These comprehensive two hour sessions will be on Wednesday evenings from 6.45pm-8.45pm and will cost £8 per session.

Your tutor will be Steve Brandon.

For further details and up to date information visit the Yoga Classes Page.

You can call Harmony Yoga on 01749 677470 with any enquiries, or email.

Leela Centre

Dorset

The Independent Yoga Network Midsummer Festival again promises to be a fascinating weekend with a very diverse range of workshops to choose from.

Steve is among the presenters, and here’s a brief taste of the workshops offered :

Gordon Smith: Direct experience of the koshas using the hand as gnomonic followed by relaxation

Cathy Stanton: Being Here! – a practical workshop based on Scaravellis teachings

Virginia Compton:  Heart centred Kriya, Asana, Pranayama and meditation

Mike Gould: Dynamic Meditation and Gentle Awakening

Duncan Hulin: Holistic Yoga practices, from and returning to, Silence and Stillness

Pam Smith: Kundalini Yoga

Godfrey Deveureux and Olivia Crooks: Accessing the Guru Within

Christopher Gladwell: Evolutionary Yoga of Radikal Freedom

Matt Gluck: A workshop to inspire practitioners to enjoy the simple nature of breath and to appreciate its role in vitality

Swami Saradananda: The Power of Breath

Ellen Lee: Boys and Girls come out to Play – encourage the inner child to emerge through games and practises designed to reconnectwith our natural, playful energy

Sama Fabian: Riding the winds, standing balances and a comprehensive inversion practice  using breath intelligence

Gerry Russell: Tantric Yoga and Sound Meditation

Suzy Daw: Freedom From the Known, Yoga inspired by Vanda Scaravelli

Charlie Taylor-Rugman: An introduction to the philosophy and practice of Ashtanga Yoga

Jim Gough: This a slow asana / meditation class that is quite intense

Stefan Cartwright: Nada Yoga — The Yoga of subtle sound

Steve Brandon: A Taste of Freedom – The Four Noble Truths of Patanjali

Pete Yates: Ishvarapranidhana: Patanjali’s devotion to life – talk and practice

David Sye: The Intelligence and Mechanisms of Love – creating an environment about a Yogabeats  practice

Satyananda: ‘Primal Yoga’ has come into being through Satsangs with Satyananda

Simon Hunt: ‘Yoga in Mental Health And Substance Addiction’  A description of teaching Yoga in a psychiatric hospital and the wider community setting

Jude Murray: Celtic Yoga; working with asana, breath, chant, gentle energy work and ritual

Dr. Lea Brindle: ‘Round Table’: an opportunity for yogis and yoginis to come together and share in their curiosity and experience of Yoga

The festival is family-friendly and the full programme, booking details and directions can be found on the Namaskaram website

The brain and its nerve pathways form an important system of the human
being and again Yoga has some unique procedures to help the efficacy
of the nervous system. The brain, the spinal cord containing the nerve
fibers, the ganglions, the plexuses and the peripheral nerves form
this system. We have already seen the benefit the yogic technique of
meditation can bring to the brain. It helps to create new neural
connections and reduce disturbances. This Raja Yoga technique works
within the brain and transforms (parinama) it to a better functioning
organ. The Hata Yogis through the Hata Yoga practices such as
Pranayama, viparitakaranis and some mudras help to maintain good
health of the brain. The two postures that really help the brain are,
as you can guess, the inversions, Sirasasana and Sarvangasana.

Many people, when they start to practice Headstand, find that their
faces flush and they feel a rush of blood to the face and the skull.
After some regular practice for a short period of time, the body
adjusts to the new posture and auto regulates the flow of blood. Even
so when one practices this posture for a significant time, the blood
circulation in the brain improves considerably, since the blood
vessels in the brain do not contract or dilate the way other blood
vessels do. This is very refreshing to the brain and normally people
get a cleansed feeling. Equally important is that the cerebro-spinal
fluid, which is a clear and colorless liquid surrounding the brain and
the spinal cord, drains and pools upon the top portion of the brain.
It enters the ventricles and small recesses in the brain and helps in
the nourishment of the brain cells. The third ventricle conveys a
small recess to the posterior portion of the pituitary gland. The
pressure of the CSF, while staying in Headstand, helps the gland to
secrete more of the hormones into the CSF which again is said to
stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. So people who have a weak
sympathetic system may benefit from remaining in Headstand for a
considerable amount of time. The weak sympathetic is considered to be
one of the causes of some ailments like bronchial asthma. Hence this
exercise could be useful for those who suffer from such conditions as
bronchial asthma, its cousin eczema and distant relative, epilepsy
stimulating the sympathetic.

