November Monthly Theme: Bandhas

Bandhas are interior body locks used in yoga. There are three bandhas–Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and Jhalandara Bandha. Each bandha is a lock, meaning a closing off of part of the interior body. These locks are used in various pranayama and asana practices to tone, cleanse and energize the interior body and organs. When all three bandhas are activated at the same time, it is called Maha Bandha, the great lock.


Root Lock or Mula Bandha:

The first of three interior body “locks” used in asana and pranayama practice to control the flow of energy. To activate mula bandha, exhale and engage the pelvic floor, drawing it upwards towards your navel. If you don’t know how to access the pelvic floor, think of it as the space between the pubic bone and the tailbone. Initially you may need to contract and hold the muscles around the anus and genitals, but really what you want is to isolate and draw up the perineum, which is between the anus and genitals. Do not hold your breath. Engaging mula bandha while doing yoga poses can give the postures an extra lift. This is especially useful when jumping.


Abdominal Lock or Uddiyana Bandha:

The second of the three interior body “locks” used in asana and pranayama practice to control the flow of energy. Uddiyana bandha can be practiced alone or in conjunction with mula bandha. To engage this bandha, sit in a comfortable cross legged position. Exhale your breath, then take a false inhale (draw the abdomen in and up without taking in any breath.) Draw the belly up underneath the rib cage. To release, soften the abdomen and inhale.

Uddiyana bandha tones, massages and cleans the abdominal organs. If you are familiar with mula bandha, you will see that the drawing up of the pelvic floor naturally leads into the drawing up of the abdomen. This is how the bandhas work together.

Throat Lock or Jhalandara Bandha:

The third and last of the three interior body “locks” used in asana and pranayama practice to control the flow of energy. Jhalandara bandha can be practiced alone or in conjunction with mula bandha and uddiyana bandha. To engage this bandha, sit in a comfortable cross legged position. Inhale so the lungs are about two-thirds full, and then hold the breath in. Drop the chin down, and then draw the chin back closer to the chest so the back of the neck does not round. Hold as long as is comfortable and then bring the chin up and release the breath. To practice in conjunction with the other two bandhas, first draw the pelvic floor upwards, engaging mula bandha. This leads to the abdomen drawing in and up under the ribcage (uddiyana bandha). Finally, the chin drops to the chest and draws back into jhalandara bandha. When practiced together, the three locks are known as Maha Bandha, the great lock.

Who is the doer in Yoga Asana practice?

When we do asana we have a concept as to what we are to achieve from the practice--health, flexibility, pride in accomplishment, the yoga butt! Action, though is not the ultimate reality. But we superimpose the energy to perform action (Kriya Sakti) on ourselves through the ego. Consider a flower. When the sun shines the flower blooms. Who is responsible? Blooming is occuring in the presence of sunlight so neither the sun or the flower are the doers of this happening. It is the nature of things that the flower blooms in sunlight. The mind tries to conceptualize natural events in it's language and says either the sun is the doer or the flower is the doer. If we closely look at this logic it will be found that there is no doer at all, things happen as naturally as they should. There is a futility in doing actions and thinking that they yield results according to our expectation and wish. To be in a state of bliss is inherent in every human being. When we forget the blissful nature of our "true self" and try to gain happiness through actions which satisfy the psychological needs of the mind we simply add to the depth of our conditioned state and spiritual ignorance. Actions which give pleasure are always transient and always associated with the shadow of misery. Pleasure and pain are always together in the result of action. Being focussed on the action of Asana practice leads to the formation of tendencies which obstruct our natural state of the self-conscious being. When Asana is done (or any work) is done without doership and the fruit of work is devoted to God the mind is purified to the state of suddha manas which helps us become liberated from the imprisonment in the ego--creation of thought. Cultivating the awareness born out of our connection to the cosmic consciousness will allow our asana practice to provide the natural path to appropriate physical and spiritual progression. Asana doership is just an idea born when work is done with desire or an eye to the fruit of the action. When we devote the fruit of our asana practice (or any work) to God the idea of the doer or doership is not there so there is no ego. In this way non-attached activity purifies the mind by getting rid of the idea of doership which prepares the mind to reflect pure consciousness paving the way for liberation. Lord Krishna stressed in the Bhagavad Gita this attitude toward work and the fruit of work. Work done with desire and doership binds and limits our consciousness, where as impersonal work liberates us from the shackles of ego. So the next time you practice asana, try to make the practice impersonal and egoless and see if you can discover a new way to explore this excellent tool for spiritual development.

