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Practical instructions for practising

Yoga originates from the divine and is for all beings, drawing inspiration from the forms and balances found throughout creation. The practice encompasses postures, breath, and sound for holistic well-being. It is essential to avoid force and competition, progressing slowly and respectfully with the body's natural limits. Overexertion in postures or overconsumption in diet leads to harm. True yoga integrates mindful practice with disciplined living, focusing on gradual elevation over a lifetime.

"God has given two feet for standing, not the head for standing."

"In yoga, there is no competition."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Alak Purījī Mahādev kī je ho. Devādhi Dev Deveśvar Mahādev kī je ho. Ārādhi Bhagavān Śrī Mahāprabhujī kī je ho. Satguru Swāmī Madhavānandjī Bhagavān kī je ho. Satya Sanātanadharma kī je ho. Good evening, all dear sisters, brothers, yogīs, yoga teachers, all the āśrams, all yoga centers, all yoga teachers from different yogīs and āśrams, all together. I offer my praṇām to everyone. We know that yoga is mostly for humans, because other creatures have their own fixed techniques from themselves, and they are living their lives accordingly. Yoga is not merely a few thousand years old; it has existed since the very beginning of creation, because it originates from Bhagavān Śiva. We have many, many names for the practices: āsanas like the cobra pose. They are also inspired by animals: the cat, the dog, the horse, etc., and by birds, such as Garuḍa. In this way, God, Śiva, created 8.4 million different kinds of creatures, and from them come the postures. We can imitate the lotus flower; we can make a lotus shape and float in the water. There are also many postures inspired by the stars, the moon, the sun, the morning, the day, the evening, and the night. Then comes prāṇa. So yoga is for all, even for the tree—there is a posture called Vṛkṣāsana for trees. According to these principles, we teach. All yoga teachers, all yoga centers, all different yogic ashrams—it does not matter by which name—they are all conveying the same essence. Some do it quickly, some slowly, but all yoga teachers are doing their best in their practice. This is for our good health and long life. While practicing āsanas, we discover more and more āsanas. We do yoga postures for our physical body, for all our joints, nerves, intestines, everything. Also, mantras come to our ears as sound. Prāṇāyāma will come as well. Sarvahitāsana is one of the best, but one should know how to do it properly. It is a great posture. Saints have practiced it. Mahāprabhujī did it, and our Satguru Swami Madhavānandjī Bhagavān also did it. He would do it for about ten minutes, or sometimes two to three minutes, and then again, but not too much. Do not overdo it. When I came to Czechoslovakia in 1973, around that time in the 70s, I had many disciples—about 700,000 people who liked yoga in their life. There was one person, about 70 years old, retired, who had practiced yoga before. When he met me, I gave him meditation, mantras, etc. He was doing āsanas very well. Then he tried to practice śīrṣāsana, the headstand. He began with one minute, then five minutes, slowly increasing, and he enjoyed it. Once he did it for 45 minutes, and one day he fell down. He became a little unconscious. His wife called the doctor and an ambulance. I came to the hospital. The doctors were there; they gave him an injection and made him lie down. After about an hour, he regained consciousness. The doctor said, "Relax, don’t go home. Stay here." The next day, the doctor asked, "What happened? What have you done? Headstanding? For how long?" The man said he wanted to do it for one hour. The doctor exclaimed, "One hour of headstanding? God has given two feet for standing, not the head for standing." So, if you want to practice yoga, please do not overdo it. Do not think that one day, two days, or one month of practice means you can do everything. It takes a long, long life, a long time. Similarly, there is a lotus posture in the water for swimming. Once, a person was doing it and nearly fell asleep. Water started going into his mouth, his head went down, he could not open his lotus position, and he sank. Some people swimming on the Adriatic coast quickly swam over and pulled him out. Regarding Sarvahitāsana, in my book they have also put it incorrectly, I am sorry. They show both hands on the floor and the head also, like this. This is very dangerous. You can break your knee or neck. But now many are doing it like that. For śīrṣāsana, we must make a ring. (Give me your... thank you.) We have this cloth, like this, and we should make a ring from it. We put this ring on the floor, then go down so it supports the back of our head here. Then, join your fingers like this and place your head within them. It will not hurt your head. Your elbows and fingers support you. Then we can lift our legs up. You will be comfortable, and we are supporting our neck very nicely. Some people do it directly on the floor. That is risky; you can injure your neck. Some teach with both hands and the head on the floor. It is not good. If you are used to practicing like that, you must have this ring from the cover cloth. Many people who work carry loads on their heads. They put something there and go. Many ladies put a water pot on their head, hold one child by the hand, a second child is holding on, and they walk like this, talking to everyone, "Hello, where are you going?" The child says, "Yeah, okay, we'll go." Sometimes they are just walking to fetch water. That was common in India, and still is in many places. They talk, take one more pot, help others—it is a balance, a yogic balance. But we have to use it appropriately. These are yoga exercises; one has to be very careful. Now, many are doing very hard practices, jumping and such. They are calling it a competition and want to make it an Olympic event. In yoga, there is no competition. When someone wants to go ahead, we say, "Yes, please, you go." They say, "No, no, you go." Sometimes when we are on a platform or standing in line for food, I go to take food, another is there, so I say, "No, okay, I am standing, please you take it." No competition at all. Also, in the practice of prāṇāyāmas, there are many types. Jalāneti is very, very good for us, but if you cannot do it properly, you can create a problem. The teacher should give exact instructions. When practicing jal neti, we should not inhale through the nostrils, only through the mouth. If you do it and inhale through the nostrils, it will cause discomfort. So, in everything a yogī practices, one should never force anything. Many people have very stiff