YOGA AND QUANTUM PHYSICS
Why Quantum Yoga? Quantum physics has made incredible discoveries that echo the ancient insights of yoga. The cross-pollination that has occurred in the fields of science and metaphysics in the past years serves the individual with inspiration and empowerment. Quantum physics has proven that energy and matter are not so easily divisible, that in fact energy is more substantial than matter itself. In yoga practice we actually experience this insight first-hand. The body is not merely flesh and bone; it is imbued with prana, life-force. All mental fluctuations have a direct effect on this pranic flow, which in turn manifests as physical sensations and disease. We can revert this process by addressing body, breath and mind in a holistic manner.
THE TRUE NATURE OF REALITY
Einstein coined the term “superimposition” to describe the fact that on a sub-atomic level, the building blocks of our material universe can exist both as particles and wave-forms at the same time. Electrons are not bound by space-time restrictions, as they can be everywhere in the universe simultaneously. However, as soon as one attempts to measure this phenomenon, the particle leaves this quantum dimension and collapses into a single aspect of space-time reality.
Quantum Physics has therefore scientifically proven what the yogis, buddhas and mystics had always taught, namely that the reality we perceive as being out there in a fixed state is in fact an illusion. Instead what we are actually dealing with is a field of infinite possibilities, which is in a constant state of flux. The reality we perceive is what our brain has come to assume is there. Our experience therefore is merely a result of conditioning.
Yogi mystics posit against this illusory conditioning a direct experience of reality as a non-dual state of consciousness. This “by-passing” of the mind, which results from systematic techniques to stop its inner turbulence by temporarily suspending thought, is the only way we can catch a glimpse of how things really are.
THE QUANTUM METHOD OF YOGA
The way in which we experience the world changes as we refine our approach to it. Any type of asana-pranayama will do this to a degree, but if you turn your practice into a conscious act of self-healing that involves an active dialogue between body/energy and mind/heart, the results will be more powerful. In the context of yoga, as well as Quantum physics, the body (or matter in general) cannot be spoken of as divorced from energy. Though asana practice brings similar tangible results to those of conventional exercise routines, especially when coupled with pranayama, the energetic realignment that happens is empirically undeniable and scientifically measurable. Quantum physics has revealed that matter in fact consists of spaces held together by energy. The thing that is more “real”, in the sense that it informs the qualities and characteristics of a thing, is this energy, not the object itself. That energy responds immediately when it comes into contact with other force fields, and our mind, though not itself the source, directs energy. Hence, as soon as the instruments of perception are directed to a thing, it responds and changes; so it is with the body in yoga. This is why for our practice to be truly effective and transformative, it has got to make room for such interactivity. Furthermore, once we imbue our sadhana with greater consciousness, we will become skilled at sustaining this same level of awareness in all our actions. The importance of intention takes on a whole new dimension, and this realisation will cause fundamental change and improvement in our lives and that of others.
We hereby truly take responsibility for our health and happiness. Even if we always intellectually understood the karmic laws of cause and effect, it is only when we begin to actually observe the connections, that we attain some measure of control over our destiny. Quantum Yoga provides us with the tools that allow us to move in this direction. The first step is simple. Learn to listen and pay attention to what is really going on.