Mantra Pranayama -Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami February 2012

Visit this blogs Pranayama page above for pranayama practice sheets, translations, Ramaswami's mp3 mantra tutorial, my pranyama videos and now also the newsletter below.

Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami---Mantra Pranayama

After a four month stay in Chennai, India I am planning to come to USA

by middle of February. Thanks to the good efforts of Roxana Letechipia

who attended my last Teacher Training Program at LMU, Los Angeles, I

will be teaching three programs in Mexico City during the last week of

February. There will be two weekend workshops and a week long

certificate program, “Core Vinyasa Krama Yoga”. My next newsletter may

have a few Spanish words.

MANTRA PRANAYAMA

Considerable amount of literature is now available on Pranayama (from

ancient and contemporary yogis), an important anga of Yoga, even

though a smaller and smaller number of Hatha yogis do a smaller and

smaller number of pranayamas. In fact according to Brahmananda who

wrote an important commentary of Hathayogapradeepika, Hatha yoga is

indeed Pranayama. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras succinctly gives the

parameters of pranayama along with the benefits. Hathayoga pradeepika

and several other hatha yohga texts talk about a variety of pranayamas

with different ratios in considerable detail and as I said enough

literature is available on pranayama. However since it is also the

anga prior to the antaranga or meditation, parts of yoga pranayama has

been used to prepare oneself for meditation. If in pranayama you can

introduce some noble thoughts for meditation like an uplifting mantra,

bhava thought or an image such pranayamas are called sagarbha

pranayama or pranayama pregnant with lofty ideas. Sri Krishnamacharya

in his “Nathamini's Yoga Rahasya” says that sagarbha pranayama is

several times more beneficial; more than the mechanical pranayama done

generally by hatha yogis.

Sagarbha pranayama done with pranayama mantra from the vedas, which

also includes the potent gayatri as a part of it, has been in vogue

since the vedic times. Sri Krishnamacharya in his yoga work

“Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya” gives a number of instructions for doing

pranayama towards the end of the first chapter. He commends the use of

Pranava and the pranayama mantra with gayatri while doing pranayama

practice. Usually pranava (OM), the most potent mantra and the mother

of all mantras, as a stand alone mantra is used by renunciates like

consummate yogis and advaitins. And the gayatri impregnated vedic

pranayama mantra is used by householders and others in all pranayama.

In fact Manu in his famous Manusmriti says that the pranayama mantra

which consists of prnava, the seven vyahritis, the gayatri and the

head or siras portion should be recited while holding the breath in

Kumbhaka three times to be called as pranayama. Sri Krishnamacharya

also emphasizes the need to meditate on the meaning of the mantras

like the suggestion of Patanjali in YS.

Most people who do ritualistic pranayama in India use the pranayama

mantra referred to earlier. Manusmiti says as follows

“sa vyahritim sa pranavaam

gayatriim sirasa saha

trifpateth ayataf pranah

pranayamassa uchyate”

Here is the translation“Pranayama is that in which the seven vyahritis

(bhuh bhuvaha...) each preceded by pranava (OM) then the gayatri, then

the siris are (silently) recited.”

It should be chanted (silently) while holding the breath (kumbhaka).

When it is done three times it is called panayama. The pranayama

mantra is 64 syllables and takes about 20 seconds to chant, more or

less. The verse quoted above says three times and some interpret it as

chanting the mantra three times while holding the breath, but

generally it is chanted once and three such pranayamas will make one

bundle of pranayama. If you try to do the chant thrice in one go it

would taken a minute and holding the breath for one minute could be a

real challenge to most and so most people stick to the earlier

option.

What about the duration for inhalation and exhalation? Sri

Krishnamacharya says in Yoga Rahasya that it should be vishamavritti

indicating that the time duration for inhalation exhalation and breath

holding would vary. So many go by the 1:4:2 ratio.

One may inhale for 5 seconds then chant the mantra during internal

holding for 20 seconds and then exhale for 10 seconds. The breath

holding after exhalation is considered a hathayoga practice and many

orthodox people who do pranayama as part of the Puja or Japa ritual

dispense with bahya kumbhaka and the bandhas. The quickie pranayama is

three times but it is recommended that on should do 10 times the

samantra pranayama.  (Contrast this with the hathayoga approach of

going up to 80 times mantraless pranayama).

Since children sometimes as young as 5 were initiated into vedic

studies, it becomes obligatory for them to do sandhya and hence mantra

pranayama and silent gayatri chant. But then because they are young

they may not be taught to do calibrated pranayama. Usually in course

of time they would learn to do long inhalation and exhalation say in

nadishodhana. Later they will be taught the whole vishamavritti

pranayama as explained earlier.

So the mantra is chanted silently in pranayama. But most people just

chant the mantra without the pranayama--they may merely touch the nose

but not do the pranayama. So we have one set of people who do

pranayama without mantras as most hatha yogis do and another group

especially in India who chant the mantra faithfully but do not do the

prnayama at all and thus both lose out. It even led the much revered

previous Sankaracharya of Kanchi to remark that if only Indians would

hold the breath (kumbhaka) rather than just touch/hold the nose they

would all become great yogis and spiritual persons.

My Guru also said that when doing any mantra in japa, in pranayama or

meditation, one should think of the meaning or import of the mantra.

That makes it lot more powerful and meaningful. What does this mantra

signify, many times we get initiated into a mantra routine without

knowing what it means. All yogis know that Patanjali insists on

contemplating on the meaning of pranava when doing pranava japa to get

the grace of Iswara.

“Om Bhuh, om bhuvah, om suvah, om mahah, om janah, om tapah, om

satyam; then the gayatri and then the siras which runs like this, ”om

apah jyoti rasah amrtam brahma bhurbhuvassuvarom” is the pranayama

mantra. This mantra appears in Mahanarayana Upanishad, the last

chapter of Yajur veda. This upanishad also contains several beautiful

mantras used on a daily basis like the offering to the five pranas

(before taking food), meditating within the heart etc. I got the whole

chapter (about 45 minutes of continuous chanting) recorded some 25

years back by “Sangeetha” and I believe it is available in some stores

in Chennai, India. You may learn the pranayama mantra—visit my website

www.vinyasakrama.com/chants and click on the “Learn Pranayama Mantra

chant” tab.

So what is the meaning of this wonderful pranayama mantra? Again there

are different interpretations. The conventional meaning for the seven

vyahritis is seven different worlds starting with the world we live in

to six other higher worlds. But the word loka is interpreted in a more

esoteric sense by a few scholars. They say that the words loka and

look are derived from the same root . And the seven lokas are the

seven perceptions of the ultimate reality which is Brahman the pure

non changing consciousness.

So this approach which gels with the advaita philosophy would be as

follows: According to the Upanishads, Brahman in its pristine state is

alone and there was no time or space (aksha and avakasha) in

contention. The Brahman once thought that it should become many

(bahusyam praja yeyeti). Then in the next stage It deeply contemplated

as to how it should create the universe and make many microcosmic

individual consciousness. This state was known as the stage of tapas

of the Brahman (sa tapo tapyata). Then after deep contemplation and

planning It created the entire Universe (idam sarvam asrujata). After

this creation the Brahman entered and permeated the entire Universe

(tat eva anupravisat) and every being as the individual Self.

The seven vyahrutis are considered as representing the seven states of

the same consciousness four at the microcosmic level and three at the

cosmic level. So when doing pranayama during breath holding

internally, one would say 'om bhuh', contemplate on the consciousness,

represented by pranava or 'om during the waking state. Then as the

second vyahriti 'om bhuvah ' is recited, one would think of the same

consciousness being aware of the individual dream state.

