TV Channel

Part 1: A Gentle Yoga Sequence It is as if someone is pulling us upward from just behind our fingers, allowing us to feel a stretch along the lateral muscles of the body. We stretch a little more upward to feel a pleasant stretching of the side muscles. Open your hands and lower them. Open your palms and go down to the level of the floor. Śaśāṅgāsana. The back is relaxed, the shoulders are relaxed, the neck is relaxed. The spine rests on the hip muscles, and we feel how, with every inhalation and exhalation, all the muscles along the spine are massaged. Feel with every exhalation and inhalation the pleasant massaging of the stomach muscles and organs. With an inhalation, we go forward. The chin is on the floor, the chest is on the floor, and the knees and the toes are on the floor. The shins are on the floor, along with the chest, knees, and toes. We stretch forward. Bhujaṅgāsana, the cobra pose. Maximum stretching in the thoracic spine. If we have problems with the lower part of the thigh, the buttocks stay on the floor. We try to stretch as much as possible in the chest area. If we feel any pain in the lower spine, we keep our navel on the floor as we go up. If possible, try to lower your heels all the way to the floor and push off with your hands. Try to stretch your legs as much as you can. We try to place the whole foot on the floor, if it is possible to put the heels down. Feel the pleasant stretching of the backside of the legs, and try to stretch a little bit more in the back. Right leg in front. With an inhale, we raise the neck. Look at the fingers, stretch upwards through the chest and arms, and on the other side we feel the stretching. We feel the stretch on two sides: one is with the hands going up, we feel the side muscles stretching, and we also feel our legs stretching. Open our palms and put our hands down. Try to open your chest as much as possible, to avoid a hunched back and to have a straighter spine. Put your left leg to the right and stretch. Just let the body hang freely, and let the weight of the body pull us down. If possible, place the palms next to the feet; if not, just go into a slightly deeper stretch. We feel our leg muscles stretching, our back is stretching, and a pleasant circulation flows to our head. With a straight back, we rise up from the hips. With straight legs from the hips, we go up. We connect our hands and tighten ourselves up. Up. We put our palms together and stretch upward. Again, it is as if somebody is pulling you up. We feel again the side muscles stretching in this position. The elbows are straight, and the whole palms are together. Legs are straight. Look forward and go down. Step the right leg back. The right leg goes back. Again, open the chest as much as possible. Do not arch the back; keep the leg firm. We again try to open our chest, not to create a hump in our back. Look up. Only our trunk is moving. Our legs stay fixed. Just move the trunk in the middle and raise your hands up. Only the trunk moves, the legs stay in place, and the gaze is towards the fingers of the hands. Open the palms and lower our hands. Put our hands down. We change the position. Left leg back, gluteal part in the air. Again, we feel the stretching of the leg, the far side of the leg, and the stretching of the leg. The head is free to hang. Again, we feel stretching on the back side of our legs and our back. The head is hanging. With an inhalation and an exhalation, we go into cobra, bhujaṅgāsana. We breathe deeply. We try to squeeze the chest as much as possible and look up. Breathing is normal. We try to stretch as much as possible in the chest area, and we look up. The neck is also straight, as when we do the cat pose. We are not bending it halfway. The alignment is the same as with the cat. We do not break the line in half, so we do not feel any pain in the back. And up. Let’s go back. With an exhalation, we go back. Again. Again, the chin, the chest, the knees, and the toes are on the floor. The chest, knees, fingers, and toes are on the floor. We try to feel the abdominal breathing with every inhalation and exhalation. The chin is parallel to the floor. With the help of our hands, we go back to śaśāṅgāsana and just relax in this position. Again, the neck is relaxed, the shoulders are relaxed, the stomach is relaxed, and our buttocks are on our heels or near our heels. Slowly we go up with an inhalation. We put our palms together and stretch our arms. We open our palms and place them down. With an exhalation, put our hands on our thighs and close our eyes. Close our eyes, take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation, and feel the whole body. We will do one more cycle, but we will not breathe in each position separately. Instead, we will combine our breathing with the change of positions. We will do it all together. We will do it all together. 