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Morning Yoga Sādhanā: Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, and Inner Stillness

Morning Yoga Sādhanā unites āsana, prāṇāyāma, and inner stillness during Brahmamuhūrta.

Feel the whole body on the floor, press the lower back down. Bicycle the legs with ankle rotation, then relax. Twist knees to one side, head opposite, with breath. In Pavanamuktāsana, press thigh to chest, keep shoulder blades down. Move through Mārjārī variations, rounding the back with inhalation. Practice Vyāghra Śvāsa, bringing knee to forehead, stretching the spine. Rowing warms the body, strengthening thighs with a straight back. Trikoṇāsana rotation stretches side muscles, deepening leg awareness. Skandāsana raises hips, improving low blood pressure quickly. Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā lifts legs, interlocking fingers, then relaxes. Kāṭha Praṇāma sequence transitions to Śaśāṅkāsana, subtly stretching the upper back. Half butterfly opens hips, pressing knees toward the floor. Breath flows from stomach to throat on inhalation, reversing on exhalation. Inner stillness arises through attentive movement and breath. Early morning practice fosters positivity and health. The session closes with relaxation, embracing the silence.

“We are in Brahmamuhūrta. Regarding this time, we all know it is a special part of the day … it is very good to do some positive and good things.”

“Skandāsana is a very good āsana if you have low blood pressure; it’s much faster and much healthier than early morning coffee.”

