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Part 1: Yoga Practice: Āsanas for Strength and Flexibility It’s as if someone is gently lifting us by the fingertips, allowing us to feel a lateral stretch along the sides of the body. We extend a little further upward, sensing a pleasant elongation of the side muscles. Open your hands and lower down. Palms open, we descend to knee level into Śaśāṅgāsana (the Hare pose). The neck and shoulders remain relaxed. With each exhalation and inhalation, enjoy the gentle massage of the abdominal muscles and organs. On an inhalation, move forward. Bring the chin, chest, knees, and toes to the floor. Stretch forward into Bhujaṅgāsana (Cobra pose), emphasizing maximum extension in the thoracic spine. If there is discomfort in the lower back, allow the navel to stay on the ground. If pain arises in the lower spine, keep the buttocks down. Lift the upper body, opening the chest as much as possible. If it’s possible, lower the heels all the way to the floor and press them back with the hands to straighten the legs fully. Try to place the whole feet on the ground. Feel the nice stretching of the back of the legs and lengthen a little more through the back. Step the right foot forward. Lift the right leg and right foot. Gaze at the fingers, stretching upward through the chest and hands, while feeling the stretch along the spine on the other side. We experience stretching in two directions: the hands reaching up lengthen the side muscles, and the legs simultaneously stretch. Open the palms and lower the hands. Feel the leg muscles and the back muscles stretching. The back elongates, and a pleasant circulation flows toward the head. With a straight back, rise from the hips. Join the palms together and stretch upward, as if someone is pulling you up. Again, feel the lateral muscles of the body stretch. Keep the elbows straight and the palms fully together. Open the palms and lower from the hips, attempting to open the chest and avoid rounding the back. Look up; only the trunk moves while the legs remain fixed. Move the trunk to the center and raise the hands. Open the palms, lower the hands down. Spread the chest as much as possible and look up. Breathe normally. Continue to stretch through the chest area. The neck stays straight, as in the Cat pose—don’t break the neck by dropping it sharply, and avoid any pain in the chest. Exhale. With the chin parallel to the floor and the support of the hands, return to Śaśāṅgāsana (the posture of the egg). We will perform one more cycle, but this time we will coordinate the movements with the breath, instead of breathing in each position separately. We’ll do it all together: 1. Inhale. 2. Exhale. 3. Inhale. 4. Retain the breath. 5. Exhale. 6. Inhale. Retain the breath. Exhale. With empty lungs, on the inhalation rise up; exhalation, slowly lower down. Inhale, retain the breath, then exhale and lower the hands. Without breathing, change the position. With inhalation, go down into Bhujaṅgāsana. Exhale, hold the breath out, move into Śaśāṅgāsana. With the breath held, with empty lungs, stay in Śaśāṅgāsana. Inhale to rise, exhale to lower the hands, and lie down in Ānandāsana (the Relaxation pose). Relax completely in this position. In Katha Praṇām, all the muscles, joints, and organs are activated during the practice. A very fine circulation moves toward the head, so now we can simply relax. Take a few deeper inhalations and exhalations. Now we’ll perform a few āsanas while lying on the stomach and slowly turn onto the belly. Inhalation raises the upper body; exhalation lowers it. Let’s do it together: one, go up, and down. Inhale to rise, exhale to lower. Lift only the trunk from the floor; keep the hands on the ground. In the next variation, lift both hands and the feet—no, the entire legs, including the knees—off the floor. With inhalation, rise: 1, 2, 3, … (counting continues up to 62). The sixty-two āsanas are excellent for restarting circulation in the body and raising blood pressure—we can use them instead of coffee after Yoga Nidrā. Once, while practicing these āsanas with Swāmījī, he remarked, “If we didn’t have our stomach, we could levitate.” And indeed, when we held the upper position, he said if we didn’t have our stomach, we could all levitate together. Again, take a few deep inhalations and exhalations. Stay on the stomach, spread the legs, press the heels outward and the fingers inward, and prepare for Tiryak Bhujaṅgāsana (the Twisting Cobra). I’ll demonstrate: lift the upper body while inhaling, just as in Cobra. With exhalation, look forward, then turn to gaze over one shoulder toward the opposite heel—not the first heel, but the second one. Inhale to the center, look up; exhale and lower down. If you have problems with the lower back, keep the navel on the floor. When doing the twist, stretch and look over the shoulder without collapsing. Feel the spine lengthen. Let’s do it together: inhale, look up; exhale, lower and twist to the left; inhale to the center; exhale and lower. Repeat to the right. One more round: inhale, exhale and twist right; inhale to center, look up; exhale down. Place the hands and legs down and simply relax on the stomach. When practicing backbends or while on the stomach, we sometimes compensate for an inability