A collation of articles by - yogastudies.org Prahlada and others get into Samadhi easily due to...

A collation of articles by

Srivatsa Ramaswami around the teachings of

T Krishnamacharya published in the ‘Indian Review’

circa 1979-1981.

List of Articles and Indications of Content: Page 1. Front Cover

Page 3. Index

Page 5. About T Krishnamacharya, My Guru

Page 11. Yoga – Its Basis, Practice and Benefits

Page 15. On Yoga Texts

Page 19. What the Four Chapters of the Yoga Śāstra say

Page 23. Prelude to the Practice of Āsana

Page 29. On Your Feet for Āsana - Samasthiti, Tāḍāsana, Uttānāsana, Utkaṭāsana,

Page 35. More Standing Āsana - Caturaṅga Daṇḍasana, Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana, Adho Mukha Śvānāsana, Parśva Uttānāsana, Vīrabhadrāsana

Page 39. The Triangle Pose - Trikoṇāsana, Parśva Koṇāsana, Prasārita Pāda Uttānāsana

Page 43. The Supta Āsana - Tribandha, Taḍāka Mudrā, Cakravākāsana, Jaṭhara Parivṛtti

Page 47. Dvipāda Pīṭham - Ūrdhva Prasṛta Pādāsana, Supta Padaṅguṣṭhāsana, Supta Parśva Padaṅguṣṭhāsana

Page 53. Śīrṣāsana and Variations

Page 57. Sarvāṅgāsana and Variations

Page 65. Halāsana and Uttāna Mayūrāsana

Page 67. Prone Postures and the Spine - Bhujaṅgāsana, Śalabhāsana, Dhanurāsana

Page 73. Paścimatānāsana - Ardha Baddha Padma Paścimatānāsana, Pūravatānāsana, Catuṣ Pāda Pīṭham, Navāsana

Page 79. Some Simple Balancing Āsana - Utthita Padaṅguṣṭhāsana, Eka Pāda Utkaṭāsana, Ardha Baddha Padma Uttānāsana, Garuḍāsana, Bhagīrathāsana, Vātāyanāsana, Vasiṣṭhāsana, Kasyapāsana, Tolāsana, Lolāsana, Parśva Uttāna Kurmāsana, Bhujapīḍāsana.

Page 83. Vajrāsana and Vīrāsana

Page 87. Siddhāsana - Gomukhāsana, Simhāsana, Bharadavājāsana, Aśvinī Mudrā, Mahā Mudrā, Mahā Bandha

Page 95. Padmāsana - Supta Padmāsana, Ūrdhva Padmāsana, Adho Mukha Padmāsana, Bhadrāsana, Parvatāsana, Yoga Mudrā, Ṣat Mukhi Mudrā

Page 103. Kapālabhāti

Page 109. Sargarbha Prāṇāyāma

Page 117. The Kumbhaka - Nāḍi Śodhana, Sūrya Bhedana, Śītalī and Bhastrikā

Page 121. On Antaraṅga Sādhana

Page 127. Yoga and Contraception

Page 133. Antenatal Yoga - Part 1



About Sri T. Krishnamacharya, My Gurufu RAMASWAMI, Trustc. Ktishnamacharya Toga Mandbam, MADRAS.

Srimatc Aaantala Nagaru-ja2a Namo Namaha

. Asm ad ac h arlx b hy as S ar a e b hyoNamo Namaha,

Sri T. Krishnamacharya isonc of Indie's best knownIiving authoritics of Yoga andHindu Sastras in gene4al.Born in the village of Muchu-lunte, in Karnataka State in1892, he hails crom the familyof the Yogi Nathamuni, wholivcd during tbe 7th and 8thcenturies of our era and istemembered for such workses Yoga Rzihasya'and YogaTathva. As a boy, Sri Krishn-amacharya's tcacher was hisfatl er, Srinivasa Tatacharya,.a priest and a religious teac-hcr, who gavc his son a tho-roughly traditional educationand had begun instructirghim in the elements of Yogawhen his untimely passingaway interrupted his dceprtudy, unforturately. At thcagc of twelvc, therefore, SriKrirhna madc. hir way loMysore City ard there joinrd

the Mysorc l r4aharaja 'Sanskrit College. At the sametime he tcok up th€ study ofSanskrit grammgr (Vyakarna)and logic inyaya) under Kris-hna Brahmatantra, the Swamiof Parakala Mutt ard theGuru of the Maharaja.

After 6vc ycars of study,he wended l ' is way toKashi ar d continued hisstudie6 under thc great

scholars, Vam a na c h a r yaBhattacharya, $auganathaJha and other well kr-ownscholar-teachers of Indian phi-losophy in the early vears ofthecentury. fn the next l i r learsKrishnamachar\ a was .iwar -ded several dcgrrc"., rrr luding'Samkhva Yoga Shihhrrnarr iMimamsa Tir tha, Nvaracha-r},a, Vedarrta \, 'aqeesa, Nvavaratna :rnd Veda Kcsari f 'ro:rrutrir ' :rsit ies such as KashiHirrdu Universitv, Allaha-bad, Caltutta, Baroda andDarbhanga Univrrs i t ies.

INSEARCH OF A GURU

But ever sir.t:e the death ofhis flather he had been withonta guru with whom he couldcontinue his spiritual andYogic studies and practice.Obviousli he was not satisfiedwith mere Shastragnana, butYearned for the realisation asexperien' ed by our attcientRishis. He always hoped tof i -d his Guru ard in l9 l7 hefelt he had succeeded. Helearned of the Yogi Ramamo-hana Rrahmachari who lived

l - , - .

with his family hear theManasa Sarovar in the Wesr-ern Tibctan region. As soonrs he found the necessarymeans to make the travel, heproceeded to meet Yogi Bra-hmachari, who accepted himas his dirciplp. Un{cr hiqGuru's tutelagc Krishnama-charya was initietcd iniq ellaspects of Yoga, including itstherapeutic applications. Heroamed about thc vast vege-tation kingdom ofthe mount-ains and learned about theextraordinaly herbs 4nd theilefficacies. He learned hun-dreds of . Asanas, varieties ofPranayamas, Dandhas andMudras and number of vari-ations in posturcs, breathsetc. and achieved a complctemastery over body and mind,to such an extent that hccould control the invol-untary funetions as well.These siddhis^ horlever, didnot detcr him from his complete dcvotion to his Guru andtotal surrcnder to Lo d Nara-yana. His faith in .the Sastras,even got strengthened by hisactual physit.al, physiological,rnental and spiritual experien-ces. At this ripe age of85, hecontinucs to do his Nitya, Nai-mithika Karmas and his daily,elaborate pooja of Lord Nara-yana during the three hoursPrior tr) sunrisc, apart fromyojic vyay2ya6a.

He returned to Sputh Indiarin l924and, on tbc eommandof his Guru, sattlcd down to

a married lifc, As he was srcholar in Sarulrit, hc natu-rally bcgan to rcccive offerrfrom various universiticg tohead thcir dcpartments ofphi-losophy and religion, posts forwhich he was so emine4tfygusliflcdi but to r*nlecmentof everyonc he. chosc toteaph Ypgn inrtord. Wh enprofessional colleagues andrelatives found him stcadfastin his decision, their amaze.ment turned to ridicule andGycn opcn abure. S*$, hisfrrm rorolve, his erudltisn itidprofcicncy woq sornc t!hc-t4nt r$pect, and eAe by ont,hir criticg grcw les6 6tpcrrlF.Indced, somo evcn bocggq. lisstudents.

frrtT tg64 c$|*f|tl

As Krishnanacbarya\ $ilr-tation grew, eo drd l|esprcad ofclassical Yoga. in1930, thc Mahqraja of &lfr$ebcceme his studcnt. So nr3h(hith did hc place in thc &mr'lsy-scholar'r grasrqq$ conqrc-hension of Yoga, Sanskrit arida wide rangc of our Sastrasrthat he considcred Krishna-'!ach.4rya as his Gwu. At theMaharaja's 3uggestbn hc €sta-blished a school of Ycgc mthe palace, itself- tho A4ysorcSri Yogashela and ftorn thisbase, Krfuhnamacharya ca:riedon his tcachings for the nexttwen-tyfive years. From timcto time, hc travelled in partsof India, preaching. Yogaand in thir procols, maoy dthc Mabaraias of thoae dalr

became his disciples. Theyin turn kndlcd in theirpcoplc a rencwed respcctfor this ancient subjcct.

This had repcrcussions inthc wqt. Some d.lhe Britis-hers end Euloiiatrs who wcreta&ing interest in Indologyfttqucntly. visltecl him. Wcst-ern scientists and doctors rcadwith great intcrcst about thereputed ,powers' of India'slogir, an{. qtany eamo toIndia to verify tho claimsthemselves. $ri Krishnarnach-arya submitted himself will-ingly to all such legitimatescicntific curioritics. To peoplesuth as Proftssor Wenger ofCalifbrrrla and Doctor TherescBrosse of Pdris. he showed thatsrechanical and electricayactlom ofth€ heart could ticmodified at will, and to other.carnest professionals" he de-monstrated stoppege of thepillso for ov.f two drinutcs,and so on..

ErtOIrVlD NElt SYITEU

There are special rparks ofSri Krishnamacharya's teach-ings, basgd. on tradition, hisown expiricnc.e and irr\ovativeexperirpentttiorls. Apart fromhis Guru,. hd stude{ variouslystcms ofYogic pradtices indiffercnt parts oflndiit, cspc-clally in the Punjab andNcpal. -€ relcarched. manyrncidnt Yoga to(ts in paliolcaves and evolYcd a rystemwhich h uniquc, The numb6of annae and dreir'variarion'c'

in his repertoirc is enormous. B.K.S. Iyengar and the Acha-For instance in Padmasana rya's son S{i T. K. V. Desika-alone, or in Sawangasana char are well known yogathcre are very many varia- cxPonents' Some ofhis longtions possible. Furthcr the standingstudents have had theusc of brcath to synchronise benefit of not only learningwith movements in asana, thc the pactical aspects, but alsourodrfication of aganas and tbe theoretical wor}s like thebrcathing pattern to suit each Gita, Yoga Sutras, Yogara-individual. case-as if tailor haoya ard alrc the Yogic

. made- and an appreciation of UPanishads like thc Chandog-intirnate relationship between ga, Svetaswatara*.cLal. Hisbdy, mind and brcith, which lccturcs on our .trama Dhar*is accomplished by combining mas and the Drahrmsutrasamuar,breathinganddharana-, and Yogasutrat hase bcenes enrrnciated in the Sastras, well appreciated" Hc hos ahothe emphasis on (imaging'

" written many books on Yoga

peacefut Devatakara (srbh3- * YqSr Meleranda, Yogasa,sraF) Bre F+r of rhc qpqi*;, nas, Yoganjati, Shastriya Yo-marks of his methodorosy- $li,il*ll*::?JXll;cull ron iltTBUA. Tatwr Niraaya.

Wlth this Y"f; f. was aHb Sinec Yoga is knorrn efthtlto' curc rrnrty fulctional for Asanas or fot Sanladhidisordcr: including lomc types this series was started to showofdiabetes, asthms, patalyfu the place ofallyogic. practi-chrotic hcadachc, inrcmnir, cer. samadhi or intcnrc con-certain stc!ility cases in wo: ccntration, is possible only forman, hy'pertension, hcart ail- a tbw Samahita Chithasj andmed& ctc. Often hic hclp was' . who can practice vairagya.souglht when llt othcr mtdie*. .,EJen among those, if there ismcthods had failcd; hdeed an ultinrate purposc oiattain- .many of

-hjs Yoga stfrdqfr mcnt of Sidhi in Yoga, such

:."* to -hin

originatly 5, ?ar princeFhru*., ,u"h yogi,the cure ofone rcrious alhnbnt arc llable for rebirth.or sther. In frct, my o,rrudy wirh tt. e"h""y. r.q:l YoGA StItHAr^swhen he was consulted bylr",r,u, ro, "

- r.i,,il;;:;t.il ll,iffin,ry;1,.T olll;.il jnervous dcblity. Thcn ilt the faith i" th;;c;i;ir""., .",r,*lI*h:" ofour.family becarne asm, constant thinking, intensehis ltudents- Apart from yogrc concentration and an awarerr-therapy,hchasbcnefitcdurany

"r. i"iri"g-;"a"ir*,ii, onryothcr rcnowned teachers, Somc wih lead tl chitta Nl"oaf,.,

^of his own studentslike Sri propundedUyfatariati. ec.o.

rding to our Ac-harya, such Para-vairagyt is notpossiblc in thiskali Yuga How-ever aparavaira$-ya can be practised, whichis not desiring anything be-yond ones own Dharmicduties.

Samadhi is also possibleffi of intense devotion tolswam or the Cosmic princi-ple. $uch devotees as Thyaga-raja, Prahlada and others getinto Samadhi easily due totheir extremely pure heart,How about thc restn VyuthanaChittas, the Kriya Yoga isrncntioncd, as the ste?pintstone,

TAPAS

If one considers samahitachittas as fit for Samadhi andtherefore Uttama adhiharis fmyoga, Patanjali suggests kriyayoga for mild practitioners(Mridu) and ashtanga yoga.lor madhya adhikaris.

Controlled activity, study ofsrriptures leading to self-reali-sation and total dedication tothe cosmic principle are theaspects of Kriya Yoga.

Tapas Saad\taya Ishwara-ptanidhanani

Kila Togaha 'r

Tapa is very important forpractitioners ofYoga. Vyasapoints out that without Tapas.one is a non - startcr in'Yoga

'Na AtaPanino fogahaSid@ati n

The inipurities or the drosrin the inind and bodl' arisingout of conta4ts with worldlYobjerts which are inimical to

)'oga cannot be got rid offwithout the Practice of taPasor austerities. TaPas literallYmeans to 'heat uP" Patanjalim€ntionedthe benefit of taPasas the purill(ation ofbodY andthe senses.

K ayen dr a s u dd hi hi As udd hiks ha-)ath Taqasaha I

SVADHYAYA

However, the various Pic-tures and stories of TaPaswismake onc feel that taPas ismor; difficult than Yoga itsclf'But what, in practical tcrms istapas ?

The fint step in thc Prac'tice ofyoga is tapas and itis control ofdiet and sPeech.

Mithananam Mithabhasha'namcha tl

Githcharya also emPhasisesthc importancc of ProPer food;so also the various HathaYo-gis. Satwic food in limited

-quantities, and PrirPorefulconversation is taPas for ayogabhyasi.

Jtfat\ ann as tu fo gos t hafuktahara Vihoarya Togo

Bhauathi n

SWARAPRAMIDHANA

The yogabhYas's ultimateaim ir clf realization, as anexperience. However, sinceonc i8 uonstantly distracted bYthe bornbardment of stimulfrom the external world, theseparate distinctive characte-ristics of thc Purusha is lost tothe mind which is thc root-cause (kshetra) ofall aflictionsphysical and mental-as coniuslon (Avidya), idcntitY withone s mental Projection of sclf(Asmita), indiscriminate infa-tuation( ftaaga), Preju.diced av'crsion(Dvesha) and innumcra'ble anxitties including thc fearof'losing possessions, Prestigeand l,fe (Abhinivesa). Thusit is necessary for the Yoga'blil'asis to rePeatedlY rcfrbshhis mind of the distinction ofPr4kriti.and Purusha bY thestudy of Vaidic scriptures,and other Sastras' .

Pr anidhanaha Bhaktioises ha'ha.

Immense devotion or lovetowards thc Univsnal Lord(Iswara) is. anothcr imPortantfactor in kriya yoga. It hasalreadv becn mentioncd thatIswara according to Piatanlaliis a special Purusha, unaflc-cted by Klesa, Karma, rcsultof action, or desire for activt-ty. In him are containcd allpotential knowledgc or Omni-

science. He is the first teacher,but unlimited by time. He isk-own by tha repetition olHis sacred uord Pranava. thejapa being done by contempla-tingon the meanirg of themystic syllable, OM.Klesa karma oipaka Asayihi

Aparamrsuhataha PunshaViscshaha Iswaraha!

Tatra Niatisalam SaraaggnaBijam!

Pnoashimapi Guruhu halcnaAnaouhcdhaha!

Tasya Va chakahd Pranattaha

Tat Japaha Tadanta Bhava-nam I

Since, it may notbe possiblcfor onc to contcmplatc on anattributcless Iswara, Vyasa inhis commcntery, intcrPrctrIswarapramidhana as therurrcndcring of all actions tothe Grcat Mastct and t h cabandonmcnt of all hanketingafter thc fruits of action.

IswarcP amidhaxgn, S arvak-ilanam,

P ar ama guuo at P anut, TatP h'closaalosanuha I

The kriya yoga rcduces thefiv.c mcntal aflictiors such asconfusion, (AvidYa) and othersmentioned earlicr .and PrePar-cr thc mind Q1 Ekagra.

S onarlhi Bhaoanartha haK bs at a n uk at a nanl h otc li a

When an abhyasi becomesestablished in kriya Yoga,on€ can start on Ashtan;yoga, which isthe step by stepprogression inYoga enuncia-ted by Patanjali.In the'next issue,the priliminaryangas namely yama andNiyama, will be dealt with tostart

^the chapter on the prac-

trce ol asanas (Asanapraka_rana).

In the II article on YogaTherapy, a mistake has creptin, on page 31, under theheadingto "Calm the Mind".The reader is requested toread the fourth line from thebottom/as follows :

" In this practice, the em-phasis is on breath control,especially long exhalation(Pracharohana) and reten:'tion of breath after exhala-tion (Vidharana)".

Yg_ffcnff-t

\ry

Yoga-lG Basis, Practice & BenefiG

$ S. RAMASWAMI, Trutcc, Eritlwwlurlt loga Hndhaa' MADEAS,

Yogcna Chirtrsy aPadena Vacham

Malam SariraryaCha Vaidyahena I

Yopalarottam PrevaramMuninam

Patanjalio PranialiRanatosmi h

l'he term Yoga is bcingused qrrite extensively thescdav" 16 .o"o*pais e varietyof practices for diffcrcnt crds,Phyrical cxercirl, mcditationrcertain Lriyas, mcntal attituC."towarda work and rcsuttg arcromc of thcm, .'n'idcly propa.gatcd and $iactiscd. Thirseries of arricles is airncd abringing tbe trrditional coD-cept and practicc of Yoga ar

. formulared by the great Pat-anjali.

Patanjal i wes a Rishi . A.Risbi is one who cxprcsle!Truth as expcricnccd by him(Rahasassaryavachaaaha). TbcVcdas contain such crprcr.rionl of variors Rirhis, Actu-

PATANJALIrlty Thc Vcidic religion ioLnown m Arsa. or rhosc ofRirbir. Thc rcriprurcr, 'sccn'or c:prcssed by thc Rishiserc callcd Vcdas.

Thc Vaidic treclations(Deruana) bilongcd to twocatcgorirE. Pravritti Mergawhich cnunciated tbc variousrdigiour ritcs (Kartne) andurociatcd Mantrar, lcadingto worldly happiaco and or-

derly lifc (dharma). Tberewqr thc otter group of Rishirwbo promulgatcd thc NivrirtiMarga' rhe way ol ralvation,a frecdom from rcbinh,sorrow, anC suffering andettaiDment ofpeace at heart.JanaLa, Yagnavaltya, Kapilaand of coursc Patanjali arcforcmorr among them, apartfiom thc lcsr known whosciombrtal words ariting out ofintenre Semadhi are ro bcfourrd il the vast Vaidiclitcrature, cspecially thcUpanirads.

THE TWO P TIIS

Of thc rix Vaidic Dstranas,Yoga ir pcrhapc the roo.tcomprcbcnsivc. Yoga, SamI'ya and Vcdanta form a cloregroup of Darranas and rcvcalthe hcight of Vaidic wirdom.Ewn rhough rbcrc are somcminor diffcrcnccs DtDottgthese systems, onc with o dcePrridy sill bc abtc to cerilYreconcilc rbc apparcnt diffcr'

r-

encer. There n no mrstatingthc Bcncral direction of tberccnquirier or thc .imilariry ol'erpcrienccr, ell arising out ofitnmenre absorption in Trurh(Samadhi)r

Human happincgr is at itshighcst when the pcople havcgood health, express then-relvcr wcll and havc clearoinds. Bhartrubari, the greatphiloopher and grammariancmpharirer thc necd for thcpurity of rhree human acrivi-tics (Trikaranasuddhi) and re-fcrs to thrce great Sastras,viz. Medicinc (Vaidya orChilitsa) Grammer (Pada orVyakarana), and Yoga as thcrcspcctivc means for the puri.fication ofthe rhrec karanas,viz. of Body (kaya), Speech(vaL) and Mind (Manas)

SUTRA LANGUAGE

And Maharishi Patanjali isbelievcd to have wrirreu rhc'trcatisc on thcse rhree sub-jccts. Lcgend hes it that whcnan ancient people sufferingfrom tbe defilcmcng of thciractivitier' pra).d Ishwara forguidancc, Patanjali in thgform ol a scrpent fell intotbeir praying arms (Patam fAnjah)and wrote thcscSastras, as b cvident in thcDhyanarloka appearing inrhe beginning of this arti.clc. Thc Yogasastra itsclf iswrirtcn in crypric aphorisml(Surra) in four ChaPtcrs.Bcing ured by a grammarian,thc Sutra language of Patan.

jali is of a vcry high orderand thc choicc of words isadmirablc. The systeB i!comprcbensive, Bhowing theplace, practice atrd the bcnc-fits of rany sub-systcnr ofYoga, such ar Gnana, Bhakti'Karma, Kriya, Laya, Hatha.Mantra, Japa, Raja etc. Thc195 Sutras have bcen comm-ented upon (Bhashya) in de'rail by RishiiVyasa and fur.ther clucidations (Vivarana)have been madc by Vacbaspati Misra. Another vivara'na in the name of Sankara'charya alsr is availablc.

ON'fHE TYORD 'YOGA'

The oost common inler'pretation of the word loga isintegration, derived from theroot Yuj (Yujir Yoge)' Suchan integration would requiretwo separatc things or PrinciP'les (Tattwa) and a novcmcnrbetween cach oth.r, necessit-ating activity in atllcast eith'er of the two principles. Yogais, thcrefote, both the mear,sand tbe actual merger ofleparate Tattwas On thisbaris, many yoga sYst€mshave come into vogue-someVaidic and some others non'Vaidic. The conjoining ofJivatma and Paramatma isYoga, as per Srimad Bhaga-wata. Therc arc other scboolswhich proclaim that thc con-joining ol Prana with APana'Sakrhi in Muladhara and Srvain Sahasrara or mind andsetf as thc goal of Y..ga andenunciare lhe means fur such

an intcgration.Howcvcr, sufficeit to say thatall system, basr-cally recoglizcthat activity is neccssarv torYoga and all the constiiucntpr inciples have a certain

About the ArtbotMr. S.Ramaswami, has been

studtnt of PnJ Krishnamachatlotstt two decades in theory and:tice of Toga. Aput fron

Togosanas and Prana2ama, hasstudi?d fogd texts such as Palan-

fo gatulras, Halhryo go!/a', Upunisads as Chandog2a,

Tailhiil a,Sa c t as a a tat a, I s ao a s7 aGita etc,, Adh2a\ona (chant'

) of the whoh of Taithiriloof Tojur Veda

laii s ads, M antraPrusanam e tc

from tfu Athalta. Has ol.

power (Saklhi) and thcre is'no Tattwa without its dirtin-guishiag characterietics (gun-asJ.

THA "HREE.

PRINCIPLE3

Patanjali, in the rreaticc onYoga, recognizes three dis-!1", principles (Tatrwa,1.Thcy are (i). purusha, (ii) pre-kr i t l ( i i i ) f5eeya. I r is neces-sary to dilate on thcse thrcca littls rn6yg,

Purusha lirerally means thc' indwel l ing pr incipler, I r i ra lso knowrr as the obgervrr(Drasta), the experiencer(Bhokta), the owner (Swamior Atma), the l iv ing enr i tyt , ! l : i ) f intel t igence energy(Chirhi Sakrhi) etc. Accord_ing to Patanjali, the self orArman is toral intelligenc6(Drisimatra) pure lSui'dha.rand nonchanging; howcver, iseonsarain€d to oversee thcpreseniation of rhe mind(Chitra Vrirhi). In normalexisrencc, thcrcforc, erenthough Purusba ig differenrfrom rhe engulfing miod, it isnot entirely frcc ofit.

in the form of encrgy (Agni),air (Vayu) fluid (ep) andsolid (Prithvi). lt includcrihe 6ve instrumcnts of pcrcep-tion (Gnanendriyas) andthe f,ve inrtruornts of action(Karmendriyas) and themind (Chirra) which is evcr-changing with rhrec qual i t ieswhich arc clarity (piakasa),activity (kriya) and inerria(Sthithi) Ir coutd be observedthat cven the mind, whichcould be misrakcu f o rone'l sclf is actuallv oarrof thc observed ar all rhcmental Eodification (Chitta.vr i rh i ) includins) rhe . l _exirt - Geli6g, (Asn,iro) areoverseen by the indwellinePurusha. Prakriri can be oino use except to rhc Atmanand- rhe indiv idual soul Uiva)makFs

_ use of th is pr incipleelther tor experienccr (Bhoga)or renunciation (Apavarga).The dichotomy (Vivetai ifAtmic powcr (chi t isaLthi) andmental power (chirrarakthi) isttre greatest revctarion of theUpanisadic philosophies, andis of immense practical urc rorhe spir i rual aspirant.

WARA

visesha), unaffccted by affiicr.ionr (Llera), dced (kerme),result of action (vipaka) ot tbodmirc ficr action (Asrya). tnhim arc contained ell poten-tial Lnowledgc or onnisciencc(Sarvagna Bijam). He is thefi rst teacher (Purwshamguru)but unlimited by tirne. Hc irknown by the repetition (J8pa)ofHiisacrcd word Pranava.the japa being done by con.templating on thc Eearingof rhe mystic syllable. Suchcon'etnplat ion reoovcc aI Iinterference! (antataya) inthe path ofYoga.

FIVE MENTAL LEVELS

Vrasa, rhe commeotatororr the Sutras, classifieA mcn"tal levels of humanity into6ve. At one extremc is rhdKshipta or demented condi-tion, which group hcts con.centration. There are thenthose who are in the covcredor tofallt infatuated rtagc(Muda). Such pcople do notadmit evcn the reparate ehFstencc of the distinct indwell.ing intelligtnce principle(Purusha) or the all - pervad-ing unlioited cosrbic princi.ple, Iswara. They live by thcdictates ofthe gcnses and 'thcundiffercnriating mind arrdare affiictcd. The third, rhcrestlcar stage (viLshipta) is oncin wtiich tbc individual lean8towards realizing his trucnatrtre, but ir constanrly dls.tractcd by the srnrcs rind amiod afiicreil by acquircdhr.biti (Samrlara) arisirit out of

Prakriti or creared prin Unlike sankya' erpccially

ple is rhe **ra.- oririr"l' the Niriswara Samkya philo'

i*,ogy.-, u* rii"ilil.1 sophers' Yoga recognizer rheu,,d- io. "*p,.,,, h tu';;;";;;: t'lT::.:l ;':;"'i;. ;:*:It includcs everytbins rhc ;;;;;,;J;::"",iJ i"*""",obscrvcr (Drashra) exp-cricn- even though. ro gea a hang of".t...

J, is rhe phenomenal the term-is-b.-yo"n"j -rf,. .orn.world,Eadc upofitsfivebasic prehension of many minds,glojt asPggts (Panchabhur4) lccordrngtopat..i.li, l"weraoI spacc (Akasa), and mattei is one speiial pur*.t a(,pu"urU"

bcginningless previous karmas.Thcy altcrnate bctwccn seve-ral cxpericnces (Bhoga) andrenunciation (lpavarga). Thisrpiritual restlerlness ir discer'nible in. all who are dissatis'ficd with mundane and Phen-omenal existence. Such pe:-ple do occarionally get inlon state of total absorpt ion ina higher principte or a statcof Samadhi. but such experi-chces are few and far betweenand according to Vyasa willnot come undef the termYoga. Without the grace oflshwara and practite of ren-unciation, they continue to be

in a state of restletsness.However, when they take upthc practicc of Yoga, theyare known as Yogaruda,those wanting to .trcad thepath of Yoga.

SAMADHI : TWO KINDS

Two othcr levels, whichfall into Yoga are calledfocussed (Ekagra) and un'affectcd or protected (Niro-dha). These actually leadto two kinds of samadhi, onein which the mental enerqiesarc absorbed in a single itemor object . The otherSamadhi is one in whieh themental energy (Chittasakthi)

.<.

remains undis-turbcd by sen-ses or gamskaras.This is calledNirodha stage and is the ul-t imate objective of Yogasas.tras as propounded by Pa an-iali. This Nirooha is beyondthe five arimatc mental statcs(Ckittavrithi) in which themind exists al l through I i fe.What are those normal men-tal states, which the Yogtranscends to reach Nlro-dha? What then happensto Chitta and Purusha? Arethere Yoga benefits otherthan the transcendental?

I

ON YOGA TEXTSS. RAMASWAMI

There are many fascinating works onyoga in agraharams and certain households.They are l lgasurgs of yogic intormat ion. ex-p6?iences and instrucl ions w?i t ten by di f fer-ent yogis, munis and siddhas. They containinstruct ions about many unknown and lesrknown aS&nas (Gupta asanasr,thBrapy. meditat ivo techniques, etc.Excopt for a few, many havs not seen thel ight ot the day. According tO my Acharya-who himsel f has done considerable rese.arch on these ancient works and has evolvedhis yogapaddhathi- i t wi l l be very rewardingfor a research worker in yoga. The presentday leachings of a few asanss. assortedmeditations etc,, only touch lhe surface olons of the brilliant fac€ts of our snci€nthoritsge^

PUBTISHED WORKS ON YOGAOuite a few of the texts haw however

be€n sdited and pfinted. The most promin-ent of them al l are parhaps rha Patan,alaYoga Darsana, and Hathayogapradeepika ofSwatmarama, Thero ale many olher lessknown works and a br ief descr ipr ion ofsom6 of thoil is attompted in this write up.

A very important text useful f rom al laspocls. including tharapy (chik i tsa) is yogarahasyr of sage Nathamuni, a descendent ofthe great Natha group of yogts. ln a chapteron "Sar i ra Aadharyam", he grves pract ical

gynaecological h ints, which mav be oli nlerest.

,, Pssclsanam Yog.nidrl srrbhrpin::r".rTT

Matsvendraasa nam " nt"tn"

"i,l'Jn"nniillt,,A lew asanas are speci f ied as ef fect iv€

as garbha nirodhaka, ot those that preventconcept ion, The posturos mont ioned alePaasaasanam, a posture that requires twis-ting th€ sDin6 and encircling the bent knseswith thg arms f . rom a di f f icul t posi t ion cal ledUrkstaasanam. lt resembles to me SriMarkandayahugging Sival ingam. Yogani-dra is a highly compl icated exercise, so alsogarbhapindasanam which producss a tremo-ndous pressure on the pelv ic region and theabdomgn, Matsy€ndraasanam, a vetv gtace-ful and majest ic asana, r6quires twis l ing 8ndcontract ion of the pelv ic muscles, uterus anda detinit6 positive prossure exerted by theembedded heel . These postures accordingto Sr i Nathamuni prevent concapt ion, (possi-bly they prevent embedding of tho ovum) lfdone daily, Evidently these a16 con(raindi-cat€d for pr€gnent woman, who desire preg-rrsncy to Cont inue. ThEse asanas Are to b6done with expert g,r idanco consider ing thecondi t ion of tho indiv idual . These are fa i r lycomplica?ed postufes,rsquiring proctice fromearly age and as a mass method of contracep-toin wr l l be of l i t t le use,

Should asana pr8cl ica be tota! ly abando-ned dur ing pregnancyT No, according to Sr iNathamuni and my Achalya He has somespecl f tc postures that help tha hoal thy growthof foelus.

- P!.valarna Dwipsth Bsddhalon" t"O.*l:ir""J ;

Strsha Seryasnsa Pavanaoyoamaihi ""tT#",1:

Parvataana, th€ posterior stretchingposturo, Barldhakona, an extsnsion of Maha-mudra, Desk posture and Padmansanam.it could be observed, holp lo str€tchthe muscles of the pelv is, the abdo.inen and also the low back-which is It rouble area lor wom€n carry ing-and helpin the progress of pregnancy. l t could beobs€rv€d bv yoga practitionets that lhesopostutes are enl i re ly opposed to IhOSO men-t io l red f t , r garbhanirodha, A good st int ofPraanayama practice (Sitali, nadisodhana.Ujjayi) also is to be done by the garbhini,possibly as i t helps in meet ing tho highetdemand of oxygen and also as Pavanaa-bhyasa has a t ranqui l iz ing ef fect .

HETPFUL DURING PAEGNANCYI have seen my Acharya gncourage some

of his adapt students, during even in theirsdvanced slag€s of pregnancy to do Head-stand. lt and Sarvangasanam are helpfulduling pregnancy as they have a pr€ventivg€ffect against varicose veinc, oedema ol thelegs-common conditions during pregnancy.They also help in mi ld ly massaging rheuterine 16gion, and also relieve pelvic congos-uon. Evidently these antsnatol exercisescannot be started offectively after pregnancy.It will b6 a great boon to womsn if thsystart yoga and master the postures when they8ro young (preferably staning beforo puber-ty) to dorivo the gynaecological bsnelits ofyoga. Later on, woll, thoy could lesch yogato thsir s luggish husbands and th€ funoving chi ldren too I

It has been ths custom to racommsndto pregnant women (bar ino compl icatedcases) to do regular household work so thatchi ldbir th could be normal and without tears.Nathamuni has this to say about nolmaldel ivery.

Aadvam Jrtlra Bh€grsYtVivr i thihl Konlm P!nch!kamSitr l l Nasdik. Sudhch!Sulhagrosrva Hctutsha

Firstly Jatarapravrithi tho fivo kona Asanas(e-g. Trikona, Upavishtakone, Urdhwakona,Parsvakona, Eaddhokona otc.) to be done.Then Sitali ptanayama and Nadi Sodhanamshoul($3ractised to help nomral d€l ivsry.These axercisos help strsnglhen themuscles of abdominal and perinaal regionsand othars which help lo beat down olthe tim6 of delivery.

Yoga encompasses a varioty of di3cipli-ne3 and therspy is:certsinly ono ot them,Many yogic texts ptescribo 6 coureo otasanas and pranayama for specific ailmont3,but the clairns of soms of th€m sppear tobe somewhat exaggofated, obsculo 8ndinsernplete. Funher. different schools andleachsrs have devEloped thsir own combina.tions and m€thods making clsims that raisegenuine doubts amongthc lay public and evonundorstandablo toSsntm€nt among medicalmEn not subscribing to indigenous medicine.Howevar, ono crnnot deny that thero isconsidorabl€ scof for dispassionate studyof yogic texts, systems snd prscticos todbrivo msximum benefits for modorn timos.One has to approach thg yogic toxts withful l fa i th, at lEost in the in i t ia l stageg as they8re the works of great Rshis. And a ffshi isone who speaks the Truth,

Rishayas satya vrchasaho I

Having start€d writing about the thera-p€utic appfoach of yoga, it may bo worthwhi16 to considsr thg ailments that aro

) -

supposed to respond to yogasanas andPranayama.

1. Sirorogam-Many typgs of headaches.Obviously not alf, bui sorno do r€spond tovoga. 2, Pratisyayam or Pinasayatogam-Diseases of ihe nose. 3. Jwaram-Fever.4. Soolam - Shoot ing pain especial ly in thestomach. 5' Bhagadaram-Oiseases of thogenerative organs. 6, Gulma Rogam .Disease of the sploen. 7. Arsa ot GudaRogam-Disesse pertaining to r.ctum, especi'a l ly p i les. 8. Swayatu-Dif ferent k inds ofInf lammation. 9. Spotum.Al l Dermatologi .cEl conditions. 1O. Swasam - fespirstotyail.nents, dyspnooe. asthma etc. 1 1. Chardhi-vomitting - liquids, blood and sputum12, Akshirogam - Ai lments pErtaining tothoeyes. 1?. Athisaaram-dianhoea' 14.Kushtam-Kushta is said to beof two varietiesSw6ta - whits and Krishna - Black. Accord'ing to a school Eczema is a vatiation which

- may be dty or woeping. 15' Meharogam '

f diseases of sex organs, --$.t4. t0. Murcha-Epilepsy. 17. Apasrfi-raram - loss otmomory, 18. Nirnidra - Sleeplessness 'lnsommia. 19. Kampanam - Tremours. 20.Ukku - Stammering, 21. Yakrithu - Liv€tdiseases - Jaundice. 22. Hridtogam - Pal-pitation. Weakness of tho hoart.

AUTHENTIC WORK ON YOGA

Further. yoga recognizes mentsl otpsychotogical diseasEs fwhich ate sttemptodto bo cotrected by siddhanta, yoga practicBinctuding Ptanayama and dhyana). They 8rgKama (infatuation), krodha (anger), Bhaya(fear), Dwesha (Hatred), Lobha (gteed),Vishadam(conf usion), Shoka (sorrow), Asuya(intolerance), Avamaanam (guilt ot loss ofsslf - rospect) lrshya (Envy) Maatsstyam(Mal ic€) .

Apart from Patanisla Yogadarsana, theleare many yoga works thst ate publishsd'Hathayogapradeepika which is pelhaps tho

most authEntic and exhaustive work onHathayoga consists of four chapters or upa-desas. A detail€d commentary by a sagecalled Brahmananda written in simple Sans-krit makes it I vsry useful reference work,Tho four Upadesas arE (a) Asana (b) Kumb-haka (c) Mudras (d) Nadanusandhanam.The f i rst three ars Hathayoga andthe fourthis Rajayoga in which th€ main pract ice isNadanusandhanam. According toBfshman-anda, Nadanusandahana includes the latetfour aspects of Patanjala Ashtanga yoga. viz.Pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhiwhich have been treated Elbeit insuftici€ntlyin the oarlier issue. The author also refers toroany yogis who have preceded him' such asAdinatha (Sri Siva) Matsyendra, Saabara,Aanandabhairava. Chawrangee, Meena,Goraksha,Virupaksha, Bi lssaya, Manthana,Bhairavs, Korantaka, Surananda, Siddhapada,Kcneri. Pujyapada, Nttyanaths. Niraniana,Kapali, Bindunatha, Kakachandi, Alla, Prabh-udeva, Narada, Epstt flom such yogis asJalandharanatha and Munis as Yagnysvalkys.Speciai asanas ot yoga tteatisor with thon8me of the various yogie are also available.For instance yogayagnyavalkya.yoga Kuran-tam, V.iddha Saatapatam. Gherunda Samhitaaro some. Asanas bearing someofthg sages,names include Vasishtasanam, Durwasasa'nam, Kalabhairavasanam, Sayanaasanam.Budhasanam, Marichasanam, Bhatadwaia-sanam, Kasyapasanam, Kaundinyasanam, etc.

The other main Hathayoga texts are SivaSamhita and Gherunda Ssmhita.

Yol 8noth81 imponsnt sourc€ of yogicinformation is the Upanishads. Twenty olthe lOB Upanisads, starting from lsavasyafor which Sri Upanisad - Brahmayogin hasw,itt6n commentaties aro tetmed yoga upani'sads and doscribo dlflerent kinds of yogas.Then Svetaswatata and other majot tJpanisadlike Chandogya. (especially Dahara vidya,Bhuma vidya) ato importsnt ones for a yoggstudent.

i

Sandr lyopanisad is of AtharvanaVeda. The f i rst chapter descr ibes the Ash-tanga yoga, but fo l lows the Hathayogaaulhor i t ies in prescr ib ing 10 yamas and 1010 niyamas for the f i rst two angas. The 8asanas descr ib:d are Swasi ika. Gomukha,Padm:, Vira, Srmha, thadra, Mukta andMayura.

There are interest ing observat ions aboutJosi t ions of nadis and chakras. The 1 4

nadis descr ibcd are lda, Pingala, Sushumna,Sarasurat i , Varune. Pusha, Hasthi j ihva, yasas-su in i , Viswodhara, kuhoo, Srmkhini , Payas-wini , Alambusha, Gandhar i andtheimportant-nadisodhana pranayama. l t rs fo l towed bya descr ipt ion of samantra pranayama. Thevar ious Bandhas and mudras are then descr i -bed, so also the di f ferent k inds of descr ip-l ions or v isual at tent ion (Dr isht is) .

