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This issue’s scriptural verse for contemplation is the 1st verse of the 1st chapter of the Kenopanishad. Know that yoga is a practice (tapas) for self-knowledge (sva rupam) which comes with a certain self-inquiry (sva dhyaya) done with a spirit of reverence to the supreme intelligence (iswara pranidhana) which permeates everywhere.

The opening verse of this renowned scripture deals with the process of self-enquiry, asking us not to take our body, mind, breath and sense organs for granted.

‘Kena isitam patati presitam manah,
kena prana prathama praiti yuktah
Kena isitam vacham imam vadanti,
cakshu srotram kau devo yunakti’

• Kena isitam - willed by whom
• Manah patati - does the mind fall on its infinite objects
• Yukta kena - directed by whom
• Prathmah prana - the prana function to keep the body alive
• Vacham imam vadant i - by whose will do people get the power to speak
• Kau devo yunakti - what supreme intelligence indeed directs
• Cakshu srotra - the functioning of my eyes, ears and the whole body-mind complex

Manasa elaboration

“Willed by whom does my mind fall on numerous objects as thoughts, memories, impulses, etc as though it is forced, as I have no idea as to what my next thought will be?
Directed by whom does my breath flow, and directed by whom does the respiratory system and circulatory system work in unison so that all my cells receive oxygen for all their infinite functions?

Who allows me to articulate my thoughts into words; how do I speak, remember words, etc? O, which effulgent, intelligent, energy principle indeed, exists within me, which is empowering my eyes, ears, etc to perform their functions? O what indeed is behind my limbs which is allowing me to do asanas? O what indeed is within me?”

Manasa reminder

This is a good guide for self-inquiry to draw your mind inward. Even now, ask yourself how you are seeing these words in this newsletter:

Kenaishitam, or what principle is guiding the infinite activities behind the rays of light which are reflecting off this paper, then striking your retina, then triggering the photo receptors to generate a electro chemical reaction? O what indeed guides the then resulting impulses to be led through the many fibres of the optic nerves to the primary visual cortex of the occipital lobe (caksu kau yunakti)?

Complicated as such, with this ego having no idea even of the existence of so many things such as rods, cons, ganglion cells, etc, who indeed is the architect of all these, and who indeed is guiding all these, so that I am seeing, I am hearing, etc?

This kind of thought process helps us to be more appreciative of our life, our body, senses, etc, and lead us to become aware and acknowledge some higher principle within us, which hopefully will keep our mental state in a state of humility.

And finally, the answer to this question cannot be given as a verbal answer, but can only be realized or felt by the yogi progressing on the path of self-realisation of his/her true self.

Tamaso ma jyothir gamaya;
May we all be led from ignorance to light.

"Uttanasan!"

The moment I call out the word, I see 20 to 30 students meticulously clasping elbows, adjusting feet and folding downward from the hips. And truly, I am happy at how the regular students are applying more intelligence and acquiring better depth in the posture.

But what is the iccha or intention behind each of the students in the doing of the asana? Is it only towards getting the head in and as low as possible, or something more? I don't know.

Through this article, let me share some tips on reorienting your intention, attention and performance.

The scriptures say that our effort and self-study in a posture should be guided towards feeling the presence of the inner divine, through its attribute of spanda or energy/pulsation. Seeing the body as a temple, and each asana as a sacred geometric pattern which can gently bring out the inner ocean of energy to our body in a regulated fashion, let us commence our practice:

• Feet hip-width, and pointing straight forward.
• Clasp the elbows, stretch up and exhaling, fold down from the hips, with the knees slightly bent.
• Look at the feet; spread the toes open. Be aware of the four corners of each foot; evenly grounded on earth.

THINK - When you bend over, what is happening? We are all born of earth but we seldom bow down to it in respect and humility. In this action of bending down and focusing on grounding points, we are attuning to the fundamental energy of earth.

