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.
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