The f i f th anga, Pratyahara, is descr ibedas 5 di f ferent k inds, based on drf ferentschcols ol yoga. With due ef tqr t wj thdraw.ing senses is one. To observo in everyth-ing the sel l (Almabbava) is Pratyahara,Renouncing the frul ts of a l l prescr ibed act i -vrrres is the th i rd. Totel indi f f€rence to al lthrngs. (Parangmukharwam) Direct ingattent ion to th , 1 8 v i ta l posat ions in the body(Marmasthana) is tho f i f th krnd ot Pratyahara,

The sixth anga-dharana- is referred asfrve types. Dharana ts focussing the mrndarrd keeping at bound ar a place, the heartfegion (Oaharaakaca), or in tho outerspace,Panchamurt i dharanarn.

Dhyanam as of two kir-rds. Sagunamand Nrrgunam. Srgu:ra, according to Sandi-lyo i r - r r )edrtatrng the lorm of the Lord (Murt idhyana n) [ l i rguna rs nledrtat ' r rg on the

sel f i tsel f , which is beyond the thres gunas,const i tu l ing the observed (dr isya).

Samadhi is the state of uni ty ofJ iva and Parama, wi thout the dist inct ion ofthe observed, observer and observat ion( Tr ipul i ) .

Jivatma Paramalma Aikyovastha Triput i rahi taParamanandas warspa Sudhachari t t"" ; i : l : l i

l l is Asampraguata samadhi.

OTHER YOGA TEXTS

The other yoga texts that may be ofantorest are:

Adwaya

6) Vridha Saatapatam lf fejabindoopa-nisad (8) Gherunda Samhita 9) YogaTaravai'i- 1o)Glo-;fiFad 1i) As;i-tanadopanisad .12f Tr is iknibrahmanopani-sad 63)) sre--gamgilg O+f BrahmaVadyopa n isad {5) Yogasikhopanisad

.t6J Yoga Kundalyupanisad .7f Naoabin-dooFlanisad {8f Dars"nopanisad {Fffii-ti-oliffiiir d Qgf Yogachudamanyu-panisad y,;ff Vpgglglvvgpanisad 22) Sam-unun"naiyamlf fga Bahasyam24) $ Samhita Q.D Vog._Vrg,ly""C$-

-gS9l Yog'i"i 'h"'

There any many other works. ThePurarras conlain valuable hinls on yogatexts, Some Tantf ic texts are also goodsources. So also the Vaishnava, Saaktaand Saiva Uoanisads. With the' renewedinterest in ycg:, there is plenty of scope forbrth pract ice anC research in yoga.

t,yf

[riffint'ri'rs,d|j.r:rr.udJld

4) Garbhopanisad 5) Yoga Kurantam

folf lfcrpy-n

Wh thc Four Chaptcrsof Yogasastra. say81 S. ,|AMA,\WAMI, Trurtcq Krishumaluya toga Manlinm, MADRAS.

Aabahu PururhateraoSrntrcbalraridharioan I

Sahrrn Siraram SvcteoPrrnrmg6l Petanjalim lt

li

Feranjala Yoga Sasrra ir of four chaprcrrlPadas). Ttrc frn; -Saoadhi Peda-dcalswith rhe neaus of attaining mental clority(Chttta Suddbi) and the oubscquent uscofrucha clear mind for diffcrcnt tindr of intcnrcconoentrrtion (Saradhi). Sincc, mcnral cla-rity ir not posrible for a Ecrson wirh c discercdbody, weat rcnser and onc engaged in indis.crimirntc (Adharuic) eoiviricr, tbc recondPade deals mainly with certain prcrcquicirerto Yoja (Purvanga) aod thc oeans a:rd effortsDcccsrory for anaining a healrhy and senritivebody. Thcse practices ere known as Bahi-range redhana. Thc third chapt6l I confincdto the aeans of the rcfineoent of Ecntalpcrccptioa rnd,intense concenration, lcadiogto 'rhc'lnalrery of thc mystericl of naturc(Prakriri) and a conrcqucnt ecquirition ofimoensc lup?r.natural powar (Vibhuti).Thclasr chapcr, Kaivalya peds, dercribcsrhc evolution ofa derachcd uind, yearningor gravirating towardr lodcpendence orkolation (trleirdlya), r6ultingit rlrc,heightofhappinerl (SuLhanra) and rblolutc mentalpcace (Pr:aripramva). tt €onld thcreforc beobrcnvcd thlt th. Yogarrtra .at oncc dcabwftbncnalieic' (dhrtmic),'pbyrical, phyrio.loqirnl, psyoholqfial, marcrirlittic lPorurhrr.tbe'l rnd lFrhuat. lt rbbrrr tbe ray forbappincrs, borh wo,ldly (tbr) end rbrt (para)

eriringout ofrcnunciation (apavarga), TheMaherirbi further nanates thc incidcntalbcncfitr at each ,tep lo cncourage theAbhyeri lo trcad tbc path of Yoga, * rhemilcriones mention?d at appropriate placegalro hclpr him to chccl for bimself the pro.gresr he is maLirg-or the lack of it (Alab-dabhumitatva), and work rowards the difier-ent lcvcls ofrpiritual cvolurion.

Obitta ir always in some active or knov,'.ing ttate (Vrithi) or thc orher. Yoga, in one!6n!c, ir tbe maintaining of onc idea in theqiqd, to thc exclusion (Nirodha) ofall othere.

COMBINATION OF CUNAS

It consists, as has been meniioned, oftbrcc basic guna6 ot constitueDt characteris-tica, viz., Sattwa! whrch har tbe function ofclarity (Prakhya), incersant activity (Pravri-thi) and Inertia (Sthithi). But these thrcccgnraituentr do not work in isolation, thoughthcy have Eutrlally opposing luactions,

Beciuse ofa number of factors, such asPrarabdhe, acquircd habits (ramskaras), tvpeoffood,asrociationalinflucnces (Sanga) ctc.,rhe prcdominarrce ofcach ofthc gunas varicsfrop person to perlon and also from time totinc, maling distinct perronalitic! with flu-ctuadng ovcrtones, ailrong people at latge.h ir how-ever the courcntion of thc greatRlrhi tbar it ig possible to changc thc Eentalmetrc up of individualr end also rcduce thcviolcot paioful gyretions ofthc mind'(hlasa)by Yogic prscticc. What arc the pcrmutarions

and combinations of gunas and humrnpcrsonnality?

According to Vyasa, when Chitta ieprimarily constituted by purity (Satrwa), butirfluenced 'equally by Rajas and Tamas, lucha pcnon tends towards thc acquisition ofpower, preltiger property and pleasurableexperiences through thc senses. It ig bcceureof this opposing charactcrisrics of Rajar andTamas, resulting in continuour distraction-adistraction which prcvents hir mind fromconiemplating on pnrc self or Ishwara oucger occasionally *iif&"wo, but is repeatc.dly addicted to powcr (Aiswarya) or objcctsofscnses (Vishayay.

WHEN THE MIND EECOMES PURE

If on the other band, hc is prcdominentlyinfluenced by Tamas alone, again causcd byinborn uaits (Prarabda), food and association,he is inclined rowards corruption or unlawfulacts (Adba'ma), suffers from confusion andignorance (Agnane), infatuarion (Avairagya),weaknesg and a disbelief in evcrything bcyondthe impure rcnrual pcrceprion-sucb as Puru-sha or rhc cormic cntity, Iswara. l{hcnhowcver, by thc practicc of Yoga with thcNiyamas, if the vcil of Tamas (Tamovavara-nam) is merhodically reduccd, and only atrace of Rajas rcmains as an inf,ucncc, sucba Sathwic person acquircs a higb degree ofmental clarity, and conscquently rends ro,wards order and virruc (Dharna), wisdom(gnana), Vairagya progrcrrivc (dctachmcnt)and supremc powcr (Airwarya). Then, cvcnas the tracc of Rajas ir removcd by furthcrpractice of contcmplarion (Anrbaranga ead.hana), thc Cbitta becooer pure (Sattwic),realizer the distinction bctwecn Intcllcct(Budhi) and purc intelligence principlc (Pur-usba). Hir mind bccomcr ro rharp (Kurala)that by direcring hir mentsl cnergict bc gctsa thorough undcrrtanding of cvcry and all

arpcct! of Prakriti-if hc sodaircr. Tbis rtage is called theDbarma Megha-a mind full ofordcr-and bir undcrstaoding ofeverythiog ir abrolutcly true(Rtambhara Pragna) andhencc uncontradictcd. Hc realizc! dirccrlythat thc relf (Atman) har a nonchangingcharacter (Aparinamirwa), has the power ofpute consciousncss alonc (Drisimatra), un-contaminated by various mcntal prerenta-tions; unrestrictcd in ite underrtanding (Anan-tha) and is differcnt from his own Sattwicmind. This is distinctive knowlcdgc (Vivakakyati) the highest realisation ofa lrnowingmind. But, when "ven tbir rcalisation orknowlcdge (Pragna)-which is rtill an erperi.cncc of the mind-is excludcd by tbc Obitta,it is called Nirbije Saoadhi as thcrc is notb-ing to understand or realize (Arampragna.tham). In that srate, tbc Chitta just rema-ins dormant witb tbe constituent gunas in anunrrlanifest stagc (Pratiprsava) and thc Atman8tayE put as it were in its truc torm, rrans-cendiog ,ime aqd the cycle of birth and deathborh physical and prychologial. Yogi!,Rishir, Vedanrinr go into ccstecy, trying ro.QcrDlain rhis Nirodba Samadhi and could onlyeay it is indescribable .and cannot bc com-prehcnded by an ordinary mind. lt t! tructhat Nirbija Saoadhi may be an ideal, but itis a lo3ial conclusion of the progrcssion ofYogic sadhana. The primary bcncfit o1Yogasadhana is uncontradicted tnowledgc(Pragna) and tbc incidenral bcncfit is rhccorrcsponding reducrion io physical andmentai afl icrions (Klera).

YOGAIIITA$g _ TWO CLASSBS

Ar mcutioncd carlicr, rhorc cngaged inthc pr.cliFF ofYogl can bc clarlificd into two-lhosc carncrt ro gct ipto thc psth. of Yogr(Yogerprqlrhu) aod rhocc who arc elrcrdyin the path of Yoga (Yogarudha)- which

crtcgory of pcople have a balanccd mind(thmahite Chine) and rr such arc 6t forSamadhi. I{owiver even thcv c.n attaintsoidbi .only by Antarangaradbana, cr tbcprecticc of one-pointedncl (f,kegra). Tofacilitate ihem, Patanjali advocater spccificYogic practices oD one dirtinct principlc(Ekatatrrabhyara), ruggcsrcd by thc Sartrerfor elcansing the mind.

(l) The attitude one should dcveloptowardr all othcrr is rakcn up 6rst. Sincc aYogiis afarsclf-re.lilation, hc should dcve-Iop a mind which ir not distraoed by artiruderof other! towardr him or among theoselver.Tbus it is prescribcd rhar he should developa spirit of friendlintss (Maitri) towards rboscthat arc conrcnrcd and happy (Sukhi). Thentberc arc tbo6c wbo ruffcr (Du[[a) from thethrcc tiads of affctions (Taapattya) and hewould havc extrcme couipasrion (Karuna) fortbem. Tcwards those who trcad the path ofviltue (Proya) engagcd in prescribed dutieslnd scl8ets ecrvicc, hc cxtendr a rpirit ofgoodwill arrd appreciation (Mudita). Butrowards the majoriry who are influenc.dbyTamar - rhose rhai .r" ,,".pi=ffufi, -hc will be indiffcrcot (Upcksha) -an indiffc-rcnce ariring our of beno,eleocc. Thir atti'tudinal changc in a Yogabhvasi, gives rise toan uotainted virtuous mind. And a puri-f,cd mind thus becomes onc-poioted andcvcntually atraiDs scrcnity,

Maitri Karuaa Mtdita UpelcshatamSakha Dt kka Pun2a Apurynnam

B ho oana ta s C hitt apr esad otum

TO CALM THE MIND(2) Yogr rhese days is much associarcd

with Asana! aad Pranayama. Patanjali sugg.crtr a spccial Pranayama for thccalming ofan agirercd mind. Hcrc thc one object ofconteoplation ir Prrna irrclf. In rhir pracric€thc copharir ir on breath conrrolr cspccially,long inhelation (Prachardhaira) and rcrcntion.t"r .t5slarion (Vidharane). Thir practicc

that can bc aitempied by many, howevcr,requircr proper guidance and consistcncy.An awarcncs ofPrana moverncnt (ranchara)b neccrsary.

Prachanlhana Vidhoranabhlam VaPranasya ll

TO GEf, MBNTAL F1XITY

(3) There is yet another onc calledVishayavati Pravrirhi. It ic common koow'ledge that objectr are 'pcrceived' by thelenscs-tbey arc felt, smelt, seen' heard andtastd. Howevcr, wirhout the objccts, it harbecn found that Yogis corrld get thc varioursensalions-of a highcr ordcr-by Samyamaon specific ceDtres or placcs in the body,lrom whcre the sensations arise, lt is pos'ible'undcr proper guidance. lo focuss attention onthese specific ccntrcs to gct mental fit ity.Nasagra or bcginning of nose is the spot fromwhcre smcll is believed to originate. Simi-larly one caa direct aucntion to rhc Diddlcof thc cyrebrows (Brumadhya)-the cenrre ofsight, which practicc, called Rupa Pravrithiis neccssary for mcditarion of d€votecs onParadevatas. When such "one.pointcd atrcn-tion )eads to intense concentration, the sensa-rlons one gets are luperior and are out of rheordinary (Divya).

Vithayaoati ao Prauritirtt pannaMonasasthithi

Nfiandhini tt

(4) Anotbcr practice calls for attention9n the principle of light (Jyotis)' calledJyotishmati Vrirhi. lt i! rhe rcalization ofYogis rhat all higher and divinc experiencesrakc placc in the rcgion ofthe bcart (Hrida'ya), It ia said tbat thc hcart-lotus lHridaya'tamala), normally is closcd and looks sus-pcnded but luminous-as vividly describcd inPrurhasuttha.

Padnakosa PadikosamHidatam cha Abhaladho Mt kham I

It ir hcre, the vlrious feclingr alrociatedwith be ego (Ahanta. Asmita ctc') are raidro irc cstablishcd. It ir aho the seat'ofPara'matma.

Tayas Sikhgra MailhY PonmathmaVyavastithaha I

ATTENTION ON THE SEART NECIONBy dirccting atlention to rhc hcart regioD

(after coosidcrable practice of Ptanatama)and particularly to tbc centrc and'indging'Atman in rhe form of o bright sPot of light(Jyotis), one's conlciorrsne$ gctr close toAtman and thc mind bccomer frce ftoo80rrow.

Visola u fuotinati i5. Shedding dcsire (Vite raaga) for er.

tcrnal objects add rcnsation (visaya),. bycoDstant enquiry is also anorhcr Dethod,which is very important for Yogabhyarir.Altcrnativcly, it ic rccomocnded that ooccan repcatcdty be thinking ofa perroa wbo irdcsirelcs. God in Hir boundlcss compaosioncrcatcs grcat rpiritual rouls for tbc beaeft ofevcry Sencration ar objcck for contcmplN-tion and subsequenr cmulation. Thur, mAnydcvotees of cxtraordinary cpiritual pcruoniSprdo get Eenral clariry by conrtantly thihLingabout their saviour or Guru.

Vitanga Visha2am u chittam I6. It is evcry onc'r Gxpcricnce that out

of sound slccp, one gcr a rblaxcd dild clcarmind. This is callcd Sathwa Nidra. In romcVcdantic literaturcr, it is jraid tbat in such aNidra, the Jiva gcts ocr'ged (Mclani) witbrhe Univcrsal Lord. By constantly .rcncrnbcring tbe pleasant restful fccliag iit blcep,ooc can gct a dcgrcc ofmec6l pcace, Fudbbrrhcre arc many piour peoplc or dcvotcc! who,oncc in a lifc tine or infrequentlyr .get Idivinc drcam (Divyr Swapna) :and cxpcri.encc a blirrful fceling (Anandet, tbc flilc ofwhich thcy or orhcrg O.o"'nor:icrpcricnced ilrheir normal waLing rrate. By not ignoringit but cons.anrly raLirg rupport in thet divioivision, one can cultivare calnness of mind.

Suapna Nidra Gnana Alambanam oa l

?. Thc veriour riturls, uPar'ndE clc. in the Sartru ercilliiitcndcd forcltgra. The Hiodurcli!{on ls qf tqncritieircd for thcmultiplicity of objcco of wonhiPati ttcllics, ctcnl ar our Vcdrrproclaid tLc otc kwarli

ilftiir ii mainly to take cdre of thc difiercn.cer in inclination evcn emong thac religiou-sly oinded. Rccognnizing rbis, difflrcnrmerhods of uorship (Matha) bave cooe intovogue. Adi Sanlara ir credired wirh. cnabli.shing six such major rcho:lr of wonhip (Sha-nmatha) which arr Ganrpathye, Souia, Vei-shnava, Saivi, Saltha and Kaumara. Thcrcwdll tnoi,vri Matbar erc srill prcvelant inEAhv Hiridu farnilci and rocicties. Thirmcdiratiort (dhyanal al pcr onc'l traditionand practiea (Abibila) alro ir a hctp inYoga.

lctha Abhinqta Dhidtitit o, ITne above Yngic practicet, help mcntat

claritv and firlly of mind. When once anAbhyasi is ablc to get fixity earily. then otherkn6wing stacs (vrithis) bccotrrc reduccd(Lrhina). Such a mind ir cooparcd to a highqualitv jewel (spathikamani) and can grarpany idea or objecr prescntcd to it, jurtas'a trinrp'iient ipotkss SpatlLl talei on rhchuc of Iny object ncar ir. Thr Yo$ can thcnfr his mind on anythinS, from tbc Einulcrtro rbe rnolt complicqted idca This Sadhaoa,by which thc mind bccomer oergcd, er itwere, with the objcct of contenpla'ion ircallcd Samapathi or Sahrje Samadhi.IflHAT Of THB FICI$.E?

Tbelt prtdiccs 'irt velid, ar hcbtioncdcarlicr, for Stmihlte Cbitras. Bur, wbat ofrhoce, whosc mind arc corutantlv Doving ooe:ternll objectr and alnrayr f,c*lc (Vnrihaor),ruffcring froo aflic-1jgyq (klen). but bavca splritlral yeafhiDll-. For ruch hginnetr whow{lh to iahe tir yogla (Yojtruru}rhu), Prte.njali rccommcndc Kriya Yogt, in thc rccoldchagtcq, Sadhana Prdr. [t irofimportanccand in\crcrt to pcoplc at largc.

Evin hcrc, diffcrent schoolr irf rrdhaorrrc picrlclant. I proposc to erplein rhe metho.dology (Pddbethi) of our Acbarya, boed onhir vrlr erudirion, cxpcriencc alid Varidictradirion, in thc comrng iosucs.

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Yogr Thonpy - IV

Prelude To Practice of Asanas8y S, Ramasv/ami, Trustee, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

Jivamani Bhraiatphana Sahasra Vidhrura VlgwamBhavatnandalaya Anantaya Nagarajaya Namaha | |

It has bsn mentioned thatthe goal of Yoga is totalindependence of Purusha andis achieved by the c$sationof all mental changes thatone normally experiences. ltrequires enormous practice ofthe mind to transcend thodistracted states to becomealive to stillness. The Ashtan-ga Yoga is the mesns to redu-ce th6 distractions and is alogical, srep by step approachtowerds that end.

Th6se distractions can bebroadly classified into three.Those arising out of(a) external world (b) one'sown body (c) the mind preg-nant with previous samska-ras. Yama and Niyama aratho two angas which, if pra-ctis.d, roduc€ th€ sfflictions(klera) arising out of sxter-

nal stimuli. They are, firstly helps in one becoming a fu-Ahimsa or non-violonce to- tu'ist. According to our Ach-wards aff beings and accord- larya, Brahmacharya is theing to Patanjali, all beings "most beneficial and feasiblereciprocate genuine non-vio- yama in Kali yuga,lance towafds the Abhyasiond in his prasencs also loseenmity among thomselves.Satya is thinking and spoak-ing the Truth, which will leadto a perfect correlation bet-ween deed and results. As-theya is non-stealing, or atrusteeship approach towardsweatlh and. earning out ofhanest and prescribed duty(Nijakarma). Paradoxicallysuch a person comes to man-age wealth. Strongth isacquired by Brahmacharya orcontrolled sex within theinstitution of marriage. Non-possession or Aparigrahafraas the mind from theworries of losing w€olth and

NIYAMAS

The five Niyamas includeSoucha or cleanliness whichlesds to a heathly life and. . - . .prevents daseases arising outof close contact with peopleat large.

out of contontment (sato-sha) arises imm€nsg mentalpeace (sukha). lt is said inManusmriti that the happi-ness arisingout of fulfilqnentof desires - sithor here orhereafter - is not comparablaeven to a sixtoenth part (Sho-dasim Kalaam) of that oxpe-rienced by the reduction ofdesire itseff.

Yeth chdKama sukhamLoke

Yeth cha Divyam Mahatsukham !

Trushna Akshaya Sukhas-yete

Na Arhatah ShodasimKalaam ! !

Taoas which is moderatronin speech and food helps tomake the body and sensesmore sensi t ive. Swadhyayaor study of the scr iptures, theKarma and Devata port ions,presumably, wi l l help one getdirect percept ion of theDevata contemolated. Andout of an at t i tude of surren-der to the Universal Lord( lswara pranidhana), includ-ing al l dharmic act ions andtheir resul ts, prepares themind for intense COncentra-t ion (-amadhi) .

PREREOUISITES

Some ref lect ion on theabove Yamaniyamas wi l lindicate that these pract icesand at t i tudinal changes, arenecessary and suff ic ient pre-requisites belore the otherBahirangasadhanas are con-templated. What is cal led foris a del iberate at temDt topract ice them so that one isdisturbed minimal ly by theexternal world. lt is howevereasier said than done.

Patanjal i recognizes such adifficulty as mainly due toour chi ldhood habi ts andcondi t ioning. To help the

Yogabhyasi, who is earnest,he suggests keeping in theback of the mind that onehas taken to yoga as a del i -berate attempt to attain peaceof mind. Al lact ions inconsis-tent wi th the yama niyamasare motivated by greed(Lobha), enmity (Krodha) orinfatuat ion (Mcha), and wi l lleaJ.only to misery (Dukka),confusion (Agnana), whichwi l l be endless (Anantapha-la) . Al l at tempts at yogabh-yasa without these prerequi-s i tes wi l l be useless andbenef i ts, i f any, wi l l only betemporary. Practice of mereasanas without change in thefood habi ts and other at t i tu-dinal changes are perhaps thecause of d isenchantment ofmany who attempt at yoga-sanas. Of ithe yamaniyamas,Tapas and Brahmacharya areperhaps the most importantand relevant, as they have al-so a direct bear ing on the ph-ysical condi t ion of the Yoga-bhyasi . Without Tapas onebecomes obese, suffers frommany ai lments of stomach. l tis not possible to do asanaswith a s ick stomach. Simi-lar ly wi thout Brahmacharya-at least in the beginning-onewi l l not be able to do Mula-bandha. which is the f i rststep in the higher benefits ofYogabhyasa.

The n6xt set of distractionsare of the body and Patan-iali uses Asanas to gst overthem. By means of practice,it is possible to remain in a

particular posturo-comforta-ble and steady.

Asanas are to be practisedat a quiet , c lean place. Thebeginning of summer, espe-cial ly for those suffer ing f romrespiratory ai lments and thatof ra iny season are suggestedfcr start ing yogasanabh-yasa.

ASANAS ARE MANYIt is said that asanas are

innumerable. Yoga texts men-t ion that there are as manyasanas as there are species.

Asanani cha Tavant iY€vanto Tivasasayah I

E ut presently, about 80asanas or so are general ly invogue. l t is said that ourAcharya has in his repertorynear ly 700 asanas. In oldendays, generally, people wereeradicat ing and prevent ingdiseases by means of asanasand pranayamas. l t is saidthat those ai lments-chronic-that are not curable bv medi-

.cal sciences (Vaidya sastra)and drugs, should be curedby asanas and pranayamas.Unfortunately, dur ing thedark centur ies in the past,may of our ancient scr iptureson Yoga and therapy are lost .

It is recommended thatpractice of Yoga asanasshould be started with aprayer possibly the oneappear ing at the beginningof this article.

The practice of asanas isgetting to be popular again,

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aftef a lapse ofa number of ayears. The acceptance in thswest, especial ly among scien-tists and doctors, of Yoga asa subject of great significan-ce has. it is to be admitted'given a f i l l ip to the pract iceof asanas in India as wel l .However, the mechanicalapproach to the practice ofasanas, as achieving a part i -cular pose, - somehow - wi l lnot g ive the necessary resul ts.

The study of Vedas (adh-yayana) has to be done withUdatta, anudatta and swaritanotes. Othefwise it is merelyprosaic, This saswara chant-ing of Vedic texts hasbeen going orr f rom t ime im-memorial . Nobody can thinkof i t otherwise. Simi lar ly wi thour musical system, i t ismusic, only i f i t is sung withshrut i , layam, dhrutarn, anu-dhrutam etc. For poetry, onehas to st ick to chandas, yat i ,prasa etc. lf one takes tomantra upasena, the variousnyasas of anga, kara, sar i ra,kala, iiva, Matruka, Tattwaetc. are to be cbserved forthe f ru i t ion of the upassanas.

But in yogabhyasa, thepresent day approach to thepratc ice of yoga asanas andpranayma is wi thout thepreparat ions and var iat ionsot v invasas. Without theVinyasas, the asana 'practiceis only as good as any othetphysical activity. lt is little useif one learns a dozen well-known asanas and practisesthem without the v inyasss.

It is my Acharya's contentionthat the dis i l lusionment ofmany yogabhyasis is due topractice of asanas without theyamas, niyamas, v inyasas'synchronous breathing, theaccompanying bandhas andwith a greed for quick resul ts.

BREATHING PATTERNS

Yet another factor of im-portance in asanas is theuse of breath in all the vinya-sas and asanas, Here also,many schools teach yogawithout any relat ion to brea-thing in asanas pract ice andactual ly discourage the useof breath, on the plea that thepract ice of bteathing is aseparate aspect, dealt with inPranayama. However, i t isfound in ectual pract ice thatsynchronous breathing patte-rn in Vinyasa as an abhyasa isnecessary to at ta in the desir-ed resul ts. Patanjal i in theYogasutras ment ions about i tto achieve asana siddhi-whichis steadiness and comfort inasan as.

Preyatna Sai th i lya Anantasamapathibhyam | !

By Prayatna is meant effortof l i {e (J ivana F.rayatna)which is breath. Long andfine breathing is thereforeP.ayatna Sai th i lya. Texts l ikeYoga Kurantam, Vriddha Va-sishtam etc. emphasise th isaspect. Further, Patanjali alsosugg€sts fixing of the mindon Ananta. The word Ananta

l i teral ly means inf in i ty andcertain schools suggest oneshould concentrate on inf inr-ty, which to say the least isabsurd for practice for ayogabhyasi . Ananta is Naga-raja or Adisesha and sincePatanjal i is the incarnat ionof Adisesha, one shoutd con-template on the f igure ofNagaraja or Patanjal i . Thiswi l l bethetradi t ional approa-ch. Thus whi le pract is ingasanas, by means of purpose-Iul breathing and mind f ix i ty,one gets steadiness and rela-xat ion in asana pract ice. FromAsana siddhi , one is not af fec-ted by pyreaia or hypother-mia, or any other opposingcondi t ions, physical or men-tal .

Tataha Dwandwan Anabhi-ghataha I !

IN ASANA PRACTICE

There are four factors inyogic breathing. First is Pura-ka or inhalat ion. Then hold-ing of breath af ter inhalat ion.cal led Antahkumbhaka. Con-trol led exhalat ion is cal ledRechaka and holding thebreath out-as it were-is Bah-ya kumbhaka.

Al l the movements in yoga-bhyasa are done deliberatelyand with a specified aspectof breathing. There are somemovements which are donealways whi le inhal ing andthere ars others which aredone only while breathing

out. Then one could stay in aposture whi le holding thebreath-in or out-or could docontrolled cycle of yogicbreathing in the posture. Butthere are some movementswhich can be done ei therdoing breathing in or breath-ing out, depending upon thecondition of the abhyasi, andthe desired results from thepfactice. Making the move-ments, dur ing inhalat ion andholding the breath in wi l lcome under Brahmana kr iyaand doing lhe movemontswhi le breathing out and hold-ing the breath out is langanakriya.

While in ,Ayurveda, Brah-mana kriya refers to nourish-ing diet for growth and lan-gana kriya to {asting, theyare not as revelant in yoga-bhyasa. The kr iyas in Sattv icyoga pract ice is the use ofnatural air in clearing thenadis and not the us€ ofcloth or water and otherexternal aids.

YOGA IS AN ART

Breathing in asanas helpsto relax and reach the finalposture. lt helps to reach outand work on ths deepermuscles, which rnay not bepossible otherwise. Further,it has been found that withdeliberate breathing, one'smind is not allowed to wan-der but forced to tollow thebreath. Yoga practice becom.

es much morE Purposbful. Infact the author of Yoga Rahas-ya has 16 chapters, eachcalled a kala and as suchYoga is an art , as wel l . L ikein music, one has to developa s€nsitivily with deliberateprsctice and intense concen-tration. Short yoga coursesfor a lortnight or so, donewithout the discipl ines ofyama niyamas and withoutvinyasas,countetposes orpratikriyas, Bandhas, Mudrasand specific concentrationexcrcises and conscious brea-thing will leave little impr€s-sion on an earnest yogabh-yasi and let h imgodishearte-ned.

THE COUNTERPOSES

Yogasanas l ike medicine.have good effects but somealso have side effects, whichare rnainly physical . To coun-teract lhem every involvedasana hasa Pratikriyasanaora count.erpose, which helpsto preserve the efforts of themain asana and counteractthe undesirable aspects. Forinstance,Sirasasana has manyadvantages. But this has tobe followed by sarvangasana,as a Prat ikr iya, and so on.One has to see the effects ofths main asana and its coun-terpos€ to leel the dilferenceas compared to practisingwithout the use of countet--poso.

Apan from the emphasison conscious breathing in

abtnas, as on€ €dvanceS inths assna practice, the use olEandhas or contracting Ispecific group of muscles isrecommended for the higherbenefits of yoga. Of the manybandhas, three are importani ,The Mulabandha requires thedrawing in of the rectum, thepelv ic diaphragm and thslower abdomen as i f to touchthe backbone. This has to bedone af ter exhalat ion. l t couldbe observed that at least rnthe in i t ia l stages, one has ropract ice'Brahmacharya' roattain a mastery over Mula-bandha.

The Uddiyanabandha is thedrawing in of the naval regionagain as il to touch the backand rais ing the diaphragm, sothat the abdomenal regionbecomes scaphoid. l t isobvr-ous that people who areobese will not be able to ooUddiyanabandha satisf actori-ly anil hence the need lor dietcontrol or Tapas.

The Jalandhare Bandha isstretching the neck and press-ing the chin against the breat-bone, about three inchesbelow the neck. This effecti-vely controls air passageduring breathing and is agreat aid in Pranayama. Thesethree Bandhas (Bandha tray-as) ar6 improtant in tho prac-tice of asanas. lt may not bepossible for beginners toprsctice at the start bur willhave to do it along as theyprogr€ss. lt should be notod.

t

however, that they are not tobe attempted without theguidance of a comPetentteacher who himsell has Prac-tised and masterod them'

svatmarama, the author ofHathayogapradiPika menti-ons that irrespective of ageand physical condi t ion, anYone can start on Yoga, butregular pract ice alone givesthe benef i ts (s iddhi) .

Yuva Vrudho athi vridhova

Vyadhito DurlabhoPi va IAbhyasath Siddhim aPnothi

SarvaYogesha atandri-taha ! I

FOR CHILDREN TOO

It should be ment ioendthat yoga is useful to chi ld-ren and women as wel l . Tra-di t ional ly, in India, ' amongHindus, chi ldren at the age of5 or 7 were initiated into Ve-dic karma after UPanayana,Sandhya includes, asanasl ike Utkaiasana, ' Ut ianasana,Padmasana 6tJ. , Ptanay.ma

and mantra m€ditation. Thus'it is appar€nt that childrsnwere practising yoga in oldendays.

Regarding tho controversyof whether women are fit forintegral yoga, thsto is ampleevidence to show that inte-rested women were initiated!o yoga. YagnYavalkYaand Siva Samhita, two of theauthentic texts on Yog8, areactually the teachings of Ma-harshi Yagnyavalkya to hisspous€ MaitreYi and LordSiva to Godness Parvati.Further in Yoga RahasYa,Nathamuni, the great teacherof the Natha sect of Yogis 'soeci f ies a few asanas l ikePanchakonasanas as aidingcevelopment of foetus andcertain asanas l ike Pasasanaare said to Prevent concep-t ion (garbhanirodha). Furtherthere are a numbsr of asanasand pranayamas that couldbe useful for gYnaecologicaldisorders l ike Prolapse, Pcst-natal d isorders, menorrhagia,dysmenorrhoea etc. one cansay that there is Yoga for

svgryonc,

Summing up, it rnsy be saidthat Yogasanas should bepractised according to samp-radaya or tradition, to attainthe benefits mentioned in thotexts. Tho paddhathi of ourAcharya requires that onashould practise asanas withthe necessary constraints(Yamariyamas) as Prersqua-sites, with Progressions andvariations (vinyasa), corres-ponding synchronous andconscious breathing. inters'persed with stipulated coun'terposes and counter move-ments (Pratikr iya), ' imaqing'Ananta and withthe Bandhasand Mudras.

There are manY waYs ofclassifying asanas. Howevef,for simplicity, theY could begrouped into standing, sittingprone, supine or balancing. Ipropose to take uP. standingasanas in the next issue withthe important vinYasas andsuggested kriyas (breathing)and pratikr iYas.

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Yoga Therapy

Sariram Aadyam KhaluDharmasaadhanam I

Body (Heal th) is the foun-dation of all dharmic activit-ies.

As has been mentioned,Asanas could be broadly c la-ssified into standing. sitting,supine. prone and balancing.In th is, a group of importantstanding asanas, along witha few useful v inyasas aletaken up.

SAMASTHITHI

I t is the start ing posi t ionin ths practice, in fact theentire session starts from sa-

,t-masthi th i End ends with i t .F6E-i6?Arffistand erect . wi th the feet{ul ly rest ing on the groundand together. The ankles andrne Knees are repr-EtGiiEThe knees are not to be flex-ed. Chest is kept erect andthe s[og!glljre_9!g$!ythrown back, so that the sh-ouroEisii6reno ro appro-xir.ate each other, forming a

J(

{tlOn Four Feet,

By S. Ramast4r'amj, Trusres,

canal a long lhe spinal colu-mn in the back. You shouldbreath notmal ly a few t imesbefore start ing the pract ice.This posi t ion is arso knownas Tadasana Sthi th i (or TreePose.)

Tadasana - Vinyasa (1)

The var iat ions in Tadasanafol low. After complete exhar-at ion, lock the chin aqainslthe top of the chest. This asJalandharabandha ment ionedin the previous issue. Thenslowly and deeply inhale andraise both arms straight overhead - the movement of theqqr:'"1@=d-es, stretching slowly the kn-ees, hips, shoulders, e lbows,wrists and the neck. The in-halat ion and the complet ionof the movenent should syn-chronise. One should adjustthe pace, the s lower the bet-ter . Breathing is to be donowith a hissing sound in thethroat, created by the part ia lc losing of the glot t rs whichis aided by the chin lock (Jalandharabandha). Then exh-

For AsanasKrishnamachara Yoga Mandiram

alins and pressing the balls movement, especially in theof the feet togretht-dGt@ morning and has a tonic eff-heels es high aspossible,str- ect on the muscles and join-eTdEi-ng well the body, espe- ts (Sandhis). C_tgy:lSj!!-cially the ankles and calf dren could pra4ice to aid inmuscles, in the process. Re- ih-ctodEi66-f,6i6lii]-

\\

Wb,ilfrn.

fer Sketch (3). One could st-ay in the posture for a fewsffi-,---------.:i

...g tnnrng, wni le noldrng tnebreath out (Bahya Kumbha-ka). Then on rnhjlalign-bri:ng down the heels slowlJand deliberately, again syn-chronising with the breathing(with the hissing sound).This may be repeated 3 to 6times.

In the baginning, manymay have difficulty maintai-ning balance or keeping theankles and knees together orstretching the ankle. But ifone proceeds step by step,-first a few c€ntimeters - onec8n stay comfortably in th6posture. After some time, onecan stay in the stretchod pos-ture and complete a few rou-nds of breathing.. Then exh-alinO g€t back tor Samasthi-thi. This is a good strarching

@

TADASANA VINYASA (2L

Fromr$3ggg@i$i. i n hal i n graise arms and iqlq!gg,!!qgers. Then as yegj:lglg,igess the feet and bend_lhglql-so to-tG76IGi6GEii-ng the left side of the bodyespecially the side ribs in theprocess. The posture lookslike a tree swaying to a he-avy northerly wind. Theupper body should neitnerstoop forward nor be pus-hed backward. The wholemovement should be done inthe vertical plane.'One couldstav in the Dosture for a fews@9g!-fnhaling, then, return tothe original position. Thesame movement is repeatedin the opposite direction aswell, so that movgmgnts actas Pratikriyas to each other.tt will be good to keep the

Am

feet and kn6es (without ben-ding) together all throughthe procoss. Refsr to sketch(4).

TADASANA V!NyASA(3).

From Samasthithi. againwith the arms raised and fin-gers interlocked, while exh-

"ting t*i.t (tor.io -

per bodv to the l6ft side tothe extent possible and thenstrotch tho neck and lookup. The feet position are notto be altered and the kneosa.s also kept together. Referto sksrch (5). Stay in theposture for a Tdi-secondsand on inhatation lA;;ii6'ttr_"_g"naii-g-T6ifr fi ;a-6;,rthe chin. The same movem-ent is to be repeated on theother side. which also actsas a counter to the previousmovement.

A.ea-F{y.#5vfli ",Jl*,If,"a, ring","

locked and turned outwa.d,@the knees and lower the bodyhalf way through. (SketchBfmffiffiutd not beraised and one should feclthe stretching at the kn€osand not stiffen them especi-al ly the hamstrings. In thisposition, the thighs ar€.fgr-""_["] -!9.1!9- gglrod-and theposture resembles a chair,staJ-U_Ue po$s9.l9l_el9yseconds, then raise back tott ie st i tng point.oJ .t ; ; . .

PURNA UTKATASANA

Start as for Ardha Utkatasa-na, but as you exhale sit do-wn.-alLlh.e_!v-qy, f lexing fullytffinot drop forward over theknees. The arms and shoul-ders are stretched. The feet

. This Viryglgggy-3:gjg_ are futty on the sround, burd_o!e !!!!!._eltr9_!9plt!_9h&- not rhe sear (butrocks). Stayuldglleve]-.bur the hea.g| is in the posture for a few se_not_raiged as in the orevious. conds. Then inhale raising,vgtlltion While turning right pressing the heels and stret-the h€ad also is turned to the ching the ankles, heels, back,right side, along with stret- shoulders and neck. Refer .ched right shoulder and arm, Sketch 7.Again there is no displace-ment of tho feet, which point There are some Vinyasasfront. lnstead of keeping the (not illustrated) which mayarms at shoulder level, yet also be tried. One is to keepajg$g@!S! (which sho- the srms at shoutder anduld not be attompted by b€- complete the movementa.ginners) would require !9g- Another Vinyasa would req-Pln9.Sgrylm:=losgtgl-bq uirb keepins the palm tose-hrnd the back like salutino ther between the shoulders(Pranam). The palms' posi- in the back like saluting (pr-tion is iilustrated in Skotch 2. anam), the hand position as

w1+

t

7_shown in sk€tch (2). Thesoare moro difficult vinyasas re-quiring some dogree of sup-pleness of the knees andshoulders. Extensions ol thisasana include variat ions inthe position of the leg, like

f stretching one while keepingthe other on the ground.

