Dhanurasana

DHANURASANA: 

Dhanus means a bow in Sanskrit. This is called Dhanurasana because when the full pose is demonstrated, it resembles a bow with a string in it. The hands and the legs represent the string, whereas the trunk and the thighs take the place of the bow.

Steps:

1. As you did in the previous two poses, lie on the blanket face down. Relax all the muscles of the body.
2. Bend the legs slowly at the knee-joint until the hands catch hold of the ankles.
3. Raise the head, chest and knees. Keep the arms and the forearms stiff end straight.
4. Try to keep the knees close together.
5. Now the whole body rests on the abdomen A good convex arch is formed resembling a bow with a string.
6. You can either breathe as usual or retain the breath according to your convenience.
7. Remain in this pose as long as you can comfortably do so. When you have done this, lower the knees and the chest first. Then bring the hands and legs down and stretch flat on the ground

Timing: .

Morning or evening at 5 to 6 pm is the best time to do this yuga pose. Do this Asana four to six times.

 Benefits:

1. Asana gives the full benefits of both Bhujangasana and Salabhasana.
2. The abdominal region gets a good massage. By rocking and swinging the bow-shaped body from side to side, forward and backward, a thorough massage and exercise to the abdomen is ensured.
3. Chronic constipation, dyspepsia, sluggishness of the liver, rheumatism of the legs, knee-joints
   and the hands, gastro-intestinal disorders are all prevented and cured.
4. Ladies desirous of undergoing a course of slimming will do well to try this Asana first.
5. Dhanurasana keeps the spine strong and elastic.
6. You will bubble with untiring energy, vigour and vitality. Everlasting youth is yours.

Salabhasana

 

SALABHASANA: (THE LOCUST POSE)

Salabha means a locust in Sanskrit. When this pose is demonstrated, it gives one the appearance of a locust.

Steps: Lie on the blanket face down and the arms touching the ground.

Let the palms face upwards with the fingers clenched. Inhale slightly.

Then stiffen the whole body and raise the legs the hips and the lower abdomen up. putting the whole weight of the body on the chest and the hands. Raise the head also slightly.

*Remain in this pose for 10 seconds in the beginning and prolong the time little by little as long as you can retain the breath.

Bring the legs down slowly, relax the muscles of the whole body and exhale. Repeat this pose four or five times taking care to see that the lungs are not unduly strained.

*( Some specialists in Hatha-Yoga recommend the resting of the chin, mouth and nose on the ground, whilst some others the chin alone.)

Timing: : Morning or evening at 5 to 6 pm is the best time to do this yuga pose.

 Benefits: This posture bends the spine backwards and gives intra-abdominal pressure.

While Bhujangasana exercises the upper part of the body, Salabhasana develops the lower half of the body.

It relieves constipation and tones the liver, pancreas and the kidneys. Several other diseases of the stomach are also removed.

It is highly beneficial to persons suffering from lumbago.

It increases the digestive fire removes dyspepsia and promotes good appetite.

A high standard of vitality and strength is assured.

Bhujangasana

BHUJANGASANA: (THE COBRA POSE)

Bhujanga means a cobra in Sanskrit. This pose is called Bhujangasana because when the full pose is displayed, it lends one the appearance of a hooded cobra.

Steps:

1. Spread a blanket on the ground. Lie on it face down and the muscles of the body completely relaxed. Place the palms on the ground just below the shoulders, bending them in the elbows.
2. Touch the ground with the forehead and raise the head and the upper part of the body slowly just as a cobra raises its hood.
3. Bend the spine backwards. Let the lower part of the body from the navel downwards right up to the toes touch the ground.
4. Breathe normally through the nose. Retain the breath till the head is raised and the spine bent nicely. Then again exhale.
5. Then retain the breath while bringing the head down and as soon as the head touches the ground, slowly inhale again.
6. Repeat this process of raising the head and bringing it down half a dozen times or more.

Timing: Morning or evening at 5 to 6 pm is the best time to do this yoga pose.

 Benefits:

1. This is another good exercise for the spine. The spine becomes flexible and elastic.
2. Rigidity and fatigue of the back are removed. Hunch-back, back pain, lumbago and myalgia of the back are relieved.
3. Bhujangasana increases the intra-abdominal pressure and removes constipation.
   
4. It augments appetite by increasing bodily heat and destroys a host of other ailments.
5. This pose is specially useful for ladies to tone the ovary and uterus. It is a powerful tonic. Absence of menstruation (amenorrhoea), painful menstruation (dysmenorrhoea), whites (leucorrhoea) and various other utero-ovarine diseases are removed
6.  

