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BOOK 1 – YOGA & MEDITATION – Chapter 19. Yoga – The Holistic Method Par Excellence

HATHA YOGA

Yoga is a complete science and art.   It is a unique system the world over.  Yoga does not highlight physical health only, but also ensures mental and spiritual health. Yoga comprises a series of holistic practices involving self discipline, meant to purify and bring into close harmony body and mind. It works to perfect the body, filling it with life force, prana.  It helps repair or compensate for physical defects.  It allows gradual realisation of the highest human potential.

From east to west, north to south, everywhere these extraordinary yoga postures and philosophy have conquered millions of hearts.  They are so popular that they have become an everyday household word.  From the simple housewife to the most experienced medical scientist, all are agreed that yoga has an important place in the maintenance of physical wellbeing.

Yoga is highly beneficial in the management of psychosomatic disorders.  It has proved itself as the ideal remedy to stress and stress related diseases.   It helps counteract the effects of inactivity, thus decreasing depression and anxiety.  It is nowadays being recommended by modern science for patients having such disorders.  There is sufficient proof of its positive role on the psychosomatic frame.  In brief, yoga is of the utmost benefit to the whole organism.

Human health depends on the excellence of the cells and tissues.  This in turn depends on proper food and adequate absorption of prana.  Yoga practice encourages a balanced diet and regular eating habits that is psychologically beneficial and health promoting.  Correct breathing is indispensible for the intake of prana and oxygen the organism requires for good functioning.  Ignorant of its importance or what is at stake, the majority of people do not know they have to pay particular attention to their breathing.  Yogic breathing and control of prana come as a blessing to those afflicted by disease, as to those who want to protect or maintain their health.

The body has the amazing capacity to heal itself in optimum conditions.  This is enhanced by yogic breathing and postures which increase the supply of oxygen and prana to the body.  Correct breathing is critical to human health.  Hatha Yoga teaches various breathing exercises, the most important being deep yogic breathing.  Yoga increases strength and flexibility, improves circulation and promotes well-being.  It acts as a preventive agent to the common ills.  It helps preserve health and increases mental alertness and longevity.

Unlike modern medicine which is largely a science of disease and treatment, yoga is a science of health. According to yoga, most diseases, mental, psychosomatic and physical originate in the mind through wrong way of thinking, living and eating. The basic approach of yoga is to correct a negative life style by cultivating a rational positive attitude.  Performance of the postures necessitates a calm mind.  Having to fight mental unrest will invariably waste precious prana.  One of the reasons, why the practice of restraints and disciplines are fundamental to any yoga practice.

Hatha Yoga should not be confused with simple physical exercise, although it deals mainly with physical postures.  Perhaps the one path of yoga the most widely practiced, yet it is the most misunderstood of all.  Unlike other physical exercises, the system of hatha yoga is a combination of postures, deep yogic breathing, bandhas, control of prana and concentration.  Yoga postures are not for body building although they promote health.  Benefits from yoga postures are much more compared to any other system of exercise. Yoga is finest blend of physical, mental and spiritual exercise.

Today it is universally recognized by layman and scientist alike, that yoga has a crucial role to play in the preservation of the vital energy for protection and promotion of health.  Regular yoga practice ensures a smooth and prompt return to homeostasis following experience of any imbalance, internal or external.   It is probably the most practical method to induce health, vigour and a better and active life style.

Yoga also prepares one for a spiritual life.  It reveals the rich inner life of the spirit, the power of clear and better thought.  It incorporates the fundamentals and completeness of a spiritual practice.  The discriminative faculty is strengthened.  One is a changed person, for the better.  There is poise, confidence, self discipline and a greater incentive to free oneself of bad habits.  The postures, breathing and mental repetition of sacred words accentuate the absorption of prana which activates the body at all levels, mental, physical and spiritual.

That is why hatha yoga forms the preliminary practice of various yoga disciplines.    Of divine origin, many yoga postures, like the lotus posture, are meant essentially for the purpose of sitting in traditional prayers and especially during long hours of meditation.

Yoga postures, breathing and meditation helps one gain physical strength and flexibility as well as a calm mind.  Yoga and meditation also promote the spiritual unfoldment of the individual.   In truth, the spiritual dimension of yoga is the very basis of any lasting improvements which may be noted at all levels.

With growing faith, there is greater emotional ability to eliminate nervous tension and improved mental poise. One breathes life. The mind/body/spirit balance is restored.  The person has more awareness of his being.  He is not just a mere body, but mind and spirit also.  All three have to be in optimum condition for him to be healthy.  Much depends on his own will power, on his own willingness and sincerity in integrating the three facets of his life to emerge as a complete being.

 

YOGA POSTURE BENEFITS

Hatha yoga is the science of health, incomparable in many ways.  Yoga postures have beneficial effects on organs of digestion, elimination and on the circulation. They give the organs an internal massage. Muscles undergo considerable, gentle stretching and contracting and help maintain elasticity.

There is no brisk movement in the performance of postures.  They should be done slowly, with grace and rhythmically.  Gradually all stiffness of limbs and joints disappear.  Postures require holding of specific areas of the body followed by relaxation, along with deep yogic breathing. Postures stimulate key pressure points that govern the flow of vital energy, prana.

Holding or maintaining the posture is the most important component of yoga performance.  Maintenance of posture will allow the prana to work that part of the body involved.  In postures where there are several stages, each stage has to be maintained for one or two breathing rounds for maximum benefits.  Mental repetition brings calmness to the mind and more concentration in the performance and memorising the posture.

While performing an asana, the body is brought in stages, in a certain position. Each stage has equal importance as the final posture.  The same attention has to be given to the performance of each single stage.  At each stage a specific organ system is involved. Prana is directed to that part of the body to relieve pain and heal disease and restore its balance. There is an internal massage of the different organs involved in all different stages of postures. This stimulates, tones and rejuvenates all the muscles and organs.

Yoga stretches not only the muscles but also the soft tissues of the body, the ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds the muscles. There is sustained backwards and forwards flexing and stretching of the body.  Increased lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons bring increasing flexibility.   This results in a sense of ease and fluidity all over the body.

Hatha yoga will be more beneficial if practiced along with deep breathing and a calm and concentrated mind.  To calm the mind, repetition of a sacred syllable is ideal. Some sacred word as ‘OM’ or any other sacred word should be added to the breathing.  As the word flows in and out with the breath, perfectly synchronised and rhythmic, the whole body slowly and gradually become rhythmical, bringing perfect relaxation to the whole body.  Wherever possible, closing the eyes may further help concentration.

Most postures are beneficial to the circulatory system.  Abdominal lift, although needing time to be mastered is an incomparable and wondrous exercise.  It takes care of the heart, the main organ of circulation through the sustained movements of the diaphragm.  Headstand, shoulder stand and inverse postures, all being inverted postures, help the blood to flow more easily back to the heart.

Most veins have to work counter to gravity to collect blood from all parts of the body and return it to the heart.  This is a difficult uphill course.  Because of the nature of their work and many through ignorance, keep standing for long hours. They may suffer from varicose veins because of this added strain on the venous system.  Practiced often, inverted postures minimize the pressure on the veins.  The veins are amazingly rejuvenated.

Head stand and inverted postures allow for a richer supply of blood to the brain. They promote the mental faculty, memory, sharpness, self control, determination and discrimination.  The brain requires three times more oxygen than the rest of the body.  Thus, increasing oxygen flow increases alertness and encourages better mental functioning. They retard ageing processes and prevent such diseases as Alzheimer etc.

Locust postures are excellent for the lungs, thoracic region and the muscles of the back.  Cobra, bow and locust postures are excellent for stretching the abdominal region and contracting the back region.  Forward bend, stork, plough postures contract the abdominal muscles while stretching the back.  Twist postures will exercise the lateral muscles of the abdominal region and give added flexibility to the spine.  The waist benefits from such postures as cobra, bow and abdominal lift.  Shoulder stand, inverse, fish, lion postures are marvellous for the prevention of throat problems and common colds.

The aim of yoga is to bring equilibrium to the whole system.  It would not be advisable to concentrate on just those exercises mentioned for specific reasons.  This approach might itself cause further imbalance in the body.  The ideal would be to perform a daily routine comprising of a series of postures that will exercise the whole body systems.  Our daily series have been designed in keeping with this approach.

 

CORPSE POSTURE – SHAVASANA

One of the basic yoga postures, shavasana provides complete relaxation.  It is the ultimate relaxation pose, the most perfect posture for rest. Every system gets completely relaxed. In shavasana there is practically no energy or prana being used.  Only a minimum is used to keep the body going, the remaining being stored as reserve. So long as the body is in a state of tension, prana and other subtle forces cannot work in harmony.

When deep yogic breathing is done in shavasana the flow of prana becomes rhythmic with even distribution throughout the system.  There is a general decrease in metabolic rate and oxygen consumption. The nervous system gets completely rested.   The arteries and veins are under less pressure. It will result in a lowering of blood pressure levels.  The resulting decrease in heart rate will relieve the heart of undue activity.

Shavasana relieves us of tension. Muscle tension is reduced, leading to decreased stress levels. By relaxing deeply all the muscles one can thoroughly rejuvenate the nervous system and attain a deep sense of inner peace.

This relaxed feeling is carried over into all one’s activities and helps us conserve energy and let go of all worries and fears. There is a marked decrease in fatigue, coupled with deeper and sounder sleep.  It will lead to improvement in concentration and in memory.  Our daily performance will improve.

When the body and the mind are under constant pressure, their natural efficiency diminishes.  Modern life style makes it difficult to relax. We have forgotten that rest and relaxation are nature’s way of recharging.  By releasing the tension in the muscles and putting the body at rest, the whole system is revitalized.

Very often under heavy stress or fatigue, our brain blacks out for a moment.  We are left staring blank in space, motionless.  We are so cut off that no external disturbance, noise or presence affects us.  We are oblivious of our surroundings.  It is an involuntary, ‘negative relaxation’ imposed by extreme fatigue.  Such unexpected incidents may be disastrous.

To avoid these extremes we should give our system the break it desperately needs at times.  Let it become a daily feature that we consciously go into corpse posture relaxation for a good five minutes.  This should be done at least once or twice, not to accumulate tension, stress or fatigue.  It will spare us being constantly on the verge of collapse.

Everyone should find the time daily to give the body some rest.  Even amidst the bustle of daily life there is always a way to steal a break between these endless responsibilities and allow the body the little rest it so badly needs. These 10-15 minutes in shavasana are worth more than a full night’s agitated sleep.

 

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