ARDHA UTTANASANA

This is again done with ar-,ms raised, f ingers inter lockedand turned outward. Then asyou exhale, press the feet,push back the hips and bendforward with the back strai-ght and hor izontal . The kne-es are not to be bent. ReferSketch (8) Then inhal ingcome up to or ig inal posi t ion,s l ight ly arching the back aswell. The Vinyasas in thisinclude keeping the arms str-etched at shoulder level, orwi th palms together on thebsck etc.

PURNA UTTANASANA

With arms posi t ion as be-fore, exhaling, press feet andwithout bending the knees,slowly bend forward andplace the palms ,by the s ideol the feet, on the groud. lfi t is not possible, touch theground or hold the ankles.Then inhale and raise thehead without changing thrposition of the Palms. As Youexhale, try to touch the kne-es with the forohead. lnhale

, then. as you raise to original.i position. This is Putna Utta'I

nasana or lull strstching poseinvolv ing the back of thelogs, hamstrings and knees,the back, neck and shoulders.You may also hold the toeswith the thumb, index andmiddle f ingers when i t isknown as Padangushtasana(sketch 9). There are a num-ber of var iat ions in th is asa-na, pertaining to the posi t ionof hands and palms. Sincethis involves a considerablestretching the stubborn ham-strings arlJ also use of^sto-mach muscles to stay in posi-t ion. i t is necessary to do asuitable counterpose. PurnaUtkatasana ment ioned ear l ier(sketch 7) could be repeateda couple of t imes when thehamstring and knees are rel-axed, so also the lower abdo-mcn,

TONES UP MUSCLES

Tadasana, Uttanasana. andUtkatasana form a group ofasanas. which could be agood beginning for l imber ingup the joints tggi0g up themuscles. lt is to be observedthat i t may not be possibleto reach the f inal posi t ion inthe beginning i tsel f . Forsome, due to their physical .condi t ion (Sar i rasthi th i ) ageand constitution, it may notbe possible to do so evenafter considerable practice.But the benefits start accru-ing when one does conscio-usly and withthe iight breath-ing and'feeling'. the stretch-ing and stay with it fof a

few seconds,

The'control ' against overdoing - which is to be avoi-ded - is the breath itself.When i t tends to become sh-ort, it is an indication to thopractitioner to take rest. ltcan be done by returning toSamasthi th i and do normalbreathing. This inbui l t checkis an addi t ional advantage inourr Acharya's Paddhat i . Un-less otherwise mentioned,breathing should be donothrough throat constr ict ionment ioned at the beginning.

HETPS DIGESTION

This group of asanas espe-cially, Utkatasana and Uttan-asana helps tone up the dige-stiv€ system. Aftcr some Pra-ct ice, when one is steady inthe posture (Sthira), theMoolabandha and Uddiyana-bandha (referred in ihe pre-vious issue) could be tried

aftgr €xhalation, lt is good.? during menstruation is to bo6sp6cially for women,as they'- avoided.work on the pelvic muscles The mornings are ideallyand is useful against certain suited for practice, at aboutcases of menstrual disorders or before sunrise, However,as dyssmenorrhoa. They also abhyasa in the evenings isimpriilE the tone of the pelvic better than skipping the pra-muscles which wil l be use- ct ice for the day. One shouldful during labour and help not practice unti l three hoursreduce post-natal complica- aftet a solid meal and halft ionasprolapseetc.Theseare an hour after intake ofcontra indicated for pregnant fluids.women. Practice of asanas The above group is not

xxxXXx

axhaustive of standing poe-tures, but arg taken for sim-plicity and maximum advan-tage. There ars other standingasanas with feet spread about3' (Trikonasana Sthithi), abo-ut 5' (Prasarithapada Sthithi)and culminating in spreadingthe feet for over 7', when itbecomes Samakona Sthithiwhen one sits as it w€re withlegs apart at 180o. Well thatis for the adepts I

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Yoga Therapy

More Standing Asanas8y S. Ramaswam/, Trustee. Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

The capt ion of the previous stand in Tadasana, wi th armsart ic le appeared by typogr- overhead. Exhal ing, proceedaphical mistake as "On Four to do Ardha Uttanasana andFeet For Asanas" instead of Uttanasana in that .order, keep"On Your Feet For Asanas." the palms beside the feet, asHowever, the ear l ier t i t le wi l l * ment ioned in the June issue.be more appropr iate to the r ' Then pressing the palms in-present wr i te up, as the f i rst ' hale, ra ise the heed, and ex-posture we take up is real ly l hal ing orocced to do utkata-on "Four legs" or Chaturang-f sana, but wi thout rais ing theadandasanam. I arms. Do a few inhalat ion

L-and exhalat ion in the posture.CHATURANGADANDA Thereafter, holding the bre-SANAM : ath af ter exhalat ion, press

the palms sl ight ly, l i f t rhe IeetChatur : Four; : Anga - of f the ground, jump backl imbs; Danda : St ick and land on the t ip of the big

toes of your feet , droppingThe ' four legged st ick the body hor izontal ly l ike a

Dcse' is an important t ransi . st ick, so that the bodv restsi icn posture. l t ccnsists of about 4" above the groundfour steps or v inyasas. First and paral le l to i t . ln th is posi-

t ion only the palms and thebig toes rest on the groundand the ent i re bodv is abovei t . (Refer sketch 1). l t is saidthat the body should be trulyhor izontal . You may breathnormal ly in th is posture andstay between one to six bre-aths. ln the in i t ia l stages. thohands and shoulders are l ike-iy to t remple, but in due cou-rse one may overcome thedef ic iency.

For a number of people, i tmay not be possible to jumpback as ment ioned, out offear of fa l l ing down on theface, or sheer weakness ofthe l imbs. l t is a l l the mor6so with obese persons, someof which group may have di f -

". II \ l r\d

I

iculty in preventing tho bellytouching the ground and yetkeep the back straight. Forthe beginners, theretore, ra-ther than iumping back, i tmay be better to proceed fromUtkatasana step by step. Fir-st just raise both the heels,and then push one leg backand then the other. This is aprsparatory posture for stren-gthening the forearms andshoulders and improve theirlnhA , . - , , ' )' ; ' ; }drA(t t1 t '1L-v "

URDHVAMUKHASWANASANAM

Urdhuvamukha - UpwardFace

Swanasana - Dog posture.

This asana gets the nameas it resembles a dog stret-ching up on i ts lorelegs.Ass-ume f i rst Chaturangadandas-ana as ment ioned ear l ier .Then stretch the ankles andrcst on the upper side of thetoes. Then inhal ing, press thepalms and stretch the upperbody and raise i t up, butkee-ping the legs and thighs par-all€l to the ground. This canbe achieved the stretchingthe feet, legs, knees and thi-

ghs and pushing th€ pelvisforward so that tho navel isbetween the hands. The reco-mmended Drishti (gazing) isthe tip of the nose. Stay inthis posture foi a few brea-ths upto 6 breaths. Refer tosketch (2). This helps to cor-rect the postural defect ofdesk working people whotend to crouch. Then exhali-ng one may return to Chat-urangadandasana.

ADHOMUKHASWANASANAM

Adhomukha - downwardface

Swanasanam - dog pose

The, f i rst v inyasas are asin Urdhvamukhaswanasan-am. Then pressing the palmsand exhal ing, push, the hipback and up, as far as pos-sible. In the f inal posture, thefeet ( inculuding the heels)are fu l ly on the ground. Thenbreathe normally a few times.It is easier in the posturo towork on the lower abdomenand stomach. After exhalati-on therefore. drawlhe rectumand also the lower adbdomenand hold tor a few seconds

(upto 5 seconds). This maybe rqpeated afterevery exh-alation.-Also stretch the backof the neck and lock the chinagainst breastbone (Jalandh-arabandha). Ono may stay inthe posture for up to 6 brea-ths in the beginning. This isa very good posture to helprel ieve f latulence, indigest ionand other minor digest ivedisorders. The ttlro swanas-anas act as counterposes toeach olher.

From Adhomukha swanas-ana, one shculd return toTadasana by retracrng thesteps. First f rom Adhomukh-aswanasana, ptessing thepalms, af ter exhalat ion holdthe breath and by s l ight lyf lexing the knles, iump for-ward ( the arms st i l l on thegr 'ound please) and land, so

@

I

that tho feet are between thepalms. This will be Utkatas-ana. Do a few normal breathsand then bend the head andkeeping the forehead on theknees, inhale, press the Pal-ms and teet and raise the hipup to Uttanasana. Then afteta couple of breaths, inhaleraise arms and straighten uPto Tadasana sthithi.

For those who are unableto come to Utakatasanamlrom AdhomukhaswsllsSso-am by jumping,theeasier me-rhod of returning bY bringingin one foot after the othermay be adopted. And again,if it is not possible to go toUttanasana from Utkatasan-am, ( these are explained inthe June issue) one may rai-se the arms in Utkatasana(Refer sketch 2 June lssue)and then r€turn to Tadasanastithi.

One rnay have observed

dogs doing these two exsr-cises beautifully and seemto reatly enjoy the stretching.One should relax wi th thehelp of long, deliberate exh-alation (Rechaka) and dothese postures,

Actual ly the fo l lowing ext-ended group of asanas in theorder given forms the wellknown Suryanamaskaram.

1. Samasthi th i or Tadasana

2. Ardha Uttanasanam

3. Uttanasanam

4. Utkatasanam

sanam7. Adho Mukha svanasa-

nam8. Utkatasanam9. Uttanasanam

10. Samasthithi.

One may repoat the wholsgroup 3 to 6 times, with thecorrect breathing mentionedsnd staying in each step fora few breaths.

PARSVOTTANASANAM

Parsva - sideuttana - stretching

Start with Tadasana, asusual. Inhale and holding thebreath, jump and spread thelegs by about 3|'. landinggently on the feet. Then hold

eathe normally a couple oft imes and then exhal ing, pre-ss the feet and keeping theknees straight, strelch thoback and also the neck andbend forward, until the fore-head touches lhe right knes.

5. chaturangadandasanam ? the lett wrist. by.th€ r ight

6. Urdhvamukhaswana- | foot outward by about 600 '. and also the upper body. Br.

F.e.

StEy in the postute for,a fewbreaths, and inhaling raisecnd get back to the standingposition. This is Vamaparsvauthsnasanam (StretchingfitFfiTftfe posture.) Theaam€ movement should b€rep€ated on the right side(Dakshina Parsva)'

In this posture, the hipsand the pelvic joints are twi-sted or rotated. The kneesand ankles experience an an-gular stretching and thusthis posture helps in impro-ving the play of these ioints.It can be practised by bothwomen and men. There area number ol Hastha vinyasas.One would require Placingboth the palms on the sidesof the body between the feet.One can also do i t by keePi-ng the arms stretched to thesides or with keeping the Pa-lms closed. behind the back,as i l lustrated in the Juneissue.

Finally after exhalation, ho-ld the breath, iump back andgently return to Tadasanasthithi.

VIRABHADRSANAM

It is named after Virabahdras-wami.

This is an extension (viny-aea) of Parsvoltanasanam.described earlier. Start withTadasana. lnhale and holdi-ng the breath. jump and spr-ead the ,egs by about 3|'.

Stay for a few breaths. Inha-le, raise the atm overheadand interlock fingers. Exhale'turn the right foot outward.Stretch the left leg, keepingthe left knee straight, andbend th6 right knee, pushingit forward and lowering thebody conseguently. Now, in-hale deeply and stretch theuppgr body, dropping thehead back and looking up.This is Virabhadrasana. Doa iew breaths in this posture.Reler to sketch (4).

lnhale, straighten tho knsoand turn to centre position.Repeat the posturg on th€left side.

It could be observed thatthis posture requires furtherstretching of the thighs andcal f muscles and the turn inthe hip joint is funher accen-tuated. Atheletes and spor-tsmen who reguire to be agi-le may benelit by this groupof asanas. lt is not that yogaencoufages sports - on thecontrary it is the contentionthat gqFes, as they wasteenergy, €re a hindrance tothe realization of higher ben-efit of Yoga. $ports are An-gabhangasadhanas ( in lures

one or othor part oI thobody) wheroas yoga is sar-vangasadhana or beneficialto all parts of the body. Butthen, those who do care fotsports only may still benefitfrom these postureg.

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Yoga Therapy

The Triangle PoseBy S, rRamas *u4, Trustoe, Krishnamacharya yoge Mcndirrm

In the previous two issues,a few important standingpostures with variations andappropriate countorposeswere described. Standingpostures are comparativelystrenuous. lt is thereforenecessary that persons withheart ailments do not attemptlhese and other standingpostures. However, it is parti-cular ly benef ic ia l for teena-gers and young men andwomen, as they develop theskeletal muscles and alsowork on tendons and thevar ious jo ints, thereby impro-ving overal l c i rculat ion. Asthese postures ar6 done withcorresponding modulateddeep breathing, the respira-t ion and circulat ion improvewhich is necessary for achie-ving and maintaining goodheal th.MORE STRENUOUS

Trikonasana or t r ianglepose with its variations istaken up next, These aremore strenuous than Tadasa-na, bur wirh the body limbe-r€d up with the Tadasanagroup, i t wi l l help workingon the deeper muscles in thebody. The methodology isdescribed.

Startr.with Tadasana Samas-thi th i . lnhale, ra ise the armsto shoulder level . Exhale,jumping and spreading theleqs about 3 to 3*'. Take afew normal breaths and geta'feel' for the posture. .Nowexhale, turn the head andneck to the left side, so thatyou look over the left shoul-der and bending at the hip,lower the trunk, keeping thepalm on the right foot. Thosewho cannot bend that far mayhold the ankle a l i t t lehigher. After practice, somemay be able to bend as lowas to keep the palm on theground by the s ide of thefoot. You should not feelt ight in the neck or f lushingof the face, which indicatesthat you are straining. Withlonger and f inerexhalat ion orthe Rechaka capaci ty, i t wi l lbecome easier to do in courseof time. After a few breathsrn the posture, which is Uthi-

ta Trikonasana, inhale, rais-ing back to the starting Triko-nasana Sthithi. Repeat thesame on the left side. Oneshould kqep the knees andelbows straight in this postu-re. Refer Skerch ( l) .

In this asana, back, hip,arms, neck and the soles getcopious blood supply. Fur-ther, if practised consistentwith one's physical conditt-on, rheumatic pain in the hipback, knees and the elbowswill gradually reduce. Furtherit is one of the best posutresfor obese persons roffiefat in the arm, neck, waist,lower abdomen and backregions.

Those who are unsteadywhile standing erect, may dothe posture while lying down.keeping the back of rheneck, back, buttocks andback of the heels f irm on the

ground. However,. after afew days, one may startdoing the regular posture.Pregnant women should notdo_this postu.o.

PARSVA KONASANAM

Start as in Trikonasana,with feet spred by about 3 to3| ' and arms at shoulderlevel and back straight.Exhale, press the left footand bend the r ight leg at theknee, bodyatthe hip, p lacingthe right palm on top of ther ight foot . The tef t arm isalso g '66ra1Jt swung over-head, so that it is parallel tothe ground. Refer to sketeh(2), Stay in theposture for afew breaths. Inhale, return-ing to the starting position.Repeat on the lef t s ide. Thisis Uthi ta Parsvakonasana. l tmay be possible to keep thepalm on the ground besidesthe foot after some practico.

i)

'

II

One has to be carefulwhile-lowering tha trunk. Inthis posture, further stretch-ing of the hip and waist isobtained. Constipation andcertain conditions of dysme-norrhea respond well to thisposture.

PRASAARITA PADOTHA.NASANAM

Start with TrikonasanaSthithi, Spread the feet alittls more to about 5'. Nowkeeping the knees straight'placing the palms on the hip,exhale and bend forward aslow as possiblo pushing tho

hip back. Inhale raising thetrunk up.

Now raige the arms over.head, keeping tho palms fa-cing front, exhale bend for-ward and hold the toos byfingers in the corr€spondinghands. Inhale, straight€n theback and look up arching theback up a little. Repeat thismovemont a few times. Ret-ufn to the starting positionwith arms overhead,

Exhale, bending forwardand keeping the palms bet-ween the feet. pushing backthe hips and touching thefloor with the top ot the

head. Do a few lpathr.Inhale, return to 3ilrtingposition. Refer skech (3)

Porsons with vertigo,abnormal blood pr€ssu.e,heart 6ilm€nt should not8ttempt th6se standing pos-tures requiring bending thebody. Youngsters will findTadasana group of asanaeimprove poise and sense ofbalance and hence a b6tt€rawareness of their body. TheTrikonasbna and other asanacwhich give a broader basebetween the feet will givestrength, improve circulaiionand a sense of well being

Yoga Therapy

In the last three issues so-me important standing post-ures with the variations, coun-terposes and lhe accompany-ing breathing pattern to befollowed were describedalong with some of the bene-fits that accrue. lf one haspractised theq at a fixed rimeeach day, regularly, bodyshould become l ighter ( lagh-utwa), c i rculat ion, respirat ionand digestion improve, leadi-ng to better health and apositive sense of well being.The breathing also becomeslonger, smoother and mo realive, thereby giving a senseof calm. l t is the uniquenessof the system of our Acharyathat he has inherited, that oneis impercept ib ly led to thecontrol of breath or Prana-yama, even while doing theasanas. The synchronouslnd long breathing also helpslrlax the muscles and ioints

and attain the posture (AsanaSiddhi) smoothlyandwith lesseffort. A regular practitionercould observe within himsellboth tranquility. anglggradoxi-cally, improved stamina, asrevealed by the capacity todo the postures more deliber-ately with slow stretchingand stay in the final posturelonger and tor more numberol breaths.

THE EANOHAS

It has been nssti8lC. inearlier issues about the fouraspects ol yogic broathing.First is the Rechaka or longand smooth exhalation. Pur-aka is long inhalat ion. l t is ,however, possiblo to hold thebreath in atter inhalation,which is known as internalholding or ant;h Kumbhaka.Holding of breath out duringthe time interval between the

completion of exhalation(Rechaka) and the beginningof inhalat ion (Puraka,) isB-@!Va Kumbhaka

Readers may recall menti-oning about the Bandhas orthe contraction of certaingroup of muscles, lt is nowtime to introduce the ideaand practice of Bandhas alsoin the pract ice of asanas,

Three important Bandhaswere mentioned earlier. Theyare Jalandharabandha, orlocking the chin against thothe broastbone. This maybe done during boththe.kumbhakas and whereverthe postures require the chinto be locked, which is nor-mally the case during forwardbending and keeping the backerect. ln back bending andtwisting postures, it will notbe possible to do Jalandhara-bandha.

The Supta AsanasBy S, Ramaswami, Trusree, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

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However, the other twoBandhas are to be pract isedin most of the asanas, espe-cial ly af ter exhalat ion. Thef i rst is Moola bandha. l t isdone after a complete exha-lat ion. Af ter exhalat ion isover, the abhyasi is to anchorthe body in the asana he isin and slowly and deliberate-ly c loso the anus and thendraw in the rectum with thehelp of contraction of perinn-eal and surrounding musclesof the buttocks and also pull-ing the pelv ic f loor. l t iscal led Moola Bandha orcons-triction of anus. Thereafteras if in a continuous move-ment, the abdomen, includingthe navel is drawn in, pushingthe diaphragm up into thenow almost empty chestcavity, when it is calledUddiyana Bandha (drawingin of d icphragm). l t , is actu-al ly the two Bandhas. Uddi-yana Bandha and MoolaBandha which make usa ofboth the . pelvic diaphragmand diaphragm, which sepa-

rates the chesl from thestomach that is one of specia-l i t ies of yogic breathing whencompared to othsr deep brea-lh ing exercises in olher popu-lar physical cul tures.

It could be obs€rued thatit may not be possible to dothe Bandhas in i t ia l ly twi thoutpractise of long inhalationand exhalat ion, so that theprana strength is first enhan-ced. lf one has practisedthe standing postures menti-oned in the previous threeissues accompanied by thecolrect breathing pattern.and with food restriction(Tapas) and has reduced thethe waistline to its healthylevel , then the Bandha couldbe attempt€d.

The one standing posturewhere all the three bandhas,could be effectively practisedis Utkatasana and'also i tsvariation Ardha Utkatasana.After practising regularlythe dynamic movem€nts in

the standing postures, oneshould attempt to stay in thoposture for a few breaths,say 3 to 6 to start with. Inthe init ial stages one may beable to barely accomplishthe posture, Then one shouldstay in the posture, sayUtkatasana or Ardhautka-tasana for fabout 3 to 6breaths. Then one shouldstay in the posture comfon-ably and slowly lncrease thetime to complete the stipula-ted number of breaths. TheB-after one should remain inth6 posture fora fixed periodsay 3 to 5 minutes. Furthelp.actice should be aimed atreducing the number ofbreaths for the same timeduration. For instance, onomay take 20 breaths to be inthe poslure. Later on it maybe possible to remain in theposture steady and comfor-table (Sthira and Sukha) for5 minutes with perhaps 10breaths only. This is onemethod of attaining Asanasiddhi (perfection in posture)

which one can t€st for one-sel f .

Having achieved this, thenit may be good to introduceBandha descr ibed above.which wi l l go to increase thetime taken for one breath.Obviously it requires notonly stamina or PranayamaBala, to hold the breath forthe duration cf the Bandha,but also a heal thy stomachand digest ive system andthe pelv ic organs. WhatBandha is possible wi thulcer, const ipat ion, col icpain, prost i t is , ur inary infece-t ion, dysmenorrhea, obesi ty,weakness ai is ing out ofindiscr imate sex etc?

SUPINE POSTURES

The next group of Asanastaken up are those ly ingwith face upward of Suptaasanas. First is Tatakamudra(gesture of a pond), whichmakes use of the Bandhaseffectively.

Start wi th Samasthi th i .Inhale, ra ise arms overheadand inter lock f ingers. Exhale.do Uttkatasana. Do a fewbreathswith or wi thgut theBandhas. Exhale, i6birl$gthe palms a few lnches be-hind the back. Now si tdown. Inhale, stretch thelegs forward together and l ieon your back, keeping thehands along the sides of thebody and palms facing downon the ground.

This is the start ing posi-t ion for a l l supine postures.One may start straightawaylying down, but the advan-tage of starting lrom Sama-sthi th i is that one could getl imbered up a bi t and alsoone can be sure that thebody is straight, making useof the sense of balance.However i t is the t radi t ionalmethod.

The ly ing posture is cal ledSavasana by some author,-ties.

Now keep the feet, anklesand !499g close. Stretchthe thigh, cal l muscles.Press the heels, but tocks,palms, shoulder and . neckand stretch the spine oninhalat ion. so that the ent i reback tends to be f lat on theground. By this i t may bepossible to stretch the neckand do Jalandharabandha.But i t is preferable to use asmal l p i l low to raise thehead and lock the chin. Doa few deep long breaths.

the bandha a tleast for a fewseconds. This is Tatakamud-Ia. Now, relax the drawnmuscles and then inhalo.Repeat foi about 6 breaths.I t may also be done withaims stretched overhead asin the sketch (1 ) .

PREVENTIVE STEP

The Mudra may be b€tterfor some persons with legsbent and feet on the ground,glg to the butfocks. Onemay pract ice also in the posi-t ion given in sketch (2),which is Chakravakrasanaa

obviously i t is not possi-ble to do the Bandhas with-out adequate preparat ion ofthe body by asanas andby modulated breathing inasanas, as has been explainedin al l the orevious issues. Asick person suffer ing f romacute abdomenal diseases wi l lnot be able to do them at al l toder ive any benef i t - l t is morea prevent ive exercise thancurat ive. However, wi thasanas, breathing. a proper

Then after a deep, comple- diet and a few other yamate exhalat ion; pressing the niyamas ment ioned, the pat i -heels, knees. buttocks, palms, ent would become f i t to startshoulders and neck and the pract ice of Bandhas andstretching other body muscl- _der ive the immense benef i ts.es, do Moolabandha and lHeur ist ical ly i t maybe obser-Uddiyanabandha, so that ved that diseases l ike ear lythe entire abdomenal portion stages of piles, prostitis, pro-;s drawn in completely lapse-rectal and vaginal , inc-making i t scaphoid. l t resem- ont inence, const ipat ion, indi-bles a smal l , beaut i fu l pond gost ion etc, ' respond wel l toformed by ths pelvic bones Tataka mudra. Some yogaand the lower ribs. Stay on therapists claim that it acti-

I

vates the liver and pancreas,so that certain drabetics couldalso benefit. There are yogiswho claim that they can drawthe diaphragm so much in asto massage the heart. Sincei:s effect on the sex organsare clearly seen, people whopractice from early life willmaintain their youth lor alonger per iod. l t is helpfuldur ing chi ldbir th i l pract isedfrom early in life. Pregnantwomen may practice Moola-bandha; but not Uddiyana-bandha.

JATAVAPARIVRITHI

From the ly ing down posi-tion (as for Tataka mudra),inhule, ra is ing the arms to

shoulder level . Inhale, ta ise r ivr i th i or act iv is ing stomachthe head sl ight ly and turn (or l iver) . This, when donethe head to the left side. with the Bandhas is extreme-Exhale, ptessing the palms, ly useful in reducing the sidEshoulders and pivoting the fat, increases appetite andlower back take the t ight leg general ly helps the digest iveaway by about 30o to 45o svstem. lt is useful in correc-Now on the next inhalat ion, r ing st i f fness in the lowertake the lef t , leg" and also back. The sacro- i l iac io int isstretching h Kb6f it besii^;d-;shi reg, sJ trat ooii i?9-"^ "1y"'l1 enh-ances thethe feet are togerher. Do 6 to :{1""t,: of-.I"dasana' but12 rong brealhes, doins the- l":l-1llv ,t-l'-t l:, the firstMoola and Uddiyana 3"n- ' i . twist ing ot the spine' Af ter

dhas if possible. The upper the required number of

body should be straighr. one bteaths inhale and return to

would feel the stretching all the starling position' Breathealong the r ibs, h ip and lef t normal ly a few t imes and doleg. The stomach muscles on tha posture on the other side'th6 ld'ft slde are also stretch- The posture is illustrated ined. This is cal led Jatavapa- sk€tch (3)

t

Yoga Therapy

DWIPADA PEETAM8y S Ramaswami.. Trust6e, Krishnamacharya yoga Mandiram

Many yogasanas aim atmaintaining the supplenessof the spine. l t is said thata man is as old as his spine.The Desk Pose or DwipaoaPeetam is a simple, efiectiveasana which works on thebackbone.

METHODOTOGY

STEP 1Lie on your back on soft

ca.pet. Support the neck andhead with a smal l sof tp i l low in the in i t ia l srages.

Inhale, p lace the afms alongthe side of the body. Keepthe knees, ankles and feettogether and slowly stretchthem.

STEP 2

Exhale, bending the legs atthe knees and drawing andplacing the feet close to thebuttocks. Do a few modula-ted breaths. Now hold theankles wi th the palms, i fonly possible; or e lse, keepthe palms on the ground.Inhale, press the back of the

head and ]neck and also thefeet; raise the trunk slowlyas high as you can, archingand stretching tho spine, thcneck, shoulders and arms inthe process. Stay for twoseconds. Exhale, loweringthe body Repeat 3 times.This is Dwipada Peetam orDesk Pose. (Refer Sketch 1 )

STEP 3

Now for the var iat ions.lnhale, stretch r ight leg,whi le keeping the lef t legbent as in previous posi t ion.

o

t

€

lnhale again, arching theback, rais ing the hip whi lepressing the left foot andheel. Stay for two seconds.Exhale and return to thestarting position.

STEP 4

lnhale, press the back ofthe neck and left heel, rais-ing the r ight leg as high asyou can, stretching especiallythe neck and the right hip

ioint. Stav for two seconds.Exhals, return to startingposition. (Refer Sketch 2).

STEP 5

Exhale. bending the rightleg at the knee and placingthe right foot on the root ofthe left thigh. Inhale, raisingthe trunk and the bent r ightleg. Stay for few seconds.Exhale and deturn to startingposition. (Befer Sketch 3).

STEPS 6 to 8Repeat movements mentio-

ned in Steps 3 to b with theright leg bent.

STEP 9Stretch both legs on inha-

lation and return to start ofStep 1. Now, inhale, pressthe back of the neck andheels. arching the bodybetween below the neck andthe heels. You may stfetch

the ankles, so that the feetare on the ground. This , isknown as Madhyasethu orBridge Pose. Stay for a fewseconds. Exhale, returningto the starting position

Older and obese personsshoulo perform the trunkrais ing movements on exha-lat ion and return movemenron inhalat ion. This is Langa-nakriya.

tors, drivers, typists, etc. lt isalso useful to rel ieve lowback pain, especially experi-enced by pregnent women.They however, need do onrySteps 1 and 2 and do themafter getting tho clearancef rom their obstetr ic ians.

tU&VFORMATIONSThis group of Asanas

which resemble the letters,

head with a small soft pillowdur,ng the firstfew weeks ofpractice. Place the armsalong the body. Knees, anr-les and feet are kept together.Slowly stretch them, whilotaking a lew modulatedbreaths.

STEP 2

Inhale, stretching and rais.ing the r ight arm overhead.

BENEFITS

Desk Pose is a convenientexercise for arching andhence streDgthening thespine. Since thg. feet andneck are anchored, for begin-ners, th is posture is easierto do, compared to manyother back arching asanas. l thelps rel ieve pain in a st i f fneck, incidental in such occr.r-pat ions as machine opera.

L, U and V, require the stret-ching of lorrer back andbr ing into play the lowerstomach muscles and impro-ve their tone. The arms andlegs are stretched out andup, and are known as UrdhwaPrasruta Paada Hastha Asa-nas

STEP 1 :Lie on your back on a soft

carpet. Support the neck and

Exhale, ra is ing the r ightarm and .r ight legfrom the hip as high as youcan but uDto 90o to theground. In the beginning,you may f i rst bend the r ightknee, as i f k icking hightowards the face and thenstraighten it. Stay for a fewseconds. Inhale returning tothe start ing posi t ion.

STEP 3Now exhale, ra ise th€ r ight

arm and left leg. stay for

t

two seconds. Then inhale,returning to the ol ig inalposi t ion. E: :hale. loweringthe r ight arm to the s ide ofthe body.

STEP4&5Repeat movements 2 and 3

with the lef t arm raised.

STEP 6Exhale deeply. press the

palms. raise bi th legs toge-

ther f rom the hip as high aspossible, upto 90o from theground. stay for two secon-ds. lnhale, lowering the legs.This resembles let ter L andis Urdhwa Parsruta PadaAsanam.

STEP 7

lnhale. raising both armsoverhead. E rhale, ra is ingbot l r arms and both legsperpendrcular to the ground.

Stay for two seconds. lnhale,srretching both the armsand legs and returning to thestart ing posi t ion. This resem-bles letter U and is knownas Urdhwa Prasruta PadaHasthasananr. (Refer Sketch4).

STEP 8

Innale, ra is ing t roth armsover-head. Exhale as in Step7 raise tcth i r rns and the

l6gs but, take ths legs a bitfurther and hold lhe big toes'by the thumb and the nexttwo fingers. Inhale, spreadthe legs, resembling l€tter Vand this is known as UbhayaPada Angushtasanam. Thesepostures will be easier toperform with longer andsmoother exhalbt ion. (ReferSk€tch 5).

Another variation whichmai be attempted after Prac-

tice of the earlier Vinyasasis Supta Padangushtasana.From after tho_Step 2, men-tioned above, slightly strotchthe right leg, bring it forwardand hold the big toe withfingers of the right hand.KeeD the left hand on thelef t th igh which is on theground and do a few modu-lared breaths. This is SuPtaPa dang ushtasa nam.

Now slowlY exhale andprossing the lsf t s ide ol the

body, leg and heel, lowerthe r ight leg wi th the.arm tothe r ight s ide, holding the toeal l through. In the f inal Posi-tion, the right leg is stretchedon the ground to the r ight otthe body and held bY ther ight hand at about thcshoulder level . This is SuPtaParsve Padangushtasanam.(Refer Sketch 6). This is to

be repeated on tho otherside also.

t

BENEFITSAs mentioned, this group

of Asanas, helps to strehg-then lower abdomenal nrus-cles and effect ively checks

obesi ty; const ipat ion andear ly stages of p i les res-pond to thesb exercises.People who spend longhours standing and tend

to develop vericose veinswi l l a lso benef i r . c i r ls i f theypractice from puberty willimprove the tone of theirpelv ic muscles,

Thr rblllty to rrnd ononr'. h.rd un.ld.d tor th.flrat tlma, brlngr thr romerfn.. ot .htlon.r . childa..ml lo gat whan n at.ndaon ltr f.|t forth.th$ tlmounrldrd. Sfnhrrmrmftoldrth. prld. of phor among rll.t|n|,. Yo9r tarchrrr rndprmrltlonara, rnclcnt rndrnodarn, hrvr rpcnt conrldc-nbla tlma on tha practlcr and.tudy ot phyrloloelcrl, rndmrnbl .tfrcta. Mcdlcrl pr..otltlonarr rnd rcterrchrnlnt.r..t.d In Yogr, glvo con.rldrrrbb lmport.no. to lt !ndrtudy tha.ft ctr on thr whob.yrt.m. Unabla to got hrgenumbcn ol rubjectr whoprlctlot Slnhrunam, romercrclrchcrr hrva cvon gonclo lh. crtont of using mlce In.n Invrn.d po.ltion in r glasstubc or novic.r to bo kcptInvcrtcd on an Incllnrd phnr,to rtudy the rlfrctr of Sirrhr'rangm, Thc bost rca.lrch inyogr ir for ono to cxpcrl.mcnt on onaralt rnd frgl thr.tt.ctr.

It la common knowlodgethot in tha normrl erect porl.3lon, tha mlm grgant of pat.

SirshaasanamBy S, Ramatwtml

ctptlon-aata, cyca and brlindo not gct r coplour rupplyof blood !r th.y fr. .ltuat.drbovl thr harit. Agrln,whan wa brastha normllly,whlch lr prilly dhphrugmrrlc'thr vltsl grglna,.rJoh !a liva,rplecn, kldncyr, dl.phr.gm,rtc., grt pr.r'ed and dltpfr.cld . trom th€ir polltlonr-albelt to a 3mall oxtont.According to Yogic theory,dl..!.. lr dur to the dirpla-camont of vital Int.?n6l or-grnr qnd mutobl rnd th.yoglc prrctlc. lr rr&rt.d tobrlng tfirm to th.lr orlgln.lporltlonr: Thr Rlrhlr hrvrrought to rcmcdy thb rltua.tlon by rdoptlng meny topryturvy porturct, or Sqrvan.grmn!, Slr.hamnr, Plnohc-mayurlrarntm, otc., of whlchSlr.hr3onlm io the foremogt.

ln Slrshlsanrm, gravltveidr in the fiec flow of bloodto the organr of perorptlon, ltb both curetlvo and prcven-t ive, Howrvor,Sirrhi lrnamrcqulnl conridcnble pr.pr.ntion of tho body, Erpooiallytor lhoro who on obrta. it islmporltlvo thrt the body ao.guirar romc rupplencrr (1rr-

ghava) bypractlr ol mudru(erprclrlly mrhocmudre) cndprlrnrryrmrr In ruoh po.tu-rr l sr Prdmraatn!rn,Vajrrrrrnrm, rtor brfolo.tt.mpSlng rrrn0 llkr slnhr.aantm.

Sayanrchrryr'r oomman.tary on Patonjrh Yogmutrrrgiverconridrnble pncticald.trlh th.t arc hrlpful ln t',||pracllcr rnd mr.ttry ol mrnycrln!., The mrln objrctivrol Shrhornrm lt not mrrolylo lrrcngc lor a coplourblood rupply to th. h.rd anduppcr llmbr of thc body atrhouldcrr. neck, back, rtc.,but rbo to rlow down thcnrplrltoly r!tr. lt lr th.contfnllon of yogh that onc rpr.drt.rmln.d llh rpafi' llmealurrd ln tem! ol brortht.nd not In obrolutc ilm.,Thur yogir hrvc alw.ya att-emptrd to prolong tha flfa:prn in tlrms ol tlmo byriducing thc numbcr olbrolthr prr unlt tlm.. Th.word Pnonllycml melnllength.nrng thr broth tnoalro length.nlng llf. .prn,In thrt, Sirrhm.ngm hlr .vory importrnt roll to plry

on yoga. And as a count6r. it is to be follo-wed by an oqual longlh of time in the prac-tice of Saruangasanam. The procedure willbe to do Sirshasanarn 24 broaths. Then itis to be followed by rest of about 2 minutes,lying down in Savaasanam. Th€n Sarvaan-gasanam for lhe equal number of 24 btaa-ths, followed by some sitting posture asPadmaasanam for a few braaths, until onofeels normal and relaxed. This is the methodof progression or Vinyaasam. Even Sirsha-

1;, 8anam should bs done only alter a {ew"' preparatory exerciseo. like sarvangasanam,

csrtain Bhandhas and Mudras, as montionode6rlier.

BRAIN IS HETPED

ln Sirshasanam, the brain and lhaglands therein got a b€tter supply of bloodand the inlernal organs in the body getdisplaced upwards. The two minutes restis used to normalise, Similarly in Sarvan-gasanam, the organs are displaced, but theflow of blood to head is rostricted (it is thecase if one does Sarvangasana properly withthe chin prassing against the chest makinga Bandha). In th is thethyroidand the upperpart of the body get extra supply of blood.Ths r€st period helps to normalise. Thenwhen a sitting posture is taken up fot prac-

. tice, the int€rna, organs rstain thoir proper

- position. This group of asanas thetetoto help

Thus when Sirshasanam is well mastered(A s a n a Siddhi) , then the breathing rat6which is normally sbout t5-20 pef minute,automatically cornes to sbout 4 p6r minut€.This is wi th in the capaci ty of any one whowould spend th€ time necessary and oatnestabout it. However the aim should be toreduce it to about 2 per minute. Thus at thisrate it is normal to do 24 - breaths spreadover 12 minutes.

Sirshasanam should always be dons rnthe morning- i t is la id down by authot i t i r ;

to restore the equilibrium state of the vitalorgans as liver, kidneys, prostate, €tc. Thisis the reason behind doing those posturesin that particular order.

The breathing pattern in Sirshastnrmrequires some attention..As m€ntioned, theroare four distinct steps in breathing inyogaasana practice, one should practicenormal inhalat ion (Purakam), no del ibet€toholding al ter inhalat ion in tho in i t ia l stagesof pract ice and a long exhalat ion (Recha-kam). However, during the changeov€l from

Purakam to Rechakam thereis an intorval of about twoseconds when there is apauge in tho gathi of Praana.Howaver, after some practice,Kumbhakam, say upto 5ssconds after inhalation andupio I 0 seconds after exhala-t ion (Bahya . .Kumbhakam)may be pract(4ed. lt is dur-ing thi$ Bahya Kumbhaka onbshould elowly start practisingMulabandha 8nd Uddiyana-baodha,also. lf one is steady(sthira) and comfortable(Sukha) in this posture thonthe oltects of tho Bandhasar€ accentuated duo to theh€lp of gravity also. Actuallyaftor a fsw minut€s of ptac-tice the musclos of the legs,thighs, glutial, even chest,back shoulders and ncckrelax arid with this musclosnot b€ing ;equired to main-tain tho tons, tho Perenealand tectal muscles also oouldbe drawn in to get goodMula and Uddiyrna Bandhas.Sir$hGsana, which is alsoknown 8s Kapaalasana andErahmasanam, dePendingupon tho contact p6tt of thohead on tho ground (thi3 ishowever to be loatnt tromgreat yogis who could onlYtoll ths diff€rence) lends itselfto a varioty of vinyaasas.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Some research done so faron headstand confirm mostof the views expressed in thetraditional book. though someclaims app6or to be inconclu-

sive, as adepts in yoga arenot easi ly avai lablo tor study.I t is found that du€ to theinverted natu16 of tho postureand a r€laxat ion in the legmuscl6s, ths pressure in thelegs drop f rom nearly 200 mg.to about 20 or 30 mg.How€ver, there does nots€em to bo such a rush ofblood to the head, as is nor-mally bolieved. In fact a fewyears back whon yoga was

not that populrr as it is today,many. peoplo were advisednot to do Sirshasana as i t mayprocipitatg a strok€ due toincreased flow and pressuroin the brain v6nals, However,it is found that the blood flowto the h€ad is not that app-rociable as to causg anyserious damage. as due toauto regulation. tho bodyadjusts the flow, by constric.tion. But then it is sufficient

to dllrte mrny crpllhrler thatur hithcto clorcd and helpato lmprova oxygan supply tomrny crlh nbt rufficientlyoxyg.nrtcd. Thur diffcrentpan. of tho brain that crnnlvrr bl hclped duting not-mll rtrndine or ritting posi-tion .ppsrr to bc helpeddurlng Sirrhcrnrm. One harto rdmit thrt p.oplo withhlghrr Elood Prerrurc, orr.tlnrl p.oblom uc wcll rdvi-rrd to be orullour rnd dotham und€r oxprrt guidance,ln crrcr of mild hmfi condi.tlon, it .pp.cr. to holplnclclrc prarturr on thcrhouldcrr rnd back whichftimulatar tha brain to nduccthr blood pto.surf. lt itth.nfor., found thrt if oncpractica. Slnhrarenrm rcgu-hrly ono finds th. pulrr rutrnduccr.ignltlcrntly tharabyreduclng tho .traln on th.heail. Thrtr ir r r.duclionIn Blood Proroute rho.

