Yogasana And Sadhana E-Book

Dr. Satya Pal Grover

• Herausgeber: V&S Publishers
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 224

Beschreibung

Attain spiritual peace through Meditation, Yoga & Asans

Leseprobe

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© Copyright: ISBN 978-935-05732-5-9

DISCLAIMER

While every attempt has been made to provide accurate and timely information in this book, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, unintended omissions or commissions detected therein. The author and publisher make no representation or warranty with respect to the comprehensiveness or completeness of the contents provided.

All matters included have been simplified under professional guidance for general information only without any warranty for applicability on an individual. Any mention of an organization or a website in the book by way of citation or as a source of additional information doesn't imply the endorsement of the content either by the author or the publisher. It is possible that websites cited may have changed or removed between the time of editing and publishing the book.

Results from using the expert opinion in this book will be totally dependent on individual circumstances and factors beyond the control of the author and the publisher.

It makes sense to elicit advice from well informed sources before implementing the ideas given in the book. The reader assumes full responsibility for the consequences arising out from reading this book. For proper guidance, it is advisable to read the book under the watchful eyes of parents/guardian. The purchaser of this book assumes all responsibility for the use of given materials and information. The copyright of the entire content of this book rests with the author/publisher. Any infringement/ transmission of the cover design, text or illustrations, in any form, by any means, by any entity will invite legal action and be responsible for consequences thereon.

Contents

Preface

Yoga is a Scientific Way to Health

Treatment through Asanas

1. The Structure of Human Body

2. Six Types of Yogic Purification Practices

3. Ashtang Yoga

4. The Importance of Yogasanas

5. Yogasanas: Rules and Technique

6. Yogasanas

7. Pranayama

8. Dhyana

9. Exercises of the Eyes

10. Yogic Massage

11. Physical and Mental Health: Some Practical Hints

12. Yogic Diet and Fasting

13. Principles of Yoga Therapy

14. Cause and Cure of Diseases

Suggested Daily Routine

Preface

Yoga is a way of life and enables us to have multi dimensional approach to life. The human body is not the aim of yoga but is considered means of going beyond physical form of body. Unbalanced state of cause and effect result in ill health. Equilibrium of two is the basic aim of Yoga. A healthy body, therefore may be called as the foundation of Yoga.

Yoga is both an art and science. It can alone save the modern man from personal determination and circumstantial frustration. In other words the practice of ‘Yoga’ postulates keeping the body healthy and the mind calm and peaceful. Health is our birth-right, and to remain healthy, it is not necessary to depend upon any health centre, physician or medication. It is entirely in our hands to keep healthy. However, in the present-day conditions keeping good health is becoming more and more difficult, and diseases are proliferating. All sorts of evils have crept into our society. Utter selfishness, cut-throat competition, murders, communal riots, rampant corruption—all these are attributable to the progressive degeneration of the human body and mind. Certain yogic principles have to be observed for maintaining sound health. If we follow these principles and regularly practice Yoga and Yogasanas it would not be a problem to enjoy full strength and vigour.

Healthy means to know our inner self. It signifies equilibrium and self-control. If there is a key to life, it is Yoga. Our energy gets drained in the search for materialistic comforts. The whole atmosphere today is surcharged with tension and various types of pollution. We tend to blame the elements for our physical disorders and mental tension. If we catch a bad cold or fever, we blame it on the weather forgetting that the whole process of health generates from within ourselves. Nature has made our physical structure perfect and complete and invested this mechanism with the capability of keeping itself in good health. If any foreign matter sneaks into our body and gets stuck up there, we call it disease’. All the present and future ailments can be ascribed to this factor. It we take reasonably good care of our body and do not let any harmful matter remain inside, we shall never fall ill. Yogasanas are extremely beneficial in this respect. The science of Yoga is the science of Cosmos. The Yogic Art is Cosmic Art. When you achieve Yoga, you find pure consciousness in action and good health, resistance power, etc. When the heart works normally through the circulation of blood, it gets the blood purified by the lungs and keeps the digestive system in order; the various glands function and maintain the balance of body; and the mind works calmly and keeps the body functioning through the intricate nervous system. In case of illness it does become inevitable to resort to medication, but health is regained only through the intrinsic strength of the inner organs. Medicine helps when the body mechanism functions properly.

