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Part 1: A Yoga in Daily Life Practice: The Third Level Dear friends, welcome again to India, to Om Vishwadeep Gurukul Swami Maheshwarananda Ashram in Rajasthan. We are currently staying with Paramahanswami Maheśvarānanda and are practicing gradually and systematically according to the system Yoga in Daily Life. We now come to the third level of this systematic practice, and we will go through this level today. Our practice will begin as usual with three Oṃ chants, relaxation, breathing techniques, and then we will slowly start with the āsanas of the third level. So, prepare yourself for your sādhanā. Take a comfortable seat, straighten your back, relax your hands on your knees, close your eyes, and concentrate on your inner space. Deeply inhale and exhale, and with another inhalation, we will all sing together three times the mantra Oṃ. Feel how this mantra, while singing it, fills your whole inner environment and spreads outside too. Deep inhale. Deeply inhale and exhale, and lie down in the relaxation posture called Ānanda Āsana, the posture of inner joy and inner peace. Legs are slightly apart from each other, hands are apart from the body, palms are facing upwards. Correct your position, the position of your spine. Lift up your pelvis and put it on the floor so that the lower back is completely touching the floor. Move your arms and move your shoulder blades to correct the position of your thoracic spine. Also move your head, left side and right side, to correct the position of your cervical spine. When your body is very comfortable on the floor, deeply inhale and longly exhale. Completely relax the whole body from the toes to the top of the head. Try to imagine your right foot. Only feel the right foot; do not make any movement, and with your exhalation, try to relax it. The feeling should be as if your right foot was breathing, and with every exhalation, relaxing more and more. Relax your ankle. Relax the calf muscles. Feel your right knee and relax it. Feel your right thigh muscles, hip joint, and buttock, and with every exhalation, touch these muscles with your thought. Relax, my friend. Completely relax. Now you have time to relax, to be within yourself. Relax the whole leg. Purījī, Purījī... Do not bite your teeth. Feel your tongue lying in your mouth. Feel the round muscles around the lips and relax them together with the lips. Relax your cheek muscles. Relax the round muscles around your eyes. Relax the eyebrow center, the nose, and the whole forehead. Relax the whole back side of your head. Purījī, Purījī... Follow the paths of the breath inside and outside. Feel the natural flow of your breath and prepare slowly for the breath exercises. We will now influence our breath consciously, and we will make a full yoga breath practice. So, put your right hand on your navel and your left hand on your chest. Try to feel the breathing process, and try to feel how your right hand is going up with inhalation. Then the chest is expanding, so your left hand is going up, and you can slightly feel how your collarbones are slightly rising up when you are fully inhaled. With exhalation, your collarbones are going down. Your chest is contracting, and your abdomen is going down. You just feel with your hand how your right hand on the belly is going up. With inhalation, the abdomen is rising up, the chest expands, and the collarbones lift slightly. Deep inhale and exhale with the full yoga breath. With exhalation, the collar bones go down, the chest compresses, and the belly goes down. This is full yoga breathing, which uses the full capacity of the lungs and nourishes the body perfectly with oxygen. It’s also a type of breathing which makes you calm, relaxed, and happy. Whenever you feel stressed, concentrate your breathing into your abdomen, and you will immediately feel how your stress is being released and how your concentration is improving. With exhalation, put your hands back beside the body, and we will start with the movement of the hands together with the full yoga breath. With inhalation, start raising your hands up above the head, and guide the movement with your yoga breath. With exhalation, again guide the movement of your yoga breath down. Feel how this simple movement of the hands is increasing all three parts of the breath process. With inhalation, after inhalation, there is a slight holding of the breath when the body is full of energy. After exhalation, there is also a slight holding of the breath in complete peace of the body. In this slight and natural holding of the breath... We will now start with the stretching exercises from the first part of Yoga in Daily Life. So first, try starting with stretching the right side of the body. With inhalation, lift up your right hand above the body and stretch the whole right part of the body, beside the heel and the tip of the fingers, pressing the hip down to the floor. With exhalation, the hand goes back beside the body and relaxes. With another inhalation, you do the same practice on the left side. Again, stretch your body completely and try to relax the other side of your body, because you don’t need these muscles for this practice. With another inhalation, we will do the diagonal stretching. So lift up both your hands above the body and stretch the right hand and the left leg diagonally against each other. With exhalation, relax the tension, and