The King of Asanas

Master BKS Iyengar has said that one must practice asanas regularly. And, in case you don't have enough time for a full practice then at least do inversions. The most important inversion is Sirsasana(headstand). Sirsasana is called the "King of all asanas" for a reason. It is the most powerful physical tool that we possess for overcoming the forces in the physical world that decay and age our body and mind. These forces show up as loss of mental power and clarity, loss of posture, shortness of breath, poor circulation and sluggish digestion. When all of these bodily system are working harmoniously then we remain youthful and bright for the extent of our lives. Performing headstand.. or if you can't yet do headstand then a supported inversion...aids the bodily systems(circulation,endocrine, respiratory,digestive,skeletal). The strain of gravity on our body and its systems is reversed by completely turning yourself upside down. Our relationship to gravity and worldly forces is changed completely and our body is nourished instead of depleted.

The effects of sirsasana on the circulatory system is that more blood can flow back to the heart and flow from the heart. When you are upside down venous blood returns easily to the heart reducing fatigue in the legs. Also the heart is able to pump more blood to the head bathing the brain with fresh oxygenated blood. Fatigue and brain tissue degeneration are minimized. Your thinking power, clarity, memory, concentration, and sensory faculities are nourished and brightened. The ability to hold a single pointed focus for an extended period of time (a key to our success) is now possible.

Sirsasana helps the lymphatic system in the same way, by returning lymph to the heart via the veins. A regular practice of headstand prevents the buildup of fluid in the legs and feet.

Sirsana rejuvenates the nervous system increasing mental alertness and clarity in the brain. It calms, soothes, relieves stress and depression in the brain wave activity.

Sirsasana makes the respiratory system healthier. The lungs are actually strengthened because they learn to breathe as the orgams of the body are resting on top of them.

Headstand properly aligns the spine facilitating good breathing and reducing muscular stress.

Headstand tones and cleans the digestive organs by increasing gastric fire and producing heat in the body. By reversing the pull of gravity on the intestines constipation is eliminated and fresh blood invigorates the liver, kidneys, stomach, and reproductive organs.

In the skeletal system, headstand strengthens and aligns the spine and neck improving your posture when you are upright. The muscles of the abdomen, legs, shoulders and arms are toned while you are in headstand.

You can easily understand how all of these physical and mental benefits of sirsasana can eliminate the effects of aging. By regular practice and by increasing your duration in headstand all of these antidotes become more potent.

Yoga as Observed in the Natural World

In the very beginning of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali says, "Ata Yoga Nusananum" or "Now is the yoga as I have observed it in the natural world.

Yoga is happening all around us all of the time and it has always been that way. If we can see this level of existence, we must have mental imprints that allow our minds to see it. Our mental imprints come from our karma. Karma is the cause to the effect that we see. We think the world is happening outside of us but really we are creating our own world by the actions that we take.

I love to use the metaphor of the NFL to illustrate the effects of karma. The Steelers are my favorite team but it's not because I lived in Pittsburgh for a long period of time. It's because their mental imprints match my mental imprints. I'm attracted to something that I call "Steeler Diplomacy". The Steelers treat other people and teams well. They are nice and humble but also intelligent and skilled. Their collective mental imprints have flowered into wins over their last three opponents: the Patriots, the Cowboys, and the Ravens. Some of these teams contain players with more skill than the Steelers but, karmically, the Steelers' generous actions are seen in the physical world as amazing wins in the most unusual of situations.

During the Patriots game the ball slipped out of the Patriot's hands but not out of the Steelers' hands. The rain was the same for both teams, but the difference was their diligence and humbleness in the face of the Patriots' rudeness and nastiness from over the past 11 meetings. Divine Mother allowed the Steelers to have the weather conditions as a gift but the Divine Mother allowed the weather conditions to act as a learning experience for the Patriots.

In the games with the Cowboys and the Ravens, yoga of the natural world came in again to aid the Steelers, giving them wins with no time left on the clock for the opposing teams to counter their efforts. The natural element of time aided the Steelers and the element of time hindered the Cowboys and the Ravens. This is all due to karma, causation from our past actions.

All generosity , hard work, and love between members of the Steelers have reached a certain level of karmic maturity and have flowered into wins at times when statistics say that they can't win. "Facts" like having never beaten the Patriots in 11 meetings or having never beaten the Ravens at Baltimore since 2002, don't matter. The past does not matter because we create our futures by our actions in the present. At some future time, the imprints of our actions will flower and produce great fruits.

This is understanding the way of karma: to give first what you would like to receive at some future time. Not taking first but giving first. Now.

This is yoga as observed in the natural world.

8 Limbs of Patangali's Ashtanga Yoga

'8 Limbs of Patangali's Ashtanga Yoga'

The yoga sutra is the mother book of all yoga. it was written about 2 thousand years ago by Master Patangali. Master Patangali. Master Patangali was a great yogi of both yoga of the body and yoga of the mind.

The yoga sutra says that yoga is harmony/unity and it can be seen by observing the natural world. TO ACHIEVE THIS HARMONY, YOU MUST GET YOUR MIND TO STOP IT'S FLUCTUATIONS. When the mind stops, you can rest in your own true nature. Otherwise, you identify with your mental fluctuations--this is a great mistake and brings on sources of your suffering. Karma is incurred by this outer identification and will not let your mind come to rest. You are then on a cycle called samsara--the cycle of having to learn your lessons through actions in the physical world over and over again which leads to more mental fluctuatuions.

The process of the eight limbed path of ashtanga yoga is a recipe for stopping your mind from identifying with it's fluctuations and allow freedom from mental suffering. The eight limbs are:

1. yama---guidelines for your actions toward others

2. niyama---vows to yourself

3. asana---the physical postures of yoga that relieve the body from strain and allow for the sense of a non-fixed nature of reality(when you can assume shape after shape, you realize your unlimited nature). This should be done with regularity over a period of time.

4.pranayama----controlling the breath and placing your mind on the breath as a vehicle to your ultimate connection with divinity. Because everyone that is living has breath(it's the one commonality), each one of us IS divinty itself.

5.pratyahara----removing your concentration from things outside of yourself and most especially things of a mudane or unhealthy nature, and placing them deliberatly on things beautiful, harmonious,divine in nature pratyahara is also a state of keeping your attention away from the ups and downs of outside circumstances and on yuor own mental pictures and personal truth.

6. dharana----concentration; concentration so the mind can rest on some idea that is beautiful/harmonious--like the ocean or gratitude--and can remain there with out distraction.

7. dyana---meditation or concentration that allows you to merge effortlessly with the object or idea that you are concentrating on.

8. samadhi---realizing ultimate reality, extreme peace, or losing track of the outside environment and merging with divinity itself.