If medicine could by itself give health, man could remain healthy, especially now when science has made incredible strides and medicines have been discovered for all sorts of diseases, and new techniques of treatment have been evolved. But this has not happened: diseases have proliferated and the mind has become more and more miserable. Increasing dependence of man on medicine is, therefore, counter-productive.

This, however, is not to say that immense benefits cannot be derived for scientific innovations and new methods of treatment. All that is needed is that we look within, and with a little introspection learn that it is only through the natural ways like the Yogic exercises, regulated life-style, etc., that we can keep ourselves in fine shape.

Yoga is a great dynamo of power which you have to tap to become a master of yourself and the world. The greatest power and energy is within you, not without you. Yoga is fully capable of giving the humanity physical and mental health. When one is sound of mind and body, one is one’s own self. And when we are the master of ourselves, we do not have to indulge in vices like deception, vulgarity or obscenity or telling lies. Indeed, we can maintain serenity even under the worst kind of provocation.

It is the considerations that have motivated the writing of this book. This book is the product of 40 years of constant practice and experience of Yoga, and has been written with the desire to show the world the way to healthy body, mind and soul. The main aim of writing this book is to present Yoga Techniques to the ordinary people in the simple language. It provides maximum information in straightforward, simple and short form. Service to the mankind is the inspiration behind this book. It fills the vacuixm of such a good book on Yoga, which is in the easy reach of common man.

In order that this book Yogasanas and Sadhana may prove more and more useful to the students of Yoga, it has been revised again and again. We hope that those who practise Yoga will derive full advantage from this book and extend the benefit to other. We also hope that the readers will pardon the deficiencies in this book the offer their valuable suggestions so that the future editions may be improved.

Yoga is a Scientific Way to Health

Yoga is the art of living and Yogasana is a scientific procedure. This is the only exercise which affects the inmost parts of the body. The health of our body and mind depends on the soundness of the health of our internal organs—the heart, lungs, digestive system, glands, mind, the nervous system, etc. If the organs inside the body are active and the body has adequate resistance power, medicine also acts. Otherwise, the medicine leaves behind toxic effects and gives rise to many new diseases and side effects.

Yoga and other Yogic practices awaken the inner strength of the body. While performing Yogic exercise, we turn and twist the body, stretch it tightly and then release it. Through this process, our blood veins and cleaned up and the heart is helped in pumping purified blood into the body and returning impure blood to the heart. The heart has to function constantly. In a span of 24 hours it pumps 8,000 litres of blood in the body and returns the same amount of impure blood to the heart and transmits it to the lungs for purification. The blood then returns to the heart. This routine process goes on until we are alive.

We tire after the day’s work, have to take rest thereafter and sleep at night for 6 to 8 hours, but the heart and the kings continue working even then. Nor are they subordinate to us. We cannot command them to rest. Even so, the heart also needs rest, and there is only one way of giving it rest and that is the heart and veins should be kept clearj so that they might easily circulate purified blood through the whole body and pass the impure blood to the lungs for purification. The heart should not have to carry this job by making hard knocks. The organs receive pure blood are strong, active and disease-free. But today heart diseases are very common. The heart has to function by pressing and pushing and consequently neither pure blood reaches all the parts of the body, not is the toxin ejected from the body. As a result the patient’s condition deteriorates and he becomes tense.

Yogasana and Pranayama purify the blood vessels, open up the lungs and the muscles becomes elastic. This boosts their contracting and expanding power. They can absorb more oxygen. They burn up the toxins of the body and eject them in the form of carbon dioxide.