Sarvangasana is similar to but yet different from Headstand. In this,
instead of the crown, the occipital portion of the head is on the
floor, and the CSF pools into the midbrain and the back of the brain
including the medulla. These areas are really stimulated by a good
stint in Sarvangasana. It is said the Vagas nerve nuclei are
stimulated by this exercise. Thus it results in the activation of the
para sympathetic. It results in reduction in anxiety and insomnia. My
Guru used to say that it helps normalize sexual functions. Thus a
judicious mix of Headstand and Shoulder stand would help to bring
about a healthy balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems.

Yoga is particularly directed towards maintaining the integrity of the
spine. The spinal cord is about 45 cm long for men and 43cm for women.
The enclosing bony vertebral column protects the relatively shorter
spinal cord. In fact, the spinal cord extends down to only the last of
the thoracic vertebrae, or the thoracic spine, and then the tail flows
down the lumbar region. The spinal cord is inside the neural canal –
almost the diameter of the thumb– of the backbone. The nerves from
the spine emanate on either side through openings called neural
foramina and then proceed to the autonomic nervous system and then
various organs. The slightest displacement of the vertebrae will
result in chronic or acute pain. In Yoga, efforts are made to maintain
the spinal column in proper position and mobility. There are fibers of
both the central and autonomic nervous system. When there is some
pressure on the nerves due to even the slightest displacement of the
vertebrae, there is pain which inhibits the various impulses that pass
through the brain, spinal cord, the various organs and muscles. This
can be compared to ‘noise’ in the telephone transmission system. In
such cases the signals do not properly reach the organs or the brain
and spinal cord do not receive the signals properly resulting in the
inefficiency of those organs. So Yogis take special care to see that
the spinal column is properly exercised, mobile and supple. The
exercises are designed to prevent any vertebral pressure on the nerves
by maintaining a healthy inter-vertebral space. And then these spinal
exercises help to circulate blood and CSF to nourish the spinal
nerves. They also suggest strengthening the back muscles so that the
spinal column is well supported. Paschimatanasana, as the name
implies, will meet the requirement admirably.

The movements for the spine include side bending, forward bending,
curving the back, back bending and of course twisting. These may be
done in different postures as is usually done in Vinyasakrama. One of
the simple sequences that helps achieve this is hasta vinyasas and
thoracic exercises in Tadasana, which include all these movements.
(See my book “Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga, Chapter on Tadasana).
This stretching of the spine will be enhanced if one practices the
scores of vinyasas in inversion poses like Sarvangasana and sirsasana.

The spinal cord is inside the thoracic region of the vertebral column.
So when we move the arms and do the various movements the spine at the
thoracic region does not stretch as the ribcage moves up and down as
one unit. The intervertebral discs in the region of the thoracic spine
are much thinner than in the cervical and the lumbar regions. As a
result there is generally less movement between the vertebrae of the
thoracic spine.  The yogis have found a unique way of stretching the
thoracic spine.  This is achieved by doing all the movements with deep
breathing, especially inhalation. When we do deep inhalation, the
chest expands side to side, front to back and also up and down which
will help stretch the vertical thoracic spine and maintain a good
intervertebral space for mobility and freedom for the nerves. Hence
the vinyasakrama method of doing asanas with good breathing has this
additional advantage. Again a good stint of Pranayama practice
especially Nadisodhana (nerve cleansing) with an easy, graceful and
secure Jalandharabandha should be very useful for the spinal cord.
Pranayamic deep inhalation and the long breath holding  (1:4:2) after
inhalation (antah kumbhaka) directly benefit the nerves inside the
spine. So when you do deep inhalation, hold the breath and stretch
the spine, the breathing itself acts as an internal traction of the
thoracic spine.

This article was written by Srivatsa Ramaswami and is reproduced here with his kind permission.

The content is derived from my ten years of study and practice of Viniyoga and my studies with Srivatsa Ramaswami.

