Wondering how to make your existing Yoga business commercially viable without burning out?

Not sure how to get your classes and personal lessons off the ground?

This unique workshop can help answer your questions and inspire you with tried and tested ideas from an experienced small business professional and Yoga practitioner.

Subject areas covered:

• An overview of the business aspect of teaching Yoga, from an ethical, balanced viewpoint.
• Different ways to get started, plus tools and techniques to support growth, effectiveness and sustainability.
• How to avoid burnout and how to reconcile marketing and business with Yoga.
• Practical information on internet presence, starting and maintaining a newsletter and cultivating personal referrals, as well as basic tips for personal finances, taxes and liability insurance.

Workshop facilitated by Sally Lever, Sustainable Business Coach.

This weekend will also include practice sessions taught by Steve Brandon, a course review and questions and answer session.

Cost: £90

To check availability and to book, please contact Steve.

Early bird bookings until 7th April. Families welcome.

The Bhakti Yoga of Bhagavan Patanjali

A weekend workshop presented by Steve Brandon.

Shekinashram, Glastonbury

24^th & 25^th November 2012

Vedas speak of yoga in many ways,

ashtanga yoga is the best among them,

which compassionate Patanjali

expounded through his sutras.

Patanjali glorifies the all knowing,

free from defects

Giver of both gain and deliverance.

Dhyanamalika Sloka 6-7, Sri T Krishnamacharya

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is regarded by many as the heart of Yoga and Bhakti Yoga is at the heart of the Sutras. Isvara Pranidhana, devotion to the Lord, is mentioned three times in the Sutras at the various stages of practice, Kriya Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and Samadhi Yoga.

Using the Sutras as a guide, we will explore Patanjali’s guidance on the evolution of Bhakti Yoga through these stages. Patanjali, while focusing on Bhakti, includes Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga to bring body, mind and heart together so that all aspects of our being participate fully in the spiritual quest (sadhana).

The weekend will include ethics, lifestyle, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, meditation, mantra japa, mantra dhyanam and chanting in an integrated approach to Yoga.

You may attend the workshop weekend as a day student or arrange accommodation at the Ashram.

Bhagavan Patanjali

Patanjali means to fall to prayers. Pat = fall, anjali = prayer.

The ancient story goes that suffering devotees prayed to the Lord for help to overcome their pains from imperfections in body, speech and mind. Lord Vishnu instructed Adisesa, the cosmic serpent and couch of the Lord, to descend as Patanjali to answer the prayers. He was born to a devout women and taught Ayurveda, grammar and Yoga to assist humanity. The Yoga Sutras is his great discourse on Yoga, predating Buddhism and Christianity.

Steve Brandon – IYN Yoga Elder

Steve is a student of Srivatsa Ramaswami, the Indian Yoga Master and lifetime disciple of Sri T. Krishnamacharya. Steve has studied and practiced Yoga under the guidance of senior students of Krishnamacharya for twelve years. For a number of years he has also been a student of the American Institute of Vedic Studies directed by Vamadeva Shastri (Dr David Frawley). He is Director of Harmony Yoga Academy, sharing the teachings of the tradition in the UK.

Workshop Times.

Saturday 25^th November. 9.30am–1pm  Lunch   2.30 – 5pm   Break   6.30pm – 9.30pm

Sunday 26^th November.   9.30am–1pm   Lunch   2.30 – 4pm

Fees

£30 booking fee to cover venue hire and costs. £16 for lunch Saturday and Sunday.

Dana (donation) will be invited for the teacher at the conclusion of the workshop.

Weekend workshop is limited to 10 participants.

For further information and to book, please contact Steve or simply return a BhaktiYoga Booking Form with your fee.

A retreat facilitated by Steve Brandon, IYN Yoga Elder

East Down Centre, Devon

July 29^th – August 5^th 2012

The Hathayoga-vidya is as a stairway for those who wish to attain the lofty Raja-yoga.

Hathayogapradipika Ch.1 V.1

Hatha and Raja yoga offer an integrated approach to Yoga practice aimed at cultivating proficiency in asana and pranayama (Hatha yoga) and meditation, leading to mental peace and spiritual insight (Raja yoga).

The retreat will comprise of guided practice sessions and evening study and practice sessions. We will begin the week with an easier schedule culminating in a full day of Yoga practice. There will be free time in the afternoons with two full afternoons free to rest or explore the beautiful Devon countryside.

Your personal practice can be adapted to suit your capacity and personal guidance will be available from the teacher.

Retreat Teacher – Steve Brandon

Steve is a student of Srivatsa Ramaswami, the Indian Yoga Master and lifetime disciple of Sri T. Krishnamacharya. Steve has studied and practiced Yoga under the guidance of senior students of Krishnamacharya’s lineage for twelve years. For a number of years he has also been a student of the American Institute of Vedic Studies directed by Vamadeva Shastri (Dr David Frawley). He is Director of Harmony Yoga Academy.

