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Part 1: Yoga in Daily Life: Level One, Part Six Dear friends, welcome again to the Yoga in Daily Life Center, Oṁ Viśvadīpa Gurukula Svāmī Māheśvarānanda Āśrama in India, Rajasthan. We are continuing today with our practice according to the system of Yoga in Daily Life, and now we have reached the sixth part of level one. We again begin our practice by singing Oṁ three times. Take a comfortable seat, put your hands on your knees, and relax the whole body. You can sit in one of the meditation postures called Sukhāsana, Siddhāsana, or you can also sit in Vajrāsana. Inhale deeply and start with Oṁ singing three times. Relax the whole body and feel the vibration of Oṁ within yourself, as well as outside. Inhale deeply and exhale. Slightly open your eyes, and we will start with relaxation in Ānanda Āsana. Lie down on your back. Your hands are apart from the body, and your legs are slightly apart from each other and relaxed. Purījī, Purījī... Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā. Relax all the toes, relax your ankles, relax your calf muscles, knees, thigh muscles, and the hip joints. With every exhalation, feel how the relaxation is deepening and deepening. Relax your lower abdomen, relax your pelvis, relax your abdominal muscles and your chest. The whole right hand is lying on the floor, completely relaxed, and you feel the increasing relaxation with each and every exhalation. Relax the fingers of your left hand. Again, touch each and every one of them with your thought and your breath. Relax them. Relax your wrist, arm, and elbow. Relax all the muscles of your left arm, together with the shoulder and shoulder blade. The whole left arm is completely relaxed, warm, and pleasant. Relax your neck muscles. Relax your jaw, chin, the round muscles around your lips, all the small muscles in your face, the round muscles around your eyes, and your forehead. Completely relax also your eyes, nose, and ears. Feel the relaxation of your tongue and your lips. The whole face is completely relaxed. Śrī Śrī... Follow inhalation and exhalation, and feel the whole breath process. Now we will slowly start with the yoga full breath techniques. We begin with abdominal breathing. So lift up your right hand and put your hand on your belly. Your right hand is on your belly, and you feel that your belly is expanding with every inhalation and contracting, coming down, with every exhalation. Breathe consciously with your abdominal breathing while your right hand is on your belly. Deep inhalation and exhalation while expanding the chest and contracting the chest. Concentrate on the breathing in your chest. The chest expands with every inhalation and contracts with the exhalation. Feel how the ribs are going apart from each other with every inhalation and coming close to each other with every exhalation. And now, slowly move your hands and put them on your collarbones, fingers facing upwards. And breathe only to the tip of your lungs. So, with inhalation, the collar bones are slightly rising up, and with exhalation, they are going down. With the next exhalation, put your hands back beside the body. And now we will join all these three parts of the breath into one wave. Put your right hand on your belly and your left hand on your chest. And start with inhalation, breathing by expanding your abdomen. Abdomen, then expanding your chest, and then your collar bones are lifting up. With exhalation, collar bones are going down, the chest is being pressed, and the abdomen is coming down. And continue with guiding your breath through all these three parts. Consciously guide your breathing from the abdomen with inhalation, expanding the chest and slightly lifting up your collarbones. And with exhalation, the collar bones are going down, the chest is pressing, and the abdomen is going down. With exhalation, put your hands again beside your body. Let your body breathe with this full yoga breath and join this breathing with movement. With inhalation, start lifting your arms upwards, touching the floor behind the head. And with exhalation, coming down back. And feel how this simple movement is increasing and improving the full yoga breath. Inhalation, hands are going up and guiding the breathing wave. And with exhalation, the arms are coming back, guiding the breath downwards. With another inhalation, we will start with stretching. Stretching. Lift up only your right arm and stretch the whole right part of your body, behind the fingers and behind the heel. The whole right part of your body is stretched. And with exhalation, relax the hand again back beside the body. And continue the same practice on the left side. Inhalation, strong stretching. Press the hip and lower back towards the floor, and pull your body behind your fingers and behind your heel. Exhalation, relax. Again, right side. Feel the difference in your body between the stretching and