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While environmental solutions may not happen quickly, here are a few asanas suggested by Yogi Ashwini to help you through. Delhi went breathless recently with increased pollution levels. Blame it on fireworks, automobiles or industries, the smog can take a toll on your body especially the lungs, opening gates for a plethora of ailments. Here’re 3 techniques from Sanatan Kriya to keep your lungs strong, and your system humming and free from toxins. Nadi Shodhnam Pranayama It is a fairly simple breathing exercise that can be done anytime, anywhere. Sit in vajra asana (sitting on the heels with legs folded). You can do it even while sitting straight on a chair. Place the middle finger of the right hand at the center of the eyebrows. The thumb rests on the right nose while the ring finger is used to control the left. The left-hand rests on the thigh. Keeping your eyes shut, inhale from the right nostril, and exhale from the left. Next, inhale from the left nost...

Lord Vishnu, the energy responsible for running creation, ensures that one is amply warned and reminded of his/her karma at various stages. Creation, and life, as a part of creation, is governed by karmas. Karmas decide what you are and where you are headed. Life runs in a spiral, the physical life is a downward moving spiral and spiritual life is an upward spiral. Physical life pertains to the gratification of five senses — a life of selfishness. Such a life paves way to entry to lower dimensions and lower levels of existence and more painful births. Spiritual life starts when one can feel the pain of others and works to reduce that pain — a move towards selflessness. Under the influence of maya, the glue that binds us to the physical, one forgets the path of karma and is driven into the whirlpool of destruction by living for just self. Lord Vishnu, the energy responsible for running creation, ensures that one is amply warned and reminded of his/her karma at variou...

Yog begins at the feet of the guru. Guru carves out a path and to get that experience, you need to walk it. Roaming around the guru, showering him/her with compliments or trying to impress him/her with your power, looks or wealth is redundant. For if the guru has the state of these things (physical creation), how will he/she take you beyond? And if he/she has traversed the journey of yog, then to reach him/her, you have to walk that path. Only then will you have the darshan of his/her swaroop. Whether your vehicle is a broken Fiat or a Phantom or a jet-plane (the vehicle here indicates your body), if you keep admiring it in the mirror, you will stay where you are. The mirror does not traverse, nor will the body. Even a broken Fiat can reach, if it walks the path of guru. Otherwise, you can keep polishing the car, change its upholstery and tyres, put various kinds of fuel, nothing will happen. One day the car (body) will fade away, as will the mirror. Slowly the car will ...

For optimum functioning of salivary glands, a simple remedy is to chew every morsel 14 times Hectic schedules and a fast-paced lifestyle hamper normal body functions. As a result, whatever one eats rots inside the stomach leading to the generation of toxins or 'ama'. This ama interferes with the secretion of digestive juices, scarcity of digestive juices hampers expulsion of wastes from the body. What you get are bad digestion and diseases that come along with it.  Early symptoms of digestive problems include eruptions on body, arms or face, whiteness at the center of finger nails and even patches on face or body. As per yog, human being has not one but four stomachs, namely, the mouth, bladder called stomach, the small and large intestines. An imbalance in any four leads to problems of digestion. In the mouth, saliva is secreted to break down food molecules. For optimum functioning of salivary glands, a simple remedy is to chew every morsel 14 times, this t...

Cervical is a symptom of congestion in the Gandhari Nadi In the previous article, we had introduced the Gandhari Nadi, its role in balancing the body and how cervical is a symptom of congestion in the Gandhari. We also learnt certain pranayams for regularising the flow of prana in the Gandhari. In this article, we will discuss the asans to stimulate the Gandhari and correct problems of cervical. Rajju Akarshan Asan:  Rajju means rope. If you go to an Akhadaa you’ll see pehelvans practising by climbing a rope using their hands. Just imagine a big rope hanging in front of you. Hold it with both hands as if you were about to climb it. Begin to move your hands as if climbing the rope by alternately gripping the imaginary rope near your forehead and bringing your hand down straight and letting go. Exhale forcefully when you bring one hand down as if pulling on the rope. Maintain awareness of the lower back region because when you are climbing a rope, that region should be stro...

Yog is a perfect and precise science practiced by the vedic seers for thousands of years and given to us in its pristine form, through the ancient practice of Guru-shishya parampara. The rules of yog stay the same even today despite the lifestyles of individuals undergoing a sea change. Yog is not about rapid breathing exercises, or tying yourself in knots, it is a beautiful journey of the self.  The benefits of yog have been experienced by the practitioner when they have taken up the practice in its entirety. Just as a patient would benefit from the Doctor’s prescription if and only if the patient takes the medication in its entirety, similarly yog has to be seen as a divine prescription, which cannot be altered as per individual’s comfort for acceptance. Further to reap the benefits of these practices you have to practice them regularly because you cannot cure yourself of the disease just by reading the prescription, you need to take the medicine as well. Yog simp...

In this series, we have been discussing asans for giving the desired shape to the body. I would like to warn the reader that yog is not about twisting and turning your body or breathing abnormally, it does not tie you to any particular religion, ritual, lifestyle or diet. Yog sets you free and this can definitely not be given by one who is himself tied in the bondage of maya and charges a fee/favours from you. Hence any Yogic practice needs to be done under the Guidance of a Guru and there is no monetary or material exchange between the Guru and the Shishya. Asans when performed correctly activate the higher centers of the brain as a result of which a practitioner can change their physical form as per their desire. One attains complete control over the five senses and the physical body. Many such demonstrations have been given by practitioners at Dhyan Ashram and are documented and validated by the medical fraternity. Note:  While performing asans ensure that you ar...

Asans are not exercises. They are the gradual process of evolution in the body effectuated under sanidhya of a Guru. They are to be performed gently and with internal awareness. A mantra is codified form of energy in the form of sound and must be channelized by the siddha of the mantra for expanding consciousness. It is through consciousness and heightened awareness achieved through asans and mantras that the body becomes healthy. When the body is healthy, one gets an experience of the subtler world and is in bliss all the time. Dhanur Asan In this series, we have been discussing the asans and beej mantras for the various chakras and how one can activate them and strengthen the corresponding body parts. Last time we discussed the swadhishthan chakra that is present two inches above the mooladhar. Now we move to the Manipoorak chakra.  Manipoorak (Navel Chakra): Located at the point of navel, it controls at the physical level the small and large intestine, liver, ...

There is more to us than what meets the eye, the physical body is only an aspect of our existence which is directly controlled by the etheric layer, some called it the aura, vedic rishis called it the Pranamaya kosha. Chakra Beej kriya, the preliminary practices of which were introduced in the previous article taps into this layer by means of sounds and asans to stimulate the chakras. There are six major chakras in the body, each responsible for specific functions, needs and desires. As we progress in the Chakra Beej asans, we move from the grosser to the subtler chakras, understanding and balancing them as we move along. Having performed the basic joint rotations and spine asanas in the earlier articles , we move to the kriya for the Mooladhar chakra. Corresponding to the location of base of the spine, it is at this chakra that the phenomenal power of kundalini energy rests. Mooladhar is the base chakra for humans; it is the highest in animals. It controls the survival...