'om suvah” would refer to the same consciousness witnessing the deep

sleep stage. Om mahah, the fourth vyahriti is the consciousness beyond

the three earlier mentioned known amongst the vedantins as the fourth

state of the mind (turiya) or the yogi's kaivalya state. The same

consciousness now is identified with the Brahmana that created the

Universe (Om Janah). Then the next mantra, the sixth “Om tapah” would

represent the Brahman as one deeply contemplating and finally the

pristine state of consciousness “Om satyam” the one and only Brahaman.

With this the abhyasi is able to identify and meditate upon the same

one Brahaman as seen in different states. The theory that there is

only one consciousness that exists both at the cosmic and at the

microcosmic level is the bedrock of the advaita (No two

conciousnesses) viewpoint. So an advaitin while doing pranayama is

able to reinforce the advaitic conviction.

Then the second part of the pranayama mantra is the gayatri mantra. It

again refers to the ultimate reality as the inner light. Just as the

sun with its lustrous orb lights the entire world, the Brahman/Self

lights the entire chitta or the internal world of the meditator, so

that the chitta vrittis are experienced or 'seen' in the mind's eye .

The last portion known as the siras or the head, is an encomium to the

ultimate Brahman. It refers to It as OM., pure consciousness, the

universal light, the essence of the entire Universe, immortal

(unchanging), the source of the universe, and is known to the

individual as the inner Self during the three states of waking, dream

and deep sleep.

This meaning of the pranayama mantra is vividly brought to the mind as

the pranayama mantra is recited silently during antah kumbhaka. Then

it is known as samantraka or sagarbha pranayama. According to Manu

this samantra pranayama is the greatest Tapas/meditation.

It is said that those who are well versed in the chakras are able to

identify the seven vyahritis with the seven chakras in the body using

the respective bijakshara or seed mantras. Some make an effort   to

visualize the cosmic Brahman  in the seven chakras in the microcosm

itself.

There are other types of mantras used. For instance saivaites tend to

chant the siva mantras as they hold the breath as mentioned in the

Tamil Saiva classic “Tirumandiram”. The mantra “sivasiva” of four

syllables is chanted 16 times during one breath hold corresponding to

64 syllables as in the pranayama mantra referred to earlier.

Here is a pranayama for renunciates:

While doing puraka or inhalation the thought would be that the entire

universe is ultimately drawn into the Brahman. Then while in

antahkumbhaka the contemplation would be that the outside Universe and

I are no different from the Brahman. Then while exhaling the ego “I'

with the entire Universe is discarded as nothing but an illusion, not

real, not significant. And in bahya kumbhaka one would contemplate

that pure Brahman alone is real, It alone exists.

Those who believe in the reality of world and the trinity (Brahma,

Vishnu and Siva), would use pranayama to reinforce their faith.

Inhaling through the left nostril one should think of the four faced

Brahma the creator aspect of the trinity and of blood red hue (rajas

guna) while chanting Om 16 times. Then closing both the nostrils  and

holding the breath in  kumbhaka one should think of the white colored

(satva guna) Hari, the protector/sustainer chanting pranava 64 times.

Then while exhaling through the right nostril one should meditate on

Siva of dark color (tamo guna) chanting pranava 32 times. Then one

should start inhaling through the right nostril for 16 matras chanting

pranava 16 times and continue the pranayama for a predetermined number

of times with both mantra and bhava.

Different smritis and very old yoga texts refer to a variety of

pranayamas with and without mantras. Almost all the puranas have a

section on yoga which describe different asanas and pranayamas. (I

think with all this evidence one may say with some conviction that

Yoga is more than 100 years old). For more information on pranayama

you may consider referring to my book “Yoga for the Three Stages of

Life” pages 189 to 211.

Sri Krsishnamacharya's Yoga teachings were unique and very rich. In

Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow

movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with

the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement

with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual

practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one's

capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the

practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My

Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say 'breathe with hissing sound' (a

la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or 'with a mild rubbing

sensation in the throat'.

In this way, with long deep inhalation and exhalation, the intercostal

muscles are stretched and toned up and by the time pranayama is

started the accessory muscles of breathing are well exercised so that

one has a well oiled breathing apparatus for a very productive

pranayama practice. And while doing pranayam introduction of mantras

and bhavas helps to bring the mind to a focus which will be of

considerable help when one starts the meditation process. Thus Sri

Krishnamacharya following the tradition of yoga described in old yoga

texts like the yoga sutras, the puranas, smritis and other ancient

texts helped to understand and achieve the best of an outstanding

ancient system called Yoga.

You may access the earlier Newsletter by visiting my website

www,vinyasakrama.com and clicking on the Newsletter tab. Any comments

or suggestions please e mail to

info@vinyasakrama.com

Best wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami

December 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-- Chants, Also Pranayama question

December 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-- Chants

I have been requesting friends to come out with videos on
Vinyasakrama. My friend Debbie Mills has uploaded a few subroutines on
the YouTube. They are deliberate, breath oriented and nice Thank you
Debbie. Here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/user/YOGAnDHARMA


On the last  Sunday in  November, I gave an introductory talk  on
yoga  sutra in Chennai, India. It was organized by the Vishnumohan
Foundation. I will be speaking on Vishnusahasranama Mantras next
Sunday at the same place.

I managed to locate a video cassette of a series of programs I had
done on Yoga with my students in Kalakshetra some thirty years back
in  Tamil. It contains some asana vinyasas of my students and
interviews with me. I was still a student with my Guru at that time
learning more asanas and vinyasas. The video however has deteriorated
very much. But still I took it to Konica labs to see if they could
salvage something out of it. They said that they would try to transfer
as much as they can salvage into a DVD. Let me see how it comes. There
were eight short duration programs I had done for the Madras
Doordarshan the national TV station at that time. I also was able to
locate another video cassette which I had made some 15 years back so
that I could use it to introduce Vinyasakrama. The quality is again
not good but still I am trying to make something out of it. If they
come out ok, I may start thinking of adding  English subtitles, if it
is technically feasible.

Most of my 2012 programs are now in my website.
www.vinyasakrama.com/Events


CHANTS

Sani or Saturn, according to some Indian Almanacs, is said to transit
to Libra from November 15th 2011. According to some other almanacs, it
is said to transit late December. Sani according to Indian astrologers
takes about 30 years to complete its orbit spending approximately
about 2 ½ years in every house or Zodiac sign. Sani is considered to
be slow moving (sanaischara) and is considered a malefic by the
general populace. Considered from the moon sign if the Saturn is in
the 12th, 1st and 2nd houses it is said to cause enormous
difficulties. Additionally its transit through the 4th and the 8th
signs are also considered highly unfavorable. Actually according to
some Saturn is trouble in all the houses except when it transits
through the 3rd and and the 6th houses or signs. That means that one
can enjoy a certain amount of peace only during a sixth of one's
lifetime. This squares with a brief episode in Yoga Vasishta. Two
siddhas meet and one of them has the Siddhi of moving back and forth
in space (akasa) and time (avakasa). During their conversation the
elder Siddha yogi said that he had traveled in time and has gone deep
into the past and well into the future of human lives and has found
that on an average human beings are happy only 1/6 th of the lifetime.
Of course the other planets like Jupiter and others benifics will
mitigate Saturn's ill effects, but per se, Saturn is dreaded. But
there are a few who look at Saturn's effects on individuals life as
sobering and transformative. It is like a governor in a vehicle, so
that people do not run amuck in their lives. It is considered to be a
great teacher of life but a strict disciplinarian, one who does not
spare the rod.

