TV Channel

Part 1: Practicing Āsanas for Relaxation, Healing, and Mental Calm Slowly sit in Vajrāsana. Vajrāsana is excellent for relaxation. For our friends who are watching us on the webcast through the internet, good afternoon. We will practice āsanas here. As you can see, this hall is full of our friends, your friends, who are practicing āsanas. Because of the full hall, we will practice something either in Vajrāsana or standing āsanas. But in my country, Croatia, they say, “If his people are not full of anger and hate, all the time we have enough space.” We will have enough space for practicing āsanas. Just relax in Vajrāsana. Vajrāsana has a great effect on the Maṇipūra, the Ājñā, and the heart cakra. What does this mean? If you have any problem with digestion, or if you eat something and have trouble digesting the food, just sit in Vajrāsana for 10–15 minutes, and you will feel that everything becomes much easier. So, if you have a problem with your diet, try sitting in Vajrāsana for 10–15 minutes, and you will feel much better; it will be easier for you to digest your food. If you have a dietary problem, sit in Vajrāsana for five to ten minutes, and you will see immediate improvement. It is also excellent if you have any problem with your emotions. If you feel a big wave—that the citta-vṛtti is high—just sit in Vajrāsana, and you will feel peace in a few minutes. If you have broken emotions, for a couple of minutes you will be able to calm down. Emotion is excellent for our thoughts. We will feel that the citta-vṛtti is slowly, slowly becoming nice and relaxed. Our thoughts become relaxed. We will be able to see our thoughts, and we will be able to calm down. It will open up our thoughts, and you will notice that if you sit in this āsana, the citta-vṛtti will be silenced. Palms are on the knees, and because of that, your shoulders are completely relaxed. Vajrāsana is also excellent against headaches. We influence the Maṇipūra, Anāhata, and Ājñā Cakras. Also, Vajrāsana got its name because it has a very strong effect on the Vajranāḍī. Now we will start with the Marjari. First variation: One, inhale. Two, exhale. [Continue through ten breaths.] Nine, and slowly sit. Ten. Now we will have the second variation of Marjari. The second variation has no effect on the thoracic area, but there are a few very important things. First, when you go up, and when you go down—first and in the last movements—do not do it like this. We know it, but it’s much easier. And we know it’s not correct, but still we do it. But try all the time when you go up, like this, and also when you go down, the same way. You will feel your thighs, and it’s excellent for your knees. Second, the palms were on the floor, but now we will put the elbows in the same place where we put the palms. So, not like this, not like this—no, the same position. That puts it on the floor. One, inhale. Two, exhale. Look at your navel. Kilenc, we rise up. And ten. Tíz. Second round. [Continue through ten breaths.] One. Inhale. Two. Exhale. Three. Almost everything is the same, but on the exhale, your feet go up and look to the front. Inhale, exhale on the left, and try to see your fingers—not under, but up. Inhale and exhale. Three rounds. After that, slowly go down, exhale, inhale, and exhale. If you remember one very old Swamiji’s book, Yoga for Spinal Column, these three variations were in that book. First, for the whole spinal column. Second, also for the whole spinal column, but without influence on the thoracic area. And this third variation, moving left and right. You will feel a nice, warm feeling in the lower part of the spine. Now, together, one, inhale, two, exhale. Look now ahead in front of you. Your foot goes up, inhale, exhale left, and try to see it. Inhale, another exhale, and try to see it. Inhale, another exhale, and try to see it. Inhale, another exhale, and try to. See it: inhale, another exhale, and try to see. It goes: inhale, another exhale, and try to see. It goes: inhale, another exhale, and try to see. It goes: inhale, another exhale, and try to see. It goes: inhale, another exhale. Siyo tos, inhale. Second round: exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale. Third, exhale. Inhale and exhale. Inhale, foot on the floor. Exhale, slowly go up. Inhale and sit with exhalation. Just relax. Try to feel the influence of the āsanas, of Mārjārīāsana. Be aware of the spinal column. Be aware of the breathing process. Now we will rotate the shoulder from this position. Also, one very important thing. When we practice, mostly people practice in this way. It’s okay, why not? But if we want to have more effect, and if you want to influence breathing—against asthma and any lung problem—just try to do like this. Inhale, but not here; up, up, up. If you want the practice to have a bigger effect, for example, if you have asthma or any other respiratory disease, then slowly describe big circles. Inhale, up. In this position—not like this—what you will feel is the upper part going up. In this position, it is very hard to stay, to have kyphosis. You must go up. And in this position, you will feel immediately on the back side these muscles, some stretching, a nice feeling of these muscles behind. And if we practice in such a way, we will not have problems with the shoulders. But if we practice like... I practice every day, and I practice every day... I don’t know why I have