with another inhalation, do the same stretching on the opposite side. Pull yourself behind the tip of the fingers and your heel, and press the hips and lower back, if possible, toward the floor. With exhalation, relax and put your hands again beside the body. Deep inhale and exhale. And with another inhalation, lift up both arms above the body, and we will stretch the whole body. Imagine that somebody is pulling your tip of the fingers and the heels, and still try to keep your hips on the floor. With exhalation, your hands are coming back beside the body. Deeply inhale and long exhale. Now the energy starts flowing in your body, and you are prepared for the practice of the āsanas from the third part of Yoga in Daily Life. These asanas begin with Vajrāsana, the tiger position or tiger practice. The starting position is Vajrāsana, so slowly come up into Vajrāsana. Rest your hands on your thighs. Your look should be in front of you, and you can concentrate on some point in front of you too. Make your spinal column straight, deeply inhale and exhale. With another inhalation, rise up onto the knees and lead your hands in front, parallel with the floor. With an exhalation, bend down, touch the floor, and pull your knees towards your head. Bend your head towards the knee on the right side. The head is touching the knee, and with inhalation you go back. Bend your head backwards, lead your leg backwards and upwards, but do not shift your pelvis. Keep your pelvis straight. With exhalation, again pull your knee towards your forehead until they touch each other, and with inhalation, go back again. Bend your head, look up onto the ceiling, and make sure that your pelvis is still straight and you are keeping the position with the activity of buttock muscles and the back leg muscles, thigh muscles. With exhalation, again to the front. Feel your abdominal muscles. Now you have to use them to put all these parts of the body close to each other. And continue the movement with inhalation and exhalation in harmony with your breathing process. So whenever your body needs to exhale, continue the movement. In this position, feel the stomach muscles and feel the back muscles. Inhaling, going back to standing position, and with exhalation, Vajrāsana. Deeply inhale and exhale, and prepare for another round to the other side. With inhalation, go up onto the knees. With exhalation, hands are touching the floor and the head is going close to the knee. With inhalation, pull your knee consciously backward and your head upward. Look toward the ceiling. With exhalation, return to the front. Bend your knee, touch with the forehead, and continue the movement in the rhythm of your breathing consciously. Still make sure that your pelvis is not shifted sidewards, but still straight, actually parallel with the floor. And continue the movement. This practice is improving the flexibility of the spine and the mobility of the hip joints. It’s strengthening the abdominal muscles, back muscles, and buttock muscles. Legs, especially on the back side of the thigh muscles. It’s deepening the breath. It’s very good for the ladies shortly after delivering the baby. With inhalation we go up, and with exhalation back down to Vajrāsana. Relax in Vajrāsana, close your eyes. Deep inhale and exhale. And feel the effect of the practice on your whole body. Feel all the muscles which were practiced. And feel how your concentration and the energy flow in the body have increased. After this practice, we have a short relaxation in Ānanda Āsana. So just lie down into Ānanda Āsana and relax the whole body. Relax your spinal column, relax your buttock muscles, relax your abdominal muscles. Feel your thigh muscles, especially on the back side, and also relax your shoulders and head. Deep inhale and exhale. We will now continue with Skandhāsana, which is a position or posture on the shoulders. The starting position is lying down, but your palms are on the floor, touching the floor. With inhalation, bend your knees and try to put your heels as close as possible to the body. And the feet are about 20 cm apart from each other, at the level of the hips. Catch your ankle joints or your heels, depending on your capacity, and now press your lower back to the floor so that you feel the contact of your lower back with the floor. Also, press your thoracic part of the spine to the floor and feel the contact of the muscles in between the shoulder blades on the floor. And continue upwards, up till the cervical spine, and feel the close touch of the whole spine with the floor. And now, slowly start. We will start lifting our spine up. So we start slowly lifting our pelvis, then our lower back part, then the thoracic part, and then the upper thoracic part, till the beginning of the cervical spine, till we get to the shoulder position. And in this position, we hold the position on the shoulders. With exhalation, we go down slowly, first putting down the part in between the shoulders. Then the lower thoracic part of the spine, vertebra by vertebra, and then the lumbar part of the back, and then completely relax the pelvis. So again, we will, with another inhalation, perform this āsana, and we can stand and stay in this āsana for a few inhalations and exhalations. Again, feel the pressure or feel the contact of your lower back with the floor, and start slowly lifting up first your pelvis, then the lower back, then the thoracic