this is a compilation of my post at Orkut…happy reading…any corrections / comments are welcome…
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Thadasana
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Stand straight on both of your legs
raise your right hand, inhale, and try to reach the sky, strectch as much as possible, hold your breadth, hold for 10 counts equivalent to 10 secs, bring down your arm, exhale, do the same with your left hand,
do 5 repititions, and increase upto 10….
Talasana
The next asana is talasana
Stand erect, feet 12″ apart and parallel, hands at respective sides. Spine and neck should be kept straight and abdomen should be in normal contour. Raise one arm and heels simultaneously raise on toes inhaling. Keep the arm touching the ear and keep the palm inwards. Reach the maximum stretch position, maintain this position for a few seconds while retaining the breath. Rotate the arm backwards and downwards slowly and heels to come down simultaneously exhaling.
Repeat with other arm
Uttana Padasana
Before telling abt the next asana, i want to give a note on how to start your daily yoga practice…follow these simple steps
If you are practising yoga in the morning the preferable time is during sun rise where the rays of the sun are soothing to the skin
To all who think that yoga is an exercise, iam sorry, it is not and if you have that thought throw it away, it is not a exercise, it is a duty that has to be performed for your own good. you work for so many other people but do your own duty
Preferrable ways to begin yoga
1) Do a little warm up exercise like strecting the legs, hands and body…try to erach the sky, clap hands in front,jump….. and stretch your hands in front of you and clap it by swinging you full arm and take it wide open to your back and clap it over your back again, (you must hear the sound of your clap) (my master used to get up at 4:00 in the morning and clap his hands, which raises his energy level and so does ours)
2) Stand before the sun (when doing asanas at sun rise and sun set and not otherwise, take the time as +/- 2hrs before the sun rise and sun set time – yoga can be done in front of the at any time between this
3) dont do in a very coool or very hot place, doing prana at these two places will severly injure you, nothing to get scared of, but do it in a place that is comfortable for you…
4) bath before doing yoga – this will make your body to respond well to the asanas
i am not able to remember all my study knowledge, but will keep adding this in my future posts….
Uttana Padasana…the leg raising pose
1) lie flat on your back in the floor, hands on the sides, knees flat on the floor
2) arch you upper body (from head to butts), so that your back is slightly arched to the ground, now raise your legs slowlyto 45 degress to the ground,
3) keep your toes pointed ourwards, inhale when rising the legs
4) raise your hands so that they are parallel to your legs, hold for 10 secs
6) lower your arms, legs, back, exhale – do 3-5 repitions, 10-30 secs
Padmasana
The lotus pose
There are several versions of this pose, main things to note in this pose are, NEVER, i mean it, NEVER bend when you sit in this pose…i mean, when we nornally sit on a chair or on the floor, we tend to bend our back bone(spine), this is very bad for the spine and to the body as a whole…
Sitting on Padmasana
1) Sit down on the floor, legs strechted and stiff, hands on the side
2) Take your right leg and place it on your left thigh, you can use your hands to pull the leg as high as you can, now take your left leg and place it on your right thigh…simple isnt it…but it is not as easy as we say it, coming to the CORRECT position will take much practise,
3) Sit in the position for 3-5 mnts and increase to 15-30 mnts or more
4) There are various asanas you can do in this position, which will be coming up sooner in this thred…
points to note:
1) this is one of the sacred poses in yogasana, becos this position is so peculier that it not only bends your legs but also creates the stiffness in them. Performing meditation in Padmasana is not easy, becos meditation requires concentration and your body has to respond to it…
2) for starters of yogasana padmasana, it is easy that your legs pain specially in the ankle, a god way to relax is to strectch your legs and toes away from you and hold for 5 counts
Mudras
1) sit in padmasana always with a mudra – never leave your hands loose on the sides when doing Padmasana, use SnaChakra mudra or Anjalini mudra.