MEMORY IMPROVES

Thr c l rculat lon ofccrebro.rpinal f luid lc increr-tcd to a greator dggreo thanin rny other exercilc, lfpropcrly don€, it inctcamrbrsln olplclty and memotypowrr, lt hcl tome rcdativaaffoot, rnd mrny pcople suf-hring from inromnla rcspondwrll to Siruhrrrrn.m. lt hlstonlo €lfrct on tho t.itat,ovrriol rnd pelvir by rrmovrlof congestion. Gattro Intcr-t inal disoorat ar6 troatgd.Varicoce vrins tsnd to dis-

rppear. Llvcr rnd rplocn alrocould bc axorclred withgravity rnd Bandhar. The lcgmuloler, knoo Joints and thortubborn hip iointr becomeruppbr In couroa of tlm3.Somo of tha vsri8lion3 likoUrdhwapldtrna in Sirrhau'nam t.nd to anhrnco th..ff.cl3.

tt is hypothorlred by amodical doctor thEt Sirrh.r!'nrm 3aemr to ltlmulato thonervr c€ntro! tesponslble forbronchlal tube di latat ion andas Buch is highlY beneficialto asthmatict. Further thereis dfaining of the blonchialtub€r, !nd hcnca beneficialto tho8. ruffering fromr.9piratory r i lment8.

The Bandhm In Sirrhrarr.nlm h.lp In errdicoting Pi lerin th. .arly rlrgoN rndprohp$ (r.ct l l lnd v.elnal)in the oErly ltag€!. Honcoit is a good Prrsl nrtal oxar'cire. Even in oar!sin antrnatsl

caror, lf th. prtlent had brcnprrctblng thr portutc bcforeprognancy, lt msy br contin-uod undcr proper guldrnccduring pregnrncy, a3 lt holptb.tt.r chculrtlon. Cenrincarcr ol ntlovergion of utlrurcould be helped, in th. artlyrhgm. Somo noman ttaknown to hlva pructla.d lllthrough th.lr pirgn.ncy. Ihrvo llcn rtudants of myAchoryr, cncour.ged by hlm,doing Sitrhrurnrm dutingadvrncrd stages of pte-gnancy.

METHODOTOGY

Jurt ar Sitrharana la .noxcoptlonllly gfo t yogicportuta, mrny flnd it extra.mrly difflcult to rttain thoPOTIU|€ rnd b.ooma attadyrnd oomfonablo to d.tiv. thrfull brnrlltr. Some hrvc rnEturrl t.ndoncy and a goodgenrc of brlrnce rnd theYattain tho portutr oaoi lY, 8utothors havo oonrldor!bta

difticluty, lt is bettor to practise Sirshaa-sana under proper guidance. Having pre-pared well one'o body, especially the nEckrnd shoulders with Sarvangasanam andoth€r arm movem;nts, one may rttempt lo doSirshaasanam, Use a soft carpet, toldedinto four. In the init ial stagEs i t is advisa-ble, rather nscogsary to uso lhe wall assupporl.

Start with Sam.sthithi, Exhale proceedto do Utkatssanam and then Vajrasanam.Then exhaling bend forward, keeping thoelbowg and hands on the ground, tingsrg

intsllocked but turned inward, the sides ofsmall f ingers remaining ih the ground,Keep the hedd batween tho cuppod p8lms,ths head itself remaining about 2 to 3 inchsraway from the wall. Stowly exhale, pressthe elbows. hdnds and littl6 fingers, slretchths legs, pushing theback towards th€ walf,arching it in the procegs, keoping the top oftho head aB tho fulcrum. In th€ process thelegs and feet are also drawn towards thebody a little,'walking'on th6 big rose in theprocos6. Stay for a few breoth& than ss thesmall b6ck touches the wrll. holding thebreath after oxhalatictn, with a stight pushtranster the woight of the body to tho headback on the wall and taklng tho feot off theground. The lego al3o may be bent in theprocoss. so that tho kneeg are a few inchesabovo tho chin (Rofer to Skgtch 2), Stay fora f6w breaths, gotting a iael lot batance.Thbn slowly stretch th3 legs on inhalationand keep the heels on thowa,l. One ghouldkeep the neck. body and lege straight. andthighs, kn€ss and ankles together. Staytor a lew breaths. Now again on axhalation,bond the knees, return to position as insketch (2). Stay for I few broaths. On nextexhalation lower the lega and retum toVajrasanam. This procees m€y bo repeatedtow timos,

PRACTICE HETPS

After some practice, try to pull tle!g3['(back, buttocks) away fiom the wall, koepingonly thg h6ols on the wall for aupport, Tryto k6ep the ankles stretched, After gainingsome confidenco, draw onelegawaycomp-letely from tha wall, otay tor a tew brcsthtend raturn to tho wall, Rcpeat on theother sids. Thereafter, one should attomptto take both th€ heels away fiom the wall andpractica Sirshaasanam, ropaatedly r€tumingto tho wall for support, Day by day, onewill be able to att6in a good balance.

After a fgw days' pract ice(some take weeks or evenmonlhs), one should try togo up purely on thc strengthand control of the elbows,

shoulder and neck musclesbarely touching the wall whilegoing up or coming down.After repeated practace onemay attempt to do thbposture in a place away fromthe wal l .

There ars advantages intrying to practice against th6corner of the room. lt h€lpsto prevent lat€ral movementsof th€ body and legs andavoid distortions and conse-quent pain in th€ neck,shoulders etc. However it isbetter to learn the posturefrom a teacher.

SOME VARIATIONS

Sketch (1) shows Sirsh-asana. The head point shouldbe tho top (ctown) of thehead; however one has tomake minol adjustmentsalmost cont inuously, Theelbows should be used con-siderably in the in i t ia l stagesto at ta in and maintainbalance. Later on, it may bopossible to remove lhe armsaway from the head fotNiralamba and other var ia-t ions of Sirshasanam, pertain-ing to the var iat ions of thearms. Then there are Vinya-sas possible due to var iat ionin the posi t ions of the leg,spine etc. Sirshasanam, per-haps af fords scope for the

maximum number of var ia- on inhalat ion. Further onet ions and movements, may stay in Aakunchana-

A few variations are des- ssnam'for a few breaths, saycr ibed. Bending the legs and up to 6 of so'

lowsr ing them known asAakunchanaasanam is good Anothst var iat ion wouldfor exercis ing the shouiders cal l for exhal ing and archingand g€tting a good control the . b€ck' to low.et thg legsover head stand posture. straight and paral le l to theAakunchananr (Sketch.fr ;s'; ground. Good control ofdone on exhalation and ono elbows and shoulder muscl.may return to Sirshasanam es are required. lt is known

as Urdhwadandaasa-nam (Refer sketch 3). lt haga very good effEct on abdo-menal muscles and h€lps tostrongthon th€m. Inhalereturn to Sirshasanam. Per-haps onE of the more fascin-ating vanations is Urdhwap-admasanarn in Sirshasanam.Firgtly in Sirshasanam, exhaleand spread th€ legs, whsn itis known as Urdhwa Kona-sanam. liow exhale bendleit leg, keepilg the foot onthe right thigh. On thc noxt

-Iexhalation, complste Padma-sanam, whi lE in Sirshasanam.This is Urdhwapadm8asanam.Rsf€r skotch 4.

Now exhale, bend at thehips and fold ths Padmasa-nam by bringing the kneestowards the body. bendingat the hip. This is Aakunchi taUrdhwa Padmaasanam.Refer to sketch 5. Nowexhaling further arch the backand lowsr the legs in Padma.asanam so that it i5 in front

ol ths chest (f'iefer 6). This,according to a few authorsis cal led Pindasanam inSirshasanam, as it resemblesfoetus (Refer also to Pinda'sanarn in an earlier issue onSarvangasanam). l t is a lsoknown as Viparita YogaMudra, Inhale return toUrdhwa Padmaasanam andthen on to Sirshasanam onnext inhalation. Rsp€at withright leg crossed first forPadmaasanam and lo thomovements.

BODY IS VERSATILE

One may go up in Sirshasa-na by bending th€ kn€es asdescribed earlier and straightalso, reaching Urdhwadand-aasanam half way through.It is also possible to go up toUrdhwa Padmasanam fiomPadmaasanam straight. Onomay also rsturn to Padmasa-nam, by retracing tho st€Psfrom Urdhwapadmaasanam,Aakunchita Urdhwa Padmaa-sanam, Pindasanam and thentouching tha ground with theknees, releasing the head fromthE Sirshasanam positionand back to PadmaasanamorParvataasanam. Youngs-ters will lovs to do asanaswhen intgrsspersgd with suchvariations and get to apple-ciate what a beautiful,versatile dextrous Piecr ofequipment the body is. Onlya few variations have beenmentioned here.

Well, it is nics to stand onone's own head. after all.

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SARVANGASANAMBy S. Ramaswami, Trustee, Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram

Shirasasanam and its closeally Sarvangasanam, hold thepride of place among variousasanas. Yoga teachets andpract i t ioners, ancient andmodern, have a lot to sayabout these postures. Evena novice .experiences thetonic effecta of Sarvangasanaon starting the p r a c t i c e.Medical practitioners and re-searchers interssted in Yogagive considerable importanceto theso asanas and study theeffects on the whole system.One should include Sarvan-gasanam in the daily practicefor sure.

It is commonfknowledgethat in the nofmal erect Pcs-ture, the main organs of Per'c€ption-ears, eyes and thebrain do not get a copioussupply of blood as they aresi tuatod above the heart .Again, when we breathe innormally, which is partly dia-phragrnatic, the vital organsas l iver, spleen, k idneys, dia-phragm otc.. get pressed anddisplaced from their position-alboit, to a srnall extent,According to Yogic theofy.disease is due ro the displac-

ement of vital internal organsand muscles and the yogicpla:tice is resorted to to bringthsm to their or ig inal posi t i -ons. The Rishis have soughtto remedy this s i tuat ion ,byadopting rnany topsy turvypostures, of which Shirasa-sana and Sarvangasana arethe foremost.

SARVANGASANAM

It is one of ths Inost c i f f i -cult postures as one has toprepare th€ body, especiallythe neck, before starting onthe pract ice. Dwipadapeetam

and Urdhwaprasr i tapadasan-am are the two Dostures whi-ch prepare the body for Sar-vangasanam.Sarvangas:tna dsthe na:ne. impl ies tones up al lcsntres, nerves, organs, jo intsand muscles. The techniquement ioned hereafter is not forabsolute beginners, but forthose who have practrsed theasanas mant ioned in the pre-vaous issues and hJVe at ta i -neC a cettain prof ic iencyin staying in the postureswith the proper Yogic brea-thing de;cr ibed ear l ier on.

METHODOLOGYSTEP 1

Lie flat on a soft mat, keep-ing the legs stretched out,fcet together, ankles c lose,knees togsther, p lace t h earms alon3 the body and en-t t re palms on the ground.

STEP 2

Exhak'rg. s lowly raise thelegs, pressing the palms andback. neck and head, wi th-out bending the knees, unt i lthe legs from the hip are stf-a ight up. This is Urdwapra-srita Padasanam. Stay there

tor a few breat i rs. Tlren exrr-al ing, ra ise the legs furthelup, l i f t ing the hip and rheback from the ground.

STEP 3

When the whole t runk rsraised and up, place the palmsbehind the back, thereby sup-port ing the body with thepalms. The chest is pressedagainst the chin, which cov-ers the neck pi t , between thecol lar bones, thereby ensur ingthat the body is not tilted toei ther s ide. This also ensu-res Jalandharabandha. Thebody is straight. Af ter a fewbreaths, adjust the palms aslow as possible, unt i l , saythey are support ing the f loa-t ing r ibs. The elbows shouldnot be sDread far and theideal posi t ion is to keep themabout the span of the shoul-ders level. After a few morebreaths, s lowly and del ibera-tely stretch the back, the spi-ne, hip, thrgh and cal f musc-les, the relaxed knees, theankles and the feet so thatthe toes are also pointed. Theeyes are c losed and the vis i -on is directed towards themiddle of the eyebrows (Bhr-umadhya dr isht i ) . This isSarvangasana(Refer to sketch1). l t is bet ter to keep thoful l face ot the palms on theback (Refer Sketch 2) ratherthan holding the s ide of ther ips wi th the thumb pressingin as is the normal pract iceand tcndency. One shouldattempt to stay in thB posture

for at ieast 5 mrnutes. whic i rcould be achieved gradual ly,wi th pract ice.

The breathing is throughthe throat constr ict ion whichproduces a hissing sound.There is no del iberate at temptto do retention of breath afterinhalat ion, but i t may beattempted af ter exhalat ion.After some practice whenthe posture is steady andthe waist l ine is broughtdown to a better proportion,one may attempt the Moola-bandha and Uddiyanabandha,whose benef ic ia l ef fects areenhanced with the help ofgravrty.

After staying in the pjj!!r9for requrred l€ngth of t ime,on inhalat ion, return to star-t ing posi t ion, wi thout rais ingthe head and in a rol l ing mo-t ion. l t wi l l be nice to feeltho strstching in each of the

vertebrae as one relurns tothe start ing point .

BENEFTITS

Sarvangasana tones up thosystem, and many who startthe pract ice of th is asana feeli ts benef ic ia l ef fects, wi th inashort t ime. One stat tsfeeling light, joints becomesupple and muscles are inbetter tone, all round,

Its effects on the thyroidand parathyroid have been amatter of study, snd is of con-siderable help to cenain ca-ses of hypothyroidism. Thereis a good return of venousblood to the heart and thereis a significant drop in theblood pressure in the legsafter 5 minutes of practics.The neck and back get a.copious supply ofl blood.

People suffering f rom respi-ralory ailments. especiallyAsthma and brochitis resp-ond wel l to Sarvangasanam.A,medical doctor has hypo-thesised ihat the oosutre i fdone for up to 3 minutes orso, seems to help act asbronchodi lator. Further, dueto gravity, there is a bett€rdraining of bronchial secfet i -ons and i t helps rel ievegreatly those suffsring fromsinusi t is and bronchialcongestion.

_The cerebro spinal f lu idcirculat ion. is increased, andhencc.there is al l round toni-

I

ng up of the entile n€ryousSygtem.

It keeps the spin€ supple,and when done with t h evinyasas, the spins could besxofcised to tho tull6st €xtent.As mentioned. thyroid glandis well massaged and its atte-rial supply enhanced. Thegland improves its functionalcapacity within healthy limhsand its internal secretions ateimportant for the proper met-abolism and growth of thebody. The larynx also getsmassaged and it could bethat the asthamagenic areabelow the glonis is exercisedand gets normalised. Thesympathetic and the entirespinal cord are toned up. Theblood supply to the chest, andthe organs is increased.Varicose vsins tend to dis-appear. lt has tonic effect onthe testes, ovaries and pelvisby rernov€l of cong€stion.Gastro intestinal diseases alsoaro troatod. Liver and splean

also could be ex€icised withgravity and the Bandhas. Theleg muscles. the s luggish kneejoints and the stubburn hiplolnls oecomesupplel tn cou-rse of time. Some of rheimportant variations tend toenhance the etfects of Sarv-angasana. A few are menti-oned below.

NIRATAMBA SARVAN.GASANAM

After remaining in Sarvan-gasana for some t ime, s lowlyexhale and by gently takingthe legs a little further, raiseboth the arms. Stay tor a fewbreaths. One should gaze atthe middle of the eyebrows.The armsshould be strelched,so also the legs. Refersketch 3.

This Asana helpsto corroctindigestion and reduce waistl ine. According to our Ach-arya, i f one could pract ice th islato in the svening for fifteenminutes. one wi l l get insom-nia cured and wi l l enjoy goodsleep. People who are ontheir feet for a long time-sportsmen and atheletes-willfeel the asana exceedinglysoothing. Pregnentwomanmay do this up to the end oflirst lrim€st€r. Those whosuffer from frequent noctur-nal emissions would alsobenelit.

URDHWAPADMASANAM

After remaining in Sarvan-gasana, slowly exhale. and

placethe lef t footon the r ightgroin and then the r ight footon to the left. stretch thecrossed legs straight up andstretch the back and pelvicragion. Do a few breaths.Reler Sketch (4). Repeat withf lexing tha r ight knee f i rst ,

PINDASANAM

Proceed ltom Urdhwapad-masanam. O n exhalation.bend and lower thecrossed legs f rom thehrps toward and then overihe head. Slowly release thehands from the back and clasPtho crossed legs, gr ipping

one wrist with the other. Tneis Pindasana or Foetus poseRefer to sketch (5).

These two asanas makeuse of the gravity effect onthe knees and hip, which maynot be the case in normalupright position. The padm-asana and the subsequent

bending to Pindasana helpwork on the spine, back andthe stomach further. Thebenefits mentionod for Sarv-angasana are enhanced.Breath will be short, but aftersome t ime ' i t wi l l stabit iss.These are fairly advancedpostures and.msy be attem-

pted onlyaf ter one feelesteady in Sarvangasanam andNiralamba Sarvangasanam.

Shirsasana and Sarvanga-sana are to yoga as are headand heart to an individual.Yes, they improve physicaland mental well being.

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Halasanam, which is anextension of Salvangasanam,descr ibed in the last issue isalso a wel l -known posture.Upto Sarvangasana, the pro-cedure is the safne. Thete-after, slowly tixhale andlower the legs over the hoadand place lhe loes on theground. Stretch both th€ armsand press the palms on theground. The.kness and anklesare also stretched (Refersketch 1). Orre may staY fora few breaths. Evident ly theinhalat ion wi l l be short , bulono may pract ise long exhala-t ion in lhe posture includingthe Sandhas after exhala-tions. After staying for a fewbreaths or upto 3 minutes otso, return to the lying Posture.s lowly rol l ing back, con-sciously stretching every

S. Ramaswami, Trustee, Krishnamacharya

HALASANAM

inter vertebral ligaments,th ighs, knees, ankles, feetand also the toes.

ARDHAPADMA HATASA-NAM:

There are a number ofvar iat ions possible in Hala-sanam. Cne of them isArdhaoadma Halasanam. Thestartrng point is Sary3pg3-sanam. Exhal ing, p lace thelef t ankle over the r ight th ighthen on the next exhalat ionslowly lower the r ight legas in Halasanam, wi th lef tfoot prossing against thethigh andthe lower abdoman.Stay fora few braaths. Returnto s lar t ing point on inhala-l ion, stretching also th€ lef tleg. This is to be repeatedon the other s ide also. (ReferSketch 2).

Yoga Mandiram.

Keeping thc arms overheadand holding the toes, spread-ing the legs overhead, keep-ing the legs at an angleoverhead are some of theother var iat ions, l t could oeobserved that Halasanamrequires fur ther stretching ofthe poster ior muscles andabdoman, thers!y helpingthe funct ioning of peiv ic andother internal organs. Neckand shoulders are also stret-ched considerablv.

Those who are prone to belyp-egensive- should avoidpressure on the back of thehead which may lcad toflusbing of the face. How-ever, they may lower the legsas much as possible, a l lowingthe to! .so to be a l i t t le awayfrom the chin. The correctposi t ion for such a personcould be achieved by t r ia land error and a comfortable,balancing posi t ion could thusbe maintained. One shouldconcentrat6 on fine breatningand direct the v isual at ten-t ion to the middl€ of thseyebrows, with closed eyes.

Sarvangasanam and Hala-sanam should be followed

by counterposes, such asthujangasanam, Salabhasa-na.r.UTTANAMAYURASANAM:

Uttanam - Stretched.

Mayura - Peacock

z.-can be done by youngstersand it strengthens tho torso'shoulders and neck conside.rably.

Uttanamayurasanam is alsoknown as Madhyasethu -which can be approached

The starting point isSarvangasanam. Now, exhaleand keeping the palm firmlyon the back slowly drop thelegs on the ground, str€tch-ing the front ponion of thebody. stretch the legs, xeep-

(T3.

ing the head, nsck andshoulders on the ground(Refer Sketh 3). Stay for affiper-o sno up ro oneminute. Exhale, press theelbow and head. slightlybend th€ knees and return toSawangasanam.

After considerable practiscit may be good to combineHalasanam and Uttanamayu-rasanam and then back toHalasanam, with the approp-riats breathing mentionedearlier. This soqu€nce maybe repsated 3 to 6 times.These dynamic movementg,

from Dwipadapeetam, explai- ped in one of tho carlier i3suosTlr

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xxxxxX

PROIIE POSTURES A]{D THE SPIIIE

Postures stsrting with lyingface down (prone position)form anothor important Ctoupof aaanas useful especiallyfor the cpine and low back.When done with vinyaasas.thoy'ore simplo to progressand have very importantb€n6fits, The three mainasanas tak€n up are, Bhujan-gaesanam (Serpent). Salabh-aasa.Fsm ( locust) andDhanuraasanam (bow pos-ture).

BHUJANGAASANAMSIEP 1. Stan with Samas-thithi. Inhals raise armsoverhead, interlock lingersturned outward.

STEP 2. Exhale proceed todo utkatasssnam and placethe palms by lhe sida of thefeet.

By S. Ramaswami

STEP 3. Takeafewbreaths:then holding the br€ath attererhalat ion, pressing thepalms jump back to chatura-ngadsndasanam. Then l iedown on lhe floor, face down.This procedure may beadopted before sterting anyprone postu16s.

STEP.4. Keoping the pslmsby the side ot rhe body, inl ihe wi th the diaparagm.exhale and raise-'iEFlffibody by pressing the palms,the pelv is and tho l€gs. Archth€ back, upto naval posi t ion,

keeping tho ay€s open. -Thisis Bhujangaasanam or Ser-pent posturs.

STEP 5. Stay tor a lewseconds and retufn to start ing.position.

One may mercly keep theforearm on the ground andraise the upper bodyas shownin Sketch (1 ) . Thrs is a verysimple and effective postureto rel ieve strain in th€ neck.Some authors cal l i t Mskare-asanam or Crocodi le posture.

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STEP 8. The next stepwill bo to raisa the upperbody and arching the spine,taising tho trunk upto pubis,on oxhal6tion (Rot6r sketch2), Pr rsth6pubis, contracttha onal aDd glutial mueclea.Thie ir one more variation ofthujangaasanam. I n h6l e,return, Repeat 8 few timos.

Bhulangraoanam is ospoci-rlly ureful for relieving lowbrck pain and if done care.tully undo. pfoper aupervisirncould br v6ry beneficol forthors luftering lrom slighldirplacement of tho disc. ltttrongthona lh6 ligrmontaryano maccular rupportr of the.-aonar corumn.

STEP 7. Bhujangasanam, arthe namo indicatee, shouldbo done purely on the etreng.th ot spino and the aid of thcpllms should bc dirpenredwith, eo thrt ths posturslooke like a limbless reptile,tho snako. Honco the palmsata kopt along tho body byfh. sid6 of th6 thighs, or ontha back, or with back galute,A turlh€r varistion witl

to tho ground, and the cheetabove the ground, slightlyarched ( Ret6r skotch 3).There is a tr€mendous cont-isction of the lower back andit h€lps to relieve low backpain, Some authors r6t€r tothis voriation ag Makaraara-nam or sltossa va' i6t ion ofSalabasanam.

SATABAASAITIAMSalabaasanam is 8n impro.

vomant on thujangaaranam,in th6t nor only tho chost israisod and 3pin€ archod butfhe lege are alro rairad rothsr the body is balanced ontho stomach. A number ofvariations 6nd a stsp by st€papprosch will be very bene.f icial.

STEP L Start from ssmasthi-thi. lnhale, raise €rme over-head. interlocking fingera andturned outwsrd.

STEP 2. Exhal€ pfoc€od todo Utkatasranam, then ko6pthe palms by the sid6 of theleg8.

STEP 3. Pfessing tho palms-exhale and lump Uack tdChaturangadandaganam.

STEP 4. Stay lor a fewbreaths. Exhale, tie down ontho ground, face downwarde;koep lho srms str€tchodalong the body, fccingupward.

STEP6. Clore thef igts,Inhale, raige the right armoverhead. sw6gping it alongtha ground. Exhale raircright Irm{ head, chast,rhoulders, and the right legfrom the polvir, ro thatthrright thigh ir clearly abovet$c ground,

STEP 6, lnhale, R6tu.n tolying position,

roquiro, b€nding tho kno6r. ?so that tho lags ars peratlel i

STEP 7. Exhale raise r ig l i tarm, head. chesl , shoulders,and the left leg, from thepelvis, sttetching all the wayfrom the finoar tiDs to the

-to€s along the spino andactoss to the lefl leg.

STEP 8. Return to startingposition. Exhale, lower theright arm. and the lett l€9.

STEP I to 12. Fepeat wi thleft arm raised overhead.

STEP 13. Raisc both armsovgrhgad, inhaling, and keepboth palms tog€ther as i fdoing pranam. Exhale raiseboth arms and both legs, sothst the balancing is on thenav€-l r€gion. The stretchingis felba! over the body fromfinger t\ to the stretchedanklee, feeNand toes. Theshoulders are\rown slrghtlybackward formihg a canalalong the spine. The glut ia lmuscles ar€ contracted toenhance strctching the spineand ths lQgs.

STEP 14. 4etut l to start ingEgjll'!..Jl Keep the arms bythe side of the body andropeal . This is Salabaasanarn.(Refer sketch 4).

Further variations1) Keep the palms inter loc-ked and on lhe back of theneck. Exhale, ra ise head,chest, arms and also theleges, koep the knees togethe,and straight. Some authorscal l i t Makarasanam. but

basically it is a variation of,Salabasanam, Inhale, leturnto lying down Position(Referto sketch 5,

DHANURAASANAMHaving made the shoulders

low back and the spine suplple, one may anempt Dhanu-

2) Inhale spread arms, keePthem at shoulder level , palmson the ground. Exhale, ra isehead, shoulders and thestretched hands. Baise alsothe legs and spread them asmuch as possible, balancing

raasana(n to enhance theeffects of thess easter aasa-nas and also impart st lengthto shoulders and also thcback. Dhanuraasanam conbe done with var ious prepa-rat ions and vinyaasas.

on ths naval region. Inhaletelutn to s lat t ing posi t ion. l tjs known as V(maanaasanam.

(Refer st<erch 6)

3) Keep ihe palms on theback in a 'Pranam' posi t ion,Exhale raise head, shoulders,arch the spine and raise thelegs, again balancing on thelower abdontsn.

STEPs ' l to 3. As in Bhujan-gaasanam.

STEP 4. Inhale, ra ise r ightarm overhead, making asweeping movement alongtho f loor,

Step 5. Exhale, bend thelet t knee and hold rhe lef thand, behind lhe back. In i r r -

al ly i t may not be poss;ble todo so for many, but the pre-palatory asanas, especial lySalabaasanam will be bene-f ic ia l .

Stap 6. After one or twobreaths, exhale, raise thehead, right hand and atch thespine simultaneously pul l ingthe left leg with the thighup, as high as possible, keep-ing tho right leg on lhoground.

Step 7. lnhale. Return toposition.

Stsp 8, Exhale, lower ther ight arm and hold the lef tankle with both hands. Onnext oxhalation, raiso th€head, chest and shouldersand pull th8 left leg upwardas high as possible, archingtho spino lnhale, return.

Step 9. lnhale, holding tholeft ankle with the right hand,raise tho loft arm overhead-Exhale, raise tho hsad, chestand shoulders, left arm andalso pull rhe lelt leg upksoping rhe right leg on theground. Inhale, return.

Step1Otol5. Repeat forthe oth6r side.

Stss16. Exhale bendboth knees and hold bothankles by the respectiv€hands. lnhale and on exhal-ing, rarse the head, chssl ,shoulders and pul l the legsup as high as possible arch-ing the back and pul lang the

thighs as a bow (Refor sketch7). Stay for a few secondsand return to position.Repeat a few times. Theknees and ankles should bekept c lose.

Step 17. Af ler some pra.ctice, after raising for Dhanu-tasanam exhale and role overto one side, keeping the bodyarched. On inhalaiion returqto Dhanurasanam positionRepeat on other side.

Step18. Now hold theright ankle by the left hsnd,of the l€f t ankle by the r ighthand. On exhalat ion archlhe trunk, This is one var ia-t ionofOhanuraasanam,wolking more on shouldels,forearms and wrist6. Theshotr lder blades touch eachother torming a canal a longthe spinal column.

BENEFITS : With age thelow back becomes r ig id andOhanuraasananr heips to keepthe low back supple andhence one is supposed to bekept young by tne regulat

proctice of DhanursasanamApan trom strengthening thespin€, it worl(s on th8 abdo-menal organs and improvestheir funct ion. Along withpractice of Salabhaasana.r,,persons who suffer fromslight slippsd discs, couldbenefit considotably,

Human boings with theirunnatural upright positionag grava,tedbyssdentary habitsand othor activlties r€quiringcrouching most of tho timeas office workers. sponsnan;etc., foel the tohic offscts ofthis robust back bendingexefcise.

Salabhaasanam is also veryuseful caunterpose tor manyforward bending exsrcisesand also thoso r€guiring thacurving of th6 spine fotwardas Sarvangasanam and Hala-asanam.

Gherunda refers to thesepostures in his Samhita sndthe following aro the benefits,according to him. Makaraa-sanam and Salabhaasanam

tare supposed to increaserhe body heat or specificallyi t impfovss c i rculat ion, d iges-t ion and metabol ism.

Regarding Bhujang6sanam.'Angushls Naabhi Paryantam

Adho Bhoomau Vininyaseth.lcratalaabhyaam Dhardam Dhru-

twtUrdhwasirshahe Phaneeva Hi

Dehaagnihi Vardhsle oi tyamSaryaroga vinaas€oam.

Jr losrthi Bhuiangi D6viBhuiangrasana saadhanam.

Tho Dort ion f rom the navatto tho toes, is kept on theground. Place the pelv is on

the ground, raise the head(and upper port ion of lhebody) l ike a serpenl . l t iscalled serpent posture. Thisalways increases bodily heat,eradicates al l a i lments, andby practice of Bhujangaasa-nam, Goddess Bhujangi (ser-pant goddess or Kumudat in i )bscomes alive oris awakened,,e-

And Dhanuraasanam issimply explained as fo l lows:

Prasaorya Paadau Bhuvi Oanda-roopau

Karan.cha Prishie Dhri tapaa-dayuqmam.

>>:i3<

K(ifwa Dhanul iu lya prr ivanhira-n9am

Nig8dya yogl DhrhuraasanamTat

Stf€tching tha legs on theground, strsight like a stickand catching hold of the feetwith tho hands, and makingthe body bent or arched likeor bow, is known by Yogisas Dhanuraasanam,

Many pract i t ioners of th isgroup of asanaas feel smoothand better regpirat ion, impro-ved digest ion and betterpersis la l t ic act ion. The pro-state also is act ivated, i t isbelreved.

I-.

ono of the Asilnas thalcomprehensively tesls thowill powet, petsaverence andendutance of an abhyasi isPaschima taanam, or thgposterior stretching Asanam,the stretching exlending {romth€ toes upto the finger tiPstn ono continuous movemenl.A highly b€noficial posturs.i t i m p ro v o s c i rculat ion.muscle tone of a large groupof posterior rnuscles ra hencombined with its countar-pos€ or Pratikriya which isPurvataanoAsenam. Almcstall tha texts on yoga reter tothis asanam. ll is slso knownas Paschima Uttaanaasanam,where the preposition'Ut' isintroduced indicat ing an up.ward pull of all postariormuscles. Anothor name bywhich it is known is Ugraa-sanam, which is indicative ofthg tremgndous effort requi-red in the in i t ia l stag€s tomastor it End the benefits of

PASCHIMA TAANAMS. Ramaswami

,huscular tong and strenglhit boslows. Brahmacharyaa-sanam is yet another namegiven to it. Evidently it helpsin maintaining Brahmacharyaand is forsmost Ernong thosethat swaken ths Kundalioi.BENEFICIAL ASANA

P€schimataanasanam ls yetanother po3ture thst br i igsout the unique character ofour Acharya's Yogig system.It is nor mer€ly siting, str€t-ching the legs and touchinglhe toos as being generallyundofstood. When done withvinyasas and correspondingbreathing tho Paschimataansgroup works on thE completssystEm and the bansfitsm€ntion€d in the yoga textsappear meaninglul. Vinyasasand coilesponding broathingkriyas are essential for aasanasiddhi .

Pfasaorya Bhuvi Paadau TuDorbhya.sm Angulhtam

Ar&rr! thlJaanoopari L8laatsm Tu

Paschiman T!rnam Uchylte l l

The above stanza appear-ing in Tr i -Sikhi BraahmanaUpanisad of Shukla YajurVeda merely givos tho bssicdescription of lhe postu16.It is to sit, exrending tho legsand keeping them straightTnen extending the arms,one should hold lhe big toeswith the hooked fingers.Further axtending tho torso,one should bend down tokeep ths forehead on theknees, lt is posterior stretch-ing aasanam.

METHODOLOGY

There are many variationsin Paschinralaanam. Themost popular on€ describedin the above Upanishad canbe done in l6 steps, orvrnvaa sas

STEP 1. Start f ronr Samas.thi th i . Breathe normal ly fora few t imes.

ST€P 2. l r rhale, ra ise rhearms overhaad.

STEP 3. Exhalo srratchingfrom the hip, bend forwardand keep the palms t y th€side of the feet and touchingthe knees with the forehead.This is Uttaana Asaana.

Some people do Utkataa-sanam. Now keep the palmsbv the side of tho fs6t.

STEP 4. Exhale and holdthe breath. Pressing thepalms and after slightly bend-ing the knEas, jump back toattain chatulangadandaasanaposition, as doscrib€d in theJuly 1 97 r issue of IndianReview.

One may reach rhis postt ior 'ftom Utkataasanam also, hygently raising the burtocksand reaching I position halfway between Utkataasanamand Uttaanaasanam.

STEP 5. From Chaturanga-dandaasanam, inhale, press-ing the palms, stratching theankleg and arching the bacL,bring the polvis b€tween thepalms. suoporting the bodyon palms and loes. This isU r dh wam uk has waan aa-sanam.

SIEP 6. Proceed to doAdhomukhaswaanaasanamor exhalat ion.

STEP 7. Benoing sl ighu)the knees and holding thebr6ath after inhalation, swingforward, first complet€ly flax-ing the knees and sxt€ndingthem after c|oseing tho 8up-poning arms. LEnd on thsground with lags erfond€dand rhe buttocks botwgenlhe palms. This requiressom€ guidance. In t[is posr-tion, pressing the palms.streogthan the back, bypushing lhe palvts, lho spineand chest fofward and lock-ing the chin. This is DEndsa-sanam. and finds leference inVyaasa Bhashya of PsatanjalaYoga Darsanam. Now inhaleraise tho arm, stretchtng th6rhouldrrs and neck also intho pfocess. Stav for a fewbraaths focussing al tent ionon the t ip of the nose.

STEP 8. Now exhal ingoxtend the arms forwr-.'d,pushing Ihe pelvrs and spine,hold rhe big toes wirh thathumb, and the next lwotingers forming a hook, pr6s-sing al l the whi l€ the poster iorportion of th3 l6gs rgainstthe ground.

STEP 9. After a f ewbroaths, funher Brtensionmay bs att€nlpled. Exhalingand spreading the elbows,one should lovl,or ahe torso,so that the torehead is placedbetween sraight knees. Thisis Paschimotasnaa6enam.

Prato!ry! Paadau Shuvr OEftda.roopau

Sanyastha thaaisn!hi l€ yugmdMadhv€r

rctnend P8ad8n aira JtdulaifrraaltrYaam

Yogeonorrpctam Prtchimot-trnamlEhuhu l l

The above stsnza by Gh€r-unda sdmits ths necessity ofrepeated offorts (yetna) inachieving the posturr. In theinitial stages, it may be diffi.cult ev€n to sit in Dandasa-nam with arms raised. Back.thighs, tho stubboh hamstr.ing8, and ihe ankl6s rofuss tobudge. But with deeperexhalation. relared concent.ration, perseve?cnco andsome coaxing by theabhyaasi, the musclos slowlyyield and after considersblepraclice the pbsture may beachieved fairly comtortably.

One mav stay in ths asEnamfof a few breaths or 6venup to a few rninutos.tr wrll be possible onlywhen one starrs to enioy lh€posture, which rs €vidgntlythe cas6 as descrrbed bySvaatmaarama In HathSyoga-pradeepika as follows:

Prrgorya Pasdtu thuvr DoFdr-luplu

Dorbbytam P.d!$adwitayangrih;rwt I

JDospa,i nytslhc LalastadoscVaselhidrm Pos! imala6oa-

msahuhc l l

H€ro lho aulhor tecom-

mends the ob'ryasl lo stay intho poslure. BY "va8eth"one should infet a consid€,-able length ot llme.

Adepts nray proceed lo doturther cxt€nsion ol ah€oosterior muScleg.

r

STEP 10, Aft€, som€ prac-tice one may ke€p th6 chinin th€ knoes looking ah6adthe tots. A tutthor extensionwill require keeping lhe fore-hgqd on the shin, abour 3away frorn the knees, Vsria-t ion in the hand posi t ionsal€ 6lso possible Keepingthc fu l l palm on the ground.holding the heels (reler torkotch 1 ), keeping the fingersintgrlocked and turned out-ward and kept around thecoles. keeping tho palmr onthe ground, clasping onewrist with oth€r hand aresom€ of the variations. ltcan be also done withoutsupport of the arms (niraa-lemba), such as koeping thearms oxtgnded from theshoulder level. keeping thrpalms claqped behind thehead ,s montioned in SivaStmhlta, kooping thom ro.g€th€f 8s in "Pranaam',bahind the bsck, olc.

STEP 11. One may at temptto balanca in the posture bykeeping tho pslms bV thesid€ of the th ighs and rais-ing the body. R€ad€f$ mayf ind i ts s imi lar i ry wi th a cer-tain exercise in parallel barin gymnsstics. In fact. ourAcharya.contends that somgof the Yogis have actual lyinvantod msny gymnasticaids and 8s such i t is h ighlyprobable that basical ly gym-nastics ir an otfshoot of yogaand at leaat the basis wasprovided by yogs, sv6n asgymnastics th€s€ dsys app€-

a.s to t). tar di{terent fromyoga. This exercise is knownas Utphluthi and may beattempted in many other s i t .ting posturas liko Padmaasa-nem, Simhaasanam. etc.

STEP12, Keeping thcpalms by the s ide of ths hips,roturn to Chatutangadanda.ASanAm.

STEP 13. To 16 are actu.slly rotrecing the path viaUrdhwamukhaswaanaa-sanam, Adhomukham, Utta-nrsanpm, Taadasanam andsamasthirhi .

EENEFITS: This asanamis highly benef ic ia l for gene-ral improvemont in c i rcula-lrcn, muscle tone andstrengrh and improves func-t ion of a l l abdomenal andpelvic organs, tho kidnoysand tho spine. l t is said toimprove vilatity, correctcsrtarn cas85 of impotency

othe posterior muscle groupsand joints as tho heels, calfmuscles, th6 stubborn ham-str ings, the knees, th ighmuscles, glutial, lumbo sacral.spine, shouldere, neck, arms.wrists and evcn knuckles getstratchod.

