Yoga and Therapy From http://ayny.org/category/blog (Eddie Stern)

From http://ayny.org/category/blog (Eddie Stern)

Yoga and Therapy
By Sri K Pattabhi Jois

Mind is very fickle, like mercury. Fickle mind, with no discrimination of purity and impurity, flows arbitrarily, conducts itself with no restraints. Because of its unrestrained conduct, the mind influencing the organs of the body not only causes them to become sick, but endangers itself. If the mind becomes one-pointed or fixed, it regulates the organs of the body and protects them from disease. Illusion is also a function of the mind, leading to many sicknesses.


The process of control and purification of mind is called yoga. Maharshi Patanjali has expounded this in an aphorism, Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah, which means that yoga is the process of controlling all the waves of the mind and fixing them on a specified object. This is also called “Astanga Yoga” which has eight fold factors: yama: restraints; niyama: observances; asana: posture; pranayama: breathing practice; pratyahara: sense control; dharana: concentration; dhyana: meditation; Samadhi: contemplation.


These eight factors are divided into two groups called external devices and internal devices. Restraint, observance, posture and breathing practice belong to the external devices. Sense-control, concentration, meditation, and contemplation belong to the internal ones. It is far from easy to practice the internal devices without practicing the external. Therefore, to start with, one should practice the external devices.


Among the external devices, posture and breathing practices stand pre-eminent. Those who are sick and weak, with defective organs, are hardly able to practice restraints and observances. Therefore, we must equip ourselves with sound bodies and organs free from defects, in order to practice restraints and observances. All the Upanishads and all yogis well versed in yoga consider posture and breathing practices as pre-eminent factors among the external devices. An authority for this in the Upanishads reads thus:


Asanam pranasamrodhah pratyharashca dharana | dhyanam samadhiretani shadangani prakirtitah ||


Sri Svatmarama explains this in the Hathayoga Pradipika:


Hathasya prathamangatvat asanam purvamuccate | Tasmat tadasanam kuryat arogyamcangalaghavam ||


This means that one hardly accomplishes any task without good health and buoyancy of limbs. Health and activity of body are essential and hence the importance given to posture and breathing practices.


Asanas are conductive to abating disease and bringing concentration of mind, while the methods of recaka-puraka (exhaling-inhaling) are prerequisites for the practice of posture. Sri Vamana explains in detail the methods of practicing posture. If one practices the postures with no understanding of inhaling and exhaling technique, he is liable to invite untold diseases instead of getting his ailments cured.


Sri Vamana has therefore made it clear:


Vina vinyasa yogena asanadinnakarayet ||


One should not practice posture without the method of inhaling and exhaling


Sri Patanjali also explained breathing practices in his discourse:


Tasmim sati shavasaprashvasayorgati vicchedah pranayamah ||


Pranayamah is a process of inner suspension of the breath (kumbhaka), stopping the inhaling and exhaling.


While inner suspension of breath (kumbhaka) is pranayama, the regulation of recaka and puraka must be adopted in the posture, he adds, which means postures can be practiced only by regulating the exhaling and inhaling.


This method can be learnt only from an experienced yogi well versed in Yoga Shastra. Practicing thus, one is able to drive out physical and mental diseases and fix one’s mind steadfast. As to this yoga, Yagnavalkya says:


Tritiya kālastho rivah svayam samharate prabham | Tritiyange sthitho dehi vikaram manasam tatha ||


Just as the Sun in his third phase, that is, in the evening, drawing forth his sharp rays creates a peaceful atmosphere, in the same way the yogi, practicing the third factor, the postures, frees himself from mental defilements and becomes tranquil.


Hence, the necessity of postures is essential.


A regular practice of postures with regulated breathing can cure many diseases. In order to cure contagious diseases a doctor’s help may be required, but not to cure chronic diseases. Chronic diseases can be healed by postures and breathing practices.


