Swamiji TV

Other links



Video details

Practicing Asanas 2

A gentle yoga practice integrates postures, breath, and focused awareness to calm the mind and strengthen the body. Begin by relaxing in a comfortable position, observing the natural breath. Practice postures like Pavanamuktāsana and Vyāghrāsana with smooth, controlled movements and coordinated breathing. Maintain awareness of alignment, such as keeping the pelvis level. Vīrāsana is highlighted for its benefits to the feet and mental state, despite potential discomfort from inflexibility. The practice emphasizes eliminating unnecessary movements to settle mental restlessness. Postures like Skandharāsana and Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā are detailed for their physical and energetic effects, including strengthening muscles and balancing prāṇa. Always breathe consciously and maintain control, concluding with relaxation and observation of the body and mind.

"When we have many vṛttis... you are restless inside. That is why we practice āsanas: to ensure we do not have extra movements. By eliminating extra movements, we calm our mind."

"Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā is excellent for your circulation... It influences your Bindu cakra. You will regenerate energy very quickly."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Now we will slowly begin the practice. Assume ānandāsana and relax. Once, take a deep inhalation, and with the exhalation, relax your entire body. We will continue with the second level. We have a few more āsanas—first level and second level—and we will finish the second level. Okay, so that you... Alright, because you are... We will go to the third level. We will... Yes, so we have to... Excellent. We should enable everyone to be at their very best, so they can perform yoga practice and other activities. Observe this: with inhalation, the navel rises; with exhalation, the navel descends. Now, once more, a deep inhale and exhale. Slowly move your fingers and toes. Inhale and stretch your body. Exhale and relax. Now we will perform Pavanamuktāsana before starting the other āsanas. Try to feel that you are pressing your lower back to the floor. Right leg: inhale, exhale. Inhale, head to the floor. Exhale, stretch your leg. Inhale. Exhale. Try to keep your shoulder blades on the floor. Inhale, exhale. Second round: inhale, exhale... inhale. Exhale, and one more round. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale... Inhale and exhale. Try to feel the circulation in your legs. Now, slowly sit in Vajrāsana on your left side. We will practice Vyāghrāsana, the Tiger pose. The beginning and ending are the same. Try to move smoothly up and down, not in a jerky way. When practicing Tiger, try to keep your pelvis and hip joints on the same level, as shown here. Vāsar Vāga, try to lift in this manner and look up, not in a way that arches the back. Strive to keep your hip joints level at all times, as if both knees were on the floor. This is also like Marjari for the spinal column, but deeper. We will incorporate deeper inhalation and exhalation, meaning deeper yoga breathing. Primarily, this strengthens the buttock muscles; it is excellent for your swath muscle. It stretches and corrects imbalances so both sides become equal. Now we will begin together, first with the right leg. One, inhale. Two, bring the right knee to the front, head forward, but keep your foot above the floor. Three, inhale up—not too bent, not too straight. Four, four, five, six, seven, eight, knee on the floor, nine and ten. Now sit on the other side. One, two, knee to the forehead. Three, up, same level. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and slowly sit down. Also, when practicing, ensure it's not done this way; your leg should not be on the floor but lifted like this. We are strengthening the psoas muscle, which is also important. One more round. One, up. Two, knee to the forehead. Three, four, five. Six, seven, eight, down. Nine, slowly rise and sit. Ten. Once more on the other side, but not like this. When you do this, you immediately go this way—no. Even a little, if you want to go, remain straight but lean back slightly, and engage the muscles this way, not that. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and slowly sit down. We will now relax in Śaśāṅkāsana. Inhale. Slowly go down. Exhale. Feel the stretch along your spinal column. Now slowly rise. Inhale. And exhale. Now we will practice one āsana that is very "dangerous" to practice near Viśvagurujī. Do you know which āsana this is? No? It is Vīrāsana. But usually when we practice Vīrāsana, you have pain here. Yes? Why? Because we lack sufficient flexibility in the toes. Imagine this is the floor. If you are positioned this way, force will be here, and you will have pain here. But if you have good flexibility—meaning a 90-degree angle—it's no problem. In martial arts, they do it this way; if you do it on the fingers, you will injure this area. This means you need to be flexible, and the body's weight is here. You know, ladies with high heels—yes, I know—they even have silicone here. You need this when you first sit in Vajrāsana. Position yourself this way, at a 90-degree angle, and sit straight. After that, place the heel level with your knee and sit in this manner, not like that, but sit nicely. All the weight is on this leg, and this one is just symbolically here. Try to keep your body straight; that is important. Now, bend forward. If you have problems with the knees, you may sit and practice with your toes. Sit nicely on the boat. This is excellent for your Vajranāḍī. Vajranāḍī is one of the ten most important nāḍīs in our body; it balances Iḍā, Piṅgalā, and Suṣumṇā. Now, right leg. We will not stay too long. It is excellent against flat feet. It is also excellent against fear, panic, and even thoughts of suicide. Yes, I know you might say, "In this position, we would commit suicide." Now, change your leg and try to ensure your body weight is not... try to stay straight and wait. What is this? It is a very important āsana. When you look in Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā, Śiva Saṁhitā, it is not described in great detail, but this āsana is included. When you are in fear or panic, do this āsana. Change sides. You remember one year in Strelka and online, almost the whole summer we practiced this āsana. Not as torture, but because it is very important. I have flat feet, and I know this āsana is amazing and brings change. You will also see, because it greatly influences your Vajranāḍī, helping your mind to settle. Now, on the boat. Lean back a little. Breathe nicely with your abdomen. You know what Viśākhā Gurujī explained: when we think of something else, when our focus is elsewhere, we will not feel as much pain. If we are only thinking, "Oh my God, when will this end?" the pain intensifies. That is also an exercise: how to place your awareness somewhere else. Now, sit in Vajrāsana and then in Daṇḍāsana. Now, just try to squeeze a few times and rotate to one side, just a few times. You may also feel this area of the heel. This is very important because sometimes we have heel pain due to muscle issues. Now, slowly stand up. We have many variations of Trikoṇāsana; today we will do only one. First, separate your legs. The first variation is: hands to the left and right. Here we inhale, and we will go to the right side, but your left arm moves. Try to keep your fingers here, because if they are positioned like this, it promotes a slight kyphosis. When you are in this position, it is similar to performing Dvikonāsana. Go further back, and you will be straighter. Also, be aware of your pelvis again—the same principle always: not leaning back. Imagine you have a zipper here. Now, first, we will go to the right side, but try to remain aware of the movements at all times. Strive to move without extra motions. You know, when someone is sitting and constantly fidgeting—always doing something like this—it means you have a lot of restlessness; you are not calm. It indicates many vṛttis. It's like when you want to make coffee: you put the pot on the fire with water. If it's positioned correctly and the water starts to bubble, it will remain stable. If it's not in a good position, when the water bubbles, the pot will shake and make noise. You know this. When we have many vṛttis, as we say in Croatia, it's like having a "variety"—meaning also to rotate, and "variety" implies warmth in the back, and you constantly feel the need to move; you are restless inside. That is why we practice āsanas: to ensure we do not have extra movements. By eliminating extra movements, we calm our mind. This is very important. Now, separate your legs. Inhale. We will now go to the right side. Exhale. Inhale. And exhale. Inhale. Breathe normally. Second round: inhale, and slowly with exhalation, go down. Inhale and exhale. Inhale. Breathe normally. Once more: inhale, exhale, inhale and exhale, and breathe normally. Now we will perform an āsana from the second level. Why? Because Dvikonāsana is very important for the next three āsanas: Skandharāsana, Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā, and Ustrāsana. It is crucial to know how to position your shoulders, and for that, again, Dvikonāsana. Now we are discussing Dvikonāsana. We will simply do: inhale to the right, your shoulder blades draw almost together and down, exhale. Inhale. First, parallel to the floor, and then, inhale and exhale. And Ānandāsana. Just relax. Feel your body. Be aware of your spinal column. Also, try to feel your mind, your emotions, observe how your thoughts are, whether they are settling or not. Now, once, deep inhale and exhale. Now, observe; I