There is hardly any yogatoxt that dogs not refer toih is posturo, and give a c lueto ths bensfits, of courseusing the peculirr lenguageused by Encient yogis.

HATHAYOGAPRAOEEPIKA

This importSnt asanam(asanamaagrayam) paschi-matana, makes the wind otlorce (Pavana) f low throughthe S,esFumla and stimul€rosthe gasrt ic f i re (Jataraanala),reduces thg abdomen (kaars.yam Udare) and mskes onEfree from disease (Aroga-taam).

duo to incroas€d vascularity SIVA SAMHITA : Strerchof the organs of genito urinay out both legs and keep thenrtracti €nd paradoxically helps Vpan (slightly). Firmly takecontroL sox (Retha skhals- { trotO o't the head by thenam) and hence rs known as 'handE, and placJgjllglweenBhrahmecharyaasanam. All th6 kn€es. Thls is calted

Ugfaasananr, sard to be the.bESt smong ssanas, 8nd im-ptove8 th6 movement Otbodi ly forces (Ani la) ; knownalso as Paschima Uttasnaasa.nam, it rsmov€s lothargy andweakness (deha Avasaana-hara n a m). Discr iminat ingAbhyaasi should master th isbenef ic ia l posture by dai ly(Pratyaham) pract . ice. l tmakes vaayu flow in lheposterior regions 6nd mskogone slrong. Those who Pra-ctico it with diligence findall sidhis generated in tfrem-selves, Hence by self effottth€ )'ogi should msttet thspo6lure. Thia should be keptsecret with groat cat€ andnot given out indi6cr imina-tely, Through i t , vayusiddhi ,or 8cl ivat ion of a l l Pranss(m ota bpl i s m. c i tculat ion,rerpiration) iakes place andi l dostroys mult i tudss ofmiser iss,

Ghrrurida rofeis to thepostule as. : lhe k ing of a l lsitting po6tut€3 (Yogindra-pcatam).

THE COI. |NTEBPOSES

Sinco ticrabove is a stren-ous oxercise, i t requiros acountgrpose . to normal ise.Purvalaanam ol antaf io(strqlching pose helps notonly rlieyC lhc .ttrain, butolro itt€'rch lhe antoriormuscles and thus compl,- tesrhe involvment of?;.II-IrFInaior grouP mu6cles.

PROCEDURET Proceed man, chel t , neck, shoulders 'from Oandaasanam. Keep arms bnd wrlats. The raisingtho palrns by the aide of the2of rhe trunk may be done inbuttocks or about one loot I Langanakriya by obess per-bohind the buttocko, Press- sons.ing tho tralme and healsinhale and raiso the. trunk as CHATUSHpAAD.ApEETAMhign as possible, strgtchingthe ankles and keeping the Since in both the abovelEet on the ground, alEo postures. the kneos are keptkeepirtg th€ knecs sttaight straight, to release tllo knFoand 5t19!ghod. Refer to strajn, another oortUre.skstch (2). Exh3le rsturn to chat iJshpaadapeotam,.can bestart ing posi t ion. One may taksn up as part ot thg samerepaat lhe pcslure a few gfoup ct asanas. Fronrt imos, and later sta! tnr a hw Dandaasanam, exhole. andbrsaths i t the poslure, l t as bend rna knaes, k i tp ing rhaa vely good ttrotching move- ta3t in front of ths buttoct<s,mont invglv ino tho anrer ior lnhalo, pressing . the b€i lmspott ions of ankles, 9hin, and faEt and raisg th6 t runk.kn€ss, thighs pelvie, abdo- keeping ir parallijl ro rhe

o

gYound. Inhale and r€lurn.Repeat a few t imes. Onemay stay also for a fewbreaths. In this a betterstretching of the shouldersand neck is oossible. so alsorhe hip jo int which is exerci-s6d bener. lt may b€ doneas Langanakt iya. Refer tosketch (3). s ince i t resenr-bles a table i t is cal ledChatushpaadapeetam or fourlegged ssat.

NAAVAASANAM: Frot t rthe start ing point of Chatush-paadapeotam, inhale, pressing the palms, stretch thelegs at about 60 degrees tothe ground, Now balancingon the buttocks, l i f t the handsand stretch them in f ront asshown in sketch (4). Stayfor a few seconds and returnro the or ig inal posi t ion. This(nry b6 repeated a few times.I t is known as Naavaasanamor boat posture.

Ths above group can bedone in one cont inuousstrctch. and then one maytakg rost in Savaasanam. Fortho major i ty who have di f f i -cul ty in dorng Paschimataa-naasanam, a few methodsarb suggest€d to get somsmobility of the stubborn hipioinls. One mEy start fromlying down posture, wi tharms overhead, exhale, press-ing the heels and buttock,raise tha trunk and bond for-ward to the extent possibleand hold the ankles or toes.Inhale and return to ly ing po.ssrt ion. Thrs rnay be repeated

@a few t imes. Qne may start yogrs have invented a numbetalso f rom Halaasanam, From of hybr id postures so thalHalaasana, inhale raise arms those unused f ibers are exer-overhead and touch the toes. c ised and put to work. ManyInhale rol l back to ly ing posi- such postures are in vogue't ion and in a cont inuous Combining Paschimataanasa'mot ion, oxhale and do Pas- namandBaddhapadmaasanamchimataana as ment ioned gives Ardha Baddha Padmaearl ier . One may repeat a ?Paschimataanarn a v inyasa offew t imes. These dyranr ic 'which is given in sketch (5).movemenis help to exercise Sirni lar ly we have Mahaanlu-the postsr ior muscles paving dra which can be lookedthe way for achieving. the upon as a combinat ion ofposrure. Baddhakonasanam and Pas-

rrrere are a number or ;:flT'illfl ,,:.t"J" ;il;muscles, tendons which are t r iyangmukhqikapaadam andseldom exercised. Thus the so on.

l

Some Simple Bafancing AsanasBy S. Ramaswaml

Apart from thr m.ny groupof Aranar rotorrrd to. aonarequlring balanclng, moritrttcntlon. Thcre holp todevelop c arnlc of brlancc,correct dlrproportionr andglv. the Abhyrsl r lromon.dout rcnreof aelt oonf ldonca.Chlldrrn lovs to do many olth.m. Somo of thcm rilcmblcilymnmtio moy!mantr, but Inyog! rr lr !lw!yr. tha movr.monlt rrc done wlth corrct.pondlng broathln0 pattorn,

TALAiICING ARTSAmong thc brlancing por.

tutar thcr. a?6 thoro thltraquilc brlanclng on onotoot, on onc ptlm and oneprlm and onc foot or on boththe prlmr. Babnclng on thapalmr aro ulual ly cal lodutplut l .nd cln be tr iod Inrlmott lll th. rltting Pos.turcr. Thcrc rcquln rtrrngthot th. .rmr (8thriryr) andrbo rupplrncm of tha llmbfrnd Jolntr (rngalryhrrr)

St.ttlog wilh Trd[air,mrny brlrnclng posturot ora

poerlble dependlng upo ntheposltion of one log, I6i ortrirfoot brlng on the ground.

Stsnding in Tadaranrm,txhale and stretch r ight legforward, rnd hold th! blg toowlth lhr flngur of tho righthrnd. Korp the lcft hrnd onth. hlp. K..p both th. knootatrolchod rnd m.intrinbdance lor a low brtrthr,Now,rtrrtch tho othcr armrnd hold tha righr foot.Exhale and rlita lt rtirllunher.

The linal gotitlon requiree.rtretchlng the opine sndbsnding forward on exhela-tion. ro as to kosp lho fore.haad, noge or iho chin on theright knoa. rdfter rome pre.ctlc., ono mly atcy In th€portufa for o taw br!6tha,malntalning of courle th.balanca.

It i. po.riblo thal onalolor brlance in th. inl t ial3tsgis, while raieing the leg.In the Initial rtegor. ono may

bond tho knee, hold thc bigto€ with tho fingers andkeeping the othcr hand onthe hip, 3tretch the kn.€.Altornatoly ono may keop theleg atretched rnd ko€p thoheel on a rolsed plsttorm otlable and then roiso the legotf tho tlblo.

STBEIIJOTH TO HIP'Thb givor rtrength to thg

hipr and thr lca murcl.3 rndglver one rtcrdlncrr andpoire, Thir porturl ll known€8 Uthlthrp.doanguihlra-38n8.

Thcrc lr y.t anotho. Intal-!8ting wsy ot attllnlng thi!postur€ which rcquirel moresupple ioints and I bottot8€n8€ of balanco, FromTadamna, proceed to dgUtkatasana. Staying inthrt portufa, exhrlc, krrpth6 loft hand on th. hlp andrtr.tch tho tight l.g. rndhold the ble too u,ith thcllngct| of thh ]ight h!nd.Now Inhrle, rire up, krcpingtho right log strolch.d with-out bonding tho t ight knoo.

and keep tho foot at the topof tho lef t thrgh Inhalotaiso tho r ight arm and thenexha|ng hold f rom behindihe big toe of the r ight lootby the t ingors of the r ighthand. Slay for a few brea:ths, i B6fsr 1o skstch 1r.Exhale, bending forward andkeeping the lo l t palm on theground by ths s ide of thsleft foot, and keeping th€forehead on th6 stretchodknee.

This posture when withbending lorward is Ardha-

,' 1 baddh a- padma-q.asch i mg.taa;. naasanam. The added roqui-

r i ru jnr i i 'J t is posturo ic that

This postura helps in stren-gthenrng the shoulders, andopsns up tho chest and thusfaci l i tates f ree breathing.The pressure of the heei onthe abdomen helps abdome.nal and polv ic organs andmuscles.

on one toot and ono palmhelp to s i retch and tone uplhe sido muscles (Paarsva).Thev al5o are helplul in stren-gthening the arm and givegreat f lexibi l i ty to rhs hipjoint . A group of Asanasstart ing wi th V€sistasanarequiro such balancing.

VASISTAASANA

Tnis group of Asanas pro-There are many othar pos- ced from Chaturangadandaa-

tures that requlro balancing sana, explained in an ear l ieron one foot. Garudaasanam. Indian Review issue. Startrequires keeping one log wi lh Tadaasana, Exhale,encirc l ing the othar straioht proceed to do Utkatasana.leg l ight t rom the groin. Then on the next exhalat ionKeepingthefootonrheinside placethepalms by the s ideof the lh igh, wi lh tho cortes- of lhe feet ' Then holdingponding kneo bent 6n6 31 tho breath jump back to Cha-r ight sngles to tha straight . lurangadandaasana. On thsleg is Vr ikshaasanam or t tee naxt exhalat ion, ra iso tho hipsposd, especial ly when 16s in Adhomukhaswaanasanam,arms aro also raisedoverhssd but s lowly t i l t the body toand palms kepl togathor, ong side, wi th the t ight palmKeeping r ighi leg in Padma- and tho outets ide ot lhe I ightsarram. bend on exhalat ion foot on the gtoulrd. Keep thot i le lsf t knee so that lhe r ight lef t arm along the side of thskno€ is kept on the ground, body. Now on th€ nextst i l l maintaining tho balance, exhalat ion ptess the t ightln th is oosi t ion, lhe lefr loot palm, arch the body lur thor upand tho r ight knee are on the so that bolh the feet ate onground, This is Vaataayr- the ground. Inhale, ra ise thenaasanam, Al l these require let t atm and l :ok up' Tr ' is isconsidorable concentrat ion Vasishlasanam, Re{er tobut bestow gface, poise and Sketch (2). This asana at l t i -stabi l i ty to tho Abhyaasi . buted to the gleat sage, asMany other asanas l iko Nata- ment ioned, apart f tom stren'rajaasanam, Durwaasasanam gthening the hip, the lumbatTr iv ikramaasanam etc. , are. . region and the lathetstub-the moro compltcated ones in ' Lorn coccyx along tho spinotho same group postutes, ' to the cervical region. StavAsanas requir ing lo balance for a few breaths,

ARDHA-SADOHA-PADMA- one has ro be on on€ toorUTHAANAASANAVI .* ,and do rhe mov6ments wirh-

Start f rom Tadaasanam, { out ta l l inExhale, bend the r ight leg

and difficult variation of thasimplor Vasishtsasana, Theshoulders and espEcially th6sacral region sre bonofit€d.

There are a number ofvariations on tnis kind olbalancing which include,Viswaamitraasana, Kapinja-laasanam etc.,

Balancing on both thopalms, is {ascinating to any-one interested in psysicalcultufe. The gymnests andother artists make use of thiswith tolling effect, To yogisdoingthisonth€ f loor, tho

.r-.)oThoro ars intstesting varia-

tions possibl€ in this posturo'Exhale, remeining in Vasisht-aasanam, b6nd tho left knee,hold thg big toe by the fing-€rs of tho left arm and stretch!t up.

KASYAPAASANA

Bend the left knee on exh-alation and ke€p it on thstop of tho r ight th igh. Exhale.balancing on the palm andleg. hold the big too of thelef i log wi th the f ingefs of thslef t hand from behind,Inhale press lhe palm and thefoot rais ing the hip and thetrunk, and look up. This isKasyapaasana an importanl

l

var i8t ions I re t8r too msny,In c lmost sny Ei t t ing posture,ths palmg rnsy be plsced cnthe l loor 8nd tha body raissdond i t is cal l€d Utplut i .

Porhgpr thc most cornmonUlplut i is rs ie ing tho body

thi palms onc may twiSt thebody to 0116 6ido b€yond th9bass and by the s ido of onesrm when i t ls known arP6tsv6 Uttasns Kurmaasana,There are of couree di t farentr tsr l ing points for rhese asa-n88i ono m8y Start f rom si t .

rrc stsltod, intsrostingly tromSrrshaasena and then theherd rr ised, baloncing on rhoprlmr. Ono of rhe Intcrest-ing but simple posturer isBhulspootaascne, Placelhe palrns in tho gtound, withtho feal on thg ground. Pross

while in Padmalsnam. Sitln Padmaosonam. Exhalekoep the palms on tho t loor.hold tho bro!th 6nd raise thebody by lbout tour angularwh.n l t i r known cl Tholan.gol!€rana (Rdor Skctch 3).Childrrn onjoy 3winging tolnd fro whrn it lr crlledLolarrcnr. Balancing on

sasana, ufdhwapadmaassnaond oroceed to do ths balanc-ing posturos Utplul i may bEattempt€d in Paschimataana-s8ana, Simhaasana, VEjraar-rnt , a lc,

In rais ing tho body !rabovo, thefo are mrny var io.l iontpost ib le. Mo6t of thero

thr palm, spread tho kneet,raise the feet balanclng on thopalms. This is Bhuj.poeta.68nrm. Tharg rfr tudhrlv!r i l t ionr porr ible, Rcfer torketch (4). Thir r lmplobrlencing porturc, hclprrtr€ngthrn tht wrlrtr andone tondr to f.cl light lncourre of t ima.

>4t<<

VATRASANAMBY' S. Fiamaswami'Trustee, Krishna-macharYa YogaMandiram'

Of the many sitting posrur- meditation and when per{or'

es, Vajrasanam is comparati- med with synchronous brea-. ; ; iv ' ; ; ; i" do and combines thins and movements.(vinva'grrt" unA poise. lt is a good sas) it works on differentposture for pranayama and ioints and muscles and also

helps to relax them.PROCEDURE

Use a thickcarPet (1/8")folded into two; the soatshould be neither too hard

o

I

nor too soft . Si t , bending thelegs, wi th knees, shins andankles together and stretched,toes point ing outward so thatyou si t on the heels wi th theshins on the ground. Keepthe palms on the knees andstraighten the back. Stretchthe back of the neck and placethe chin a couple of inchesbelow the neck. Throw theshoulders a l i t t le back so thatthe shoulder blades tend toapproximate each other for-ming a canal a long the spinalcolunrn. This is Vajrasanam.(Refer to sketch 1 for theposi t ion of legs, spine andback).

The chin lock, Jalandhara-bandha, helps part ia l ly c losethe glot t is and thus helps onecont lo l the breathing.

Now for the movementsand var iat ions (Vinyasas) ofVajrasanam. Inter lock f inge-rs of the two hands and turnthem out. Inhal ing raise thebody and also thearms overhead. Whi le youinhale, the chin lock wi l l pro-duce a hissing sound in thethroat, due to the part ia l c lo.s ing of the glot t is . The per i -od of inhalat ion and themovement of the t runk andthe arms should synchronize.On complet ion of inhalat ion,you wi l l be on the knees andthe front port ion of the legs.Stay for about 2 to 3 seconds,holding the breath in. Nowas you exhale return to theor ig inal seated posi t ion,

Seated in Vajrasanam, raisethe arms on inhalat ion. Stav

for a few seconds. On exhal .at ion f lex at the elbows, low-er ing the hands to the backof the neck (Befer to sketch1 for arm posi t ion). Bepeat 3t imes.

The next Vinyasa wi l l req-uire, s i t t ing on the heels, butbending forward, so that theface touches the ground andthe arms st i l l s t retched outw-ard. This movement whichis to be done on exhalat ion,should be avoided by pregn-ant women.

COUNTERPOSE

Now for a counterpose forthis forward movement. Exh-ale, s l ight ly lean back andkeep the palms on the groundabout one foot behind tholegs and apart by aboul a

12' . lnhale, press the palms,the ent i re port ion of the legson the groun d, the ankles andknees and raise thetrunk, stretching the neck andthrowing the head backward.(Refer Sketch 2). Inhale,return to the or ig inal posi t ion,Repeat about three t imes.

Persons who are not obesemay do the above movementof ra is ing the t runk on exhar-at ion when i t is cal led Brah-manakr iya. Retu rn to theor ig inal posi t ion on inhalat i_on. Pregnant woman mavdo this movenrent. personswith high B.p. neecl not droDthe head back.

An advanced Vajrasanamvariat ion would require thepract i t ioner to spread the an-kles about 18" and si t bet-ween the ankles and heels,and heels, instead of onthem as ear l ier , whon i t isknown as Virasanam. (Referto sketch 3).

BENEFITS

Vajrasanam is very reiaxing.Because of the stretching onon the ankles and the frontport ion of ths knees, i t g ivesgood rel ief to people who areprone to be rheumatic and

suffer f rom gout. Asthmat icshave been found to respondwel lespecial ly to forward be-nding and backbeding. Pre-

.4.-gnanl women wt i l t tnd thetrunk rais ing helps rel ievethe persistent low back pe, inand also strengthen the per i -neal muscles. l t could beobserved that the posturesand movements are donewith a breathing pattern.Breath is the connect ing l inkbetween body and mind.With proper breathing inasanas, according to our Ac-harya's Paddhat i . one gets agood mind-body coordinat ionand control .

SIDDHA ASANAMS. Ramacwtml

Whotfur lt l. slr.rr!n.m,Srrvrngrrrnrm or'rltalog'po.tur.r llkr Prdmrrnrm.tftrr conrldmblc prrctlor,thr body rdjurt. to th, d|ff..,.nl po.ltlon. lnd Io.?trln ddlehtful fcellne3t.n. tlowino. lt mnlt |trby a rlow rhythmlc brcathlng,nd Indlclf't prrfcctlon Inthr porturr (Arfnr .lddhl).lha bcn.flcltl cffcctr mcn.tlon.d by Acharyd rndmclant yoga taxtr thln tlanrccrulng. Th. crplclty to.try comton.b|' rnd .L!dyIn r porturf rhosld bcrcqul-nd, whrn Prlnlycma lndDhyana brooma rlrlrr, lndb|ndlofrl.

For thr puDo.. of morelntlmrt pr.otlc.r llkr Prcnr.yrma rnd th. lnthrrrnglar.dhrnr. || modlbtlon on onc'tlahtdayata atc., c.rt ! i n.Daalllo .ltttng !ran!. rrcDorm.lly pr|otirad. In .narrllfr brur, VrJrrtlnlrn rnd

ll! Vinyrlra rnd tubrcqu.rnlly In thc Fcbruarv 1978lruo of Thr Indlrn BrvlrwPrdmrlanrm wllh thr V|nyr.trf wtr! datcrrbod Alcw

omo?a lmportlnt 'rlttlng'or rlmora commonly knownlmong modarn yog! prlctl.llonsrr,'mrdlbtlvo' portufa,rrc trkrn up.

t

SIDDHA ASATIIAM Srrerch the anKie, the toespoint ing outwards and the

This posture, l ike Padma- heel kept along the groin andsanam is egual ly wel l known thigh. In ths nexr sxhala-,and pract ised. Texts l ike t ion. in a s imi lar fashion,Gherunda Samhita, Siva bend the r ight knee and keepSamhita, Hathayogapradee- rhe r ight ankle on lop of thepika,etc. , refErtoSiddhasana outstrelched lef t ankle, soas an important one. How- that the right heel is on topev€r, thgre aro slight varia- of the'generative organ andt ions in the pract ice of th is pressing the pubis. The r ightasana and many texts do ?tatEral malleolus is betweenrefer tothem. ' the lef t medial mal leolus and

start with samasthithi the heel' Then keeping the

Inhate,rais ingarmsoverhead back straight ' one should

exhale, do utkataasanam close the eyes and direct the

rhen keepins the patms by :l*:i"Jt";ilH::1'"1i:the side of the buttocks

'sguat 'snd inhat ing stretch sketch (1) '

th€ legs straight, keeping theknees and ankles together. Siva Samhita recommendsThis is the start ing point of Pavanaabhyasa or pract ice ofal l s i t t ing postures and is Pranayama in th is postureknown as Dandasanam and and accotding lo i t , Lordis descr ibed in detai l later. Siva's instruct ion to Paarvat i

. . is that there is no postufeYonim S a m p id ya( moreconf ident ia l (potent ia l lyYatnena Padamulena benef lc ia l ) than this.SaadhakahaMedropar i PaadamoolamVinyaseth Yogavisadaa.Urdhvam Nir ikshya Bhru-madhyam NischalahaS am yate n d ri yah a.Visesha Avakrakaaya-scha Rahasyudvegava-r i i raha.Yetath SrddhaasanamGneyam SiddhasanamSiddhadayakam.

-Siva Samhita.

Now, exhale. spread le l tleg, bend the knee keeprngthe heel in Yoni sthaana.

Since one has to pract lsePranayama and medital ion inSiddhaasanam, n atu ra I ly ,Mula, Uddivana and Jaalan-dhara Bandhas are also lo bepract ised in Siddhasanam.Mulabandha rs he!ped bv theoressure on Yonisthana -which is actual ly the per i -neum. Brahmananda in hrscommentary on Hathayoga-pradeeprka relers lo Yonrs-thana as gudha-UPasthayohoMadhyanr, the place betweenrecturn and generat ive organwhich rs penneunl .

This posture is compara-t ively easy for a few whomay have di f f icut ty in doingPadmasanam etc. , s ince thereis pressure on the pubicregion and rectum. evident l , /i t works on Kundal inr .More speci f ical ly, i t helps incases of early piles, irnprovescirculation of knees, lowback and also abdomen. ThestrJbborn sacro. i l iac jo intbecomes supple. After sornepractice. it is refreshinglyrelaxing.

GOMUKHASANAM

It could be obssrved thatmany elder ly poople, notused to chairs and sofas, s i tf r r long hours wi thout muchchanging tho posi t ion of thelegs as is ths case when wenormally squat in a pdsitionsimi lar to Gomukhasanam.

Start wi th rhe in i t ia l s i t t ingposi t ion. Exhalo, bend lef toutstretchsd ankle by theside of the lef t but tock. Onthe next exhalat ion, keep ther ight ankle by the s ide of th€left buttock. Now keep thepalms on the hsel i andslowly prossing. raise thebuttocks and adjust the posi-r ion of the knees, so that oneis exact ly over the other.Stay for a fsw broaths andrepeat on tha other s ide, fheposrt ion of tha legs and theseat resemblo lhe face of acow (Gomr-rkhasya Aakl i t r ) .The two knees with the gapln between resemble the

mouth, rhe shln the side ofthe face and the leEs tho eargof a cow. The chin is keptin J'aalandharabandha.

S!vv6 Dskshin. Gulpham TuP.ishtapaa.sve Niyojayerh.

Dakshinopi Talha savyamGomukhsm Gomukhs€kr i t i .

-H8thayogspradipika

As s variation, raise onearm ovsr tho head and bend-ing the elbow, lowet theforearm on the back betweentho shoulders. The other armis lowered, ths elbow bent,forearm raised up. Clasp thefingors of the downwardhand with the other, Repeaton the sido. One may stayfor a fEw breaths, Refercke:ch 2.

People who hsvo disoro-protionately heavy thighs,buttocks may attempt topractise Gomukhasana andderive great advantage. Thencrmal ly dormant group ofmuscles in the lower baCkand butiocks, such Esgluteus, iliac etc., are wellstrstchsd and g6t a goodflooC supply. One attains acertoin measure of sohinctericcontrol . Mon should pract icei t careful ly especial ly whi lecrossing the lsgs (in rheini t is l stages) to avoid anypressute on the scrotum.

SIMHAASANAIUI

How many as8nas arethere? Thsr€ are differentanswers even among t . tg

o

u)sncisnt Yoga exponsntsAccording ao GnerunoaSamhita, there ar€ as manyAsanas as thsrs are. species.and the author proceeds toslale that there are, aciordingto Lord Siva 840000O asanasare there (chaturasi t i laks-haani) . Of whrch, accordingto him, 84 are the best and32 the most benof ic ia l .

In airdition to asanasperformed resembling variousspocios, thgre ate asanas

which resemble inanimatoobiects lik€ Padma (lolus),Parvata (mountain). danda(srick), €tc. Dwipad8poota(Oesk) Chatushpaadapeatam(Table) etc. In addi t ion,thgrg are asanas r.vhich aredescnbed purely on thoposi t ion of the l imbs andorgans or the ef fect theyhave on th€ syslem, such asJatarapaf ivr i th i (act ivat ingthe stomach), Pasch,mottana(Poster ior st tetching) etc.Then there arc classical

a.ant. br'cd purcly in thcnrm. of rh. Ffrhi who itruppoard.to hrvo dlrcovorsdrnd pg.hapr uaad lt tot7u9al lllto mrntnr being!.|ocht d with rp.citicRlthir. Exlmplee includr,Bhlaradwljmr!nam, V!3i3h-tmtlnam, Durvsataalanam,,(!|. llaartn!m, Eudhsrtrfl arn.Virw..mltrraarnrm, otc. Then

@thrra rro mrn!, nrmod ltt€ttho avaturlr of thc trimunl!tnd othor goda, Theyinclude, for examplc, Trlvik.r!maaEan!m, Sklndaasrnam,thair6vaaf!n!m, Virubhadrr.!€n!m, Yoganararimharu.nfm, Nrtrrrr.irrsnam ctc, Inldditlon, it,tho various Vin.Vatraa ata alro conridared,one could rpprocista the

rmount of raaclroh ou,lnclcntl havc donc cvcn lnthc rlprct ot thc phyrlcrlrnd brought lt to pcrfcctlon.Onc group of Flrhir practircdrnd devcloped yog! rr rnrrt, Juat !r ! rculptor putrhlr ldcar ln an othorwbcformlerl ltone end converlr ltinto a beautiful art plccar, thcyogi urcd hls own body tndmrde it e bcautlfuf, wellsculpturcd,Dcrfcct tlvc obJcct.Approachlng yog! cvonmercly on thc phyclcal planc,could bc hlghly rarldylng,mrtching any other rrt In it.contcnt, comple{lty anddivinity.

Slmhaooanam ia anotherAscna, practised by obrcrv-ing E lion u/rltino tor it! proywith ,ts tongue hcnging out.ft is ,lro a vary lmgoilantsitting porturo.

Start wlth rlrtlng oroct lndk€eping^_the,legr ttretched.Exhale, Jllii sno ! rftsr rhcothcr the heehffiw thothighs. contrariwirc l. e., thclcft hcel below thr right lndtho right balow thc lctr. jurtby th. lid€ of tho acrotum.Ono_rcrurlly wlil bc littlngon tho hrab, wlth thc rnHa.rtrsfchad tho rMnr on ilrtfloor, Ktep the prlmt on th,rctp.Ctivc knecr, wlth thetlngors stfstchod rnd rllghrlytpan. Opln rhe mouth, ttre.tcfiing rh€ jaw, hang thrtonguo r! much out alporibfo. exporing thc thrort€3 it w€re. With open .y.r,

.llehtly lqulnt rnd look !tth. top of the noso (Nmu.agra). Snotho th.ough th!moulh for r while. Ret.r torkcrch 3.

Oulphru chr Vrl.hrnrryrdh.!Vy!thllam.nr Urdhwrtram G|ltu.

Chll imoo!u Ehum|[rDGthruf,tulwat chr JarncvoptrL

Vy.lthr vrkto Jrhnlhrrnchrl{r|tl|grr mavrlokaydi.

Slnhrrtrnrm thrvrt.ddt|fvrw||dhlvlr[t|krn

-ohrunda gtmhl!a.

Futthu accordlng to Svrat'm!!rrmt. lt lt aho hclpful Inmsstcr ing ths thtar Brndhas.It lhould bo ro, bocautc inporturot when onc ia seatedwtth buttockr on tht gtound,lik. Padma, Sidh8, €tc., thoanol murclor r t r not f rcg;whercac In thii, rlncc onaaitr olovltod !r it wero onthr hools, the mulabandhl harlier to do,

CUREE BAD BREATH

Onc Incldental advrntageol thla postu'3 i8 that it halP.in vcnt i lat ing lhe or l l andthro.t rcgioh! which hatbourbrctcria. Ono ot th6 cau!€tof brd broath is that lhothrort ragion i! gonarElly notk.pt cloan. Ornt!rudhi k€opsout bsd brrsth, but thirlr'rtion of tho throEt rrgionwill hclp orrl hygieno to a0'r8tar axl€nt, lt could alsobo obgcrvcd that trom thotlCtum upto rho tip ol thctongua lh€ antiro alimontrryryrt€m ir pullcd up tr it

":::-t r' ,uch hr. a sood

tonlc eflect on tht dlgc$lv.rystam all through"

Certrln achoob r€f.r tothir !!ana as Yog! Nri-simhlsrrnam. Othcrvrr ia-tionr of Simharrna i! to rtryin Adhomukho Padmraranam( rutrr to Indiln RcvicwFebrurry 1978 iruc) cndltrorch tha tonguo out rnddiroct thc virurl attlntion toNaaarrgra. lt res€mblaa rllon rredy to pounca.

IHAiADWAAJAA.SANAM:

Rirhi tharadwcja lt wctlknown lnd rald to bc thofather of Dhronacharya.There ate mlny who belonglo tho grr't.rgc'r gotrr.

The Bhrndwrf group ota8rn!r, brtlcrlly rcqulro'twisting of thc trunk in onodirsction rnd thc ncck and'hcad ln th. opporit. dlr.c.

l ion, giving a trsmendortsloning elfect to lhe spine,duo to torsion.

The well known posture isa s i t t ing one. Start wt lhDandaasanam. Exhaling, flexlhe left kneo and Keep theanklo c loso and alongsideth€ l€fr thigh with the stret-ch6d anklos on the glound,just as in Vifasanam. Thencxhaling, bend the right knee,placing the right ankle'ontho left rhigh, high up. Sit6r9ct with both the buttockson thoground. Now slowlyoxhale. hold the big toe oftho right log with th€ lingersof the right hand frorn behind.Inhale, ra ise the lsf t hsnd;€xhalo bend torward. Inhaleagain, ra ise and on exhal ingkeep the left palm fully onth€ ground bo(ween knee andbuttocks fingers turned in-ward, and below the thigh,also turning the head to rheleft side lqoking over lhe leftahould€r. Close the eyesand do long inhalation andexhalation, strctching andtwisting the spine a littlemora on each exhalEtion'Ropoat on the other side,This is Bharadwajasanam.Refer to skerch No. 4.

Another varialion wouldrequire srtttng in Parvataa.sanam (Refer Indian ReviewFbbruary 1978 issue).Exhal ing twist to ong sidekeeping the interlocked palmson the ground near the oncthigh botwoen knee and the

butrock, Exhals turn thehead over to the other side.

This asana combines theadvantage of Virasanam andhg$pgana. and in additidnhelps to lwist the spine andhencs make it supple. Thecervrcal region, th€ lumbatsnd the small back musclosar6 strotchsd.

ASWINI MUDRAMudras are contracting a

group of muscles, which alsoinclude the Bandhas. Wehave already sesn someMudras as Tstaka Mudra,Shannukhi Mudra, YogaMudra etc., and also Mula,Jalandhara and Uddiyana.ths three famous Bandhas,These Mudras are also to bepractised and with Pranayamaare very important in HathaYoga, Sage Gherunda refersto 25 such Mudras.

Contlabting and dilatingthe anal aperture as a horse(Aswini) does in snyconvenisnt posture is cal ledAswini Mudra. This is saidto bs energy giving.

Aakunchayeth Gudhadh-vaaram Prakaasayeth puna-fpunaha Saa thavod6-swini Mudra Sakthiprabo-dhakaarini.

ft could b€ observed thatmany of the Asanas, bandhas,rnudras, etc.. stress theimportance of keeping themuscles and Naadis of th6lower portion (Mula) in goodtone. According to yogictheory, manv important nadisaro s i tuated in thE anal andth€ pelvic region and henceropeatedly it is strEssed lokeep that area in good control.Further it is the area of sexglands (pfoslate, utetu3

ovorlos) aswell, snd s goodmusclo tono is especiallyo3tontiqt. Without theseesane6, bandhas and mudfastieoe creas aro nevsr exerci.ced. People equoto yogarnd other torm6 of physicatoxercisa and ray that it is asgood o, as bad as orhergamo8, sport! and sxercises.One nas to appreciate theoxtont to whhh minutomulcler 8nd neadis aaoattond€d lo in yoga. lt roqui-r€3 snornous conconttation,control and as such tha yogsof our ancionts ha8 attemptedto p€rfect the human physi-cal ayrtem. oo that whaterre.bost is ovailsble fiom out ofrhir phyaical. was attomptodto be schiov€d and oxporien-ced in full mgasuro.

Aswini Mudra could bePractised as a preludo toachieving perf€ction in Mula-bandha, lt can be learnt incortain aEanas such asSarvangasanam, Sirsssanam,olc.

MAHAAMUDBAThir Mudra i* referred to

by almosr all tho Yoga toxrs.auch as Siva Ssmhite, Gh€r.und€ Samhita, Hathayoga-pradeopika, Ohyanrbindoo-panishad of Krishnayajurveoa.Yog aclroodamaniupsnishadof Saemaveda, €tc, Accord-ing to our Acharya thisshould bo included for surein one's daily pnetlce ofyog!.

Paadamoolena Yaamenayonim Sampidya Dakshi-nsm .Prasaaritham PadamKruthwa KaraabhyaamDharayerh Dhrudham.

-Hathayoga Pradeepika

Start with logs stretchad.Press the perineum (yoni)with tho lefi heel, with rhekns6. b€nt and pushed awayto tho sido at about 90o tothobody. The sole of theleft foot ie flush with the

right rnrgn fhefi prc€ctngthe p€rinsqtn €xhale keep.ing the bsck straight, holdtho big toe of rhe right, footwith both pslms. Lock thachin for Jalandharabandha.ahd practics other bandhason exhalation. Repeat afew breaths. Change legsposition snd aepeal on other-side also. According toHathoyogsprsd60pika, M€hFmudra overcomeS 3uchmaladies liko consumption,

Irpry, conifpillon, rbdo.m.nrl di..|r.r, lndlglrtlonrts. gp.cltlc.lly ir h€tp.lona up th. p.lvlo orgrnr, ltir orgrchlly ol lmpoltrncrto gynr.cologlcol probl.m!llkc prolspr, Inconthcncc,.lc. F.f.r ro lk.rch (l).

MA}IAAIAT{DHAM

$rn wfth lrgr rtr.tch6d.Ertrb, bnd th. l.ft kn c.nd.lt on thr hrcl, rh. hc.tpto.lng rnd clorlng tht.ngr. On tha n.xt.xhal..tlon, t|.p th. nght foot ontht l.tl thleh !. fn P.dmr...nam. lo.p thf prlm. onthr knol rnd grctlcc thrMulr, Uddiyrnr rnd Jrltnd.hrnbrndhu. li lr I goodpo.tutator prrcI loo oflnnryrmt wlth tha Brndh!}

A! glnlhrltrnr, thc lrmr rrefrec for Mulabandham andi! turthlr helprd by tho prcr.rurr ot thc hccl. Rcpeat onth. oth.r 3id..

Sk.lch (6) rhowr rhcpolltlon ot rh€ t6.r (andhcrl). The arms porltion in! tlluting goltur. on th.brch Gln bo rtbmot.d lnmany othar polturq a! Prd.mllrrnrm otc., though lt lrnot .p.cltlc to Mlhabrnd.h||n.

ll tmnar rro prrctirodwlth Srndhrr, Mudrar, Vln.yrttt, corclponding brea.thlng lnd Prunryamr, lt lrbctbr to do ro under propcrguldanco. Thb hrs besn thctrrdlilonll approlch f o. otudyof Sartrr In lndh.

?AftPECEIn Dlrlrnopanllad, belon

ging to SalmavcOo, ttrc lartrlrne rEfcrred to lr Sukhr-lanlm, for onc who crn notdo ditticult 6r!nr! lnd onolnftrcrt.d In othrr yoglcpractlcrs llkc Prunayrma etc..

Ycna Ktnr PnkaucncSukhrm Dftrlrym chrJ!!yrt.l Trth Sukha.'rnlmIthyukthlmArrktharr .thrth Srmlrrr lyrrh.In whstwor way (polturc)

ona !illlnr comfod .ndsto!din..r, thrt lr ..ld rrSukhra!rn.m. Thrt rhouldb! rdopGd by the Intrrm(fot prcct lco of P rran r .yrmom).

***t**

*

PADMASANAMS. RAMASWAMI

Hathasya Prathamaangatwat Aasanam PoorvamuchyateKuryaath Tadaasanam Sthairyam Aarogyam cha Angalaghavam.

The above stanza in Hatha-yogapradeepika of Svaatmaa-raama states that Aasanaasare descr ibed in fhe f i rstplace as they form the firststage of Hatha Yoga. Aasa-nas make one firm, free fromdiseases and feel exrremelyl ight and supple. Brahmaa-nanda, in his commentary"Jyotsna" on Hathayogapra-deepika says lhat Aasanamakes one f irm. as it weakensthe Rajoguna (Aasanena RajoHant i ) that causes f ickle-ness (Vikshepa) of the chi t ta.Since asanas eradicate dis-eases, they help thamind to concentrate. Ac-cording to the author of Yog-asutras, Patanjal i , "d isease(vyadhi) , dul lness (sthyana),doubt (samsaya), inat tent ion(pramadha) s loth (aalasya),wor ld l iness (avirathi) , fa lse-not ions (bhrant idarsana) mis-sing essent ia ls (alabdabhoo-nikaira) and instabi l i ty (ani-vasthi tha) are the causes ofdistraction of the mind and

Thc lndian Review

as such 8re tho obstacles formaterial or spiritual progress.Heaviness of body arisesfiom a preponderance ofTamas, and asanas removethis. Though i t is impossibleto explain c lear ly and real izethe important t fuths thatunder l ie the var ious asanas,

o t i l l the human system is un.derstood in al l i ts intr icacyand detai l . i t can be saidthat the var ious asanas br ing

^ about many important resul ts,physical , physiological , psy-chological , and spir i tual . Forinstance, dur ing some ofthem, various nerve centresare act iv ised; thesb ef fect i -vely help to conlrol the i r re-gular i t ies of the body andwhat is more fascinat ing, butno less t rue, is the pur i f icat-ion of the mental process-themind becoming more andmor€ at tent ive (ekagra).

WELL-KNOWN ASANA

Paclmaasana is one of thewel l -known asanas and holdsths pr ide of p lace among si t t -rng postures. l t easi lV f i tsinto the def in i t ion of Patan-ja l i on asana, "Sthira SukhamAsanam" which def inesasanas as staying steady andcomfortable, Padmaasana,especial ly i ts important var i -at ion Badhapadmaasana.completely imggilizgs- rhel imbs and gives steadiness rothe yogi's posture. The stret-

- ching experienced in all thestubbo(n joints, as the neck.shoulders, e lbows, wr ists,

lowerback, hips. knees, ank-les and toes makes it I com-plete posture. lt gives a veryfirm base for sitting for prana-yama, Japa or study. Nodoubt i t holds the fascinat ionof many yoga aspirants.