Filming location: Umag, Croatia

Feel your whole body, the contact of your whole body with the floor. Try to feel your entire spine on the floor: with your stomach, press the lower part of your back down; your chin draws slightly toward your chest. Slowly, when you are ready, raise your right leg and begin the bicycle movement, second variation, like riding a real bicycle. Do not forget your ankles and the rotation from your ankles. I’m sure you all know the joke that in yoga, there is no speed limit on the bicycle—and no speeding tickets either. So we can go a little faster. Just be aware of your motion and don’t lose the quality of movement; you are still making big circles. Slowly, you finish. After the next circle, put your leg down. With a few exhalations, relax your whole body. Of course, in the other direction. Again, raise your leg and start cycling, once more a little faster. Don’t forget your ankles and the soles of your feet. Slowly finish and relax your legs. Just feel the circulation in your legs. You can feel your whole stomach, the lower part of your back, warmth. Observe your breathing. Try to feel your inhalation from the stomach to the throat, and your exhalation from the throat to the stomach. Again, try to feel this posture. Feel that your shoulders and shoulder blades are on the floor, and they should remain on the floor during the entire torsion exercise. So, a slightly deeper inhalation, mala dublja udisaj; with exhalation the knees go to the right, simultaneously the head and gaze go to the left. Inhale in the middle, udisaj sredina; exhale, your knees go to the right, eyes and face to the left. Inhale in the middle, exhale to the other side, izdisaj na druga strana. Once more, inhale in the middle, exhale, knees to the right; inhale in the center, exhale to the left, and exhale on your left. Inhale, come back to the middle. With exhalation, relax your legs, put your hands beside your body. Pavanamuktāsana. Podignite desnom nogom. We’ll start all together. With inhalation, raise your right leg. Exhale, bend your knee. Press your thigh onto your chest and raise your head. Your shoulder blades remain on the floor. Stay in the position. Inhale, put your head on the floor, exhale, relax your leg. We will do it once more, breathing normally in the position. With inhalation, raise your leg; try to keep your left leg straight, as if you want to press the inner part of your knee to the floor. With the next inhalation, put your head on the floor, exhale. Left side: inhale, exhale, raise your head and breathe normally. Again, try to straighten your right leg. With inhalation, put your head on the floor and slowly sit up in Vajrāsana. We will do Mārjārī. Place your palms on your thighs, back straight, shoulders relaxed. Slowly with inhalation, come up… 3. Inhale, udīsai; 4. izdisai; 5. udīsai; 6. exhale, izdisai; 7. inhale; 8. exhale, izdisai; 9. slowly we come up; 10. Sit in Vajrāsana once more. One, inhale; two, exhale; three, udisai; four, udisai; five, udisai; six, inhale; eight, exhale; seven, udisai; nine, slowly we come up. Sit in Vajrāsana once more. Inhale, 1; inhale, udīśai; 2. exhale; 3. udīśai; 4. udīśai; 5. udīśai; 6. udisai; 7. inhale; 8. exhale; 7. udisai; 8. udisai; 9. slowly we come up; 10. Sit in Vajrāsana once more. One, inhale; one, exhale; three, inhale. Try to draw your shoulders a little more down, as if pressing the floor a bit more. Four, exhale; five, inhale; six, seven, eight, nine, slowly we come up; nine and ten. Sit back in Vajrāsana. Now we will do the second variation, with palms and elbows on the floor. Take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Again, with inhalation we come up; dva, exhalation. With exhalation, place palms and elbows on the floor, round the back, and try to push away from the floor with your elbows a little more. 3, inhale, udīśaj; 4, exhale, udīśaj; 5, 8, 6, 7, 8, 9, we slowly come up, and 10. I think now we are ready for Vyāghra Śvāsa, Tiger. Again, take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Izvacem od tigra, Vyāghra Śvāsa. Inhale, come up; one, udise; two, exhale, put your palms on the floor, right knee goes toward your forehead, and just breathe in this position. You are pushing away from the floor with your palms, and your thigh is as close to your chest as possible. Try to keep your pelvis straight; there is actually no need to lift the leg too high—your thigh should be parallel with the floor. You can lower your knee a little more. It’s good to see you are removing your sweaters and jackets. We will do the other side. Again, one full inhalation, raise your knees; two, put palms down, left knee goes toward the forehead—on the left side. Just relax in this position. We are in Brahmamuhūrta. Regarding this time, we all know it is a special part of the day, among other things, for doing everything; when there are such moments, it is very good to do some positive and good things. And about place—well, we are on the Adriatic coast. So what could be more appropriate for this early morning, for this opportunity, than sailing? So we will do rowing. I’m sure you all know this is a wonderful exercise for warming up the body, for strengthening and toning the thighs. We will do ten circles in each direction. The only important thing when you go down: when you inhale and stretch your arms, try to keep your back straight. Do not round like this. Then come forward, make yourself like a little ball, and try to stretch your arms and back. In this position, your arms and back are in one line. We all have enough space, so imagine you have a big something behind your back and just relax and enjoy. Okay, let’s try it that way. Inhale, with exhalation bend forward, palms on the floor beside your feet. Slowly with inhalation, place your thumb inside your fist, inhale, go back, and stretch your arms. Up, stretch fingers, and exhale. Easy, 2—that means two breaths, inhale and exhale—3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. We will stay in this final position with arms stretched and legs straight, halfway, and just relax for a moment. Like this. Take a few gentle inhalations and exhalations. Try to remember Madhurī Mudrā, so your forehead is relaxed. Slowly, with exhalation, come down. Turn your palms upward. Again, one inhale—jeden udisaj—and exhale. Mahāprabhudīp Karatā Purījī, Siddha Purījī, Siddha… Now slowly bend your toes. Ispružite and do it a few times in your own rhythm. Try to bend them as much as you can, like when you were a child and wanted to grab something with your feet. Stand with your feet slightly wider, arms spread for stability, and be careful not to slip on your mat. Your feet are hips-width apart, back straight, pelvis slightly pushed forward, legs straight. Inhale, raise your arms. Exhale to your right. Inhale to your left. Inhale to your right. Exhale to your left. Inhale to your right. Exhale to your left. Inhale to your left. Exhale to your right. Continue: exhale to your left, exhale to your right, exhale to your left, exhale to your right, exhale… (the sequence repeats). Exhale, inhale, udīsaj, and exhale. We will do it once more. Again, inhale mindfully, raise your arms to shoulder height, exhale to your left; try to feel the stretching of your side muscles with every breath. Inhale, come up, exhale, relax your arms. Inhale on the other side, exhale. Breathe normally—normal means inhalation from stomach to throat, exhalation from throat to stomach. Inhale, come to the middle, exhale, relax. Now the fourth variation of Trikoṇāsana: we bend forward and then rotate, bringing the right arm toward the left ankle, and later