Krishnamacharya’s Yoga, as taught by his long term Chennai students, has some unique characteristics and is a profound and comprehensive system that is infinitely adaptable to individual needs.

The course is suitable for new students who wish to learn an authentic Yoga method and train as teachers, for existing teachers who wish to train in this method, and practitioners who wish to learn this method but not teach. The modular format and emphasis on personal practice allows this flexibility.

Participating in the course will give you the tools to confidently practice Yoga for your own well-being and then, if you wish, share this with others. Independent health care was one of the purposes for which Yoga practices were devised by the Yogis. They wanted to be free from ailments and also free from reliance on therapists and medical practitioners. You can learn these ancient methods with the potential that they have for optimum health and long life.

The course is made up of a number of modules covering the main principles and practice of Vinyasa Krama Yoga, Pranayama, Yoga Subtle Anatomy, Krishnamacharya’s Teachings, Yoga Sutra, Personal Practice, Anatomy and Yoga Teaching.

The Anatomy Module will be taught by Ruth Gilmore Ph.D and Yoga Business Module by Sally Lever MA.

The course is certificated and is registered with the Independent Yoga Network.

One course will be available in Wells, Somerset and one in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.The Anatomy and Physiology module with Ruth Gilmore will only be available in Wells for both courses.

Module 1 of the course is on June 12th/13th in Wells and July 3rd/4th in Doncaster.

Information is available on the website.

A full prospectus is available …please apply for this if you would like to find out more about the course by contacting Steve

The course aims to introduce the method and go on to give the knowledge and confidence for motivated practitioners to develop a robust, holistic personal Yoga practice. Those so motivated can then share the method with others by teaching. The course will be delivered in modules to give flexibility in the training. This course follows a more traditional approach and is independently taught to avoid distortion by modern sport, medicine and educational models. The traditional way to learn is:

1) Learn -               learn all the Yoga techniques from a teacher.
2) Practice -          practice and master as much of this as you can.
3) Application -   teach what you have learned as is appropriate for the student.

It is our wish to make this knowledge freely accessable to sincere Yoga aspirants and practitioners so the course is open to:

1) Beginners to Yoga who wish to access an authentic Yoga practice.
2) Yoga practitioners who wish to learn this method.
3) Yoga teachers who wish to study and practice Vinyasa Krama Yoga.

The course is registered with the Independent Yoga Network.

The two important inversion poses, Sirsasana and its better half
Sarvangasana, called the King and Queen of yogasanas are a unique
contribution of Yoga towards physical culture and physical therapy.
Several contemporary yogis have disputed the place of these poses and
have claimed that they perhaps are later day inventions. But in
Hatayoga they are considered as viparita karani mudras.

Hatayogapradipika refers to inversions as follows
“ There is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the
sun,( here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and
not from the books. If the position of the sun(stomach) is above and
the moon(the head) below (i.e., upside down) it is called
viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it from a Guru “
The pelvic area—kandasthana-, according to some yogis is a breeding
ground for many ailments. It is also the area from where 72.000 nadis
are said to emanate and also Kundalini. This area should be kept
clean. The dross should be burnt and blown away, figuratively
speaking. How does the Yogi do it?

We have an air principle in that area which is Apana Vayu. We have
also the fire principle in us in the abdominal area in the form of
gastric fire or Jataraagni. This flame is flowing upwards and in the
normal upright position the gastric fire is above the pelvic area,
flowing upward, sometimes when overactive, produces a burning
sensation in the esophagus producing the typical ‘heart burn”. The
Yogi by resorting to the inversions, as Headstand and Sarvangasana, is
able to place the pelvic area above the gastric area. Now the gastric
fire or jataragni,– figuratively speaking—flows towards the pelvic
area and heats and purifies the Nadis and the Kandasthan, arouses the
Kundalini with the heat. The fire is further supposed to be fanned and
intensified by directing the air tatwa or apana by Mula bandha; it
draws the apana closer to the fire principle and thereby the apana air
also becomes hotter and in turn melts away the dross of the
kandasthana and arouses the sleeping kundalini. So headstand and
shoulderstand, the mulabandha and the intense gastric fire help to
cleanse the nadis and the rogasthana or the disease prone area is
cleaned and spruced up.