According to Sri Suresh-waracharya, rhe f i rst Pi thdhi-pathi of Sr inger i SankaraMutt , Padmaasana, alongwith swast ika, gomukha, andHamsa are known as Brahma-asanas, as given in the lastUl lasa (chapter) in Manasol-lasa, an authent ic, e laboratecommentary on sr i Sankara-bhagavatpada's, Daksl i ina-murt i Ashtakam. Then Nris i -rnha, Garuda, Kurma andNaaga are known as Vaishna-vaasanams and Vira, Mayura,Vajra and Sidha are Rudraasanas. Yoni asana is knownamong Saaktha group andPaschimottaanasana, is aSaiva Asanam.

Svast ikam, gomukham,padmam, hamsaakyam,Bhrahmamaasanam!Nris imham, garudam,

A kurmam, naagakhyam,, , VaishnavaasanamlViram,i Mayuram, Vajraakhyam,. s idhakhyam, rudramaa-

sanam! Yonyaasanamviduhu. Saaktham.Saivam Paschimataana-kahy;n.

PADMAASANAM : Si tup, stretch the legs keep-ing back straight. Exhaledeeply, bend the right

leg, draw theright foot closer to the bodywith the hands and keep i ton top of the left thish, inl ine wi th the groin. On thenext exhalat ion, in a s imi larfashion, bend the l6f t kneeand place the left foot on topof tha r ight th igh. Now, youhave a very firm base to sitand the lower back is rel ievedof the outward curve normal lyrequired to keep up thebalance of the body. Nowkeep the palms ful ly cover-ing the respect ive knees,stretch the arms, the spineand the neck and keep thechin on the centre of thebreastbones, making Jalan-dharabandha. Breathe norma-l ly.making hissing noise thro-ugh the part ia l ly c losed glot t is .This is Padmasana. After afew breaths, do the posturewith lef t knee bent f i rst .

In i t ia l ly there is bound tobe excruciat ing pain, but wi thdeep exhalat ion, one shouldbe able to s lowly relax andrepeat the movements, Espe-cial ly people who are notused to squatt ing may haveproblems in tho ear ly stages.

But once the in i t ia l resis-tance is overcome, s lowlyone wi l l s tar t exper iencingthe relaxing ef fects of Pad-maasana. l t is undoubtedlya marvel among the yoga-sanas. One leels extremeiysecure on a firm base, thelower back enjoys a freedomand comfort unknown even

t

in a most cosy couch or sota.The body is erect, butrelaxed. Natural ly the mindwill ba relaxed and alert.unperturbed by the posturaldistract ions. . People proneto become rheumatic, st i f fknee jo ints due to disuse,are benefited.

lAf ter a few breaths, orrenlay practice, Mulabandhaand Uddiyanabandha. Thr:si t is possible to pract iceBandhatrayas in Padma-sanam. lt is a good posture

-zfor Pranayama, meditationand Samyamas, (Refersketch 1 )

There are a numbei ofvar iat ions in Padmasanawhich help to i rnprove circu-lat ion, strength and developthe body proportionately.

BHADRAASANAM:Bhadra : Peace. Si t in

Padmasanam. lnhaleraise the aams andon exhalat ion,lower the arms and keep the

palms on the respectivgrhighs, wi th f ingers point inginward. Stretch the elbowsrnd ralse the trunk ond rhain-tainJaalandharabandha. Dobetween six and twelvs longinhalat ions and exhalat ionswith the Bandhas. This isvery good for the wrists,shoulders, neck and thespine. (Refer sketch 2.)

PARVATAASANAM:Inhale and raise the arms

overhead, inter lock f in-gers, stretching thespine, . shoulders. n6ck,elbows and wrists. Keep thechin locked in Jaalandhata-bandha. This is Parvataa-sanam. (Parvatha: Hi l l )Refer Sketch (3). This pos-ture helps to develop theshoulders and make theshoulder jo int supple. Deepinhalat ion also helps toexpand the chest and isespecial ly useful for chi ldren,teenagers and young menand women. l t a lso helps iostretch the abdominal mus-cles; and i t is benef ic ia l tothose suffer ing f rom respira-tory ai lments.

Afterabout 6 to 12 breaths,exhale. bend at the elbows,lower the arms and keep thepalms on the back of thsneck; wi th the palms facingupwards the elbows stret-ched outwards and theshoulder blades approximat-ing each other. On inhalat ionraise the arms and on exhala-tion lower them with good

fa- Kundal in i Yoga School credi t

I t wi th the awakening ofKundalini. Stay for a fewbreaths and return to Parva-taasanam. Anothervar iat ionwould require placing' thetop of th€ head on the floor,instead of the forehead.

URDHWAMUKHA PAD., ,MAASANAM:J

F ro m Parvataasanam,exhale and rol l ing . backrhe shoulders, '-tiaei ttrepalms behind thebuttocks about one footaway and about one footbetween the palms.f,.lnhale,press the palms and knees,rais ing the t runk and stretch-ing the neck backward.(Refer sketch 5). This actsas a counterpose to Yoga-mudra. The front portion ofthe torso is stretched, thel lo iwerbaclk al io gets amassaging effect. The wrists,elbows, arms and n-.ck getrel ieved of the s l ight painencountered in the previousment ioned postures as Yoga-mudra, Parvataasanam' etc,

who suffer from constipation After about 6-breaths, exhil-and irregular or errat ic peris- ing return to.Padmasanam.tallisis, lt helps improve ,fl2laising the trunk is donedigestion and rel ieve f latu- i thi le exhaling i t_is ,Lsngana-lance. Yogis belonging to kriya.

stretching of the neck, andohoulder muscles. Repeat 3to 6 t imes.

YOGA MUDRA:From Paruataasanam.

exhale deeply and bendforward touching thefloor with the foreheadandths arms stretched out-ward (Refer sketch 4). Thisis particularly good for those

4

!

SUPTAPADMASANAM

From Parvataasanam, s lo-wly exhale, round the back,raise the knees a bi t and l iedown on the back complete-lv. wi th arms stretched over-head and f ingers lnter luukedand the I adma oort icn alsoon the f loor. Stay for a fewbreaths, doing Mula anoUddiyanabandhas af ter exhal-at ion. Exhale, lowerthe armsand holdthetoes.Tryto stretchthe spine and keeL i t on theground, the neck also rsstretched so that the chtn rsnot upward but towa!ds rhechest. Closethe eyes and ooa fer,r. breaths. This is knownasSuptaPadmasanam (Supta j

Lying). Refer Sketch 6.)

Now place the palrns bythe srde of the body on theground. Press the palm onexhal ing, ra ise the padmaport ton to about 30 . inhalereturn to Suptapadmasanam.Repeat the rnovements abourCi t imes. This helps to \ r /ork

0*

on lhe lower hip and alsohelps to counter the achecne may develop due tostretching of the back in Sup_tapadmasanam. (Refer Sket-ch 7).

URDHWAPADMASANAM

This posture was describ-ed in the December 1977lssue, but was included as avar iat ion in Sarvangasanam.The same asana can be donefrom Suptapadmasanam.Exhale, ra ise lhe t runk, as inSarvangasanarn, but insteadthe legs being straight theyare in Paclmasanam. Stayfor a few breaths (ReferSketch 4 in December 1977lssue of Indian Review).From there one may proceedlo do Pindasanam (RelerSketch 5 December 19t j otIndian Review). Return roParvatasanam.

ADHOMUKHAPADMASA _NAM : Si t in padmasanam.Extend rhe arms forward and

place the palms on the f loor.l \ow exhate, ra ise the hipsand stand on the knees, wi ththe support of the palms,Flex the elbows, and l ie facedown, so that the ent i re bodywith the legs in padmasa-nam is on the ground. Now'inhale, press the palms andthe knees and raise the t runk,s l retching the arms, elbowsand shoulders. This is Adho-mukhapadmasanam. (Refersketch 8).Stay {or a few bre-aths.Then pressing the pa lms.exhal ing, s lowly push the

Sl

back and body, so that onesi ts in Padma:anam and theupperbody stretched forwardin Yogamudra. Inhale, ra isetrunk back to Parvatasanam.

Padmasana and the var i -at ions can be pract ised in aser ies and is recommendedby our Acharya to at ta inAasanasiddhi and der ive themaximum benef i t of eachvarrat ion. l t saves t ime andensures that one would exer-c ise al l the parts of the body.

This ser ies can be donees fol lows:

1. Padmasanarn 2. Parva-taasanam 3. Suptapadmaas-anam 4. Urdhwapadmaasan-am 5. Pindaasanam 6. Parv-ataasanam 7. Adhomukhapa-dmasanam 8. Yogamudra9. U rdh wam u kh apad masa n a m10. Parvataasanam 11. Pad-masanam

This ser ies is to be donea few t imes wrth the recom-mendad breathinq. Then

repeat, changing the legs'posi t ion. This group is excep-t ional ly good to tJne up al lthe rheumatic prone jo ints,make such stubborn jo ints asknees, hips, shoulders supp-le, improv:s stamina, c i rcu-lat ion and general wel l being.I t is a compact and a veryuseful group for pract ice foryoung men and women.There are a number of othermore di f f icul t var iat ions. Oneof them Baddha Padmaasa-nam is taken up.

Baddhapadmasana is des-cr ibed as "Padmasanam" inH at ayog a p ra deep i ka.

Vaamoroopar i Dakshinam chaCharanam Samsthapya Va-

aman TathaDakshoroopar i Paschi mena

vidhinaDhruthwa Karaabhyaam

Dhrudham

Angushtau Hridaye NidhaayaChibukam Naasagramaalo-

kayethYetath Vyaadhiv inaasakaar i

Ysminaam Padmaasanamprochyathe

Place the r ight foot on thelef t th igh and the lefr foor onthe r ight th igh, cross the

O hands behindthe back (one s- own back, of course!) and

f i rmty take hold of the roes(the r ight toe wi th the r ighthand and the lef t toe wi ththe lef t . ) Place the chin onthe breasts and gaze at thet ip of the nose (Naasaagra).This is cal led Padmaasanam.I t destroys the diseases ofthe sel f - restrained yogtns,(Yamis). Refer sketch 9.

DESTROYS DISEASES

Baddhapadmasana requiresa very subt le control of thedeep muscles of the shoul-ders and legs. l t is a very,deep cleansing exercise. l fone can stay in the posture,do long inhalat ion and exha-lat ion i t is except ional lybenef ic ia l . As ment ioned bySvaatmaarama, and atsocontended by author i t ies l ikemy Acharya thot i t removesal l the diseases, emanat ingfrom the stomach and abdo-menal regions, Pregnantwomen should not pract icethis aasanam.

Padmaasanam, as ment i -oned before is not merely anexquis i te physical posture,but also is bel ieved to holdthe key for proper meditationand rousing of Kundal in i .

t

"Staying wel l in Padmaa-sanam, wi th the palms, oneon the other (on the lap), { ixthe chin on the chest andcontemplat ing (Brahman orlshtadevata) in the mind(chi t ta) , repeatedly raise lheApaana upwards (by contra-ct ing the anus. which isMulabandha) and br ing theinhaled Praana downward(af ter inhalat ion). By th is aman obtains unequal ledknowledge through theFower of Kundal in i (which isroused by this process)".-Hathayogaprad6epika.

9

It could be observed thatss a fur ther extension of thepract ice suggested ear l ier ,the Mulabandha startedaf ter Bahya Kumbhaka ismaintained on inhalat ional io. And by means of Mula-bandha and Jalandharaban-dha both the passage of thedowngoing Apaana and theupgoing Praana are sealed,so to say. Then by forcingthe Prana downwards andApaana upwards, the unionof Apaana and Praana is

achieved. This is also referr-ed to in the Bhagawad Gita.

By the union of Praanaand the Apaana, the Jaata-ragni (gastr ic act iv i ty) isaroused and the mythicalkundal in i , awakened by theheat of the gastr ic f i re, strai-ghtens from out of i ts coi ledposi t ion and moves upwardof Sushumna. Then the -

Praana and Apaana are to beforced through the Sushumnaand the union of these twotakes place, which is theul t imate goal of Hathayoga.

Wel l , suf f ice ; t to say thatPadmaasanam is an excel .lent posture for physical,physiological , psychological ,wel l being and fcr myst icaland spir i tual exper iences.

SHANMUKHIMUDRA

After a strenuous sl int inlhe var ious Padmaasanavar iat ions, one may wish toenjoy the relaxat ion obtainedby such exercises. Shanmu-khimudra helps in drrect ingthe at tent ion inward. l t isalso known as Yoni Mudra.Thsre are some schools whostate that i t is a lso known asSaambhavi Mudra.

Sit in Padmaasana or otharconvenient postures l ikeSidhasana-Vajrasana mayalso be chosen-but Padma-asanam appears to bo quit€good. Keep the back erect,and head level, without rho

Jaalandharabandha. Raise thearms, keeping the elbows atshoulder level . Close the earwith the thumbs; the fore-

f inger and middle I ingersovet the closed eyelids, theforefinger above and themiddle f inger below the posi-

tion of eyeballs. One shouldnot press the eyes hard. buta very mild pressure is !o bemaintained so that it is barelyfelt. The ring fingers closethe nostr i ls Fart ia l ly and thelittle fingers are kept at theside of the c losed mouth.The at tent ion is directedtowards the middle of eye-brows. One may fol low the

lObrealh. Stay for about f iveminutes. (Refer sketch 10).

This is a very relaxingprocedure and may be adop-ied af ter a strenous day'swork, or even before startingor af ter Praanyamam, l t helpsto calm the mind as thesenses are under control,especial ly when pract isedin a noiseless. clean placedevoid of unpleasant gllEggand other distract ions, l ikeinsects, mcsqui tos etc.

I t could be a good exer-cise for Praty._a"akara-or clean-sing the senses by their wi th-drawal and direct ing inwards.

**** i

Having described romelmportant groupa of aranaraa Padmraranem, Sarvango-ngm, Trikonsrranam, €tc., iti8 porhaps timo (though a fewmore ueefql and well knowna88n8 groups are to bs dealtwith) to lrke up tha nextrtep ia Yogo, i.q.. Praanaya-mam. Patrnjrli placos it n€xtto A8ana, but authors ofHathayoga ov€n as they foll-ow tho Elmr procedure, sug-gost rome puriticstory acttrt tho physic.l level, beforethe Kumbhoka or breath hold-ing Pranayamas 610 taken up.Six such dctg, known arShat Kriyas rro mentionsd bySvaatmaramo in Hathr Yog€Pradeepiko. Th€se !,o notobligatory exetcises, evenaccotding ro H8thayogi8, butsro tugoestrd to thoss whoara obasa and phlegrnatic endnot for othsr! for whom Vga-ra. Pitha and Kapha are psr-fectly balanced.

KAPAALA BHAATIS. Ramaswami

Modht Sloshmr AdhitlhE Pury8mShtr Xlrmlni Slmarcharsth.

Anyrsthu Nlecharsth tarnlDorhrrnram Srmr BhDvrth!h!

Thoso six scts aro Ohouti.Vasti, N€ti, Traatakam, Nauliand Kapaalabhati' Ot th€sotho fir3t throe, wholoin use ofwatar, cloth or olhst exlErnalagencies 8re used ,l€ not t€-commended nor encoutagedin lhe systsm I have under-gone. Trastaka which isgood a6 an exerciss for the€yos, Nsuli for the lower ab-domen and Kapaatabhati,primarily for the respitatorysyst€m a1o however frequen-tly usod bymany abhyasis allof which do not inlroduce€xternel sids into th€ systemand ar€ not displeasing, asthe firrt tht€o kriyas.

Of these again, Kapaalab-hati is most b€neticial in pr€-par ing one for Pranayama topur i fy the Pranamayakoss.

Kapaalabhaati la made upof two word! . klpa8le moan-ino ckull and lmplying lhoontaro h€sd rnd bhrtl, thttwhich makee it ahine. Thucone who practia€s kapalab-haati find. I rejuyonrtingfeeling in tho hotd snd grrd-ually flndr hir tlcc lttllningsom€ lustre. Thero cleana-ing activltios, help one rid thesystem of ell tho doshas anoPranayama oiddhi, accrueswithout undue efforl,

6hrrklrmr Nirgrlh.tthouly!K.phrdorh!md||dhlkrh.

Pr!nsy!m!m Tdrh xurylthAn!!y!!!ne Sldhyrtl,

Even though krpsldbhrlii i not a Pranaysma in lhoorthodox system, it wo*sthoroughlyon thc respiratory6quipm€nt. Hence just arfor Pranayama, ono shouldchooss a place free fromnoise and oth6r atmosph€ticpollutants as dugt, dirr, unpl-

easant odour 6tc. Af t6r agood workout in asana prac-t ico, which should be wel lp lanned to include movementof a l l parts and . io ints of thebody, made possible by ajudic ibus combinat ion ofasanas and their v inyasas,snd a l i t t le rest . one shouldsi t comfortably in. Padmaasa.n8n: or othor sitting postursgl ike Vajra, Siddha etc. l t isfound however, in pract icePadmaasanam is €mong thebest for Kapalabhat i . Srncothe oxorcise is a highly dyna-mic one, it is bettef to choosea posture which can bs main-tained even in a v igorousactrv i ty, involv ing the use ofabdomenal muscles, Padma-asana, wi th the f i rm inter-locking of legs, provides af i fm base and enablgs ono toko€p th€ lower €xtrsmit iesundor good control , How.evar, for thoso who hav6probloms in getting into corr.ect Padmaassnam, any othsrsitting postute like Vajra orVeerasanqm may b9 chossn

METHODOTOGY

Sit in Padmaasanam. Keepthe palms on tho knoss.Slightly bend the head for.wArd as in Jalandharaban-dha, but the glot t is is notconstticted. After a fewnormal braaihs, inhale andexhale guickly in succassionfor about 24 t imes (or lessdopending upon ona's capa-city), The breathing is ofthe abdornenal or diaphrag-

mst ic type, The abdomenalntuscles contract qui te v igor.ously and rapidly. In eachstroke the viscerae aro drawnin and pressed and thediaphragm is pushed up. Assoon as the vagorous exhala.l ion is ovsr ( l t may taksabout 1 to 2 tenths of asecond), the abdomenalmuscles relax, the abdomenaviscerae come down to theirorginalposi t ion. Simultans.ously the r j iaphragm alsocomes down, creal ing apart ia l vacuum in tho chsstcavi tv and the external a i r

€nter the lungs automat icsl lyHencs the act ive part ofKapalabhat i is the expuls iono{ air and the inhalat ion isimperceptably passive. Thenirnmeoi6tely thereafter, fota second round, lhe abdom-enal muscles are again con-tract€d and thewhole processis repeated for a number oft i rnoE. say up to 24 or so inthe in i t ia l stagos.

Kapalabhaali is primarily anexercise of the v iscerae andthe disphragm. l t may benoted in pract ice that even

though thi I is a breathingexercise, lhe movement o{the chest wal l is negl ig ib le.The intercostal muscles, inf act , are kept mi ld ly contrac-ted al l through and the sl ightinhslat ion is made possiblecnly by the mobi l i ty of rhediaphragm. l t could beeasi ly ver i f ied in pract ice andin fact could be used as acheck to see i f on6 is doingi t correcl ly. l t is c lear there-fore that inspirat ion (Puraka)is done si lent ly wi thoutef for t , as dist inct f rom anydeep breathing exercise in-volv ing del iberate expansionof lhe chest requir ing thestretching of intercostalmuscles. And the expirat iontRechaka) is done with con-siderable ef for t at contrac-r ing and indrawing theabdomenalmuscles. Neces-sar i ly therefore, lvhen the airis torced out through thenostr i ls , a noise is producedresembl ing that of usingbel lows. Svaatmalamahim-sel f indicates i t .

Bhastraaval LohakaarasyaRechapuram Sasambhramo.

Kapaalabhst i . ikhyaataKaphadosha Viseshini .

Halhayogapradeepika

"Pract ice Exhalat ion andinhalat ion rapidly (RepeatedlyI ' r<e a blacksmith 's bel lows.I t is cal led kapaalabhaat iwhich destroys dosha ofKapha (respr latory ot phleg-nrat ic) ." Since the Rechakais s low and impercept ib lysoft , the exercise looks as i f

it is iust e series of vigorousexh alat ions,

The deoth of exhalat ion ismore than normal, but not ashigh as in deep breathing orPranavama. The volume otair expel led is reasonabl ' ,h igh at about 600 ccs or so(but much less for womenand Emphysemic persons).

FOUR ASPECTS

There are four aspects tobe looked into in Kapaalabh-aat i . They are:

a) The intensi ty of exhala.t ion, r t refers to the force ofexpuls ion and is pr i inar i ly afunct ion of the strengih ofthe abdomenal muscles, Dro-vided the respiratory systemcan take up the intensi tv.

b) Rapidi ty is the t imetaken for complet ing oneexhalat ion and inhaiat ion. aand b are compl imentary anda part icular combinat ion, tobe {ound by t r ia l and ertorby each Abhyasi .Rapidi ty at the cost of inten-si ty should be avoided. Buttoo slow, wi th considerablet ime intervals between twobouts should also be guardedagainst . In the in i t ia l stages,ther6 is concern about onegett ing a bout of cough ordeveloping cramps in thestomach. In lact in anygroup class when stal t ingthis exercise, one f inds atleast a lourth start coughing

violent ly af ter a few at temptsHence i t is s low and hal t ingin the in i t ia l stage. Furtherthere are those with phlegmcol lected in the lespiratorysystem, which are thrown outdur ing the pract ico and haveto necessar i ly stop i t in themiddle. Certain asthmat icswho hsve not b€en Preparsdwell by preliminary Yogasa-nas may develop a bout ofcough which may evenprecipitate bronchial constri'c t ion. l t should however bement ioned that kapalabhal iintroduced at the proper t imofor an asthmat ic is highlybenef ic ia l and is actual ly oneof the imrrortant aids in t rea-t ing an asthmat ic.

c) Froquency: The num-ber of t imes one has to doKapalabhat i at one stretchagain vat ies f lom pelson toperson. In tha in i t ia l stagesone may not be able to dofor more than '10 or 24 t imes,but th is could be improvedeven uo to a few hundredl imes. Gasping {or bteath inthe in i t ia l stages restr icts thefrequency, But later on asone is more relaxed anddevelops sscond wind,( improved stamina) one maycont inue unt i l one feels aoleasant exhaust ion or fat i -gue, when one's abdomenalmuscles are also strengthe-ned, and with increasedpract ice, not only the abdo-menal muscles but also thepelv ic and rectal muscles getact ively into play. l l is not

necessary to deliberatelyptactico Mulabandham tofacilitate exPulsion, but someIind it useful to make use otcontraction of rectal muscles'For the majority, use of Pelvicdiaphragm and tectum beco'mes almost automatic. Thereare a few. Peoplg thereforewho prefer Mahabandha.(Refer lndian Review March1978) for doing kapalabhaat i8s ths gluteal muscles aIeraised and tho rectum ispressed by the hsel faci l i ta-t ing a moro conscious invol-venrent of these rnuscles.

Thus the intensi tY, rapidi tyand the frequency for Iround of kapalabhaat i is tobe determined by tho Pract i 't ioner and i rnproved gtadua-l ly . There should be noviolent ierk ing of the chest 'the shouldets and the head.Thero is a tendency for a fewto constr ict the nostr i ls toproduce the nasal soundwhich hcwever is unwarran-ted. Iho air expel led isal lowed to escape {reel ,through the glot t rs (no cons-tr ict ion there, p lease) andsinootf ' ly passes ( through the

nasal passage) to ths end ofthe nostrils. when even thonostrils are not constricted.they themselves open out abi t in faci l i tat ing passage ofexpel led air . Hence i t is notn6cessarv, nor desirable totry to control sither of thenostr i ls nor indulge in facialcontort ions to regulate theair passage. Anyone who'nrakes faces' whi le doingkaoalabhat i is not doing agood job of i t . The airshould be permit led to havea very smooth passage andi t wi l l have, i f only al lowed

without restr ict ions. l t does t ion. Tho6o who havs learntof cours€ produco som€ fri- soms Pranayama liks Uttayiction st the low€r ends of or Nadisodhan, otc,, maytho nostrilg, but it does not practico it aft€r Kapalabhaaticr€ate any problem3. lt i3 but more of it in lster issues.not so, if one i3 caroful notto constrict the upp6t portion Kapalabhaati should beof tho no3o, so thst th6re is attempted after eome guida-no friction in tho delicste nce from a teacher, Thoseplrtg of thg mucus membra' suffering from herniE, acutenee llnlng tfto intorior patts rhinitia, pain in the ear' needof lhc nore. Persong suffer' not attcrnpt this practica.ingfrom acuto rhlniti! etc., Asihmaticrshould do themnoed not do kapalsbhati at only'undergupervision' Theyth! tlmc of acut. nesal bloc. will obeerve that cough dov.king|, but if regulrrly dono lops towatds the end of oschnomally nagal block ltself round. Tho expcctorationwill be preventod in the first should be spat out. In mostinlirnce. ca6€8 the oough subsides,

but even if it cohtinuos, aftorThc normql apeedof dging a few days' ptsctico it sub-

krprfebhatl ' i r lbout 2 pd sider. l t isssidthatpasrsgoro!o{rd. However one m8y of air over tho muous msmb-atin,rt lbout 'hrlf tho psce rane of tho alr passages Ectg.lhJti bcgtnoi{E{' {t!**40 .{€ 6n Inhtbitorv stitnulu..to 120 pc' tnlflutc |1:qulld lilKbpalatJhdtti thr ra{io- off|ilatrctory. The number of fime for €xplration to inspir-,tfi$ttt per round may be dlpn'is about 1 to 3' sincellffJiol tfw hundtod, but it d,uring inhalation the sympa-rii#.ltTrf:r'to,bc doalded by thoticlsstimulatod which intb|,'i#dror,'with th. h.lp of turn ir bdneficial, it could be

'r:iirclra; of considetable uge to andf torntri tf tfunc pcr ssthmatic' Further becauserfoing t A'round of Kapah' ot vigotou3 sxpulslon.due toi*"rri t, to bc followod Jv tho upwatd movement of thef.nayamrl 'but mara lon^ oispnrsgm' lne oxcosslvo;s,.-;iffil rio- iit'i.tioi '-.,':*tf':is th'own-out' In.tn utc s6ti". ror the mere :1!"..-1t:n^*,.of ,lY:,"tiontlptlati"" ol' Kapqlabhaatr €mphysomo' lt n€lp8 vo'y

rhii nry bc done for a T'*-11-lh:^j::l:Ttiono'inrinuto oi co and then the th€ lungs ro

filffl€I'iilxt round mry bo ststtod''lt will be good tc do obout'3 The congeetion in tho bto'rounds pei sitting, intersper- nchi and bronchioles is decr'aed with a few rounde of eaaed gredually in successivelong inh.lrtion and exhata' 6t89e6, The mucus is blss'

ted out from the bronchialwalls and coughed out.After Some.time there shouldbe very little mucu8 to oxciteand theroby pfscipitat€ aspasm, Furtherthepowerfulexpiiatory blasts of airthrough th6 €ntire respiratorypagsage acts as 8 powelfulinhibitory 3t imulus to thocough centres. Hdnce coughand the associated spasme ofth€ bronchi diminish. Evenfor generalized cough, itcould be very useful. Sincelf imptoves blood circulationto the hoad and face, onegetB a healthiertook.

Perhaps equally impottaht,is rhe fact lh€t the abdome-nal otgans alao get thoroughlYmseaaged. The llver, spleen,pa'ncrers, kidney and adren.ale, the etomach 6nd theinta.tinor gat rvoll m.sssgodand henct hlve improvedvarcularity, When combined.in a group with luch asEns!as Sarvangssanam, Parchi.mottanrm stc., it helps greEtlyalter the shape of the bellYfrom it8 uns€€mly half 'S'toecaphoid. Thorc sufferingfrom initable colon., oonstip.ation c€rtain typeg of earlystbge diEb€to3 duc to slug'gish'pancreaa, f latulance,dyepepeia will.find it benefi'cial. Ptegnant womon andthose suffeting from manor:rhagia or ftbroid in uterus atoadvised not to plactico. *thelps strengthen sbdom€nrlmuscleg and may. Pleventherneation. Thoee having

acute pulmonSry 8nd or car-diac condition ars adviEsd toba extremely cautious inatt€mpting kapalabhqati. Forthogo who are interested intho esotoric aspscts of HathaYoga, i t is said to rouse kun-dal in i Sakthi . The forciblemovements of the abdominalmuscles, when done properly8nd intensivoly press thevisce'ae ths varioug plexusesof the autonomic nervous

system and stimulato themto activity, and hence onecould conjecture tho rousingof kllndalini sakthi,

Apart lrom th€ respiratorysystom, ths digestive andother pslv ic organs and th€heart a lso could get massa-ged. The pericardium issttached to the upper surfaceof the diaphragm. Thereforewith each forcible expiration,

rhe bour by the di$frtagtlfcould massage tho heart.

Needleer' to say, it isabsolutely esscntial that it bepractised in an Ompty stom.ach. Though i t involves asimple technique, i t has €salutory effect on tho overallcirculation of th€ body. Thevibrations ct by Kapalabhaatifeverberate through all th€cells of the body,

xxxXX

1--

SAGARBHA PRAANAAYAMABy S. Ramaswami

Praano VsavussariraslhaAayaamasthisya nigrahaha I

Praanaayaama l tht PiokthaDwivi . ihaf prechyate hi saha l l

Agarbhascha sagaabhaschaDwil6eyasthu Tayorvarahs I

Apidhyonam Vina sgarbhahaSagarbhasthath s.mancitaha l l

- : Narada :-

Prana refers to the vayu (force) in the body.Aayama is to completsly control it (to bringit unde. voluntary control). Such coqtrol ofthe life force, known as Praanaayama ie oftwo kinds, viz. Agarbha and Sagarbha, ofwhich the lalter is superior. Agarbha is toptactice brsath contlol without dhyana andSagarbha is such a praclice with an objectlor contemplation.

In the last few issues, some groups ofassanas have been described, with thg meth-odology, sequence, breathing patt€rn alongwith pratikriyas wherevet necessary and thebenef i ts that accrue to a s leady abhyasi .ThesE are quile sufficient and provide a fairvar ie ly for many yogabhyasis to exerciso thevar ious jo ints, muscles and maintain reaso-nably good heal th. A few more, somewhatdifficult asana groups remain to be discus-sed, but lhsy may be taken up some l imelatef . l t is t ime to descl ibe the next impor-

tant aspect of Bahirangasadhana, which isPranaayama. Breathing, to which v e r yl i t t le at tent ion is paid by many of us in thenormal day to day l i fs (except when onesuffers fron' asthma or some such respiratoryai lment) i ras bean gone in lo in great detai lby our ancient yogis end saget and in factthere are very many who have proclaimedthat Pranayama i tsel f could be the key toattainment of samadhi. The choiceof Pranaitself as the object of contemplation comosnaturally to many.people. unlike in othettypes of meditation, the advantage in Prana-yama is that one need not search and keepan external obiect .for contemplation or anabstfact idea for the mind to hang on to. Thoyogis have found that by exercising con-trol on Prana ong can control tho mind ondthereafter transcend it. The pranic exorciseshave been gone into in great detail anddepth in Vedic, Tantlic and also Hathayogicdisciplines.

IMPORTANT PRELUDES

The practice of asana and pranayamais an important preludes to the antharanga-sadhana-puja, Upaasana. japa, dhyana.Asana jaya is a prerequis i te tor the pract ice ofPranayama, lt has been msntioned that bydef in i t ion Asana is to s i t in a steady andcomfortable posi t ion, but that posir ion or

posture should be a yogic posturc, such asPadma, Siddha, Gomukha €tc. lt is not neco-ssary that one should have mastored all theasSnas to practico Pranayama. In fact itis rare to find one who could do all the pos-turos. But ths mathod ol yogasana practicowhich includes use ol breathing with thevarious vinyaasas or variations and ptatikriyasensures that tho circuletlon thd rospifalionaie positiv€ly improved and ons gets an sx-csllont relaxed feeling belore starting Ptana-yama. The savinyasa practice of Yogasana.as propounded by our Acharya based on ruchauthorities as Patanjali, Yoga Kurantam,Vrtdha iaiiistam, Vridha sastatapam, etc., iatdidlftitlc, comprahensivo and hence giveetho maimufn bcnefit to ths abhyasi. by wayof ilnproved physiological functioning, amind attuh€d to lollow tho brosth and subs-oqugntly attain tho capacity for Ekagra, whi-ch is s3ssntial tor all tho Antarangasaohanarnd oiher mental and spiritual rttainmsnts,

PAIIANJAII'S DEFINITION

.Patanjali, while defining Pranayama elsoglressed ths conquest of one asana at loastbofbrb proceedihg to do Pranayama

f t$dn Srthi Swrn P6swssryoho€oti yichrdrl PrEnrysmEh!.

Rbmaining in a posture (which is com-fotable and st€ady), controlling tho inwardand outwErd movom€nt ol breath isPranayamb.

Vyasa in his commantary is moro speci-fic. Ha says "Aasana jaye Sathi"-meaninghaving conquered a particular posturo, oneshould start on Pranayama.

In yogic breathing, thers sre four distin-ct asp6ct3. ExpcllirTQ the air in the lungs(Ksushtasya Vayu) completely is one, calledPrasvaasa or Rechakam. Kalrshtasya VayohoNlssaaranam Prasvaasaha,

The other is inhalation or puraka, whichis to draw in the atmospheric air to fill upthe lungs completely,

Baahysvayoho Aachsmsn6m Swasah!,

And Pranayama is th6 8ct of prevontingboth tho activilics of inhalation and exhala-tion. Evon this is of two kinds. Ono isholding the breath after cdmpleta inhalationand the other is to hold tho'brcath out 'as i twere, aller complete exhalation.

Thus thc four stages are:

1) Puraka or Abhyantard vr i th i which canbo tak€n to mean complote inhalotion.

2) Antahkumbhakam or Strmbhavrithiwhich is to hold the breath in afterinhalation.

3) Rechaka or Bahyavrithi which can betaken.to mean complete oxhalstion'

4) Bahyakumbhaka or holding tho bteathout after €xhalation.

TO CONTROL THE NEBVOUS SYSTEM

The time, duration of holding, tho dopthto which one feels tho offect of breathlng,tho frequency, the method of controlling thbpsssago of air, tho various ratios of inhala.tion to holding .nd 6rhalation, unafofmityand tho finenqss of tho bloath, th6 us6 otmantra or oth€rwise. all th68€ mako a for-midable number of pranayamas and hencs itroquir€s rhe guidanc€ of arrecptor.toy'estudy and practico pranayama. - /

rThe respiretory function is both vofuntsryand involuntary. Normally our bresthing iDshallow and involuntary. In pranayams adsliberate attempt is made to brinli ii ' undergr€atar voluntary conrrol, and hopefully,thsrsby bfing under control many oth€r invol-untary conditions of the body and mind and

achiovo certain extraotdinary powels ovelono's own physiological functions.

According to a well-known n€uro . sur-g€on, nourophysiologically speaking, it app-€ars that the basic factor in yoga is rhecontlol of respiralion, Bespiratory lunctioncan be more easily influenced than any othervital funcrion and the yogi usos it as a firststep in his control of the nsrvous systom.Wh€n cortical higher brain control is achievedovor one bagic function, it is possible. toachieve control over other baslc functionsss vasomotor etc, lt is therefore possibleto dilate bronchical tubos in an asthmatac,reduce blood pressurs or increase it, reduceth€ rate of hoalt boat all with tho h€lp ofPranayama. Neurological brain,disordersas epilepsy, skin allergies etc., also respondto pranic control,

ALTERATION OF BRAIN CELLS

A number ot functions classified asautonomous are not so for an adept yogi,He is able to control by will many functionsthat ar€ cantrolled in ordinary human beingsby subcortical areas-which is beyond one'svoluntary control. The mechanism involvedcould be neurological and chemical . Oncea steady regular control of respiration isachieved, there is porhaps a reciprocalbiochemrcal stabi l i ty which helps in themaintenance of th is control .

When man ostabl ishes ful l control overthis lower v i ta l and emot ional f unct ionby the exercise of h is.cortex (wi l l ) he has todo i t by the reciproc.J l connoct ions betweenthe cor lex. the tetrcular system and thevanous concerned centres in the brain.Constant yogic pract ice ol both pranayamaand medrtat ion, qui te l ikely leads to anenlargornent of the scope of ths function ofthe ret icular funct ion and of the cortex. l t isqurte posstble that in a real yogi the ret tcu-

lar system and the cortex are both function-ally altered and structurally prolifefatod.

Patanjali also emphasises that such amutation of brair': cells is possible. Thechitta parin?ma or scope for altered arrange-ment of brain cells is inhgrent in overyindividual and only p.ractice is the cause ofsuch a mutat ion, l t is act iv i ty of the mind,on the mind to t ranscend the mind. Like afarmer (Ksh€trika) who merely diverts thef low of watsr in f ie ld, the yogi has only tochannel ise his neurological energies elongcertain paths, There is no external cause(Nimit tamaprayojakam) for such cort ica Iand neurological changes.

And the key appears to bs tho controlof brealh or Pranayama.

IPranayama is of two kinds. Samantfaka

or Sagarbha which is to practic€ Pranayamawith Montra. Ths other is Agarbha ojamantraka.

What mantras are to be usEd in Prana-yama 7 What aro the oth€r testrictions.

The practice of Pranaayama with Mantrais well known to Hindus. Many authoritieshave given rules of Pranayama v\.ith Gayatti,Pranava and Bijakshara Mantras,

PRAANAYAAMA WITH GAYATRI

Thess ctays whilo tho mantra part ismaintained by many who observe sandhysand other religious rites, tho actual Ptanaya-ma portion is completely lett out; mostpeople msrely touch the nose, or wotso stillmake a suggastion of toking the handtowards the nose.

The oft quoted definition of SamantrakaPranayanra, is given in Manusmtiti :

Savyaakri t ikaam Sapranavaam Gaaystr im Sirasa saha ITr iphpateth ayathapraanaha Praanaayaamassa Uchyatel

Control l ing the brealh and meditat ing(Japa) three t imes on Gayatr i wi th theVyaahritis, siras and the Pranava, is knownas Praanayama.

According to Yagnyavalkya, Pranayamais to do japa of Gayatri preceded byPranava, associatod vyaahrities and follo-wed by s i ras. Vignaneshwara, elaborat ingit says that one has to contfol the vayu inthe facs and nostrils.

Yogayaqyavalkya gives a more detailedaccount of Samantraka Praanayama.

Bhuhu, Bhuvaha, Suvaha, Mahaha,Janaha, Tapaha and Satyam along withOmkara, then Tatsavi tuhu, fo l lowed by thesiras "Omaapaha"-the si ras mantra is {oundin Tai thr iya. When one does this threet imes i t is known as Praanayama.

CHAIN OF CHANGES IN THE BODY

Detai ls of the actual methodo'ogy andPraanayama are to be found in many yogatexts l ike Yoga Yagyavalkya, Siva Samhita,Gherunda Samhita, Hathapradeepika, Upani-sads as Amrutanaada, Kshur ika, Tr is ikhi-braahmana, Oarsana, Dhyanabindu, Naada-bindu, Yogakundal in i , YoEachudaamani,Yokatartwa, Yogasrkha, Varaaha, Saandi lya,var ious Puranas. a number of other texts,and ofcourse the Gita.

To what extent should one draw theextornal a i r ?-Jrawing tha external a i rcomcleiely in so that al l the ntdis are ' f i l ledup' . Tnis k ind of indrawing is known asPurakam.

Hclding the inhaled vayu in _!!lJg4gparts of the body, as i t were, by var iousBandhas, af ter deep inhalat ion is ment ionedby Patanjal i by referr ing to the aspect of"Oesa Par idr isht i " .

When the inhaleo breath forces c i rcula-t ion l rom the roots of hair and the end ofnai ls and held (nirodha), then i t is the bestaccording to Rshi Atr i . This crsates a chainot changes in the body. By prana nirodha,vayu is generated, from vayu, agni snd tromit Jala (Vatha saaram, Vahni saaram, Varisaaram). With those three ono becomescompletely pur i f ied. Then when exhal ingone should do i t through the nostr i l gradu-ally, nsvot forced or abruptly, The bodvshould be kopt steady. Such a practitionetis known as yogi of the highest order.

