the planet Ketu, the south lunar mode.

His own influence in our lives, his mantras etc. are hence important to Kapha-type people and their makeup.

Others such as Shiva, the deity of transformation, yoga and austerity relate to the Vata (wind) humor in his various aspects (often wrathful), as also the goddess Kali.

As such, they can help calm and also increase the vata (wind) humor and it’s movement in the body of vata people and people suffering from such ailments, if appeased, or if invoked to increase (for Pitta and Kapha people, for example, which increasing vata helps their condition, and lower their excess humors causing troubles).

Various seed-sounds or mantras, called “bija mantras” are also used in Ayurveda, to help increase intellect, strengthen various tissues (dhatus), and also increase and decrease doshas.

Each part of the body, each marma or pressure point etc. also has their respective bija-mantra or seed-sound, as also more specific ones for areas of the body.

Such sounds are composed of primal sounds in the Sanskrit language, from the letters (aksharas), and we can guide you through the correct pronunciation of these, and how these work with regards to sound-therapy or nada-chikitsa.

Important mantras as the Gayatri, a solar chant, are well-known in India and can be used in healing, along with such specific seed mantras also.

Ayurvedic Yoga is hence a very complex system and is not at all a simple “one fits all” technique like many practitioners today are trying to franchise with their limited knowledge of the extensive Yoga system.

Likewise, Panchakarma, many people see as merely massage, when it extends far beyond that.

Durgadas (Rodney) Lingham is a Yoga and Ayurveda teacher, who has experience from his own family in Vedic rituals and also traditional Hindu methods which he himself has learnt and some that have been passed down to him from his family for thousands of years.

Yogic Spiritual Guidance / Counselling:

Here we follow a Hindu approach, and follow the traditional system of Raja Yoga – the complete Yoga system and also introduce the Hindu concepts of Advaita Vedanta (Non-Dualistic Theology).

Durgadas has been bestowed the title of “Veda Kovid”, meaning proficiency in Vedic Knowledge, including the spiritual traditions of Vedanta, the translation of Vedic texts (ancient Hindu religious texts), as also Tantra, Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology, the ancient Hindu sciences.

Into Spiritual Counselling, he also brings in his knowledge of Ayurveda, specifically Ayurvedic Herbalism and also Ayurvedic Psychology or Yoga and Ayurveda, and adds many of his own spiritual methods and techniques he has learnt over the years with his research and practise into these fields.

Some are ancient methods handed down from his family, and others are special Tantric methods and techniques perfected by him, that are mentioned in the ancient Tantric texts of India. He has also discovered many ancient practices of the oldest texts going back to the Rig Veda, which he also teaches.

These include special yogic techniques, to in-depth knowledge of mantras, the various types, their relations with planets, deities and also biological constitutions and their effects on the mind. Durgadas himself is a devotee of the Goddess (Shakti, meaning ‘Power’), and as such follows the system of Dash Mahavidya or the Ten Great Wisdom forms of the Goddess, a system which he also passes on to others.

Specific spiritual guidance, with relation to the Astrological Chart of a person and their karma, as also their mental state is given. For example, some planetary rituals and remedies are required for certain people to overcome physical and spiritual issues in their lives.

Above all, emphasis here is on the return to our true state of being or True Self (Atman in Sanskrit), our Soul which the Universe or physical world is but just a reflection. There are various ways to reach these higher states of awareness, which is where spiritual counselling and guidance is an important step.