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Dear friends, welcome once more to India. Welcome to the place known as Oṁ Viśva Dīpa Guru Koṣvāmī Maheśvarānanda Āśrama, a retreat and yoga centre. In the desert of Rajasthan, a beautiful oasis was created by Paramahaṁsa Svāmī Maheśvarānanda. This centre is intended to be a yoga retreat and a spiritual centre. Its purpose is to serve humanity, to protect the environment through an ecological way of life, to offer spiritual seekers a path to find the light of spirituality through yoga, and to help those searching in yoga for a way to create and protect better health. Welcome to this centre, and welcome also to this practice hall. You can see pictures of holy saints, masters, and yoga teachers from India. They are the masters who form a lineage beginning with Śrī Alak Puruṣa, the Himalayan master. He gave the science of yoga to his disciple Śrī Devpurījī, then to Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇa Mahāprabhujī. The light and teaching of this yoga science then passed to Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Madhavānandajī and to Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī, called Svāmījī. He brought the science and light of yoga to Europe. This compact, authentic, and uninterrupted stream of wisdom was systematised as "Yoga in Daily Life". We now have this book, which is being translated into most of the world's languages. The book consists of eight levels. All levels include physical exercises, breath exercises, mental exercises, concentration techniques, relaxation and meditation techniques. They also include purification techniques called Haṭha Yoga kriyās. A significant part of yoga is also Karma Yoga, which means simply to serve all human beings, to love one another, to cooperate, and to improve social health. Another part of yoga is a vegetarian way of life. Today, we continue our practice according to this book. We are in the fifth part of Level One. As usual, we begin our practice with Oṁ chanting. Take a comfortable seat, relax your hands on your knees, straighten your body, and close your eyes. Take a deep inhalation and exhalation. Inhale deeply and chant Oṁ three times. Feel the effect of the Oṁ chanting on your entire inner environment and your surroundings. Again, inhale and exhale deeply. We will begin our practice with relaxation in Ānanda Āsana. Lie down in Ānanda Āsana, which means simply lying on your back with legs slightly apart and arms slightly apart from the body. Correct your position by moving your pelvis slightly and feel your back stretching along the floor. Move your shoulders and head. Be aware of your spinal column and relax the spine onto the floor. Feel all the points where the spine touches the floor and try to correct any gaps between the spine and the floor. Inhale and exhale deeply with each exhalation. Feel how the muscles of your whole body relax. Relax the entire body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. The whole body is completely relaxed, lying on the floor. Try to feel your body. Try to notice the sensations you have now at the beginning of your practice, coming from your body to your mind. We now begin slowly with the relaxation. Relaxation occurs only with concentration and breath. Concentrate on your right foot and, with exhalation, relax all the muscles of your right foot. There is no movement; it is only a mental and breathing process. Simply feel how, with every exhalation, the muscles rest. All tension departs, and the muscle becomes more relaxed, warmer, and lighter. You may also feel it as heaviness; sensations can vary. The main point is that the muscles relax with every exhalation. Relax the ankle joint. Feel and relax the calf muscles, the right knee, all the muscles of your right thigh, and the hip joint. The entire right leg is completely relaxed. Move your concentration to the left side of your body and relax in the same way: the whole left foot, left ankle, calf muscles, left knee, all the muscles of your left thigh, and the hip joint. Relax your lower back. Relax your pelvis and abdomen. Feel your stomach muscles and relax them with every exhalation. Feel your chest and relax it. Move your concentration slowly to your fingers and relax all the fingers of your right hand, one after another. Touch them with your thought and tell them in a relaxed way, "Relax, my friend. Now you have time to relax." Relax your wrist. Relax your arm muscles, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder together with the shoulder blade. The whole right arm lies on the floor completely relaxed. With every exhalation, the relaxation deepens. Feel very pleasant sensations from the relaxing part of your body. Move your concentration to your left side. Relax all the left fingers, left wrist, left arm and elbow, left upper arm and shoulder together with the shoulder