Time position	Words
00:00:00	And every yoga teacher mentions, surely, relax your face muscles.
00:00:12	But one can go a little bit deeper on this point.
00:00:18	So this week, you can do either lying down or even in a sitting position.
00:00:23	So let's say you are traveling in the bus,
00:00:31	going to work. You can use this time to very
00:00:39	consciously relax. You will have a mental effect,
00:00:45	and of course, for the eyes.
00:00:50	So now, sit, relax.
00:00:54	If someone is maybe not used to sitting and
00:01:00	feels already tired, you can also lie down.
00:01:05	If you would like to.
00:01:07	So I leave it to you, but only if you don't have so much space.
00:01:10	If you want, you can lie down, or you can do it in a sitting position.
00:01:19	Close your eyes. Feel your breath.
00:01:31	Take a deep breath and, exhaling, relax the whole body.
00:01:49	Feel the energy flow in the whole body.
00:01:56	Try to sit straight, and keep your neck straight.
00:02:09	Up your shoulders.
00:02:21	Relax your elbows. Feel your neck.
00:02:34	And relax around the neck, and from the neck to the shoulders.
00:02:45	Feel your head.
00:02:55	Feel the muscles around your head, the scalp muscles.
00:03:06	These muscles are sometimes quite full of tension,
00:03:09	and this causes, then, actually, headache.
00:03:17	Now, really consciously try to relax these muscles: on the top of the head,
00:03:26	on the back of the head, on the left side
00:03:36	to the left ear, on the right side
00:03:44	to the right ear. Relax all around the head. Now,
00:03:53	become aware of your face muscles.
00:04:05	Completely relax your whole face.
00:04:12	We keep tension in the face,
00:04:22	which is often unconscious, as a kind of protection.
00:04:31	You're a little bit hiding behind that. You don't need to hide.
00:04:43	Think of a smiling baby, pure and innocent.
00:04:52	Everyone loves it.
00:05:01	Your face be that face of a smiling baby. Feel your forehead.
00:05:20	The forehead is like a mirror of our mind.
00:05:27	Whatever we think and feel, it shows there.
00:05:35	We relax our forehead, and also our mind relaxes.
00:05:43	Consciously relax your forehead. Feel your eyes.
00:05:56	Feel the left eyeball.
00:06:03	The left side. Feel the left eyelid.
00:06:14	And the left eyebrow. Feel your right eyeball.
00:06:24	Relax it and all the muscles around. Relax the right eyelid.
00:06:36	And the eyebrows. Both eyes completely relaxed.
00:06:49	Relax the right temple and the left temple.
00:07:00	Relax the whole area, the forehead, the temples, and the eyes.
00:07:08	That is most important. What is to the left of the mind?
00:07:20	Feel the breath in the nose.
00:07:22	For a moment, open the nostrils wide and relax them again.
00:07:38	Feel the right cheek and the right ear.
00:07:47	The left cheek and the left ear.
00:07:51	Feel the mouth, relax the lips, the tongue.
00:08:04	The mouth is closed, but the teeth don't bite.
00:08:13	Let the lower jaw loose.
00:08:22	Feel the relaxation in your whole face.
00:08:28	Feel the relaxation in your whole head and neck.
00:08:39	Completely relax.
00:09:01	And then, maybe let's finish again with the palming.
00:09:09	Bend down a moment.
00:09:21	And come up again.
00:09:35	Good? It doesn't take much time.
00:09:47	It's like a mini yoga nidrā for the head and for the eyes.
00:09:55	You also can do it every day.
00:09:59	The next exercise is one of the Haṭha Yoga Priyās.
00:10:09	Who knows neti? The neti for the nose is water.
00:10:19	Is it warm?
00:10:27	So we will give just a short demonstration.
00:10:36	Sometimes when I do this workshop, we go outside on the meadow and
00:10:39	everyone is doing it, but it would take us half an hour at least,
00:10:43	if not more.