part, then the part in between the shoulder blades. And finally, you get into that vertebra, which is just in between. This is the border in between the thoracic part. Deep inhale and exhale, and with exhalation, come slowly, slowly back again, one part after another, vertebra by vertebra, touching the floor and slowly relaxing one after another. Deep inhale and long exhale. We will repeat the first time, and after this practice, we will stay in the position with deep and long, concentrated breathing and with relaxation. So get into the position, because your body already knows how to make it. So it’s quite easy, but do not lose the perfection of the practice. As soon as you get in the āsana, fix yourself there, and take a deep inhalation and exhalation. Try to relax in this position those muscles which you do not use for maintaining the position. It is strengthening the muscles of the back, pelvis, hips, and legs, stretching the hip flexors. It is improving disorders of female reproductive function, and it is regulating low blood pressure. Those people who have problems with the spine, and especially with the cervical spine, should not make this practice. So relax again in Ānanda Āsana and feel the effect of this practice. Deeply inhale and long exhale. The next āsana is called Viparīta Karaṇī Mudrā. It’s not an āsana, it’s actually mudrā. And mudrā is a position of a particular part of the body which has a certain meaning. It influences the flow of the energy in the body in a certain way, and it is expressing something. It means it’s actually a language of the body. So this practice is called Viparīta Karanī Mudrā, and again, it starts from a lying position on the back. Your palms are touching the floor. Slowly bend your knees and bring them close to your body. Lift them up and lift up also your buttocks. Mahāprabhujī kāraṭā he kevalam. Pull them on the floor to the lying position. Deep inhale and exhale, and perform this āsana once again. Stay in this position with deep breathing. Again, bend your knees. Lift them up, lift them up together with your buttocks. Support your lower back with your hands and straighten your knees. Now, rest your pelvis in your hands and take a deep inhale. Deep inhalation and exhalation. Your eyes can be either closed or looking at your feet. This practice is supporting the energy in the whole body. It’s regulating the activity of glands, and it’s reducing stress and depression. It has a very good effect on the veins and lymphatic system of the legs. It’s good for people with varicosis and after thrombosis. Abdominal and pelvic organs, and it’s improving the blood flow to the lower pelvis. It is very good for people who have low blood pressure. Only this āsana should be avoided by those who have high blood pressure, dizziness, or problems with the wrists or elbows. So, with another exhalation, slowly come back, meaning bend your knees. Put the knees towards the forehead, return your hands, and slowly start putting back your back, vertebra by vertebra. Part 2: A Yoga Practice: Uṣṭrāsana, Garuḍāsana, Sūrya Namaskār, and Prāṇāyāma Then, place your legs on the floor and stretch them out. Take a deep inhale and exhale, and feel the effect of this practice. Feel your entire spinal column. Feel your lower back and the pressure along your back. Your hands in this area are supporting blood flow to the kidneys and aiding kidney function. The next practice is called Uṣṭrāsana, the camel pose. The starting position is Vajrāsana. Slowly lift your head and shoulders, and begin to rise up. Get into the position with straight legs and then slowly move into Vṣṭrāsana. Sit again in Vajrāsana and relax in this position. Uṣṭrāsana has four variations. It begins with the variation where you go up onto your knees. Your hands are in front. Go up onto your knees, and with an exhalation, rotate your right hand to the back. Touch the heel, lift your left hand, and look into your palm. With an inhalation, come back to the position with straight hands in front, and with an exhalation, go back down to Vajrāsana. Inhale and exhale, and perform the same practice on the other side. First, lift yourself onto your knees with an inhalation. With an exhalation, rotate your hand, touch your knee, pull yourself upwards, point your fingers towards the ceiling, and look into your palm. With an inhalation, go back up into a standing position on your knees, and with an exhalation, go down into Vajrāsana. Take a deep inhale and a long exhale. The second variation involves touching the opposite heel. Again, rise up with an inhalation. With an exhalation, rotate; the right palm touches the left heel, and stretch yourself upwards. There is an arch in your back, and you should not make it stronger in the lower back. Concentrate more on expanding and arching the thoracic part of your chest. With an inhalation, go back up. Exhale, take a deep inhale and exhale, and repeat the other round on the other side. You can feel how this practice opens the chest, improves spinal mobility, strengthens the thigh muscles, and stretches the abdominal muscles. Those with cervical spine problems should be careful in this position. Take a deep inhale and exhale, and do not keep your head bending backwards. With an inhalation, come back into the position on your knees, and with an exhalation, go down again to Vajrāsana. Take a deep inhale and exhale, and feel your whole body. Feel your