blade. The whole left arm is completely relaxed, lying on the floor. Your neck is also completely relaxed, including the middle part where the thyroid gland is located. Relax all the facial muscles. Feel each of them; they are very small, tiny, and relaxed. Relax the tension in your jaw and your tongue. Do not clench your teeth. Completely relax your forehead, as well as the space behind your forehead. Feel the breathing process there and feel how, with every exhalation, the tension behind your forehead departs. Your thoughts purify. All tension and stress are released. Now concentrate on your breathing process. Become aware of the breath as it enters the nostrils and follow its path. Feel the lungs. Simply watch the breath as it enters the body and comes out a little warmer. Just feel the natural breath process a few times; do not interrupt it, simply watch and feel it. We will now begin the first part of the exercise, which is a breathing exercise. It is a technique to learn the proper way of breathing, called the full yoga breath. The breath consists of three parts: abdominal, thoracic, and clavicular breathing. First, we will practice only abdominal breathing. Consciously, we will now influence our breath and direct it to the abdominal part. Place your right hand on your belly and feel the breath there. With every inhalation, expand the belly as much as possible and feel the abdominal part with the breath. With exhalation, relax, and the belly goes down. With inhalation, the belly expands because the pressure increases with the diaphragm's movement. With exhalation, the abdominal space increases as the diaphragm rises and the belly descends. Once more, inhale deeply and exhale into the abdominal part of your body. We will now continue with chest breathing. Place both hands on your chest, holding the ribs, and feel them. Direct your breathing into the chest. With inhalation, expand the chest firmly as much as possible. You should feel the ribs and the intercostal muscles expanding, and with exhalation, how they contract. Expansion with inhalation and contraction with exhalation. You can also feel the slight, natural pause of the breath between inhalation and exhalation. This moment is called breath retention, or kumbhaka, a moment when the body is in complete peace. We will slowly move to clavicular breathing. Place your hands on your collarbones, fingers facing toward the shoulders. Feel the collarbones. With inhalation, feel how the upper part of the lungs expands and how the collarbones lift slightly toward the ears. The movement also includes the shoulders. With inhalation, the collarbones lift a little, along with the shoulders, and with exhalation, they go back down. With this breathing, you feel just the uppermost parts of your lungs. With exhalation, place your hands back down beside the body. Now we will join all three parts into one wave. Place your right palm on your belly and your left hand on your chest. Begin by breathing into the abdomen, then expand the chest, and then let the collarbones rise. With exhalation, the collarbones go back down, the chest presses, and the belly goes down. So with inhalation, the movement begins from the belly: the belly expands, then the chest expands, and then the collarbones rise. Once again: inhalation—abdomen, chest expanding, collarbones rising. With exhalation—collarbones down, chest being pressed, belly down. You can place your hands back beside the body. We will join this wave of breaths, the full yoga breaths, with movement. Using our hands, with inhalation we move them up behind the head. Wait for the inhalation and begin the movement. Slowly move your arms behind your head onto the floor, both arms, and feel the breath rising with inhalation and descending with exhalation. With inhalation, you move your arms up and feel the wave of breath running up your trunk; with exhalation, feel the wave running down. Simply join this movement with the breath and let your hands be guided by your breath. Breathe naturally, and when the body requires breath, simply add the movement to your breathing process. Wait for inhalation. With inhalation, begin moving the hands up; with exhalation, hands down. Simply coordinate the breathing with the movement. We will continue with stretching the body in different variations. First, begin again with the right arm going up and stretch the entire right side of your body, reaching through the heel and the fingertips. With exhalation, go back down. With the next inhalation, move your left arm upwards, stretching the entire left side of your body, reaching through the heel and the fingertips. With exhalation, go back down. With the next inhalation, stretch the other side of the body. With inhalation, feel the stretching of the whole body and try to stretch as far as possible, trying a little to keep the lower back on the floor. When you require