relaxing. Try to stretch your body as much as possible and feel the tension in the body. Purī Jī, and with exhalation, feel the complete relaxation. In between the inhalation and exhalation, continue the practice. There is a slight holding of the breath. Utilize this holding of the breath to feel the posture and the stretching more. And after exhalation, utilize the holding of the breath for feeling the deep relaxation. With another stretching, with exhalation, straighten your hands behind your head. Let them fall on the floor, and with another inhalation, start with diagonal stretching. Stretch the right hand and the left knee. Exhalation, relax. With another inhalation, opposite side. Try to pull your body and pull the parts of your body as far as possible. Keep the feeling that somebody is pulling your body and stretching it, but still try to hold your lower abdomen close to the floor. You can also use the power of your abdominal muscles. And continue the practice with inhalation, stretching, and with exhalation, relaxing. Deep inhale, long exhale, and relax. We will continue with rolling of the body. With inhalation, roll the whole body to one side, and with exhalation, come back to the middle. Coordinate all the muscles of your body as much as possible so that your movement is being controlled completely by yourself. Do not allow your body to bend here and there. Try to control the movement as much as possible. And relax in the middle. Deep inhale and exhale, and hands are going back beside the body. And we will continue with the twisting of the legs. Bend the knees. So with inhalation, bend both knees, put your feet on the floor, and stretch your arms so that the palms are facing upward. Deep inhale, and with exhalation, rotate both knees to one side and your head to the other side. Keep both knees close to each other. With inhalation, come up again, and with exhalation, continue in the other direction. Continue the practice on both sides three times. Feel the twisting and the rotation in your back, and try to hold your shoulder and your shoulder blade on the floor. Continue the movement on one side and the other side. This practice relaxes the muscles of the back and increases the mobility of the spine. Those who have problems with a slipped disc should not practice this exercise. You can end up in the middle, and we will continue with another variation. For this variation, the legs are slightly apart from each other, about the width of the hips. So, put your feet apart from each other, hands still remaining stretched, and palms facing upwards. Deeply inhale, and with exhalation, rotate your legs to one side so that the knee is touching the heel of the other leg. The hand is rotating in the opposite direction. With inhalation, come up to the middle, and with another exhalation, continue to the other side. Remember that you should keep your shoulder and the shoulder blade on the floor as much as possible, and your palm should be at the level of your shoulder. Continue the movement with the breath. Feel the rotation in the back, and try to feel the difference between the previous practice and this practice. This practice is a little bit more effective, especially in the lower back part. Again, it’s increasing the mobility of the spine and helping to get rid of problems with blockages in the sacroiliac joint. And now, lie down in the middle and relax in a lying position in Ānanda Āsana, or just breathe. This practice is increasing the mobility of the spine, helping the digestion, increasing the breathing, and also helping women because it is increasing the circulation in the lower abdomen. So, continue the movement together with the breath. From the position with arched back, slowly, with inhalation, go up. Sit up back on your heels, close your eyes, and relax. Deep inhalation and exhalation, and completely relax the whole body. Feel the effect of the practice on your spine, on your lower abdomen, and on the whole feeling of your body. We continue the practice with rowing. This practice begins from the sitting position with straight legs. Both legs are straight. Your spinal column is straightened up, and your hands are nicely relaxed on your knees. Put your hands beside your legs, and with inhalation, make a fist and start leaning backwards. Lean backwards and start with withdrawing. When you are upward, you open your palms, and when you are downward, you hold your fists. Continue the movement with the breathing. With exhalation, go down, and with inhalation, come up. Control the whole movement, try to make it as slow as possible. Ten times on one side. Three legs. End up on this side, and we will continue the movement on the other side. Prepare for this practice. Open your palms and roll to the front, lean backwards, hold the fist, and continue the movement in harmony with your breathing. This practice is stimulating the digestive system, increasing the circulation in