Yoga
This page is devoted to the mental, physical,
and spiritual benefits of Yoga. There isn't much on it yet, because I'm just
beginning to get a grounding in the topic.
Resources
Recordings
- Yoga Shibir with Swamiji
Asanganand Saraswati (zip of MP3s, in Hindi)
Marvelous Yoga Shibir (instructional seminar) from a student/devotee/disciple
of the great Shivananda Saraswati, (Another devotee, Satyananda
Saraswati,
founded the Bihar School of Yoga and
authored of some of the best and most comprehensive books on Yoga available
in the West). This session (in Hindi) was promoted by Yoga
Bharti was recorded. (Fortunately, people helped me understand during
the sessions.) As people give me translations--or I learn enough to make
my own--I will post them here.
Acknowledgments:
Many thanks to Manesh for translating things during several of the sessions.
Any many thanks to Tushar Pandya for his help with translations afterward!
Each time, it is like being in Swamiji's wonderful presence once again, only
deeper! Namaste!
To learn more: Swamiji has a school (near the southwest coast of India,
I think). (The announcement was sent by email, and so far I have been unable
to find any contact links other than those given above.)
- Invocations
- Each session started with a series of invocations to create the
conditions for learning to happen. (If there is no teacher, there
can be no learning. If the conditions are not right, there can be
no learning. But if the conditions are right, and the student is
fully present with the teacher, the teacher channels the knowledge
and transmission flows.)
- Om x 3: 1 each for inner being, outer environment, and the
Divine.
(If we're not in health, we can't learn. If there is cold or noise,
we can't learn,...)
- 2 Sutras: A generic from Maharashi Pantanjali, and one specific
to the sessions
- Pronunciation: ma-HAH-ree-she
pa-TAN-ja-lee. (In English we accent the next syllable
of each word. But that's not the native pronunciation.)
- Addl Note: "Yog" and "Pranayam"
have no final "a", when spoken
- Meaning: Maha-great, Rishi-teacher, seer. Pantanjali-author
of the Hatha Yoga Sutras.
- Shanti Mantra: Divine eace of the heart, of the spirit,
of the mind, ...
- Shanti, Shanti, Shanti: One "shanti" for inner being,
outer environment, & the Divine.
- Om: "Done".
- Friday Evening
- Yog, Pranayam, Meditation: Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) MP3: Hindi
- Discourse: Bagawat Geeta (aka Bagavadgita) and Yoga MP3: Hindi
- Saturday Morning
- Yog, Pranayam, Meditation: Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation),
Digestive Series
MP3: Hindi: 1, 2 (starts with the mantra used
during the practice), 3
- Digestive Series
- Stretch up: Clasp hands on head. Turn palms upward
as you stretch them overhead, rising on toes. Inhale as you
rise, exhale as you come back down. Do it twice. Hands back
to top of head at finish.
- Stretch to side: Clasp hands on head. Palms up, hands
overhead, inhale as you bend to left, exhale back to center.
Twice each side. Hands back to top of head.
- Standing Twist: Right palm to left shoulder, back of left
hand behind to right kidney. Inhale as you twist left. Exhale
back to center. Twice each side.
- Twisting Cobra: Lie on stomach, hands under shoulders,
palms on the ground. Keep toes together, heels apart, relaxed
throughout the asana. Inhale as you rise, minimal support from
arms. Retain breath as you twist spine and neck to left, looking
over shoulder to right heel, and back to center. Exhale as
you lower. Twice each side.
- Twisting Squat: Squat on heels, hands on knees. Inhale
as you twist right knee to left, bringing it to the ground.
Inhale back to squatting position. Twice each side. Rise. (Good
exercise, right there!)
- Digestive Series (when, additional instruction)
(The remaining notes come from the Saturday evening session.)
- Digestion is the foundation of health. The digestive series
improves the function of the intestinal tract, starting at
the top and working down to the bottom.
- Do the series in the order given, for best effect.
- Don't brush teeth or rinse immediately after rising. Reason:
The stomach becomes acidic in the night, but the night becomes
alkaline. So the tradition goes, you get sick at night, but
the gods put a healing pill in your mouth. All you have to
do is swallow!
- Best approach, take a glass of water after rising, and
immediately do the Digestive Series. Then brush or rinse,
take shower, and do other asanas.
- Add a little salt to the water for maximum effect.
- "Mini" Intestinal Cleanse
- There is a "Maxi" cleanse that requires supervision.
This one can be done without:
- Drink 2 or 3 glasses of water with a little bit of
salt.
- Do the Digestive Series 3 or 4 times.
- Repeat the sequence three times.
- (When you're ready, go to the bathroom. After, your entire
digestive tract will be clean as a whistle!)
- Discourse: Yog and Relaxation, Importance of Relaxation
MP3: Hindi 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Saturday Evening
- Yog, Pranayam, Meditation: Asana &
Pranayam
MP3:
Hindi
- Asanas & Pranayam (4 basics):
These are
necessary ingredients for every practice:
- Mechanics: Posture, performance, form.