inhalation, simply add the movement to the inhalation. Once again, another side stretch as far as possible. You should feel the tension along the whole left side of the body. If you can, consciously relax the right part of the body which is not being stretched; you do not need this part for the practice, so relax it if possible. After exhalation, simply relax the whole stretched part of the body. We will continue with diagonal stretching. This means that with inhalation, lift your arms again onto the floor behind your head and exhale. With the next inhalation, stretch the right arm and the left leg—a diagonal stretch. It is a similar exercise on the diagonal and has a different effect on the back muscles. With exhalation, relax the stretched part of the body. With the next inhalation, stretch the other side: left arm and right leg. Imagine as if someone is pulling these two parts of your body away from each other. With exhalation, completely relax. With another inhalation, we should continue once more on both sides. Try to feel the tension and stretch as far as possible. Feel the muscles of your back, as well as the leg, hand, and arm muscles being stretched. Inhalation—stretching; exhalation—complete relaxation. You can remain in this position and begin stretching the whole body. Wait for another inhalation and, with inhalation, stretch the entire body, both arms and both legs. Feel the lower back and try to press it a little toward the floor using the abdominal muscles. With exhalation, relax and continue a few more times. This practice stimulates the whole body, helps you feel it at the beginning of practice, and works the muscles of the entire legs, arms, and back. After relaxation, remaining in this position, we can continue with rolling the body. Thumbs are touching each other, feet are touching each other. Wait for inhalation and, with inhalation, roll the whole body to the right side. You can remain in this position for a while if you can and wish to. With exhalation, return back. With inhalation, change direction. Continue this movement consciously, with full awareness, perfectly controlling the movement. Each and every muscle in this movement should be under your control. It requires very good coordination between the large and small muscles of the body. Improve your concentration and sense of stability. After this practice, with exhalation, place your hands again beside the body and relax completely. Deep inhalation and long exhalation. Completely relax and feel the whole body, now stretched and prepared for further practice. Slowly rise up. Begin with the head, then the shoulders. Using your hands, rise up your trunk and sit in Vajrāsana. Vajrāsana is a yogic posture that can also be used for meditation or relaxation. It improves concentration. Your heels are slightly apart, and the buttocks rest between the heels. Knees are slightly apart. The spine is straight, and the hands rest relaxed on your knees. We will now practice Mājārī, the performance of the cat's stretching movement. We prepared for this movement before practice. If you know how to practice, you can imagine it. In your imagination, try to visualise the practice as perfectly as possible, and when you begin, try to achieve that perfection. With inhalation, rise up onto your heels, raise your hands to shoulder level, and, using the strength of your thigh muscles, move the pelvis forward. Straighten up. With exhalation, the hands go down, forming a right angle between the arms and legs, and arch the whole back upwards. With inhalation, go down, bending first the lower back, then the thoracic part, and then the cervical part, and let the gaze go up. With exhalation, work again, starting to bend from the lower back, continuing toward the thoracic part and the cervical part (the head). In this position, you can improve the movement, improve the bending, and feel the whole back being bent. Your gaze should be on your belly. Continue the movement in this arched position. You can feel all the muscles around the back and how they are being sensed in this position. Feel how the small muscles around the back are stretched, and you can also engage your abdominal muscles a little. Now concentrate on your breathing and try to follow your breath movements. Simply integrate your practice into your natural breathing process. Coordinate the breathing with the movement so that a natural, beautiful wave runs along your back together with the breath. After each inhalation, there is a slight breath retention. In this position, you can remain for a few seconds, as is comfortable for you, and improve the movement a little—stretch or bend more. When the body requires inhalation or exhalation, continue the movement. This practice relaxes and strengthens the muscles along the spine, increases spinal flexibility, improves abdominal breathing, and supplies circulation and blood to