TV Channel

Slowly sit in Vajrāsana. Vajrāsana is excellent for relaxation. For our friends watching via webcast, good afternoon. We will practice āsanas here. As you can see, this hall is full of our friends, your friends, who are practicing āsanas. Despite the crowd, we will practice something in Vajrāsana or standing āsanas. In my country, Croatia, they say, "If people are not full of anger and hate, we always have enough space." We will have enough space for practicing āsanas. Just relax in Vajrāsana. Be aware of your abdomen and relax. Vajrāsana has a very big influence on our Maṇipūra, Anāhata, and Ājñā Cakras. In a very cute way, it’s saying Maṇipūra, Anāhata, and Ājñā Cakra. If you have any problem with digestion—yes, when you eat something and have trouble digesting—just sit in Vajrāsana for 10–15 minutes and you will feel that everything becomes much easier. If you have digestive problems, sit in Vajrāsana for 5–10 minutes, and you will feel better right away. Also, it is excellent if you have any problem with your emotions. If you feel a big wave, if the citta vṛtti is high, just sit in Vajrāsana and you will feel peace in a few minutes. If you have a problem with your emotions, then speak with your emotions. After a few minutes, you will feel better. The practice has a very good effect if you feel emotional waves. If you experience a lot of citta vṛtti, you will feel better in the āsana. Āsana is also excellent for all thoughts. We will feel that citta vṛtti is slowly, slowly becoming nice and relaxed. Our thoughts become relaxed. You will be able to see that our thoughts are calm. He expresses the thoughts, and you will notice that if you sit in this āsana, the citta vṛtti will be silenced. Your palms are on the knees, and because of that, your shoulders are completely relaxed. Vajrāsana, therefore, is excellent against headaches. This āsana is very good against headaches because the palms are on the knees and the shoulders are relaxed. We influence the Maṇipūra, Anāhata, and Ājñā Cakras. Also, Vajrāsana got its name because it has a very strong effect on the Vajranāḍī. It has a strong effect on Vajranāḍī. Now, we will start with Marjari. One, inhale. Two, exhale. Three, seven, and slowly. Sit ten, second round. One, inhale. Two, three, five, six, seven, nine, and slowly sit ten. We will have a second variation of Marjari. The second variation has more effect on the thoracic area, but there are a few things that are very important. First, when you go up and when you go down, the first and last movements—not like this. You know, it’s much easier. We know that is not correct, but still we do it. 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, now the palms were on the floor, but now we will put the elbows on the same place where we put the palms. So, not like this, not like this, no. Same position, but put on the floor. One, inhale. Two, exhale. Look at your navel. Three, six, seven, and slowly go up, and ten. Second round: one, inhale; two, exhale; three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and slowly sit, ten. Now we have a third variation. Almost everything is the same, but exhale. Now your feet go up, and look to the front. Inhale, exhale to the left, and try to see your fingers. Not under them, but up. Inhale and exhale. Inhale, three rounds. After that, slowly go down, exhale, inhale, and exhale. If you remember one very old Swāmījī’s book, Yoga for Spinal Column, these three variations were in that book. The first is for the whole spinal column, the second also for the whole spinal column but with more influence on the thoracic, and this third variation moves left and right. It is an excellent exercise for the spine. You will feel a nice, warm feeling in the lower part of the spine. Now we will together: one, inhale; two, exhale, but now look in front of you. Your foot goes up, inhale, exhale left, and try to see it closed. Inhale, another exhale, see your toes. 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 āsanas, of Marjariāsana. Be aware of the spinal column. Be aware of the breathing process. Now we will rotate the shoulders from this position. Also, one very important thing: when we practice, mostly people practice in this way. It’s okay, why not? If you want to have more effect, and if you want to influence breathing against asthma and any problem with the lungs, just try to do like this. Inhale, but not here, up, up, up. Inhale and up. In this position, not like this, what you will feel is the upper part goes up. In this position, it is very hard. Stay in this position if you have kyphosis. You must... In this position, you will feel immediately on the backside these muscles. Some stretching, some nice feeling of these muscles behind. If we practice in such a way, we will not have problems with the shoulders. But if you practice—I practice every day, and I don’t know why I have problems with the shoulders. Yes, because, like a bird, nothing. But if you practice completely, then you will feel completely different. Only five times on one side, together we will start. In front, put together your elbows, go up 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. Exhale, two, three. Now start exhale, relaxation, four, and five, exhale. And relax. Now be aware of your shoulders, of your neck, and also the breathing process. We have always spoken about abdominal breathing. It is 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 then inhale and go up, kyphosis does not exist. Yes, it exists if you have a long-term problem, but if you practice, you will feel muscles and stretching. Śaśāṅkāsana, 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 a chair, why not? This rotating with the shoulders 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. 