Matsyasana

 MATSYASANA:

This pose is called Matsyasana because by assuming this posture and doing Plavini Pranayama you can float like the fish on water as long as you like

Steps:

1. Spread a thick blanket on the ground. Sit on it with legs fully stretched in front of you. Do Padmasana. 
2. Then lie flat on the back. 
3. Then resting the whole body on the elbows raise the trunk and head.
4. Pressing the head well on the ground on the one side and the buttocks on the other, make an arch or a bridge of the trunk. 
5. Rest the hands on the thighs or catch hold of the toes the right hand holding the left toe and the left hand the right toe.

Timing:

Practise this Asana soon after Sarvangasana for one third of the time you devote to the latter, if you want the maximum benefits. Sarvangasana and Matsyasana go hand in hand. They must always be
practiced one after the other. When you have finished doing this Asana, slowly release the head with the help of the hands, sit erect and unlock the foot-lock.

Benefits: 

1. Matsyasana gives a soothing massage to the neck and the shoulders. 
2. The stiffness of the neck is removed. 
3. Matsyasana helps deep breathing. 
4. The cervical and upper dorsal nerves are abundantly nourished with blood and toned up nicely. 
5. The endocrine the pituitary and the pineal glands located in the brain are stimulated and toned. These glands play a vital part in the proper functioning of the various systems of the human body. 
6. Matsyasana is also the destroyer of many diseases. It cures constipation, asthma, consumption, chronic bronchitis, epilepsy, a certain type of obesity, the evil effects of masturbation, excessive sexual indulgence and waste of seminal powers, and is said to have cured leprosy also. 
7. It dispenses with the transplantation of monkey-thyroids to human beings for rejuvenation. Enlargement of the spleen is cured. 
8. Lost manhood, wasted vitality and misspent energy could be effectively regained by the assiduous practice of this posture. 
9. The heart is also massaged and you feel new and young.

Sarvangasana

SARVANGASANA: (ALL-MEMBERS POSE)

It is so called because all parts of the body function during its performance.

Steps:

1. Spread a thick blanket on the ground.
2. Lie flat on your back. Then slowly raise the legs up, lifting the trunk and the hips vertically.
3. Let the two hands support the back at the hips. Let the elbows rest on the ground.
4. Form a chin-lock by firmly pressing the chin against the chest.
5. In this posture the hinder part of the neck lies on the ground, and the trunk and legs stand in a straight line.
6. Concentrate the mind at the thyroid gland that is situated at the root of the neck.

Timing: Do this for 2 minutes to start with and increase the time to half an hour. Let the breathing be normal during the whole process.

Benefits:  

1. Sarvangasana will build for you a healthy thyroid. A healthy thyroid means healthy functioning of all organs of the body.
2. This pose centralises the blood in the spinal column and feeds it abundantly.
3. It keeps the spine strong and elastic. You will have everlasting youth.
   
4. It helps you not a little in keeping up Brahmacharya. It checks wet-dreams and rejuvenates the impotent.
5. It is a blood and nervine tonic too.
6. It removes dyspepsia, constipation and several other gastro-intestinal disorders.
7.  The benefits you derive from Sirshasana are also derived from Sarvangasana.
8. A course of Sirsha-Sarvangasana will cure leprosy, powerfully rejuvenate the body and dispense with monkey-gland grafting.

Siddhasana

 

SIDDHASANA: (THE PERFECT POSE)

The Asana is so called because it is capable of giving the practitioner all Siddhis (psychic powers). Moreover it was and is the favourable pose of several Adepts in Yoga (Siddhas).So This is called THE PERFECT POSE.

Steps:

siddhasana

Stretch the legs forward. Place the left heel carefully at the anal aperture and the other heel on the root of the generative organ.

Fix the chin on the chest.

Gently gaze at the space between the two eyebrows without in any way straining your eyes.

*Keep the spine erect. You can keep the hands and fingers just as in Padmasana.

*( This is known as the Frontal Gaze. Take particular care not to strain your eye in any manner. Gaze very very gently. If you find it difficult to do this also, simply close your eyes and concentrate on the heart-lotus or the space between the two eye-brows. This practice is doubly beneficial. It will not only not strain your eyes, but will also protect them from the risk of some foreign matter getting into them and causing unnecessary eye-trouble.)

Timing:  Start doing this for 5 minutes and slowly increase it to 3 hours.

Benefits:

Persons suffering from syphilis, spermatorrhoea, piles, diabetes and gonorrhoea be greatly benefited by assuming this pose regularly for some time.

Young aspirants who wish to get themselves established in Brahmacharya should practice this Asana. “Through this posture the Yogi, leaving the world, attains the highest end and throughout the world there is no posture more sacred than this. By assuming and contemplating in this posture, the Yogi is freed from sin.” (Siva-Samhita: Ch. III-87).

Shirshasana

 

SHIRSHASANA: (THE TOPSY-TURVY POSE)

This is the king of all Asanas. The advantages that are derived from this Asana are incalculable and indescribable. This is specially designed for stopping nocturnal discharges and helping the flow of semen towards the brain in the form of Ojas Sakti or spiritual energy.