the whole body, helping the metabolic rate, and also quickening the breath and heart rate a little bit. It’s strengthening the abdominal muscles and the leg muscles too. Promotes the mobility of the spine and hips. You can slowly end up and relax in a sitting position with straight legs. Straighten your back and relax your hands on your knees. Deep inhale and long exhale. We will continue with crossing the arms above the head. Stretch your arms sidewards, hands facing downwards. With inhalation, lift the arms upwards and cross them behind your head. And with exhalation, go down to the level of the shoulders. And continue the movement slowly, one side and another side. With the crossing of the hands, always change the hand, first one and then the other one to the front. Feel the effect of this practice on your shoulders, on your arm muscles, and on the muscles in between your shoulder blades. Continue the movement in harmony with the breathing. This practice increases the mobility of the shoulder joints, strengthens the muscles of the shoulders and arms, and stretches and strengthens the muscles between the shoulder blades. It helps people who have a rounded back. Exhalation. Relax again in sitting position. Put your hands on your knees, deep inhale and long exhale, and relax. The next practice is called tensing the thighs. It’s a practice which strengthens the thigh muscles. So, put your hands behind your back, your fingers facing backwards. Prāṇāyāma, Prāṇāyāma,... Prāṇāyāma... Again, try to press your knees toward the floor. You have to stretch and create tension in your thigh muscles, and this movement automatically lifts your heels a little bit above the floor. And exhale and relax. Once again, you can also feel how your calf muscles are nicely being stretched by this practice. With exhalation, completely relax. Deeply relax, again in the sitting position, with your hands on your knees. Deep inhale and long exhale. Inhale deeply, and we will continue with forward bending while sitting. Both your legs should be widely apart from each other. As far as you can, and as far as it is comfortable for you. Be aware of your back, and put your hands either on your thighs or on your knees. Deep inhale. And with exhalation, start bending forward with a straight head and straight back, as far as it is possible and comfortable for you. Finally, you can also put down your head. And with inhalation, come again slowly up. Exhale. Inhale, deeply inhale, and with exhalation, perform the practice once again. Slowly, slowly, the movement is beginning from your hip joints. Part 2: A Guided Yoga Practice: Āsana, Relaxation, and Prāṇāyāma Keep your back straight and bend forward toward the floor, moving your hands along both legs toward the toes as far as possible. Inhale as you come up again, then exhale. Now we continue with another variation. Bend your right knee and place your foot along the upper part of your thigh. Again, straighten your back. Turn the trunk of your body a little toward the stretched leg. Place both hands on your thighs. Inhale deeply. With exhalation, bend down again with a stretched spine toward your toe. Inhale as you come up again, slowly, slowly, and exhale. Continue the movement with your breathing. The movement is directed from your hips and hip joints. Your back is straight. Try to bring your body as close to the leg as possible. Finally, you can also bend your head, and your hands should touch that part of the body which is possible according to your flexibility. Inhale as you come up and exhale. You can change your legs and continue the same practice on the other side. Straighten your back and turn the trunk of your body a little toward the stretched leg. With exhalation, slowly, slowly begin bending down. This practice improves the mobility of the hips and stretches the muscles of the back of the thigh and calf. Stretching the back muscles should not be practiced by those who have problems with their knees. Slowly come up and relax. Take a deep inhalation and exhalation, and feel the effect of your practice. Mahāprabhujī Karatā He Karatā He... Karatā Mahāprabhujī Karatā Mahāprabhujī Karatā... Purījī, Purījī... Continue the movement with the bent leg. With inhalation, come slowly up and exhale. You can continue this movement several times according to your feelings and needs. With exhalation, relax and slowly change your legs. Remember that your back should be straight, and continue the movement on your left side. Again, stretch your body as far as possible with raised hands, and with exhalation, bend your trunk down. Again, the movement begins from the hips; try to reach as far as possible. This part of the practice stretches the legs on the back side of the thigh and calf. With inhalation, slowly come up. Again, stretch your body as high as possible, and with exhalation, return back toward your toes or that part of your leg which is possible for you to