a problem with the shoulders. Yes, because—like a bird—nothing. But if you practice it completely, then we will feel completely different. Only five times on one side. Together, we will stand in front. Put your elbows together. With inhalation, more, more, up, up, inhale, more. And exhale, only through the nose. Two, up, only through the nose. Three, exhale. Four, exhale. Five, on the other side, inhale, up, more, more. Imagine, like, you want to bring your elbows together. It’s here. We always spoke about abdominal breathing. It’s excellent. When we breathe abdominally, we will be relaxed, and our inhalation and exhalation will be deeper. But also very important is this upper part. Just go in front and up. When we practice this āsana, and when we inhale and go up, kyphosis does not exist. Yes, it exists if we have a long-term ear problem, but if we practice, we will feel the muscles and stretching. If you really do the exercise correctly, you will feel the release of the muscles. Śaśankāsana: inhale, and slowly go down, exhale. Dear friends, if you are watching us on the webcast, why not practice with us? If you are sitting in the chair, why not? This shoulder rotation is also excellent. If you are in the office on a chair, try to practice, and you will feel a really good result, especially if you are sitting with the mouse in front of the computer. And now slowly go up with inhalation—so this time in the middle—and with exhalation, palms on the thigh muscles. One more nice āsana from Vajrāsana. You know that two years ago we practiced a lot of Vajrāsana and Vīrāsana with the Swāmījī. Now, sit in Vīrāsana. First, sit on the board. Just prepare. Then left leg in front. The heel is somewhere in the same line with the knee, and also try to sit with a stretched spinal cord. Try not to sit like this. When you are sitting like this, it’s not a good feeling, but try to sit with a stretch. Also, your whole body’s heaviness is now on the left leg, right? Sorry. Because it’s not in front, it’s almost free. You sit completely. And breathe, relaxed with the abdomen—not only the abdomen, complete yoga breathing. And it’s very hard. If you do not believe it, just sit in this position. We are sitting, and we know that it’s very hard. Now change. This āsana is excellent if you have flat feet. I don’t know the English word. If you have flat feet, it is also excellent against fear. Why? Always ask why. Because it has a very big influence on the Vajranāḍī. That is the first reason. And the Vajranāḍī passes through Suṣumnā also. Fear is not a human quality; fear is an animal quality. In humans, there should not be fear. Fear is a quality below the mūlādhāra cakra. Change. Also, when somebody has a problem with thoughts about suicide—such thoughts occur when our consciousness goes below the mūlādhāra cakra. Just try to sit in this position. You will see: no stress, no fear, no suicidal ideas. You have only one idea: please finish this āsana. If such thoughts attack you, you will see in this position that the fears will disappear immediately, the negative thoughts will disappear immediately, and you will only be able to think about one thing: when will I finally finish this practice? But it’s true, it’s excellent against flat feet, because I have them. But before, I got a really strong form, like a big foot. After water, I saw my... And I always have a problem with the toes; there is no feeling in the toes. But if you practice every day—not for one week, but for a few months—change will come. Slowly, slowly, start again. In feeling and result, it is like a dead finger. It’s really excellent. Also, it is excellent again for migraine, headache. And again, on both legs. Now, easy, easy. Now we almost enjoy this position. This is easy, we won’t enjoy it anymore. Just a little more, and now slowly sit in Daṇḍāsana. Stretch your leg. A little practice with the fingers, but not only like this, no. Try completely, and after that, and again, you will feel like a spasm here. It’s good, excellent. And after that, separate each finger. You will feel the whole muscles here. But also, if you practice like this—like you imagine you are in the car cleaning the front window, like this. But how do you do it as fast as the doctor? Nothing, but your leg must be completely without movement. Only rotate your feet. Try to hold and feel: are your knees without movement, or are they moving? Are you looking to clean a friend’s window? Saiba, yes, one other side. And relax. Relax. And now feel. You will feel everything. You feel circulation, you feel a nice, relaxed feeling in your legs, and at the same time you will feel that your stress is releasing. Put your hands on the knee. You have a problem because you are working with the mouse, and you also have some cyst here. You will see—you know this—when you have some cyst, what now we have. If you have some stiffness here, you must practice this āsana. Every time you stretch, you will feel a lot of muscles here. Not here, but also on the elbow. Those who work on the computer have a lot of problems with their crotch; maybe even a cyst can be on it. They should do this exercise. If you don’t believe, just hold your elbow here and stretch. Do you feel a lot of muscle? Another. Do you feel the muscles? Yes. And if you said, “I have a problem with the elbow, what should I do?” and if you, like your teacher said, “This āsana is good?” No, you speak stupid. I don’t have a problem with the fingers; I have a problem with the elbow or shoulder. Yes, but this exercise is for the whole hand. Up, down, to—but not 20% less than our capacity; 100%. And sit straight. And five. And now again, up. And now we will go in—not like this, straight. And out, more. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam. Okay, and now we rotate, but not like this. If you practice like this for twenty or thirty years, nothing. And almost all people practice in the beginning like this. But, you know, put your mobile phone away. Somebody will say that I work for a mobile company, but... And practice. Down is water, the other side. No, your mobile phone will fall down. It’s out of movement. If you have a watch, you have this glass; it must be parallel with the floor or... See? If you have a karora, pay attention that it is parallel to the top of the karora. And now, just be aware of your palms, what you feel, and also be aware of how these very simple āsanas influence our mind. Also, you will feel this area of Sahasrāra, and you will be relaxed. And also, many people have cold and wet palms, and this āsana is excellent against that. And now, deep inhale, exhale. And slowly stand up. We don’t have enough space for Trikoṇāsana, but we will practice from the first level. Inhale. Hello, one, please. I know that you are not, but in case, when we are in this position, try not to do it this way, and we are thinking, “Oh, I am, I am, I am really good.” We are staying in this position, we are not moving in the thoracic area, just... And you think, “Oh, I am really flexible.” Imagine then somebody put you in wet cement, and you are completely immobilized from this area down. And all the movements up—same, but with shoulders, inhale, but up. The second problem: when you go up, you also go like this, and you will have pain here. Do not stretch your body, and your pelvis goes back. Always we see, no, but your pelvis goes a little in front, and you will not have pain in the lower part of the spinal cord. And just in the thoracic area, exhale, inhale and exhale. Not like this, once more—not like this, and this, and immediately you will have pain here if you practice immediately. No, step. Now we will start. Inhale. Inhale in the middle, left exhale. Inhale and exhale. Exhale, the chest area, not pelvis. Inhale, pelvis is completely without movement. Exhale, one elbow goes up and the second elbow goes down. Imagine that the pelvis is completely still. Imagine that somebody is pulling up your elbow. Inhale, exhale, stay in this position, and imagine that. Part 2: Yoga Practice: Harmonizing Body and Breath Somebody is pulling up your elbow, and the other elbow goes down. Breathe normally. Inhale, and the other side, exhale. Somebody is pulling up your elbow. Inhale. Inhale. And exhale. Exhale. Relax in this position. Lazíts. Try to feel this thoracic area. Also, be aware of the breathing process, how you breathe now. We will have space for Hastautānāsana. First, just look: inhale and rotate up. Just look first, rotate, not only rotate, but also this area goes up. But not, I tell you before, stay in this position up. Exhale, like somebody is pulling you up. Again, pulling you up, inhale. Inhale. Breathe. Exhale. Kilégzés. And immediately you will feel the whole muscle, the back muscle. And it’s excellent if you have some problem with the connection between the ribs and the spinal column. And if you have scoliosis, or you just bring the bag on one shoulder and you do not have scoliosis but you have something like scoliosis because of the bag. And also, we have all the time a problem with our brain because the left and right parts of the brain are not functioning in the same way. Always, one part is better than the other, and all these āsanas, when we practice with both sides of the body, we try to harmonize left and right. We also know haṭha, which means sun and moon, meaning on the stand. But all the time, we must coordinate the left and right parts of the body and also the left part of our brain. Inhale. Inhale, turn palm up. Exhale. So, continuing all the rhythm, but change left, right, left, right all the time. It is also excellent for the complete yoga breath. And once more, and relax. When it’s growing, the capacity of the lungs will be better. That’s first. Second, a very important thing: if we practice another way, we will go down from here. And many people will have a problem with the spasm here. And you will see what it means, that it’s a spasm. It’s too much contraction here in this area, and also it’s not good for your spinal column. If you do the exercise in a different way, you will get a cramp in your front. Inhale, up, chest, and a little go up, and exhale through the mouth, first parallel with the floor and go down, and after, hands go up. And after a few minutes, first become parallel with the floor, stretch in this area of the diaphragm, diaphragm, and up. And relax. Lazíts. But, if you have a problem with your shoulders, you don’t have, when you practice Dvikonāsana, you will have some of, you will have a problem with the elbow, and you will say, “Oh, I have pain in the elbow.” The elbow is not guilty. The shoulders and, what is the name? Wrist, ankle, yeah? Wrist, sorry. That is the problem. Because of that, we must practice all these movements, but still, if you have a problem, try with your shawl, every day