PRANAYAMA & MEDITATION

Praanayama is to be done with dhyana;It howev€r requires a pr€ceptor, The betterknown methods of dhyana ar€ mentioned,

According to Vyaasa, when one doesPuraka, one should meditate upon the foutfaced Brahma whcse complexion is red andwhose posi t ion is in the naval region(Naabhi chakram). Dur ing Antahkumbhaka,one should meditate on thg fofm of LordVishnu whose complext ion is that of b luelotus and whi le-doing Rechaka one shouldmeditate on the white complexioned form ofLord Siva in the ragion of forehead, Hefurther exolains the form of Siva as;

Lalaatastha Siv?m Svelam Rechakenaabhichinta-

Sadhum Soatikasamkaas.m Nirmaldm t"" : j ; j ; :

Sankaram Trayambakam Svelam Dhyaayan Much-Yate gsndhanaath.

Siva is like a spotless, sphatika, flaw-loss; he rsmoves al l def i lements. He ispeaceful , three-eyed and white. One whonredi tates on Him thus in Rechaka is releasedfrom al t s ins,

When one pract i3es Praanayama withGayar i , the more popular method is to doRechaka with the mind closely fo l lowing lhe

breath. In kumbhaka one should mental lybs with lhe Praanaayama mantra, which isgayatri with pranava, vyaahritris and siras.The exhalation should be dono with themind closely followin0 the brealh.

Briefly in Smriti Batnarkara, it is men-t ioned that ths Japa should be done inKumbhaka.

Oakshine Rechakam Curyaath Vasmenaapuri toda-,oha I

Kumbhakeoa Japam Kuryaath P,aanaayamasyalakshanam.

Her€ the melhod of .doing Praanayamais c lear ly ment ioned. l t is to draw in the airrhrough the lef t nostr i l , do Japa dur ing theKumbhaka aspect and exhale through ther ight . l t is to be understood that the nextinhalat ion shculd be through the r ight andvice versa.

What should be the durat ion of inhala-tion, holding aud exhalarion? Patanjali refersto th is aspgct in one of the sutras as "KaalaParidr isht i " ; that is Praanayama shouldconform lo somo measuro 0f time.

Here again there are rpany variatioos,but there are many authors who refer to thoratro of Kumbhaka being four times as longas Pural(a and twice as long as Rechaka.

BEFERENCES IN UPANISHADS

Many of the Upanishads that refel toyoga and also other yoga texts give theduration quile €xtensively.

In Tr is ikhibrahmanopanisad, i t is nren-tioned.

ldaya Vaayumaapurya Srahman ShodasamaatrayaPuri tem Kumbhayeth Paschaath

"nt* "nin: : ;""J:

DwatimssnmaStraya ssmyag Rochayeth Pingala-

H€re the duration for tnhalation is givenas 16 Mastras, holding the breath as 64

Maatras and exhalat ion as 32 maatrasFol lowing the method ment ioned in Smit i rat .nakara, the Japa is to be done dur ing holdingthe breath.

Maatra merely means a measure. Injapa, taking one maatra to roean one syl lableis val id. Thus ths Praanayama mantra ismads up of 64 syl lables, - 21 for the vyahr i -r is , 24+1 for the gayatr i port ion and 18 torths s i ras posi t ion. Thus ons fnany pract icesamantra pranaayama. In actual practic6, ittakes about 20 seconds for the mantra por-t ion, So i t wt l l wolk out to be 5 secondstor puraka, 20 for kumbhaka and 10 forrechaka. lf one practises the Bandhas atterexhalat ion, i t wi l l be near ly 40 seconds perbreath.

Pranaayama with Gayatr i is an adt ivat ingprocess. Gayatr i is an energis ing mantr ! asis seen from the word "Prachodavaath".

PRANAVA IN PRANAYAMA

There is also a method of using Pranavain Praanayama. Using 'A'kaara for inhalation'V' kaara in holding and 'mb' kaara in exhala-tion and morging in the total Pranava inEahya Kumbha is one Pranayama. This isnaturally for 'out of the world yogis and soone has to pract ise pranayama according tohis ashrama or stat ion in l i te.

Gherunda detai ls sagarbha pranayamaby the repetttion of Bija Mantfa'

Dhyayethvidhim Raiogun€m Rekthavarnsm Avar-nakam I

ldsva puray€th vsayum Msotlayt shodssaissudhc-

PurakasnroKumbhakaadyeKarthavyasthuouaddiy?-

Sat lwamayam Harim dhyaatwa Ukaram K.i8hmvar

Chluesashtya coo Maatrya Kumbhaken","" i : , l i ;

Trmomayam sivam dhysstwa Makarram SuilML

Dwaa$im3anmastraya cha eva Rochayoth Vjdhinapunaha l l

Punof ping! lsyrapurya Kumbhakenaivs dhsaravetn

ldoyg Rshlyoth Paschosth Trtwiiaoa kra, ren,

Anulom Vi lomrnS vaa.am vaaran cha sasdhayeth I

Purskanto Kumbhakantam dhrutanaasaaoutadwa-yam I

Klni3l{rlnsamika .ngushtrihi Ta.iani madhvovi i raa t l

S€at6d in a comfortablo sukhaasana.lacing eest or noith let the abhyaasi cont€m-plato on Brahma, full of Rajas and of bloodrcd colour, in the form of tho lot?er. ,OM..

USE OE TANTRIC MAIIITRAStet him inhale by the left noslril. r6p€a-

.ring 'OM', sixtosn timcs Than bafore heb€gin8 retention aftor completing inhalation,let him perform uddiyana bandha (Thisrcquirss considerablg control and only underimmediate guidance from a Guru ons m6yottempt lt).

Then let him rotain breath by repearing.9O, sixtv{gur tlmes contemplating on LorctHari, of black eolour and of Sattws quality.

Th6n lot him exhale through pingala(.ight nostril), by repeeting ,lM', 3 Z_timos,contemplating on Lord Siva of wfiiiicolourand of Tamas quality.

Then again inhate through the rightnostril, rotain by Kumbhaka and exhale bylda (left), in the mothod as abov€. changingnostrils altornately.

L€t him practice, thus alternating thenostrils again and again, When inhalationis comploted, closo both nostnls, the,ightone by thumb (of the r ight hand) and thslofr one by th€ ring fingor and the littte finger,

nev€r using th€ ind€x and middle fingers.The nostrils are to be closod so long as thebreath is held in Kumbhaka.

There are some who (not initistod inGayatri or Pranava) make use of mono sylla-ble or two syllabl€ Tantric Msntras, so thatsagarbha praanaayama can b€ univ€rsallypfactisod.

Patanjali refers also to ths number otbreaths or rounds to be perfotmed as anaspsct in Praanaayama by ,.Samkhya parid.r isht i " .

Here again ditforont authors givs diffe-rent numbers. According to Svaatmaataamaand other Hathayogis, it is upto 80 per sittingand four sittings p€r day making it 320Pranayaama per day. This should bo tskenonly as the upper limit, as specificslly theyrefer to gradual incroase to that numb€r.

P'aata'maedhyandin€ Saayamardh8raa$, iil,.ilTi

Sanaivasi t ipa.yantam chalurvaaram Samabhyaseth I

From the above stanza in Trisikhibrah-manopanisad, it could be observgd that gOrounds p€r sitiing in the morning, noon,ovening and midnight, aro suggegtod, Bytho words 'Sanaiva', one should take ir a8gradually and "asitiparyrntam" upto g0rounds. Sage Bharedwaja suggosb thst oneshoulcl practise pfanayama with japa duringkumbhaka, and this should be done t€n timesbofore procoeding to do gay€tri japs.

It could bE obrerved that ssgarbhapEansyama requires tiBtly to master a yogicpostur6 and thon one should develop thecapacity to do kumbhaks tor tho tength oftimo requirod for compl€ting the mantra andalso to do it without break for tho requirednumber of rounds.

Such capacity may be obtai4ed by avariety of Planayama and Kumbhaka pracfices

7.

r€torred in Hathayoga texts. Th€y alongwith the likely effects on the physiology willbs dealt with in the next issue.

The ultimato bsnefit of Pranaayama isSamadhi itself according to cenain schools.In rhe Gita also it is referred to as lhe mergerof Prana in Apana or and Apana, which isachieved by a very long (dirgha) and tino(sukshma) pranayama.

SAGARBHA PRANAYAMA

Vaidic Rshis relar to ths bsnefits ofsagarbha Praanayama. According to Manu'if done with Vyaahritis, pranava and sirasfor three times, is the gt€atest Tapas for aBrahmans, Just as a rne'66ii-l-iicleaned in asm€lt€r. by Pranayama the Indriyas losethsir impur i t ies. l f one does i t 16 t imes aday, in a month ovon the dreaded Brahma-hathi dosha is desfroyed.

According to Sounaka, if ona practicesthr€e timss with grEat concsntration, all thedoshas vanish instantaneousty. With 12breath controls, tho chitta becomes clear.24 time is the greatsst Tapas.

Pranayama don€ with 1O pranava(7 with the vyaakritis, one with Gayatri, oneat the beginning ol Siras and one at the end)and for 14 t imes foramonthreleasesonefrom Brahmahathi dosha and all other minorcondemnable deeds (upapaathaka), sccord.ing to Yamo.

Vyaasa simply statos that tha Pranaya.ma mantra japa makes on€ absolutely fesr-less. And Yogayagyavalkya, relates the 7vyaahritis to the 7 worlds or 7 levels ofconsciousness, With that, hs gains the

capacity to cornmunicato will all the higherworlds.

Patanjali tho authority on yoga. has thisto say.

Trr!h k3hiyrto P.akErs! Aavarlnlm I

With Pranayama. tho clouding of themind reduces and tha intelloct shines in itstruo splendours.

Furthsr

Dhfiana3u ch8 yogylta Manaslhr I

As a natural congoqusnce, such a mind,and only such a mind becomes fit tor Dhara.na or tho first st€p of Antarangasadhana.

UNIOUE SYSTEMThe uniqueness of our Acharya's syst€m

is that i t at tempts to include al l th€ var ioussystems of yoga and the gradual combins-tion of the different angas, so that ther€ isno abrupt change. Thus in the practico ofasrns. introduction of br€athing h€lps topreparing the br€athing apparatulr forsubsequent Pranayama. With need to prec-tice Asana with breath control, a carttlnmontal disciplne is already achioved, so thatwhen one starts Pranayama, th€ mindalso coopcrates in following tho broath, sothat in Kumbhaka one may use Vaidicmantras, Bijakshara or othor Tantric Mantras.With the r€quirement of ths adhysyanaaccording to one's Saakha, study of yogigtexts like yogadarsana, Hathayoga taxts, theUpanisads with the foundation of savinyasaasana practice, ons may hope to experiencethe greatness and thofoughness of ourancient system of yoga.

>.?<

t,_

There are schools ol Yogawhich insigt on Prsnayam!alone as the key to yoga, asth6y doclare lhat cont.ol otPrana (prananirodho) incvlta.bly brings contfol of flrind(chittanirodha). In YogaVa3ishta, c claasic, RthiVasishta erplaine tho lol!-tionship botrvoon mind rndbreath and extols tho efficscyol Pranayama in controllingtho mind.

"Dear Rama, tho body islike a vahicfe. The Lord hasGr68t€d t,r€ mind and pranator the tunctioning of thobody. When prana rejectsthe body, the mechanism oftho body also ceases. Andwhon tho mind works, pranamoves; it acts. The relationbotween prana and Manaswhich aro grtrramgly closJ(snyonya)te the body is kke adtivor to tho chanot.

"Tho way lhe prana vayuacts, the same way manasleacls. So the hrghest achi-evoment ot mind control is tobo obtained by the conce;ted

The KumbhakasBy S. Ramaswani

oftort of mastery ovsr prana.The togulation of pranabdngs In its wako all wordlyachievements (Rajyadi) endlll othors and leads upto thohighest spiritual attainmontto lotsl indspondsnco of theindwelling ponsciousnsesfrom the gross, subtla sndctugal bodios which are opE-rated by Prana force, Hence,study the science of breath."-Yoga Vasishta.

TO RESTRAIN M]NDIn the previous two issuss

a feW pranayamas snd thobenefits of Pranayama ingensral wero drscussed,There are a few more kumb-hakas mentioned in the yogatexts which are also in vogue.

I t is said:Brrhmrtdryopi Tridssasha

Prvanrbhys6ss latDsraah IAbhoovam Anlalobhsvaath

Tasnarth PavrDamabhy!3drh t

The gods including Chatu-rmukha Brahma pract ise thohighest act iv i ty, pranayama-.becausa of the t6ar of death,

I t is a lso sard that as long

as brealh i3 restreinrd inons's own body, the mind iscalm and steady and alsowhon tho vision (dristi) isdi16cl€d towards Bhrumad-hya, thon why should therebe fear of deathT

Thc nadis ara purified by aproperly regulated course ofpranay€ma. Sage Brahman-anda, in his Jyotsns ot com-mentary on Hathayoga, d€tai lsthe routino to be followed bya full time yogabhyasi. ltassumos importance whenone really finds tim6 heavyon one's shoulders aflgr dis-charging ihe nscassary ras-ponsibr l i t ies as an indiv idualand the mind yearns despara-t€;y fo. spiritual rest.

Let us derail the routineot I yogabhyasi lorachievingrho result of practice.

One chould wake up acouple of hours before dawn(ushatkaala)-or at least ear lyIn the morning (Pratahkaala).He should contemplale onhis Guru in his mind andthen in his heart his dear

deity (lshtadevata) also: Therlhe should clean the teeth

'(danta suddhr), completo theother morning ablut ions(suddhi), a bath and Basmad-haranam or Pundradharanamas tho case may be,

Then he should choose aclean place (:g ins€cts,obnoxious odour otc ) andploasant room (Ramya Mata).He then should soat himsel fin a comfortabls yogic pcs-ture on a soft (mridu) spread.Then again ho meditatesintont ly on lshwara (Guru).

START WITH PRAYEROne then proco€ds to do

sankatpa'as in any rel ig iousactivity, mentioning the plEcebnd tirne (Desa, Kaala) forthe particular yogic activity,

Adyotyrdi Srigaram€swora prssaa-d! putvaksm,l

6!ma!dhl T8lph816 SidhysrtrmAssanepurvakaan

Plasn$ylmldhin Katishye I

Due to tho grace of LordParemosfwara, I tlow starttho practrce of yoga stattingvlith Asanas, and other angasl ike Pranayama tor at ta in ingsamadhi and other yogabenefits th6reof.

Since Nagaraja is referredto as th€ dei ty 'of Yoga, on€should utt€r I suitabls prayerand proceed with tho practiceof Asanas.

During the pract ice ofasanas, wher l one natural lybecomes fat igued, one shouldromain in Savasanam. l l he

feels freshthereafter, he maycontinue with Asanas: if stillhe.does not feel upto the inarkhe ii not to proc€€d withfurther practico.

Then he should practice aViparitakarani (lt is somewhatbotw€en Urdhwaprasritapad-asanam gg!!. sa rvan gasanam,,whore rhe back of the neckis stretched faci l i tat ing thechinlock in later Kumbhakam.

The next st.eo will b€ to doAchamanam, start that d iv is-ion of yoga called pranaya-mam, Think rhen of thsgreat yogis (yogindra) forinspiration and proceed topranayamam as detaiied byLord Siva ln Kurmapuranam,

Whatform is given inKurm.puraanam? Startwi th mental lysalut ing the gleat yogis wi ththei t s ishyas and Lord Vina-vaka. Then with a calm mir idhe should contemplate On theLord (s iva). He then si ts insiddhasana or (Eaddha) Pa-dmaasanam. He then shouldpractico Pranayama accom-panied by rhe great,Bandhasaa the appropriatg stages.

To start wi th ong shoulddo 10 breath controls, thenincroase i t dai ly by 5 numbers.This should bo doeo untr lono is in a posrlroY| to doeighty kumbhakams in onesi l t ing, wi thout any di f l icul tyand with a posi t ive sonse ofwel l bsing (susamahita).

The t i rst prar,ayama shouldbe Naoisoshanam wrth rhe

use of a l ternate nostr i ls . l tis referred to as Anuloma andvi loma by/some (They arehowever differently interpr6-ted by valious schools).

A kumbhaka cal led SuryaBhoda with th6 requisitoBandhas should be pract ised.It should be.followed by Ujj-syi , Si tkar i , Sar€t i , Bhasrr ikaand any other pranayamawhich is wel l establ ished.

It should be followed bycertakr mudras, (especiallyMahaamirdra) es taught byon9'g proceptor,

Th€n silting in Padmasanam,the highor yoga practises asNoda4uchintanam, w h i chis enabled by Shanmukhimu-dra, should he attempred,

Thereaftef one should men-lal ly surrer ider al l the bene-fits of such practice to theLord ( lswararpanam ot lswa-rspranidhanam).

SATWIC FOODAftdr practic€ is over ole

should bathe in hot water(ushnena vaar inaa). Thentheciai ly dut ies (ni tya karrna)done, but briefly.

Jhe above mentionsd yogapraci ice should be ropeatedat noon time. After somerest, on€ shouid have patya(that satwic food ment ionedin yogic or ayurvedic texts)lunch, but nsvor thoso i temsprohrbi ted. He'should.imnrediately afrer luneh lskocardamcm (yelam) c loves orkarpura, i l desired, betaL

caves (Tambula) wirhoutlime, if ho prsctis€s intenselYthc praiseworthY PranaYama.

The yogabhYasi should notindulge in f r ivolous smal ltalks especiallY with women'After lunch, he should l is tento the Puranas, Practic€namasankir tanam of lshwara,but preferably reseatch (ava-lokana) authent ic texts ofl iberat ion (Mokshasastram)as yoga, sarnkya, vedanta,etc.

By dusk, he petforms thesayam sandhya, but Prece-ded by yogabhyasa as men-t ioned eal l ier fot over anhour (Tr ighat ika; ghat ika-24minutes).FOUR TYPES

Well , a devout yogi pract i -ces yoga at midnight also asderai led ear l ier , but wi thoutVipar i takaram, which i3 thBcase for the evening sessionas wel l .

Yoga should not be pract i -sed.soon atter taking food.

The di{ferent types ofKumbhakas require someelucidat ion,

Atha Abhvaseth survabhedahU j jayim chaapi s i ta lanl

thastram cha sahita namaSvaat chatushtayakumbhakah

Bandhatrayena samyuktheKevalaprapl ikaraha.

- Yogasikhopanisad

There aro four types ofKumbhakas. to be pract tsed.Suryabhedam, uj jayi . sr ta lamand Bhastram, thsse known

as Sahi ta Kumbhakas. On"should pract ice them, kevalakumbhaka faci l i tated by thethree Bandhas.

Nadisodhana

Na di sod hanapranayamam.>ts an extremoly popular pra-nayamam which is normal lyreferred to in Vaidic texts andhas been descr ibed in detai lear l ier .

Suryabheda

Suryabheda kumbhakamrequires as usual a propefasanam. Then tho inhalat ionis done slowly snd deepthrough the r ight nostr i l .According to Hathayoga,such inhalat ion and subse-quent kumbhaka sho.r ldinduce pranic ef fect up to thehair fo l l ic les and the f inger-t rps. Thereafter one shouldexhale s lowly through thelef t nostnl . The procedure isrepeated for a f ixed numberof t imes.

Suryabheda helps to rel ieveheaviness in the head andsinus (kapaaladosham), thefour types of Vaatadosha andother drseases caused bymicrorganisms (kr imidosha),Repeated pract ice accordingto Hathayoga and Yogakun-dal in i , is a super ior yogapract ice. According to yoga-sikha, i t a lso helos in casesof many abdornrnal (udarebahurogaghndm) disorders,

ln general , suryabheda isbel ievcd to 'heat uo' the

system. Hence persons withlow blood pressure, inert iamay benefit. Some schoolsrefer to Chandrabheda, whichis just reversing the processand has the ef fect of helpinghypertensivo pat ients,

Si ta l i

Yet another pranayamacal led s i ta l i is a lso qui te pop-ular and the procedure fo l lo-wed is as fo l lows:

1) Si t in a comfortableAsana.

2) Curl the tongu€ into arol l , protrud€ snd inhalethrough the wet tongue,slowly stretching the neckand dropping the head backin the process.

3) At the end of inhalat ion, re leaso the cur l , fo ld thetongue and touch the top ofthe upp6r palato. touching ifpossible the urul la. This iscal led J ihva Bandha. Thenst/etch the back of the neck,drop the chin to about threeinches below the neckpi t ,forming Kantabandha. Af lcrkumbhaka, exhale throughal ternate nostr i ls . Repeatwett ing the tongue (beforeinhalat ion) . . . the "a,r condi-t ioning Pranayama." Done onhot days, th is helps removefat igue.

Accordrng to Yoga Sikho-panisad, i t helps to correctPi t tadosha, suppress hungerand thirst . Hatayoga andKundal in i Upanisad at t r ibute

to Sitali other benefits aseradication of disea*e ofspleen (pliha), abdofien(gulma), fever and bodilytoxins (vishanr).

4) Bhasr ika is l ike Kapala_bhati, except thal thero is con-striction of the glottis asw€l l so that the resoundingeffect is f6lt at ths throat,nostr i ls and sven upto theskul l . The ef fects are s imi larto Kapalabhat i , but mor6 sofor a potent ia l asthmaric, asa prevent ive and not neces-sat i ly as a cure.

Summarising the effects, itmay be ment ioned thatSuryabheda is heat generat-ing. l t is energis ing andcontraindicated for hyperten-sive persons. Bhastr ika.Kapalabhat i and Nadrshod-hana maintain equi tablo heat(or temperature), whereasSital i , Si tkani and perhaps

Chandrabheda have coolingsffocts.

For those who go by ayur-veda, one may state thatSuryabheda controls exces$of wind (vata dosha), Uj jayi ,p legm (Kapa dosha), Si ta l i ,the bi lg (pi t ta dosha) theBhastr ika, kapaalabhat i andnadisodhana harmonize.VEDANTINS VIEW

It is interest ing to notethat the var ious terms usedin yoga as asana, pranayama,Bandhas etc, have beengiven an ent i re ly di f ferentconnotat ion by cer la invedant ins. Tejabindupanisadhas the {ol lowing to sayabout Pranayamam.

Chif tadi SarvabhaveshuBrahnratwenaiva Bhaavanam.

Nirodhaha Sarwavr i th inaamPranayamassa uchyale.

Nishedanam PrapanchasyaRechakakhvatha Sameeri thaha

Brahmaivaasmi l thi ya Vri lh ihiPurako vaayuinchyate,

In al l chi t tavr i th is ( theobject ive of Patanjala yoga)is Pranayama. To renounceinvolvement in Ptapanchaa ormanifest universs is cal ledRechaka or exhalat ion_rhaking the mind ful lwi th thereal iz€t ;on that ' l ' am ident i -cal wi th Brahman is cal ledPuraka or lnhalat ion.

And FurtherTatastadvri thinaischalyam

Kumbhakam PranasamyamahaAyanchaapi PAbhuddhanam

Agnanam graanapldanam,

That mental state of " l amBrahman" maintained perma-neni ly is cal led kumbhakam(kevala). This is how Prana-yama is to be understood bythe wise, Mere holding thenostr i ls is ignorance.

The above stanzas alsoappear in one of the c lassicPrakarana grantas of SrimadSankarcharya, Apalokshanu-bhut i .

*s{().k {<

-X+ *J< dir)lr *t)k{<

a

l-

On Antharanga SadhanaBy S. Ramaswami

In the pravious issuas many groups ofYogasanas and Pranayamas have beenoxplained and bsnefits indicated. Whilethese practices-according to Hathayoga-givemany physical and physiological benetits,Patanjali would urge the aspirants to gobayond and work towatds the taansformationof the mind (chittaparinama) itself. Thispractice known as Antha-ranga Sadhana helps atqual i tat ive and permanentchanges in rho chi t ta bymeans of practice; th€s€increase and strengthen thehabi ts (samskaras) of n i ro-dha, samadhi, and ekagra-tha. successively to theexclusion of rhe distrac-rd (vyuthi tha) semskaras.

to many benefits as a hoalthy frame, suffici-ont mental clarity to cary on tha day to daywork. - the psychological experiences andultimat€ spiritual experience require furtherrigorous practice. Since wg normally goback to tho normal way of lifs after the twoaspects of sadhana, the sensaS continue todistract tho mind. Altornating botween

GO FURTHEB

Pranayama helps to reducethe painful and dist tact ingtendencies of chi t ta whsni t tends to bocome predo-minant ly sathwic. Sueh amind also becomes capablsof concentrat ing and holdingon lo subtle obiocta.

Many of us stop with as!-nas and Pranayama. Whi lethose by thomselves give rise

(

yogabhyasa of th€ rudimentary kind and antaranga sadhana. The thr€e parts, viz.sensual activities. wo wonder about the r€al Dharana, dhyana and samadhi are only diffe-efficacies of Yogasadhana. tent discernable stages each succeeding the

Otner.Pratyahara, the t i f rh anga of yoga is to

help prevent this slide back. Antogonist to In tha first chapter of Patanjala yoga,furtheryogabhyasaistheindulgencethrough sarnadhi in i ts var ious ramif icat ions arethe ssnsual objects which lead again to detailed. In the second, ths prefequisitopassion and dolusion. Having practised practises td mak€ the mind fit for Dharanavama, niyama. asana and pranayama to are dgscribod. In the third chaptet to creatoachievo mental c lar i ty, the indr iyas' inf luence intarest and also for thoso so incl ined,on tho mind greatly reduces. When that cattain siddhis are describEd and tho mornshappons, there is a bettor awareness of th6 of such lttainments,spotless satwic rspect of chitta and thoindriyas also becoma satwic. Henco they, Going back to tho question of whatas it were, mergo with tho chitta 5r1*r. should be the obiect for contemplation, th€That is, as the chirta is given orher subtle; Rshl is delightfully vaguo in this, mainly toTatwas, the indfiyss do not cause any int€r- accomodate the vatious classgs of antarangaference. abhyasis . whother ho be a devotee, religious

*HANM'KHT MUDBA HErps ff:'::'JJ"1',".1,3":il"'il:tlf;"::T:;:Ptalyahata, some pgople aver, is an somo specitic guiclelines'

offoct of Asana and Pranayama, rhile some Even though by means of the yama tosay it is also a specific practico. Shanmuth.i- pratyahara, tho basie dafilement of restless-mudra. a simpla exercise menti.oned .i" ;;;.';;;" chitta is grearty reduced, sincsFebruaty 1978 issue helps strengthen. lh" tt" chitta is basically wandering andPratyahara habit. But a fundam-ental,de"irion unsteady (Manaschanchalam Asthtramr,about what object ot Tattwa sholld be con- wittrout'conjoining with an obiect, it doost€mplated upon by ths now _free satwic not ur"or" steady and hence the need forchitts' should be made Here rle1e, tt"-tt .rpport of an objact (Aasraya).many views ag there are schools. For "instance Hathsyogis refer to nadanusa.nilgna SUBHASHRA'Aor l is tening to the Anahata ( th! t which l i re- - - -""- 'rally meens that sound produced without But we havo excludod' by means ofrubbing of two objects) made possiblo 6y Bahitangasadhana those contacts whichShanmukhimudra and this should be Produce painful bondage. lt is now necss-stt€mptod. sary to find the support (ashraya) of that

rhe rhird chaprer or paranjara ,"n" ,' llliltttiiffi';:^::::]:rt:"liir?r:i'::devoted exclusively to describe th€ t€ch- bondage, would progressively lead thenique of concentrstion, th€ tatwas to be s66y631 to Kaivalya (thsre ar6 very manyconcentratod and the benefits or siddhis that nsmg6 given to this ultimate state of chitta).sccrue to the abhyasi . through stages of super ior enl ightenment,

The technique itself consists of thtee Such an object is tormod as subhasraya.stagos, but put as one is called y1g lt the mind, contacling an object, by which

l!

does not sutfer restlessn€ss and subsequ€ntbondage (Bandha), rhat object or support isknown as subhasraya. This subhasraya isof two kinds. Bahya and Aantara.

I t has been the pract ice to start wi thBabya dharana. To focus the mind on thecharming Murt i of the Lord, made of pancha-loha and as per the Agamas fort i f ied by themantra is Bahya dharana. However, whens davotee by fepeated pfact;ce has thechi t tavir th i of the enchant ing form of theLord, even without the aid of the v igraha,thsn i t bocomes Antardharana. Bhakt i isnot merely unrestrained emotion of Love,but the channel is ing the chi t ta lowards thedivya form of Lord so that the Bhakta has ita lways in his chi t ta to the exclusion of a l lorher thoughts or Vr i th is.

OTHER KINDS OF DHARANAThe yogis, however, suggest othet

kinds of Anthardharana which wi l l be help-ful equal ly to Bhaktas, gnanis. dharmis sndBairagis. To focus at tent ion, as taught by IlearnEd preceptors, on such 'centres in thaBody as naval (Nabhi chakra), heart regron(ht idaya pundar ika) sahasrara, nasagra.j ihvaagra, Bhrumadhya is also antharadharana, which when developed to dhyanaand samadhi leads to vanous siddhis.

Praanaayamena PavanamPratyaahaarena cha Indr iyam

Vasikf i tya Tatah kuryaathTatstaanam Subhaasrave.

Having brought under control the nsuro-logical forces by Praanaayama, the sensesby Pratyaahaara, one should resort to con-templa: ion on a peacefulpr inciple for mentalstabi l i ty . According to Vishnupuranam,Antaradharana is f r rmly f ix ing the enchant ingform of the t-ord ffi?i6"s mind and this prac-t ice of dharana should be done unt i l dhyanatakes place. Sr imad Bhagavatarm and manyother Puranas also detai l th is pfactrce.

The difference betwe€n dherana, dhyanoand samadhi are subtle, but have howov€rbeen described in yogic texts and slso thoPuranas. When tho chitta having taken to sSubha object, continues to remain submor-ged in the vr i th i wi thout a switch to another,that state of the mind is cal led dhyana vr i -th i . Even though dharana is also a chi t tavrithl on one object, there is considerableeffort in warding off other intruding objectivevr i th is. In dhyana, wi thout of for t ths mindstays withl.ha obj€ct, €ftortl6ssly, Accordingro Vishnu Purana:

Tsdrupe Prstysyaikasgro Ssntati3chs Aryr nisspunhaTad dhysnaihi Prarhamsirang€ih i Shadbhiht i l ishpad.

However in dhyana, the distinctionbetween th€ meditator (dhyata) 8nd th€object of m€ditation (dhyeyam) remains.

In Samadhi, or moro spocitically thesampragnata or sabija samadhi. when thedistinction between the dhyata and dhyeysvanish and only the object shines in its fullg lory, then i t is samadhi. Tho technical te lmused by yogis for antaranga sadhana issamvama.

CAN BE CHANGED BY PRACTICE

One more pertinent observation may bemade. The Antaranga sadhana producesi ts own changes in the chi t ta, i t is said chi t tais but the remainder of previous ssmskarasfsamskara sesham hi chi t tam); thus power-ful samskara replace weak samskara (Ptabal-ena durbalasya Badaha), which observat ionis common knowledge.

Due to r€peatodsensual exper iencesour chi t ta hss. ths samskaras of outgoing(vikshipta). Due to vasanas of them peoplerepeatedly go for such exper ienc6s. Furth€ra strengthening such samskaras also takesplace by repeaied indulgenco- But i t ispc'- 'sr t : !e tc change i t by pract ice, which is

fri.dgtai lgd in the sciense of yoga. The Antar- persons who are respect ivgly contenlgd, suf- - . ; .anga sadhana produces mutat ionsinthebrair . ter ing, r ighteous, and unlawful- to ths exrent o "TheVyuthi thachi t tatul l of outgoing sams' of samyama-oneacquiresenormousmsl!9! ; iUkaras is replacod by nirodha samskara, strength. And samyama on the pr inciplewhich is to rafuse to respond to external of l ight known as jvot ishmat i vr i th i , lhe i , /st imul i . Then the samyama produces a lange of v is i6n incteasos lo long distances ' "samadhi pat inama or ths mental t ransforma' and l ine objects.t ion to remsin in on€ object , to the exclusionof al l other chi t tavr i th is includrng the leel ing By samyama on the sun, knowledge of | . ) l . -o._separar€ indiv idnal ident i ty. When thrs universe dawns. On chandra, i f one.does

" . ,fconf inued, rhe chi t ta becomes complstely yogic sadhana, knowledge of the galaxies d- i : - 'J t ranaformedto being with one vr i th i only becomeknown' The polar stat ' samYama -1?

frfri|fr-_G.-Et ugrata -parinama.

When such o.n which provtdes the k€y fot the motion of 'chitta parinami takes placo, just as it is the stars and the galaxies'

dirricutr to make the urrtn'j,ni;:"*il,:1]ff INTERNAL slDDHtschiila to even slsrt on yoga, when lnls llnal .tr'.r 'sabi ja samadhi is achieved, the chi t ta t rans' Nearer home, wi th in on€sel f . by samy- {$" 'tormat ion becomss socomplete i t is equal ly ama on naval region (Nabhichakra) one gots)n\di f f icul t to make such a concentrat ing mind to know about one's anatomy (kayavyuha).to be disturbed. The Upanisads, puranas, Concentrat ion on the insids of the throatsmirti eulogize such states. lt is lhe conten- (near the glottis) leads to control of thg : .-t ion of yoga, that such stages are possible physiological funct ions, th i ls t and hunger. ' "and ars mechanical processes at ta inable by A nadi cal led Kurma is ident i f ied as the.1 1right practice and by ptactice alone' bronchial area. Concentrating on that, stea. ' ' i

ANTARDHARANA T' ' : : : t -1t f

mind (breath) accrues' Bv samv-

-,r! ama on Brahmarandhra, one communicates ]-3

Vyasa commentarv on Patanjala yoga with s iddhapurushas.relors to a nnqbgl of places or objects forsuch samyama, each one leading to its ownsiddhis and supetnormal powers and posses-sion, Ev€ry chitta has the capacity for suchtranstormat ion, and such accompl ishments,

I t is aaid that by samyama on the distrn 'ct ion botween word (sabda), lhe obiect re-ferred by the wotd (artha) and the fofmat ionin the mind (pratyaya) one can understandthe language of a l l species. By samyama ordeep concentrat ion on the basic tendonciesof an indiv idual (samskara), one can nnder-stand one's prevrous bir th. Then sar i i f f ionthe moods (Prathyaya), nr ind readingbocomes possible.

By developing tendencies of f r iendship,compassion, sat isfact ion and indi f ference to

PRAATIBHAThen certain people have intui t ive know. 3?

ledge. All have it but in some it is rnoromanifest and frequent ly so. l t is cal led Praa.t ibha, which is indicat ive. By concentrat ingand developing this intui t ivo power, everyth-ing comes to be known. By concentrat ing onon€'s own heart region, as descr ibed in suchvidyas as Dahara v idya. one understandsone's own mind.

The Chit ta is of Tr igunas, but the purushais pure consciousness. By concentfat ing onthis dist inct ion one gets to know tho realnatule of one's own sel f .

The samyamas refered to so far are onspeci f ic pr inciples leading to var ious know-

tI!

ledgo(sampragnata). l l can go upto teal i -z ing the nature of J ivatma. There are otheryogic feats possible which are due to chan.nel is ing th€ act ive sakthi . (kr iya rupa sakthi) .However Sl imad Bhagawata cataloguessrddhis in a di f ferent way, but always withBhakhi towards the Lord.

Chi t la bV nature has the capaci ty torsubt lety, but due to the part icular dharmad-harma of indivrduals is conf ined to one'sbody. The above samyamas help to s lackenth€ knots (granthi) that causs tho bondage.Hence these yogic exarcies l i teral ly removeal l restr ict ions of thg Prakr i t i and the mindknows ths means to t ranscend such physicalrestr ict ions, and ent€r into oth€d bodies. Thepa?a sarira avesha is seen to b6 achieved bymany ovsn in lhs present day.

BHUTA SIDDHISJust as the sensas act in €xternal matters

the five vaayus, are lho causes of the abhya-rnantra vr i th i o. the physiological act iv i t ies,such as respiration, circulation etc.

By ths mastefy of a vayu, called udaanaone is able t1 fly like a hovercraft over waterthorns and marshy land. One bscomeslusttous as ths devas with the conquest andvoluntary control of samaana. Samyama onaar which is a Sattwic €volulion of ahankarapr inciple end the Tamasic evolut ion ofAhankara which is space (Akasa) and theirrelat ionship (which is sound) ons can hearlh€ subt l€st sound. Such hear ing is cal ladDrvya srothram. lt may be extended to otherIndrlyas, by concentretion on correspondingkarana, Buta and Tanmaatras Other siddhisinclude levi tat ion,animadhisiddhis, groupedas Bhutosiddhis.

i t is suf f ice to say that pract ice wi thfai th in sastras and proper guidance from aguru wi i l losd to th€ s iddhis ment ioned. Thel imit to such powers is Lordshio or lshws-rarwa. Having by samyama suDpressod theRajas and Thanas aspects from chitta if onerepoatedly resorts to samyama ,on th6 dist in-c l ion between Prakr i t i and ! 'ur 'aha (v iveka),rhen as lshwara, h0 gets th6 powels tocreate wor lds and knowledoe of Tr ikaala,Such a chi t ta is known as"Visoka chtt ia.However, even when this is renounced beca-use of paravairagya.then Kaivalya the urt imate

aim of yoga is achieved. Then thelo isnothing to achievo and none dssir ing achiE.vement.

Purushartha SunySanasm Pfat ipressvah Kaivalyrmswaroops prst ishlava chit isakthirEfhi

***It is the conlent ion of Patanjal i that a l l

s iddhis are possible. In fact achievement isa mechanical process, requir ing the r ightpract ice. He compares the act iv i ty to thatof a farmer who has only to break or raisethe bund to divert water. So with chi thasakthi . There is no other coordinat ingagency (nimitha) that helps or hinders in one'sendeavours (aprayojaka). Considerableemohaais is thereforo placed on indvidiual6ifoh.-

The one dhyana that is necessary andaufflgient is Bhagawad dhyana. When-

. . 1Ishwara is meditated upon, his form cons-tanthy kept in mind, al l$g.s iddhis are givenbv Him. This contenti<i6--obviates the nsedfor different kinds of samyama. The repeti-

lf,en^ of Srinivasa mantra-that of the Lordwi lh Goddess Lakshmi wi th al l the Sreyasor r iches- is said to give both lha sukha andpara sukha.

According Jg-.Srr Sankaracharya, therapet i t ion of tho mantra "Brahmarvaham nasamsari muktoham" gives the 8 fo ld s iddhis.Obviously th is is only e sop for gainingAtmagnana.

Whether he is a s idha. Bhakta or a gnani .yoga is a necessary practice for success,The siddha has to resort to samyama for allthe siddhis,-samyama is a yogic process. Abhakta has to do Bhagawat dhyana, whichagarn is faci l i tated by yoga as ment ioned invaf lous puranas, which help to achievg para-bhakthi . A Veoanthin. who sees th€ ident i tyof the indiv idual soul wi th Paramatma, orthe non-di t tgrence of the two apparent lydi f ferent phenomenon also has to constant lymeditale on the Mahavakya (nidhidhyasana)which again is a yogic discipl ine. A Bhakta,a gnani , a s iddha are basical ly yogis.

Yoga is a means for both lha and Parasukharn.

\*ro.es Z*.* FrsB. (3\.

ln the last three issues,certain antenatal Ytrgic exer-cises and pranayama havebeen described along with afew necessary restrictions(niyama) Yoga is universal ,can be pract ised both bYwomen and men. The desira-bi l i ty or e l ig ib i l i ty of womendoing yoga has been discus-sed by ancients.

Start ing f rom the quest ion

"Yoshi taam yoga VidyaamAdhikaaro Asthi vaa na vaa."

and go'ng through thevar ious arguments, i t is con-cluded that

' ,Poorvaiva Adhikaarasyath,Yoshi taam yoga .Karminaiha. ' .

Thus women are f i t forvaidic, yogic and otherKarmas mentioned in theSastraas.