spine, your shoulders, your abdominal muscles, and your thigh muscles. Deeply inhale and exhale, and prepare yourself for the third round. Now, both hands will touch both heels. Rotate your hands backwards, touch the heels, and arch your back forwards. Ensure the arching is not concentrated in the lower back area. Expand your chest. Inhale, come back, and with an exhalation, return to Vajrāsana. Again, take a deep inhale and a long exhale. Feel your entire spine calm and relaxed. The last variation is the most difficult and should definitely not be practiced by those with cervical spine problems, shoulder or elbow issues, a slipped disc, back pain, or other back problems. Inhale, go up. Again, rotate your hands to the back, touch your feet with your fingers pointing inwards, and with an exhalation, lower your head until it touches the floor. This āsana stimulates digestive function. It is beneficial for the female reproductive organs. It is very good to practice during menstruation, and during pregnancy, only the first variation should be done. It strengthens the thighs, hips, and back muscles, and stretches the abdominal muscles and hip flexors. Those with a hernia or those recovering from abdominal surgery should avoid this practice. Also, the last variation should not be done by those with high blood pressure or dizziness. Deeply relax in Vajrāsana and feel the effect of this practice. If you feel tension in your spine, you can also relax in a forward-bending āsana after this practice. The next āsana is Garuḍāsana, the Eagle Posture. This āsana begins from a standing position, so we will slowly move to a standing position. Stand up and keep both feet close together. Now, shift your weight onto your right leg. We will begin with the left leg. Bend your elbows and place your right elbow across the left one. Wrap it around the hand so the palms are touching. Now, place your right thigh around the left one and wrap your right leg around the left. From this position, wait for an exhalation, and with the exhalation, bend your body down so your elbow touches the knee. Concentrate on one point from the beginning of the practice; it will help you maintain balance. With an inhalation, come up, and with an exhalation, release the position. Unwrap your legs, unwrap your hands, and relax in a standing position. Take a deep inhale and exhale. Perform the same practice on the other side. First, bend your elbows and place your left elbow across the right one. Wrap them and touch your palms. Then, shift your body weight onto your right leg and wrap the left leg around the right one. Wait for an exhalation, and with the exhalation, bring your elbow close to your knee, touching it. In this position, concentrate and relax. With an inhalation, slowly come back up. Unwrap your hands and legs, and relax in a standing position. Deeply inhale and exhale. We will do this āsana once more. We will stay in this position for a few deep inhalations and exhalations, and feel the āsana and its effect. So, begin. This is a concentration technique. It improves the sense of stability, balances the whole body, and improves foot stability. It strengthens the leg muscles and promotes balance. It brings mental harmony and influences the male organs, and is especially recommended for prostate problems. In these positions, the wrapping of the hands and legs creates certain bandhas, which means blockages in the flow of energy and blood. You can come back to a standing position, take a deep inhale and exhale, and repeat on the other side. Again, begin with deep concentration. These blockages of blood and energy flow, after releasing from this position, are released, supplying a strong stream of blood flow into the leg muscles, lower pelvis, and hands. You may notice, after coming up to a standing position, that your heartbeat might increase. This is the reason and effect of this āsana and the blockages of blood flow in this binding position. This āsana greatly supports blood flow and circulation, supports the heart, and gives new energy to all the muscles of the hands, arms, and legs. You can come up again with an inhalation, and with an exhalation, relax in a standing position. If you feel dizzy after coming up, you can place your legs a little further apart. You can also slightly press your eyelids, which will correct blood pressure and pressure in your head. Take a deep inhale and exhale. At the end of this part of the third level of Yoga in Daily Life, we will practice Sūrya Namaskār. It is a practice at the end of the third level, but we will continue the other āsanas of the third level in the next session. For now, we will finish with Sūrya Namaskār. Sūrya Namaskār is a practice called Greetings to the Sun. It is a physical practice, a breathing practice, and also a spiritual practice because it is a greeting to a holy symbol, the sun. The beginning position is standing with legs close together and hands in front of the chest with palms touching. With an inhalation, reach up and stretch above your body. With an exhalation, bend down and let your hands touch your feet. With an inhalation, step your left leg backward. Look forward and try to press your pelvis forward as much as possible. With an exhalation, step your right leg backwards. You are in the plank position, balancing on both hands and feet. Now lower down, touching the floor with your chin, chest, and knees. With an inhalation, move