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, the last two years ago, I practiced a lot of Vajrāsana and Vīrāsana with Swāmījī. Now, sit in Vīrāsana. First, sit on the board and just prepare. Then, left leg in front, heel is somewhere in the same line with the knee. Also try to sit with a stretched spinal cord. Try not to sit like this when you are sitting like this. It’s not such a good feeling, but try to sit with the stretch. Also, your whole heaviness of body is now on the right leg. 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 breath. It’s very hard. If you don’t believe, just sit in this position. We are sitting, and we know that it is very hard. Now change. This āsana is excellent if you have flat feet. I don’t know the English name. But flat feet, yes. Also, it is excellent against fear. Why? Always ask why. Because it has a very big influence on the Vajranāḍī. It’s first. And Vajranāḍī passes through Suṣumnā also. Fear is not a human quality. Fear is an animal quality, and humans should not be fearful. And fear is a quality below the Mūlādhāra Cakra. Change. Also, when somebody has a problem with thoughts about suicide, such kinds of 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. Just you have only one idea: please finish this āsana. But it’s true, it’s excellent against flat feet, tlathus, because I have it, 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, 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 feeling, and without this, like a dead finger, it’s really excellent. Also, it is excellent again: migraine, headache, and again on both legs. Now, easy, easy. Now we almost enjoy this position. Just a little more. And now, slowly sit in Daṇḍāsana. Stretch your legs. 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 whole muscles here. Four, five, and now, okay? Rotation. But also, if you practice like this, like you imagine in the car for cleaning the front window, like this. Nothing, but your leg must be completely without movement. Only rotate your feet. Try to hold and feel how your knees are without movement. Are you looking for cleaning a friend’s window? Saiba, yes. One other side. And now, feel. You will feel everything. You will feel circulation, you will 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. Have a problem because of working with the mouse? And also, if you have some stiffness here, you will see. Notice when you have some stiffness. What? No, we have... If you have some stiffness here, you must practice this āsana every time. Stretch, you will feel here a lot of muscles, not here, but also on the elbow. If you don’t believe, just hold your elbow here and stretch. You feel a lot of muscle? Another. Yes. And if you said, "I have a problem with the elbow, what to do?" And if you, like your teacher said, "This āsana is good," no, it’s just big 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 hands. Now, go up. Now. Two. But not 20% less than our capacity. 100%. And sit straight. And five. And now again up. And now you go in, not like this, straight. And out. More, more, more. Two. Now you will feel your shoulders. Yes? Three, five. 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. Somebody will tell that I work for a mobile company, but... And practice. Down is water. 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. And relax. Some people feel some kind of nervousness, some anxieties when they practice these āsanas. It’s excellent. But you must ask yourself, from which part of the body does this feeling start? Almost everybody will tell from here. Yes, because we are working on muscles. 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 this. 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, and one, please. I know that you are now, but a case of case. When we are in this position, try not to do it this way. And we are thinking, "Oh, I am good, I am really good." We are staying in this position. We are not moving in the thoracic area. Just, and we are thinking, "Oh, I am really flexible." Imagine then somebody puts you in wet cement, and you are completely immobilized from this area down. And all your movements up, same as with the shoulders. Inhale, but up. But the second problem is, when we go up, we also go this way. And you will have pain here. Do not stretch your body, and let your pelvis go back. Always we see, no, but your pelvis, a little, go in front. And you will not have pain in the lower part of the spine. And just in the thoracic area, exhale, inhale and exhale, not like this, once more, not like this, and this. Immediately, you will have pain here. If you practice immediately, no, step. Now we will start. Inhale, in the middle. Left, exhale. Inhale, and exhale. Inhale, exhale. The chest area, not the pelvis. Inhale. The pelvis is completely without movement. Exhale. One elbow goes up, and the second elbow goes down. Imagine that somebody is pulling up your elbow. Inhale. Exhale. Stay in this position. And imagine that somebody is pulling up your elbow. And the other elbow goes down. Breathe normally. Inhale. And other side, exhale. Also, imagine somebody is pulling up your elbow. Inhale and exhale. Relax in this position. Try to feel this thoracic area. Also, be aware of the breathing process, how you breathe now. You will have space for Hasta Uttānāsana. First, also 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. Exhale, and immediately you will feel the whole muscle, the back muscle. And it is excellent if you have some problem with the connection between the ribs and the spinal column. 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 part of the brain are not functioning the same. 