For the asanas I have described so far, they are very basic asanas, which a beginner will be able to do, except for padmasana. I will tell the modifications now
It is not possible for a hefty / stiff / weak bone person(whose thighs are big) to sit in padmasana, at the very first day. You have to wait until your fat muscles become flexible, it does not matter they reduce in size, what matters is the flexibility, for these type of persons, you can first start with one leg, drag your right leg upwards to your left thigh as much as possible and tuck you other leg inwards, so that you are comfortable, your thighs will ache, your knees will pain, your mind starts to say “leave this – dont trouble yourself” ,but never give up, as days progressess you will be amazed how flexible you are no matter how you look !!!!!!!!!
ONE VERY IMPORTANT NOTE
(sorry for these kind of notes, i give them very often and all are important to me)
DONT OVERDO A YOGA ASANA, when i was at the beginning of my practise, i always overdo some asana(like staying in a single position for more time) and injure myself, i well get muscle cramps / shoulder cramp / etc.,. I changed this habit later on.
Now since I am somewhat confident on the asanas, i can stay for a little longer than my early days with no injuries…
Padmasana – Variations
earlier i have said abt padmasana, today i will tell the variations in it…
you can perform many asanas sitting in padmasana
1) Sit in padmasana, make a cup out of your hands, and place it between your stomach and hip, jst above your reprodactive organs, make sure that you hands (shapped as a cup), must touch bottom of your stomach on both the sides….keep your spine straight, bend forward, exhale as you bend, hold your breath and position. Hold for 15 counts in the begnning and increase to 40 counts…Do upto 3 repititions and increase to 5 ( it is better to stop at 5 counts becos you have other asanas lined up)
2) Sit in padmasana, close your eyes and look up (if you are doing in front of the sun, keep your eyes open, but concentrate), hands free on the sides, raise them, stretched, to top of your head,inhale, do not bend, make a namaskar (See my album for picture), hold for 10-50 counts, your hands must try to reach the sky, stretch, exhale as you come downn…do upto 3-5 repititions
3) Sit in padmasana, clutch you hands on your back, bend forward, exhale, stay for 10-50 counts, raise, inhale
more coming up later in padmasana
Pranayama
My master has requested me not to teach pranayama through internet, i mean not to describe in words, becos if the message is wrongly interpreted, then it might cause problems to the individual, so I will tell you what are all the advantages of Pranayama and a general lecture on it, ofcourse easily understandable one
a note !!
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Our body is made up of blood cells, WBC – RBC, everybody knows that blood is circulated thru the body and that the heard purifies it. Have we really wondered what do the AIR (oxygen, nitrogen etc) that we breath do in our body, where do they go !!!
some of you would have studied abt that, for them this will be like a recap.
The air that we breadth is carried by the blood cells to the various parts of the body, this air is the key resource for our living, nobody can live without breathing, we can slow down the process, (even for months – honestly, I have read abt siddhas who stay so stale that they dont breath for months), but we will breath, if we stop, then that is the end.
The air is carried by the blood cells to the different organs, it is the air that helps us to think, our brain is the largest consumer of oxygen, abt 40% goes to the brain, 20% to the heart, 10 percent to the kidneys and reproductive organs,rest is spilt upon all other parts.
Vajrasana
Stand straight with your feet together.
Kneel down (as you did in your schoold times 
dont bend your toes, stretch them backwards so that you feet palm face upwards..
Lower your buttocks so that they sit on your legs
If you are beginner, dont sit in the asanas for a long time as it will sour your feet and it will pain. The beauty of this asana is it can be done at any point of time…before meals, after meals, rest in this position between other asanas, even you can have batch sitting in this asana…..you can watch TV…infact the japanese eat by sitting in this asana…you must have seen in movies how they sit when having their food(apart from having in the dining table)…so sit right..and live healthhy…see you in my next post…WORK HARD ENJOY HARDED !!!!!!!!!!!
I discussed abt Vajrasana in my previous post. Now the variations in it. I have heard that this variation is very effective for people who are starting to do meditation.