into Bhujaṅgāsana, lifting the upper part of your body with your hands. Ensure your pelvis is on the floor, and with an exhalation, come back to the plank position with the help of your hands. With another inhalation, bring your left leg to the front. Purījī, Purījī... Inhale and exhale. Now we will perform this āsana with the breathing. So, start from the beginning position. Inhale, stretch yourself as much as possible. Exhale, bend down. Inhale, left leg back. Exhale, plank. Hold the breath. Inhale, exhale, plank. Inhale, left leg to the front. Inhale, legs together. Exhale, inhale up, and exhale, starting position. Deep inhale, and exhale. This practice stretches all the major muscles of the body. It improves the flexibility of all the major joints. It supports digestion, supports blood flow to the head, harmonizes the nervous system, and also harmonizes the function of the cakras. It can also be practiced as a spiritual practice together with mantras that express greeting to the sun. Now we will do this practice together with mantras, and I will tell you the concentration on the particular cakra being influenced by each posture. We can start the practice: Anāhata Cakra concentration on Viśuddhi Cakra. Concentration on Maṇipūra Cakra, concentration on Anāhata Cakra, concentration on Sahasrāra Cakra, concentration on the whole body. Concentration on Svādhiṣṭhāna Cakra. Concentration on Sahasrāra Cakra in the next position. Concentration on Anāhata Cakra in another position. Concentration on Maṇipūra Cakra again. Concentration on Viśuddhi Cakra. And concentrate on the Anāhata Cakra again. All these mantras and concentrations on cakras are described in the book Yoga in Daily Life for the third level. Now we will end our practice with Prāṇāyāma according to the third level of Yoga in Daily Life. Take a comfortable seat, either Sukhāsana, Siddhāsana, or Vajrāsana. We will relax the body in this position; this also includes the final relaxation after practicing the āsanas. Keep your body straight, be aware of your spinal column, and relax yourself completely. Your hands are either touching the knees or facing upward in Cin Mudrā. When you are sure your position is very comfortable, relax completely. Completely relax your facial muscles, relax your elbows, relax your shoulders, and relax your abdominal muscles. Feel your hip joints and relax them, and relax your thigh muscles. Your posture is completely relaxed and balanced, but you are maintaining it as perfectly as possible without any tension. Concentrate on your breathing process. Feel your nostrils and feel the breath as it enters your body, goes deep into the lungs, and leaves your body. Feel the gentle touch of the breath flow in your nostrils, and follow the path of the breath as far as possible. Now we will start with Nāḍī Śodhana Anuloma Viloma, alternate nostril breathing. Bend your right elbow and place your hand in Prāṇāyāma Mudrā on your forehead. Close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through your left nostril. With an exhalation, close your left nostril with your ring finger and exhale through your right nostril. With another inhalation, inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the left. This is one round. Continue for ten rounds of this alternate breathing, Anuloma Viloma. Inhale left, exhale right. Inhale right, exhale left nostril. Your breathing is a little deeper than normal. Feel the energy in your whole body. Notice how, after this āsana practice, the prāṇa, the life energy, can flow through its pathways, called nāḍīs. Your body is full of fresh energy, and with prāṇāyāma, you are directing and harmonizing this energy. After ten rounds, place your hands back on your knees and take deep inhales and exhales through both nostrils. Again, form Prāṇāyāma Mudrā, and we will do a similar practice the other way around. Inhale right, exhale left nostril; inhale left nostril, and exhale right nostril. This is again one round, and we should repeat for ten rounds. Your breathing is very natural, a little deeper than normal, and it deepens simply through your concentration on the breath. Again, feel the harmonizing effect of this alternate breathing on your whole being. Both brain hemispheres are coming into balance. Your intellect and emotions, which are represented by different hemispheres, are coming into balance. You are entering a state of inner peace and harmony, which is the effect of yoga. With another exhalation, place your hand back on your knee and take a few deep inhales and exhales through both nostrils. We will end our practice with three Oṁ chants. Take a deep inhale and chant "Oṁ" three times, and the peace mantra: "Śānti." Feel your inner peace created by your yoga exercise. Deeply inhale and exhale. Become aware of your body in the space where you are. Become aware of the space; try to imagine how it looks around you. Purījī, Purījī... Place your hands back, and you can bow your head, touching the floor, and let the blood supply your head, organs, and brain. After prāṇāyāma, you can also continue with meditation according to the third level of Yoga in Daily Life. This meditation mainly includes visualization, imagination techniques, and also self-inquiry meditation. With this practice, we will now end our session, and we will continue the rest of the third level of Yoga in Daily Life as will be announced. Have a very nice day and enjoy your time.