From my own mature experience I can say that many ailments, which cannot be cured by doctors, can be remedied by postures and breathing practices. For example, asthma, diabetes, gastric trouble and rheumatism, known to be incurable by medicines, are cured with no medical aid. These well known ailments, for which no new medicines have been invented, are considered to be irremediable. No medicine so far has overcome these diseases. But it may be repeated that all theses chronic ailments can be healed by yogasanas and pranayamas. Evidence for this is that our institution has brought relief to many chronically affected patients, by proper guidance of postures and breathing practices. Such ailments as paralysis, constipation, piles etc., can be relieved merely by the practice of anupara (liquids) without resorting to any medicine. What is needed essentially to support this yoga knowledge is faith, courage and adventure.


In this scientific age, the criteria for diagnosing diseases have been taken over by machines. We refuse to accept this standard. For example, a patient suffering from blood pressure feels dimness of eyesight, gets increasingly fatigued while doing even a little exertion in work, prefers to keep always lying down. By these symptoms it can be understood that his blood pressure is giving trouble. On the other hand, if none of the above-mentioned symptoms obtain, and if the doctor advices a patient based on the finding of medical equipment alone, the patient by mere hallucination is liable to invite blood pressure difficulty, which he did not originally have. This, therefore, compels me to say that we refuse to admit the theory of diagnosis of diseases by machinery equipment.


By the practice of yoga it is possible to purify many internal pulses, cells, veins, plasma, wind, liver, phlegm, circulation of blood, etc. Thus, the internal purification of the body alone facilitates the cure of ailments. Generally, the purification of any matter requires fire and wind. Just as the gold in a crucible purified by a goldsmith with the aid of fire and wind, which eliminates all the impurities thereof, turns into brilliant gold, similarly the elimination of diseases as impurities needs fire and wind. That is why the wise have said:


Pranayamabhyasayuktasya sarvarogakshyobhavet | Avuktabhyasayuktasya sarvarogasamudbhava ||


One who practices asanas and pranayamas properly finds that all diseases come to naught, whereas all kinds of ailments appear in the practicing improperly.


Asanas are prerequisites for pranayama, which have to be practiced by following the methods of recaka and puraka. Little gain will ensue by asanas practiced with little knowledge of breath control.


Now we have seen how asanas are important for the healing and prevention of diseases. For example, certain asanas are prescribed to cure diabetes: Janushirshasana, baddhakonasana, and upavishtakonasana.


For constipation and ailments of the anus, baddhakonasana is prescribed. In the posture of baddhakona, contracting the anus, one performs the long recakas and purakas. Sri Vamana says that this practice heals the diseases of anus. I know from experience that many have found themselves benefited by these practices.


But to ensure the stability of these asanas, many others must precede them. While practicing the posture prescribed for a certain ailment one must stay in it long enough to perform at least 50 receka-purakas. In this way the ailments become healed. But it cannot be said that by performing only those prescribed asanas, a person can cure a specified ailment. Only when all organs are functioning with proper blood circulation can the ailments recede, not otherwise. To understand this point, one should approach well-versed yogi, which means that a Guru is essential.


In conclusion, one practicing yoga with correct knowledge thereof knows no fear of diseases and sickness. But one gets hardly any benefit out of it, if at the same time he fails to have any regulation over food, habits, speech etc. Therefore, it is my experience, which agrees with the opinion of those well versed in the shastras, that the yoga practitioner practicing with regulation of food, habits, speech and contact will find himself freed from all kinds of ailments, physical and mental.





From: Yoga and Science, Buddha Vacana Trust; Bangalore, India, 1977


Proceedings of the International Conference on Yoga and Psychic Research, in May of 1977, under the auspices of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers

Sandilya Upanishad quotes

This body is ninety-six digits in length.