There is another interesting concept associated with the inversions of
which I may have referred to in one of the earlier letters/articles.
It is said that our head contains a liquid called amrita which may be
translated as nectar. This nectar gives us life and drips drop by drop
through the uvula into the stomach where it is consumed by the gastric
fire to provide the life energy to live. This reservoir of nectar is
slowly used up and with its total depletion comes the end of one’s
life. The Yogi tries to ration the flow of the nectar, by remaining in
inverted position for a length of time every day—say between half an
hour to an hour or so. During the period of time the yogi is in head
stand and shoulder stand, the amrita remains stored in the head
without dripping down.
The Hatayogapradika has this to say

The Hatayogapradipika explains the inversion mudra as follows. “The
cool nectar that flows from the moon (here the head) is swallowed by
the hot sun (the gastric fire). Hence one’s body becomes aged. There
is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the sun,
(here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and not
from the books. If the position of the sun is above and the moon below
(i.e., upside down) it is called viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it
from a Guru. Do abhyaa of this inverted pose and increase the duration
every day. One who practices this for a yaama (3 hrs) daily will
conquer death”. When I was young I came across a Yogi who was said to
be practising sirsasana for three hours every day. His face had a
unique bluish tinge. He also practised Mouna or silence.

So by this daily practice, the Yogi is able to increase, so to say,
his/her lifespan by 5%, or say between 3 to 5 years. Normally after
Headstand the yogi is supposed to spend equal time in shoulder stand
as well.  In shoulder stand, amrita while still confined to the skull/
brain portion, now is allowed to flow to the entire head portion above
the neck and nourish all the sensitive sense organs, the two eyes, the
two ears, the mouth and the nose (shanmukha). This is also considered
necessary to maintain the acuity of the sense organs as they are way up
in the body and may not get the full nourishment .
Sarvangasana therefore is considered good for the sense organs whereas
the headstand is good for the brain.

The normal upright position and the chin up position in which we keep
our head, both result in a wasteful free flow of the limited amrita in
the head down the uvula to the gastric fire, like a free flowing tap.
The Yogis found it necessary to constantly control the flow of this
nectar and even temporarily stop it. They developed a simple technique
called Jalandhara bandha to temporarily stop and control the flow. The
term Jalandhara-bandha itself indicates the effect it is said to
produce. Jala means water and here it refers to the amrita or nectar
which is said to be in the liquid form. Dhara is to hold, here holding
the amrita in the head itself and bandha is the lock, the procedure
which helps to achieve the holding operation. So Jalandharabandha
means the lock that enables holding the nectar in the head. Of course
while we do asanas and pranayama we adjust the bandha in such a way
that we allow only a small and necessary amount of amrita to flow and
also maintain a good ujjayi control over the breath. That is why the
default position of the head in asana practice whether it is tadasana
or the seated Padmasana or Vajrasana is the head down position. One
could see the pictures of my Guru doing asanas and one could see his
head down position in most of them—even in asanas like urdhvamukha
svanasana or the well known upward facing dog pose. In the entire
vinyasakrama one would find the relaxed default head down position is
resorted to control the flow of amrita and the ujjayi breath.

Some contemporary yogis may read these metaphorical narrations with a
wry smile. However these inversions should be considered as unique
contributions of Yoga, for health. Within the first few minutes of
Sirsasana practice, the leg and thigh muscles, the gluteal muscles,
relax. The chest, back, shoulders and neck muscles also relax as all
these are not required to maintain the postural tone as in the upright
position. It has been found that due to the relaxation of the leg
muscles, the blood pressure in the legs drop to about 30mm.There is no
great rush of blood to the head among the adept yogis due to auto
regulation; yet the gravity helps to open up many capillaries in the
brain, head and face which may otherwise remain partially closed.
People with high blood pressure and retinal problems will have to be
careful. However persons with mild hypertension and under control with
diet, life style change and even medication could benefit from this
posture if they had learnt it from early life. It appears to increase
pressure on the shoulders which would result in the brain trying to
reduce the blood pressure. Therefore if one would practice Sirshasana
regularly for a sufficient duration, one’s pulse rate tends to reduce,
thereby reducing the strain on the heart. Gradually there is a
reduction in the blood pressure.