00:10:45	So, to make it more effective,
00:10:51	we will just give a short demonstration of that.
00:10:58	And then you can contact your yoga teacher and learn it from the teacher.
00:11:10	It's actually a very simple technique, which you
00:11:12	should do every day when you brush your teeth.
00:11:19	What you need is such a pot, and maybe you're done.
00:11:26	The most important part is this here.
00:11:32	So a pot, maybe for watering plants, will not do.
00:11:40	Because this part will go in the nose, and if it's sharp, it will hurt you.
00:11:52	So this is an original Indian pot, from metal.
00:11:59	But you can also get pots from porcelain, or nowadays even from plastic.
00:12:03	So then you fill this with warm water.
00:12:13	It should be like body temperature.
00:12:19	So it should not be too hot, so that you
00:12:21	can still have your hand inside and it's not burning.
00:12:23	As our body has a certain salt concentration of about 1%,
00:12:30	we also need a little bit of salt in the water.
00:12:46	So it means one small spoon of salt, the rest is sea salt, and you mix it.
00:12:53	And then he will demonstrate now.
00:13:02	You do as usual in the bathroom.
00:13:05	The water goes in through one nostril and out through the other nostril.
00:13:16	You don't need to do anything for that. It happens by itself.
00:13:23	And because in front, this is separate,
00:13:28	and in the back, they are connected.
00:13:33	So the water is somehow flowing around the corner.
00:13:40	So this washes here, this whole passage.
00:13:48	And you do it two times: one time in
00:13:54	through the right and out through the left, and then opposite.
00:14:01	What you need is a certain angle, meaning you
00:14:06	go a little bit forward with your head and
00:14:12	a little bit to the side, and there is no danger.
00:14:20	The worst that can happen is either the water flows down into your
00:14:27	throat and you have a little bit of a salty taste, that's all.
00:14:34	Or the water flows here on your coat,
00:14:39	that means you have to adjust the angle a little bit.
00:14:45	And after that, now your nose is wet.
00:14:53	So now you have to do a second exercise afterwards to get it out.
00:15:01	So this is a special pranayama, which is called Kapālbhāti pranayama.
00:15:09	Kapālbhāti, thank you.
00:15:16	Kapalbhati means a very strong, sharp exhalation, like shooting.
00:15:21	Kapālbhāti means a very strong, sharp exhalation, like an arrow.
00:15:27	And a gentle inhalation through the nose,
00:15:31	or it can even be through the mouth.
00:15:36	Now, the point is, why do we mention this here?
00:15:42	Mostly, neti is seen only for the nose.
00:15:49	But it has a much bigger effect.
00:15:53	Because from the nose, there are
00:15:59	small passages going in different directions.
00:16:05	There are small channels going to the sinuses.
00:16:17	And there are small channels going to the ears and to the eyes.
00:16:26	And there we are.
00:16:27	So we are watching, actually, inside this whole channel system.
00:16:38	And that is a very good exercise, so it has again
00:16:46	an effect for the whole head, actually. And also, it's very good
00:16:53	to avoid the cold.
00:17:00	When I spoke about this in a yoga class in Vancouver,
00:17:03	there was one Indian lady. She said, "Oh, I'm practicing this
00:17:09	every day since 20 years."
00:17:12	And in these twenty years, I didn't catch a single cold.
00:17:21	So it's a very simple and very effective exercise.
00:17:32	Only again, you have to use your common sense.
00:17:38	For example, if you do it before the asanas,
00:17:43	be prepared that there is still some
00:17:47	water in these channels, and it comes out.
00:17:52	So if you do it before the asanas and you do then śaśāṅgāsana,
00:17:56	then most probably something will drop.
00:18:06	And the worst thing you can do is if you do
00:18:13	it in the winter and afterwards go in the cold air.
00:18:19	Then surely you will catch a cold.