Venue

East Down Centre, Devon

East Down is set in its own 18 acres amid farming country. It is on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park, overlooking the Teign River Gorge and Dartmoor. The Centre is in a wonderful position with stunning views and an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. It is 20 minutes drive west of Exeter. 

Retreat Times.

Begins Sunday July 29^th at 19.00

Ends Sunday August 5^th at 16.00

Fees

£165 booking fee to cover venue hire and accommodation. Due by 31^st May 2012 latest.

Meals will be group self-catering. Estimated cost £50. Due on first day of the retreat.

Dana (donation) will be invited for the teacher at the conclusion of the workshop.

Retreat is limited to 10 participants.

SIF Retreat Schedule and Code of Conduct

For further information and to book, please contact Steve, or simply send us your SIF Retreat Booking Form and fee.

Starts Tuesday 3rd April

Vinyasa Krama Yoga is an authentic methodology derived from the Vedic tradition. Hatha and Raja yoga offer an integrated approach to Yoga practice aimed at cultivating proficiency in asana and pranayama (Hatha yoga) and meditation, leading to mental peace and spiritual insight (Raja yoga).

Includes ethics, lifestyle, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, meditation, mantra japa, mantra dhyanam and chanting.

Entry by donation – suggested donation £6

Steve Brandon – IYN Yoga Elder.

Steve is a student of Srivatsa Ramaswami, the Indian Yoga Master and lifetime disciple of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, whose lineage dates back to the 9th century. Steve has studied and practised Yoga under the guidance of senior students of Krishnamacharya for twelve years. For a number of years he has also been a student of the American Institute of Vedic Studies directed by Vamadeva Shastri (Dr David Frawley). He is Director of Harmony Yoga Academy, sharing the teachings of the tradition in the UK.

FFI and to book:
steve@harmonyyoga.co.uk

01749 677470

“Between 1980 and 1995 I recorded for a recording company, “Sangeetha”, many chants I learnt from Sri Krishnamacharya and more. During my recent visit to Chennai I talked to H M SriKrishna, a partner of the firm, and he said that they were about to make available online about 18 of my titles—hope it works out. A list of my programs is available, in the following site. www.sangeethamusic.com

Open the site and type Srivatsa Ramaswami in the search window for the complete list. You may click on individual titles for more information on each program and some have a LISTEN button to listen to a clip. The total chant time of all the program may be about 30 hrs. I hope they will be able to organize the on line downloading soon.

(I just got a message saying that 18 of my programs are now available on line and are down-loadable.  I have not tested the sites and I hope they work. Two of the main works Sundara Kanda (10hrs) and Aswamedha (3hrs) appear missing though)

One of the highlights of the time I spent studying with Sri Krishnamacharya was learning vedic chanting. I had, when I was about ten, started having private training in Vedic chanting at home (for about 3 to 4 years I guess) and so was familiar with Vedic Chanting. So when the opportunity arose to learn more chants I took it with considerable enthusiasm. Sri Krishnamacharya’s chanting was very similar to the way others chanted in South India but had a superior quality. His chanting encompassed all the parameters of vedic chanting. The first one is varna or the letters. In Sanskrit the consonants and vowels have a definite character and they can not be changed and there are no silent letters in Sanskrit words. In fact each character has a distinct place of origin in the body and many experts have defined them. The next parameter is maatra or the time duration for each letter, the short and long syllables and a few having more than 2 matras like the pranava. Bala is strength of the chanting. Sama is modulation, usually the chanting should be in the middle tone not high pitched nor low. Santana is the observance of all rules of conjunction.

I studied chanting with  Sri Krishnamacharya for several years. I think I must have spent over 1500 hrs learning and then chanting with him. It was a great experience listening to his chants and also chanting with him long passages like Suryanamaskara or Mahanarayana Upanishad or Pravargya sometimes running for an hour or more at a stretch. The otherwise drab chanting appeared to have life and buoyancy coming from him. While Sri Krishnamacharya is known for his contribution to Hatayoga especially asanas, his willingness to teach vedic chanting or svadhyaya as he would call it to those interested, even breaking the conventional restrictions of vedic chanting, is not that well known.

On the strength of my learning chanting from Sri Krishnamacharya I was able to record almost all the vedic chants I had learnt from him. Suryanamaskara (Arunam) or Sun Salutation was one of his favorites and one of the most popular chants in South India. It runs for an hour and in every Teacher Training program I chant this text consisting of 32 sections and the participants  do one Suryanamaskara at the end of the chanting of each section. It  takes about two hours for the entire exercise. I have included Varuna Puja along with this in my cd, chanting of Suryanamaskara. This chant is said to bestow good health to all those who chant or listen. Sun is the deity for health. One may consider listening to the chant on Sundays and doing suryanamaskara at the end of each of the 32 stanzas. It may not be too strenuous as one rests for two minutes listening to the chants and does one Namaskara for let us say 1 ½ to 2 mts. This is the first chapter in Taittiriya Aranyaka.