What is equally important is that Sirsasana helps improve circulation
of the cerebro spinal fluid, which is helpful to the brain and also
for the spinal nerve bundles—the chakras. Because of the increased
pressure in the brain due to this fluid, the pituitary secretions
increase helping the better functioning of the sympathetic nervous
system which will help in many ways including the dilatation of the
bronchial tubes giving great relief to asthmatics. There is draining
of the bronchial tubes, giving some welcome relief for those with
chronic chest congestion.  Many feel increased memory power and
general better brain capacity. There are cases of even some correction
of the eyesight. The vinyasas like the twists, Akunchanasana, the
backbends like Viparitadandasana in Sirsasana and Uttanamayurasana in
Sarvangasana help the spine considerably, by not only maintaining the
flexibility of this structure but also nourish the nadis and chakras
or nerve fibers and nerve bundles in the spinal chord.

In the inversions, as mentioned in earlier articles, the internal
organs get positional correction. Pregnant yoginis may find the
inversions help relieve pelvic congestion, oedema of the legs,
conditions that are prevalent during pregnancy. Practising the
inverted poses with the variety of vinyasas gives a complete massage
to all the muscles, organs and considerably increases the blood
circulation. Perhaps equally important is the effect of the twin poses
on the major joints– the ankles, the knees, the hips and the spine.
The intra-articular space within the joints improves and hence the
joint movements when one does the various vinyasas also will improve.
Dorsal and plantar flexions performed in the ankle joints while in
these asanas help the ankles significantly. Asanas like Akunchanasana
in inversions give good relief to the knees, while inversions  help
to open the hips by dragging the big pelvic girdle down a bit and
giving more space for the femur to move and rotate nicely within the
hip socket(pl. refer to Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga for headstand and
shoulder stand vinyasas). Perhaps the most benefit accrues to the
entire spine. The inter-vertebral space is enhanced and person who
practises these inversions and the vinyasas like akunchanasana and
backbends will find the spine stretching nicely and becoming more
flexible. The narrowing of the inter-vertebral space can be tackled
positively and the low back pain reduces significantly. I would say
that the inversions are the best yoga postures to alleviate low back
pain. Overall these inversions and the vinyasas in them help to keep
the spine supple and strong. It is said one is as old as the condition
of the spine. Further, because of the relaxation of the lower
extremities Sarvangasana is a good pose to help overcome insomnia.
These twin poses are very good for health.

Contemporary Yogis find the other important inversion, viz., the
Handstand or Vipritvrukshasna very popular. This is a great pose, with
a number of variations possible. However since the head is not fixed
in this group of poses, some of the finer aspects of the other two
head- fixed inversions (sarvangasana and sirshasana) may be missing.
One finds it more difficult to maintain balance and also stay for a
sufficiently long time in viparitavrikshasana or inverted tree pose
(Hand Stand) and other similar poses like scorpion pose etc. These two
regal poses stand  ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest in conferring
health benefits to the yogabhyasis.

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of Srivatsa Ramaswami

· Physical health
· Freedom from illness
· The ability to sit for long periods in padmasana and other seated postures for pranayama and meditation.
· Development of the breath as a preparation for pranayama.
· Development of awareness and focus.
· Mastery of the bandhas.

The practice of asana will give us the following health benefits, whether or not, our aim is to achieve our highest spiritual potential.

· Structural stability.
· Strength, flexibility and stamina.
· Physiological immunity.
· Correct function of all body systems.
· Emotional health.
· Mental clarity and peace.
· Promotion of longevity.

The classical goals of asana  are:

samakaya – balance of the body.

sarvanga sadhana – engagement of all body parts.

The ancients had a very different approach to health to our modern western paradigm which is based on various measurements and standards of performance. Yoga, on the other hand, is based on a qualitative approach. The practice is to create a feeling of lightness in the body, the ability to withstand change and a stable body and clear mind. Apart from the fact that we use the body they have very little in common. I will call the two approaches, physical culture and yoga and look at their main objectives.

Physical culture 

· Based on performance standards; target pulse rate, % muscle to body fat, capacity to run a distance, bench press a certain weight etc.
· Building an attractive external appearance.
· Raising the heart rate. (breath rate increases along with this).
· Cardiovascular conditioning.
· Competing with yourself and others.

Yoga

· Cultivates balance, harmony, freedom from tension, and tranquillity in the physical organism.
· Promotes good circulation of blood (rakta sanchara), lymph (nina sanchara) and life energy (prana sanchara) to the whole body.
· Harmonises the breath and heart.
· Promotes excellent respiratory function and heart health without straining the system.
· Balances endocrine system.
· Promotes healthy function of all internal organs.
· Slows heart and breath rate, which promotes a calm, tension free body and mind.
· Aims to promote longevity.
· Invigorates the whole system without overtaxing it, leading to heightened energy and revitalisation.