October Monthly Theme: Kosha

A Kosha usually rendered "sheath", is one of five coverings of the Atman, or Self according to Vedantic philosophy. They are often visualised like the layers of an onion. Belling states:

According to the Kosha system in Yogic philosophy, the nature of being human encompasses physical and psychological aspects that function as one holistic system. The Kosha system refers to these different aspects as layers of subjective experience. Layers range from the dense physical body to the more subtle levels of emotions, mind and spirit. Psychology refers to the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our being. Together, all aspects make up our subjective experience of being alive.

Annamaya kosha

This is the sheath of the physical self, named from the fact that it is nourished by food. Living through this layer man identifies himself with a mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones, and filth, while the man of discrimination knows his own self, the only reality that there is, as distinct from the body.

Pranamaya kosha

Pranamaya means composed of prana, the vital principle, the force that vitalizes and holds together the body and the mind. It pervades the whole organism, its physical manifestation is the breath. As long as this vital principle exists in the organisms, life continues. Coupled with the five organs of action it forms the vital sheath. In the Vivekachoodamani it is a modification of vayu or air, it enters into and comes out of the body.

Manomaya kosha

Manomaya means composed of manas or mind. The mind (manas) along with the five sensory organs is said to constitute the manomaya kosa. The manomaya kosa, or “mind-sheath” is said more truly to approximate to personhood than annamaya kosa and pranamaya kosha. It is the cause of diversity, of I and mine. Sankara likens it to clouds that are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same agency. Similarly, man’s bondage is caused by the mind, and liberation, too, is caused by that alone.

Vijnanamaya kosha

Vijnanamaya means composed of vijnana, or intellect, the faculty which discriminates, determines or wills. Chattampi Swamikal defines vijnanamaya as the combination of intellect and the five sense organs. It is the sheath composed of more intellection, associated with the organs of perception. Sankara holds that the buddhi, with its modifications and the organs of knowledge, form the cause of man’s transmigration. This knowledge sheath, which seems to be followed by a reflection of the power of the cit, is a modification of prakrti. It is endowed with the function of knowledge and identifies itself with the body, organs etc.

This knowledge sheath cannot be the supreme self for the following reasons:

• It is subject to change.
• It is insentient.
• It is a limited thing.
• It is not constantly present.

Anandamaya kosha

Anandamaya means composed of ananda, or bliss. In the Upanishads the sheath is known also as the causal body. In deep sleep, when the mind and senses cease functioning, it still stands between the finite world and the self. Anandamaya, or that which is composed of Supreme bliss, is regarded as the innermost of all. The bliss sheath normally has its fullest play during deep sleep: while in the dreaming and wakeful states, it has only a partial manifestation. The blissful sheath (anandamaya kosha) is a reflection of the Atman which is bliss absolute.

September Monthly Theme: Pranayama

Prana is the vital force that animates the body, enlivening it with motion, intelligence, radiance, transformation and artistry. Though closely associated with the air we breathe in, Prana is subtler than air. Rather, air is the medium through which we absorb Prana into our being. This Prana is introduced into our being through breath, and upon entering our being it courses through invisible channels called nadis ( a concept similar to the Chinese meridians), that crisscross our being. The science of Yoga informs us that we human beings possess 72,000 nadis.

Pranayama is the science of breath control. Breath is intricately connected to the mind and emotions. When one is calm the breath is deep and slow. When one is tense, anxious, angry or fearful the breath is either, held, irregular, short or difficult. Therefore by changing your breathing pattern you can regulate your emotions and feel calm. Careful regulation of Prana, through a series of spiritually determined and scientifically validated sequences of inhalation, exhalation, and retention, maximizes Prana absorption, retention and application in healing the body and mind.