the lower abdominal organs. It is very helpful for women and good for digestion. From this position, rise up again, hands rising, and with exhalation, go back down onto your heels. You can repeat this practice several times. At the end of this posture, simply close your eyes and feel the whole body. Inhale and exhale deeply and feel the sensations from your body. Concentrate on your spine. Feel how it is stretched, how it is straight now, and you may have beautiful feelings around your spinal column. Relax your abdomen. After performing every āsana, there should be a brief pause and feeling of its effect. We should let the āsana work within us and feel its effect before beginning another āsana. We now begin, or continue, in a standing position. We have three āsanas that concentrate on the shoulder area, the front chest, and the area between the shoulder blades. The first is horizontal arm movement. Legs are slightly apart, hands relaxed. With inhalation, bring your hands up to shoulder level and place your palms together. Your arms are parallel to the floor at shoulder level. With inhalation, turn your palms and pull the arms backwards as far as possible. With exhalation, turn the palms and return to the front. Bring the upper arms together and continue the movement. Imagine you are pressing something behind you as far as possible, then turn the palms and press something in front of you as much as possible. Utilise all the muscles of your arms and shoulders. This exercise strengthens the shoulder and arm muscles, stretches the chest muscles, and strengthens and stretches the muscles between the shoulder blades. With exhalation, lower your arms and relax. Another practice is called "crawling". It is a swimming movement we all know. Begin with one hand coordinated with the other: one hand goes forward while the other goes backward. Coordinate the movement and make it as perfect as possible. Be aware of your fingertips and guide the movement from the fingertips as far as possible. Ten times in one direction, then ten times in the other. Perform it very slowly and with concentration. Feel the sensations in your arms and shoulders. You can change direction and continue the movement the other way. This practice coordinates the muscles of the chest, arms, and shoulder blades. It encourages shoulder joint mobility, relaxes the muscles between the shoulder blades and the neck, and releases tension. Inhale and exhale, relax, and feel the effect of the practice on the upper part of your trunk—your shoulders, chest, and the area between the shoulder blades. Now we will relax this area with another practice: forward bending with arm straightening. Slowly bend forward, starting from the head, and bend the whole body down toward the floor. Proceed slowly, vertebra by vertebra, until you reach as far as you are able. In this position, completely relax. Completely relax your arms, shoulders, head, and facial muscles. Wait for another exhalation and, with exhalation, pull your right shoulder a little more toward the floor. With exhalation, relax. With another exhalation, pull your left arm toward the floor so that you feel as if the arm and shoulder want to touch the floor. With exhalation, the shoulder tries to go closer to the floor; with inhalation, it rises. Slowly rise up. The movement begins from the lower back, continuing through the thoracic part until you are completely straight and strengthened. Deep inhale and exhale, and relax. This practice relaxes the muscles stretched by the previous practices and also increases blood circulation to the head, improving the function of the head's organs—the eyes, nose, and ears. We will now continue in a sitting position with the half butterfly. The starting position is with straight legs. Bend your right knee and place your right foot on the left thigh as far as possible toward the hip joint. If you are unable to do this, you can place your foot beside your thigh, parallel to it. Straighten your body and relax. Place your right palm on your right knee and begin a slight movement in your right hip joint with the hand. Feel how the hip joint relaxes with this movement. With your left hand, hold your toes. Throughout this practice, your back should be straight and your concentration should be in front of you, or you can close your eyes. Continuing this movement, raise your left arm up above your body and stretch yourself upward toward the ceiling as far as possible. You should feel tension throughout the body. With exhalation, slowly bend forward and try to bring your trunk as close as possible toward your stretched leg. Continue the movement. You can hold with your left hand either your thigh, knee, calf, fingers, toes, or the sole of the foot, depending on your capacity and flexibility. With inhalation, rise up again and again. Stretch yourself upward toward the ceiling, and with exhalation, go