Physical culture requires more food, longer sleep and leads to many injuries and strains.

Yoga practice leads to a reduction in food intake, less requirement for sleep and naturally reduces tension and pain in the body and discourages any activity that could lead to harm.

Another advantage of Yoga is that it is simple. You can practice anywhere without any special equipment.
The ancients observed that the body sags with age leading to displacement of the internal organs. They believed that this lead to poor function of the organs resulting in disease. They came up with some innovative and unique procedures to address this problem.

The six main organs are contained in connective tissue in three cavity’s in the body. The organs were called kosa in ancient India. Kosa means a sac or bag.

· Hrdaya Kosa-Heart-Thoracic cavity

· Svasa Kosa-Lungs-Thoracic cavity

· Anna Kosa-Stomach-Abdominal cavity

· Mala Kosa-Large intestine -Abdominal cavity

· Mutra Kosa-Bladder-Pelvic cavity

· Garbha Kosa-Uterus-Pelvic cavity

· Bindu Kosa-Prostate-Pelvic cavity

General asana practice with synchronised breathing will help maintain good tone in the body tissues. The procedures peculiar to Yoga that work on restoring the organs to their correct position are:

· Inversion – headstand and shoulderstand.

· Mudras – maha mudra, tadaka mudra.

· Bandhas – jalandhara bandha, mula bandha, uddiyana
                            bandha.

Bandhas are practiced in the inversions and mudras and can be applied in many other asana.

According to Yoga there are three things that affect our health.

· External things.

· Food .

· Physical exercises.

External things that can support health are sunshine, fresh air, water, bathing. External things that can damage our health are dangerous activities, stressful situations and unhealthy environment.

Food needs to be of the right type and quantity, eaten in the correct way at the appropriate time and with regard to season.

Physical exercise is to promote good health, longevity and harmony in the system. Exercise should not cause any injury or undue strain.

Asana practice carried out according to the Vinyasa Krama system will improve the overall circulation and promote a healthy heart due to its unique effect on the system.

Please refer to the article ‘Yoga for the Heart’ by Srivatsa Ramaswami for a detailed explanation of this.

Also it is accepted in Yoga and Ayurveda that food affects the body and mind. Food will increase, balance or decrease the three doshas of vata, pitta and kapha leading to health or disease in the body. Food will increase, balance or decrease the three gunas of sattva, tamas and rajas so leading to peace, dullness or pain in the mind. It is very important to understand this and apply it to be successful in Yoga. Many people leave Yoga and say that it does not give the promised benefits. Others continue to practise and do not attain the full benefits suffering from vacillation and instability. This needs to be investigated. If you only boil potatoes for 10 minutes they will not be cooked, they will only be cooked if you keep them boiling for 20 minutes. In the same way the practice of Yoga needs the correct conditions and application to come to fruition.

Krishnamacharya gave three reasons for practitioners not succeeding in Yoga.

1) They are not following the rules such as vinyasa.
2) Their teacher is not teaching them using the secrets and techniques that are in his/her experience.
3) The teacher has not instructed them properly about the place and time of practice, the appropriate diet and drink and activities for the practitioner.

We can benefit ourselves and others by our practice of Yoga. It is considered that meat imparts rajasic vibrations to the mind and alcohol tamasic vibrations. Rajasic and tamasic input is to be reduced for success in Yoga. It is also estimated that if the wealthy nations reduced their meat and alcohol consumption by 50% this would release enough grain to feed all the worlds hungry. So by reducing the consumption of these items we could improve our health, progress steadily in Yoga, help many suffering beings and reduce our impact on the earth.

To give all the elements of a balanced Ayurvedic diet and lists of foods according to the gunas is beyond the scope of this article. I recommend that you investigate this subject with your teacher or through books. The following book is highly recommended on Ayurvedic aspects of diet. The Ayurvedic Cookbook. The recipes are mainly very Sattvic, therefore also meeting the requirements of a Yogic diet.

Please give careful attention to diet for health, to support your Yoga practice and for the benefit of other beings and the earth.

