Sculpting your Body with Asans

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 are wearing comfortable clothes made from natural materials; avoid deodorants, perfumes, aftershave...basically anything artificial. Keep your eyes closed and maintain internal awareness of the body part that is being worked upon. Maintain ujjai breathing and synchronise the movement with your breath.

Shoulder Push in Utthanasan: Stand with legs apart, toes pointed outward. Keeping the back and neck straight and buttocks squeezed in, bend the knees to go down by about ten inches. This is utthanasana. Bring your hands in front of your chest, palms open facing outwards in a pushing stance. Inhale in ujjai, expanding your stomach as much as you can, and then as you exhale push swiftly in one go, using not hands but the strength of the shoulder. It is imperative to keep your spine erect. Repeat seven times. This asana must not be practised in case of uterus prolapse and after three months of pregnancy.

Torso Circles in Utthanasan: Maintain the utthanaasana. Raise your arms above the head, palms rolled into a fist. Moving clockwise carve a circle with your upper body – bend forward with a flat back, pivot to the right, from here to back and through left come back to centre. This makes one circle. Do this seven times clockwise, inhaling half circle, exhaling half circle. Repeat seven times anti-clockwise. Remember to keep the spine erect at all times.

Plank posture: Lie on your stomach, bring your elbows close to the chest, forearms resting on the ground and palms rolled into fist, to attain a push up posture. Inhaling, gently raise your body parallel to the ground, balancing it on your forearms and toes. Keep your body in straight line, elbows directly under your shoulders. The body looks like a plank. Gently, exhaling lower the body flat on the ground. This completes one round. This asan is to be done seven times dynamically. This asan strengthens the arm and leg muscles and gives a stretch to the stomach too.

The breath rate or heart rate should not go up while doing any yogic kriya. These asans are to be done dynamically, and the count can slowly be increased in multiples of seven up till 49 repeats of each asans, as the body grows in strength and stability.

It is advised that you visit your nearest Dhyan Foundation center to learn the correct way to practice asans.

The article was published in Andaman Chronicle

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