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, means 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. Inhale. Exhale, continuing all the rhythm, but change left, right, left, right all the time. Also, it is excellent for complete yoga breath. And once more, and relax. When it’s growing, the capacity of the lungs will be better. That’s first. Second, 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 that means: it’s a spasm, it’s too much contraction here, in this area. And also, it’s not good for your spinal column. But inhale, up, chest, and a little go up, and exhale. First, parallel with the floor and go down, then after, hands go up. And after a few minutes, first become parallel with the floor, stretch in this area of the diaphragm and up. And relax, but if you have a problem with your shoulders, you don’t have... when you practice Vīkoṇāsana, you will have some of... you will have a problem with the elbow, and you will say, "Oh, I have pain in the elbow." Elbow is not guilty, shoulders and, what is the name? Wrist. Wrist... Sorry. This 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. Enough to let. But maybe in the beginning you will start like this, but every day better than on the other side. Do it together. First, relax. Be aware of what we will practice. 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, people said that somebody’s eyes will go up and he will fall down. It’s not spiritual if you all the time have your feet on the ground. Just relax. Like you are looking somewhere far, far in the horizon. 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 here, you are thinking, like you are in the taxi, this machine. When you practice āsanas, 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. Now, slowly go up with inhalation and exhale. And one more, once more, inhale, 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 problems 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. In Vajrāsana, only two āsanas more. 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 go up and down like this. I learned from Marjari that all the time we will go on this way, up and down. And it means inhale, then exhale, and stay in this position. Breathe normally, especially 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 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 will now have pain in the neck, which 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? You hear on the internet? It’s very important not to relax the head. If you have some problem with the neck, with this fourth or fifth vertebra, this... But 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 up in this area, you see. But if you do it like this, you will have dizziness. And maybe when we practice third or fourth variation, okay, but now first we must have very strong muscles, neck muscles. On the other side, inhale. And exhale. And if you feel pain in the neck, it is excellent. Because of strength, you 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, and exhale. And also, 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 the most important? Enjoy. Really, in every position, enjoy it. Slowly go up, and with exhalation, sit. Before many years, I heard from Swāmījī. 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?’" 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. If you want to know if you have developed spiritually, ask yourself the only question: are you happy? If the answer is yes, then you have developed. And also, if you practice āsanas, prāṇāyāma, meditation, "Oh my God, I must practice again, I feel pain," nothing. Swāmījī also said many times, we must love our practice like gold. Gold is what we want to gain. It means, if we want to gain realization, God, our practice, we must enjoy and love like a god. And because of that, enjoy every āsana. And you will feel better, with less pain. Especially in Vīrāsana, inhale and exhale. And sit with the 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, or up, 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. Until you repeat your mantra, you cannot really feel the good effect of the exercises. And Śaśāṅkāsana. Slowly inhale. Śaśāṅkāsana, a little bit. 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 cord muscles against kyphosis. It is excellent for the thyroid glands. In Uṣṭrāsana, we work with different muscles, with the abdominal muscles, with the rectal muscles, and with the spinal muscles. This is very good for kidney problems as well. It is always very important to give strength to the muscles and also to stretch them. Now, slowly go up with inhalation, and with exhalation, palm to the thigh. And now, slowly sit for prāṇāyāma. Stay, stay, stay. Why? Listen and... Okay. Swāmījī said, when the program will be finished, 15 minutes more, just stay here. And I think we will get a surprise. Swāmījī maybe will 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. Now, this is done. Three, Anuloma Viloma, Anuloma Viloma. Same like this morning, but for our friends on the internet, once more. Inhale, always the right hand. The right hand is up. Second and third fingers are here in the area of Ājñā Cakra. Why? Always question why. Not like this monkey work, "monkey see, monkey do," but we must know why. Because if we put our fingers here constantly, we will work and be aware of the Ājñā Cakra. 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, all the time 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, nobody, even you don’t hear your inhalation and exhalation. 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 prāṇa 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. You will have a problem, not because of yoga, but because of your thoughts. And if you practice prāṇāyāma like one more, one more, nothing, 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. No, just relax and enjoy. Relax. Deep inhale and exhale. Inhalation and exhalation. Deep breath. All together we will chant three times Oṁ. Inhale, just start with the prāṇāyāma. Now, slowly finish, then you exhale through the left nostril with your hand. Now start on the other side, just relax. You can 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 facial muscles. Madhurī Mudrā, which means a nice expression of the face, sweet, when somebody looks at you and feels nice, pleasant. 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 whole. Be aware of this hall. Be aware of our friends who are sitting around you. And all together we will chant three times Oṁ. Inhale. Belly exhalation. Inhale.