May you enjoy peace and happiness.

I first heard of Srivatsa Ramaswami about twenty years ago when I read Basic Tenets of Patanjala Yoga, his booklet on the Yoga Sutras. It struck me that the author was quite traditional, but also extremely learned – he wrote with clarity and authority. Ramaswami, I discovered, was a long term student of Krishnamacharya, a contemporary of Desikachar’s and one of the 3 original trustees of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), along with Desikachar and Mr. Kuppuswamy, one of Desikachar’s classmate. Paul Harvey told me that he had spent some time studying with him when he was in India in the early 80s; he also mentioned that he was a very nice man!

Since then Ramaswami has written a few other books – Yoga for the Three Stages of Life (Inner Traditions 2000), The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga (Marlow and Company, 2004) and Yoga Beneath the Surface (with David Hurwitz, Marlow and Company, 2006). In all of these books, the impression remained: clear, traditional, sincere and vastly learned.

When my good friend Steve Brandon went to study with Ramaswami for a fortnight in the USA a couple of years ago, he sent me some very enthusiastic emails telling me what a joy the course was. I remember Steve commenting that whilst certain of the American Big Names of yoga were drawing audiences of 70 or 80 to their classes, Ramaswami sometimes worked with fewer than 10 people – and yet his knowledge of the subject was obviously far superior. Steve was so impressed that not long afterwards he spent another fortnight with Ramaswami – this time in Delhi – and he shared a room with Christopher Chapple the well known Sanskrit scholar.  Finally Steve decided to join a 5 week intensive with Ramaswami in the States, and, still enthused he invited Ramaswami to come to the UK for some retreats and workshops.

I was lucky enough to attend the 5 day retreat that Ramaswami conducted at the beautiful Earth Spirit Centre near Glastonbury. Steve had done a great job of organising the retreat and it ran very smoothly. It was a fairly small group – and a mixed group. There were some experienced Viniyoga graduates, others who came were much less experienced or had come from different traditions. Being on retreat with my old friends – Chris Priest, Dave Charlton and Gail Reeves, Sheila Baker and many more – made me quite nostalgic for the old days at Hawkwood where we often were on retreat together.

I confess that the prospect of 6 hours of strong asana a day was rather daunting – the timetable consisted of 3 hours of asana in the morning, 3 in the afternoon and an evening talk. Although the asana was strong – it was actually great fun, and you could stop whenever you needed to. We were talked through 10 primary vinyasas – each taking up to two and a half hours to complete fully. Thus, for example, we worked on the tadasana vinyasa, the asymmetrical seated asana vinyasa, shoulderstand vinyasa, lotus posture vinyasa, prone backward bend vinyasa and more. Ramaswami was presenting an encyclopaedia of asana and their application – many variations in each posture were explored as well as some modifications. Going through the sequences and understanding how they were applied and taught changed my perception of the Vinyasa Yoga book (which in truth, I had only previously glanced at). Now I was beginning to see the logic and application of the vinyasas.

The asana work was in fact entirely consistent with what Paul had taught on his 4 year Viniyoga Teacher Training Programme – particularly when he talked about siksana (uncompromised) application. However, we went rather quicker and deeper into strong postures than I’m used to – and we also stayed in a few postures for far longer than is usual in most Viniyoga classes (for example, 3-5 minutes in pascimuttanasana).  I ached rather after a couple of days, but by the end of the week I felt really good in my body: it was a great workout detox!  Although it was out of the usual parameters of Viniyoga; I’m really pleased to have actually explored those areas in some detail. One of the great strengths of Viniyoga is its accessibility – the approach to asana is safe, user-friendly and skilful. However, if one were to level a criticism (and I’ve certainly heard this by others), I think it is that the range of asana – and even sometimes the intensity, can be limited. So it was a great complement to the Viniyoga Training that we have been so fortunate to receive that during this retreat we were practicing asana that we’re not necessarily going to do everyday; but it was OK – we could understand it and have some first hand experience of more siksana asana practice as taught by Krishnamacharya.