Many in India tend to propitiate Sani by observing some tapas on
Saturdays, worship sanaischara and so on, so that the difficulties
become more bearable. One of the methods is to worship Hanuman or
Anjaneya . Many yogabhyasis are familiar with anjaneyasana or the
leaping anjaneya pose--the pride of some and most others' envy. How is
Anjaneya worshiped? There is a portion of the Ramayana which depicts
the heroic efforts of Anjaneya in finding the whereabouts of the
abducted Sita, Sri Rama's wife, by leaping across the sea between the
southern tip of India and Lanka. Reading this portion of the Ramayana
one tends to love and respect Anjaneya, it is a beautiful portion of
the Ramayana, as the title of this section “Sundara Kanda”, indicates.
I have already written briefly about it. It usually takes about 10
hours to recite this portion of Valmiki Ramayana. It is recited
usually at the rate of about 90 minutes everyday spread over one week.
This is done once in a while. Some attempt to do it in three days.
Occasionally one may try to do it in one day. Recently just about the
time of Sani's transit into Libra I chanted it in one 24 hour period.
Because it is long and arduous and many are not familiar with the
text, many more propitiate Anjaneya by chanting the famous Hanuman
Chalisa which takes about 20 minutes. I think this chant is popular
among Yogis also. It is not in Sanskrit but it is said to be very
powerful.
There is also a Sahasranama or one thousand names of Anjaneya. Some 20
years ago a recording company got this recording of mine. A few days
back in Chennai, I saw on the TV one of the channels broadcasting the
Puja of Anjaneya Ritual. And the mantra used in the puja was this
Sahasranama of my chanting. I understand that this channel telecasts
this video once almost every month. The channel is called Sankara
channel.



How does worship of Anjaneya help? How does it help mitigate the ill
effects of Sani's hold on one's life? It is said that Sani does not
spare anyone, even Lord Siva had to undergo trouble and tribulations
for a short period of time due to Sani/Saturn. Well how does Anjaneya
worship help? Here is a short story.

After Anjaneya finds out the whereabouts of the abducted Sita, he
returns to the mainland and informs Rama of the discovery, and Rama
decides to invade Lanka to liberate Site from the clutches of Ravana.
He needs a large Army. Sugriva the monkey chieftain agrees to lend his
army and they decide to build a road bridge over the ocean dividing
India and Lanka. The sea quiets due to the request first and then an
ultimatum from Rama and the building of the bridge (sethu) commences.
(Rama also is known as Sethurama because he built the bridge or Sethu.
Sethurama is a very popular first name in South India). Well a huge
army of workers were engaged in the construction. They bring huge
rocks from the surroundings. And Anjaneya was also busy in the task
carrying large boulders to the bridge site.


It was time for Sani to afflict Anjaneya. Slowly Sani comes near
Anjaneya and says that it was time for Anjaneya to suffer the ill
effects of Sani (sani pida). No, not now shouted Anjaneya at Sani. “I
am now engaged in the sacred work of building the bridge to go to
Lanka and liberate Sita”. But Sani said that Sani never waits but
afflicts everyone at the allotted time. He has to submit to this. Then
Sani offered a concession. ”I will get into your legs and afflict your
legs alone say with arthritis. Anjaneya said that he needs strong legs
to move around to do the arduous manual work of carrying the rocks.
“No way,” Sani said. Sani then suggested that he could creep into his
arms and Anjaneya promptly rejected it saying that he needed the arms
for lifting and dropping off the rocks. Anjaneya realized that even
before Sani got into his system his effects were beginning to show by
this persistent pestering. He felt that  sani was already under his
skin.Finally Anjaneya agreed to let Sani get into his head, because he
said he need not do any thinking while doing this repetitive work of
carrying the rocks on his head. Sani crawled into Anjaneya's head.

Some of you may have seen some paintings of Anjaneya carrying the
Sanjivini mountain from the  Himalayan range and leaping across the
Indian subcontinent, during the war between Rama and Ravana; yes
Anjaneya  was very strong and could carry lot of weight.

After Sani got into his head, Anjaneya is  said to have lifted a huge
boulder and kept it on his head and started walking towards the dam
site. The pressure of the rock became unbearable for Sani who was
inside Anjaneya's head. Anjaneya reminded Sani that that was how
everyone felt when Sani would severely affect other beings, unable to
bear the pain. Sani whispered to him that he would do anything for
Anjaneya to get out of the predicament. He then promised Anjaneya that
he would never afflict those who worship Anjaneya. The smiling
Anjaneya threw the rock at the appropriate place in the dam site and
Sani tumbled out of Anjaneya's head and ran away without turning back.
So one of the reasons for many to worship the loveable Anjaneya is
that it is generally believed that Sani's ill effects will be
mitigated by worshiping Anjaneya. What better way to worship him than
reading the Sundara Kanda of Ramayana which is a beautiful narration
of Anjaneya's greatness in all aspects, valor, scholarship,
intelligence, ambassadorship, dharma, humility, loyalty, sense of
humor,sagacity  and what not.

Sri Krishnamacharya gave considerable importance to chanting-both
vedic and other (laukika) chants. It is said that originally there
were only vedic chants and they were practiced only by those who were
initiated into vedic studies, but they were only a few. It is said
that Valmiki, an illiterate hunter, due to the grace of Lord became a
poet and wrote the Ramayana in Anushtup meter, the meter found
commonly in the vedas. Thereafter Sanskrit works on divinity
proliferated and Mahabharata and several other puranas were written.
These could be studied by anyone and several of them contained
virtually everything that was found in the vedas, like works on
divinity, philosophy, rituals and others. They became accessible to
everyone. The concepts were made user friendly like for instance the
Bhagavat Gita which explains the terse concepts of the Upanishadic
philosophies to ordinary people represented by Arjuna.

One should learn Hatayoga from Krishnamacharya. One should study Yoga
Sutras and sibling philosophies from Krishnamacharya. One should learn
devotional works from Krishnamacharya. One should learn chanting from
Krishnamacharya. Yes, it is a great blessing to have studied with
Sri  Krishnamacharya. He had a booming voice and an immaculate
Sanskrit diction. I learnt from and chanted Vedic chants with
Krishnamacharya for hundreds of hours. Learning from and chanting with
him has been an exceptional experience. The vedic chants are very
powerful and have profound import. The Suryanamaskara chant running
for about an hour contains the Gayatri mantra and is said to confer
health and longevity. A chapter called svadhyaya, which runs for about
40 minutes, extols the virtues of vedic chanting and eulogizes the
great gayatri mantra. In this chapter there is an advice to chant
aloud during the day and that one need not do the rituals, but mere
chanting will confer all the benefits. There are two chapters called
pravargya which again are used while boiling milk which is said to
tranform the milk into nectar. These two chapters running for about
two hours are exceptionally charming. Sri Krishnamacharya also taught
the Kataka portion of the vedas and then the Upanishad portion of the
taittiriya branch of the vedas. Chanting is uplifting. It has got
physiological and psychological benefits. Long chanting works with
different chakra centers of the body and also improves the efficacy of
breathing. It has got a calming effect on the mind. The traditional
meaning of svadhyaya, an integral part of yoga, is chanting.

The other non vedic chants that are commonly used include the various
Sahasranamas like Vishnu, Lalita, etc. And many of these chants and
recitations are said to confer specific benefits. In the form of
phalasruti the texts themselves tell us the benefits that one can
expect will accrue on chanting these.

For more on mantras please refer to the Mantra Yoga chapter in my
book, “Yoga for the Three Stages of Life”.