Some of the Pranyama techniques outlined in The Hatha Yoga Pradipika that you can expect to do this month are: Kappalabhat (shining forehead), Nadi Shodana (alternate nostril breathing), Ujjayi (victory breath), Surya Bhedana (sun piercing), Chandra Bhedana (moon piercing), Sitali (cooling), and Bhramari (black bee.)

August Monthly Theme: The Guru

Excerpt from Chapter 5, Jivamukti Yoga

“Gu” means ignorance; that which obscures Truth. “Ru” means that which removes. The Guru is the agent that removes ignorance, so that the Truth is revealed.

The aim of yoga is to realize that we are all connected. We share one heart, one consciousness, and one Divine Source. Yoga’s method is to provide us with experiences that help us grasp this. To realize that we are all connected, it is helpful to connect to one other person. In the yogic tradition this connection is experienced through a relationship with a guru, a teacher who facilitates the awakening of unitive consciousness. By acknowledging a guru, you connect to those who have trod the path before you. In doing so, humility dawns and awakening is possible.

The concept of guru is difficult for most Westerners to accept, because we like to think we are in charge. But the truth is that the predominant powers in our society control most people’s lives. Big corporations and the advertising agencies that work for them decide what people think about and shape our society’s values. Methods to gain genuine control over our lives are not taught in our schools; instead, working for material gain is emphasized. Most of us are at the mercy of our emotions, and when we can’t handle them we use alcohol or other drugs, TV, shopping, eating, or sex to make ourselves feel happier. The idea that lasting happiness can be found inside, without having to buy, smoke, eat, watch or drink anything is foreign to us. We may need a translator. The guru is the translator.

Gurus do not necessarily have to be Indian, or enlightened. They may be married or not. They may have regular jobs and not head an ashram. A guru is a teacher who imparts to you insights or revelations about Yoga. A guru may also give you a method to practice so that you may realize for yourself the truth of those revelations.

For someone to be your guru you must acknowledge him or her as such. A guru may not proclaim to you “I am your guru.” That is for the student to proclaim. Once that acknowledgment and appreciation dawns, learning accelerates. Gurus do not require, as some in the West mistakenly believe, that blood oaths be taken or that all worldly possessions be turned over.

You will be taught according to your capacity to learn. So to find a guru become the perfect disciple. Become irresistible to the guru by becoming empty. When you come before a teacher set aside “I know”, so that you can be taught. If you are already filled up with knowledge, like a cup full of tea, and your teacher attempts to pour new tea into your cup, you will just overflow and no benefit will be obtained.

In this tradition knowledge passes from guru to disciple in a continuous, uninterrupted flow. The relationship of guru and student must have a particularly pure quality for the transmission to take place. Respect and love for the teacher must be understood as the same as respect and love for the Divine. This can be challenging, especially for westerners.

The guru tradition is based on humility and appreciation. The respect a student gives a teacher is not for the teacher’s benefit; it benefits the student to acknowledge and bow to another because this opens the connection to the Self within the student. It may help to think of the Guru as a force rather than a person.

Remember “guru” is spelled: “Gee-you-are-you”!

July Monthly Theme: Karma and Samskara

From Jivamukti Yoga, by David Life and Sharon Gannon, they state:

This essence of Karma Yoga is selfless service. This practical method for reducing suffering in the world is the foundation of all yoga practice. When we are suffering from self-pity and loneliness, a surefire cure is to care more for others and the reduction of their suffering. When we shift our thoughts away from our own suffering, it diminishes.

Whatever yoga practice you undertake, make it Karma Yoga by devoting the fruits of your practice to God, as Patanjali suggests in the Yoga Sutras: Ishvara-pranidhand-va. Karma Yoga should not be confused with the law of karma, which is that every action causes infinite effects. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect. Karma Yoga, on the other hand, is a method for ensuring that the actions we take cause good karmic effects.