Steps:

1. Spread a folded blanket on the ground.
2. Make a finger-lock and keep it over the blanket.
3. Now place the top of your head between the two hands.
4. Slowly raise the legs up without any jerk till they become vertical.
5. Get the help of a wall in the beginning of your practice or ask one of your friends to catch hold of your legs.
6. After due practice, you will be able to keep up balance. When the Asana is over, bring down the legs very, very slowly.
7. When you remain in the Asana, breathe only through the nose.
8. When you find your legs tossing, retain the breath for a short time. Then the legs will become steady.

Irregular Kumbhaka, Rechaka and Puraka—retention, exhalation and inhalation—will make your Asana unsteady.

Timing: Do this Asana when your stomach is empty or light. Morning is best for it.

Benefits:

1. Persons suffering from diseases of the eye, nose, head, throat, stomach, genito-urinary system, liver, spleen, lungs, renal colic, deafness, piles, asthma, consumption, pyorrhoea, constipation, and many other troubles will find great relief by its practice.
2. Grey hairs and wrinkles will disappear.
3. It augments the digestive fire and increases appetite.
4. Ladies also can do this Asana. Sterility vanishes. Many uterine and ovarine diseases are cured.
5. During the practice of this Asana the brain draws plenty of blood and energy. Memory increases wonderfully.

padmasana

 

HATH YOGA

PADMASANA

PADMASANA: (THE LOTUS POSE)

Amongst the various poses prescribed for meditation, Padmasana is unique and foremost. It is called Padmasana because of its full pose lending one the appearance of a full-blown lotus.

Steps:

1. Stretch the legs forward, place the right foot gently at the left hip-joint, and the left foot similarly at the right hip-joint.
2. Keep the spine erect.
3. Place the right hand on the right knee-joint and the left hand on the left knee-joint.
4. *Gaze gently at the tip of the nose.
5. Hold and continue with gentle long breaths in and out.

*(Or you can make a finger-lock and keep the locked hands on the left heel. This is comfortable for some persons. Or you can place the right hand on the right knee-joint with palm facing upwards and the index finger touching the middle of the thumb; the left hand also should be placed on the left knee-joint with the palm facing upwards and the index finger touching the middle of the thumb in a similar manner.)

Timing:

Sit for half an hour to start with and then slowly increase the period to three hours. Sitting for three hours in one Asana is termed Asana Jaya or mastery over Asana.

Benefits:

1. Padmasana destroys all diseases and bestows quick emancipation to the practitioner.
2. Relaxes the mind
3. Helps pregnant ladies during childbirth

Sexuality

 SEXUALITY

According to Sadguru:

The reason why you are running after sexuality

Sadguru

 is because that is the biggest pleasure you know right now. If someone tells you “It is bad, give it up,” are you going to give it up? But if you taste something bigger than that, then does someone have to tell you to give it up? It will just fall by itself. So you just have to invest some time to do the necessary things so that a bigger possibility becomes a reality for
you. If you access something much larger, much more pleasurable and much more ecstatic, then naturally small pleasures will drop. You have not given it up, it is just that you do not do that anymore because you have found something much bigger for yourself. 

"Sexuality is just a small part of you. People have become overly sexual only because of stupid morality, because they are trying to forcefully drop it."

Read more: How To Get Rid of Strong Sexual Desires? (sadhguru.org)

Lord Buddha

Lord Buddha Word on Sex:

"A wise man should avoid married life as if it were a burning pit of live coals. From the contact comes
sensation, from sensation thirst, from thirst clinging; by ceasing from that, the soul is delivered from all sinful existence. "

According to Sri Swami Sivananda:

Sex is the distinction between male and female. It is a mental creation. It is a Kalpana or imagination. There is no sex in the five elements of which the body is composed. The human body is nothing but a combination of the five elements. How, then, has the sex idea come? The sex idea is illusory. It is  trick of the mind. It is jugglery of Maya

Swami Sivananda

. It is a notion. The sex-idea is deep-rooted. Man can never think that he is a female. A female can never think that she is a male. For a liberated sage, this world is full of Brahman only. For a passionate man, this world is full of woman. He falls in love with a wooden post if it is wrapped in a silken gown or a beautiful cloth with attractive borders and a petticoat. Passion is a terrible curse. When a man is under the influence of passion, excitement and the sex impulse or force destroy his understanding and reason, overwhelm his mind and make him utterly helpless. A householder who has rightly understood the magnitude of the sufferings of Samsara tries to get rid of the Samsaric life. Whereas, a bachelor full of passion imagines that he is very miserable on account of the absence of a wife and children and tries to get married. This is Maya. This is a mental trick. Beware. A passionate bachelor is ever thinking: “When can I live with a young wife?” A dispassionate householder in whom Viveka has dawned is ever thinking: “When can I disentangle myself from the clutches of my wife and retire into the forests for contemplation on Atman?” You must think over the difference. Thousands of young graduates and young doctors come to me with earthen pots in their hands, attired in orange-coloured robes, in quest of caves in Uttarakashi and Gangotri for deep meditation and practice of Pranayama. And some young research students in science and some PRACTICE OF BRAHMACHARYA 16 Rajakumars go to Punjab and Kashmir in silk suits with stiff collars and ties in search of girls for marriage. Is there pleasure or pain in this world? If there is pleasure, why do the young educated men retire into forests? If there is pain, why do young men run after wealth, women and position? Mysterious is Maya! Mysterious is Moha! Try to understand the riddle of life and the riddle of the universe. 

