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I am well. I welcome you all to our seminar hall. Thank you so much. We have some hours available, so I have a whole lot of time. I am very happy to be with you. You may know I spent many years in India and the last four in Vancouver, Canada. While there, I had the idea to create a program for the eyes. I thought it would be short, but as I collected knowledge from Swāmījī and our yoga practice, I was amazed by its depth. My lectures are usually about two hours, but this one—the longest—will be more practical than theoretical. We will cover both theory and practice. May I ask at the beginning: who here practices yoga? And who has practical problems with eyesight? Good. This information is useful, as you will see how many exercises we actually have. Since the full program often takes up to three hours and we have only two, I will begin straight away. We have different types of yoga exercises that can help our eyesight. The first type is, of course, āsanas. There isn't one specific "eye āsana," but there is a whole category of them. I will demonstrate briefly; we can do a short overview together. There are six basic types of āsanas. The first is forward bending. We bend down and come up. The counter-pose is usually backward bending. To keep it simple, we'll do everything standing. The next is side-bending: exhale to the side, inhale back, then exhale to the other side. The fourth type is twisting: twist to one side, inhale to the center, exhale to the other side, and come back. This is just to give an overview. The fifth is balancing, like standing on one leg while focusing on a point. The sixth type is particularly good for the eyes: inverted exercises, where the head goes down. We will explore this a bit deeper. The first and easiest is Śaśāṅkāsana. Sit on your heels. Those who know Kaṭhūprāṇa will recognize it as the second posture from that set. In Level Two, it is the first exercise, but you stay a bit longer. Inhale, expand your chest, then exhale down. Keep your hips down on your legs. If possible, place your head on the ground. If your head doesn't reach, you can support it with both fists. Stay for a moment and feel the gentle blood flow to the head. Then, with an inhalation, come up and stretch. I must say one thing: these inverted exercises are quite strong, depending on how far the head goes down. In Śaśāṅkāsana, the angle is mild, but in a headstand, for example, you are completely inverted. This type of exercise is special because blood, energy, and Prāṇa flow to the head. First, it is a mental exercise, good for the brain and functions like concentration and memory. Of course, when blood flows to the head, all organs there benefit—including the eyes and ears. That is what we are looking for today. The downside is that these exercises are not good for everyone, as they can be quite strong. If someone has high blood pressure, these exercises are not so suitable. If you have high blood pressure, do not stay too long in them and avoid the stronger variations. Also, you may feel dizzy. Unfortunately, those with certain eye conditions cannot do these exercises. For example, if you have glaucoma (high pressure in the eye), cataracts, or have had eye surgery, these are too strong. These inverted exercises are good for prevention and for mild problems like near-sightedness or far-sightedness, but not for serious conditions. We will go through them quickly, with more demonstration than practice, because there is another issue: you cannot do too many inverted exercises in a row. Just as you cannot do only forward bends without a counter-pose, doing many inverted exercises consecutively is too strong. In our yoga system, you will not find a set with only inverted exercises; they are spread throughout. Today is more about making you aware of them so you can think, "Aha, here is a good exercise for me," but please do not overdo it now. Very similar to Śaśāṅkāsana is Yoga Mudrā. I will demonstrate quickly. There is a variation with the arms on the ground and another in Level Six with the hands at the heels. This last one is stronger because the hips go higher. This is the yoga mudrā group. Next is what I call the mountain group. In Level Two, there is Catuṣpādāsana, with hands and heels on the ground—the head is not very low yet. Then there is the mountain pose (Catuspāda) with heels up, which is stronger. In Kaṭhūprāṇa, there is a variation with the heels on top, which is quite strong. You can feel a stretch in the hamstrings, and the head goes quite down. Then we have exercises from a standing position. In Level One, there is a gentle forward bend where you slowly go down. In Kaṭhūprāṇa, we have the sprinter pose leading into Pādahastāsana. There is another variation in Level Two: Dvikonāsana. Then in Level Four, there is a stronger back asana, the crow pose. Then there is Śīrṣāṅguṣṭhāsana, which requires a wide step and is more demanding. Next are exercises that prepare for the headstand. One looks like this from the fourth part. There is also the first part of Vṛkṣāsana in the fourth part. Then, in the sixth part, there is Pādaprasāraṇa Pūrṇottānāsana, which means legs wide apart with the head completely down. You hold your head on the ground and hold your feet. This is preparation for completely inverted exercises. One of the best exercises for our purpose is Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā. Two exercises are often confused: Sarvāṅgāsana and Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā. In Sarvāṅgāsana, the whole body is completely vertical, which is very strong—almost like a headstand—with a strong bending of the neck. Because of this, you should not stay too long and must do a counter-pose afterwards, such as Matsyāsana or Supta Vajrāsana. Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā is better for the pelvis. The legs are vertical, but the body is diagonal, so there is less neck bending. You can stay longer and do not necessarily need a counter-pose. I will demonstrate Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā first, then Sarvāṅgāsana. This is Viparīta Kāraṇī Mudrā, a very good position where you can stay longer. Now, Sarvāṅgāsana: you can see the strong neck bend. For our purpose, we don't really need that. After Sarvāṅgāsana, you definitely need a counter-pose like Matsyāsana. Then we come to the headstand. You can start from Vṛkṣāsana, with three points on the ground: the hands and the head. From there, you go up with the legs. It's easier to get up but not as comfortable for staying long. The other method, with both forearms and the top of the head on the ground, offers better support. You can do variations if you wish. Now, depending on what you know and can do, you may lie down and relax for a minute. Please lie with your head in this direction. No more practice; just relax. Take a deep breath, stretch the arms overhead, then slowly come up and sit. This was the first part about āsanas good for the eyes—and basically, good for everything in the head: eyes, ears, brain, and mind. But please do not go to extremes; do not do too much. Now, let's come to prāṇāyāma. Two prāṇāyāma techniques are specially good for eyesight. One is called Śītalī Prāṇāyāma. It is a special, cooling prāṇāyāma not directly in our standard system. You should not do it when it is cool; it is very good in India's hot season. Here, I feel it is quite warm. Can you open the window for a bit of air? Śītalī means cooling. The special feature is that we inhale through the open mouth—which we usually never do. Then we close the mouth and gently exhale through the nose. For us, it's not so much about cooling but about the soothing, relaxing, and calming effect on the eyes and ears. Those who can, try a few times with slow, relaxed breathing. Inhale through the rolled tongue (like a tube), feel the cool air, close your mouth, and gently exhale through the nose. I see not everyone can do this. For those who cannot, there is a second cooling prāṇāyāma: Siddh Kārī. "Siddh" refers to the sound made. Here, you bite your teeth together lightly, leaving small holes between them, with lips slightly open. Inhale gently through the mouth through these holes, then close your mouth and exhale gently through the nose. For those who can roll the tongue, that method is better. But please use common sense: we are not in India. When it is cool, do not practice these, or you might catch a cold. The second beneficial prāṇāyāma is Nāḍī Śodhana. Let's do just a minute or two. Close one nostril and inhale through the left, then exhale. After a few breaths, switch: close the left nostril with the ring finger and breathe through the right. Those who know the system can also do Levels 2, 3, or 4. Keep your head straight, body relaxed, face muscles relaxed, and most importantly, keep the eyes relaxed. If you haven't changed sides yet, do so now, slowly. Those who don't know this, please come to any introductory yoga class or Level 1 course to learn it. Nāḍī Śodhana is in Levels 1 through 4. It is good for eyesight when done correctly: with gentle breath and deep relaxation of the face, eyes, mind, and body. That was prāṇāyāma in short. With the cooling prāṇāyāmas, there are restrictions; be careful. With Nāḍī Śodhana, there are none. Now we come to more essential exercises directly for the eyes. We could call them eye āsanas. When we have eye problems, it often relates to the muscles around the eyeball that move it. In regular āsanas, we use muscles that are often underused or misused. Muscles and joints are meant to be used harmoniously, and that is the best way to keep the body healthy. The same applies to the small muscles that move our eyeballs. So we will have a certain training for these muscles. The problem is, for example, when you look to the right, you mostly turn your head. That means your eyeballs are lazy. I can also look at someone without moving my head, but we usually don't. So we easily get lazy. Another problem nowadays is the computer. The eyes need movement. When you sit at a computer for hours, the eyes always look in the same direction and at the same distance. That is the best way to damage the eyes. I speak from experience. I once worked for a company where an eye doctor tested me and was amazed, saying I had the best eyes of anyone he had tested. I was around 40 then. Later, I became a computer programmer, and within a few years, my eyesight became worse than average. So you must be aware that our lifestyle is very important. Do not sit all the time in front of a computer. Go out into nature. There are many things to see, with different colors and distances. It's not just about good exercises but about changing our lifestyle. Try not to become a slave to the computer. Now, during these eye exercises, we will not move our head or neck—only the eyeballs. This can be difficult if you feel stiffness. So before these exercises, it is good to do a few for the neck and shoulders. If you have already done your set of āsanas, you may not need this. Let's do some neck relaxation as preparation. Keep sitting, let the head sink down. Inhaling, stretch up, then let the head sink to the chest. Move slowly and controlled with the breath. Come to the center. Now, exhaling, let the head sink to the left as if the ear wants to touch the shoulder. Inhale to the center. Exhale to the other side. Let the shoulders relax. These are exercises from our Level One. Just let the head sink; do not force it down. Keep your face relaxed, especially your eyes and forehead. The third is circling the head. As you exhale, the head goes forward and down. During inhalation, you roll through to the back. Be careful, as it can sometimes be a little painful. Now the opposite direction. Move only the neck, not the whole body. Keep your trunk in position. Okay, let's do a little for the shoulders. Place fingertips on the shoulders, elbows touching. Inhale and make big circles with the elbows. Exhaling, bring the elbows forward. Use a slightly deeper breath. Now reverse. This is just an example of what you can do to relax the shoulders and neck area. Afterwards, you will not move that area. In the following exercises, there should be no movement in the body—only in the eyes. The first exercise is moving the eyes up and down. Look up, then let your gaze go down. To learn, you can use your finger first. Look at your finger and, without moving your head, follow it with your eyes.