Prana extends twelve digits beyond the body. He who through,

the practice of yoga reduces his prana within his body to make

it equal to or not less than the fire in it becomes the greatest

of

the yogins. In men, the region of fire which is triangular in

form and brilliant as the molten gold is situated in the middle

of the body

Lying in the middle of the navel and

above it, is the seat of kundalini. The kundalini sakti is of the

form of eight prakrtis (matter) and coils itself eight ways or

(times). The movement of vayus (vital airs) checks duly the

food and drink all round by the side of skandha(the web of life)

It closes by

its head (the opening of) the brahmarandhra, and during the

time of (the practice of) yoga is awakened by the fire (in the

apana); then it shines with great brilliancy in the akas of the

heart in the shape of wisdom.

Situated at

the back of the anus, it is attached to the spinal column and

extends to the brahmarandhra of the head and is invisible

and subtle and is vaishnavi (or has the sakti force of Vishnu).

On the left of Sushumna is situated Ida and on the right is

Pingala. The moon moves in Ida and the sun in Pingala.

The moon is of the nature of tamas and the sun of rajas.

The poison share is of the sun and the nectar of the moon.

They both direct (or indicate) time and Sushumna, is the enjoyer

(or consumer) of time.

By the

contraction of the muscles of the neck and by the contraction

of the one below (viz.,) Apana, the Prana (breath) goes into the

Sushumna which is in the middle from the west nadi.

Drawing up the Apana and forcing down the Prana from the throat,

the yogin free from old age becomes a youth of sixteen.

Having by contraction opened the door of kundalini, one

should force open the door of moksha. Closing with her mouth

the door through which one ought to go, the kundalini sleeps

spiral in form and coiled up like a serpent. He who causes this

kundalini to move he is an emancipated person. If this kundalini

were to sleep in the upper part of the neck of any yogin, it goes

towards his emancipation. (If it were to sleep) in the lower part

(of the body), it is for the bondage of the ignorant. Leaving the

two nadis, Ida and the other (Pingala), it (prana) should move

in the Sushumna. That is the supreme seat of Vishnu.

Samadhi is the union of the Jivatma (individual self) and

the Paramatma (higher self) without ,the threefold state, (viz.,

the knower, the known, and the knowledge). It is of the nature

of extreme bliss and pure consciousness.

Ashtanga vinyasa practice advanced A fragmentos grabados en el centro Biorritmes de Tarragona

January Ashtanga workshop in Tarragona, Spain

The nadis or psychic passages

Source
*A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya  Swami Satyananda Saraswati

The nadis are pathways along which prana or

bioplasmic energy travels. In acupuncture

these pathways are known as meridians (at

least in modern western terminology). Various

ancient yogis said that there are seventy two

thousand nadis in the psychic body. Others

said the number is in the region of three

hundred and twenty thousand. Whatever the

number, we can definitely say that they are

numerous.

Of these nadis three are particularly important.

They are known as the ida, pingala and

sushumna. The most important one is the

sushumna, which runs within the spine2. It

should not be confused with or identified with

the physical spine that we are normally aware

of. This nadi runs from the region of the

perineum (between the anus and sexual organs)

to the region of the brain. It connects the

mooladhara chakra (chakra meaning pranic

or psychic centre) in the perineum to ajna

(mid-brain) chakra at the top of the spine

passing through various other chakras enroute.

Again these chakras should not be

regarded as physical entities; they are part of

the bioplasmic or pranic body. As such they

are located within but are not of the physical

body.

Emanating from the left side of the mooladhara

chakra and passing through the

intervening chakras in turn in a curving, crisscrossing

path, finally ending up on the left

side of the ajna chakra, is the ida nadi. Emerging

from the right side of the mooladhara chakra

and passing in a similar but opposite sense to

that of the ida nadi, up to the right side of ajna,

is the pingala nadi.

The ida and pingala nadis are the pathways

of the two different aspects of prana. They

represent the two opposite poles of the same

energy. The ida is denoted as being negative

and is also known as the chandra (moon) nadi.

The pingala, on the other hand, is positive and

is often called the surya (sun) nadi. Associated

with these two nadis are various attributes or

qualities.

These two nadis are associated with the two

nostrils: pingala with the right and ida with the

left. The ancient yogis, with their detailed

awareness of the human body, found that the

flow of breath did not pass equally through

each nostril. In fact at any given time it was

more than likely that the flow of air through

one nostril would be greater than the other

nostril. This is an aspect of our body that even

physiologists have never seriously researched.