touch. Continue the movement with your left leg. With another inhalation, slowly, slowly come up. With exhalation, relax your hand on the knee. Take a deep inhale and exhale. Feel the effect of your practice. Now we will continue with the full butterfly. Place the soles of your feet together. Hold the toes and pull the heels toward the body as far as possible. Again, straighten your back. Keep your back straight and begin a slight movement of your hips, the same as before. It is like a butterfly movement. Concentrate on your hips. With exhalation, you can bend down toward the floor or toward the toes. Purījī, Purījī... Inhale, slowly, slowly, come up again. This practice increases the movement and mobility of the hips, and it is preparation for the meditation posture. Now we will continue with Maṇḍūkī Āsana, which is a frog position. The beginning position is standing. So slowly, slowly stand up. Your legs are slightly apart from each other. Your toes are facing a little bit sideways. Straighten the whole body. Now, slowly come down to a squat and place your palms together. Lower your buttocks and join your palms, touching each other. Go down toward the floor with your buttocks and just place your arms, with your palms together. With exhalation, bend down and relax your head between your hands. With inhalation, bend your elbows, pull your knees sideways, straighten your back, and look up toward the ceiling. With exhalation, with the pressure of your knees, again straighten your elbows and bend your head down toward your arms. Purījī, Purījī... Deep breathing should not be practiced by those who have problems with the knees or hips. With exhalation, relax and stand up slowly. Inhale and exhale in a standing position. Relax the whole body and feel the effect of this practice. Now we will do standing from squatting. This practice begins again from a standing position, legs slightly apart and the toes facing sideways. Now, go down to the squatting position and place your palms under your feet. Go down to the squatting position completely. Your arms are on the inside of your legs. Now, with exhalation, rise up to a standing position, but your palms are still under your feet. With inhalation, go back down, straighten your back, and look up toward the ceiling. With exhalation, slowly, slowly, with the help of your leg muscles, go up and pull your buttocks up first. With inhalation, come down again and feel the effect of the practice. In harmony with your breathing, engage your thigh muscles, your hips, and your knees. Continue the practice according to your breathing process. This practice should not be practiced by those who have high blood pressure, dizziness, or problems with the knees and hips. It strengthens and stretches the muscles of the back and legs. It relaxes the shoulder muscles, increases the mobility of the spine, knees, and hips, and also stimulates the circulation in the whole body. You can feel after this practice that your heart rate is a little increased because you strongly use the big muscles of your legs, which are being nourished by the blood, and that is why your heart rate increases. End in a standing position, slowly, slowly, straighten up. Take a deep inhale and a long exhale, and feel the effect of this practice on your whole body. We will continue with crawl walking. The beginning position is the squatting position. So go down to the squatting position, stand on your toes, and relax your hands on your knees. Straighten your back and begin walking, but be sure that your legs are parallel the entire time. Feel your feet and foot soles, how they are moving while you are walking, and how all the small muscles of your foot soles are being stretched and strengthened. This practice helps those people who have problems with the foot soles, who have problems with the arch of the foot. It also increases blood circulation and stimulates the circulation and stimulates the samīna. So slowly, slowly, walk by crawling. After this practice, you can stand up, and we will continue with relaxation and a prāṇāyāma technique. Lie down on your back in your Ānanda Āsana. Your legs are slightly apart from each other. Your hands are also slightly apart from the body. Again, correct your position, especially the position of your spine. Make sure that your spine is nicely stretched on the floor, touching as much of the floor as possible. Take a deep inhale and a long exhale. With each and every exhalation, feel the whole body from the toes to the top of the head, and from the top of the head to the toes. Try to feel the sensations coming from your body. Compare these feelings with those which were present at the beginning of your yoga exercise. What is the difference in the feelings within my body after the yoga practice? How do I feel? What kind of thoughts did I have before the practice? And what am I thinking now? What did I feel at the beginning of my yoga exercise? And how