Learning the individual practices of Sufi Mindfulness Yoga

The practices of Sufi Mindfulness Yoga (SMY) use specific Arabic words known to Sufis as the Names of Allah. Sufis claim that each individual Name corresponds to a differenct aspect of divine consciousness. For SMY purposes consider the Names each to represent a unique attributes of universal human psychological makeup, or perhaps related to a panpsychic force that pervades all people, akin to Jungian archetypes.

 

The most basic way that Sufis use these Names is through simple speach. In addition to the spoken word, Sufi practices can include the sub-vocalization of words, or silently saying words to yourself. However, for SMY speaking the Names aloud or silently is not required or even recommended. Rather SMY focuses on thoughts, emotions, and breath.

 

It's through the careful monitoring of thoughts and emotional states and the exertion of gentle control, based on the principles of SMY, to these processes that one can learn how to overcome obstacles to emotional and mental cloudiness and achieve deep meditation and spiritual awakening.

 

Learning how to use the pracitces of Sufi Mindfulness Yoga cannot take place in a short amount of time. It takes patience and self-study for you to recognize and categorize your feelings based on the three physiological dimensions of emotions, the first step in the gaining proficiency in SMY. It takes focus and concentration to learn the relationships between individual speech sounds and feelings, the next step. And finally, it takes wisdom gained through experience and trial and error to understand when to apply a specific practice and do so in the proper subtle manner.

 

You can get a detailed explanation of several of these practices from videos I have posted on my Youtube channel. Links to many of these, with a brief explanation of each, follow below.

 

You will find a complete exposition on the entire 99 SMY practices in my book: Sufi Mindfulness Yoga.

 

SMY Youtube videos

 

Lesson 1: Provides a summary of the how SMY categorizes emotions and introduces the six primary sounds and their associated emotional valence.

 

Lesson 2: Introduces the remaining (non-primary) sounds and their associated emotional valence.

 

Lesson 3: Explains how to use SMY to quell one of the five types of mental modifications: Wrong Thinking.