to lift the chest by over-stretching the lower back. If you feel tension there, breathe into the belly—make the stomach a little fuller with a deeper inhalation and exhalation—so the back muscles can release. This āsana is very beneficial for the spine, especially for those who sit a great deal during the day. Moreover, it aids digestion, similar to the effects of Karata Yoga Kriya during Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. Take a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation, then stand up. If there is still some tension in the lower back, we will all practice Pavan Mukta Āsana (Wind-Relieving pose) standing up, breathing normally in the posture. Fix your gaze on one point in front of you. Shift the weight onto the left leg, inhale and raise the right leg, exhale to draw the knee toward the chest. Breathe normally. In this position, pull the knee as close as possible to the chest to feel a pleasant stretch in the lower back and the back of the leg. Then lower the leg. Shift the weight onto the right leg and raise the left leg, repeating the same movement. Stand with the legs apart. We’ll practice the fourth variation of Trikoṇāsana (the Triangle pose). Keep the back straight and gaze at the fingers of the raised arm. Breathe normally in the pose. Then, twist: reach the left hand to grasp the right leg. If possible, widen the stance beyond hip-width, so the weight rests on the legs. Feel the stretch along the right side of the leg. Look at the fingers, as if someone is gently pushing your shoulder to deepen the twist. Inhale to return to the center, rise up, and exhale to lower the hands. Take a deeper inhalation and exhalation. Now extend the legs a little more apart for the other side. Inhale, go down with the exhalation, and grasp the left ankle with the right hand (or hold the leg wherever you can reach). Keep the legs extended and feel the weight on them. Experience the stretch in the legs, the twist in the torso, and look at the fingers. Legs straight, back straight; inhale to the center, rise up, exhale. As we heard in satsaṅg today, this is the morning of Hanumān, the day of physical and mental strength. Since it is Hanumānjī’s day, we will do a few āsanas for physical strength, followed by prānāyāma for mental strength. When bending, focus on bending from the hips as much as possible, not just with the legs straight. Maximize the stretch in the hips first, then place the hand down. The head moves up, and we rise. Moving up and down in this way extra strengthens the legs, especially the knees. Part 2: Morning Practice: Building Physical and Mental Strength with Āsanas and Nāḍī Śodhana Level 4 This sequence is good for our legs and our knees, helping us to sit longer and longer. Let’s do it together. Inhale, exhale, go down and to the left. Inhale, come up, and exhale in the middle. If this variation is too difficult, you may do the previous variation of Trikoṇāsana, where the head goes only toward the knee. We are not bending completely forward to the toes—this is a side bend, not a forward bend. Now go to the other side. Inhale and exhale; inhale, rise up, exhale, release the hands, and we continue. One cycle, then we relax. Inhale—one more round. Exhale, go down on the left; inhale, rise up; exhale, release the hands. On the other side, inhale. Inhale, we go up; exhale, we release the hands, and we lie down in Ānandāsana. Feel the legs, feel the circulation in the legs. Feel the fine circulation in the pelvis and throughout that part of the body. Now, as we relax a little, we can feel a nice, refreshing sensation in the legs. The circulation is so pleasant, and we feel a cooling effect there. Take a slightly deeper inhale and exhale. And again, a deeper inhalation and exhalation. Turn onto your left side. We are still focusing on physical strength, so we will do a few more āsanas from round four. If you have problems with your arms, shoulders, or wrists, you may practice Meru Ākhāṛā Āsana from the second level. If any other difficulty prevents you from performing this āsana, simply continue with Meru Ākhāṛā Nāsana from the second level at your own rhythm, as we did yesterday. I will demonstrate first; then we will do it together. It is very simple. Throughout, we do not place the entire sole of the lower foot on the floor—the foot stays on one part of the sole. Now we do it together. If you cannot manage it, just do Meru Ākaraṇāsana at your own pace. Feel the strength in your hands; we are not using the other hand to lift up and down—instead, we hide it behind the back. Place the other hand behind the head, inhale, and rise up. Inhaling, try to lift the body. When we shift the weight down, we raise the legs, and slowly, exhaling, go down. Be careful not to slip. Second time: inhale, exhale, and go down. We will need to build that bridge in the afternoon, so we will need strength to carry the stones. Let’s do one more. Inhale, rise up; exhale, lower down; and change to the other side. Turn to the other side and check that the body is in one plane—one straight line. Pull the toes, keep the hand parallel to the ground, and do not sink onto the elbow. The starting position is Meru Ākhāṛā Nāsana, so we press away from the shoulder and feel the side muscles of the torso lengthening. Inhale, rise