1. Inhalation, inhale. 2. Inhale, exhale. 3. Inhale, exhale. 4. Hold your breath, hold your breath. 5. Inhale, exhale. 6. Inhale, exhale. 7. Keep our breath with the empty chest. With the inhalation, we go up; with the exhalation, we go down. Inhalation, hold our breath; with exhalation, put our hands down. Without breathing, we change position. With an inhalation, we go down to bhujaṅgāsana. With an inhalation, go down to Bhujaṅgāsana. Exhalation, Ardha Śalabhāsana. Keep your breath. Śaśāṅgāsana. Hold the breath. Empty the lungs, śavāsana. We stretch out. With an inhalation, we go up. With the exhalation, we put our hands down. Inhale, exhale, and we lie down in ānandāsana and relax in this position. In this practice, all our muscles, all our joints, all our organs are active. We have a very nice circulation towards the head. Pleasant circulation is going towards the head, so now we can just relax. Now we can completely relax. Just a few deeper inhales and exhales. A few deeper inhalations and exhalations, and slowly turn onto your stomach. We will do a few āsanas in this position. To start warming up, we will begin with the first step. We will start with sarvahitā āsana. Just lift your feet, stretch your hands to the side. Spread your arms next to your body. With an exhalation, we will lift the upper part of the body from below. And with an exhalation, we will go down. So with an inhalation, we raise the upper part of our body, and with an exhalation, we put it down. We will do it all together. One, go up and down. Two, inhale. Three, inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale, down. Four, go up and exhale, exhale, down. Five. Inhalation, we go up; exhalation, we go down. We put our hands in front of our body and do the same movement; we just change the position of our hands. We do one inhalation, we go up, and an exhalation, we go down. We just lift our body from the floor, and our hands are on the floor. So we are just lifting our trunk; the hands stay on the floor. Second time, inhalation, we go up, inhalation, we go up, and exhalation, we go down. Four, inhalation, we go down. And five, inhalation, we go down. And we lower our legs; our hands stay in the air. A few big inhales and exhales. Take a deep inhalation and exhalation. In the next variation, we will lift both our hands and our feet from the floor. So, not just the feet, but the complete legs, and that includes the knees. We lift the legs from the floor, which means we lift all of the legs, which also includes the knees, not just bending the lower part of the leg. We will all work together, so we will do it all together. Inhalation. With an inhale, we go up, one. Exhale, slowly come back, two, and down, three. Inhale, go up. Exhale, go down. Exhale, go down, four. And exhale, go down, and five. Inhale, and put your hands next to your body, and relax. Put your head on the floor, palms next to your body, and just relax in this position. These āsanas are very good for lifting the lungs and for increasing the circulation in the body, so after yoga nidrā, instead of coffee, they can be beneficial. These āsanas are very nice for restarting the circulation in the body, for raising our blood pressure, so we can say we can use them instead of coffee after yoga nidrā. Once we were practicing these āsanas with Swamījī, and he said if we didn’t have our stomach, we could levitate. When we were practicing this āsana with Swāmījī in the upper position, he said that if we didn’t have our stomach, then we could all levitate. Again, a little deep Udīśa and Īḍāśa. We stay on the stomach. We spread our legs. We push our heels outwards, our fingers inwards. We will do Triyāg Bhujaṅgāsana. I will show, just for the start. We do as if we are doing Bhujaṅgāsana, the cobra. We lift the upper body with an inhale. With an exhale, we look forward and look over one shoulder to the other heel. With an inhale, we look to the middle, look up, and with an exhale, we go down. So, I will just show: with an inhalation, we go up; with an exhalation, you look straight and make a torsion. Look at our heel, but not the first one, but the second one. So, inhalation to the middle, and exhalation to go down. Especially in this position, if you have problems with the lower back, you leave your navel on the floor. In this position, especially if you feel the lower part of the leg and pain in that part, we leave the buttocks on the floor. So, when we do the torsion, we look over our shoulder. Do not force it; we stretch and look over our shoulder, so we feel the stretching of the spine. We will do it all together. Inhalation, we go up, look up, look up. Exhale, look forward, and to the right. Inhalation, to the middle, go up, look up, and exhale, down. Inhalation, exhale, and go to the left. To the