00:18:23	So either you have to have at least an
00:18:29	hour in between, or do it when you come home.
00:18:36	And it also takes practically no time.
00:18:44	Because basically the hot water which comes
00:18:46	from your tap is already warm enough.
00:18:54	So you just add a little bit of salt, stir it, and you can do it.
00:19:02	And just a practical advice for this couple party afterwards.
00:19:06	Because this water goes a little bit
00:19:12	into all these small channels in different directions.
00:19:19	So the best is you do like this.
00:19:23	You do it in the four directions a few times.
00:19:42	One nostril closed, and then you do the same with the other nostril.
00:19:50	And then the third with both nostrils.
00:19:55	So that's the best way to get a lot of this water out.
00:20:01	But even then, something still remains.
00:20:06	So it needs a little bit of drying afterwards.
00:20:09	So this is one of the classical, actually these are two,
00:20:14	with the prāṇāyāma, two of the classical Haṭha yoga techniques.
00:20:25	Good. Is this clear?
00:20:29	Who doesn't know yet? You can learn it, please, from a yoga teacher.
00:20:32	The next is, what I mentioned already, we have to consider our whole life.
00:20:42	Our lifestyle.
00:20:47	Yoga does not really work if we
00:20:51	do not change something in our basic habits.
00:20:55	One of these I mentioned already:
00:21:04	to sit hours and hours on the computer,
00:21:08	at least take a break in between. Also,
00:21:12	go out sometimes
00:21:19	in the nature, in the fresh air, see green. That is good for the eyes.
00:21:24	You see, when I came in the room, the...
00:21:33	First, we were to open the windows and have fresh air.
00:21:43	And what is really bad nowadays is air conditioning.
00:21:52	And also, these new energy-saving bulbs, they are not really good.
00:22:03	Because this artificial light is not
00:22:06	really close to the natural light anymore.
00:22:15	So don't stay unnecessarily in artificial light.
00:22:22	Svamijī always used to say, there are two creations:
00:22:27	one which God made and one which man made. So go in the nature,
00:22:37	fresh air,
00:22:39	natural light—that's always the best. Then our food is very important.
00:22:50	So we nourish our eyes, of course, through our food.
00:23:01	So in yoga, we recommend having fresh food.
00:23:07	Avoid products which are prepared maybe months ago,
00:23:11	and then you buy them just because they are handy and quick.
00:23:20	And very much recommended, vegetarian food.
00:23:29	Means no meat, no fish, no eggs.
00:23:33	And sattvic food, that means food which
00:23:37	is good, does not go into some extreme.
00:23:41	Not too salty, not too spicy, not too sour, not too sweet.
00:23:49	Not too sour, not too sweet, not too fat.
00:24:01	That's very good for our tongue and for our mind, but not for our body.
00:24:11	But this is not the topic of this workshop now.
00:24:13	You can learn about this in other workshops.
00:24:19	What is important is that we have enough protein.
00:24:26	Which sometimes is seen as a problem for vegetarians,
00:24:31	that they would not get enough protein.
00:24:35	But it's not true.
00:24:41	It's rather the opposite, that sometimes people
00:24:44	have too much protein, which is also a problem.
00:24:47	When we have balanced and fresh food, mostly we already have enough.
00:24:56	We don't need this meat, fish, or eggs.
00:25:04	A very good source for protein is lentils
00:25:09	and peas, and this type of food.
00:25:13	Type of food.
00:25:20	Or in India they have this, they call
00:25:26	it dhal, and they have basically dhal with alimil.
00:25:32	From the vitamins, four are important for the eyes.
00:25:38	Vitamin A, C, E, and B12.
00:25:47	So B12 is a little bit of a problem.
00:25:51	Because you need very little, but you need it.
00:25:57	So, you need to know how to get it.
00:26:03	For example, if you eat only bread from white flour
00:26:07	and only white rice, that's not good.