There are 16 to 18 crore pores in lungs, giving it properties like a sponge, where blood is soaked and stored for a while, before cleaning by Oxygen inhaled through respiratory system. If we inhale more oxygen it can reach remotest pores in lungs, ensuring maximum quality of purified blood, resulting in increased flow of blood stream, pumped by heart, to all parts of the body. With the help of various yogic postures we expel toxins from the body and bring control over the body. Daily routine of yogic postures we activate four toxin expelling mechanism viz Nose, Skin, Urinary & Excreta tract, are activated. Thus toxins do not accumulate in the body giving feeling of well being and mental relaxation.

Yogic exercises activate digestive system, and produce sufficient quantity of digestive juices improving appetite, better functioning of colon gland, completely digesting the food, resulting in vigor and improving immune system.

Yogic exercises are probably the only system which aim to improve flexibility of spine. The body is bent in all four directions as well as given twisting movements to achieve the flexibility of the opine as well as activating energy centres of the body. The spine has 26 vertebrae and is divided in three regiments. Uppermost portion is attached to neck region and is called Cervical Region, having 7 vertebrae central portion, called Dorsal Region, behind ribs, has 12 vertebrae lower portion with 7 vertebrae is called Lumber Region.

The cervical region is so formed that we can move the neck, right, left, up, down and tilt it to right & left, vertebrae of spine have hole on either side and in middle. They are fitted into each other to form the column. Between two vertebrae there is cushioning shocker to absorb shocks and compressing loads, protecting other parts of the body. Spinal cord or Sushumna Nadi passes through the length of the spine.

Spinal cord and its activation are mentioned in yoga. Along the spinal cord centre of energy-CHAKRAS-are imagined to be located. By activating these centres a person is relaxed and becomes tension-free.

It is longitudinal cord of nerves extending from the brain along the back in the Spain canal. The spinal canal lodges the spinal cord and is formed by the arches on the dorsal side of the vertebrae. The spinal cord is protected by the axial skeleton in the trunk and tail of the vertebrate consisting of an articulated series of vertebrae. The spine constitutes the control axis or the chief support of the body. Thirty-one pairs of nerves issue from the spinal cord. The left side is call ‘ida’ never centres and the right the ‘Pingla’ nerves centres . It is directly connected to the nasal veins of ‘Ida’ and’Pingla’ (Chandra Nadi and Surya Nadi——respectively).

The brain is connected with the spinal cord through the foramen magnum. It is the portion of the vertebrate central nervous system which constitutes the organ of thought and neural coordination like a telephone wire network. The brain includes all the higher nerve centres. It receives stimuli from the sense organs and interprets and correlates them to formulate the major impulses. Through this process we experience, for example, heat, cold etc. Indeed the brain activates the whole body by means of these nerve centres. Yogasanas keep our brain and the whole nervous system active and functional. These activities are carried out only in slow motion. During their performance we stretch and relax our physical structure fully. This frees the nerves from stress and strain and improves their functioning. Pranayama also makes the nerves calm and active, the mind steady and increases self-confidence and is the only approach to self discovery.

When the physical structure is healthy the mind is serene, which, in turn, activates the inner powers. The man becomes steady and concentrated. This boosts our working capacity and success follows our efforts. The tendency to shy away from difficult situations vanishes. Rather, we acquire the power of facing up to them. Thinking becomes positive and constructive and our actions have the right direction. Well-being, success and good fortunes thus acquired will evoke joy and bliss which is the other name for ‘God’. The soul becomes divine. This is what Yoga is all about. No matter what our field of activity is, by the constant practice of Yoga we remain in the state of Yoga. All that is needed is to perform all kinds of activities connected with it with faith and trust and reverence. This is what accomplishment is—the accomplishment of Yoga.

Treatment through Asanas

1. It The Structure of Human Body

The yoga is a complete subject giving insight to the participant and answer to a major question “Who Am I?” is found by the adept by faith & self discipline. The answer to this question is in eternity and beyond physical structure. It is therefore necessary to know the physical strucure of the body. The structure of human body is so perfect that one may call it a miracle. All its organs work automatically and the body as a whole can remain healthy without any external aids, like medicines etc. What is required is to follow certain laws of nature and the rest would be taken care of by the body itself.