middle, look up, and exhale down. Second cycle. Inhalation, we go up. Exhalation, exhalation, to the middle, and to the right. Inhalation, to the middle, look up, and exhalation, we go down. And to the left. Inhalation, exhalation, and we do the twist. Look up. Inhalation, exhalation, and we go down with an exhalation. And one more round. Another cycle. Inhalation, exhalation, and we go to the right. Inhalation in the middle, look up, and with an exhalation go down. And on the left side. Inhalation in the middle, look up, and exhalation down. Put your hands down, your legs, and just relax on your stomach. We relax on the floor, we put our head on the floor, so we put one side of our face on the ground and just relax in this position. Sometimes, due to too little flexibility in the thoracic spine, when we bend on the floor, we also use the lower part of the back of the head. If we feel tension in that part, we just breathe a little more deeply while we are in this position, so we feel how the lower part of the leg is tightening. So, when we are practicing the bending on the stomach, or when we are on the stomach, sometimes we compensate a little bit, using the ability to put our chest a little bit in front, so we stretch the lower part of our back. If you feel tension in that part, just when we are breathing on the stomach, make the stomach a little bit bigger with a little more deeper inhalation and exhalation, to engage the back muscles. This āsana is very good for our spine, especially if we are sitting a lot during the day. On the other hand, it works very nicely for our digestion, and this is one of the asanas that is practiced in Haṭha Yoga Kriyā while practicing Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. A little deeper inhale and exhale, a little deeper inhalation and exhalation, and stand up. For the beginning, if anyone feels tension in the lower part of the leg, to get rid of it, we will do the Pavan Muktāsana in a standing position. So, at the beginning, if we still feel a little bit of tension in our lower back, we will all do Pavan Muktāsana standing up. And we will breathe in the position. Look at one point in front of you. Look at one point in front of you. We put our leg up and breathe normally in this position. We try to pull our knee as much as possible onto our chest, so we feel a pleasant stretching in the lower part of our back. Breathe a little bit more, and we put our leg down. We put the weight of our body on our right leg, and we lift the left leg up. We raise our left leg. We look at one point, and we breathe normally. We straighten up and try to stretch our knees as much as possible toward the chest. So we stretch the lower part of the leg very nicely. And again, we try to pull our knee as much as possible, as our hips allow, to our chest. So we feel a pleasant stretching in the lower part of our back. Just stay. And put our leg down, and we stand with the legs apart. We will do the fourth variation of Trikoṇāsana, when we have the bend towards the front of the torso. I will just show. With an inhale, we go down, and with an exhale from the straight knees, look toward the fingers of the hands. So our back is straight, and we look at our fingers on our arms. With an inhale we go up, and with an exhale we lower our hands. We will stay in the position and breathe normally. Let’s do it all together. Inhale, exhale, bend your knees to the front, towards the floor, so we stop, and then do the torsion. And then we do the twist; with the left hand, we grab the right leg. If possible, we spread our legs a little more, so we try to put our legs a little bit more apart than the hips, and we put our weight on our legs. We feel that the weight of the body is on the leg, so we feel a pleasant stretching of the right side of the leg. We feel a pleasant stretching of our legs in this position. We put our fingers in our hands, we are looking at our fingers, as if somebody is taking your shoulder and pushing you a little bit more, and now it’s as if someone took you by the arm and turned you a little bit more. Inhale, return to the middle. Inhalation, we go to the middle, go up, and exhale, lower your arms. With the exhalation, the hands go down. A little deeper inhalation, exhalation. A little deeper inhale, exhale. And now try if you can go a little bit more. Extend your legs so you can stand a little bit more apart with your legs. On the other side. Inhalation. With an exhalation we go down, and our right leg is holding our left ankle, or if we can’t reach our ankle, we can just hold anywhere on the leg. The knees are stretched, the whole legs are stretched, and we feel as if our weight is on the legs. So we are feeling the stretching of our legs, torsion in our back, and we are looking at our fingers. The back is straight. Inhalation, we go to