    ******

My friends Bo and Mark from Bangkok have sent the following letter

Dear Mr Ramaswami
I trust this mail finds you well. Bo and I have continuously been
practicing VK and are very much enjoying it. We have also been trying
to read up more on Shri Krishnamacharya’s works and that of his other
students as well – in that respect, I wanted to ask you a question.
We recently read in a  book that breathing should be as follows:
Exhale from lower abdominals, then middle abdominals, and finally
towards the end of the exhalation, allow your chest to sink slightly
(to expel final air). And to inhale, start breathing from expanding
the chest (while maintaining slight contraction in the abdominals),
and towards the end only allow the abdominals to bulge forward only
slightly. Logic is that yoga/pranayama should be spine-centric, and as
the exhalation adds rounding curvature to the upper back; therefore we
try to minimize the rounding curvature by breathing out from the lower
abdominals/lower back first; similarly the inhalation adds curvature
to the lower back, hence we try to protect the lower back by first
breathing into the chest/upper area while maintaining a straight lower
back.
We have also taken much more interest in Pranayama after our studies
with you in LMU, reading up more on Pranayama and its various
techniques/styles. Recently, we ventured on the pranayama teachings of
another school . The school teaches to exhale starting first from the
chest (and not the lower abdominals), then the middle abdomen, and
then only towards the end to draw in/contract the lower abdominals.
(The inhalation is quite similar to the book mentioned earlier wherein
we breathe in while expanding the chest and slight contracting the
abdominals).
My question to you is:
1) Is it right to assume that the exhalation process outlined in the
book is the same as taught to you by Shri Krishnamacharya? (if you
were taught differently, please explain what you were taught to us)
2) Which of the two mentioned above exhalation types (starting with
lower abdominals vs staring with chest exhalation) would you recommend
for us in practicing pranayama? I find that the first book’s method
allows for greater contraction in the abdominals (and preparing for
Uddiyana Bandha on hold after exhalation), but at the same time
because the abdominals are contracted first (prior to chest
exhalation), it has to stay contracted for a longer period to wait for
the end process of exhalation, thereby making the abdominals muscles
harden after some time in the practice.
3) AAs we learned from you, in Pranayama, Shri Krishnamacharya
insisted on keeping Jalandra Bandha throughout – however during
inhalation and exhalation, is there a slight release of the Bandha to
allow ease of air passage?
4) What is the reason for maintaining Jalandra Bandha throughout the
Pranayama and not only during Kumbhaka (when we are trying to hold
breathe from flowing out)?
Thank you so much for your answers. We look forward to studying with
you again.
Best,
Bo and Mark
  I wrote back

Dear Bo and Mark:

It is nice to hear from you.

I am glad that you are getting deeper into the study and practice of
Yoga.
To the best of my recollection, my Guru did not compartmentalize
pranayama as the modern yoga teachers seem to do. He used to show how
to do praanayama and each one drew one's own conclusions from that.
Sri krishnamacharya's pranayama was very deep, the chest would expend
substantially in inhalation and in exhalation he used the abdominal
muscles significantly. In normal breathing, two sets of muscles come
into play the-- intercostal muscles that help to expand the chest and
then the diaphragm by distension it allows more air to go in and in
exhalation the diaphragm returns to the original position. In
Pranayama we try to stretch the intercostal muscles to the maximum and
on exhalation we tend to push the diaphragm into the chest cavity as
much as possible so that maximum residual air is squeezed out and the
next inhalation you can draw in more fresh air. Naturally the spine
and posture also become important so that we do not cramp the chest
cavity by curving the back and other postural defects. That is why a
proper upright posture is needed.

My understanding is that both the chest breathing and abdominal
movement take place simultaneously , but in Pranayama, we extend the
exhalation by continuing to contract the abdominal muscles inward and
and upward to push the diaphragm further in. So the abdominal
movements take longer time than the chest movement but the way I
understand and practice is that both the chest and abdominal movemets
are somewhat simultaneous with the abdominal breathing movement taking
longer time to complete.

There are some reasons why Jalandhara bandha is helpful in Pranayama.
Of course you slightly release the bandha to allow air to go in and
out, but the J Bandha helps firstly to keep the back straight
throughout the procedure. As much as proper posture is important the
erect spine also is important in Pranayama which is facilitated by J
bandha. It is believed and can also be verified that J Bandha helps
with the mula bandha and Uddiyana bandha which are helpful in deeper
exhalation. J Bandha also helps to maintain body balance. You can
release the bandha a little bit during the inhalation and exhalation
phases and maintain the J bandha tight during both the  Kumbhakas.

Thank you very much for writing and I wish you both well

With best wishes
Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami

JOINTS : November 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

November 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Yoga Joint

Warm greetings from bright and sunny Chennai (Madras) in India. Hope
this finds you well.

My friends Bo and Mark from Thailand have uploaded a video clip on
Vinyasakrama interviews from participants of the 2011 Vinyasakrama 200
hour Teacher Training program conducted at LMU in summer 2011. Here is
the link, I hope it works



For 2012, I intend to teach — God willing-- quite a few programs at
different places. The main program will be the 200 hour five week TT
program on Vinyasakrama Yoga in July/August at Loyola Marymount
University, Los Angeles, Californis. I will be doing a ten day program
at Suddha Weixler's Chicago yoga Center in Sep2012, as well as a week
long program in May at Esalen Institute, Big Sur. I am likely to go to
Mexico at the invitation of our friend Roxana. I will also be going to
Canada thanks to the sponsorship of Ryan Leier. I should be going to
Houston Texas for about 4 days, again thanks to a longtime student and
friend Pam Johnson. Then a couple of days program in Dallas Texas with
the help of Ricky Tran. I should also be going to  the UK in October
with the help of a long time friend Steve Brandon. Also, I may spend a
weekend at Yogashala, CT.

Hope to see some of you somewhere sometime.

*****
YOGA JOINT

Several years back I taught a class at a medical university in Chennai
for the medical students in which a few of the faculty members also
participated. This university I understand had a professional
arrangement with the Harvard Medical School. I thought the program
went well and at the end of the program there was a valedictory
function in which several of the participants demonstrated several
asanas and other yoga procedures. The dean of the University
participated in the entire program, running for about three hours. He
himself was a reputed orthopaedic surgeon and after seeing the several
asanas and vinyasas he suggested that I might consider a detailed
study of yoga asanas especially vinyasas and how they affect the
various joints, their health, their mobility. There are a few very
well illustrated books showing the anatomy of muscles in various yoga
postures. It may be good to have some work done in which one can see
the joints and bones or purely skeletal illustrations of asanas.


For me at that time Yoga was a hobby, a serious hobby though; but I
had to work to maintain a family so could not pursue any serious work
that would involve substantial time and effort. The hathayoga
pradeepika mentions the twin benefits of asanas as arogya and anga
laghava or general health and suppleness or dexterity. One of the
problems, similar to the internal organs, is the loss of space within
the joint if the intra-articular space gets reduced due to several
reasons the joints become less efficient and could become
dysfunctional as happens in arthritis. Yoga, especially vinyasakrama
yoga, tends to work with almost all the articulation of all the joints
especially the ankles, knees, hips, the spine and arms. Take the
asymmetric sequence, in which one leg is kept in one position and the
other leg kept in several positions, and in each subroutine several
movements are done. Take for instance Marichyasana, the hip joint is
kept in one position in which the inferior bone of the joint, the
femur, is kept in the fixed position of Marichyasana and all the
vinyasas are done by which the superior bone structure viz. the pelvis
is moved around and manipulated. In other words, the ball in the
socket is kept stationary and the socket is moved around. When you
move on to the next subroutine, mahamudra/janusirsasana, the femur
head within the socket takes a different stationary position and in
the vinyasas the pelvis is moved around. In the third subroutine, the
half lotus, the femur head position is again altered, but keeping it
stationary a number of movements are done in the subroutines—
akarnadhanurasana, kraunchasana, ekapadasirsasana, vajrasana,
matsyendrasana, bharadvajasana and any others-- in which the pelvis is
moved around. In fact in the series of vinyasas within those asanas,
all the possible movements of the marvelously engineered hip joint are
done in a short time giving a complete treatment for the hip joint.
The tendons and connecting tissues are stretched, sufficient blood
circulates (rakta sanchara) and exchange of oxygen also is facilitated
(prana sanchara).