Wet dreams

WET DREAMS OR NIGHT FALL

Now days more than 80% people are troubled by wet dreams or nocturnal emissions and spermatorrhoea. This dire disease, spermatorrhoea, has eaten away the very core of the heart of many brilliant youth, who were once very promising students during the beginning stages of their educational career.

Effect in our body

Loss of the vital energy creates great fear in their mind. The body becomes
weak, memory fails, the face becomes ugly and the young man is not able to remedy his pitiable condition due to shame.

When Night Fall Happen:

Night pollution generally occurs in the fourth quarter of the night. It means it happen between 3 am to 4 am.

Why Night Fall Happen:

Wet dreams and spermatorrhoea may be due to various causes like constipation, a loaded stomach, irritation-producing or wind-producing food, impure thoughts and long self-abuse done in ignorance.

How we get relief from Night Fall :

Amand

Do not look at the reproductive Indriya. Do not also touch the generative organ with your hands now and then. This will aggravate your Kama Vasana.

Sleep on the left side. Allow the Solar Nadi, Pingala, to work throughout the night through the right nostril. In acute cases, sleep on the back until recovery

When it gets erection, do Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. Repeat ‘Om’ mentally several times with meaning. Think of purity. Do twenty Pranayamas.

Take cold hip baths by sitting in a tub of water and keeping the legs outside the tub. This is very
invigorating and energising. A cold hip bath tones and soothes the nerves of the genito  urinary system and stops nocturnal discharges in an efficacious manner. This is a general nervine tonic as well, as all the nerves are braced up.

Eat Ashwagandha foe regain energy and sextual power

Yogic diet

 YOGIC DIET

A diet that is wholly conducive to the practice of Yoga and spiritual progress is called Yogic diet. Diet has intimate connection with the mind. Mind is formed out of the subtlest portion of food.         

Sattvic foodstuffs 

Diet is of three kinds viz., Sattvic diet, Rajasic diet and Tamasic diet.

SATTVIC FOODSTUFFS :Cow’s milk, Cream, Cheese Butter, Curd, Ghee, Sweet fruits, Apples,
Bananas, Grapes, Papaya, Pomegranates, Mangoes, Oranges, Pears, Pineapples, Guavas, Figs, Vegetables, Coconut, Brinjals, Potatoes, Cabbages, Spinach, honey, almonds and sugar-candy are all Sattvic foodstuffs. They render the mind pure and calm

RAJASIC FOODSTUFFS :Fish, Eggs, Meat, Salt, Chillies, Chutney, Asafoetida, Pickles, Tamarind,
Mustard, Sour things, Hot things, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Ovaltine, White sugar, Carrots, Turnips, Spices are Rajasic foodstuffs. They excite passion.

TAMASIC FOODSTUFFS: Beef, pork, wine, garlic, onions and tobacco are Tamasic Tobacco, Rotten things, Stale things, Unclean things, Twice cooked things, All intoxicants, All liquors, All drugs are Tamasic foodstuffs. They fill the mind with anger, darkness and inertia

Rajasic & Tamasic foodstuffs

Food is of four kinds. There are liquids which are drunk; solids which are pulverised by the teeth and eaten; there are semi-solids which are taken in by licking; and there are soft articles that are swallowed without mastication. All articles of food should be thoroughly masticated in the mouth until they are reduced to quite a liquid before being swallowed. Then only they can be readily digested, absorbed and assimilated in the system.

FASTING :Fasting is interdicted for practitioners of Yoga as it produces weakness. But occasional mild

Fasting foods

fasts are highly beneficial. They will overhaul the system thoroughly, give rest to the stomach and the intestines and eliminate uric acid. Yogic students may take one full meal at 11 o’clock, a cup of warm milk in the morning and half a seer of milk and some plantains (or oranges or apples) at night with much advantage. The night meal should be very light. If the stomach is overloaded, sleep will supervene and as too much sleep is injurious to Yogic practices, one cannot make any real headway in the path of Yoga. Therefore a diet consisting of milk and fruits alone is a splendid menu for all practitioners