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Be healthy with "Yoga in Daily Life"

Self-knowledge begins with knowing the body. This practice is for daily life, not occasional exercise. The higher aim is Self-realization, but we must first realize the body, as daily complications show we do not understand it. Haṭha Yoga is great and can lead to Self-realization. We have difficulties due to bodily impurities, so we begin immediately with the six cleansing actions: Netī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, Trāṭaka, and Kapālabhātī. This is to feel clean and pure, but one should not be fanatical. One should perform Śaṅkha Prakṣālana every third month, Netī daily, and Dhautī weekly, along with Prāṇāyāma and other practices. Thus, Haṭha Yoga instructs inner purification.

"To know thyself means first to know thy body."

"Haṭha Yoga can lead you to Self-realization."

Filming location: Vienna, Austria

To know thyself means first to know thy body. When you know the body, you will understand its movements. When you know the movements, you can feel them. Then the mind will follow you. This system is not merely general yoga exercises to be done once a week. It is for you to practice at home, and it is a golden opportunity. The higher aim in yoga is, of course, God-realization, or what we call Self-realization. We will speak of that as well, but we have not yet realized this body. Every day some complication happens in the body, and we do not understand it; we cannot solve that problem. This means we still do not understand the body. So, do you understand your body? Have you realized your body? Therefore, Haṭha Yoga is something great. Haṭha Yoga can lead you to Self-realization. We have many difficulties because there is a lot of vikāra in the body—mala, vikāra. These are impurities, and we shall begin immediately with the practice of ṣaṭkarma: Netī, Dhautī, Bastī, Naulī, Trāṭaka, and Kapālabhātī—the Haṭha Yoga kriyās. The Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, the Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, and cleaning: Netī for the nose, and Dhautī, and Prāṇāyāma. In Āyurveda, they call it Pañchakarma. Pañchakarma comes from Haṭha Yoga. We have six karmas, Ṣaṭkarma, while Āyurveda has only five karmas. This is to feel yourself clean and pure. But you should not be a kind of fanatic or extremist about it. So, did you practice your Śaṅkha Prakṣālana this year? Now is just the right time to do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana. Every third month you should do Śaṅkha Prakṣālana, Netī every day, Dhautī every week, Prāṇāyāma, Kapālabhātī, Agnisāra Kriyā, and so on. Thus, Haṭha Yoga instructs us to take care of our inner purification.

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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