will show you Skandharāsana. When we practice Khandharāsana, many people say, "My arms aren't long enough; I can't reach my legs." But you are able to sit in Vajrāsana, and in Vajrāsana, there is no problem reaching your ankle joints. What does that mean? It means you are also capable of being in this position—that is the first point. Second, try not to separate your knees too much. When you lift up, I will show you how not to practice. Usually, it's like this, but we are not satisfied with this movement. If your shoulders remain in this position, this is nearly your maximum. But if you perform something like Dvikonāsana—drawing your shoulders together (not completely, but almost bringing the shoulder blades together)—and if your knee is not above your toes, you can achieve this position. Now breathe. With the legs, you are not moving here. Instead, it's as if you want to stretch your legs but cannot because you are holding your ankle joints. In this way, you form a bow shape, and you can only lift up if your shoulder blades are positioned as in Dvikonāsana. In this āsana, you stretch the thigh muscles. It also strengthens the psoas and buttock muscles, and all of this helps correct your pelvis. If you ask... How do we correct this position? What is the Instagram model pose? For the correct position, we need strong muscles: sufficiently long but also strong psoas and thigh muscles. All of this will correct our pelvis. You also strengthen the pelvic diaphragm, which benefits the mūlādhāra, svādhiṣṭhāna, and maṇipūra cakras, as well as the internal organs—they stay in place and do not sag. Now, you try. Don't just try—you will do it. Bend your legs, okay? You know? Now, inhale and lift up. We will breathe in this position. Why? Because in this position, if we do not know how to breathe with the abdomen, the breathing becomes automatic. Imagine someone is pushing your knees. Your knees should be above your heels, not above your toes. And exhale down. This is also excellent for your lower back. You may feel a little tension, but that is only muscular. Do not be afraid. Once more. Inhale. Up. As if you are doing Dvikonāsana. Yes, and you need your body's strength. If you hold this position, you will develop strong buttock muscles, which will also positively impact your pelvic alignment. And exhale down. Relax. Stretch your legs and feel them. Feel your circulation. It's not so hard to sense. But try to feel this pelvic diaphragm. Common issues include incontinence, painful periods, and prostate problems. I think for men, it is not difficult to feel where the prostate is now. We always talk about painful periods; sometimes we need to discuss the prostate. This is also excellent during pregnancy. Just feel your body. Observe how you breathe. When we practice this āsana with kumbhaka, it becomes excellent for low blood pressure. You remain in the āsana with full antar kumbhaka. You may feel slight pressure in your head, but afterward, you feel completely refreshed if you have low blood pressure. For those with high blood pressure, always breathe in the position. Now we will practice Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā. First, I will explain and demonstrate a few points. For Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā, several things are very important. In what position are our elbows? If they are too far apart—as I mentioned, Dvikonāsana is excellent because we should be able to keep our elbows in this position—you press the floor with the middle part of your elbows. If they are slightly separated, you press the inner part of your elbow, where nerves pass; pressing them may cause tingling in the fingers. Also, if you are in this position like this, when your body weight shifts, your elbows immediately splay left and right. If you want to maintain the position, set them this way. When your palms are placed like this, there is a muscle here that acts like a cushion. You will have less pressure on the bone, but I lack this muscle. To strengthen it, we practice from the first level—remember? This movement is not only for flexibility but also to strengthen this muscle. I will first demonstrate from this side. Yes, from this side. When you lift up—I didn't shave my legs, and I will do this. You don't need to do this, but I just want to show you: like Dvikonāsana. Here are the ribs, here are your kidneys, and the pelvis begins. Place this part of your palm where your kidneys end and the pelvis begins, and you are in this position. Relax nicely. Try to align your ankle joint, knee, hip joint, and elbow in one line. From the other side, you are completely relaxed in this position. Breathe with the abdomen. What else is important for Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā? Yesterday, after the dance of Bhakti, we mentioned something about Mudrā. It means it completely changes the energy in your body and also in the room. But it is important that you remain without extra movements, which are usually very noticeable. Simply stay in this position. Everything should be under your control at all times. Okay, now we will perform it. In the position, I will speak a little about prāṇa. Now slowly, just Ānandāsana. Be aware that you will practice Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā, not Sarvāṅgāsana or a hybrid of Sarvāṅgāsana. Now slowly lift up, inhale, and assume the position. Try to be without extra movements. Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā is excellent for your circulation. It is excellent for balancing the glandular system. It is good for anti-aging—an anti-aging pose. It influences your Bindu cakra. You will regenerate energy very quickly. What is also very important: Viparītakaraṇī Mudrā influences Udāna Prāṇa. Udāna Prāṇa is important for the awakening of Kuṇḍalinī. Udāna Prāṇa is important for astral projection. The rest you can read in the book "Yoga in Daily Life," in the chapter about prāṇas—the five prāṇas and five upa-prāṇas. Now slowly come down, but under control—not one leg and then the other. No, no, no. Slowly, slowly; you have muscles. Yes, and press your lower back to the floor, finally extending your legs onto the floor. And relax. Also, try to avoid unnecessary movements. Now, once, deep inhale and exhale. Now we will slowly sit, moving to the left side, and sit slowly. We will now do Ustrāsana. For Ustrāsana, we also have four variations. We will do the first. Ustrāsana is an important pose for our shoulders, especially when practicing the third and fourth variations. Imagine you are holding your heels or ankle joints. If your hands are on this side, you may tend toward kyphosis. But if you position them on this side, you open up. This is from the first level—you remember this practice. Not in this area, but in this area, which is important when we practice. First variation: right arm, right heel. Inhale, exhale, stretch up. Not in this position, which is often seen when people practice. It's not like this; try to be and stretch. That is the first. Second: It focuses more on the thoracic area because we also move backward with a slight twist. This slight twist and backward bend are excellent against kyphosis. Third variation: Try not like this, but aim for more movement in the thoracic area. If you have no neck problems, relax. Fourth: You need slightly wider foot placement, and try to... Note: not like this, but try to ensure your elbows move inward this way. What does that mean? It means never bending only in this area with kyphosis, but as in the fourth variation, you always strive to bend in the thoracic area. Bending only in one vertebra means this, and you could injure the fourth or fifth lumbar vertebrae. But if you bend a little in each vertebra... it is also preparation for Bhujaṅgāsana. In the position, breathe with your abdomen. Always try at the end. We will also do the first like in Marjari: inhale up, exhale, right palm on the right heel, do not relax, head back. Now, the first—the first is to stretch up, not the same. What is the difference between the first and third? If the shoulder is at the same level, nothing. Now we have a slight stretch up, and you feel different muscles. Inhale and exhale. If you have pain in your lower back... it is muscular, because this requires strong muscles. It is excellent for sitting posture, especially in the first variation—no problem for your lower back. Inhale, exhale, stretch up. Ensure your hip joints are above your knees. Bend in the thoracic area, not the lumbar area. Imagine someone is pulling your hands upward. Yes, more, more... More, more, and now inhale, and slowly exhale. Feel how you are breathing now with full lungs. Once more, and then we will relax. Inhale up, and exhale. Inhale. And exhale, inhale... and exhale. You may feel slight tension in your lower back; that is only muscular. We will relax those muscles. Śaśāṅkāsana. Inhale, and exhale now. If you cannot sit in Vajrāsana, it does not matter. Pavanamuktāsana is excellent. Inhale, slowly rise, and exhale. Be aware of your breathing, and slowly sit in Daṇḍāsana. Something for stretching the lower back, and after that, we will finish. Butterfly pose, and just go down slowly three times. If you have tension in your lower back, stretch that area a little. Inhale, two, and once more. Just relax, feel the stretch in your lower back, and return. With this, we will conclude today's practice. Aum. Gāṁ.

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:

Email Notifications

You are welcome to subscribe to the Swamiji.tv Live Webcast announcements.

Contact Us

If you have any comments or technical problems with swamiji.tv website, please send us an email.

Download App

YouTube Channel