The important joints are the ankles, the knees, the hips, the spine,
and the shoulders, elbows and wrists. The spine and the lower
extremities can be effectively taken care of by some of the inversions
like sarvangasana and especially sirsasana. One of the problems of
these joints is that, due to disuse and postural limitations, gravity,
reduction of tone etc., the intra articular space in these joints gets
reduced and this leads to congestion and pain. These are particularly
severe with the knees and the spine, especially the lumbar and the
cervical regions. By these inversions and doing considerable number of
movements slowly and steadily and with good breathing one can stretch
these joints effectively—the gravity helps now- maintaining the intra
articular space. This will help to reduce the incidence of arthritis
in the knees and hip joints. And with respect to the spine this will
help to maintain the inter vertebral space and thus reduce the
incidence of such debilitating conditions as low back pain. And
cervical spondylosis can be helped by several of the arm movements
(hasta vinyasas) and good deep inhalation stretching the upper
thoracic spine. All these vinyasas help to exercise and maintain the
strength, tone and stability of the supporting musculature.

The knee joint has two main movements , flexion and extension. Poses
like Dandasana and Paschimatanasana help to stretch the supporting
tissues like the hamstrings and also the connecting tissues inside the
joint. The effect can be enhanced by staying in inversions and
allowing some time to for gravity to act. Thereafter one can stretch
the joint gently and help to maintain circulation and also maintain
the intra capsular space. The flexion also can be effectively and
comfortably done in Akunchanasana in both headstand and shoulder
stand. I feel that the inversions give maximum benefits to the major
joints: ankles, knees, hips and the spine. They help to increase the
intra capsular space, reduce congestion, tone the connecting tissues.
All these will help one to stay in Vajrasana which requires a good
flexion of the knee joint. The knee joint also has some lateral
movements which can be done effectively in asanas like Vajrasana
(outward movement of the joint), Simhasana (inward) and also
Padmasana. Thus it is possible to maintain the health of the joints by
a judicious combination of asanas and vinyasas.

My Guru Sri Krishnamacharya used to refer to Yoga as Sarvangasadhana
as a practice for the whole system . He would, also include two other
disciplines as sarvanga sadhanas, viz., archery and wrestling.
Wrestlers have to be very fit and supple. They should be strong to pin
down a burly opponent but also should be supple to be able to wriggle
out of a stranglehold of the opponent. The archers have to be strong
to shoot the arrow to go long distances, but also accurate and should
be able to shoot from very awkward positions to aim at moving targets.
The Mahabharata the great Sanskrit epic contains two characters Bhima
and Arjuna. Bhima was a great wrestler and his kid brother Arjuna, the
Bhagavatgita fame was an outstanding archer. There are stories about
their exploits in Mahabharata. There is one incident that is
interesting There is a story (my version) about Arjuna. Once there was
a competition for archers. A totally transparent rotating yantra
(device) was set up at a great height which contained some water and a
small fish swimming in it. Below that was a pond full of water. The
archer was supposed to look at the reflection of the yantra in the
pond water and shoot at the small fish which itself would be moving
randomly in a rotating device. One has to assume a suitable body
position and shoot the arrow. Arjuna was the only one to succeed in
this test. Archers have to assume difficult different positions in
actual battlefield and have to be extremely supple to adapt to
different situations and need to concentrate well. Hence these two
martial arts were considered sarvanga sadhanas. But these two are used
for combat and hence Rajasic whereas Yoga is for self discipline and
hence is satwic.

Vinyasakrama is a unique Asana 'Joint'

With best wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami



www.vinyasakrama.com

October 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--AVVAIYAR

Warm Greetings!

I taught a ten day program at Suddha Weixler's Chicago Yoga Center in
September. There was a two hr talk on Mantras. Then I taught a ten
hour program on the III and IV chapters of Yoga Sutras. There was 25
hour certificate program on “Core Vinyasa Krama Yoga” and then a ten
hour workshop on Asanas, Pranayama, Mantras and Meditation for a
comprehensive daily yoga practice at home. I thought the programs went
well. Many thanks to Suddha and the many talented and dedicated yogis
for their participation in the program.

LMU has confirmed the next TT program(five weeks) in July 2012 after
the July 4 weekend (July 9 to Aug 11). I will be doing a week long
program, “Hata Yoga and Raja Yoga Practicum”, in May 2012 at Esalen
Institute, Big Sur, California. I will also be going to Chicago for
ten days in September 2012 to teach at Chicago Yoga Center. During the
last two years some friends had suggested that I could do some
programs at their stdios/cities/countries but I could not go due to
some constraints. I hope to be able to go to these places in 2012.
Please write to me. ramsrivatsa@vinyasakrama.com

I will be going to Chennai, India mid- October and staying for about
four months. I hope to be able to initiate  meaningful validation
studies regarding some hypothesis on Yoga for Health ( we have made
considerable progress in our book “Yoga for Internal Organs”), and
possibly an album of DVDs ( about  5 dvds)on vinyasakrama asanas some
day in the near future. About 30 years back I did a series of  8
programs on Vinyasakrama over Madras TV, with my students in
Kalakshetra. They came out very well and I hope to locate the video
cassette and may upload a few sequences in You Tube.

    *******

AVVAIYAR

Several months back I had written about Thirumular, a Tamil Yogi/saint
said to be a contemporary of Patanjali. Another well known Tamil saint
was Avvaiyar of 13th Century. I thought I could take the liberty to
write about her and one of her outstanding works “aathi chudi”
or “garland of aathi flowers”.

Avvai means a venerable lady and she was one. In the caste ridden
Indian society of yesteryears she was born to a high caste scholar and
another woman and subsequently was abandoned by her parents. She was
brought up by foster-parents. She slowly grew up to be a very
beautiful lass and it was time for her foster-parents to make
arrangements for her marriage. But the divine girl was not interested
in getting married and leading the usual life. She was a great devotee
of Lord Ganesa, the charming elephant headed God. She was also a very
wise woman with an incisive mind and an outstanding poet in Tamil as
well.

When people all around her, including her well meaning parents, urged
her to get married she turned to the Lord and prayed to him to make
her look like an old woman so that no one would be interested in
marrying her. Ganesa answered her prayer and soon she became an old
woman holding a walking stick. Progeria?

Because of her wisdom, debating abilities, and universal compassion
her advice was sought by kings, people in high places and also by
ordinary mortals. She wrote some outstanding works one of which was
called aathi chudi and became a primer for study of the alphabets of
Tamil language and is popular even today. She was credited with
bringing about lasting peace between two neighboring countries by
talking to and reasoning with those kings. She is credited with many
such exploits using her wisdom. persuasive powers, divinity, universal
compassion and poetry

She did not stay in one place as renunciates (sanyasins) do routinely.
However it is said that over a period of time the praise and adoration
for her wisdom went a little bit to her head. She who despised her
physical beauty got a bit attracted to the beauty of her brain. One
day on a hot Indian summer she was walking along a deserted stretch of
land. Hungry and thirsty she saw a naaval tree which had very sweet
juicy fruits. Those delicious fruits she thought could satisfy her
hunger and also quench her thirst. But the black berry like fruits
were way up in the upper regions of the tree and she had no way of
getting to them without climbing the tree which skill she did not
possess. Then she saw a  young rustic boy sitting on one of the top
branches and eating the juicy naaga berries. She shouted at the boy
and asked him if he would get her a few berries to eat. He said he
would be happy to help her but said he would not want to climb down
the tree so he would shake one of the branches and she would have to
pick up the fallen berries from the dirt ground. She agreed but the
boy then asked a strange question-- whether she wanted hot berries or
cold berries. She was bemused by this-- what the wise lady thought as
a foolish question. She wondered how  could there be a hot berry
straight from the tree. Thinking that the boy was nuts she
condescendingly asked him to get her a few cold berries. The boy
smiled and shook a nearby branch and a few rich lush berries dropped
from the tree. Greedily the lady took a berry, held it close to her
mouth and blew at the berry a few times to clear off the dirt. The boy
looking down said with bewitching smile, “Grandma! Is the berry hot?”
Perplexed Avvai said “No, not at all, it is just cold.” The boy asked
then in jest, “Then why are you blowing on the berry if it is not
hot?” She immediately realized that the boy was not an ordinary lad
but the great Lord Subramanya or Muruga Himself who is credited with
imparting the correct knowledge about OM to His father Lord Siva
Himself.  With that her creeping conceit left her without a trace.
Ecstatic on seeing the great Shanmkha in front of her she composed a
prayer at once in praise of Him.