down. The head goes down and you completely relax. With another inhalation, go up, stretch upward, place your hand back on your knee, and completely relax the whole body. Feel your back and your concentration. We can now change legs and continue on the other side. Again, we begin with the movement by pressing the knee. Ensure your spine is straight and relax your hip joint. With inhalation, raise your hand up, stretch yourself as far as possible, and with exhalation, keeping the back straight, go down toward your leg. Touch that part of your leg that is possible. Continue the movement with another inhalation. Come up again, stretch your body, and with exhalation, completely relax. Completely relax. Now we continue with the full butterfly. Place the soles of your feet together, hold your toes, and pull your heels as close as possible toward the body. Straighten your back and continue the butterfly movement from the hips. Feel the hip joints and how they are being exercised, and how the movement in the hip joints increases. You can place your hands on your knees and continue this movement by pressing the knees. With exhalation, bow down toward the floor. Feel how the angle between your body and hip joints changes, and now different muscles are working. With inhalation, rise up again. With another exhalation, go down toward the floor. With inhalation, rise up again and relax. We now continue with another practice called Pavanamuktāsana. It begins in a lying position. Lie down on your back. With inhalation, bend your knees and bring them as close as possible toward your body. Hold them with your hands. Wait for exhalation and, with exhalation, bring your head toward your knees. With inhalation, the head goes back down. Continue the practice three times. With exhalation, the forehead touches the knees; with inhalation, the head goes back down. This practice presses the abdominal muscles and organs, increases digestion, and stretches the lower back. In this position, we can begin moving the body sideways, from one side to the other. Coordinate the movement from side to side and feel the gentle massage of your back muscles. Finish in the middle and continue the movement backward and forward. Keep the head close to the knees. Arch your back and coordinate your movement so that your muscles maintain this position throughout. Then relax. Now, the relaxation will be in a lying position on the abdomen. Slowly turn onto your abdomen. Place your arms beside your body, palms facing upward, and relax your head on your cheek, with your ear close to the floor. Deep inhale and exhale, and relax the whole body. Relax your legs, arms, the whole trunk, and your facial muscles. We will slowly continue with stretching while lying on the abdomen. Raise your head and place it either on your forehead or your chin. Place your hands in front, touching the floor. With your legs slightly apart, come onto your toes. With inhalation, stretch the whole body, reaching through your fingertips and heels. With exhalation, relax. With inhalation, stretch your body as far as possible. You are stretching and strengthening the leg and back muscles. This removes tension and relieves fatigue. With exhalation, relax. With another inhalation, stretch your body as far as possible, using as many muscles as you can. With exhalation, completely relax the whole body. In this position, we will continue by bringing the arms behind the back. With inhalation, lift your hands up a little and, with a wide arc, guide them backward and clasp them together behind your back. With inhalation, go back. Once again: inhalation, going backward slowly in a directed movement. Clasp your fingers behind your back. With exhalation, return to the front and relax. Deep inhale and exhale. We will continue with raising the head and legs. Bend your legs at the knees. From this position, with inhalation, slowly lift your head, shoulders, and a little of the front part of your body. Do not bend your body in the lower back area, only in the thoracic part. With exhalation, go back down and relax. With another inhalation, continue the same movement. Bend your knees and, with inhalation, raise your head and upper body. Hold the breath. Press your hips toward the floor as much as possible and hold the breath as long as is comfortable. With exhalation, go back down and relax. Relax your legs and head. Place your head on your cheek. Deep inhale and exhale. We will do another variation. The arms are stretched out to the sides, palms at shoulder level. Continue the same movement. Bend your knees and, with inhalation, lift the upper part of your body. Start with the hands, shoulders, and the upper part of the cervical spine. Do not bend your lower back. With exhalation, go back down and relax. Relax your legs and whole body. Deep inhale and exhale. Another practice is raising the head and legs up together. Place