• Let your mind systematically scan your body, integrating awareness with the skin, muscles and bones along the feet, calves, thighs, hips, torso, etc.
• Try to let go at the hips, and elongate the sternum towards earth. Consciously and deliberately, surrender.
• Be totally aware of the even foundation at your feet. Now slowly start to straighten the legs. What happens? Your mind will be attracted only towards that goal of straightening the legs, and this will shake and disturb the energy at the foot and the buttocks.
• So while you use energy to express itself in the outer action of straightening the legs, use intelligence and energy to prevent the buttocks from moving backward and don’t allow weight distribution at the feet to fall only onto the heels.
• When you straighten the legs strongly, the front thigh muscles strongly contract; because of this, energy rises up the front leg and into the bone. But you should practise what we call sama darshanam or equal vision, to attain the state of samatwa or equalness. So shift your awareness to the inner thighs. Pull energy up there too, and suck the area to the bone with equal intensity as that exerted at the front of the thigh. Do the same with the upper outer thigh as well.
• Now release the hands, and using the hands on the mat, work the whole hip and lumbar spine area towards getting the pelvic tilt of the knee-chest-chin position of the Sivananda sun salute - buttocks strongly pressed upward with the lumbar spine well drawn in and chest cavity vertically lengthening.
• Maintaining that action, slowly flatten the palms if possible.
• Then again, scan and rescan the body.

THINK - Is the sensation at the inner ankles the same as outer ankles? How about left inner thigh and right inner thigh? Create sameness; integrate the parts with the whole, and the whole with the parts.

THINK - Now while you are observing and doing all this, think about who is observing, who is doing. What is the source of both this observer and doer? What is the link between your thought of doing and the consequential action? Where is the hidden intelligence behind this neuro muscular network?

Hidden intelligence is pervading each and every cell in us. Let us surrender to it through our effort.

May our effort awaken the inner energy, may our self-study make us aware of the inner presence, and may our humble devotion attune us fully to it.

Namaste and shanthi.

Issue 2: Looking at Adho Mukha Svanasana
(Downward Facing Dog)

So you know and accept that to enjoy the full benefits of yoga, you should have a rounded practice that includes:
• Forward bends for lengthening the back of the legs
• Arms overhead poses for opening the chest
• Inverted poses for bringing more blood to the brain
• Strength poses for strengthening your body, and others.

However, some days, you only have around 3 minutes to spare for practice. What could you do? I will say, do Down dog! It really is one pose which encompasses the qualities of a range of poses. For a start, consider the following:
• The head is below the heart and hence it is an inversion.
• The arm, shoulder and chest muscles have to hold body weight against gravity, and in that sense it is a strength pose.
• The back of the legs gets lengthened along with improved hip flexion, and in that way it is a true forward bend.
• The arms are overhead and in that sense it lifts the heart and along with it, lengthens the dull arm pit chest, thereby offering the benefits of back bends.

Doing the dog, step by step:
• Come to your hands and knees; wrists under the shoulders, with their creases parallel. Spread the fingers wide and ground the fingers, palms and the heels of the hands, into the mat.
• With the feet hip-width, take the knees back 2 short steps, curl the toes, and lift the knees.
• Stretch the ribs towards the sitting bones and the sitting bones away from the wrists.
• Hug the muscles of the arms and thighs firmly to the bones.
• Keep the elbow creases reasonably parallel. Be aware of your arms; do not allow either bending of elbows outward or inward.
• Roll the shoulders back, away from the ears and towards the hips.
• Drawing the sit bones back, inner thighs back, knee caps back, press the heels back and down.
• Keep the face and throat soft.
• Work with the breath. Let inhalations gently open the heart area and with exhalations suck in to the back, the lower belly and groin.

With regular and continuous practice as advocated by Patanjali, Down dog will help improve all your other postures as well, such as forward bends, hand stand, head stand etc.

And along with the improved length which the posture grants, may the chest opening quality also broaden your heart to others, lift your spirits and help you maintain a positive outlook on your life.

Namaste.

Issue 3: Looking at Urdhva mukha svana asana (Updog)

In the last issue, we worked on the Down dog posture (Adho mukha svana asana). This issue, let us work on the Updog ( Urdhva mukha svana asana). While the down dog helps improve your hip flexion, hamstrings and shoulder flexibility, the updog will improve your hip extension (hip flexor flexibility), strengthen your hamstrings and erector spinae (muscles on both sides of the spine), lengthen your abdomen, open your rib cage, and help lift your spirits.

