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A warm welcome and Hari Om to all joining via webcast. I am Pavati, and I have the honor of leading this program. Kiran will demonstrate the exercises so you can see how they should be performed. I am convinced you are all already mastering these practices well. We will practice from the Sarvahita āsanas and Level 2 exercises. We begin with a brief relaxation. Please lie on your back, head facing forward, and close your eyes. Breathe deeply in through the nose and feel the breath within you, then slowly exhale again. Observe the gentle contraction of your body. Now breathe in and out several times with this awareness of the change. Count five breaths for yourself and relax with each exhalation. Set your body down. You can breathe a little more deeply and firmly, just for yourself, to release all tension on the exhale. Relax all your muscles. Relax the muscles of your legs. Feel your right foot and relax it. Feel your right calf and relax those muscles. Let go completely. I want to relax. I want to relax now. With the exhalation, I release every burden, every thought that occupies me. Feel my right knee. Relax my knee. Relax the muscles of my thigh, my right thigh. Feel my entire right leg from the tips of the toes up to the right hip joint above, right on the outer side of the thigh, the connection of the right leg with the torso. I also relax my left leg. Feel my left foot, relax my left calf, feel my left knee on the outside and inside, and relax my left thigh. I feel the left hip joint, the connection of my left leg with the torso. I relax my hip joint and feel my entire left leg from the tips of the toes up to the hip. I relax my back, feeling how it presses into the surface. I feel my shoulder blades lowering. I let my neck muscles relax completely. I relax my entire back. I relax my abdominal muscles completely and feel the rising and falling of the abdominal wall. I feel the sternum rising and falling, along with my ribs. The right side of my ribcage rises and slowly falls in the rhythm of the breath, and the left side of my ribcage rises, stretches, and gently contracts on the exhale. I feel my throat, the breath at the throat as I inhale and exhale. I relax the back of my head, feel the hair whorl at the highest point on the back of my head, and the highest point of my head, my crown. I feel the scalp here, relaxing the entire scalp covered by the hair. Feel how the muscles of my face relax, the forehead smooths out, my thoughts are calm, each thought is reflected on my forehead, and my forehead is completely smooth and relaxed. Feel my eyebrows. Feel the right eye, motionless, the eyelid gently covering the eye. I feel the left eye in stillness and the eyelid resting on the left eye. I feel my nose and, as I breathe in and out, my nostrils in contact with the breath. I feel the breath drawing in, the path of the air into my lungs, the expansion and the return journey, all the way back to the final contact at the nostrils. I relax my breath. I am the observer. Feel expansion with the inhalation and feel sinking with the exhalation. Expand and gently contract. Just feel expansion and gentle contraction. I feel the power spreading with the inhalation, the expansion of power within me, Prāṇa-Śakti, throughout my entire body and inside, in my inner spaces. And I feel relaxation, purification with the exhalation, with the gentle contraction. I feel my entire body expanding. Outside and also inside, I feel this expansion and the gentle contraction. Breathe in a little deeper now. Feel the powerful expansion and breathe out slowly and deeply. Bring your attention back outward. In this space, your eyes are still closed. Feel and remember this space, beside whom you are practicing Yoga Nidrā or this brief relaxation. Rub your palms together now and place your hands on your face. Open your eyes and look into your palms. Into them, Prāṇa-Śakti, you bring bright white light to your eyes and strengthen the eyesight, your vision. Look deeply, then withdraw the hands from the face. Now keep the eyes open so that you are present in this space during the following āsanas, the physical exercises. Of course, for relaxation, you can also close your eyes again and again. Breathe in deeply. Feel the body in this starting position, if you wish. Place your legs firmly to feel your back, the entire back, well. Feel the surface from the lower end of your spine up to the neck, to the cervical vertebrae, and also sense the neck area, the occiput as an extension of your spine. So on the mat, if necessary, support the neck with a cloth or a cushion to maintain contact with the ground. Now reach for your right leg, hold your right leg, and with the exhalation gently draw your knee toward your sternum. Exhale, inhale, gently lengthen the arms again and exhale, draw them back in once more. Practice with the right leg a total of 5 times, using only the right leg. Draw your leg to your chest five times in the rhythm of your breath. Maintain control over your body throughout. Stretch out the left leg. For the fifth time, let your leg slide back again. Place both feet on the ground again, embrace your left leg with your hands, and perform the exercise on the left leg as well. Wrap your leg, extend the right leg, and as you exhale, pull the knee toward your torso as far as you can. Inhaling, let your arms lengthen with your breath rhythm. Exhaling, draw the leg in; the head and the entire body that is not involved in the practice remain calm. Only the hands rest on the ground, the