–> Sit in vajrasana. Close your eyes and concentrate your eyes on your forehead, dont loose focus
–> Stretch your hands – sidewards
–> Facing your palms downwards – lower them so that they touch the ground on either side, turn you palm and bring them up and above your head (hands always stretched, do not bend), down nad up a…again and again…
after about 30 repitions, increase your speed and do 15 repitions…this is a very tiresome one, you can go upto 200 flaps…the last 5-10 flaps has to be slow and steady…
how to complete ?
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when you think you can do no more, bring your hands up your head(stretched), stretch them as wide as you can — stay in a namaskara position for about 20 seconds…lower them down and relax
how to breathe ??
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easy…inhale when your raise up…exhale when you come down…
very important
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pay attention to your breathe…if you swap the breathe then this asana is no useful to you…its the air that is making all the magic…it makes your tired yet strengthens your body and mind…
Jst a note on Pathanjali yoga…
We dont have to worry about whether this story is true or not but we will be amazed with what we have and what we have lost…
Pathanjali (yoga suthiram) is the first person to make a document on the yoga practises. It has been said that Pathanjali has 1000 faces. He wanted to write down the knowledge of yoga so that the forthcoming generations will make use of it. So he planned to take is TRUE form (with 1000 faces) and recite the poems of yoga practise. He called upon his 1000 disciples and told them to make notes on what he will be reciting with his 1000 faces. The disciples agreed, since the words that come our of his mouth contain so much heat, pathanjali was afraid that it might burn the disciples, so he put a black screen inbetween him and the 1000 D. He also appointed a head person who will monitor the other disciples. He started to recite…the disciples wriote…on the verge of completion, one of the disciple walked away, the head person who was seeing this mistakenly opend the screen to tell pathanjali…and all the 999 persons were burnt to ashes along with thir writings…
Pathanjali was so sad, he might not be able to take up the form again as it will consume all his energy, when he was thinking what has to be done, the disciple who wwalked away came and enquired what happened, after hearing he told pathanjali he was sorry for what has happened and showed what he had wrote to pathanjali. And what we now has Pathanjali – Yoga Suthiram is what the one disciple wrote.
If the 1 disciples notes were worth so much imagine what abt the rest of the 999 scripts that was lost.
This just gives us a glimpse of what is there in yoga other than what we use today !!!!
Pachimoordhasana
how to:
Phase I : Sit on the floor with legs strected outwards, arms on sides, relaxed, sit straight, do not bend. raise your arms by your sides, inhale while raising them, do not bend your arms, take them over your head.
Phase 2: lower your arms stright down,exhale when coming down and try to touch your toes with your fingers, if you are not able to touch them, it is fine, but keep trying until. squeeze your stomach inwards so that you have room to ben yourself into two folds. The perfect position comes when your upper and lower body are able to touch each other withouth any gap in between them….
After touch, you have to practise holding them with your hands, then next stage is to clasp your hands around your leg, next stage is to have a block between your leg and your hands to hold them
Pranayama
My master has requested me not to teach pranayama through internet, i mean not to describe in words, becos if the message is wrongly interpreted, then it might cause problems to the individual, so I will tell you what are all the advantages of Pranayama and a general lecture on it, ofcourse easily understandable one
a note !!
—————-
Our body is made up of blood cells, WBC – RBC, everybody knows that blood is circulated thru the body and that the heard purifies it. Have we really wondered what do the AIR (oxygen, nitrogen etc) that we breath do in our body, where do they go !!!
some of you would have studied abt that, for them this will be like a recap.
The air that we breadth is carried by the blood cells to the various parts of the body, this air is the key resource for our living, nobody can live without breathing, we can slow down the process, (even for months – honestly, I have read abt siddhas who stay so stale that they dont breath for months), but we will breath, if we stop, then that is the end.
The air is carried by the blood cells to the different organs, it is the air that helps us to think, our brain is the largest consumer of oxygen, abt 40% goes to the brain, 20% to the heart, 10 percent to the kidneys and reproductive organs,rest is spilt upon all other parts.
Pachimoordasana