The law of karma is a universal doctrine, operating as surely as the law of gravity. You can observe it in the natural world, if you care to look. If you plant a seed in the ground, the karma of the seed is to grow. If you throw something up in the air, the karmic result is for it to come down.

Karma means action. It comes from the Sanskrit root kr, which means to act. It encompasses all movement, of the mind as well as the body. These movements can be conscious or unconscious; regardless, the karmic result is still ours.

The word karma is also used to refer to the accumulated results of past actions, present actions, and actions we will perform in the future. The karmas of the past, present, and future are of three types:

• Sanchitta: This is accumulated past actions or karmas waiting to come to fruition. Sanchitta is the storehouse of every action you have ever done, in all the lifetimes you have ever lived. These are all of the unresolved past actions waiting to reach resolution.
• Parabda: This is the present action: what you are doing now, in this lifetime and its result. You have taken from the storehouse, sanchitta karma, a certain amount of unresolved desires and ambition, and will try to 'work them out' in your present lifetime.
• Agami: Future actions that result from your present actions are called agami karma. As you attempt to resolve past karma, you unavoidably create new karmas that you may or may not be able to resolve in your present life. If you don't resolve them now, they will go into the storehouse to be resolved in a future life.

Every action creates a groove in the subtle atmosphere called a samskara. Samskaras represent your unfulfilled desires and ambitions, etched onto your soul by your actions. These must be fulfilled at some time, in this life or in another. All karma results from ignorance of the true Self. Let's say you smoke a cigarette for the first time. You want to know what it tastes like, so you take a puff. You like it and say, "Oh, I'll take another," and soon you are tied to the cigarette. What is fascinating is that it is not the cigarette that makes you feel good; it is the fact that as you take a puff, you have no other desire for that moment. In that moment you experience your real Self, which is happiness, freedom from desire. But you mistakenly associate that happiness with the cigarette, not the Self, which is the true source of happiness. Instead of going to the Self directly, you go to the cigarette. You are bound in the karmic cycle of action and the resulting attachment.

The only way to be freed from having to resolve every desire is for the soul to realize the Self. Through enlightenment, no karmas can bind you. You are unbound, liberated. When an action is selfless, it leads to future good karma and eventually to liberation. As yogis seeking liberation, therefore, we strive to perfect our actions. Most actions are preceded by a thought. To perfect an action, therefore, we must first perfect our thoughts. What is a perfect thought? A perfect thought is one devoid of selfish motive, free of anger, greed, hate, jealousy, and so on.

Most of us believe we can think any thought we like and be free of consequence, as long as we don't act on it. Yet how many times have you had something on your mind and a friend has looked at you and asked, "What's bothering you?" Our thoughts affect others and bear karmic consequences for ourselves. Our thoughts are significant even at the time of death, when a thought can propel us into the next lifetime- for better or for worse. Thought leads to action. The same action can be undertaken with a selfish intention or a selfless intention. The act of sexual intercourse is a good example. When intended to control, manipulate, harm, or humiliate another person, it is called rape and is considered a crime. When it is motivated by the intention to love, honor, or uplift another, it is called making love.

The intention behind any action is always more important than the action itself. The intention contains the seed of the action's results. If you perform a good action but you have a negative intention, you will receive negative karma from that action.

Yoga and Ayurveda--Same Goal

Yoga has taken America by storm. Yoga teaching has become one of the fastest growing professions in North America. As many as 30 million people practice yoga in the United States alone. NAMASTA, the North American Studio Alliance, the organization for mind-body professionals, nowestimates that there are 70,000 yoga teachers in North America. Most fitness clubs offer yoga classes, and yoga is the fastest growing segment of the exercise industry. Unfortunately, many equate Yoga to an exercise class like Pilates or step aerobics and this is the model much of the Yoga industry promotes.

While many view yoga(hatha yoga is the traditional term for the physical postures and cleansing practices) as an alternative way to exercise, most long-time practitioners realize that hatha yoga is not just physical -- it creates balance in mind, emotions and consciousness as well. As one practices Yoga one starts to realize that it offers so much more than just physical conditioning--one through experience sees that physical health is directly tied to emotional health and spiritual progress.