the middle, go up. And with an exhalation, we put our hands down. With an exhalation, we lower our hands and just close our eyes in this position. We feel the warmth around the body, we feel the lateral muscles of the body and the legs. Circulation in the legs and circulation in the buttocks. And as we heard today at the satsaṅg, today is the morning of Hanumān, the day of physical and mental strength. So today is Hanumanjī’s day, the day of physical and mental strength. We will do a couple of prāṇāyāmas for our physical strength, and then we will do prāṇāyāma for our mental strength. So we will do a few asanas for our physical strength, and then we will do pranayama for our mental strength. First, we will do sīraṅguṣṭhāsana. We will go from the nose to the toes. I will show you. The legs are separated as much as possible. And with an exhale, we will bend forward, bend the knee, and try to go down. With an exhale in the middle, and with an exhale we go up. Two things that are important when doing this āsana. First, two things that are important: when we go down, we try to go down in the hips also. Not just to go down with our head and do this. When we bend, try to bend as much as possible in the hips, not just to bend with our legs straight. We bend as much as possible in the hips, so we are stretching in our hips as much as possible. And then we are putting our hand down. Then the head goes up, and we go up. In that way, when we go up and down, we strengthen our legs very nicely. It’s great for the legs and the knees, which get stronger when you lift and lower, which is good for sitting. So if you go up and down like this, we are extra strengthening our legs, especially the knees. That’s good for our legs and that’s good for our knees, so we can sit longer and longer and longer. Let’s do it together. We’ll do it together. Inhalation, exhalation, we go down and go to the left. Part 2: Refined Transcript: Guidance on Āsana Practice and Prāṇāyāma Left Side Trikoṇāsana Variation Inhale, we rise up. Exhale, we release in the middle. If this variation is too difficult, you may perform the final variation of Trikoṇāsana instead. In that version, the head moves only to the knee; we do not bend completely forward to the toes. We are making a nī praṇām, not a full praṇām. Uḍīsaj (inhale), we go up. Izdisaj (exhale), we release our hands. Uḍīsaj, inhale for one more round. Izdisaj, exhale as we go down to the left side. Inhale, we go up. Uḍīsaj idemo gore i izdisaj opustimo ruke—exhale, we release our hands, and then move to the other side. On the other side: Inhale, udīsaj. Exhale, izdīsaj. Ispustimo se (we release). Udisaj idemo gore (inhale we go up). Exhale, release the hands and lie down in ānandāsana. Feel your legs. Feel the circulation in your legs. You can also feel your pelvis and the circulation in that part of the body. The circulation is very pleasant in the legs, creating a cooling effect. Take another slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Continuing with Round Four Āsanas We turn onto our left side. We will do a few more āsanas from the fourth round, focusing on physical strength. If you have any trouble with your arms, shoulders, or wrists, you can perform Meru Ākaraṇa Sūryanamaskāra from the second level. If you have a problem with your arm or any other issue preventing you from doing this āsana, we can do the Meru Ākaraṇa Sūryanamaskāra from the second level at our own rhythm, as we did yesterday. I will demonstrate first, then we will do it together. It is very simple. Inhale, lift the body up. Once you catch your balance, lift the leg and extend it. Exhale, lower the leg and then lower the body down. Throughout this, the entire sole of the foot (tābana) does not touch the floor; we stay on the heel. We will do it all together. If you cannot do it, simply perform Meru Ākaraṇāsana in your own rhythm. Feel the strength in your hands. We do not use the other hand to lift up or down; we keep it hidden behind the back. Inhale, go up. Inhale, we rise up, trying to lift the body. When we shift our weight, we raise the leg and slowly go down on the exhale. Be careful not to slip. Second time: inhale, and exhale as we go down. (We will need to build that bridge in the afternoon, so we need strength to carry the stones.) One more round: inhalation up, exhalation down. Change to the other side. Turn to the other side. Feel that the body is in one plane. Check that the body is in one straight line. Pull your toes towards the body, and keep the hand parallel to the ground. We are not resting on the elbow; this is the same starting position as Meru Ākaraṇāsana. We do not lie on the shoulders; we push away from the shoulders and feel the extension along the side muscles of the torso—the same position as in Meru Ākaraṇāsana. Inhale, go up and raise the leg. Second