How to Practice

Asanas-Yoga rules  Bhadrasana   Brmhacharya asana   Don't Do Asanas When   Eye Exercises   Gomukhasana   Hathyoga warm-up   Yoga Introduction  Introduction   Surya Namaskaar  The Plough Posture   The Spinal Roll or Rocking Exercise   The Stomach Lift   What Asanas Will Do For You   Yoni asana   Practical Suggestions to Hath Yoga Students   How to Practice   Schedule of Exercises

The Hatha Yoga exercises are to give us control over body and mind. The practice of the Asanas in conjunction with Pranayama will give us control over the body. The concentrated attention fixed upon the part of the body indicated in the description of the various Asanas is meant to teach us watchfulness of a higher order, to discipline our thoughts, our mind.

It would, of course, be impossible to practise all the exercises described in this volume at one session. At the Yoga Ashrams or schools, the Guru supervises the practice of his pupils and prescribes the exercises most suitable for the individual student. There is a number of Asanas and the Pranayama exercises which are fundamental and which should be practised regularly by everyone. The selection of others is, more or less, a matter of personal choice, depending on aptitude and temperament. There are Yogis who think that it is best never to change the Asanas and to adhere tenaciously to the set once chosen. We believe that the best course to follow is to practise all of the exercises contained in this book according to the weekly schedule hereafter and which, in every week, contains the fundamental exercises which should always be included in whatever personal selection you may eventually make. In this way you will gradually evolve a set of exercises which suit you best. This is common sense.

Among the exercises given in the following schedule there is one, always the ninth, which is followed by the relaxation exercise, Savasana. This ninth exercises is one of meditation and is meant to train us in the disciplining of our thoughts. During the few minutes of this exercise, we sit in Sidhasana posture, elminate every thought, concentrate on the heart and regulate the breath until it becomes quite slow and even. We sit straight and still and experience perfect peace. All our attention is fixed on the heart as though our very self were entering into it. Thus we meditate, radiating serene calm and repose. Then, maintaining peace in our hearts, we lie down and terminate the exercise with Savasana.