arms assist, and the left leg as well. The head also remains on the ground. After the fifth time, release again. Place the leg back, bend both legs again, so set them up. Now grasp both legs with your hands and, as in the previous exercise, practice now with both legs. Draw in, inhale, extend the arms again, exhale, draw in. Your gaze goes to the knees; also press the chin slightly forward toward the sternum so that the neck remains in line with the spine during the practice. After the fifth time, remain in this position. Hold both legs firmly against the body, let the breath flow, and breathe deeply into the abdominal cavity against the resistance of your thighs. Feel the massage in the abdomen; digestion is stimulated. This form is Bhavanamukhāsana. With the inhalation, now lift your head and roll to the side as you exhale. Roll to the right side, over the back, and then roll to the left side. Lay down your head and now, with your head laid down, initiate the movement by rolling, using your head to lead the motion, to the side. In your own rhythm, roll over your back from one side of the body to the other. The head always begins, leading the movement, rolling to each side. That stimulates kidney activity. Now, in the cold season that we still have, the kidneys need a lot of strength. You will be activated by this exercise of rolling over the back and also feel the breath as you exhale, when you roll to the side and in the middle of the back, as the breath changes, inhaling and exhaling. Feel the breath, feel the rounding in the back with the inhalation and with the exhalation. Then come back to lying down in the center. If you can and have no problems with your intervertebral discs, you can now rock forward and backward along the spine. Carefully. You can support the rocking with your legs. When you stretch them backward over your head, it also works in a slow, controlled tempo. With the legs, so to speak, control the movement. If there are problems with the back, with the intervertebral discs, then do not practice this exercise. The others then come up into a seated position, change the starting posture, and come into Vajrāsana. Those rising from the supine position, slide your hands under the sacrum, inhaling, straighten the back. New starting position, feel it well, Vajrāsana. Please take the heel seat. Feel the torso upright, the arms hang at the sides, pull the elbows, the shoulders down. Hands rest on the thighs. The gaze is directed slightly downward so that the neck and head are in line with the spine. Feel the full yoga breath from the navel up to the throat and from the throat down to the navel. Several times, you can close your eyes to deeply feel the breath. Feel how the abdomen rises, the chest rises, you feel the breath at the throat, and the breath flows back down to the navel. The breath awareness is between the navel and the throat, so feel how the breath rises, like a glass of water filling from the bottom, the water level rising upward and emptying from top to bottom. Then open the eyes again, to consciously be present in this space once more. We practice Marjaryāsana, the cat pose, together. One, come up. Two, support the body, make a cat stretch. Pay close attention to the lumbar spine, gaze toward the navel, inhale. Three, stretch the spine, especially press the thoracic vertebrae downward. Four, exhale, again cat stretch, gaze toward the navel. Five, inhale, feel the good weight on the arms, gaze upward. Exhale, six, gaze toward the navel. Inhale, seven, gaze upward, feel the extension of the spine. Eight, exhale, cat stretch, with special attention to the lumbar vertebrae. Nine, rise up with the inhalation, reset. Ten, lower the arms and feel the upright posture again. Feel, also be careful not to go into an excessive arch in the lower back, and in this position too, make sure the pelvis is in the correct position, slightly tilted forward. Once again feel the full yogic breath, perceive the entire body. Bring your attention especially to the spine. Feel each vertebra expanding with the inhalation and gently contracting downward with the exhalation. Exhale. Another round of Marjaryāsana, this time a variation on the forearms. One, come up with the inhalation. Two, support yourself on the forearms, make a cat stretch. Three, inhaling, keep the arms not too close to the knees, maintain good space. Exhaling, cat stretch. Inhaling. This variation supports the extension in the thoracic spine. Exhaling, maintain awareness in the lumbar region, let the gaze soften around the navel. Inhale, keep the attention on the thoracic vertebrae. Exhale. Practice not in Vajrāsana, but in kneeling posture. Also, make sure that you are in Vajrāsana. Continue practicing according to your own breath rhythm, and after the exhalation, inhale again, come up into the kneeling position, and sit back down with the exhalation. Lower the arms, breathe deeply in and out. Marjaryāsana is indeed a very simple practice, and we have all been practicing it for a long time, but that is the beauty of our system Yoga in Daily Life—that the simple practices, when practiced for a long time, become the most profound. So we will practice another round of Marjaryāsana on the forearms, paying special attention to the spine and your breathing. And also be mindful of the spaces that arise with the inhalation, which are filled within you with Prāṇa-Śakti. So... direct the change toward breath and body. One. Rising up. You can also observe Kiran well now. Exhaling. On the forearms. Make sure that the elbows are not too close to the knees, so you have space for the practice. Inhaling. Tilt your head back and now feel the thoracic vertebrae stretch downward and press inward. Exhale, gaze toward the navel, press through the lumbar vertebrae, feel it. Inhale, firmly feel the weight on the elbows and press the chest downward; the elbows and shoulder blades draw upward together. Continue practicing. Exhale, make a good cat stretch. Press the body back up, come into kneeling position, step back with the exhalation, and then lower the arms. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. With this inhalation, prāṇa connects the body with the mind. Exhale and relax with awareness. Keep your attention on the spine and the chest. Another variation with Marjaryāsana. This time, we also incorporate the mobility of the vertebral joints to the side. In the cervical vertebrae, one can not only stretch and bend in this direction, but there is also a slight movement to the side. As before, this variation is supported on the forearms. We will practice together shortly. Those who know the exercise and those who do not, watch for one round, until we then begin the second round with an inhalation. Come up, exhaling, support yourself again on the forearms, make a cat stretch as before. Inhaling, stretch the spine and fold the heels up towards the buttocks. Exhaling, look over the shoulder to the side and swing the heels to that side as well. Look over the shoulder. Inhaling, straighten up, keep the head extended. Inhale deeply and exhale, practice on the other side. The heels move to the other side of the body. Inhaling back to the center. Exhaling to lay the legs down and make a cat stretch. Inhale and raise up. Exhale and lower the arms back down. Breathing in again, sensing the transformation within your body. How do you perceive your body now? What is new? Take in the new. Exhale and relax. Second round. Inhale and come up. Exhale and support yourself on the forearms, make a cat stretch. Keep the shins resting well up to the big toe. Inhale and lengthen the spine, head back, fold the legs up. Exhale and swing to the side, gaze over the shoulder. Inhale back to the center. Head stays outside, gaze upward. Exhaling to the other side over the shoulder. Inhaling to center. Exhaling into cat stretch, lay down the legs. Inhaling come up, and exhaling sit back. Place your arms down, breathe deeply, feel the change in the body with the breath. Only through the breath can we perceive our body, when body, mind, and soul are united. Now, during the practices, we have the opportunity to always direct this attention to our breathing. Vajrāsana is our next practice from Vajrāsana. Kiran demonstrates the exercise, which is a yoga practice for back pain. Inhale as you come into a kneeling position. Exhale as you extend the right leg to the side. Inhale, arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Exhale, now draw the left one exactly over and stretch it above the head, as in Trikoṇāsana, the triangle pose. Inhale, straighten up again, and exhale, come into Vajrāsana and sit back down. Let us practice together. Begin on the right side so that you can settle in, ensuring we have enough space and maintain order during the practice. To the right side. We begin by inhaling into a kneeling position, exhaling to stretch the right leg to the side, the entire sole of the foot on the ground. Inhaling the arms to the side. Exhaling, now lower the right arm and stretch the left arm over the head close to the ear, as in Trikoṇāsana, to the side. Be careful that the hip does not shift. Inhaling, straighten again and exhaling, place the leg and return. Exhale, come up to the other side. Exhale, stretch the left leg to the side. Inhale, spread the arms. Exhale, to the left side, the right arm pulls over the right ear to the left side. Inhale, straighten up. Exhale, bring the feet together and step back. In the second round, we remain in the side position and let the breath flow. Inhale and exhale three times in the lateral position, and deeply feel the change in the lateral areas of the upper body. One, inhale, exhale bringing the right leg back in. Inhale, stretch the arms out, and exhale returning to the position. Good, the weight, support yourself on the arm, the entire sole of the foot is placed, let the breath flow. Feel the change in the body during the breath, pay attention to the hips so they do not shift, and with the inhalation straighten up again, exhaling return back into Vajrāsana. Inhale, come up. Exhale, arms and leg to the side. Inhale, stretch out the arms and feel good weight on the left leg. The entire sole of the foot is supported, let it flow, keep your attention on the body. Come back with the inhalation. Exhale, bring the feet together again, watch your balance, and return. Change the starting position, come into the long sitting posture. Relax a little in the easy pose, feel the upright posture of the upper body. Breathe deeply in and out, making an effort to keep your back straight. If it is difficult, better to keep your legs slightly bent, but the back upright. Breathe deeply in and out, feeling the starting position. Rowing is our next āsana. Place the hands beside the thighs, resting them down. Inhale, lower the upper body backward. In the inhalation, stretch the arms upward along the body and feel how the arms lift the body upward. On the exhale, pull the arms forward, and on the inhale, let the palms glide back along the floor beside the legs and row again. Exhaling and inhaling. The thumb moves inward toward the palms as you raise your hands, and the fingers stretch forward again as you exhale. Hold the exhalation a little longer than the rhythm. Let's inhale together on four. 4, 3, 2, 1. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Exhale. And 4, 3, 2, 1. 1, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Exhale. And one more round. Perhaps three more faster rounds, so that the circulation gets going a bit. But remain conscious, even when you practice faster, and let the legs rest calmly on the ground. Do not take too much momentum, but work consciously controlled, using muscle strength. And once again, conclude the practice. When exciting, precisely. Pull the body forward actively with the inhalation, then straighten the body backward and stretch the legs, exhaling as you place them down again. Pull the body forward; the exhalation phase is the relaxation for the back. Inhaling, open the body again; exhaling, pull actively forward. Inhale, open. If the abdominal muscles are not very strong, reach with your hands into the back of the knees and assist in holding. Exhale, pull forward. Inhale, reach back into the hollows of the knees. If the abdominal muscles are not very strong, inhale forward and, while exhaling, hold the position with your hands. So actively draw in with the arms. Let your head hang forward. Breathe deeply in and out against the resistance of your thighs. Then stretch out your legs, support your body slightly with your hands, and relax. Move your legs a little, let the breath flow, also outward, like Kiran does, turning outward and inward. Relax the legs well, loosen them, let the breath flow. Feel the expansion with the inhalation and with the exhalation completely let go, relax. We are now preparing for Prāṇāyāma, the last 10 minutes of our program. We practice Level 1, coming into the meditation seat or choosing a starting position in which you can definitely keep your back straight. This is important for the lungs, that they have enough space to expand. The practice, prāṇāyāma, can also be relatively freely translated as prāṇa with breath. And Yayama is the practice or also translated as control. Breathing exercises or breath control. Well, we are practicing Śodhana Level 1. Come to the starting position, assume Jñāna Mudrā, close your eyes. We are in a large room. I don’t know right now where one can open the window, if anyone here knows. Relax once you are settled in your starting position. Take advantage of this time to relax now. Bring your attention to your legs. Let them be completely relaxed. Keep your legs relaxed. Also feel from the hips that all tension is releasing. You are in a starting position where the body naturally holds itself in this posture, without your control or with as little control as possible. Relax, feel the abdominal wall drawing inward. Let the breath flow, let the shoulders drop down, relax the tongue. With a smile, all the muscles relax. Automatically, you can also smile inwardly if you do not wish to show it outwardly. Breathe in deeply, feel the expansion within you, in your inner spaces and outwardly. Exhale, relax. Now raise your right arm, assume Prāṇāyāma Mudrā, with your middle finger and index finger lightly touching your Ājñā Cakra to keep your attention focused there, and with the thumb close the right side and breathe only through the left. Ten times, or I will tell you when the practice on this side is finished. We will all practice simultaneously. Inhale and exhale only through the left side. The path is angled downward, so that the head is in line with the spine. Remember, relax your neck, make yourself completely comfortable, and relax with your breath. How does it feel when the breath flows in through the left nostril? Feel the path of the breath, passing the throat, into the lungs, and also sense the path back to the last point of contact at the nostril opening. Continuously relax the lungs. You take in life itself with the breath. I know that I inhale, I know that I exhale. The cell of my body is being nourished. Breathing through the left nostril activates the Iḍā Nāḍī. That system within us that ensures calmness is called the parasympathetic nervous system. Calmness sets in. All our organs are supplied by these nerves of the parasympathetic system. Feel the cool air entering, feel the cooling within you and the calm. After the next exhalation through the left nostril, lower the arm again, return to Jñāna Mudrā, relax your shoulders, and keep your attention on the breath. Feel both nostrils now as you inhale and exhale. Do I feel both sides of my nose equally intensely, or is one somewhat more dominant in my perception? Being in contact with yourself, being the observer. Yoga means communion. Raise the right arm again, assume Prāṇāyāma Mudrā once more, and this time close the left side with the ring finger, only on the right. Inhaling and exhaling. How does the breath feel? Breathe through the right nostril. Piṅgalā Nāḍī. The warming system within you is activated. The sympathetic nervous system. Like warmth. Their warmth and warmth spread with the breath through the right nostril. The thoughts become clear. The exhalation, the tongue, feeling the tongue as it lowers here in the rhythm of the breath. Exhale, lower the arm, feel the breath through both nostrils. We conclude our prāṇāyāma practice with three times Oṁ, the highest mantra of God's name. And just as someone calls another by name and that person looks at us, feel yourself equally important and know that God sees you when you chant Oṁ. Breathe deeply, lay your face down, bend your head forward.