00:26:14	The skin is most important and most healthy.
00:26:23	So the brown natural rice and the full flour, that is very important.
00:26:37	Everything about a healthy lifestyle.
00:26:43	Another small technique is sometimes to spray cold water on the open eyes.
00:26:58	It's very refreshing for the eyes.
00:27:03	And there is one special technique against glaucoma,
00:27:06	this high pressure in the eyes.
00:27:15	There is one point in the body,
00:27:18	here the Bindu Chakra, which is connected with the eyes.
00:27:26	This is not on top of the head, but more on the back here.
00:27:33	Where mostly the head is curling around.
00:27:41	And there, where the newborn babies actually have a hole, a fontanella.
00:27:53	There is an energy center called the Bindu Chakra,
00:27:57	which is very important for health and also for the eyes.
00:28:02	So, what you can do, for example, is
00:28:07	to massage a little bit around this point.
00:28:12	And the best is if you have tiger bone.
00:28:20	And a little bit of tiger bone is wrapped here at this point.
00:28:28	So these are some health tips, especially for the eyes.
00:28:43	So the next point is that we have to see every problem in a holistic way.
00:28:56	Nowadays, in fashion, is this word: psychosomatic diseases.
00:29:09	That means that they say, basically, when they don't know what it is,
00:29:13	then they say, "Oh, it's psychosomatic."
00:29:20	But basically, you must understand, this is always connected, always.
00:29:26	In yoga, we say we don't have just a body. We speak about five bodies.
00:29:37	This physical body is just the greatest, the most gross manifestation.
00:29:49	Then there is an energetic body, the prāṇa body.
00:29:52	Then we have the mental and intellectual body.
00:30:00	And then we have our desires, which make us active.
00:30:09	So this is actually caused through our karmas.
00:30:14	And all of these are connected. So, as a general rule, you can say,
00:30:20	when you have a problem, you have it never just on one level.
00:30:24	You have it always connected on our levels.
00:30:35	So now, with the eyes, we can maybe try a little bit to get a feeling for
00:30:40	what could be the background of eye problems.
00:30:42	So with the eyes, we perceive our surroundings.
00:30:59	And what I say now is not to judge anyone.
00:31:07	It is meant only as an inspiration that you can
00:31:11	use for yourself, maybe, to analyze yourself a little bit.
00:31:22	Because what happens with our physical body is basically not the problem.
00:31:32	Problems in our body are not the problem, but they are a symptom
00:31:40	of a problem which is behind. They say you are driving with a car.
00:31:50	And suddenly, there starts a blue light blinking.
00:31:56	And you feel disturbed by that. You see now the blue light as a problem.
00:32:06	You say, "OK, I will just screw it out."Now it's not disturbing me anymore,
00:32:09	so the problem is gone. But after 50 kilometers,
00:32:16	your car breaks down because it was an indication
00:32:24	that you don't have oil anymore in your motor.
00:32:26	So the blue lamp was not the problem;
00:32:33	it was an indicator for a problem which is somewhere else.
00:32:36	So, this is a very useful approach also
00:32:43	to analyze all that happens with our body.
00:32:51	And this you can basically apply to every disease.
00:33:05	Let us think, when someone is far-sighted,
00:33:12	what could it mean? He doesn't want to see the dead.
00:33:28	Yeah. When someone is far-sighted, what actually can he not see?
00:33:34	What is near? Yes.
00:33:44	So that means, basically, he has a problem with himself.
00:33:50	To see oneself and what is close to me.
00:33:58	And when someone is nearsighted?
00:34:09	Opposite, so that someone is somehow too self-centered.
00:34:16	It is difficult to open oneself to the problems of others.
00:34:28	So these are like typical personality structures.
00:34:38	Both have something to do with our ego.
00:34:43	So often we are good at judging others
00:34:46	and don't realize that we have the same problem.
00:34:54	Sometimes we are only single in ourselves,
00:34:56	and we cannot open our heart for others.