Approaching the asana:
• Lie on your stomach with the forehead down on the floor (pronation ) with the hands underneath your shoulders for beginners, or besides your chest for intermediates, and eventually by the sides of your waist
• Draw the front top of your upper arms and the outer collar bones strongly upward away from the floor so that your upper arms become reasonably parallel to the floor as well as to each other.
• Your feet are kept hip-width apart. The outer thigh energy should be flowing down towards the mat so that the little toe area is reasonably grounded.
• As you inhale, lengthen the back of your arms down towards the elbows and then towards the wrist; simultaneously pulling up through the front arms and inner arms pits
• Tilting the front pelvis upward and continuing to press down through the back arms, straighten the arms, lift the shins, knees, thighs and pelvis off the floor.
• If you feel that you can arch more but you’re limited by short arms in proportion to the upper body, then use two blocks under the wrists.
• Focus on linear flow of energy as you lift the sternum away from the navel.
• Focus on lateral broadening flow of energy as you broaden the collar bones
• Focus on spiralling energy by rotating the inner arms out, and outer thighs down
• Drawing the sides of the chest and the top of the sternum into you, gently lower the head backward, provided you have no neck injuries.
• Work on the combined effort and intelligence of pelvis, lumbar spine and the shoulder girdle so that the sternum aligns on a vertical plane with the floor.
• Focus on good long inhalations to complement the physical efforts
• Remember to keep the face and eyes soft.

Namaste.

What is Yoga?

Yoga is a process or practice whereby we start to become more and more aware of our self- in terms of body, mind and soul.

What are the different Paths of Yoga?

The four main paths of yoga are the path of meditation ( Raja Yoga), the path of pure devotion (Bhakti Yoga), the path of discrimination (jnana Yoga),the path of selfless service ( Karma Yoga ) and the path of body, breath and life energy (Hatha Yoga).

What are we practicing?

Hatha Yoga, the science of yoga which tries to harmonize the body, mind and soul by working through postures, breathing exercises, energy locks etc. .

The approach is to connect

first the body with the mind through the hundreds of postures.
then mind with the breath through the breathing techniques
then conscious mind towards the sub conscious and eventually to the super consciousness (through the various meditation techniques)

What is Manasa Yoga?

Manasa Yoga is the name we coined to our way of practice and teaching Hatha Yoga so as to stress the importance of our mind and way of thinking during and after our practice.

What are the Benefits of Hatha Yoga?

The Inverted poses counter the effects of gravity on the body organs.
The Back bending postures improves the health of your heart and coronary system.
The Forward Bends invigorates the digestive, absorptive and eliminative systems of the body.
The Twisting poses squeeze and benefits the pancreas, and has been found to be of help in dealing with the effects of diabetes.
The ‘Savasan’ practice, like sleep, rejuvenates the system and allows nutrition to flow into the cells

What are the fundamental assumptions to be kept in mind during posture practice?

In Yoga practice see and feel your body as an energy field. Your energy field !!
Know that the postures are not stretches to simply improve your flexibility, but energy angles to open up blocks in your energy field.
Try to systematically spread your awareness in each pose with an effortless effort rather than grit and strain into it.
Do not bring your ego or an attitude of challenge into the class

What are the basic requirements for coming into a Yoga class?

Clothes you feel comfortable working out in
An empty stomach. It is best not to eat atleast 1.5 to 2 hrs before class. Light snacks like yogurt and fruit are okay.
Hand phones and their use will disturb the class and hence kindly keep them off.
If you are coming in late into a class, or leaving too early, make sure you make minimum noise so that you don’t distract your fellow yoga students.

What is the breathing encouraged in yoga?

In Yoga, you should breathe only through the nose, unless specifically mentioned to do otherwise. Both inhalation and exhalation should flow through the nose. When you breathe in, you should first feel your abdomen slightly relax outward and then the outward and upward expansion of ribs, and when you breathe out, the relaxation of the ribs along with a drawing in of the abdomen. This allows maximum absorption of breath, and better oxygen- carbon dioxide exchange.

Why focus at the spot between the eye brows, the navel etc?

Ancient yogis, in their intuitive understanding, found that within the spine, in energy form, exist the most critical channel of energy, with seven energy centers along it. By focusing at the various centers, our attunement with our own inner energy improves, and allows it to flow from our inner self to the outside.

What is a Sun Salute?

A yoga session is incomplete without the Sun Salute or in Sanskrit, Suryanamaskara. An ideal exercise to get you moving, the sun salutation is the foundation of your practice, it establishes the connection of movement and breath, uniting body, mind, and spirit. Not only is the sun salutation a preparation for the rest of your yoga practice, but it is a complete exercise within itself. The Suryanamaskara A or Basic Sun Salute (for Ashtanga Vinyasa) is illustrated as follows.