a little, but after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this, every day a little. But after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this, every day a little. But after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this, every day a little. But after that, maybe in the beginning, you will... start like this, every day a little, but after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this, every day a little, but after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this, every day a little, but after that, maybe in the beginning, you will start like this. Better than on the other side, we will do it together. First, relax. Be aware of what we will practice, but relax your eyes. It is not spiritual if you all the time are looking up. You will gain only a headache, nothing else. You know, in the... people say that somebody will... Eyes go up, and he will fall down. It’s not spiritual if you all the time have... just relax. Like you are looking somewhere far, far in the horizon. And make one experiment. First, be somewhere here with your looking, somewhere here. And feel your eyes, and feel your thoughts. Maybe your eyes are closed; it’s no problem. And now, imagine that you are watching something very far on the horizon. And the horizon is never up. The horizon is always down. Not too down, but the horizon is down. The horizon is never up. Because it’s our earth, like a balloon, a little down. And try to watch somewhere. And again up, and again down. Do you feel some difference, especially during the meditation? If you are somewhere far in the horizon, immediately you will feel in the head, thoughts go down, and you are relaxed. Up, you... Are you here? You are thinking, like you are in the taxi, this machine. When you practice āsana, stand very far in the horizon. Inhale, and up, and slowly go down. Then stay in position. Stay in position without constant movements. Āsana means to stay in a position without movement. And now, slowly go up with inhalation. And exhale. And one more, once more. Inhale. And exhale, but also do not force, because if you are forcing, you will have too much stretching in some ligaments and tendons, and you will have a problem like tennis elbow. Slowly go up, and exhale, relax, and just stay. Be aware of your body, shoulders, elbows, circulation. And now, slowly sit in Vajrāsana, into Āsanas. First, Uṣṭrāsana, and after that, Śaśāṅkāsana. First variation, just look, we will go like in Marjari. If we are not practicing Marjari now, it does not mean that we are going up and down like this. We have learned from Marjari that all the time we will go on this way, up and down. And this means inhale, then exhale, and stay in this position. Breathe normally, especially in the abdomen. Do not relax your head, but keep your neck parallel with the floor. After a few minutes, you will inhale and slowly go down with an exhalation. Also, try not to have only movements in this area. Because if you do like this, you will have pain, and you will gain more problems with the lower part of the... But imagine that somebody is putting hands or something here. In that area, up in the chest area. And breathe normally with the abdomen, and you will not have any problem, any tension in the lower part. Inhale and exhale. The neck is parallel with the floor. Why? You now have pain in the neck. What is good? Because your neck is parallel with the floor, your head is heavy, and now you work on your muscles. Inhale, slowly go up, and exhale. Which kind of sound do you hear on the internet? It’s very important not to relax the head. If you have some problem with the neck, is there this fourth or fifth vertebra? This... And if you work in such a way, you will have more problems. But imagine, there is my mobile phone. Imagine that you have something here. And go back. You will see in the chest area I go, not in the neck area. And immediately when I do this, I feel stretching here. And it is impossible to have kyphosis. And up, you will see in this area, but if you do like this, you will have dizziness, and maybe when we practice the third or fourth variation, okay, but now first we must have very strong muscles, neck muscles, on the other side. Inhale and exhale. If you feel pain in the neck, it is excellent, because of strength. Give strength to the muscle, and you will have pain in the muscle. It’s good. But if you feel dizzy or some sound in the ear, it’s not good. Inhale, up, up... If you have pain in the lower part, it means, okay, let’s try more in this middle area, in the thoracic area, and breathe with the abdomen, and you will not have pain or tension in the lower part. One round more. Inhale, slowly go up, and exhale. Stay in position, and what is really most important? Enjoy. Really, in every position, enjoy it. Slowly go up, and with exhalation, sit. Before many years, I heard from Swamiji, once he said, not only once, many times, he said that in India it is usual to say, if your life is not so nice, so pleasant, but your spiritual life must be wonderful. Also, one great master said, “If you want to know if I have some development in my spirituality, just ask only one question: ‘Am I happy? Am I happy?’” If you answer, “Yes, I am happy,” it means that you have development. But if you say, “No, life is full of some bad things,” no, no, it means that we are not developed; we are going down. And also, if