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By Yogi Ashwini
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 practicing 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 strong enough.
Dhanur Akarshan Asan. Stand straight with your fists behind your neck and elbows pointing up. Stretch your left hand forward as if holding a bow. Bring your right hand forward as if bringing an arrow upto the bow from a quiver. Pull and let go as if shooting an arrow with the bow. Release your breath quickly when you release the arrow. Now repeat the same while reversing the positions of the hands. When you exhale, be aware of the manipoorak. You will actually feel as if an arrow has left the bow and the sound of exhaling should also be similar to that of a quick woosh, the sound is essential. The whole body should have a slight shiver as the arrow is being released.
Ardh Gaumukh Asan. Stand straight with your left hand behind the back from below with your palm facing outward and fingers pointing upward. Take the right hand behind the back from above and catch hold of the left hand and remain so for as long as possible.
The above asans when performed in tandem with Gandhari pranayam have the effect of cleansing the chakra controlling the spine and body balance and strengthening the shoulder/cervical region. For correct practice, visit a Dhyan Foundation center near you.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com for more
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- Denis Giles
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T’was a fancy restaurant we went to. The waiter not only had stiff upper lip, but same surgeon had turned his nose up in the air too. “What will you have sir?” he smirked.
“Wine!” I said
“Which one?”
“Red!”
“Which one sir?”
“Any wine that’s red!” I said pleasantly.
“What’s with the wine?” asked the wife under her breath.
“Good for the heart,” I whispered and smiled at the waiter. I waited till stiff upper lip along with equally stiff nose marched off, then rummaged in my pocket.
“You didn’t bring your wallet?” the wife asked worried.
“No, I’m looking for that piece on red wine!”
“You brought it along with you?”
“To show you,” I said pleasantly, realizing red wine was making me pleasant even before I drank it.
“Why didn’t you show it to me at home?”
“Thought I’d show it, when I drank it,” I said then managed to bring out the crumpled piece of paper, “See what it says,” I said. “I didn’t bring my glasses,” said the wife, “You read!”
“I didn’t bring mine,” I said, “Waiter will you read this for madam?”
Stiff upper lip fell, upturned nose also.
“Waiter!”
“Sir?”
“Could you please read this for madam!”
“I don’t read English sir!” whispered crestfallen waiter and fled. Red wine, I noticed, made humble the proud, even before it was touched. I marveled at its qualities. “It is good wine!” I said.
“You haven’t had a sip yet!”
“I can feel it” I whispered, “it’s effects are awesome!”
I sipped the wine. I continued sipping it. I sipped second glass and then the third. The wife watched unhappily, “What does the paper say about how much you should drink?” she asked as the waiter with suddenly fixed smile watched me try to read without glasses somewhat shakily from small printed page. “I can’t read,” I said finally.
“You can’t read English sir?” asked the waiter happily. “He can’t read English!” announced the waiter to his colleague and to some Russians in the next table, who smiled sympathetically at him.
“Ofcourse I can,” I said angrily and got up from my table.
We walked out of the restaurant; there was red wine on the waiters nose.
“How did the red wine get onto the waiters nose?” I asked next day as I nursed a terrible hangover.
“Through your fist!” said the wife, “Red wine good for heart, but not good for man’s temper!”
“Also not good for wallet..!” I whispered as I paid lawyer, then surgeon to get waiter’s nose back to stiff upper position.
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- Denis Giles
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’Twas just a while ago, I’d mentioned the Statue of Liberty taking a walk, and it happened again as two weeks ago Liberty got off her pedestal and took a train to Washington DC. It is not everyday that New York looks out across the bay and sees only empty sky where the statue stands. It is not everyday that passengers see such a strange figure traveling with them to the capital.
“Where are you going Liberty?” asked a commuter on the train.
“To meet Democracy!” said the Statue of Liberty.
“Couldn’t Democracy have come and met you, instead of you doing this long journey?” asked a little girl looking at Liberty’s long tresses.
“Democracy is under siege!” said Liberty, “I need to meet her and sort this out!”
“Sort what out?” asked the same commuter.
“That without Democracy there is no Liberty!”
“You planning to meet the President?” asked another commuter down the long aisle.
“He’s the one holding Democracy captive!” said Liberty, “So I’m certainly going to meet him!”
The train screeched into Washington and Liberty walked onto the platform. “Put your hands up, you’re under arrest!” said a policeman, holding his gun.
“I’m Liberty!”
“There ain’t no such thing anymore!” said the policeman handcuffing Liberty and taking her to jail. “We’ll be keeping you in this cell, with this fellow!”
“Hey that’s Democracy!” said Liberty entering the cell and looking at a frightened little fellow, “What have they done to you? You’ve shrunk!”
“No food!” said Democracy.
“Why aren’t you feeding him?” Liberty asked the jailor.
“He wants special food,” said the jailor, “He says he wants to enjoy the Constitution, feed on his Rights and taste Free Speech once again! He says that his food!”
“It is,” said Liberty, “and it’s mine too!”
“You mean you going to starve too in jail?” asked the jailor cruelly.
“Without our special food which we as Democracy and Liberty feed on, we will surely die!” said both Liberty and Democracy together.
“This is the only food we can give you!” said the jailor.
“What’s that?” asked Liberty.