Avvai contributed to Tamil literature and is revered in Tamil Nadu.
Simple and profound, her works are studied in elementary schools even
today. In fact Aathi chudi is written as a primer to learn the Tamil
alphabets. Just as we have A for apple, C for cat, etc., Avvai wrote
Aathi chudi with one saying each for one alphabet. Tamil language has
12 vowels, 18 consonants and with other syllables her aathi chudi is
made up of 108 such sayings.

Here are a few, covering the 12 vowels as the beginning letter

1. 'a' as in that ---Aram seyya Virumbu = Love to be virtuous or Love
to give (charity)
2. 'aa' as in pa or ma.--- Aaruvadu sinam = Simmer down anger
3. 'I' as in is. ---Iyalvadu karavel = Never hoard more than what you
need
4. 'ii' as in we--- Iivadu vilakkel= Never stop giving
5. 'u' as in put--- 'udayadu vilambale = Keep your secrets (talk
purposefully)
6. 'oo' as in too.--- Ookkamadu kaividel = Never lose enthusiasm/hope
7. 'e' as in men.--- Ennezhuthu ihazhel = Never belittle (learning)
math and language
8. 'ye' as in may. ---Yerpadu ihahchi = Begging  is despicable
9. 'ai' as in my--- aiyamittu unn = (But) Feed the hungry before you
eat
10. 'o' short 'o' as in one- oppura ozhuhu = Follow the tradition
11. 'oo' like in more--- oduvadu ozhiyale = Never stop learning
12. 'ou' as in mouth--- ouviyam pesale = Eschew speaking negative
words of jealousy/anger

Here is an oft quoted saying of the poetess

“katradu kaimannalavu
kalladadu  ulahalavu”

What one has learnt is just handful and what has not been learnt  is
as much as the world itself
A similar idea is contained in one of the Upanishads. (Maybe I have
written this story already, but no harm reading it again)There was a
great sage called Bharadvaja. Does the name ring a bell Yes all yogis
are familiar with Bhardvjasana. Bharadvaja was a great vedic scholar.
In the previous three incarnations he had mastered three vedas and was
with the fourth. It was almost the end of his life and was still
working with the vedas. The Lord, Indra appeared before him and asked
him what he would do in his next birth. Without hesitation Bharadwvaja
said that he would study the scriptures, the vedas. Then the Lord
pointed out three handful  lumps of clay and said that what Bharadvaja
learnt was just equivalent to the three handful of earth whereas what
he had to learn was more than three mountainfuls in front of him. “The
Vedas are infinite” The Lord said that Bharadvaja should concentrate
on the ultimate Truth of this manifest creation which is Brahman the
underlying undecaying consciousness. Bharadvaja is a very common last
name (like Srivatsa) in India and those with that surname could be the
descendents of the sage Bharadvaja. I hope some of the modern
bharadvajas would try to practice the graceful Bharadvajasana.

There are more works attributed to  Avvaiar. I remember I learned this
work aathi chudi, when I was very young and got most of the sayings by
heart even before I had learnt to read and write the letters, which is
common with many kids in the olden days. The grandparents were always
there to teach these to the grandchildren as they sometimes put them
to sleep.

Avvaiyar, it is said towards the end of her life, wanted to have the
vision of Lord Siva. Her beloved personal  deity (ishta devata) Ganesa
is said to have bodily lifted her and transported her to Siva's abode,
the Kailas. Well that is the story.

I am reminded of an incident that took place almost 60 years ago. I
was at that time studying in II or III Form in Ramakrishna Mission
School, Madras. During the lunch hour after lunch some of us used to
play a game called 'pay ball' in the adjoining Panagal Public Park in
which game each one would like to slam another with a tennis ball as
hard as possible. Perhaps it helped to wring  considerable Rajas out
of the system. One day after half an hour of pay ball, in which I
received a few hard blows and returned a few, I rushed back to the
class room. The Sanskrit teacher had just taken his seat and as I
entered the classroom he stopped me at the entrance and sternly told
me to go and meet the headmaster right away. It is usually not a good
message, and so I walked slowly to the headmaster's room where the HM
was talking to a couple of gentlemen. I waited for a few moments and
as soon as the HM saw me he cordially invited me to come in and most
unusually asked me to take a seat. I sat down and, without wasting any
time, the HM introduced me to the two gentlemen who were from a well
known film producing company called the 'Gemini Studios'. The
gentlemen told me that they were embarking on a new movie called
“Avvaiyar” and they would be interested in casting me in the role of
the rustic boy (see story above), Lord Muruga in the movie. They said
it was a small but important role in the movie. I blurted out
immediately that I will not do it as it is not good to act in movies.
They were a bit taken aback but my HM told me not to worry as they
would come and talk to my parents and this could go on only with their
permission. He also said that since he as HM was satisfied that it was
okay  I need not have any objection. But I said no again.  HM asked
them if they would like to look at a couple of other boys. But they
left soon thereafter. After I came home I mentioned it to my parents,
my mother gave an approving smile and my dad as usual maintained a
stony expression. I became a bit of a celebrity among the students and
even among teachers for one day, the one day wonder. I was known as
the boy who turned down an offer from the mighty Gemini Studios. Some
of the teachers told me that it was the correct decision but a few
pointed out how foolish I was.

The movie was released three years later and it was a blockbuster and
ran in crowded theaters for a couple of years I guess. The devotional
music sung by the great musician K B Sundarambal who did the role of
Avvaiyar in the film was exceptional. The song she sings when she sees
the Lord Mruga appearing before her in the divine form was
exceptional, soulful. In Indian movies in those days, one would sing
the heart out when in agony or in ecstasy. I think some portions of
the 60 year old movie are available on You Tube. The scene I did not
act in, though short, was liked by almost everyone. Sometimes I would
wonder: if I had acted in that role  would I have become a big star?
But then according to the Lord in Bhagawat Gita, everyone's life is
predetermined and we act out or parts as per the script for each one
written on our foreheads by the Lord consistent with one's own karma
and things do not happen differently. I am glad it was my good
karma that I met my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya who took charge of me
rather than take the opportunity to act in a movie, even if it be a
divine role.

          *****

Here are some of my recent posts in Facebook

  Every country is mine (Citizen of the world) and everyone is my
kinsman. Hurt and happiness are not caused by others, we give
ourselves grief and relief. Death is not new and one need not be
concerned about life. And when in pain, suffer patiently. We need not
be overawed by the greatness by others but more importantly not look
down on those lesser than us---From Purananuru a Tamil classic said to
have been created during Sangam period, between 200BC to 100 AD.

Yoga is a unique subject. It has a unique physical culture, of
asanas,vinyasas, pranayama. Has a unique way of organizing the mind.
Yoga has a unique underlying philosophy, a spirituality. It is a
unique way of life, spartan and yet fulfilling.

My book "Yoga For the Three Stages of Life" (2000) contains a chapter
on the Story of Patanjali (page 21 to 29)

A contented mind is the chemical (alchemy) that makes gold— A Tamil
saying

A dominant parasympathetic nervous system tends to produce Tamaic
subjects, whereas a strong overactive sympathetic system is associated
with Rajas. The satwic Yogi has a strong central nervous system
dominating over the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and
parasympathetic); debatable?--Read many years back, can't remember
when and where

  *****

Please send your comments or suggestions to info@vinyasakrama.com
My older letters may be accessed by visiting my website www.vinyasakrama.com
and opening the Newsletter tab

Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami.

From Grimmly : The scene from Avvaiar?