00:35:03	But I want to repeat, it's not to judge anyone.
00:35:06	But I want to repeat that I don't judge anyone.
00:35:15	I don't judge anyone, but I want to give inspiration to analyze myself.
00:35:23	So the main technique in yoga,
00:35:31	a very traditional technique, is called tratak.
00:35:40	This is also one of the six traditional haṭha yoga techniques.
00:35:50	Tratak has different aspects.
00:35:56	First of all, it is the most powerful,
00:35:59	most effective exercise from yoga for the eyes.
00:36:09	But it is also one of the very best
00:36:13	exercises to learn concentration, and concentration leads to meditation.
00:36:20	There are different ways to do tratak, but the essence is the same.
00:36:29	It means, basically, to concentrate for some time on one object.
00:36:38	With open eyes, so this object, the most important object,
00:36:50	so this object, the most beautiful object,
00:36:53	what we usually use, is a candle light.
00:37:03	And here in the book we have a picture of how it would usually look.
00:37:10	That means you have a candle in front of you, so that the flame
00:37:14	is somehow at the height of the eyes, or maybe a little bit lower.
00:37:20	And you sit down, like for meditation, it is actually a type of meditation.
00:37:30	And the problem is, it has to be dark.
00:37:37	And now here, we cannot make the room dark,
00:37:41	that's why we cannot use the technique with
00:37:45	the candlelight now, unfortunately.
00:37:48	So for our technique today, we have prepared papers with a black dot.
00:38:07	But you can also make, for example,
00:38:12	tratak on the moon or another small object.
00:38:18	So tratak basically means that you concentrate
00:38:20	on one object for some time.
00:38:29	So we will do it for about one minute.
00:38:32	With open eyes, we concentrate on this point.
00:38:44	And then you close the eyes. And then you wait.
00:38:48	It might happen that a reflection inside will come,
00:38:52	a reflection of this point which you saw with open eyes.
00:38:56	Everyone knows, for example,
00:39:05	if it happens you look in the sun or you look in a very bright light
00:39:09	and you close your eyes, then you have immediately the reflection of that.
00:39:12	But it is not that you visualize something; you do nothing.
00:39:31	You just close your eyes, relax, and wait.
00:39:40	And then, either the reflection appears or it does not appear.
00:39:47	If it appears, then you fix your awareness again on this inner light now.
00:40:00	So basically, as long as this inner reflection is there,
00:40:03	you concentrate on that.
00:40:10	And when it disappears, then you open your eyes again for the second round.
00:40:20	So basically, about one minute with open eyes
00:40:23	and maybe three to five minutes with closed eyes.
00:40:34	And usually we do three rounds.
00:40:36	One can use tratak also as a very beautiful
00:40:40	technique in the night, in the evening, to calm down.
00:40:51	For people who have problems falling asleep.
00:40:56	Then you can do one round, maybe enough, just before you go to sleep.
00:41:06	When you do tratak with a candle, what is a
00:41:12	normal thing? Then you should do it only when it's dark.
00:41:19	And make sure that there is no draft.
00:41:26	Because when the flame is going like this,
00:41:31	then there is nothing to concentrate on.
00:41:36	So with the candle light, then you concentrate
00:41:38	on the center, where the brightest light is.
00:41:47	And for this one minute, when we concentrate
00:41:49	with open eyes, we try to control our eyelids.
00:42:00	Because every blinking of the eyelids interrupts our concentration.
00:42:06	So even if it's a little bit, how to say,
00:42:11	hard to keep it, try to control it for
00:42:16	this one minute, the eye leaves.
00:42:27	So we will see now how far we can go also with these dots.
00:42:31	So, is it so far clear?
00:42:41	Now we have a little bit of a practical problem
00:42:43	with such a big group, that everyone finds a spot.

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A Mini Yoga Nidrā for the Head and Eyes

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