and lift the leg; exhale. Second time: inhale and exhale. Third time: inhale, lift the leg, and exhale. Lower down and lie in Śavāsana to relax. Take a few deeper inhalations and exhalations. Observe how the breath moves inward with each inhalation and settles with each exhalation. This exercise works very well on our physical strength. It strengthens the body, especially the arms, the lateral muscles, the back, the legs, and the buttocks. It is also excellent for concentration. Once more, simply follow the breath: with inhalation the body stretches and expands; with exhalation it contracts. Feel the warmth in the body and the comfort of this position. The body has made an effort, it has moved, the circulation has been stimulated, and now we feel comfortable lying in Ānandāsana. Mahāprabhujī Karatā Purījī, Siddha Karatā Purījī, Siddha… Karatā. This next āsana is very good if we have trouble getting started in the morning—especially before work—but the one thing we do not do is climb out of bed and practice it right away. It is an excellent pose for headstanding or upside‑down work, let us say. I will demonstrate it. We will not practice it if we have any problems with the neck, cervical spine, high blood pressure, high eye pressure, or, of course, during pregnancy. If any of these conditions apply, you may do Sumeru‑Āsana from the second level, or simply Śaśāṅgāsana. I will show you first. We come up as if we were doing Marjari—any lift from Vajrāsana. Place the hands a little closer than in Madhavī, and set the head on the floor. Then lift up and try to maintain concentration. You can keep the feet slightly apart, standing on the toes, and check that you have enough strength and stability. If you are steady, take the hands up and simply stay. Throughout, press the head actively away from the floor so there is no tension in the neck. You may notice two things: some discomfort in the head if the floor is hard, and the thighs working intensely—they will complain. We will do it together. Spread the feet about hip‑width apart and feel the balance. Once balanced, lift the hands and continue pressing the head away from the floor to keep the neck free. Also draw the chest slightly forward so the spine stays straight. Inhale to come up, exhale to sit down. Close the eyes and relax in this position; immediately feel a pleasant circulation in the face, head, and eyes. Now Yoga Mudrā from the fourth level. If you have high blood pressure and this position does not suit you, simply lie down in Ānandāsana. Hold the left wrist, stretch upward, and with a straight back, exhale to go down. Place the head on the floor and just breathe. The position is completely comfortable: the neck is relaxed, no tension there, the shoulders are fully relaxed, the elbows are loose, the stomach is soft, and we feel all the abdominal organs receiving a gentle massage. This is very calming, and we simply follow the inhalation and exhalation, aware of the breath. With an exhalation, come up; with an exhalation, place the hands on the thighs. Without any unnecessary movements, lie down in Ānandāsana. Feel the freshness in the head, the circulation there, and a very deep silence—the full yogic breath. I am aware that I am inhaling and exhaling. With every inhalation, follow the flow of the breath from the navel to the throat; with every exhalation, from the throat back to the navel. If thoughts wander, gently bring them back to the flow of breath. Again, a slightly deeper inhalation and exhalation. Slowly move the body: the hands, the arms, the legs; turn the head left and right. With an inhalation, stretch the arms overhead and draw the toes toward the body; exhale, return the hands beside the body. Bring the palms together and warm them. Then sit up into your meditation posture. We will now practice prāṇāyāma. It is time for mental strength, and the best technique for that is Nāḍī Śodhana Level 4, because of the breath retention—both with full lungs and with empty lungs. This morning we did Nāḍī Śodhana, third stage. Now we move to the fourth stage: we consciously hold the breath after exhalation as well. If you have never practiced Nāḍīśuddhana Level 4, you may try it now; if it is not comfortable, simply continue with Level 3. The rhythm remains the same: we can inhale for four seconds, retain for sixteen seconds, exhale for eight, and retain with empty lungs for four. If Level 4 is new to you, retain only as long as is comfortable. Are there any questions? Today is Hanumānjī’s day, so the practice is a little more focused on physical strength. We can do this without our prāṇāyāma stick. Close the eyes and settle comfortably; feel that the position is completely at ease. If there is any tension, gently shift. Relax. The stomach is soft, the back is straight. Follow the natural flow of the breath with inhalation from the navel to the throat and exhalation from the throat to the navel. Now we sing the mantra Om Iyad. Once, on an inhalation: Mahāprabhujī Karatā, Mahāprabhujī Karatā He Kevalam. For just a moment, remain still and feel that peace, peace within. With the help of the hands, come up. So, because we practiced our āsanas like Hanumānjī and performed prāṇāyāma like Hanumānjī, now I wish you a good appetite. Go and enjoy your dinner like Hanumānjī.