No one seems to have asked the question:

"Why have we got two nostrils?" There should

be a good reason and perhaps it is directly

related to ida and pingala. Incidentally, the

reader can test this for himself taking care to

remove all mucus from the nose. Merely block

each of the nostrils in turn and you should

find that the flow is greater through one than

the other. If you don't find this to be so, then

try at a later time for occasionally the flows are

equal.

The yogis of antiquity discovered that when

the left nostril had the predominant flow of air

then the pranic flow in ida nadi was also

predominant. And when the right nostril had

the greatest flow the pingala had the greatest

flow of prana. The flow of air through the

nostrils and consequently the pranic flow

continually alternates. Under normal conditions

the flow through the left nostril is

predominant for about an hour and then the

right flow becomes predominant for about an

hour. During changeover from one to the

other, flows are equal and the prana flows

through the sushumna nadi. This generally

lasts for a few minutes. These flows can also be

artificially altered in response to individual

needs. The study of these flows, their meaning

and implications in life is the subject of the

science of swara yoga.

Quotes from the Dyhanabindu upanishad

Muladhara is the first chakra. Svadhishthana is the second.

Between these two is said to be the seat of yoni (perineum),

having the form of Kama (God of love). In the Adhara of the

anus, there is the lotus of four petals. In its midst is said

to be the yoni called Kama and worshipped by the siddhas. In

the midst of the yoni is the Linga facing the west and split at

its head like the gem. He who knows this, is a knower of

the Vedas.

He is knower of yoga who knows that prana always

draws itself from apana and apana draws itself from prana

Paramesvari (viz., kundalini sakti) sleeps shutting with her mouth

that door which leads to the decayless Brahma-hole. Being aroused by the contact of agni with manas and prana, she takes

the form of a needle and pierces up through Sushumna. The

yogin should open with great effort this door which is shut.

Then he will pierce the door to salvation by means of kundalini.

Folding firmly the fingers of the hands, assuming firmly the

Padma posture, placing the chin firmly on the breast and fixing

the mind in dhyana, one should frequently raise up the apana.

When this Jalandhara bandha which is

destroyer of the pains of the throat is performed, then nectar

does not fall on agni nor does the vayu move.

This bindu is twofold, white and red. The white one is called

sukla and the red one is said to contain much rajas. The

rajas which stays in yoni is like the colour of a coral. The bindu

stays in the seat of the genital organs. The union of these two

is very rare. Bindu is siva and rajas is sakti. Bindu is the

moon and rajas is the sun. Through the union of these two is

attained the highest body ; when rajas is roused up by agitating

the s akti through vayu which unites with the sun, thence is

produced the divine form. Sukla being united with the moon

and rajas with the sun, he is a knower of yoga who knows the

proper mixture of these two.

From Hamsa Upanishad

(Nada) is (begun to be heard as) of ten kinds.

The first is chini (like the sound of that word) ; the second is

chini-chini ; the third is the sound of bell ; the fourth is that of

conch ; the fifth is that of tantri (lute) ; the sixth is that sound

of tala (cymbals) ; the seventh is that of flute ; the eighth is that

of bheri (drum) ; the ninth is that of mrdanga (double drum) ; and

the tenth is that of clouds (viz., thunder). He may experience

the tenth without the first nine sounds (through the initiation of

a guru). In the first stage, his body becomes chini-chini ; in the

second, there is the (bhanjana) breaking (or affecting) in the

body ; in the third, there is tho (bhedana) piercing ; in the fourth,

the head shakes ; in the fifth, the palate produces saliva ; in the

sixth, nectar is attained; in the seventh, the knowledge of the

hidden (things in the world) arises; in the eighth, Paravak is

heard ; in the ninth, the body becomes invisible and the pure

divine eye is developed; in the tenth, he attains Parabrahman

in the presence of (or with) Atma which is Brahman. After

that, when manas is destroyed, when it which is the source of

sankalpa and vikalpa disappears, owing to the destruction of these

two, and when virtues and sins are burnt away, then he shines

as Sadasiva of the nature of Sakti pervading everywhere, being

effulgence in its very essence, the immaculate, the eternal,

the stainless, and the most quiescent Om.

Shiva samhita chapter IV,1-5

1. First with a strong inspiration fix the mind in the adhar lotus. Then engage in contracting the Yoni, which
is situated in the perineal space.
2. There let him contemplate that the God of love resides in that Brahma Yoni and that he is beautiful like
Bandhuk flower (Pentapetes pheanicia)-- brilliant as tens of millions of suns, and cool as tens of millions of
moons. Above this (Yoni) is a small and subtle flame, whose form is intelligence. Then let him imagine that

a union takes place there between himself and that flame (the Siva and Sakti).
3. (Then imagine that) – There go up through the sushumna vessel, three bodies in their due order (i.e., the
etheric, the astral and the mental bodies). There is emitted in every chakra the nectar, the characteristic of
which is great bliss. Its colour is whitish rosey (pink), full of splendor, showering down in jets the immortal
fluid. Let him drink this wine of immortality which is divine, and then again enter the Kula (i.e., perineal
space.)
Note. While these subtle bodies go up, they drink at every stage this nectar, called Kulamrita.
4. Then let him go again to the Kula through the practice of mantrayoga (i.e., pranayama). This Yoni has
been called by me in the Tantras as equal to life.
5. Again let him be absorbed in that Yoni, where dwells the fire of death – the nature of Shiva, &c. Thus has
been described by me the method of practicing the great Yoni-mudra. From success in its practice, there is
nothing which cannot be accomplished.

Bindu part 2 (2/2)

Definition

The word bindu comes from the Sanskrit root

bind - 'to split', 'to divide'. This means that the

bindu is the origin of individuality; it is the

point where the oneness first divides itself to

produce duality, the world of multiple forms.

This division implies limitation in knowledge,

action and so forth.

Bindu implies a point without dimension - a

dimensionless centre. In Sanskrit texts it is

often called cliidghana, that which has its roots

in the limitless consciousness. The word bindu

also means zero or voiclness - the shoonya.

More correctly, bindu is the gateway to the

shoonya. This zero orvoidness is not, however,

a total nothingness. It is a voiclness, an

emptiness that contains the fullest potential.

In fact, the word shoonya should be translated

not a nothingness, but as no-thingness. There

is a vast difference between these two words.

The state of no-thingness is pure consciousness.

Bindu is therefore a mysterious, ineffable

focal point where the two opposites - infinity

and zero, fullness and no-thingness - coexist.

Bindu is widely called the bindu visarga - 'the

falling drop'. This means that bindu is one of

many drops of nectar that continually trickle

down from sahasrara, the primal fountainhead.

This nectar irrigates life. This nectar is the real

'water of life'.

In summary we can say that bindu literally

means seed, small particle, semen or sperm, a

point, dot and so forth. It represents to be focal

point of individuality, whether animate or

inanimate. It is the cosmic seed from which all

things manifest and grow. It is an infinitesimally

Bindu, vishuddhi chakra and amrit

When we described vishuddhi chakra we

pointed out that nectar or amrit trickles down

from bindu to vishuddhi2. This amrit is bliss

and the bindu is the abode of uninterrupted

bliss. This is symbolized in Indian mythology

by the river Ganges (nectar) coming from tbe

crescent moon (bindu).

This amrit or divine nectar Hows down

through the sushumna passage from bindu'.

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika it says: "The nectar

secreted from the bindu is indeed the consort

(Shakti) of Shiva (consciousness). It fills the

sushumna passage." (v. 4:46)

Symbolism

The bindu is symbolized by both a full moon

and a crescent moon. The full moon really

represents the infinitesimally small point we

have tried to describe in the preceding pages.

The crescent moon indicates that the bindu is

widely associated with the kalas (phases) of the

moon. In the same way that the moon is

progressively revealed during the period from

new moon to full moon, so the immensity of

the sahasrara behind the bindu can be gradually

unveiled through all types of yoga

practices, if they are done regularly and

sincerely, and if one has burning aspiration

day and night to understand life and oneself.

This crescent moon implies that the spiritual

aspirant has some glimpses of sahasrara,

behind the bindu, but by no means a total

experience. The totality can never be known

while there is individuality.

The bindu is drawn on the background of

the night sky, indicating that the basis of bindu,

the sahasrara, is infinite. Most people who

practise yoga are familiar with the symbol of

Aum: In the top right hand corner of the

symbol there is a small point and a crescent

moon. The point is called visarga (drop) and

represents bindu; the crescent moon also

represents bindu, as already explained. The

chakras exist in the realm of the main figure,

together with the qualities of tamas, rajas and

sattwa. These exist in the realm of nature -

prakriti. The bindu is shown separate from the

main body of Aum indicating that bindu is

transcendental and beyond the fetters of

nature.

Bindu part1 (1/2)

Bindu part 1 (1/2)

Source
*Prana And Pranayama Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
*A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya  Swami Satyananda Saraswati

the Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

"The secretion of the moon (bindu), the nectar

of immortality (amrit), is normally consumed

by the fire of the sun (manipura chakra). It

flows downwards and results in ageing of the

body. There is a wonderful technique which

can reverse this process; it should be learned

from a guru and can never be understood by

reading even a thousand scriptures. The

practice is called vipareeta karani mudra and

the positions of the bindu and sun (manipura)

are reversed (i.e. the body is inverted). The

sun is held upwards and the moon downwards."

(v. 77-79)

Bindu

Bindu means 'point'. It is the point of creation where oneness first divides into multiplicity, the ultimate point from which all things manifest and into which all things return. Within bindu is contained the evolutionary potential for the myriad objects of the universe, the blueprint for creation. Bindu is

the gateway to shoonya. It is located at the top back of the head, at the point where Hindu brahmins keep a tuft of hair called shikha.

Bindu is represented by a crescent moon and a drop of white nectar. The tantric texts describe a small depression or pit within the higher centres of the brain which contains a minute secretion of fluid. In the centre of that tiny secretion is a small point of elevation, like an island in the middle of a lake. In the psycho-physiological framework, this tiny point is considered to be bindu.

The moon at bindu produces amrita, the life-giving nectar, and the sun at manipura consumes it. This means that during the course of life, the drop of nectar produced at bindu falls down to manipura, where it is consumed by the fire element. Due to this process one suffers from the three ailments of vyadhi, disease, jara, old age; and mrityu, death. Yoga and tantra employ techniques by which one is able to reverse this process, so that the amrita is retained at vishuddhi, or sent back up from manipura to vishuddhi, and then to bindu. In this way perfected yogis have experienced immortality.

The first manifestation of creation was nada or sound, and bindu is also the point where the original nada emanates. Bindu is associated with anandamaya kosha. When bindu is awakened, the transcendental sound of Om is heard. Bindu is very important in prana vidya and in many higher yogas.

The most subtle of the chakras is the ajna.

Beyond ajna and even more subtle is bindu. It

is not a chakra. The chakras are associated

with the human psychic framework; bindu, on

the other hand, is the subtle centre from which

the human framework itself arises. Bindu is

therefore the primary manifesting source of

the chakras themselves. The chakras are within

the realms and fetters of the mind; bindu is

bevond the mind.

The subject of bindu may seem very technical,

abstract and incomprehensible, but it

implies an elevated and profound part of

tantra-yoga and other mystical systems.

Though it may appear to have little significance

in terms of practical yoga, it is the purpose of

all yoga practices to induce awareness of the

bindu. Actually it is completely inexplicable in

terms of logic, for it unites the finite with the

infinite. l i k e the six main chakras, it is completely

impossible to understand bindu by

discussion, reading or speculation.