your hands away from the body and wait for inhalation. With inhalation, lift your legs as well as your arms, and hold the body balanced on your abdomen. Hold the breath. With exhalation, go back down and relax. With another inhalation, repeat the same practice. Concentrate on coordinating all the muscles of your body and lift them slowly, one after another. Direct, coordinate, and control the movement. With exhalation, go down and relax. Deep inhale and exhale. We will relax in the tiger relaxation position. Bend your knees, position your body on your side so the left knee is bent, the right leg is stretched, the left elbow faces toward the knee, and the right elbow faces forward. Relax your chin and cheek on your hands. Deep inhale and exhale. Relax in this position. Relax the whole body. Feel how comfortable this position is and how natural it is for the body. Relax all leg muscles, stomach muscles, and facial muscles. Try to notice the sensations from your body after this practice. Ask yourself: How do I feel after this hour of yoga exercise? What are the sensations from my physical body? How is my mental state? How are my emotions now? Deep inhale and exhale. We will continue with the Prāṇāyāma practice, Nāḍī Śodhana, from the first level of Yoga in Daily Life. Prāṇāyāma is practiced in a sitting position. Take a comfortable seat, either Siddhāsana or Sukhāsana. Straighten your body and spine. Relax both hands on your knees. Become aware of your spine and how it is nicely stretched. Pull your arms and shoulders down a little, and draw your shoulder blades toward each other. Correct your position. You can tilt your pelvis slightly forward to make your position more stable. When your position is correct and perfect, try to relax all the muscles of your body while maintaining the posture. Deep inhale and exhale. Relax the whole body. You can begin with Chin Mudrā, touching the thumb to the index finger, with the rest of the fingers straight, palms facing upward or forward. Feel your whole body and relax it. Relax your shoulders, elbows, and hands. Feel and relax your abdominal muscles. Relax your legs. Completely relax your facial muscles. Now concentrate on your breathing. Be aware of the breath entering your body through the nostrils and follow its entire path in and out. Feel the cool touch of the inhale in the nostrils and the warm touch of the exhale. The whole lungs fill with breath on inhalation, and on exhalation, all toxins leave the body. Now make Prāṇāyāma Mudrā. Bend the elbow of your right hand, place the index and middle fingers between the eyebrows on your forehead, and use your thumb to close the right nostril. Inhale and exhale twenty times through the left nostril. Feel the breath. You can feel how breathing through the left nostril influences the entire left side of your body. You may feel that the left part of your lungs fills more with breath than the right side. Try to feel the difference between the right and left parts of your whole body while breathing through only one nostril. After twenty breaths, place your right hand back on your knee and inhale and exhale through both nostrils several times. Again, make Prāṇāyāma Mudrā and continue breathing only through the right nostril—this means closing your left nostril with your ring finger and breathing only through the right nostril. Again, try to feel the right part of your body and the sensations there while inhaling through the right nostril. This not only influences the physical body but also the brain centres. Breathing through one nostril influences the opposite hemisphere of the brain. With this practice, we balance the function of both brain hemispheres, regaining the harmony that is the aim of yoga practice and a yoga life. After twenty breaths, with an exhalation, place your hand back on your knee and breathe through both nostrils. Feel your normal breath. Feel the whole body. We will slowly end our practice by chanting Oṁ three times. Feel how the chanting of Oṁ arises from your body, starting in the abdominal area, rising up, filling the whole body, and spreading into the surroundings. Deeply inhale all the peace created by the chanting of Aum. Feel the inner peace, as well as the peace around you. Move your fingers and toes. Move your arms and legs. Rub your palms together vigorously to make them as warm as possible. Place your warm palms on your face to warm your facial muscles. Rub them and become extroverted. Become aware of your surroundings and your body. You can bend your head down for a while to feel the flow of blood into your head, nourishing your organs. Slowly rise up. With this, we will today finish our Yoga in Daily Life practice. You can continue this practice with the self-inquiry meditation from the first level of Yoga in Daily Life. Have a nice day. I look forward to seeing you again in several hours. Have a nice day.