time: inhale and exhale. Third time: inhale, raise the leg, and exhale. Go down and lie in ānandāsana to relax. Relaxation and Integration Take a few deeper inhalations and exhalations, and just relax. Feel how your breath calms with each exhalation. This exercise works very well on physical strength. It strengthens the body, particularly the arms, stretches the lateral muscles, and strengthens the legs and buttocks. It is also very good for concentration. Feel the breath. With inhalation, the body stretches and expands; with exhalation, it contracts. Feel the warmth in the body and the comfort in this position. The body has done some exercise, we have started the circulation and bodily functions, and now it feels very comfortable lying in ānandāsana. It is no longer cold. Again, take a slightly deeper inhale and exhale, and slowly sit in Vajrāsana. Bhoomi Pāda Mastakāsana We will do Bhoomi Pāda Mastakāsana. Due to all its effects, especially the strong circulation towards the head in this position, we feel very fresh and awake. After this exercise, we feel truly refreshed and awakened. It is very good in the morning if we have a problem starting the day, especially before work. However, we do not simply get out of bed and do this āsana; we do it as part of our practice later on. It is a very good preparation for the opposite position, standing on your head—a good preparation for headstand or any upside-down position. I will demonstrate. We will not practice this if we have any problems with the neck, cervical spine, or the back of the neck. We also will not do it if we have high blood pressure, high lung pressure, high eye pressure, or during pregnancy. If you have any of these conditions, you can do Sūryanamaskāra from the second level or simply Śavāsana. I will show you how to begin. We rise up as if to do Marjaryāsana (Cat Pose). We place our hands a little closer together than in Marjaryāsana. We place our head on the floor and bend our toes. Then we lift up and try to find concentration. We can place our feet a little apart, standing on our toes. Feel that you have enough strength and are stable in this position. If stable, take your hands and place them upwards, staying in the position the whole time. Throughout, push away from the floor with your head so there is no tension in the neck and no pressure on the back of the neck. If you feel any pressure or pain in the back of the neck, immediately come back. Two things you might feel: first, your head may be slightly uncomfortable on a hard floor; second, your thigh and hip muscles will be working intensely in this position. Then we lower the arms, lower the knees, inhale to come up, and exhale to sit down. We will do it all together. I can stand like this. Inhale, we go up. Exhale, we lower our hands to the floor, lower our head, and lift one part up. We spread our legs a little, about hip-width apart. We push our head off the floor so we don’t feel tension in the neck. We can bring the chest a little more forward to straighten the spine. Then we put our hands back down. I izdisaj. Spustimo ruke. (And exhale. We lower our hands.) Exhale. We go down. Close your eyes. Udīsaj. Īzdisaj. Spustimo ruke. Spustimo glavu. (Inhale. Exhale. We lower our hands. We lower our head.) Sit up, part goes up, we balance and breathe normally. We lower our arms and our knees to the floor. We come up with an inhalation, and with an exhalation, we sit up. Close your eyes and relax in this position. Immediately, we feel a pleasant circulation in our face, head, and eyes. Yoga Mudrā We will also do Yoga Mudrā from the fourth level. If you have high blood pressure and this position bothers you, you can relax in ānandāsana instead. Take the left wrist, hold it, and stretch upwards. Look up, then go down with a straight back on an exhalation. Place your head on the floor and breathe. The position should be completely comfortable. The neck is relaxed, with no tension. Shoulders are completely relaxed, elbows are relaxed, the spine is relaxed, the stomach is relaxed. We feel a nice massage of all the organs in the abdominal cavity. It calms us down very nicely. We simply follow the inhalation and exhalation, aware of our breathing. With an exhalation, we come up and place our hands on our thighs. Take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation, and without any unnecessary movements, lie down in ānandāsana and relax. Feel your head, the freshness and circulation in your head. Feel a fine, pleasant circulation, a refreshment in the head, and a very nice silence. Complete Yoga Breathing We direct our attention to the breath. Practice full yoga breathing. I know that I am breathing in, and I know consciously that I am breathing out. I am aware that I am inhaling and exhaling. With every inhale, follow the flow of your breath from