Arguments for keeping the feet and knees together in Kapotasana and when dropping back

A couple of weeks ago, in THIS post, I looked at approaching the dropback and Kapotasana with the knees and feet together. This is something Ramaswami had mentioned in relation to Kapotasana back on the TT course and also seemed implied for the drop back in the 'On your feet' sequence in his book The complete book of Vinyasa yoga'.

I tried it, managed it but wondered what the reason might be behind it.

In Ramaswami's Newsletter this month, on Spinal exercise, he writes about performing backbends with the feet, knees and thighs together. He doesn't mention Kapotasana or the dropback back I wonder if the same reasoning applies.

The relevant section is below, the full newsletter can be found HERE and an illustrated version of the Spinal exercise article including the exercises HERE

'For the back bending exercises it is necessary to protect the lumbar
spine. Towards that, the flexibility and the strength of the sacro-
coccygeal region is to be necessarily cultivated. The pelvic push is
efficiently facilitated by a simple but effective asana called
dwipadapeetam (pages109-115) or desk pose . This posture which is
casually practiced with the feet apart and thighs spread out leaves
out the the spine in the pelvic region. Hence it is necessary to keep
the feet together, tighten the gluteal muscles, draw in the rectum and
gently push the tailbone/sacrum up and feel a healthy stretch at the
bottom of the spine. Any back bending done without fully involving the
sacro coccygial region is a less efficient back bend and tends to put
more strain on the lumbar spine. Again my Guru used this posture to
teach to almost anyone. This upward pelvic push is to be done on
inhalation generally but, it can be done while exhaling smoothly by
the elderly, the obese, the pregnant, the highly strung etc. Because
the feet and back of the head are well anchored it becomes easy to
control the back bend very well and one can improve the stretch step
by step. Other poses that are in this group would be catushpada peetam
or Table pose ( page79 ) and Purvatanasana or the anterior stretch
pose (pages78,79). The other back-bends in the prone poses such as
Bhujangasana, dhanurasana and salabhasana (pages 138-145) also may be
done with the thighs and feet together to keep the sacrum and tailbone
engaged and stretchered. To ensure this condition, the teacher may ask
the student to keep the feet and thighs together by placing a piece of
paper between the feet  and not let the paper drop to the floor while
raising the legs up in asana like Salabhasana. In these prone
exercises keeping the legs together enables to exercise all parts of
the spine, especially the oft neglected sacro-coccygeal area.'

from Ramaswami's September 2011 Newsletter

Here's the video once again of my feet together drop back attempt




It's harder, in that you have a less secure base but interesting to explore as your regular Kapo and drop back become more comfortable.

In the same newsletter Ramaswami also writes about the importance of engaging mulabandha when back bending,

'....all will be better if the mula is gripped firmly and engaged.'

See this post for his fishing rod analogy

Spinal Exercise, the bottom of It. September 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

Hello, warm greetings!

Between Sep 9th to 18th I will be at Suddha Weixler's Chicago Yoga
Center. There is a two hour program on Mantras on the 9th. There is a
ten hour program on the last two chapters of the Yoga Sutras on 10th
and 11th. Then during the weekdays a 25 hour certificate program on
Core Vinyasakrama asanas. On 17th and 18th a ten hour program on
Asana, pranayama and meditation.

http://www.yogamind.com/index.shtml#schedu

Contact: Suddha Weixler
Email: info@yogamind.com
Phone: +1-773-327-3650

I have a few programs arranged for 2012. It is tentatively arranged
that the 200 hour Vinyasakrama TT program could start after July 4
holidays and run for 5 weeks at LMU.
I will also be teaching a week long program at Esalen Institute in
May.
http://webapp.esalen.org/workshops/11111

I may also probably do a few programs outside USA.

Krisztian Krutzler has prepared two downloadable files of my
newsletters of 2009 and 2010 and Anthony Hall has parked them in his
website. You may access them in his blogsite

Practicing Vinyasa Krama Yoga at Home: Ramaswami's Newsletter
collections.
vinyasayogaathome.blogspot.com

http://vinyasayogaathome.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramaswamis-newsletter-collections.html

Thank you Krisztian and Anthony

*******
SPINAL EXERCISE, THE BOTTOM OF IT

I have not been writing about Asanas for quite sometime. I have
covered a lot of ground in my Vinyasakrama book and also in the
earlier book, Yoga for Three Stages of Life. I thought though I could
write about asana again- of course, nothing entirely new but a
different angle.

It is said that one of the main aims of asana and pranayama practice
(Hata Yoga) is to maintain the health of the backbone. It is a common
refrain that one is as old as the condition of the backbone. And some
of the most charming postures of yoga involve the many positions of
the spine. Parsva Bhangi, Matsyendrasana, Akunchanasana, Kapotasana.
Paschimatanasana and a host of other poses bring out the majesty and
the versatility of one of God's marvelous engineering creations called
the spine.

The spine has been the center of attention of several systems, like
the chiropractics. Among Yogis, Kundalini Yoga and Hata Yoga can be
considered to be spine centric. The one bone assembly, the backbone is
not straight but one that is curved back(kyphosis) and forward
(lordosis) and the yogis try to make it straight at least during the
time they sit and meditate so that the Kundalini is aroused and moved
through the sushumna in the spinal column as per the Kundalini Yoga or
the integrated prana moves through the sushumna as the Hatayogis
explain hatayoga.

The spine can be divided into different sections for study and
practice. The bottom is the tailbone or coccyx which is curved and has
three to five tiny vertebrae. It stays beneath the pelvis. There is
some mobility in it but we do not pay much attention to it until one
falls on the butts. A few years back, already an old man, I tried to
carry a teapoy down the stairs in my house. I was wearing hard
slippers and as I overstepped a step I slipped (I had the slippers on,
you see) and fell heavily on my butts. The teapoy (tea table) broke
and we had to discard it. I was in great pain. My wife took me to a
hospital immediately for a precautionary X ray which did not reveal
any damage (not broken like the furniture). But the orthopedist warned
me that I may have some recurring pain in the coccyx region when I sit
for a long time. For a period of time whenever I did long travel, like
from NJ to Los Angeles, I used to feel a lot of pain sitting. So I
know where the tailbone is.

The backbone although it is one assembly has different sections each
having its own idiosyncrasy, so when exercising the backbone one has
to pay attention to each section. The tailbone/coccyx, sacrum, lumbar,
thoracic and cervical sections have their distinct characteristics.
The muladhara chakra is associated with coccyx, the svadhishtana
chakra is linked to the sacral region, the manipuraka with the lumbar
region, then we have anahata with the thoracic spine and the vishuddhi
chakra is in the cervical region. The spinal column descends from the
occipital region and we have the aajna chakra in that region and the
sahasrara is in the cranial region. The tailbone is the baby of the
assembly at the bottom and tucked nicely but is surrounded by heavy
muscles and tissues and protected well. It has some mobility. Since it
is the root of the spine it is also known among Yogis as the Mula.
Since both Hata Yoga and Kundalini Yoga are predominantly connected
with the spine the mula becomes an important aspect of yoga. When one
wants to work with the spine, it, the coccyx, should be firmly
anchored. Let us consider the example of the fishing rod (old times).
It has a flexible pole, a string and the bait. (sorry I could not
think of an ahimsa example). One holds the pole at the far end and
when the bait is taken, the pole bends. The fisherman will have to
hold the pole firmly so that the pole can bend to the extent required,
even though there will be some play or movement in the hand of the
holder. Further he has to hold at the farthest point, holding a bit
inside the pole reduces the leverage and the pole will not bend
sufficiently.

The coccyx and sacrum (sacro-coccygeal section) are at the bottom of
the backbone. The coccyx is at the very end of the spine. It
represents a vestigial tail (hence the common term tailbone) and
consists of three to five very small bones fused together. There is
limited movement between these bones permitted by fibrous joints and
ligaments. The sacrum is a large triangular bone at the base of the
spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity and where it
is 'inserted' like a bone wedged between the two hip bones. Its upper
part  is connected to the last lumbar vertebra and the bottom part to
the coccyx. In children it consists normally of five unfused vertebrae
which begin fusing around 16 years and become completely fused around
26. It is kyphotic (curved, concavity facing forward). Even so, it is
now an established fact that the sacrum moves between the ilia by both
ambulatory and respiratory motions . It would therefore point to the
logic of the use of fuller breathing in vinyasa movements as in
Vinyasa Krama.