bodies; it may take one or two years, but it will come. Your bones and joints will become soft again, like a new life. But if we do it immediately and forcefully, it can feel as if something is broken. If we do it slowly, we can do it without any cracking. Just this posture and these finger movements can tilt our shoulder blades, neck, spine, ribs. It is beautiful. Get up and look like this. We do like this; it is beautiful. All my stretching tension goes away. So, yoga in daily life, which includes Sarvahitāsana. In that, we go like this and that, then to the back of the head, and we should go like this. Never go like this in the exercise. When doing it, we must support our neck and head, then go left and right. Then we can go like this, and these are slow movements. Do not make it a competition, but yoga people are making competitions. In my ashram, in my yoga centers, in my practice, I have a good one. But that "good one" is not necessarily good. We should learn from each other, but we should learn from good yoga books. However, many yoga books show many things done only with one hand like this, which is acrobatic. That we should not do. All the postures of the body, we call chorāsī, chorāsī, and chorāsī refers to the 8.4 million creatures. But from there, the 8.4 million are categorized into broader lines. For example, ants. How many different kinds of ants are counted as one? There are many, many ants. There is a fish category, with many different kinds of fish, but all are in one group. Similarly, flying birds, four-legged animals like cows, buffaloes, or horses, etc., and two-footed humans, and others like monkeys. In this way, there are 84 main categories. So, the very ancient yoga postures were said to be 84. Now we have created many more. Okay, why not? Otherwise, there are only 84 postures, and we should learn them properly. This was given by Śiva and the Yogīs. Now, of course, more and more people are coming forward, doing good things, and that's okay. Many things they do are okay. But then, massaging the whole body, our fingers and hands and everything—that is not part of yoga postures. We have to understand that; we should say we should practice real yoga. Along with that, we must know how to eat and what to eat. It is said, and I can also tell you now. For example, a dog or a cat—we call them house pets. They are animals for the forest, but now we keep them in the house. We feed them differently; they will die earlier, they will be ill. We go to doctors and so on. But others in the forest—let your house cat run with a forest cat and see how strong it is. They have a longer life, a few years more, while the others die earlier. Similarly, do not feed birds too much. If we overfeed them, they become lazy. For example, when crops are harvested and seeds fall, many animals and birds eat more. Then they go to drink water. The thirstier they are, the more they drink. The seeds expand inside them, and the birds die. But some other animals, like tigers, will not overeat. A tiger will hunt and eat; it is their nature. When they have eaten completely, they lie down for two or three days to digest. Rabbits or other animals do not overeat. But we humans, for example, go to the forest and see mushrooms. We could take one for our evening meal, but no, we take a lot. That is human greed. Other creatures know what and how much to eat. That is why the yogīs said yoga practice must include control in all this. So we should understand this. Of course, doctors are different and yogīs are different. Doctors and medicine are very good, and we need them very much. But if we all eat properly and a little less, we will not be ill. Yet people eat and eat until they cannot walk. When they go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet, I am sorry to say, but they are so fat that half of their left side is outside, and they cannot wash themselves properly. They have to take a cloth and do like this. Why? Because we are overeating. So, we shall reduce the fat in our body through yoga practice and proper diet. In yoga in daily life, we have made certain postures. They number 84. Then, within that movement, we make two, one, two, or more internal movements. For example, this movement: where is my hand, right or left? This side, okay? So, this side, this side... That side, that side—that is one movement. All of this comes into one, and we should not do everything at once. The Sarvahitāsana postures we have should be practiced for at least one year. Do not rush forward. I have begun again many times. I have done exercises and then stopped. Now again I have started something. For ten months—not years, excuse me, months—I am coming to the right point, but I still have five months more. Then it will be good again. Otherwise, we will damage our body, both physically and mentally. We have a lifelong practice. So add slowly, no competition, step by step. Then our life will be elevated. Otherwise, it will decline. Therefore, yoga in daily life, all around the world—all our yoga teachers are teaching their best, and people are practicing. Some people are just moving and going. They think, "I will be good, my body," and then go to other centers, then go there, then swimming, then here. Do not torture your body. Let it come naturally. We will come to prāṇāyāma. It will come, the prāṇāyāma. Then will come more, very great exercises. But for today, this is enough. Reflect on and understand what I have told you. I know that many of you are better than me. So, please, you can also send me a message to correct me. But no competition, not this and that. Be a yogī. Do not run after things. So many different things: yoga in daily life. Namo Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Namo Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Hara Hara Bholi, Namo Śivāya. Namo Śivāya, Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya. Hara Hara Bholi, Namaḥ Śivāya. Oh, Śiva is taking my this side. Oh my, thank you, Śiva. Mām postrāṇi dhikuyu. Anyhow, nāma karta prabhu dīpa karta mahā prabhu dīpa. Oṁ śānti. So, in yoga... we should not run for it. Do not run. Do not overdo it. What I have given you are very simple things, but the simple is very good. It is said we need a needle if we have a thorn somewhere; we need a needle to take it out. If something is wood, we have to cut it, then we need an axe. If you take the axe to remove the thorn, you will cut your whole finger. So, a needle or an axe—both are very important, but when, where, and how we should use them is key. So it is with yoga. To know how—that is it. So, we shall tell people to give them again good health, a good life. Hari Om.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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