Just as a house is built with several types of big and small bricks, cement, lime and mud, in the same way the body of living beings is made up of certain ‘building blocks’. The only difference between the two is that while the blocks used in the body have life, those used in the building of a house are lifeless. These living units are called cells. These cells have many shapes and sizes—some are big, others are small, some flat, while others are round. But they cannot be seen with the naked eye.

To take another analogy, the body can be compared to a big state. As the functions of a state are divided into several departments and those departments are responsible for the functions assigned to them, similarly, there are several departments in a human body. Several body organs combine to make one such department. There is perfect co-ordination between one department and another, as well as within the organs of one department. If there is any disorder in this cooperative functioning, the body is unable to perform its functions properly. Yogasanas are practised to keep this’ functioning in perfect order.

The following are the ‘main departments’ or centres of the body:

1. Bones centre: Bones

2. Joints centre: Joints of bones

3. Muscles centre: Muscles

4. Blood and blood circulation centre: Its organs help in the circulation of blood in the whole body, including veins and arteries.

5. Respiratory centre: Those organs which help us in breathing, such as nostrils, lungs, etc.

6. Feeding centre: Mouth, teeth, liver, intestines etc.

7. Urine carrying centre: The organs where the urine is separated as well as the organs which carry urine such as kidneys, urinary bladder etc.

8. Nerve centre: This consists of brain, sensory nerves and other organs, which help the brain to govern the body.

9. Special sense organs: Eyes, ears, skin, nose and tongue.

10. Procreative organs: Those organs which help in procreation such as penis, uterus, ovary, etc.

In addition to these, there are several types of glands which carry on their respective jobs in the human body.

Human body is made up of five elements: air, water, fire, earth and ether. These five elements are present in our body in the form of five sense organs. Ether has the characteristic of sound, which we hear with our ears. The characteristic of air is touch, which we feel with our skin. The characteristic of fire is light, which we feel with our eyes. The characteristic of water is taste which we feel with our tongue. And similarly, the characteristic of earth is smell, which we experience through our nose.

Man has five service organs: mouth, feet, hands, procreative organs and rectum.

Five service organs, five sense organs, the various centres or departments of the body and the glands—in all these 24 elements regulate the functioning of our body. But they are all controlled by the mind which is in turn controlled by the intellect. As the Hindu philosophy puts it, man’s ego controls his intellect and the master of ego is the soul.

Yogasanas influence the spinal cord, the muscles, the blood circulation centre, the nerve centre and the digestive organs. All these are closely connected with the heart, lungs, and the brain. It is, therefore, necessary to broadly explain the structure and functioning of these organs.

Vertebral Column (Spine)

Vertebral column runs from neck to waist through the backbone. It has 26 parts which are connected with each other like a chain. These parts are called vertebrae. If the vertebral column had only one bone, the neck and the waist could not have separate movements as they have now. Our health is closely linked with the health of our vertebral column. Our health and youth depend on how flexible our vertebral column is and how clean the 26 vertebrae are, so that they have no obstruction in their free movements. Out of the total 26 vertebrae, 7 are in the neck, 12 in the back and 5 in the waist. The remaining 2 are below the waist near the anus.

Spine

Muscles

The body skeleton has some soft organs which are connected with the bones by fibrous tissues. They also help in the proper functioning of the body like several other glands. To provide a cover for the bones and to give protection to the glands, we have muscles which also make the body more shapely. These muscles are covered by fat and the fat is subsequently covered by the skin which is visible from outside.

The unique characteristic of the muscles is that they can contract and expand, and again come back to their original positions. These movements of the muscles are called contraction and expansion.

Movements

There are two types of movement in our body. First, there are movements that can be controlled by us at will such as walking, sleeping, raising hand, chewing food, etc. These are called ‘voluntary movements’. The second type of our body movements are those which are not under our control. We cannot stop them at will, and similarly cannot put them into action when they are at rest. Our heart keeps on beating without any effort on our part and we cannot stop it. Our intestines also have movements, due to which our food keeps on sliding down. Similarly, the pupils of our eyes contract in excess light and expand in darkness. Such movements cannot be controlled at will and are therefore called ‘involuntary movements.’

