Smt. Hansaji on Routines & Discipline at the Satsang (23rd Dec 2012)

The topic for the Hindi Satsang on Sunday, 16th December, 2012 was ‘Harmony in Marriage’

Following is the transcript of the speech made by Smt. Hansaji Yogendra on the topic.

Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra

“Our body and mind reflect the way we live. There was a student who had lot of problems. Usually she would wake up at any time from 9 to 11 am. She was advised to wake up early, around 7 am, go for a walk and eat on time; because along with sunrise, the body’s external as well as internal activities begin. However, this was very difficult for this lady because early in the morning she suffered from headache and neck pain and it took a long time to adjust to it in the morning. The problem was that she would have got better if she woke up on time, but she was waiting to first get better and then wake up on time.

This struggle does not allow a person to change. It is difficult to even make a very small change. So first, try and make one small change in your entire day and become disciplined in it. For example, either waking up early or sleeping early. Sit quietly with your eyes closed for some time and decide strongly that you want to be disciplined in this one thing.

First bring about the change in your actions; then only will there be inward change. I have seen people who eat home cooked food, but their routines are totally undisciplined. One day they eat outside food, they get food poisoning and even get hospitalized, while others who have eaten the same food will be fine.

A disciplined person should be prepared for an undisciplined routine once in a while and not be disturbed by it, because it only happens sometimes. If there is a party you have to attend and you have to have outside food, choose something that is hot and cooked, with less spices. Avoid raw food. Dal and rice, curd, etc. is better than having vegetables with added colour and spices. You can choose to eat from home before you attend the part and then just take a little food to show that you are eating.

The main point is that we will make mistakes but we should to try to minimize these mistakes. This applies to our relationships too. If someone has the habit to speak too much and says something wrong, relationships get spoiled. To change this, the person will have to start speaking less and listening more in their routine life. When these habits are inculcated in the routines, then it becomes part of the personality.

Routines are very important for our personal growth. Downfalls happen, but as and when we understand the consequences of our actions, we learn. Many times we act in spite of knowing the consequences. We are suffering knowingly; but this link is important for us to realize and grow. No matter how dry it may sound – waking up early, sleeping early, taking out 5 minutes to do something extra…we must continue doing it rather than being lazy and lying around.

Raman Maharshi used to say, man is deranged and is filled with Tamas and so he doesn’t do anything, he just lives. It is important that he take efforts and do something. Laziness is part of our personality and we make excuses to avoid doing things. This has to be overcome and change has to be brought in. Even sleeping 1 or 10 minutes earlier would make a difference.”

– Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra


Satsang is an open meeting held every Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz East, Mumbai. It involves an interesting presentation to the public, made by the students of the Teacher Training Course. Each week, a new presentation of a Yogic concept is made in a simple way through skits and decoration for the general public, followed by a short speech from our Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra.