Yoga Buddys

Color can be constructive or destructive. It can stimulate or depress, repel or attract. It can even be male or female in its character. It can reflect positive or negative, and when perceived within the aura it provides a key to the personality, moods, maturity and health of the individual. It reflects physical and spiritual aspects.

It takes a great deal of practice to interpret the color shades seen within the aura. Each color has its general characteristic,but each shade of that color change that characteristic a little. The location of the color, the intensity and even the from the color takes in the auric field must be considered.

This text is not intended to provide all of the subtle nuances of color interpretation within the auric field. You will examine basic colors and the energies they commonly indicate on physical and other levels. This gives you a starting point to begin to understand what is revealed by the colors of the aura.

The colors closest to the body reflect aspects of the individual’s physical condition. They also indicate those energies manifesting and energies further away often indicate the energy that the person will be able to determine time elements of certain energy patterns by the color and the location of the color with respect to the physical body.

The Rainbow colors

Red

Red is the color of strong energy, fire and primal creative force. It is the life-promoting energy. It is hot. It can indicate strong passion, mind and will. It is a dynamic color that can reflect anger, love, hate and unexpected changes. It can indicate new birth and transmutation.

It is a color that affects the circulatory system of the body, the reproductive system (sexual energy) and an awakening of latent abilities and talents.

Too much red or a muddiness can reflect overstimulation, inflammation or imbalance. It may reflect nervousness, temper, aggression, impulsiveness or excitement.

Orange

Orange is the color of warmth, creativity and emotions. It is an indication of courage, joy and socialness. It is a color which can reflect an opening of new awareness-especially to the subtle realms (the astral plane) of life.

Depending on the shade, it can also indicate emotional imbalances and agitation. Some of the muddier shades of orange can reflect pride and flamboyance. It may reflect worry and vanity.

Yellow

Yellow is one of the first and the easiest aura colors to be seen. Pale yellow around the hairline can indicate optimism. Yellow is the color of mental activity and new sunshine. It can reflect new learning opportunities, lightness, wisdom and intellect. The more pastel shades often reflect wisdom and intellect. The more pastel shades often reflect an enthusiasm for something (especially in the pale yellow to white spectrum). Yellow is a color which represents the power of ideas and awakening psychic abilities and clairsentience.

Deeper and muddier shades of yellow can reflect excessive thinking and analyzing. It can reflect being overly critical, feeling of being deprived of recognition and being dogmatic.

Green

Green is the color of sensitivity and growing compassion. It reflects growth, sympathy and calm. It can reflect a person who is reliable, dependable and open-minded. Bright green moving toward the blue spectrum in the aura indicate healing ability. It is a color of abundance, strength and friendliness.

The muddier or darker shades of green can reflect uncertainty and miserliness. The muddier shades often reflect jealousy and possessiveness as well. It can indicate self-doubt and mistrust.

Blue

Blue, next to yellow, is one of the easiest colors to see in the aura. It is the color of calm and quietness. It reflects aevotion, truth and seriousness. It can indicate the ability for clairaudience and for the development of telepathy.

The lighter shades of blue reflect an active imagination and good intuition. The deeper shades of blue can indicate a sense of loneliness, which on one level reflects a life-long quest foe the Divine. The deeper shades of blue reflect levels of devotion. Royal blue shades indicate the person has found or is about to find his or her chosen work.

The muddier shades of blue can reflect blocked perceptions. They can indicate melancholy, rushing and worrying, domineering, fearfulness, forgetfulness and oversensitivity.

Violet and Purple

Violet is the color of warmth and transmutation. It is the color for the blending of the heart and the mind, the physical with the spiritual. It reflects independence and intuition, as well as dynamic and important dream activity. It can reflect one who is searching. The purple shades often reflect an ability to handle affairs with practicality and worldliness. The paler and lighter shades of violet and purple can reflect humility and spirituality. The red-purple shades can indicate great passion strength of will. They may also reflect a need for greater individual effort.

The darker and muddier shades can reflect a need to overcome something. They can also reflect intense erotic imaginations as well. Tendencies toward being overbearing, needing sympathy and feeling misunderstood are also reflected in muddier shades.

Other Colors of the Aura

Pink

Pink is a color of compassion, love and purity. It can reflect joy and comfort and a strong sense of companionship. When seen in the aura, it can indicate the quiet, modest type of individual, along with a love of art and beauty.

Depending on the shade of pink, it can also reflect an immaturity, especially the muddier shades. It can reflect truthfulness or a lack of it. It can also reflect times of new love and new vision.

Gold

Gold is a color that reflects dynamic spiritual energy and a true coming into one’s own power. It reflects the higher energies of devotion and great inspiration. It indicates a time of revitalizing.

Muddier shades of gold can indicate the person is still in the process of awakening higher inspiration and has not clarified it yet within his/her life. It reflects the alchemical process still being active; i.e.’ the person is still working to turn the lead of his/her life into gold.

White

White is often seen in the aura, prior to any actual colors. It is often seen as a diaphanous shades. White has all colors within it, and when it does appear strongly within the aura, it is often in conjunction with other colors. This is how you can know whether it is an actual energy color or just a poor perception of the aura. When the white does stand out as a color in the aura, it reflects truth and purity. It indicates that the energy of the individual is cleansing and purifying itself. It often reflects an awakening of greater creativity as well.

Gray

Gray is a color of initiation. It can indicate a movement toward unveiling innate abilities. Those shades of gray that lean more toward the silver reflect an awakening of the feminine energies. Those are the energies and abilities of illumination, intuition and creative imagination.

The darker shades of gray can indicate physical imbalances, especially if seen next to specific areas of the physical body. They can also indicate a need to leave no task undone. Much gray in the aura can indicate a person who is secretive and who is the lone wolf type.

Brown

Brown often appears in the auric field. Although many people think of as reflecting a lack of energy or an imbalance, this is not always so. Brown is the color of the earth. When it shown itself in the aura, especially in areas above the head and around the feel, it can reflect new growth. It indicates establishing new roots and a desire to accomplish. It is a color that can reflect industry and organization.

On the other hand, brown across the face or touching the head may indicate a lack of and need for discrimination. It seen in the areas of the chakras, it can indicate that those centers need to be cleaned. It will reflect in such cases a clogging of their energies. Brown is often difficult to interpret, as it can easily reflect problem areas in the physical, but you must be careful about jumping to conclusions when you see it. Feedback from the other person is the best means of understanding it.

Black

Black is one of the most confusing of colors in the auric spectrum. I have heard individuals say that, when black shows up in the aura, it is an indication of death or terrible disease. I have not found that to be true.

Black is a color of protection. It is a color which can shield an individual from outside energies. When seen in the aura, it can reflect that the person is protecting himself or herself. It can also indicate that person has secrets. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it is not taken to extremes. Black can also indicate that a new understanding of burdens and sacrifices is going to manifest.

Black can also indicate imbalances. Physical imbalances often show up as black or darkened areas in the aura around the physical body. the location provides clues to this. In the outer edges of the aura, black can indicate holes in the auric field. I have seen this in the auras of those who were victims of child abuse and those who are or were strong substance abusers ( alcohol, drugs, tobacco etc.).

Silver Twinklies

Another aspect that I have observed should be mentioned. I have often seen within the aura what look to be soft, twinkling lights. They are usually very sparkly and silver in color. I have found that they indicate one of several things. These “twinklies’” as I call them, are almost always a sign of great creativity and fertility. When they appear within the auric field of a person, it indicates that greater creativity is being activated within the individual’s life.

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Everyone has an aura. Everyone has already seen or experienced the auric fields of others. The problem is that most people ignore the experience or chalk it up to something that it is not.

Mystics from all parts of the world speak of seeing lights around people’s heads, but you do not have to be a mystic to see the aura. Anyone can learn to see and experience the aura more effectively. There is nothing magical about the process. It involves recognizing it for what it is and not ignoring the experience. It simply involves a little understanding, time, practice and perseverance.

Children are very good at seeing and experiencing the aura. Those experiences are often translated into their drawings. Around the figures, they will shade in unusual and different colors. These colors often reflect the subtle energies they have observed around what they are drawing.

Have You Experienced the Auric Energy Field?

1. When you are around some people do you feel drained?
2. Do you associate certain colors with people? ?(For example, “You always seem like a yellow person to me.”)
3. Have you ever felt when someone was staring at you?
4. Have you ever been able to sense how someone is feeling, in spite of how this person was acting?
5. Do certain sounds, colors and fragrances make you feel more comfortable or uncomfortable?
6. Do you find that some people excite or energine you more than others?
7. Are some rooms more comfortable and enjoyable to be in than others? Do you notice the difference in one room from the next? Did you ever notice how your brother’s/sister’s room feels different from yours?

How about your parents’s or children’s?

The human aura is the energy field that surrounds the physical body. It surrounds you in all directions. It is three dimensional. In a healthy individual, it makes an elliptical or egg shape about the body. I have heard it proposed that the auras of the ancient masters could extend outward from the body for several miles. It is often believed that this is one of the reasons they could draw such large numbers of followers in any area where they traveled. It is worth noting that a common depiction of many masters included the halo, a portion of the aura that is most easily seen by the average individual.

The aura is weakened by:
1. Poor diet
2. Lack of exercise
3. Lack of fresh air
4. Lack of rest
5. Stress
6. Alcohol
7. Drugs
8. Tobacco
9. Negative habits
10. Improper psychic activity

FEELING AND EXPERIENCING SUBTLE ENERGIES

The in and out movement of the hands causes the energy surrounding them to accumulate between them, making it more perceptible to you. The hands are becoming more sensitive to the subtle energies.

As the hands become more sensitive, you can use them to detect the auric energies emanating from other parts of the body as well. These detections may feel like heat, pressure, tingling etc.Hold your dominant hand about a foot and a half above your bared forearm.

Slowly lower your hand toward the forearm. Pay attention to anything that you might feel. How close do you come to the forearm before you can feel the energy from it? Remember that the feeling may be one of pressure, heat, coolness, thickness etc. It will feel much like what you experienced between you hands. It may not be as strong, but you should be able to feel it. If you cannot, slowly repeat it. Remember that you are reawakening your ability to consciously be aware of the subtle energies around you.

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A primary focus of Amrit Yoga is to build heat by charging the battery of the body, which is based in the lower three centers. As this energy is aroused and consciously directed from the lower chakras to the upper ones, our biological prana awakens to its evolutionary potential. Awakened prana, called Kundalini, carries out healing and cleansing at an accelerated level - resulting in the purification of the nerve channels in the body as well as cleansing kriyas - all of which prepare the body for accelerated spiritual development.

Chakra One: Roots, Alignment, Earth

Muladhara is the body in physical space and time, developing groundedness, stability and foundation. In Amrit Yoga, the attention is alignment in all poses, building awareness and strength in the legs - especially all standing poses. Anything that stabilizes and roots the foundation reinforces muladhara.

Chakra Two: Sensation, Flow, Water

In Swadisthana we become aware of the senses, sensation (pleasure/pain) and emotions that accompany each pose. We allow our awareness of ecstatic energy to build in the second half of the pose. Suggested poses include pigeon, bridge and the spinal twist.

Chakra Three: Power, Fire

In Manipura, our fire (spiritual heat) is stimulated. We “jump-start” the battery of the body, the physical storehouse of energy, through strong standing poses like The Warrior. The willful aspect of the practice is also associated with chakra three. In the first half of the Amrit Yoga Level I sequence, we are building the battery in the belly and then consciously directing that energy upward. This is an essential part of Level I as this conscious generation and directing of energy is necessary for prana to awaken and move upward to higher centers.

Chakra Four: Awakening to the Spiritual Path

In Anahata, we are asked to open the heart. This requires spiritual commitment to let the ego drop away. In Amrit Yoga the heart energy is engaged with the use of the arms, with mudras, giving and receiving movements. Some heart opening poses can be: camel, yoga mudra, cobra, half locust (opens arms and heart meridians). Breath and the fourth chakra are closely connected (lungs).

Chakra Five: Communication (internal/external) - the power of sound vibration

Visuddha is more apparent in Level II Amrit Yoga, but also in Level I - we turn into the vibration of prana that sources the movement. Use sound vibration when in the pose and the power of your word (opening intention and Om) to create the vibrational field you intend. Become aware of your own inner dialogue and if it serves you or not. In Amrit Yoga the throat chakra may be stimulated through chanting, bridge, camel and shoulder stand postures.

Chakra Six: the Third Eye

Meditation, witness, meditative awareness Pratyahara; deep absorption without choosing for or against what is present in Ajna chakra. In the second half of the pose and Third Eye integration-consciously allow energies to grow with meditative attention and draw freed energies upward toward the Third Eye for integration. All forward bending poses where the head is lower than the heart brings attention and energy to the third eye (child, yoga mudra, wide-angle forward bend).

Chakra Seven: Silence

In the Sahasrar, the elixir of Amrita comes through silencing the fluctuations of the mind. This is the entry into the bliss body, which can happen in the second half of the pose, in Third Eye Meditation integration, or in any pose. All these practices of Amrit Yoga are intended to reach the final point of stilling the modifications of the mind, which is always associated with the seventh chakra.

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Meditation is sometimes quite misunderstood and does not usually fit the bill as sometimes people perceive it to be.

Meditation is not contemplation.

Contemplation involves thinking about a concept, engaging your mind in enquiring about a certain idea. But when you meditate, you don’t ask the mind to think about a concept, but go beyond thought.

Meditation is not hypnosis or autosuggestion.

In hypnosis, a suggestion is made to the mind, there is an attempt to programme, manipulate or control the content of the mind. But when you meditate, you simply observe the mind and let it become quite and calm, exploring and experiencing the deeper levels of your being.

Meditation identifies with religion.

Meditation does not belong to any culture or religion. It is a simple method of exploring the inner dimensions of life. Some religions employ meditative practices as part of their rituals, meditation itself is far removed from any set of beliefs or the distinctions of class or creed.

Meditation does not mean instant peace.

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Meditation : an enrichment to your soul
While a meditative state is the natural outcome of yoga and the spiritual benefit of meditation is supreme bliss or enlightenment, these words are unlikely to be understood by many.

However, progress towards meditation and meditative techniques have several benefits at the gross body or material level:

• Improvement of body luster and general health-When your mind focuses on a particular part of the body, the blood flow to that part increases and cells receive more oxygen and other nutrients in abundance. Today, many of the film stars and fashion models include meditation in their daily regimen.

• Improvement in concentration - Many of the athletes and sports professionals regularly employ meditation methods. Studies have found a direct correlation between concentration exercises (meditation) and the performance level of sports professionals. Meditation strengthens the mind, it comes under control and is able to provide effective guidance to the physical body to effectively execute all its projects. Psychological Exercises are a powerful way of improving concentration and improving mental strength.

Health benefits of Meditation:

Though meditation is usually recognized as a largely spiritual practice, it also has many health benefits. The yoga and meditation techniques are being implemented in management of life threatening diseases; in transformation of molecular and genetic structure; in reversal of mental illnesses, in accelerated learning programs, in perceptions and communications beyond the physical, in solving problems and atomic and nuclear physics; in gaining better ecological understanding; in management of lifestyle and future world problems. Some benefits of meditation are:

• It lowers oxygen consumption.

• It decreases respiratory rate.

• It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.

• Increases exercise tolerance in heart patients.

• Leads to a deeper level of relaxation.

• Good for people with high blood pressure as it brings the B.P. to normal.

• Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.

• Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches.

• Builds self-confidence.

• It increases serotonin production which influences mood and behaviour. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, obesity, insomnia and headaches.

• Helps in chronic diseases like allergies , arthritis etc.

• Reduces Pre- menstrual Syndrome.

• Helps in post-operative healing.

• Enhances the immune system. Research has revealed that meditation increases activity of ‘natural-killer cells’, which kill bacteria and cancer cells.

• Also reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress.

Benefits of meditation on Women’s health and Pregnancy:

• Identity of your own - besides daughter, wife, mother etc.-

Women begin life as someone’s daughter, and then someone’s lover, wife, someone’s mother. Yes, but who am I- who am I really? Not only does a woman need an understanding of her body but also needs to connect with the essence of her true self. A true self, which is an identity beyond everyday change- beyond gender, beyond fluctuations of hormones, beyond family expectations and other superimposed personality patterns. Discovering this true self is not as easy. Just when you know who you are , it all changes again.The process of self discovery involves, stripping off false layers of identity, going back through all the conditionings , realizing- “I am not that, and not that, and not that”, an emptiness out of which arises the realization - “Ah ha! I am that”.

The place for this self discovery is not the psychiatrist’s couch, the matrimonial bed, the mother’s group, or even a yoga retreat, but within your own private meditation times.

• Resolve Phobias -

Meditation can help to resolve the deepest of neuroses, fears and conflict which play their part in causing stress and ill health.

• For mothers-to-be -

Meditation puts mothers in tune with their babies. Manta Japa is especially appropriate for pregnant women. [See box Mantra Japa for pregnant women] After birth, daily meditation becomes a precious time to refocus and make sense of the many new thoughts and feelings which can be running through your mind, brought about by the events of childbirth and new motherhood.

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An ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so. Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. “Watching your breath” is meditation; listening to the birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.

Meditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means ‘a cessation of the thought process’ . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one.

A Tibetan Lama was being monitored on a brain scan machine by a scientist wishing to test physiological functions during deep meditation. The scientist said - “Very good Sir. The machine shows that you are able to go very deep in brain relaxation, and that validates your meditation”. “No”, said the Lama, “This (pointing to his brain) validates the machine!”.

These days it is commonly understood to mean some form of spiritual practice where one sits down with eyes closed and empties the mind to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some people use the term as “my gardening is my meditation” or for jogging or art or music, hence creating confusion or misunderstanding.

The word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari(to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal). Its Sanskrit derivation ‘medha’ means wisdom.

Many years ago meditation was considered something just not meant for modern people, but now it has become very popular with all types of people. Published scientific and medical evidence has proved its benefits, but it still needs to be much understood.

Traditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is simultaneous application of a little of all stages together.

Commonly today, people can mean any one of these stages when they refer to the term meditation. Some schools only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. Some call it meditation without giving credence to yoga for fear of being branded ‘eastern’. But yoga is not something eastern or western as it is universal in its approach and application.

With regular practice of a balanced series of techniques, the energy of the body and mind can be liberated and the quality of consciousness can be expanded. This is not a subjective claim but is now being investigated by the scientists and being shown by an empirical fact.

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Be kind to yourself when you practice yoga. Go slowly, especially in the beginning, and listen to your body. It knows what it can do. If it says ”stop,” stop. Don’t push it. Yoga is not a competitive sport. You don’t win points for matching a picture in a book (or on a website). If you push too hard, you probably won’t enjoy it, and you may hurt yourself. Whenever possible, work with a teacher, and use books, videos and websites to supplement your classroom instruction. Most of all, stick with it. If you practice, you will improve. And you will feel better. Jai Bhagwan.
The chart below describes some of the fundamental yoga postures. The sequence can be performed in order. When you are familair with the postures, try some of the vinyasas, or yoga flows, listed to in the column to the right.

Classic Postures

Sit/Easy Position - Sukhasana

A starting position that helps focus awareness on breathing and the body; helps strengthen lower back and open the groin and hips.

Sit cross-legged with hands on knees. Focus on your breath. Keep your spine straight and push the sit bones down into the floor. Allow the knees to gently lower. If the knees rise above your hips, sit on a cushion or block. This will help support your back and hips. Take 5-10 slow, deep breaths. On the next inhale, raise your arms over your head. Exhale and bring your arms down slowly. Repeat 5-7 times.

Dog and Cat

Increases flexibility of spine
This is really two poses, one flowing into the other. Begin on your hands and knees. Keep your hands just in front of your shoulders, your legs about hip width apart. As you inhale, tilt the tailbone and pelvis up, and let the spine curve downward, dropping the stomach low, and lift your head up. Stretch gently. As you exhale, move into cat by reversing the spinal bend, tilting the pelvis down, drawing the spine up and pulling the chest and stomach in. Repeat several times, flowing smoothly from dog into cat, and cat back into dog.

Mountain - Tadasana
Improves posture, balance and self-awareness.

A deceptive pose in that it appears so simple that some students may ask - “why bother?” But just as there’s more to breathing than meets the eye, there is more to standing, too.

Stand with feet together, hands at your sides, eyes looking forward. Raise your toes, fan them open, then place them back down on the floor. Feel your heel, outside of your foot, toes and ball of your foot all in contact with the floor. Tilt your pubic bone slightly forward. Raise your chest up and out, but within reason - this isn’t the army and you’re not standing at attention. Raise your head up and lengthen the neck by lifting the base of your skull toward the ceiling. Stretch the pinky on each hand downward, then balance that movement by stretching your index fingers. Push into the floor with your feet and raise your legs, first the calves and then the thighs.

Breathe. Hold the posture, but try not to tense up. Breathe. As you inhale, imagine the breath coming up through the floor, rising through your legs and torso and up into your head. Reverse the process on the exhale and watch your breath as it passes down from your head, through your chest and stomach, legs and feet.

Hold for 5 to 10 breaths, relax and repeat.

On your next inhale, raise your arms over head (Urdhava Hastasana) and hold for several breaths. Lower your arms on an exhale.

As a warm up, try synchronizing the raising and lowering of your arms with your breath - raise, inhale; lower, exhale. Repeat 5 times.

Forward Bend or Extension - Uttanasana II

Stretches the legs and spine, rests the heart and neck, relaxes mind and body

Begin standing straight in Mountain pose or Tadasana. Inhale and raise the arms overhead. Exhale, bend at the hips, bring the arms forward and down until you touch the floor. It’s okay to bend your knees, especially if you’re feeling stiff. Either grasp your ankles or just leave your hands on the floor and breathe several times. Repeat 3-5 times. On your last bend, hold the position for 5 or 10 breaths. To come out of the pose, curl upward as if pulling yourself up one vertebrae at a time, stacking one on top of another, and leaving the head hanging down until last.

Variations

1. Follow the instructions for the basic pose described above, but instead of holding the pose for several breaths, come up on the inhale. Extend your arms forward as your rise until you are standing straight and your arms are overhead. Exhale and bend forward. Repeat the process 5 times.

2. Go into the pose and take 3 deep breaths. Inhale and raise your head, but keep your hands on the floor. Hook each index finger around each big toe, exhale and come down. Hold for several breaths

3. Inhale and raise your head, again keeping your hands on the floor. This time, slide your hands under your feet so that the tips of your toes are touching heel of your hands. Hold for several breaths.

4. After bending forward, fold your arms and hang for as long as is comfortable. A very relaxing pose.

5. To come out of the pose, curl upward as if pulling yourself up one vertebrae at a time, stacking one on top of another, and leaving the head hanging down until last.

Trikonasana - the Triangle
Stretches the spine, opens the torso, improves balance and concentration.

Start with your spread 3-4 feet apart, feet parallel. Turn your left foot 90 degrees to the left and your right foot about 45 degrees inward. Inhale and raise both arms so they’re parallel with the floor. Exhale, turn your head to the left and look down your left arm toward your outstretched fingers. Check that your left knee is aligned with your left ankle. Take a deep breath and stretch outward to the left, tilting the left hip down and the right hip up. When you’ve stretched as far as you can, pivot your arms, letting your left hand reach down and come to rest against the inside of your calf, while your right arms points straight up. Turn and look up at your right hand. Breathe deeply for several breaths. Inhale, and straighten up. Exhale, lower your arms. Put your hands on your hips and pivot on your heels, bringing your feet to face front. Repeat the posture on the other side.

Warrior I I - Virabhadrasana II
Strengthens legs and arms; improves balance and concentration; builds confidence

Begin in mountain pose with feet together and hands at side. Step your feet 4-5 feet apart. Turn your right foot about 45 degrees to the left. Turn your left foot 90 degrees to the left so that it is pointing straight out to the side. Slowly bend the left knee until the thigh is parallel with the floor, but keep the knee either behind or directly over your ankle. Raise your arms over head. Then slowly lower them until your left arm is pointing straight ahead and your right arm is pointing back. Concentrate on a spot in front of you and breathe. Take 4 or 5 deep breaths, lower your arms, bring your legs together. Reverse the position.

The Cobra - Bhujangasana


Stretches the spine, strengthens the back and arms, opens the chest and heart.

Lie down on your stomach. Keep your legs together, arms at your side, close to your body, with your hands by your chest.

Step 1: Inhaling, slowly raise your head and chest as high as it will go. Keep your buttocks muscles tight to protect your lower back. Keep your head up and chest and heart out. Breathe several times and then come down. Repeat as necessary.

Step 2: Follow the steps above. When you’ve gone as high as you can, gently raise yourself on your arms, stretching the spine even more. Only go as far as you are comfortable. Your pelvis should always remain on the floor. Breathe several times and come down.

Downward Facing Dog - Adho Mukha Svanasana


Builds strength, flexibility and awareness; stretches the spine and hamstrings; rests the heart.

Start on your hands and knees. Keep your legs about hip width apart and your arms shoulder width apart. Your middle fingers should be parallel, pointing straight ahead. Roll your elbows so that the eye or inner elbow is facing forward. Inhale and curl your toes under, as if getting ready to stand on your toes. Exhale and straighten your legs; push upward with your arms. The goal is to lengthen the spine while keeping your legs straight and your feet flat on the ground. However, in the beginning it’s okay to bend the knees a bit and to keep your heels raised. The important thing is to work on lengthening the spine. Don’t let your shoulders creep up by your ears — keep them down. Weight should be evenly distributed between your hands and feet. Hold the position for a few breaths. Come down on and exhale. Repeat several times, synchronizing with your breath: up on the exhale and down on the inhale.

Head to Knee — Janu Shirshasana


Stretches and opens back and hamstrings, improves flexibility

Sit on the floor with legs extended in front of you. Bend one leg, bringing the heel of the foot as close to the groin as possible. You may want to place a pillow under the bent knee for comfort. Make sure your sitz bones are firmly grounded on the floor and that your spine is straight. Turn your body slightly so you face out over the extended leg. Inhale and raise your arms over head. Exhale and begin to move forward slowly. Try to keep the back as straight as possible. Instead of bending at the hips, focus on lifting the tailbone and rolling forward on your sitz bones. Inhale and lengthen and straighten the spine. Exhale and roll forward, however slightly. To get a bit more forward movement, engage your quadriceps (thigh muscles) as you move forward. This releases the hamstrings, giving you a bit more flexibility. When you’ve moved as far forward as you can, lower the arms and grasp your foot, or leg. Hold the position for a moment and breathe. Then on the next exhale gently pull yourself forward. Go slowly and remember to keep the back straight. When done, straighten up and do the other side.

Half Shoulderstand — Ardha Sarvangasana


Promotes proper thyroid function, strengthens abdomen, stretches upper back, improves blood circulation, induces relaxation

You probably remember doing this as a kid. Lie on your back and lift your legs up into air. Place your hands on your lower back for support, resting your elbows and lower arms on the ground. Make sure your weight is on your shoulders and mid to upper back — not your neck. Breathe deeply and hold for at the posture for at least 5-10 breaths, increasing the hold over time. To come down, slowly lower your legs, keeping them very straight — a little workout for your abdominal muscles.

The Bridge - Sethu Bandhasa


Increases flexibility and suppleness; strengthens the lower back and abdominal muscles; opens the chest.

Lie on your back with your knees up and hands at your side Your feet should be near your buttocks about six inches apart. To begin, gently raise and lower your tail. Then, slowly, raise the tailbone and continue lifting the spine, trying to move one vertebra at a time until your entire back is arched upward. Push firmly with your feet. Keep your knees straight and close together. Breathe deeply into your chest. Clasp your hands under your back and push against the floor.

Take five slow, deep breaths.

Come down slowly and repeat.

The Corpse — Savasana


Relaxes and refreshes the body and mind, relieves stress and anxiety, quiets the mind

Possibly the most important posture, the Corpse, also known as the Sponge, is as deceptively simple as Tadasana, the Mountain pose. Usually performed at the end of a session, the goal is conscious relaxation. Many people find the “conscious” part the most difficult because it is very easy to drift off to sleep while doing Savasana. Begin by lying on your back, feet slightly apart, arms at your sides with palms facing up. Close your eyes and take several slow, deep breaths. Allow your body to sink into the ground. Try focusing on a specific part of the body and willing it to relax. For example, start with your feet, imagine the muscles and skin relaxing, letting go and slowly melting into the floor. From your feet, move on to your calves, thighs and so on up to your face and head. Then simply breathe and relax. Stay in the pose for at least 5-10 minutes.

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Yoga is one of the most ancient spiritual concepts of East, and despite a philosophical look it has an equally significant physical basis. It is not a body of doctrines, theories or principles. Intellectual problems or inquiries as to ‘why’ or ‘whence’ are not the areas of yogic deliberations. Boiled down to basics, Yoga is a collection of simple practices, a kind of body rituals, consisting of action, method and technique.

The Bhagvad Gita clarifies this interpretation and lays stress upon the Karma Yoga. This scripture says ‘Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof. Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work. Work in the name of the Lord, abandoning selfish desires. Be not affected by success or failure. This equipoise is called Yoga.’

The Kathopnishad describes Yoga thus: ‘When the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intellect wavers not - then, say the wise, is reached the highest stage. This steady control of the senses and mind has been defined as Yoga. He who attains it is free form delusion.’

According to B.K.Iyenger, Yoga is the method by which the restless mind is calmed and the energy directed into constructive channels. As a mighty river which when properly harnessed by dams and canals, creates a vast reservoir of water, prevents famine and provides abundant power for industry; so also the mind, when controlled, provides a reservoir of peace and generates abundant energy for human upliftment.

The word yoga itself is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root ‘yuj’. It means ‘to yoke’ or ‘join’. Thus, Yoga is the science that yokes ‘the finite’ with ‘the Infinite’, or ‘the finite spirit’ with ‘the Supreme Spirit’. In the book ‘Gita according to Mahatma Gandhi,’ the author says that yoga means “the yoking of all the powers of body, mind and soul to God; it means the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, and the will-power.” The learned author further says that yoga helps one achieve a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects evenly, whether it is pleasure or pain. Yoga prescribes no pantheon; one can have a deity of one’s own choice to guide yogic performance. In modern terminology Yoga thus is a secular ritual.

The Origin of Yoga

In the valley of the River Indus, a team of archaeologists under Sir Mortimer Wheeler discovered the remains of a civilization, which is now acknowledged to be approximately five thousand years old. Amongst the valued artifacts discovered were a number of seals depicting horn-capped figures sitting in positions which are advanced Yogic postures. The most famous of these seals is that of an ithyphallic deity now recognized as Shiva.

Indeed tradition has it that it was Lord Shiva who first manifested in himself both Yoga and Tantra. The ithyphallic nature of this object points to tantric connotations while the essentially Yogic posture in which he is seated points to him being the Lord of Yoga. Yoga ultimately also got associated with Vishnu, where in his Yoga Narayana form he is personified the supreme object of Yoga.

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