Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – Asana
Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2011
by Drunken Mystic
http://drunkenmystic.wordpress.com
I previously spoke about the first two steps of the yoga sutras of Patanjali. They were Yama and Niyama. The yama and niyama consist of five principles each which are to be implemented in thought, words and action in our daily lives. While maintaining the principles of Yama and Niyama – you can now move on to practice asana. Asana consists of basically the 84 yoga postures prescribed by the ancient scripture “ Hatha Yoga Pradipika”. There are many translations of the scripture available and you can pick any one to get a general idea on what yoga and the various practices associated is all about. You can download from Google Books for free.
Asana and pranayama are practiced for cleansing the complete nerves and veins of our body to enhance blood circulation and proper functioning of the hormonal system. Each particular yoga asana is based upon bending or twisting into certain positions and maintaining the position for a while and focusing on the breathing pattern. When we bend or twist our bodies into select positions, we are applying pressure on particular glands in those parts of the body.
For e.g. there is an asana called Mareechasana which has four different variations known as Mareechasana A, B, C and D. This asana generally applies a lot of pressure on the liver gland. In this posture, you have to sit with your legs stretched straight and then bend your right knee and place your sole close to your right buttock. Then you take your right arm and make a backward twine around your shin and place your palm on the behind and take your left hand and make a backward circle, anti-clockwise to hold your right hand. This is a knot you make by holding your right leg tight and slowly bend straight forward to touch your left knee with your nose and breathe five times.
This posture gives maximum pressure to your liver glands and the stomach and intestine. The pancreas benefits a lot from this posture while the intestinal gas is pushed out completely and the whole digestive tract is put into order. I have provided just one example of how yoga can benefit your health. Apart from just benefiting health, yoga asana actually brings a lot of stillness in sitting posture, strengthens your spine and helps you sit straight with your chest and shoulders opened up fine.
Yoga improves memory power, increases concentration and stillness of the mind. Even emotions get balanced much better through constant practice. The emotions get balanced by constant balancing of the breathing patterns in the left and right nostrils. If we notice, in a time span of 24 hours the density of airflow changes constantly between the right and left nostril and sometimes the density is equal in both the nostrils. The science of following breath pattern to understand the psychology of mind and even foretelling events for better decision making is called as ‘Swara Yoga’-1. Swara is the breath.
General notion is that, when the breath is intense in the right nostril, it means your solar energy is more intense and your dynamic will is more active for the moment. It means it is a time to be involved in sports or any physical activity. There are many more meanings associated. It would be better not to depend on your intuition or not decide on travelling for the moment. When the left nostril is dominant, it is good time to travel.
If you ever try, on the day of travelling, when you are about to step out of the house and just check which nostril is dominant, you will realize that it is your left nostril. I have tried this umpteen times and it has been that way. And, the day I had the right nostril dominant, I faced obstacles and it wasn't a pleasant journey. Even when the Ida is dominant, your psychic abilities or clairvoyance will be at their highest.
Many people misuse these techniques only because they want to attain certain amount of occult powers for gaining fame or earning money. The basic and most important goal for practicing Patanjali’s Raja Yoga is only for self-realization. So asana is basically practiced for attaining stillness of posture, cleansing the body and mind and enhancing concentration.
When you will be able to sit in one single posture for a prolonged period of time, only then you will be able to practice the next step which is Pranayama. Practicing the different yoga asanas will help you loosen your stiff joints, relax your muscles and nerves and allow you to ease your sitting position and finally prepare your body and mind for good meditation.
In my next article, I will write on different body cleansing techniques and their effects on physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
1-There are many secrets regarding ‘Swara Yoga’ like the left and right nostrils have direct impact on the ‘X’ ‘Y’ chromosomes. Ancient man had this knowledge to even determine at the hour of sexual intercourse by studying the nature of breath and knowing which nostril is dominant in him and his wife and both would decide to mate accordingly to beget a girl or a boy. With passing of time, this knowledge has been kept away from the common man because it may be misused. Good heavens, they don’t exist today as there is too much female infanticide and foeticide happening everywhere.
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