the navel to the throat. With every exhale, follow it from the throat to the navel. If your thoughts wander, gently bring them back to the flow of your breath—aware of the flow with inhalation from navel to throat, and with exhalation from throat to navel. It is said upon awakening, "Mālōdubli Udīsā," easy side. Again, a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Gentle Movement and Transition Slowly move your body. Move your fingers, toes, arms, and legs. Move your head left and right. Stretch your hands. Bring your toes towards your body, and exhale. Place your hands beside your body, put your palms together to warm them, then place them on your face. Sit up in a meditation posture. Prāṇāyāma We will now do prāṇāyāma. We have done something for our physical strength; now we will do something for our mental strength. The best practice for mental strength is Nāḍī Śodhana, fourth level. This involves breath retention with full lungs and with empty lungs—the third stage. We will do Nāḍī Śodhana, fourth stage, consciously holding after the inhalation and after the exhalation. If you have never done this exercise, you can try it now. If it is not convenient for you, simply continue with Nāḍī Śodhana level three. We will follow a rhythm: inhalation for 4 seconds, retention for 16 seconds, exhalation for 8 seconds, and retention with empty lungs for 4 seconds. Then on the other side: inhalation for 4 seconds, retention for 16 seconds, exhalation for 8 seconds, and retention for 4 seconds. If you have never done Nāḍī Śodhana level four, you can perform the retentions only for as long as is comfortable for you. Any questions? Since today is Hanumanjī’s day—a day of physical and mental strength—we can practice without our prāṇāyāma stick today. Feel the shoulders a little. Close your eyes, sit comfortably. Feel that the position is completely comfortable. If there is any tension, just move and settle. Just relax. Feel that the position is completely comfortable. The stomach (trbuh) is relaxed, and the back is straight. Follow the natural flow of the breath. You can follow the flow from the navel to the throat on the inhalation, and from the throat to the navel on the exhalation. We will chant the mantra Oṁ once. Inhale. And we are just following the natural flow of our breath. Once again, check that your back is straight and your stomach is relaxed. We will do Nāḍī Śodhana Prāṇāyāma, level four. Slowly raise the right hand up. Inhale through the left nostril. Hold the breath with full lungs. Exhale through the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril. Hold the breath with empty lungs. Udīsai, inhalation, deśnā nāsikā (right nostril)... left nostril, and retaining the breath with empty lungs. Those who have done this many times can repeat a mantra instead of counting the breathing rhythm—one mantra per breath cycle. The breathing is silent and relaxed. Do not count the rounds; just relax and do the prāṇāyāma. With the next exhalation through the left nostril, simply place the hand back on the knee. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, adjust your position without needing to open your eyes. Again, raise the hand up and continue with the prāṇāyāma. The first inhalation is through the right nostril. Inhale through the left, retain with full lungs, exhale through the right, and retain with empty lungs. Just keep the rhythm. You can repeat your mantra and enjoy the prāṇāyāma. We are near the sea, and the aerosol here is ideal if you have any breathing problems like asthma. Doctors always recommend going to the sea to breathe. Here, we can do prāṇāyāma whenever we have free time. Practice being aware and conscious of the breathing. Finish this round and return the hand to the knee. Remain conscious of the breath. Feel that with every inhalation, not just through the nostrils but with the whole body participating, fresh prāṇa enters. With every exhalation, it spreads throughout the body. We are still aware of the breathing. Closing Chant "Oṁ" three times. Then chant "Nāhaṁ kartā" a little deeper. Inhale, mālā (rosary). For the moment we stay in the position, feel this peace, śānti, within us, here and now. Slowly move your fingers. Put your palms together to warm them. Warm your face, muscles, and eyes. Then bend forward. If you can, place your head on the floor with your hands on the floor. Feel the circulation going to your head. Remember to stretch your legs and stay in this position. Slowly, with the help of your hands, come back up. You can stretch your legs a little. With this, we end today’s afternoon program. Since today we practiced āsanas like Hanuman and did prāṇāyāma like Hanuman, I wish you a good run, and I believe you will do the evening practice like Hanuman. Now, I wish you a good appetite. Go and enjoy your dinner like Hanumānjī.