The Energisation Exercises are Yogananda’s unique contribution to the science of yoga. They use a combination of concentration, will and breath to direct the flow of energy to various body parts. This flow is sent and withdrawn by tensing and relaxing the muscles in the area we want to “recharge.”

Paramhansa Yogananda explained that we draw prana indirectly through the food we eat, as well as through oxygen and sunlight. These indirect sources of energy, however, are like the water you put into the battery of your car. When the battery runs down, no amount of water will bring it to life. You have to recharge the battery from another source. Similarly, Yogananda explained, our bodies live only indirectly from food, but we live directly from the cosmic energy that flows into our bodies through the medulla oblongata at the base of the brain.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” What is the “mouth of God?” Yogananda explained that this is a reference to the medulla oblongata, the stem of the brain located inside the hollow point at the base of the skull. It is here that divine energy enters into the body to sustain us, passing into the brain and through the nervous system to every cell of the body. Through concentration and will power, we draw cosmic energy into the body through the medulla and send it to the various body parts as we tense and relax the appropriate muscles.

Paramhansa Yogananda gave us the axiom “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.” Will power should be applied with intensity, but not grimly or with mental tension. It might help you to think in terms of willingness, enthusiasm, and joy. As you do the exercises, try to feel the flow of energy and be conscious of it.

Then, by the use of your will, direct the flow to specific parts of your body. As you become more aware of the connection between your will and the flow of energy, the more you will be able to increase the flow.

By way of illustration: Close your eyes and gaze, as in meditation, toward the spiritual eye. Concentrate your attention in the area of the medulla at the base of the brain. Now tense your right hand and forearm, feeling that you are sending energy from the medulla to hand and forearm. Continue tensing harder and harder until your hand is vibrating with the effort. Now relax the muscles and feel the energy in the area you have just tensed.

The Energisation Exercises use these principles. At first you will feel tension inside the muscles. Then, with practice, you will begin to experience the flow of energy that creates the tension in the muscles. Finally, you will discover how to direct that flow. You may find it helpful to visualize a flow of light. Try to feel the flow if you can while concentrating deeply. Yogananda’s direction was to “Tense with will!
Relax and feel.”

Key Points for Practicing the Energisation Exercises

1. Concentrate on the flow of energy.
As you do the Energization Exercises, alternately tensing and relaxing the appropriate body parts, visualize energy coming into the body through the medulla oblongata and flowing to the particular muscles you are tensing. Concentration and will power draw energy into the body. Once you’ve learned the exercises, try to keep your eyes closed with your gaze upward toward the point between the eyebrows.

This will help interiorize your concentration and keep your mind superconscious. With your gaze upward, let your concentration be on the flow of energy to the body part or muscle group you are tensing.

2. Use conscious will as you do the exercises.
Use your will to direct a limitless flow of energy into the appropriate body part to energize the cells. After tensing an area, completely relax and feel the results. Conscious relaxation after each exercise is very important. Tensing and relaxing recharges the body with energy and, even more importantly, trains us to bring the flow of prana under our conscious control. This is the true meaning of pranayama. Prana=energy, yama=control.

3. “The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.”
This is a spiritual law. Think of will as “willingness” to avoid being grim, but use your will very intensely, especially during the tensing parts of the exercise

4. Tense and relax gradually, from low to medium to high tension and back again from high to low.
Never tense quickly, with a jerk or so hard as to cause physical discomfort. You don’t want to “strip the muscle gears.” Tense in a continuous wave: low, then medium, and then high with maximum effort, until the muscles vibrate. Hold the tension for three to four seconds and then relax completely from high, to medium, to low and finally to no tension.

5. Practice with “double breathing.”
Many of the exercises call for a double breath as learned in Lesson 2. Begin by inhaling strongly through the nose with a short, sharp inhalation followed directly by a long, strong inhalation, completely filling your lungs. You will make a “huh, hhuuuhhh” sound. Then, exhale through the mouth and nose with the same double breath, making again the “huh, hhuuuhhh” sound. Feel cosmic energy flowing into the medulla with each breath.

6. Practice outdoors if possible to have plenty of fresh air.
If you are unable to do this, practice in front of an open window or door where fresh air can enter.

7. Practice at least once each day, and preferably twice.
Each exercise should be done three to five times. Once you have learned all the exercises, it should take you 10 to 15 minutes to do them all. Energisation can be practiced before meditation to release tensions and still the body, or at any time.

8. Modify if necessary.
If you have back, neck or any other physical problem, or if a body part is ill or injured, modify the exercises for these body parts or practice the exercises mentally for these areas, or do with low tension only. You may find it helpful to simply visualize a current of light flowing to the affected part.

9. Isolate the body part being tensed.
If you find it difficult to isolate a specific muscle or body part, put your mind there and energy will automatically flow to that part. In time you may be able to actively locate and tense the muscles individually.

10. Try to do all the exercises.
Begin by learning a few exercises at a time until you can practice them all each day. The exercises can be difficult to learn through written material only, so you may find it helpful to follow them on the wall poster or purchase the companion DVD of the exercises being performed. In Level 1, we reviewed 10 of the energisation exercises. In Level 2, we practice all 39 exercises.

11. Do the exercises with willingness and joy.
Feel that you are giving your body a “breakfast of energy.” Keep this affirmation in mind as you practice, “Within me lies the energy to accomplish all that I will to do. Behind my every act is God’s infinite power.”