“It’s Presidential Ordinances, mixed with Vetoes, garnished with a sprinkling of Hiring and Firing directors and officials. Tomorrow’s food is Police Rule and Citizen Surveillance!”
“Oh my God!” whispered Liberty, “Is this what they have been trying to feed you with?”
Democracy nodded.
“I need to speak with the President!” shouted Liberty.
“Well ole gal you’ll have to wait,” said the jailor taking back the food, “He’s with the Russian President, learning PutinRecipes to feed our people with!”
According to latest reports, Liberty and Democracy are still waiting to be released as America’s President learns new recipes to feed to his people.
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By Yogi Ashwini
A gift of excessive dependance on mobile phones and computers coupled with bad posture is problems of the cervical. In earlier articles we have discussed the three major nadis regulating flow of prana in the body - sushumna, ida and pingala. Sushumna corresponds to the spine in physical realm and aids the rising of kundalini through various chakras. Ida and pingala are moon and sun nadis twining around the chakras and maintaining a balance in the cold and hot prana, the left and right side of the body. Another significant nadi in the pranmaya kosha is Gandhaari, which controls the cervical region.
Gandhari is the principal balancing force in the body, which ensures that you do not lose balance as you twist and turn or move about. Gandhari moves in a circular manner starting from the mooladhar chakra uptil the agya and back again. It is imperative to balance this nadi to ensure longterm balance of the body.You might be surprised to know that the root cause of degenerating diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons, as observed clairevoyantly, is the malfunctioning of Gandhari naadi.
The first indication of imbalance in Gandhari naadi is drooping of the shoulders, your posture changes and you feel pain. Cervical is not just any pain. It is a warning sign that something severely adverse is about to manifest in your body. Therefore one must immediately start with corrective measures.
Sanatan Kriya details a pranayaam and certain asanas for optimal functioning of gandhari nadi.
To perform the pranayam, inhale deeply and internalize.
As you inhale, become aware of the upward pranic movement from mool chakra to agya. Hold your breath and become aware of the prana moving down to the mooladhar from the right side and returning back again to crown chakra from the left to complete a circle. Release your breath while maintaining awareness of the agya.
Inhale and hold your breath again. This time become aware of prana flowing down from the left side from agya to mooladhar and coming back up from the right side. Try to feel the Gandhari naadi with your awareness.
Having completed the circular movement of prana in both directions, exhale and deposit the prana that you so collected at agya back to the mool chakra in a straight line.
Repeat the entire process seven times.
Here it is important to understand that pranayam is not a physical exercise, it pertains to the etheric body - prana, nadis and consciousness. Often certain rapid breathing techniques are sold off-the-shelf in the name of 'pranayam' claiming they would increase oxygen in the body so you feel more healthy. If that was the case, everyone should start sporting oxygen masks and they'll be floating! More is not always good. One should strive for the optimum. In a pranayam one observes the pranamaya kosha to identify where there is congestion and depletion of prana, and balances it accordingly through consciousness.
Its is recommended that you visit your nearest Dhyan Foundation center to learn the correct way to practice this pranayam. In the next article we will learn certain asans for correcting cervical problems.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com for more
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By Yogi Ashwini
Anger, as we discussed in the last article, destroys the body by exhausting the vital prana and fluids. In the last article, we had touched upon some ayurvedic recipes to calm one down. Let us now practice some yogic movements from Sanatan Kriya to bring down that temper.
Whenever you are angry, just sit with your legs crossed and take deep breaths.
1. Place your hands near your chest with the palms facing outward and with one deep exhalation, push the air in front with your palms, using the force of shoulders. Let the movement be short, do not stretch out your arms completely. Repeat this 7 times.
2. Next, raise your arms and bring them down rapidly as if you are pulling a rope. Exhale heavily as you clench your hands and bring them down.
3. Now, bring your hands together in front of your chest and spread them out laterally to push sideways while exhaling heavily.
As you perform these movements, imagine you are doing it to him who got you angry. Within a few minutes, your anger will disappear and you will be calm as a sea.
Say you are so angry that you want to hit or push back somebody, by practicing these movements you will be able to vent out your anger in the etheric realm without hurting the person. The movements will bring down your anger, but will shoot up your pulse. Therefore it is imperative to balance them out with a Cooling Pranayam.
Cooling Pranayam
For this, sit with your legs crossed and spine straight. Gently roll your tongue like a straw and push it out of your mouth and breathe in through your tongue. Bring the tongue back in and exhale slowly. This is a cooling pranayam that helps you relax. It regulates the body temperature by cooling the air going through your tongue.
The cool air has a direct effect on the thymus region which controls your immunity and blood mechanisms. The cool air dries up your throat and therefore we perform the Ujjai pranayam to lubricate the throat.
For this, hold your throat with the tips of your fingers as if constricting the throat, till the glottis is partially closed. While breathing normally, make a soft hissing sound as the air passes your throat region. The sound should have a low and uniform pitch. Continue to breathe this way until your breath is normal and relaxed. If you check your pulse after a little while, you will see that your pulse rate has gone down drastically.
The bindu visarg is a nectar which drops from the crown region and is normally consumed at the level of Manipoorak chakra to power routine activities. By constricting the throat, this nectar is held in the throat and it nourishes and replenishes the region.
It is advisable to visit a Dhyan Foundation center near you to learn and practice these asans and pranayams.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com for more