do I feel now? Try to investigate, try to search, try to find yourself. What is the benefit of your yoga practice? Relax the whole right leg completely on the floor. Relax the whole left leg from the tip of the toes to the hip. Relax both arms, both hands, both shoulders, and the shoulder blades. Feel and relax the trunk of your body. Feel your abdominal muscles. Feel your chest. And feel your spinal column. Try to imagine, if you can, the whole spine: the bones, the vertebrae—five lumbar, twelve thoracic, and five cervical vertebrae—and the intervertebral discs. Try to imagine the ligaments in between these bones. And around these ligaments, try to feel and see the small muscles which are connecting these vertebrae. As another layer, there are long muscles which run up and down along the whole spine. Finally, feel your big back muscles, the lower back as well as the upper back muscles and the muscles in between the shoulder blades. Relax them. Relax the whole back. Feel your face muscles and completely relax your face muscles. No tension at all. Feel and relax the area behind your forehead. Now, pull your awareness toward your breathing process. Again, feel the breath, how it is coming through the nostrils, the whole path, till the lungs. With exhalation, it follows the same path back out. Feel how the breath is filling the lungs and how it is taking all the toxins out from the body with exhalation. With inhalation, take your breath a little bit deeper. Influence your breath consciously and breathe deeply in and out with the full yoga breath. Full inhalation and long, long exhalation. Slowly move your hands, move your legs, move your head. And slowly, slowly, stand up. Begin by lifting your head, then your shoulders, then the trunk of the body, and then the whole body. We will end our practice with Prāṇāyāma, meaning the breathing technique called in this part Nāḍī Śodhana, first part. Take again a comfortable seat, straighten your back, and relax your hands on your knees. You can also use a meditation posture with Chin Mudrā: the palms and the second fingers touching each other and the rest of the three fingers facing upwards, being stretched. Take a deep inhale and exhale. Again, feel the whole breathing process and feel the breath coming into the nostrils and going out from the nostrils. With inhalation, bend your right arm and make Prāṇāyāma Mudrā. The index finger and the third finger are together, touching the place between the eyebrows. With the thumb, close your right nostril and breathe twenty times only through the left nostril. Feel your breath relaxed and natural. Feel how it is filling the left part of your lungs. Do not influence your breath. Just feel it. Natural, relaxed, pleasant. After twenty times, with exhalation, place your hand back on your knee. Relax the hand, and deeply inhale and exhale through both nostrils. With another inhalation, again bend your right hand and make Prāṇāyāma Mudrā, but now with your ring finger close your left nostril and again breathe twenty times naturally through the right nostril. Just feel the breath. Feel how it is coming into the body and how it takes all the toxins away from your body. Feel the purification with the breath, how it is nourishing your body with prāṇa, with subtle energy which makes your body alive, and how, with exhalation, the body is reducing all the tension, all the toxins, everything that has to be taken out. It is deeply purifying your mental and physical body. The breathing process is a bridge which connects your body with your inner self, and it is the way and the path to come close to your inner self. You can continue this practice after exhalation with meditation, self-inquiry meditation from yoga in daily life. We will now slowly finish our practice with exhalation. Place your hand back on your knee. Deeply inhale and exhale through both nostrils. At the end of our practice, we will sing again three times Om and the mantra: "Nāhaṁ kartā prabhuḥ kartā, Mahāprabhujī kartā, he kevalam." This means: I am not that one who is doing; God is the doer. The essence of this mantra is to surrender and dedicate all our deeds to God. So, deeply inhale. Nāhaṁ Karatā Prabhuḥ Karatā Mahāprabhujī Karatā He Kevalaṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ... Slowly, slowly move your fingers, move your arms, rotate your shoulders, move your feet a little bit, and rub your palms strongly. With this movement, increase the energy in the whole body and turn yourself extrovert. Become aware of the place where you are. Become aware of your surroundings. Place your palms on your face and rub your facial muscles. Open your eyes, and you can also bow your head down and feel the blood circulation toward your brain and toward all the organs of your body. How is it nourishing them? With inhalation, come up again. Our practice has now ended, so we went through the whole first level of Yoga in Daily Life practice.