Blood Circulation Centre and Lungs

In shape man’s heart resembles his closed fist. It is located inside the chest under the left nipple. It can be felt by putting a hand on the chest or when the heart-beats become fast and more pronounced after running or in a state of great excitement.

Heart, Arteries and Veins

There are arteries and veins for the distribution of blood from the heart to the entire body and again to carry back impure blood to the heart. These are spread in all parts of our body. Some of these are even thinner than hair. Those which carry the pure blood to the entire body are called arteries, and those which bring back the impure blood to the heart are called veins.

To the right of the heart is the right lung and to the left is the left lung. The heart is enclosed within a sac of muscles and tissues.

Urinary Track

The heart is a muscular organ. It is divided into two distinct halves by a muscular wall called the septum. Each side of the heart is divided into two chambers, one above the other. These chambers are connected with thin valves, which open downwards only. The blood can flow from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, but it cannot go from the lower chamber to the upper chamber. In this way, there are four such chambers in the heart.

The heart is always at work—expanding and contracting. Its contraction and expansion are repeated in a rhythmic cycle. A short period of rest follows each contraction.

Lungs are those organs which purify the blood. After it is purified in the lungs, the blood comes back to the left receiving chamber by four veins. When this chamber gets filled, it begins to contract and the blood flows from it to the downward left chamber. The valve of the lower chamber then begins to close. When this chamber contracts, the valve closes completely, so that the blood cannot go back again to the upper chamber. After the contraction of the chamber, the blood goes to the arteries and many branches of these arteries carry it to all parts of the body.

Heart, Arteries and Veins

After pumping out the blood, the heart chambers begin to expand and soon achieve full expansion. This contraction and the closure of the valves produce distinct rhythmic sounds which are called heart-beats. The heart of the normal human adult makes 70 to 75 heart-beats in a minute. In children, the heart-beat is faster. However, in the old age it becomes slow. In one stroke, the heart pumps 60 to 80 grams of blood. It sends six kilograms of blood to the body every minute. This process continues as long as the man lives.

Organs That Purify Blood

Lungs, kidneys, skin, liver, spleen amd many other glands help in the process of the purification of blood. Lungs throw out three types of wastes from the body: (i) Carbon dioxide, (ii) impurities in gas form and (iii) water vapour. They take in only one thing and that is oxygen.

Breathing

The process of inhaling air by the lungs through the nose and then exhaling it out is called breathing. One should always breathe through nose and not through the mouth. Unlike the mouth nostrils have the arrangement of filtering and warming the air before it goes to the lungs. This prevents many impurities from entering the lungs.

Generally, a normal human being breathes 16 to 20 times per minute. In the childhood, the number of breaths in a minute is greater. Breathing rate increases when we undertake physical work like running, jumping and playing. The rate of breathing is greater during the day time than at night—and so it is while standing than lying down.

Brain and The Nervous System

Our brain is enclosed in our skull. The nervous system originates here and spreads to all parts of the body. The organs which help us to think are located in the brain. It is through them that we experience the feelings of joy and sorrow as well as the sensations of light, darkness, heat and coldness. These organs exercise control on the other organs of the body. The nervous system can be compared to the monarch placed in the capital of the body. If we operate upon the skull, the brain can be seen inside it. The shape of the brain is like the kernel of a walnut.

Brain and Nervous System

The brain controls the operations of the body through the neurons (nerve fibres). These fibres resemble a strong string, which is not easily broken by pulling and when cut appears solid from inside.

Functions of the Sensory Nerves

Sensory nerves operate like electric wires. Just as electric wires carry messages from one place to another, these live nerves also carry messages from one place of the body to another. The brain rules the body like a king, and the nerves are its messengers or agents. The orders of the brain reach other organs through these sensory nerves.

The brain can be divided into two main parts: large and small. The large part has several smaller parts which play different roles in different parts of the body. If one part is concerned with the movements of the body, the others give the feeling of pain, heat, coldness etc. Some parts have their relationship with the power of thinking and reasoning, some with seeing, smelling and tasting. Though separate, these parts are connected with each other through nerves.