- Breathing: Deeply, fully, aligned with the body. (Bending
forward, pressure on the stomach makes you want to exhale.
Do that! Bending backward, it's easiest to inhale.)
- Intent: Positive purpose, goal. The meaning of the form.
- Focus: Concentration, awareness, presence.
- Surya Namaskar (when/what):
- Ideally done in the morning, when you get up. (Can be done
anytime.)
- Best done on an empty stomach (45 min. after tea, 1-1/2 hrs
after a light breakfast, 4 hrs. after a heavy meal)
- Can be complement any form of exercise, but leave a 15-20
min. gap between them. (And nothing ever substitutes for
the Yog.)
- This one series works 90% of the body. (Add some spinal
twists, and you have 100%)
- Surya Namaskar (three phases):
All three phases are necessary for a complete practice:
- Invocation: Stand in tadasana (mountain pose, feet
together, straight), hands in prayer position, knuckes of
the thumbs at the indentation of the chest. Close eyes. Recognize
that the source of all energy and all life in this solar
system is the sun. Everything comes from the sun! Every leaf,
every animal. Even the winds, tornadoes, and hurricanes
come from the action of the sun. (The waves, in turn, come
from the winds.)
Note: The motion of the tides, on the other hand,
comes from the moon! I believe that agitation of the promoridal
soup, coupled with a jupiter-sized asteroid collector (along
with the moon), were necessary, along with being in a region
around the sun that is warm enough for water! But the energy of life--that is all the sun.
- Asana: Do the series of poses, intoning the names
of the sun before each one.
- Meditation: Sit. Close eyes. Calm the breath. Visualize
the sun rising between your eyebrows. Feel/see the light
entering your head, filling your head, filling all parts
of your head, then your shoulders, your chest, your torso.
Your arms, your hands, then each leg and foot, in turn. Feel
the sunlight cleansing every aspect of your being. Feel the
impurities being expelled with each exhalation.
- Anti-Gastric Series
- Leg Lifts: Lie on back. Lift one leg slightly. Rotate in
a circle 2 times, then back the other direction. Inhale as
the leg rises, exhale as it returns. Do the other leg, then
both legs.
- Bicycling: Lie on back. Bicycle slowly in forward direction,
then in reverse.
- Pavan Muktasa (spelling?): Lie on back. Inhale as you bring
one knee to chest, pulling in on knee with arms. Exhale as
you bring nose to touch knee. Inhale as you lower head. Exhale
as you straighten leg. Twice each side. Then twice with both
legs together.
- Shoasan (spelling?): Lie on back, arms out to sides,
palms up. Legs apart, feet splayed. Totally relax.
- Pranayam
- There are 5 basic pranayams that are foundation for all others.
Swamiji taught 3 of them in this session.
- General instrutions: Sit in Sukasana (easy
pose). (I suspect you could also sit in Padmasana, Lotus
pose, were you able, or any pose in between that is comfortable
enough to hold for a long time, so it isn't distracting.) Always
sit quietly for a few moments between pranayams!
- Nadi Shodahan (Alternate Nostril): Index and middle
fingers curl into palm. Thumb on one side of nose, last two
fingers on the other. Close right nostril, inhale left. Close
left nostril, exhale right. Then inhale right, exhale left.
That's one round. Do 6 or 7 rounds. Chant SoHm during the practice.
("So" on inhale, "Hm" on exhale.) Variations: Number
of repetitions, speed of the practice.
- Pahstrika (spelling?): Fast inhale and exhale,
from the chest. Arms up, hands open, as you inhale. Hands down
to shoulders and closing in a fist, as you exahle. Both movements
explosive. 10 at a time. 7 fast, then 3 slowing down equals
one round. "It empties the mind. Between rounds, sit quietly
and bask in the emptiness."
- Kapalpati (spelling?): Hands on knees. Short,
explosive exhalations from the abdomen/diaphragm. To get the
feeling, hold one fist with the other hand, and press rapidly
into your stomach as you exhale.
- Discourse: Yog, Spirituality, and Society MP3: Hindi
- Sunday Morning
- Yog, Pranayam, Meditation: Surya Namaskar & Digestive
Series Review, Back Series
MP3:
Hindi
- Discourse: Yog and Diet MP3:
Hindi
- Q & A. MP3: Hindi
- Finish. MP3: Hindi
- Sunday Afternoon
- Discourse: Yog and Bhakti MP3: Hindi 1 (most
of it), 2 (tail
end)
- Meeting with Teachers (barely audible) MP3: Hindi
Books:
- Yoga
for Health and Relief of Tension, by Yogi Vithaldis
Long out of print, but still available in used book stores, this slim volume
gave me my first introduction to the subject, when I was still in High
School. It has a great introduction to postures, internal cleansing practices,
and the Yoga Concentration and Visualization practices that are the foundation
of Yoga meditation.
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