the other side. Once on each side. For a moment, just feel your standing position. Again, straighten your back and relax your shoulders. Once more, inhale and exhale. No, don’t start yet. Feel your feet on the floor and feel this position. Sit on your back? Actually, just stand firmly. Now, with inhalation, raise your arms. When your back is parallel with the floor, rotate. If you cannot reach your ankle, hold your shin or the inner side of your knee. Try to keep your back straight; knees straight, legs straight, and gaze up at the fingers of your top arm. Inhale, come to the middle. With a straight back, come up and exhale, relaxing your arms. Other side: again, inhale, raise your arms. Exhale, hinge from your hips with a straight back, go down. Your back parallel to the floor, then rotate. Now slowly try to press your heels a little more into the floor and deepen the stretch in your legs. With inhalation, sudi sam se polako vratim u sredinu, we come to the middle, with straight back we come up. Exhale, relax, and slowly lie down in Ānanda Āsana. Again, feel your whole body. Try to feel the difference in your body after doing these āsanas. If you feel any tension, release it with exhalation. We will continue with Skandāsana. Slowly bend your knees, bring your soles as close to your buttocks as possible, and hold your ankles. If you cannot hold your ankles, place your palms as near as you can. For a moment, feel this position, and especially the position of your neck: the top of your head is not on the floor. Try to press your neck more toward the floor and feel the stretching of the neck. This is where neck muscles connect to the skull, and the stretch travels all the way to your shoulder blades. Make a nice movement as if you want to press the door to the floor—feel that stretch from the joint of the head and neck all the way between the shoulder blades. Try to maintain this neck position throughout the whole practice of Skandāsana. Take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. With inhalation, come up: raise your hips as high as possible, as if you want your hips higher than your knees. With exhalation, go down. We will do it two more times. Mahāprabhudīp Karatā Purī Jī, Siddha Karatā Purī Jī, Siddha… Karata Purījī. Try to be aware of your stomach, abdominal breathing, the stretching of your stomach, and how it affects your hips, the muscles around the hips, the thighs, and the upper knee muscles—and again, how with exhalation you are relaxing your whole body. Once more with inhalation, come up. Stay in the position and breathe. It’s actually not the kind of āsana in which you can watch television. Slowly go down. Stretch your legs. Skandāsana is a very good āsana if you have low blood pressure; it’s much faster and much healthier than early morning coffee. We will do Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā. Slowly put your feet together, hands beside your body. Inhale, raise your legs, interlock your fingers as in Dvikonāsana, and try to keep your elbows as close together as possible. After the next exhalation, slowly go down. Carefully place your legs back on the floor. Slowly take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. With the next inhalation, raise your arms above your head. Stretch your whole body—heels reaching away, fingers reaching in the opposite direction. We will do it once more. Chin comes to your chest, and you press the lower back to the floor with your abdomen. Just like when we turn to the right side. With exhalation, turn onto your right side. Inhale, come to the middle, udhisa je sredina; exhale to the left. Do this three more times on each side, at your own rhythm and pace, in a way that suits you and your neighbor. When you finish, just place your hands down on the floor. As that beautiful folk saying goes, sugar comes at the end. So, we are going to do Kāṭha Praṇāma. Sit in Vajrāsana. We will do one round. Feel the position of Vajrāsana. Elbows straight, as if you want to bring your upper arms to your ears and close your ears. 11, with straight back we go down. 11, 12, right leg goes back. 13, 14, 15, 16, we go into Bhujaṅgāsana. If you don’t feel safe on your hands, you can put your knees on the floor first. 17, 18, 19, with stretched legs we come up. And 20, exhale and relax. Once more, a little faster this time. Then we will relax in Śaśāṅkāsana. So, a little faster in the second cycle. Yedan udisai: one inhale; two exhale, dva izdisai; three inhale, tri udisai; four try to hold your breath; five exhale, osam izdisai; six left leg goes in front, inhale, stretch, try to hold your breath, exhale; with inhalation right leg goes in front, tilt the left one, straight back we come up. Purījī, Purījī… Sit in Śaśāṅkāsana. Feel the breath, full from the spine to the neck. Since the thoracic spine cannot spread forward in this position, this subtle stretch transfers to the sternum, to the part of the lungs, and to the sacrum. You can feel it as a fine stretching and sense the circulation to the head. The stretch reflects on the back side of the lungs, where they connect to the spine. Feel the gentle stretching of your upper back and the circulation toward your head. Slowly, with the next inhalation, polako se sidući mudisayam uspravite, stretch once more, spojite lanove, nadlapicama zatvorite uši, and exhale. Slowly sit in Daṇḍāsana, and we will do the half butterfly. Izicamo poleptir. Slowly place your right ankle on your left thigh. If it hurts or you feel too much heat in your knee, then do the variation where the foot rests on the inner side of the knee. If you experience a burning sensation around the knee or a cramp, rather place the foot next to the hip and proceed that way. Inhale, stretch up. Tighten; exhale, bend forward and go down. Inhale, come up. Tighten, second time. Exhale. Once more: inhale, exhale. With inhalation come up; with exhalation slowly lower the hand, stretch the leg. We will do the other side. Again, inhale, raise your arm. Stegnemo ruku, exhale, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Second time, exhale. Drugi put, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Once more, exhale. Inhale, slowly come up. Saudisaj mi, stegnemo ruku. Exhale, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Second time, exhale. Drugi put, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Once more, exhale. Inhale, slowly come up. Izdisaj, mi stegnemo ruku. Exhale, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Second time, exhale. Drugi put, izdisaj. Inhale, udisaj. Once more, exhale. Inhale, slowly come up. Now inhale, place your hand down, relax your leg, and we repeat the butterfly. You don’t have to lift your knees so high; just try to press your knees more toward the floor. Again, inhale, straighten up; exhale, and exhale. Inhale, slowly come up; once more exhale. Again we come up. Slowly stretch both legs; you can shake them a little if you like. Then sit in a posture for Prāṇāyāma. Nāhaṁ Karatā Prabhu Dīp Karatā Mahāprabhujī Dīp Karatā He Kevalam. This is a spiritual lecture about Yoga in the Indian tradition. Śānti, Śānti,… Shanti. Slowly move your head toward your left ear, to your right. Move your shoulders. Slowly move your head, your shoulders. Move your fingers. Put your palms together, rub them, embrace, and place them on your face. Warm up your facial muscles: forehead, eyes, cheeks. Slowly open your eyes. Bend forward, feel the circulation toward your head, the stretching of your back. Slowly come up. Okay, so hurry on.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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