The evening lectures were short but direct forays into the world of the Yoga Sutras. Very clearly and precisely, Ramaswami presented his understanding of the essential teachings of Patanjali, as he had received them from Krishnamacharya. Again, I was struck by the traditional approach – he was very to the point and said: this is how it is. There was certainly no evangelism – in fact I thought there was some similarity between his approach to asana and pranayama and his teaching of the Yoga Sutras – clear, direct and uncomplicated.  Take it or leave it! Although this may be challenging for a relative new comer to the Sutras (for example, he did use quite a few Sanskrit terms without necessarily explaining them in detail); for many of us who are more familiar it gave an added dimension and plenty of food for thought.

Ramaswami was essentially generous with his teaching – I really had the impression he wanted to pass on what he had learned from Krishnamacharya – with no agenda other than to share. However, to say that anybody truly represents Krishnamacharya is difficult, as Ramaswami pointed out. He said that Krishnamacharya’s learning and teaching was so vast and varied that we can only hope to reflect some small aspect of it. As one of the very few remaining long term students of Krishnamacharya, I’m sure he is a credit to his Teacher. After some years of feeling rather distanced from the Krishnamacharya tradition, Ramaswami very much re-connected me – his gratitude to Krishnamacharya was evident, and a couple of times he stopped and seemed briefly overcome with emotion for his Teacher. This was clearly a man teaching in a lineage, very much “close to the Source” – and it was very moving to see. Once again, the tremendous breadth of these teachings was evident: so much has evolved from the work of Krishnamacharya and we are very lucky to have the opportunity to work with so many great and inspiring Teachers in the lineage

Ramaswami’s demeanour throughout the teaching was very simple, humble and humorous. He struck me initially as slightly shy – perhaps a little reserved; but as the week went on he joked and interacted more; he was great to be with! There was a sweetness to his presence and if you get the chance – do go and work with him! He will be at the aYs Convention, as well as running various workshops and retreats in the UK in July 2010.

For further info about Ramaswami, see www.vinyasakrama.com
For further info about Ramaswami’s teachings  in the UK including teacher training, see Ramaswami section on this site.
For further info about yoga with Ranju www.yogamala.co.uk
For further info about training with Ranju www.sadhanamala.com

Ranju Roy
April 2009

What is Hatha Yoga?

The most popular text on Hatha Yoga is The Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama. The name Svatmarama means one who delights in communion with his higher self. It indicates that he was a Yogi who was in perpetual samadhi.  The author’s name and the opening passages of the text leave no doubt that the goal of Hatha Yoga is a spiritual one.

The primary practice of Hatha Yoga is pranayama. Ha is prana and tha is apana. The union or integration of these two forces is Hatha Yoga. The text describes the procedure for attaining this end.

In Yoga there are five primary aspects of the prana (life force) that regulate all the physical functions.

They are:
· prana vayu – heart
· apana vayu – downward force
· vyana vayu – circulation
· udana vayu – upward force
· samana vayu – digestion

After the preliminary preparations, detailed in the text, the practice of asana, pranayama and bandhas are integrated to facilitate the union of prana and apana.

The control of breath and a long exhale and hold, along with the three bandhas must be mastered by the aspirant.

The names of these techniques are:

· bahya kumbhaka – external breath holding
· jalandhara bandha – throat lock
· mula bandha – rectal lock
· uddyana banda – abdominal lock

With these tools in place the precedure goes like this.

The aspirant sits in a Yogic posture.  Following a long exhale the mula bandha is engaged which is said to lift the apana. Uddiyana bandha is then engaged uniting the apana with the prana. The integrated prana is now close to the fire in the belly (jatharagni). It is then heated and causes a dormant obstruction (kundalini) to move giving free passage to the prana to enter sushumna, the main nadi (channel) in the spine. Rising up through the chakras (nerve hubs in spinal column). Finally reaching the sahasrara chakra the Yogis say it merges with Siva and gives moksa (freedom).

So for the Hatha Yogi the primary practice is pranayama, to attain the spiritual goal which they call moksha. The liberated Yogi is said to exist in samadhi until they pass away.

Many people today practice Hatha Yoga techniques for the wonderful health benefits that they impart. However, to follow the path described in the classical texts requires a dedicated and sustained effort over a long period of time under the guidance of an experienced teacher.

The Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama with the commentary of Brahmananda is a useful and well regarded reference work.  It is published by The Adyar Library and Research Centre of The Theosophical Society.

Note: Some practitioners say that the awakened kundalini rises up the sushumna. Another interpretation is that kundalini represents a blockage (avidya) which is removed by the practice, allowing the prana to enter the sushumna.