AFTER CHILD.BIRTH

The regular pract ice ofyoga after chi ldbir th may bestarted after 27 daYs. How-

February '81

Yoga and ContraceptionS. Ramaswami

ever the mother may startdoing long, smooth rechakaand puraka (exhalat ion andinhalat ion) even after 1OdaYs.This may be practised forabout 10 to 15 minutes. Thekumbhakas or holding rnaybe kept very short to about2 to 5 seconds, After 27days, gradual ly the asanasmay be practised. UPtoabout 40 days one maypract ise asanas for l5minutesboth in the morning andevening. l t may be increasedto aborl t hal f an hour unt i la{ter 3 months. Thereafter at hour pract ice should becont inued. This may bemaintained upto weaning ofthe chi ld, when normal lY themenstruat ion starts again.After the thitd month, somemedicat ion used to be givenfor what is termed "garbhasa-ya suddi" or purification andregeneration of the uterus.I t may consist in PerformingPanchagavya Homa and Par-taking i t . Among the asanasthat normal ize the uterus,speci f ic ment ion should

be made about Utkataasana,Sankataasana and Karnspee-daasana. These asanas givea good massage to the pelvicorgans and help improve vas-cularity and hence cleansethe garbhasaya.

When should girls take toyoga, if they wish ? Onemay start from the 5th yearitself. However, they shouldpract ise yama and niyamaalong with asanas and usual lythey are not to be initiatedinto pranayama unt i l the 14thy€ar or about the onset ofpuberty. The asanas how-ever could be done with theregulated breathing as men-tioned by Patanjali, Kurantamand other Yogis. Since, in theolden days, girls were marriedbefore they became Rajasva-laas, they could practisePranayama . af ter marr iage.From 18th year they couldtake up Pratyahara andDharana on a Subhasraya ora pleasant Murt i , and this

33

may be cont inued during thechi ld bearing years, unt i l the45th year or about reachingthe stage of menopause.Then those that are incl inedto become Brahmavadins orthose spir i tual ly incl ined maywork on the other two angasof Dhyana and Samadhi,under a proper guru. Or elsethey may cont inue withtheir dai ly puja culminat ingin Dharana. Al l the otherangas may be observed andpract ised regular ly.

In a seminar organized bya voluntary organizat ion onfamily planning, someoneremarked in jest that s inceyoga is mentioned these daysas a cure al l , why not yogafor family planning? l t maybe mentioned that yogis havestudied this subject in somedepth and have recommendedyogaasanas that would actas contraceptive for women.However, these are verydif f icul t postures which needto be practised from early age.Unless yoga is taught at ayoung age, i ts benef i ts inclu-dlng the one under considera-tlBff S0il?ilav-e.a I i mited appl i-CJtldll. .sffi

"6iPgrb'or vooaSebrros ff nlsrp lu sa?x$ fr aff rhsl{?&En snrURr6E ffr ct df-q€a€sl& i'Plfi'fftoW6Hve .vrfBBrl$f0e ,.Q$eOicxidl'hgnt"r filS9g8vil8{errl t bf l6

tt

t ion for contracept ion is givenin a capsule.

"Paasaasanam YoganidraGarbhapindancha Bhadrakam.

Matrsyendra AasanamityeteSarvagarbha Nirodhakaha. "

"Bahihkumbhaka yukthirhiPraanayamaischa Samyutha-

yaan8.Dhridaihi Tr ibandanaircha

Bhaveyuhu yadi Ni thyasaha."

Paasaasanam (Noose post-ure), Yoganidra (Yogic recl i -n ing posture), Garbhapinda(foetus posture), Bhadraasa-na, Matsyendra-when theseare mastered and pract ised,concept ion wi l l be plevented.

Ful ther Praanaayama shou ldbe pract ised with emphasison Bahy,kumbhaka, alongwith the three Bandhas,namely Jalandara, Moolaand Uddiyana regular ly.

I t could be seen that thesepowerful asanas which workon the pelv ic organs, provid-ing the r ight , control led pres-sure and twist ing or squeez-ing of the uterus. a ided bythe Bandhas in Bahyakumbha-ka should prevent, i f proper lydone, embedding of thefert i l ized ovum on the uter inewal ls.

exhalat ion, pressing the feet,s lowly twist to the r ight s ide.Stay for a few breaths. Thenexhale again s lowly, anddeeply, lower the trunk,bending the knees, as inUtkataasana, except that thetrunk is at r ight angles to thelegs. In th is posi t ion, exhalecompletely, draw rectum andlower abdomen and place thearmpit on the outer s ide ofthe r ight th igh, just belowthe knee. Then on lhe nextexhalat ion stretch the lef tarm and turn i t around ther ight th igh. Then bend theelbow to take the forearmbackward so that the lefthand is near the lef t h ip.

Take a breath and maintainbalance. On tfre next exhala-t ion turn the r ight arm fromthe shoulder in the opposi tedirect ion behind the back andmeet the hand. And keep thef ingers inter locked. Stay fora few breeths.

Then breathe in and exhalecompletely, drawing the lcwabdomen again and twist inga l i t t le more, holding the lef twr ist wi th the r ight hand.Turn and look over the r ightshoulder. Stay for a fewbreaths rais ing the pelv ic dia-phragm on each exhalst ion.The inhalat ion wi l l be shortbut the exhalat ion wi l l belong and smooth. On everyqlha[qti.qn_. t ighten the grip-1o,. scr l . l t_ ' I rJ . -t8fi "Q8,',s t'?rq19{'t' P.{,gqEy'roe onthe". Eqlvicd re$qr| "nqi o"r,F i !40

The |nQign,Eeurre[ry'l

Pdh$f;d\ASANA't5.l8ll.J. ililr.to Sbmasthithi.#A'6ni$' Efl i ri \.qfiiAff r lfiti"a r-^i dd ?a i8 I b &rfl "A-l'8 X b"'fe?ii ",i 3li fr f6"t 68 r< ?fllqB tt9 T 0' n lb03i'11'.2t. i , ' lotu tJ r f sst i6f n lc ' l i ; i l i lwaro. I nen on tne . nextblr :or l l nor lu!an :r t i ; lJ . : r l . r

twist in those organs. (Refcrsketch 1). After a few breathsreturn to Samasthithi oninhalat ion.

Repeat on the other side aswel l .

Some of the asanas thatprepare one to do Pasasanaarc utkataasana, Ardhama-byandrasaana, Parsvathangiin Tadaasana PaarsvottasanaMarichasana, etc. Long,smooth exhalation alsowould help in attaining theposture.

YOGA NIDRA

This asana affords tremen-dous pressure being appliedaround the pelvis. lt may bedone lying down. Asanasthat normally help in doing'this are Paschimottanasana,Upavishtakonasana, Kurmaa-sana, Karmapeedasana andlong and smooth exahalation.Ekapada and Dwipada sirshaa-sana also wi l l be helpful .

Start with Samasthithi,then Uttanasaana on exhala-t ion. Then holding thebreath jump back to Chatu-rangadandasana. Then exhalehold the breath, jump for-ward to Dandasana. Lieback on inhalat ion.

Then deeply exhaling, drawboth-legs overhead, bendingthe knees.

Exhaling draw the left legbehind th-1 lef t shoulder.

February '81

Stay for a fcw breaths.

On the next exhalation,draw the r ight leg fut ther upand sl ip i t behind the r ightshoufder so that both theankles are placed one on theother support ing the back.In this posi t ion the ent ireback will be supported by

the legs and ankles formingthe base like a bed and theback on it.

Now slowly sttetch thespine on exhalation, take thearms around the thighs andclasp the r ight wrist withthe left hand behind the back.Stretch the neck and try to

35

a \

extremities, and lean forwardand hold the back of the headwith the palms,on deep exha-lation. As you exhale again,tighten the grip, straightenthe spine and draw the thighsclose to the pelvis. Stay fora few breaths, made up ofshort inhalatlons and longdeep exhalations. Refer tosketch (3). The upright sideview is given in sketch (4).

straighten the spine. Refelto the sketch (2).

There is a peculiar, ,tremen-dous stretcing of the pelvicmusuto fanal suppurts andalso pressure. This, alongwith Dwipaada Sirshasanamay be practised for sometimeby those whl are habitualabortors and may be drscon-t inued when i t may help inpregnancy. So long as theseasanas are continued to bepractised regularly, they actas contrdceptives.

It is a great help, accordingto ancient wisdom, in preven-t ing lung disease as consum-pt ion; f latulance, and otherabdominal diseases of spleen,liver, stomach, etc. lt helpsto strengthen Swadhi'shtana, Brahmaguha Cha-Kras for longivity. lt controlsapanavayu and hence thepelvic organs get streng-thened.

GARBHAPINDAASANA

This asana resembles afoetus. lt is comparativelyeasy to follow.

February '81,

The procedure is the sameup to Padmaasana. Thenslowly exhale, lean forwardand insert the hands-relaxingthe shoulders-between thethigh and ca;f musctes unt i lthe elbows ara through, Pressthe buttocks ahd anchoringthe coccyx raise tho lower

3

37

Stay in this po.sture for afew breaths. Loosen ths lock.Repeat with legs crossed, butchanging the order of ben-ding the legs for Padmaa-sana.

sana. Now exhale, place theright leg on top of the leftthigh, the heel pressing theside of the navel. Stay for abreath. draw the left knee uptowards the body so that it is

up to the chest, pressing theleft knee up towards thebody so that it is up to thechest, pressing the righheel against the abdomen inthe process. On the nextexhalation, slowly place theleft foot outside the rightknee. beside the right thigh,Stay for a few exhalations.

Then on the next d.r"pexhalat ion, anchoring thecoccyx, twist the spine andturn the trunk towards leftside, so that the right armpitis outside the right knee

The lndian Review

5From GarbhaPindaasana,

one may lie back to do Uttaa'nakumaarasana 8s shownin sketch (5). These asanasprovide a great amount ofpressule on the Pelvic organs.

MATSYENDRAASANA

Among the lfoiemost ofHathayogis of the Natha samp-radaya, Matsyendranatha isconsidered the king amongthern as his name indicates.The asana named after himis a masterpiece of yogasanashowing the grace, poise,and strength of yoga andit has great therapeuticvalues.

Asanas that help to prepa(eone for doing this asana areardhamatsyendrasana, Parivri-tha Parsvakonasana, Pasa-sana, Marichaasana, and longRechaka and Uddiyanaban-dha.

Start from Samasthithiand proceed to do Dandaa-

38

Pushing the chest forward,bring the right 'arm aroundand hold the left big toe,On the next exhalation.bring the left hand frombehind and hold the r ightthigh near the groin. Stayfor 6 breaths, On each exha-lation, draw the rectum andthe lower abdomen and twista l i t t le more looking overthe lef t shoulder. (Sketch 6).

Inhale retrrrn step by stepto Dandasanam. Repeat onthe other side.

It could Le observed thatin Matsyendrasana, unlikethe other two mentioned,there is also a twisting ofthe spine and pelvic organs.It is to a certain extentexperienced in Paasasana, lnMatsyandrasana, the heel isplaced between the pubicbone and the i l iac and withthecrossing of the leg it is an-chored by the side of theuterus and in this posturethe uterus is wrung as i twere. However, it is a verydifficult posture to acheiveand master.

The other benefits of Mat-6yendrasana a(e mentionedin Hathayogapradeepika.

. 'Matsyendrapeetam Jatarapra-deepam

Prachandarugmandala Khanda-

Abhy a asat h a ha *" " o"' i,it"oilif,l-c h a n d rast h irat h, u. ro

nlln,

Dadaathi Pumsaam '

Matsyendrasana activatesJatarangni and throroughlyeradicates all chronic ail-ments. lt activates kundaliniand gives mental steao,ness.

About Matsyendra, ananecdote is mentioned. OnceLord Siva, the Adinatha,secluding in an uninhabitedisland, and thinking i t to bedeserted, started tutoring Hisspouse Girija on the secretsof Hathayoga. However,remaining near the shore, afish started intently listeningto those instructions. Thusit attained high concentraticn(Ekagratha) and remainedsteady in the waters withoutabsolutely any movement.Suddenly observing the f ish,thus in Samadhi, the Lordrealizing that Yoga has beenlearnt by the fish, out ofgfeat campaosion (Kripaa-lu), spr inkled ( Prokshitavaan)water on rhe f ish. With thatthe fish, known as Matsyen-dra, instantly attained celes-tial body and was transform-ed to a Siddha and he becamea great teacher of yoga,thereafter. The asana namedafter him is Matsyendrasanaand resembles a fish twistingand beut i ful ly porsed,

OTHER ASANAS TCO

The asanas mentior,€d

above, it could be observed-cannot have universal appli-cat ion as a pi l l would havelThus unless one has beenpractising from a young age,these may not be of muchpractical value. But ii couldbe observed that womencould maintain not only goodhealth, even as they take tothe grihastha dharma, aspropounded by Manu, Lutmake use of yoga practicefor Str i Dharma. Accordingto my Acharya, apart fromthe above-mentioned asanas,women could practice Mari-c.haaggqa, Ardhamatsyendra-sana, Baddhakbnasana, Badd-hapadma, Dhanurasana inexhalation, Sirshasana withUddiyaana Bandha, Aakurilchanaasana in Bahyakumbh$ka which would help fiil imit ins the family (Mit(santhana) and would faciYtate the mind to placti#'dhyana later on. Needless t&lsay thatthese asanar

"r" ($

be practised under a prop}guru. qi

AFurther in all those .r"nff

and also separately *hif;practising pranayama, tqFemphasis wi l l be on Bahy{kumbhaka and the tnrffiBandhas, especially Modhand Uddiyana Bandhas. Itcould be observed that thef,are the very asanas ar{i}Bandhas that are required Mbe avoided during PreOnancft

>#'<February '81

\rsura's ?=0.* 1\.o9'8s

,]

T

a/l_/t /

Naadi granthishuJananam Labdhwa,

Maamse kosevridhim gathwa.

Sandhishu LeelaNatanam kruthwa,

Rogo yogaathNasyathi Ha Ha

The above stanza appealsin a beautiful kavYa, "Yogan-

-. ja l i " of my Guru, St i . T.'-'\rishnamacharya. "Origina-

' ting frem among the granthisand spreading through thetissues, disease, waltzes overthe joints, but surelY isdestroyed by yoga"

**rt

The purpose of this seriesof articles on the possibleapplication 'l of therapy isrpinly to indicats its poten-t ial 'and to appraise theamount of depth of insightthe yogis have had on theanatomy and physiology andhe wide range of applications

?

Antenatal YogaBy S. Ramaswami

However, these should notbe taken as a work-book fordirect application "out of theshelf" as it were, when it isemphasised that even in-nor-mal healthy individuals, aguru or a teacher is essentialfor practice of yoga t is allthe more so in therapeuticapplication of yoga.

i.

Before going into thernechanics of these yogapractices, let us considerwhat natural chi ldbir th orsukhaprasava, could mean. ltis mentioned by medicaldoctors, that when the cortexof the brain funct ions pro-perly, the emotions cease tchave an upsetting effect onus. l f one considers theeffect of fatigue which is aphenomenon we live withincreasingly, it can be saidthat emotion or agitationoccurs when there is no rest-raining inffuence. One could

feelthe devif working havocwhen one isweak with fever.It is said that the restraintnecessary comes from cere-bral cortex, which has thepower to stop .the distur-bance or iginat ing in the sub-conscious cent;es of thebrain. Hence i t is consequen-t ial that agi tat iqn wi l l occuras soon as cortex itself isdisturbed. We know that aperson where cerebral cortexfunctions perfectly can standgreat pain with the minimumof agitat ion. l f there is lessagitat ion, then the musclesalso function normally facili-tat ing easy chi ld bir th. Thusthe method of yoga practiceas per Sampradaya is both toprovide the necessary stren-gth to the uterus and thesecondary muscles thatshould work in unison duringlabour and' a serene mindthat has the capacity to pre-vent disturbing emotionsfrom appearing. Yoga attem-

The lndian Review

54

iIIttIIIrFttil-tItrltIII[,lIIrII

IIIttt-IIIIIIIIIIII

pts to provide both thephysical strength and themental control . The expec-tant mother is able to directchi ld bir th, rather than meeklysubmrtt ing to i t , in whichcase the whole processbecomes painf ul ly chaot ic.Ofcourse there ate condit ionsl ike Caphalo-pelvic dispro-port ion and other mechani-cal obstruct ive cause thatmay not lend to naturalchi ld-birth. But some cases ofcervical dystocia which maybe related to psychologicalreasens, or intr insic neuromuscular disturbances maybenefit greatly by thesepractices.

Thus doing yogasanas onlyiuith oroper modulated brea-thing or Swaasa Uchwaasa,along with the specif icpranayamas mentioned byNathamuni would help (a) arelaxed and confident mind,able to "manage" labourproperly (b) the "deliveryapparatus" becomes strong,relaxed and tuned to funct ionproperly. (c) The control ledbreathing in asana andspecific pranayamas have asedative effect on the mother.This also helps in properoxygenation so very neces-sary to the mother, and thef oetus going through thedif f idul t process to become anew born.

The yoga Ptact ices thatare helPful for normal del iverYare given bv Sr i Nathamuni inthe fol lowing verses.

Aadhyam'Jatarabhaagasya

Vivruthihi konaPanchakam

Sitahi NaadikaSudhihi

Dwipaath peelanchaVajrakam.

DandaasanamPoorvataanam

SuknaprasavaHetawaha.

The asanas suggested are :1. Jataraparivr i thi : Abdo-menaestretch. 2. Konasanas:Five of them. lt is learntthat Sr i Nathamuni refers tothe fol lwing f ive Konasanas:i) Ut l . i tha Tr ikonaasana. i i )Urdhwakonasana : Konasanadone on ei ther Si lsasana orSarvangasana. However theseare to be done only upto the6th month of pregnancy.i i i ) Upavishtakarasana: Tr ian-gle pose, si t t ing. iv) Supta-konasana: Konasana donelying down. v) Badhakona-sana : An extension of Upa-vishtakonasana. 3. Dwipaa-dapeetam: Desk pose 4.Vajraasanam 5. Dandaasa-nam: St ick posture 6. Poorvataanasanam : Anterior stre-tching pose.

Pranayamas: 1. Seethal i :for cool ing the system. 2.

Naadi Sudhi : pur i f icat ion ofNaadis.

*!t*

Jataraparivrithi : Thereare many variat ions in this.The simplest one is taken up.Lie down face upward, on asoft carpet. Keep the legstogether and arms along withthe body. After a fewbreaths, and when you feelrelaxed due to steady brea-thing, preferably throughcontrol at the throat, inhalestretch arms and swing themto shoulder level. On thenext exhalation, slightly rqisethe head rotate left and placethe left side of the face onthe floor . After a couple ofbreaths, on the next exhala-t ion pressing the afms, andupper body and anchoringthe hip, f rom the hip swivalslowly the legs, one by oneto the r ight s ide, stretchingthe lef t s ide al l along. Closeyour eyes, do 6 to 12 inhala-t ions, exhalat ions, with very " ^l i t t le holding of breath inbetween. One may stay \upto even 5 minutes in thisstretching pose. Then inhaleIeturn to the start ing posi-t ion. Repeat i t on the otherside. This is Jataraparivrithi(Refer sketch 1). l t is helpfulin stretching the abdominaland pelvic muscles. Thelong modulated breathinghelps in relaxed stretchingand enhances muscularstrength.

The lndiarr Review

Sketch I

:i: /f 'it

Trikonasana or TraanglePose': This posture is to bedone carefplly. Only those

Sketch 2

December'80'-

that have a good balance andhad been regular ly pract is ingyoga can cont inue duringpregnancy. Start with Sama-sthirhi . Exhale spreadingthe legs about 3$' to 4'depending upon one's heightTake a few normal breathsand get a feel for the posture.Inhale raise arms to shoulderlevel. Now, exhale turn thehead and neck to the left sideso that you look over the leftshoulder and bending the hip

exhale as you lower the trunkon the right side, just asmuch as possible withoutundue strain. Hold the kneeor shin, ankle or place thepalm on the ground by theside of the right foot, depen-ding upon your abi l i ty tostretch. Inhale, return tothe starting position. Repeata few times or stay in uthithaTrikonasana fora few breaths.Then repeat it on the otherside. One may do this asanaupto the sixth month. A long

exhalat ion coupled withsmooth movement will helpgetting a good stretch of thesides. especially the hip.(Sketch 2). lf one is evenslightly unwell, feeling weak'or giddy, this should prefcra-bly be skipped. lt may bepref :rable however, to dothis posture ly ing down, asJataraparivrithi.

Upavishtakonasana(Refer sketch 3) This kona-sana is done si t t ing StartwithDandasana. Exhale spread

Sketcn 8

55

both the legs as much aspossible stretch ng the groinsand thighs. Then inhaleraise the arms over headanddo a few breaths. Nextexhale slightly push thepelvis fotward and hold th etoes, keeping thechin locked.This may be possiole upto6 months. l f holding thetoes is not possible withoutbending forward too much, itis preferable to keeF armsoverhead and stay for 6 to 1 2breaths. As a counterpose,exhale, keep the palms onthe ground behind your back.Inhale, raise the trunk, kee-ping the legs st i l l spread.Exhale return.

UrdhwakonasanA: l f oneis'capable of doing Sirsaasanaand Sarvaangasana, Urdhwa-konasana maY be sttempted.Thjs posturs has the addedadvantage in that, since inthese topsy turvy Postules,

the legs become relaxed aftera whi ie in the posture, i t wi l lbe possible to get a l i t t le morestretch of the things, groins,penneum and the pelvis.Refer to sketch 4. This canbe done only upto the sixthmonth.

The above group of asanasapart from providing ths

necessary pelvic stretch,improve eirculat ion and dueto accompanied long brea-thing the abhyasi is general lymore relaxed and hence thestretching wi l l be easier.

The remaining asanas andcertain niyamas mentioned inyoga texts for pregnentwomen wi l l fo l low.

>:tG

56 The lndian Revi .w

sketch 4

\*.o^ ?*tsr\ S sc-. (8o

' The approach toYoga thesedays may be classif ied intothree. Firstly, Yoga is treatedas a vaidic philosophy basedon the sutras of Patanjal i . l tdeals with al l aspects ofSamadhi, i ts prerequisi tes, i tsramif icat ion, culminat ing inthe real izat ion of dist inct ivenatures of prakr i t i andindwel l ing consciousness,purusha. This leads toKaivalya or Moksha, accor-ding to yoga phi losophy.

YOGA AS AN ART

Yoga, secondly is treatedas an art. Yoga is a completephysical cul ture (SarvangaSadhana). Many asanas, theirvar iat ions along with coordi-nated breathing make it anart , and i t is considered oneof the 64 kalas or vidyas.This physical cul ture i tsel f isfascinat ing to many.

November '80

Antenatal YogaBy S. Ramaswami

Then again, thirdly, yogais thought of as a therapyfor many ai lments, as curat iveand especial ly as prevent ive.Natural ly the approach(chik i tsa krama) wi l l be dist i -nctly different from that of astudent of yoga who approa-ches i t as an art , or a phi lo-sophy. Many texts talk abcutthe benef i ts of certain asanas,pranayamas, Mudras, band-has, etc. According to Ayur-veda, those diseases that arechronic and that cannot becured or completely eradi-cated by medicine alone canbe and should be attemptedto be cured with yogasanasand pranayamas.

Fol lowing this procedure,certain texts talk about yogapractice being differentdepending upon one's age.They would divide peopleaccordrng to their stage ofl i fe and suggest a di f ferent

approach. Those methodsare cal led Srisht i , Sthi thi andLaya. Asanas to be doneduring the age of growth(Srisht i ) , rhose that are ro bedone during middle age whenthere is nei ther growth nordecay and thirdly those thatare to be done during thedecaying period, cal led theLaya krama.

YOGA FOR WOMENIt is established that women

have been practising yoga inthe olden days. In fact thereare specif ic yogic pract icesfor women. Sage Nathamuniconsiders the special condi-t ions of women and hasprescr ibed yoga treatmentfor tlrem-during pregnancyfor the proper developmentof the foetus (garbha vr idhi)or specif ical ly ante natalexercises; then asanas thatspecif ical ly tone up the"del ivery apparatus", and

41

help normal delivery andthirdly those that are usefulin family planning (Mithasanthana) and for contracep-t ion (garbha nirodha). Butthen readers may wonderwhether these have beenmedically tested. lt has tobe mentioned that one shouldhave practised these asanasfrom early childhood-prior topuberty, or else many asanasare not possible to do at al lat the time necessary-unliketaking a pi l l or undergoinginstant surgery. Al l of themhowever, are logical andthose interested could takethem up from young age tosee the efficacY of thesystem.

ln this art ic le, those yogicpractices that are prescribedfor a healthy development ofthe foetes are taken up. SageNathamuni gives his prescrip-t ion in the fol lowing sloka.

Poorvathana DivipathBadhakona Padma

Chatushtayam.Sirsha, Sarvanga,

pavanayamaihi , garbho.vivardhate.

It means that foetal deve-lopment is helped by

a) purvathanasanam of An-terior stretching posture,

b) Dwipathapeetam cr deskPost,

c) Badhakonasana

42

d) Padmasana or lotus poseFurther Sarvangasanamand Sirshasanam (Headstand) are also sugge-sted. This would be thedai ly rout ine which wi l lfacilitate proper foetaldevelopment. Br ief ly theasanas, are described.

1) Poorvatana or Anter iorstretching posture. This hasbeen explained earl ier ( lndianReview June 1978), as acounterpose for Paschima-tanasanam. Brief ly i t is tosit erect with feet togetherand stretched forward. Thisis cal led Dandasana or st ickpose. Then inhale, raise botharms overhead, stretch and

for about 3 to 6 breaths. ttis a vety good stretchingmov€ment involving theanter ior port ions of ankles,shin, knees, thighs and espe-cially pelvis, abdomen, neck,sl'nu;6"r. und arms. Thec -st is opened up. lt helpsto tone up the breasts andirnproves vascularity andcould help later in properlactat ion. A mi lder var iat ionof it is chatushpadapeetam(lndian Review Juue 1978)which could also be attem-pted.

2) Dwipadapeetam or DeskPose. Lie down on your backon a soft carpet. Support the

ointerlock fingers. Next stepis to exhale and keep thepalms on the ground aboutone foot behind the back.Then keeping the backstraight, press the palms,exhale and raise the trunk,dropping the head back, thechest and pelvis pushed up.This is Purvatasanasana(Sketch 1). Inhale return tostart ing posit ion. Do about6 t imes, or stay in the posture

neck and head with a smal lsof t p i l low. Exhale bendingthe legs at the knees,drawing and placing the teetc lose to the buttocks. Do afew modulated breaths wi thchin lock or Jalandhara-bandha. l f possible holdthe ankles wi th the hands,i f not keep the palms pressedon the f loor. Inhale pressthe back of the head, neckand also the feet, ra is ing

Tha InJian _Review

the t runk s lowy as high asyou can, arching and stret . .ching the spine. Stay for afew seconds, pushing thehip (and stretching the lorryback in the process). Exhale,s lowly lowerrng the body.Repeat 3 to 6 t imes This is.Dwipada Peetam or deskpose. (Sketch 2) The trunktais ing may be done onexhalat ion, i f one is tendingto bg obese dur ing pregn-

@ancy. l t is comparat ivelyeasy but a very effectiveasana. l t is especial ly usef uli , r re l ieving low back painsocommon among prognantwomen.

THE STICK POSE

3) Badhakonasanam: Thisasana should be pract isesd bywomen dai ly. From Danda-sana, exhr le, bend and push

one knee outward so that thsthigh is at about 90o. Keepthe heel pressing against theper ineum. On the nextexhafat ion, bend the otherknee also, so that both thefeet ate together and theheels pressing against theper ineum. Keep the palmson the toes. Stay for a ' fewn)inutes, doing normal inhala-t ion and exhalat ion. This isBadhakonasanam. (sketch 3)

I t could be observed thatunless one has been pract i -s ing th is asana from chi ld-hood, the hips would havebecome too rrgid to do thisasanapropar ly. This is theoneasana which stretches thepelv ic muscles, and the per i -neum wel l so that the normaldevelopment of the foetus isfaci l i tated by the etasl ic pelv icmuscles. Further i t a lsohelps in toning uD the mus-cles so that they help to beardown at the t ime of del ivery.It is one of the few asanasrecommended for pract iceeven dur ing menstruat ion.

4\ Padmasanam; Thefourth posture that Natha-muni suggests is lotus poseor Padmasana. l t is one ofthe wel l -Known asanas andholds the pr ide of p laceamong si t t ing postures. Si tin Dandasana, exhale oeeplybend r ight leg, draw the r ightfoot c lose to the body withhands and place i t on top ofthe lef t th igh, in l in8 wi ththegroin. On the next exhala-

Noventber '80 43

"St.a

t ion, in a s imi lar

. , ,S'@fashion,

bend the left Knee and placethe left foot on top of theright thigh. Now you havea very firm base to sit andlower back is relieved of thestrain of the outward curvenormally found in squatting.Now keep the palms on thekn6es, Iock the chin and donormal breathing, with themind following the breath.This is Padmasana. ln this,

one feels extremely secure otrthe firm base, the lower backenjoys a freedom and com-fort unknown even in a nrostcosy couch orsofa. The bodyis erect. Natural ly the mindwill be relaxed and alert,unperturbed by postural dis-tractions. This is recommen-ded for both Pranayama(Sketch 4) and some relaxa-t ion procedure l ike Shan-mkhi Mudra (Sketch S).

TWO OTHER ASANAS

Apart from these four,Nathamuni recommends twoother inverted postures,sirsasana (Sketch 6) andSarvangasana. (Sketch 7)The technigue of doing Sar-vangasana and Sirasana hasbeen explained in earl ierlndian Review issues in

detai l (Apri l 1978December 1977)

According to yogic theory,diseases are caused by dis-placement of vital internalorgans and muscles and theyogic practice is resorted tofor normal isat ion. This issought to be accomplished bySirshasana and Sarvangasana.There are many benefits attri-buted to the practice of theseasanas. lt has a tonic effecton the overies and pelvis byremoval of congest ion. Sirsa-sana has a sedative etfect.Pregnant women tend to getcirculatory problem in theirlower extremities duringpregnancy. lt helps to restorecirculat ion Sarvangasana hasth'e advantage of working onthe thyroid and helps to toneit up. A sluggish thyroidaffects ths foetus.

Even here, Nathamunlcaut ions that the inverted

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@and

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(tposturos should be Perform'ed only upto the sixth monthof pregnanay.

PRANAYAMA

Apart from the asanas,pranayama to be done isNadi Sodhana. (Sketch 4)

The kumbhaka or retentionof breath should be veryl imited, The food should beSatvic and nourishing.

Shan massa kaala paryantamSirshasar vanga sadhanam

Sudhirga Rechaka Pura-kaischa

Mitha kumbhaka yoshirhaihi .

Praanayamaihi Sradhubakshaihi

Samyak Gatbho virvardhate.

It would be clear thatone cannot start to learnyoga after pregnancy. Oneshould have been practisingregularly and the above areselected by Nathamuni as

antenatal yoga exercises.One should avoid all forwardbending movements. Andwhile practising pranayama,it should not bo preceded bykapaala Bhaat i or Bhastr ika.Then Moola and UddiyanaBandhas also should beavoided. The selection ofyogic vyayama for a pregnantwoman is quite effective.SAVASANA

As for relaxation Savaasa-nam and Shanmukhi Mudra(Sketch 5) can be practisedafter Pranayama. Apart fromthe asanas explained, thereare certain others which i fpracticed from the earlyante natal per iod wi l l faci l i -tate normal del ivery andthese will be taken up in thsnext issue.

V>i'<V{i:. * ttA>oa1

Novembet'80 45

l*s,* l R=srtrA *foo't3\

Raksha Prathamam Chak-shushlotram

Naasaam Jihvaam Tadanut-wancha.

prldayam Tundam NaabhimYonim

Tatastu Rakshath SakalamGaathram.

-Yoganjali of my GuruSri T. Kr ishnamacharya.

Carefully protect the eyes,ears, nose, tongue, skin, theheart , stomach, naval andthe genitals. From out ofsuch care (by yogabhyaasa),the entire body becomes wellprotected.

The f irst of this series ofart ic les dealt with the yogapractice f or proper foetaldevelopment. The secondwas on yoga and naturalchi ldbir th, indicat ing specif icexercises that ate helpful .Mainly ths two topsy turvypostures, upto the sixthmonth were recommendedand the konasanas alongwith their var iat ions werementioned as they are speci-f ical ly useful for good pelvicslretch. The konasanas aresaid to be very helpful gene-ral ly for strengthening sexorgans and could be employedas corrective and for properdeveloP.,rent.

Jananendriya dhairdyaayaKonabhedaan Samabhya-

seth.

January '81

Ante - Natal Yoga - lllBy S. Ramaswami

Hence these may be prac-tised from childhood throughpuberty, to adulthood.

VAJRAASANA

Apart f rom the asanasmentioned earlier, Vajraasa-na and Veeraasana arealso helpful , as has beenindicated.

Of the many sitting pos-tur€s, Vajraasana is com-paratively easy to do andcombines grace and poise,It is a good posture for preg-nant women to si t comfor-tably, especial ly f or doingpranayama. l t helps to,keepthe back straight and derivesi ts name as i t strengthens thespine. l t , a long with i tsvariations helps make thespine strong and supple. l thelps to reduce the pressureon the acdomen for pregnantwomen unlrke other si t t ingp:si t icr .s, whi;h put consi-derable str- in on the low

back. This and Viraasanahelp relieve low back silain.Some of the variations likel i f t ing the trunk on inhalat ionand back bending help res-pectively stretch th€ pelvisand also mal<e the spinesupple.

PROCEDURE

Kneel, bending the le gs,with knees, shins and theankles together and stretched,toes point ing outward, sothat you si t on the heelswith the shins on the carpet.Keep the palms on the knees.stretch the back of theneck and place the chin acouple of inches below theneck for Jaaiandharabandha.Throw the shoulders a littleback so that the shoulderblades tend to approximateeach other, forming a ccnalalong with spinal column ;ndthe chest is opened up. Inthis position, due to Jalan-

49

dharabandha, a good stretchis obtained way down thespine and is said to a3t ivateApaana force which has tobe qui te strong for naturalchi ldbir th.

This Vajraasana or spineposture is bel ieved to be per-fected by sage Dadichi ,whose spine became thedeadly weapon in the handsof the Devas.

A few movements crr vinya-asas as back bending andrais ing the t runk(the kneel ingposi t ion) wi l l a lso. be helpful .However, forward bendingwi l l have to be avoided.Viraasana is a bi t more com-pl icated and has been ex-plained in an ear l ier issue.These asanas also helpimprove vascular i ty of thelower extr imit ies, lumbosacral region and the pelv icorgans.

Apart f rom these Natha-muni also suggests Bharad-wajasana^ l t has also beenexplainel in an ear l ier issue.This gives a spinal twist ,wi thout pressure on the abdo-men. Bharadwaajasana alsois helpful in expanding thechest and with that the spinegets a complete exercise.Natharnuni suggests doingthese asanas regular ly dut ingpregnancy to faci l i tatenatural chi ldbir th.

Danda Padma BharadwaajaVira Vajra Samanithu.

50

Aasanaani Sadaa KuryuhuSudhirga Rechapurakaihi .

I t could be observed thatthese asanas are to be per-formed with long and smoothinhalat ion and exhalat ion. Asper the system of my Acharya,asanas are to be done withvinyaasas and coordinatedlong, smooth inhalat ions andexhalat ions. This tradi t ionis handed down from Patan-ja l i .

SOME DONTS

Genetal ly women whohave been doing asanas maycont inue to pract ice yogaduring pregnancy, exceptforward bending exercisesand certain kr iyas l ike Kapala-bhathi . They shou ld alsorefrain f rom doing Sirsa, Sar-vanga and other more com-pl icated topsy turvey posturesafter the sixth month. Thefood should be nourishingand they must create peacefulcondit ions at home. Mode-rate. careful ly selected exer-cises as given above may bedone for about half an hourper day to keep the body andmind f i t to faci l i tate naturalchi lc ibir th.

A few precaut ions arehowever necessary.

Vegena Dhaavanam, NaatyamUchchaihi Goshanam Pari-

thyajeth.Garbhapatho Vikarascha

Sisooya Anthaiva Samsa-yaha.

Running fast, dancing,shout ing in a high pi tch areto be avoided bythe pregnant.Especial ly these precaut ionsare necessary for young pr i-mies, as these violent move-ments may lead to abort ion,or otherwise harm the foetessuch as cord around the neck,placental separat ion etc. , andeven st i l lb i r th. l t is a lsonecessary to take part icularcare to maintain harmonywith the husband, (Pat ipr iya).

ln case of disturbance insleep during pregnancy,which condit ion is qui tecommon, i t is suggestedthat the expectant mothershould regulary pract iceU j jayi Praanaayama, si t t ingin Padmaasana.

Yadi Nidraa Vibhangavyaath,Uj jayi Abhyaseth Sadaa.

There are many variat ionsin the pract ice of Uj jayi andhere the simplest, v iz. , Anu-loma Uj jayi is explained forpract ice by Garbhini .

Si t in any asana, preferablyPadmaasana. There shoulcJbe chinlock-Jalandharaban-dha-stretching in the proc€s5

The Indian Review

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the spine. Both the armsshould be stretched with thepalms kept on the knees.The palms should be openand the fingers kept together.The elbows should not bebent.

Breathe in slowly andevenly-the breath beingdrawn in through both thenostr i ls, but with a rubbingsensation in the 'throat andmaking a hissing noise, dueto partial closing of theglottis. The breathing sensa-tion /thdrvibration) however,if done properly will be feltas down below. as the diaph-ragm.

EXALE SLOWLY

The breath may be held fora few seconds (Mitha kum-bhaka) or may be dispensedwith, i f , d i f f icul t . The breathholding is done by constr ic-t ing the throat, and not byclosing the nostr i ls as is donein other Pranayama l ike NaadiSodhana. The arms shculdcontinue to remain outstret-ched.

Right hand is now broughtto the nose with the fingersin Mrigi Mudra { thumb andl i t t le f ingers bent, andthe other two fingers stretch-ed) and the exhalat ion ls ,regulated, in the first roundthrough the right nostril andin the second through theleft nostril and so on alterna-

January '81

tively. The exhalation shouldbe done as slowly and evenlyas possible. After the exha-lation is completed the rightarm is brought bact5 to itsoi iginal posi t ion of beingstretched with the palm onthe kneecap.

BANDHAS & KRIYAS

Now what about theBandhas and Kriyas so closelYassociated with Pranayama ?Among al l the kr iyas,. theSatwic Kapalabhati Kriyais almost invariably doneprior to any Pranayama toclear up the respiratorysystem. Further in allPranayamas they are usuallydone with the Mula andUddiyana Bandhas duringBahya Kumbhaka and Jalan-dhara Bandha is maintainedthrouqh wherever applicable.However as could be inferredKapaalabhat i and the twoBandhas, Uddiyaana andMoola Bandha should notbe pract ised by Garbhini .

Kapaala Bhaati Bhastraa-bhyaam

Vinaa Praanaaya(na Matha-ha

Noddiyaanaka MoolaakyanBandhan Taasaamhi Sam-

mathan.'

Praanaayama should bepractised without kapaala-bhaat i or Bhastr ika. l t shouldalso not be interspersed

wifh Moola bandha andUddiyana bandha.

However as has been men-tioned Jaalantarabandhashould be maintained as ishelpf ul in Apana vaayu'scontrol.

***

After the frfth month gar-bhini should practice Praana-yama very regularly. Two.Praanaayamas that are recom-mended are; Sitali and NaadiSodhona Sital i is said tohave a cooling effect on thesystem and Naadi sodhanaremoves toxins from thevarious Naadis. This is veryimportant Praanayama asaccording to my Acharya, asfound in his Yoganjali, Nadisare the breedihg ground forall disease and Naadi sodhanapranayama pu r i f ies the var iousNaadis. These Pranaayamashave been described in earlierissue of Indian Review.

AVOID GOSSIPAvoid al l gossip and pur-

poseless smal l talk (vyarthasamvaada), delusion and becareful not to let the mindgo t ickle (chanchala) byletting too niany external in-f luences. Dai ly Puja orprayer (Paraabhakthi) accor-diiig to tradition and respectto the Acharya would help along way in maintainingmental equipoise for anexpectant mother.

51

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