you practice āsanas, prāṇāyāma, meditation, oh my God, I must practice again, I feel pain, nothing. Swamiji also said many times, we must love our practice like the gold, the gold we want to gain. It means, if we want to gain realization of God, our practice, we must enjoy and love like a God. And because of that, enjoy every āsana. And you will feel better, less pain, especially in Vīrāsana. And sit with exhalation. And on the other side, inhale and exhale, stay, enjoy. All the time, try to be aware of your body. Be aware of your body, be aware of your breathing process, be aware of your thoughts and feelings. Be aware, if we are practicing āsanas and we are thinking about home, about the dog, or something else, we are not here in this moment. Slowly inhale and sit, exhale. It may be good for our body, but only for our body. But if we are here, feel our body, be aware of our thoughts, our feelings, and if we repeat mantra, we will have all, including arrangement, all benefit. And Śaśāṅkāsana. Slowly inhale. Śaśāṅkāsana. Rabbit. And exhale. And now, I am sure that you will enjoy this position. Also, in Uṣṭrāsana we work on the muscles. Stretching the thigh muscles, we work on the neck muscles and the lower part of the spinal column muscles against kyphosis, excellent for the thyroid glands. In Uṣṭrāsana, we work with different muscles, with the trapezius muscles and with the lumbar muscles; this is also very good for kidney problems. And now, Śaśāṅkāsana, stretching the whole spinal column and also the muscles, and relaxing. Also, your message, your inner organ, it takes over for your neck. In asana before, we work on the muscles, and now we are stretching. It is always very important to give strength to the muscles and also to stretch them. In the Śaśāṅkāsana, we stretch the muscles. It’s very important that if we do an exercise in which we strengthen the muscles, we do the exercises that stretch them afterwards. And now, slowly go up with inhalation, and with exhalation, palm from the eye. And now, slowly sit for prāṇāyāma. Stay, stay, stay. Why? Listen and... okay. Swamiji told when the program will be finished, 15 minutes more, just stay here, and I think we will get a surprise. Swamiji may come. Who knows? If he said that we will stay here, it means we are expecting something. Now you will have more enthusiasm about prāṇāyāma and staying here. Just sit comfortably. Same like this morning, but for our friends on the internet, once more: inhale, always the right hand, right hand is up, second and third finger is here in the area of the Ājñā Cakra. Prāṇāyāma, mudrā, why? Always question why. Not like this monkey work, what monkey saw, but we must know why. So don’t do what Maimon does, but let us know why we don’t do anything. Because if we put our fingers here constantly, we will work and be aware of the Ājñā Cakra. And inhale through the left. Exhale through the right. Inhale through the right. Exhale through the left. It means one. We will do five minutes on one side. Two minutes, we will relax. And after that, again, but inhale through the right. Exhale through the left. Inhale through the left. Exhale through the right, and we will finish with the prāṇāyāma. All the time during the prāṇāyāma, be aware of breathing, be aware of your mantra, maybe one mantra inhalation, two mantra exhalation. Complete yoga breath: abdomen, chest, this upper part; exhale: clavicular, middle, and lower part. But, not forcing. No, nobody, even you, hears your inhalation and exhalation. And inhalation and exhalation must be very gentle and relaxed. Always be aware of the Guru Gītā. If you are forcing prāṇāyāma, you will not gain anything, only illness. But if you have a state of love, bhakti, immediately prāṇāyāma will organize in you. And all the time, be aware that around us, everywhere, is prāṇa. And that prāṇa is neutral. And it depends on our thoughts, how we will paint it, how we will give a color to that prāṇa. If we are practicing prāṇāyāma and our sādhanā with complexes, minor complexes, I will show them I am great, but they don’t see in me my greatness. I will show my siddhi. We will have problems, not because of yoga, but because of your thoughts. And if you practice prāṇāyāma like one more, one more, nothing, nothing good will happen. And if you force it and you think that you are doing one more, one more, then nothing good will happen. But don’t worry, be happy, and with love, and everything will be excellent. And if you read some book, Kuṇḍalinī is dangerous, yes, because of ego and because of minor complexes. I will show one more round. Just relax and enjoy. Relax. One deep inhale and exhale, inhalation and exhalation. Deep breath. All together, we will chant three times, “Oṃ.” Inhale. And now, start on the other side. Just relax. Many feel that with every exhalation, you are more and more relaxed. And with every exhalation, you feel better and better. Relax your eyes. Relax your face muscles. Relax your face muscles. Madhurī Mudrā. Madhurī Mudrā means a nice expression of the face, sweet. Means nice expression of face, sweet. When somebody looks at you, it feels nice, pleasant... And now, slowly finish your round. When you exhale through the right nostril, put your hand on the knees. And now, be aware of your body. Be aware of this hall. Be aware of our friends who are sitting around you. And all together we will chant three times Oṃ. Inhale.