Yoga shares the same origin and goal as ayurveda, the traditional Vedic system of health care. Same origin and goal. Both yoga and ayurveda have their origin in the Vedic tradition of India, and both are a means to gain better health.

A verse from the Yoga Sutra, yogas chitta vritti nirodhaha, describes yoga as the settled state of the mind. Patanjali compares it to a verse from ayurvedic texts, svasmin dishati iti svasthah, which states that one who always remains united with the true self, the Universal Consciousness is a healthy person. These verses show that both yoga and ayurveda have the same goal which is attaining union with the Universal or Big Self, instead of identification with the little self (this body and senses along with the mind or "manas").

Other verses from the ayurvedic texts also point to this self-referral state of the mind as the basis of health. A verse from the Sushruta Samhita, for instance, says, "He (she) whose doshas are in balance, whose appetite is good, whose dhatus are functioning normally, whose malas are in balance and whose Consciousness(big self), mind and senses remain full of bliss, is called a healthy person. Modern medicine refers to ill health arising from mental causes as Psychosomatic illnesses. It is estimated that as much as 90% of lower back pain may have a mental component. Attaining union of individual consciusness, the self (Atman or Purusha) with the Universal consciusness reduces the suffering that leads to imbalance, both mental and physical and thus illness.

This experience of unity is the aim of Ayurveda. For instance, the word "ayurveda" is derived from the Sanskrit word ayu. While one common meaning of ayu is "life" or "lifespan," and thus ayurveda is "the science of life and longevity," another meaning of ayu is mentioned in Charaka Samhita, sharirendriya sattvatma sanyogo . . . ayu. This verse defines ayu as the state where the physical body, senses, mind, and soul are integrated. So you see that whether you are talking about yoga or ayu, it is a state of unity -- or complete integration of mind, body and consciousness -- that is the goal--Yoga or union.

Yoga balances all three doshas, and different poses have different effects. Forward bending postures cool Pitta dosha. Twists are good for Kapha because they stimulate digestion. Backward bends are heating, and thus balancing to Vata types. Yoga postures tone every area of the body, and cleanse the internal organs of toxins, which is one of the goals of ayurveda.

Both use cleansing methods for the body, all of which encourage the removal of waste products and toxins through their natural routes of elimination. Ayurveda has panchakarma (five cleansing actions) and yoga uses Shat Karma (six purification measures). If someone is attending a yoga class on a regular basis, he or she is starting to dislodge ama (digestive impurities) in the body. But if they are still maintaining a lifestyle and diet that creates ama, all they are really doing is moving their sludge around. The yoga practitioner needs to know how to detoxify through the dietary, lifestyle, and purification practices of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda embraces all six of the main schools of philosophy including the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Vedanta (a non-dual philosophical and spiritual path) and Tantra. They both understand that the attachment to the body-mind complex is the root cause of all suffering and that the ultimate state of health is experienced when we abide in our true nature, which is total peace, regardless of the state of the physical body.

The use of asana, pranayama, and meditation for healing is known as Yoga Chikitsa(This is also the name of the 1st series of Astanga Vinyasa Yoga), or Yoga Therapy and has been used for thousands of years by Ayurvedic and yogic adepts. In Yoga Chikitsa, a group of yogic exercises are chosen that will best support the individual and are practiced daily. This can be done over an extended period of time in conjunction with an Ayurvedic regime and herbal and dietary therapies.

Remember that the goal of yoga practice and ayurveda is the ultimate joy that comes from the union of individual consciusness, the self (Atman or Purusha) with the Universal Consciousness. The fact that one moves the body this way or that, or does some breathing practice does not, unto itself constitute Yoga. Yoga is the journey (Yatra) towards Yoga, which is the union being sought. To be a miner of diamonds, take care of your picks and shovels. To be a miner of your spiritual Self, take care of your body, breath, and mind. But don't confuse the tools and the goals. The destination of yoga and ayurveda is Yoga.

Om tat tvam asi, Steve Galindo.