So the mula or the tail bone will have to be held firmly during the
spinal exercises. And the yogis used the well known technique called
mulabandha which is contracting a few groups of muscles surrounding
the tailbone:  the perineum, rectum and the gluteal muscles. All
spinal movements, the forward bend,the rounded back, the turn, the
back bend, the side bend, all will be better if the mula is gripped
firmly and engaged.

Now let us consider the different types of spinal movements. The
turning or twisting movement has to emanate from the mula and my Guru
had a couple of asana vinyasas to provide for this movement. The
Jataraparivrittis efficiently engage the tailbone and the next
immediate section sacrum. Please refer to my book The Complete book of
Vinyasa Yoga
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569244022/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-1755689-4479843?%5Fencoding=UTF8
(pages 105,106,119,121,122). Tatakamudra (page 105)
by anchoring the sacro-coccygial portion of the spine helps to
stretch it. These are some of the very early exercises my Guru used to
teach to almost all the students.

For the back bending exercises it is necessary to protect the lumbar
spine. Towards that, the flexibility and the strength of the sacro-
coccygeal region is to be necessarily cultivated. The pelvic push is
efficiently facilitated by a simple but effective asana called
dwipadapeetam (pages109-115) or desk pose. . This posture which is
casually practiced with the feet apart and thighs spread out leaves
out the the spine in the pelvic region. Hence it is necessary to keep
the feet together, tighten the gluteal muscles, draw in the rectum and
gently push the tailbone/sacrum up and feel a healthy stretch at the
bottom of the spine. Any back bending done without fully involving the
sacro coccygial region is a less efficient back bend and tends to put
more strain on the lumbar spine. Again my Guru used this posture to
teach to almost anyone. This upward pelvic push is to be done on
inhalation generally but, it can be done while exhaling smoothly by
the elderly, the obese, the pregnant, the highly strung etc. Because
the feet and back of the head are well anchored it becomes easy to
control the back bend very well and one can improve the stretch step
by step. Other poses that are in this group would be catushpada peetam
or Table pose ( page79 ) and Purvatanasana or the anterior stretch
pose (pages78,79). The other back-bends in the prone poses such as
Bhujangasana, dhanurasana and salabhasana (pages 138-145) also may be
done with the thighs and feet together to keep the sacrum and tailbone
engaged and stretchered. To ensure this condition, the teacher may ask
the student to keep the feet and thighs together by placing a piece of
paper between the feet  and not let the paper drop to the floor while
raising the legs up in asana like Salabhasana. In these prone
exercises keeping the legs together enables to exercise all parts of
the spine, especially the oft neglected sacro-coccygeal area.

The sacral/pelvic tilt also is an important movement in the context of
forward bending. This is achieved best in balasana or forward bend in
Vajrasana (page 179,180) first and then in paschimatanasana (page
75-77) or the posterior stretch pose. Those who are able to engage the
muscles surrounding the sacrum and coccyx are able to achieve a good
forward bend facilitated by the tilting or tipping of the pelvis. One
procedure that will be helpful is for the teacher or a friend to
support the sacrum with both the hands and push forward and down on
exhalation and allow the subject to return to dandasana on inhalation
while still maintaining the healthy pressure. It may be good to
maintain the pressure for a while in the posture pushing forward and
down on each long exhalation and then holding it on inhalation. Over a
period the practitioner would be able to use the group of muscles at
the base of the spine and stretch the muscles of the sacral region.

Then we have the important movement of lifting and holding the
tailbone/sacrum up, by pulling up the waist and hips. Here the muscles
of the hip joints are brought into play, This can be done in the
beginning of tadansana sequence itself. When the subject raises the
arms (page 4-5), he or she can get a partner to hold the pelvic girdle
below the hip joints and push the pelvis up. This helps to stretch the
pelvic and hip muscles up and along with that the sacrum and tail bone
also move up a little bit and it will be easy to stretch the
supporting musculature. One can do the movements a few times with the
helper holding the pelvis up a little while the arms are brought down
on exhalation and pulling the pelvis up when one raises the arms on
inhalation. Over a period of time the practitioner, while raising the
arms, will engage the hip muscles and gently pull the pelvis along
with the sacro coccygeal portion of the spine. Sri Krishnamacahra
would frequently exhort the student to pull up and hold the hips up in
several seated postures like parvatanasana ( page 196) and dandasana
(page 39). He would say in Tamil “iduppai thooki pidiyungo” or “Pull
up the waist/hips and hold it up”.

I think it is good to use these simple asana and vinyasa procedures to
prepare the bottom of the spine. These simple procedures help to
maintain a good flexibility and the tone of the supporting musculature
at the bottom end of the spine. My Guru taught many of these simple
and doable procedures almost to all levels of yoga abhyasis. He would
appropriately alter the breathing to langhanakriya so that some of the
overweight, older, tense and pregnant (except prone poses in
pregnancy)) abhyasis could do these procedures. These are good
preparatory exercises that will be helpful in getting a good control
over the sacro-coccygeal spine that will help in doing some of the
more difficult and charming spine-centric asanas like ushtrasana/
kapotasana, triyangmukha uttanasana (backbends), paschimatanasana
(forward bend), matsyendtasana (spinal twist), akunchanasana(rounding
the spine), parsva bhangi(side bend) and other spine centric asanas
and vinysasas.

The term Cakra is well known to Yogis. Cakra means a wheel in normal
usage. The Samkhyas refer to the potter's wheel as cakra while
describing the post kaivalya time of the yogi. The seven cakras are
usually represented as wheels. Brahmananda, the commentator of the
Hatayogapradeepika, refers to cakras as Nadicakra in the context of
nadis. He calls it a collection/group of nadis or nadi samooha.

Several contemporary yogis relate this concept of nadi samooha to
ganglia or plexus. A wheel also is an assembly of different parts,
like the hub, spokes, rim and a tyre. Since Nadis can also refer to
blood vessels, the heart itself is referred to as hrdaya cakra. The
Chaedogya Upanishad of Sama Veda mentions that there are 101 nadis
that emanate from the heart. It is possible then that cakra could mean
an organ in this context. The anahata cakra refers to a cakra that
produces a sound without being struck by another agent. The heart
produces the sound by itself. So anahata cakra could mean the heart
cakra or the heart. In the Suryanamaskara mantra of Yajurveda, there
is a mantra which refers to the human body as “ashta cakra, nava
dvaara” The nava or nine dvaaraas or openings are the two eyes, the
two ears, the two nostrils and the mouth in the face plus the other
two openings. While explaining the meaning of the eight cakras,
Sayana, the well known commentator of the vedas, refers to the cakras
as different arrangements of cells or different tissues (humors) in
the body as tvak (skin), carma (dermis), rakta (blood), mamsa
(muscle), medhas (fat), asti (bone), majja (marrow), sukla (seman)/
sonita (uterine secretions).

Thus the term cakra could indicate a group, collection, village of
some tissues or an assembly. It is also suggested by some scholars
that the cakra w.r.t the spinal column could refer to different parts
of the backbone itself, each section having its own unique
arrangements of bones: the coccyx, sacrum, lumbar, thoracic, cervical
and occipital. And the entire spine with the cranium looks like a
kundalini or a cobra with the beautiful wavy body curvatures.

Thank you

With best wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami

P S comments or suggestions may be sent to info@vinyasakrama.com

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NB. I ( grimmly) made up an illustrated version of the Spinal exercise article for the  Ashtangi's who perhaps don't have Ramaswami's book to hand, find it HERE