The second chapter is called swadhyaya chapter and is also known asKushmanda Homa. It is contained in my program called “Aditya Hridaya and Vedic chanting”.  Aditya hridaya is a very famous chant, a loukika chant which can be chanted by everyone without any restrictions. The orthodox view is that vedic chanting should be done only by those who are initiated  by a vedic rite called upanayana but, there are other chants like in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the puranas and other later day works. Aditya hridaym takes hardly  8 mts to chant and it is recommended that one should do it everyday before undertaking the day’s work. Lord Rama in Ramayana is said to have chanted before the final assault on Ravana. Kushmanda Homa or the swadhyaya chapter offers an  encomium to the famous Gayatri mantra and its efficacy. It is said to remove the blemishes of the mind. I have also chanted the third chapter of Taittiriya Aranyaka along with a laukika work called Indrakshi and Siva Kavacha. The vedic portion is very nice to hear. Indrakshi and sivakavacha are prayers to Siva and Sakthi and is very popular in the state of Kerala.

I also recorded the last four chapters of the Yajur veda, (1) the Taittiriya Upanishad (3 chapters) and also (2) Mahanarayana upanishad (the last chapter). Taitiriya upanishad is one of the masterpieces on Vedanta and several acharyas have written detailed commentaries on them. It is a good work to help understand the thought process involved in the enquiry into the ultimate reality. Both these upanishads are currently in vogue and many chant them. These two chants are very absorbing if we know the general import and follow the trend while we chant or hear them I also recorded another vedic masterpiece called Aswamedha. This is said to be the highest religious rite of the vedas and only emperors could do the actual ritual. But everyone can chant or listen to this three hour chant. It is normally chanted in the afternoon of the Ekadasi or the 11th day after New moon or Full moon days. The 11th day is said to be the day of fasting and cleansing the body and mind. So those who fast on these days chant this. Then on the following morning they have early lunch and prior to that they chant or listen to the three chapters of Taittiriya Upanishad. There are three chapters in Aswameda volume  along with achidra and all of them take about three hours. Fasting on ekadasi and doing chanting for 3 hours in the afternoon could have a deep cleansing effect on the mind-body system There were a few other beautiful chants that I learnt from Krishnmacharya that I did not record. One was the three chapters of Taittiriya Kataka running for about two hours and another the Pravargya portion which has two chapters and take about two hours. I wanted to record them and also the Bhagavat Gita but could not get the opportunity.

I had spent hundreds of hours chanting these vedic chants with my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya. For several years Sri Desikachar and myself would chant with him in chorus.  This was a  very satisfying time of my life. Thereafter I used to chant with my Guru. The last class I had with my Guru was  one afternoon when we chanted Suryanamaskara together. Even though I learnt vedic chanting from my Guru and was able to record them there were a number of other chants, the laukika chants, which any one can chant and which are very popular in India. My recording company asked me to do a series of such chants. According to Sankara there are 6 forms of orthodox worship in India. They are Ganapati, Subramanya, Siva, Sakti, Vishnu and Surya. There are innumerable works in Sanskrit and also in regional languages. I was able to record a number of such works. On Siva, I had Vedasara Sivasahasranama or 1000 names of Lord consistent with vedic tradition. Then Indakshi Siva kavacha in which Sivakavacha is said to be a mantra to protect oneself from external dangers. I had also chanted the famous vedic chant on Siva Rudrama and chamakam which contains the famous mrityunjaya mantra and it was part of the cd (now discontinued) that we  added to  the  Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga. However the Spanish edition of my book contains the cd.

Ganesa Sahasranama is the work from Ganesa Purana. I think it is a very charming work in praise of Lord Ganesa. I also did the Sahasranama in the form of namavali for Subramania, the six headed son of Siva, a very popular deity in the South. I have also recorded the Saharanamavali of Anjaneya, Hariharaputra (ayyappa) and Sage Raghavendra.

There are two works which are very popular among devotees. One is Vishnu Sahasranama or the thousand names of Vishnu from the Mahabharata, the same text that contains the Bhagavat Gita. This is chanted by many every day. It takes about half an hour to chant this but it is sad that many people because of pressure of time try to do it in 15 or 20 minutes, in a great hurry, virtually mutilating the beautiful names of the Lord.

The other Sahasranama which is also quite popular is Lalita Sahasranama, from a Purana. It is very beautiful to chant and hear. A  few years back when I was in Los Angeles teaching at LMU, I received a mail from someone in India inquiring where he could find a cassette of my chanting of Lalita Sahasranama. I think I had recorded it in 1981 or 1982. He said inter alia that his father used to listen to this cassette and chant along with it as part of his daily worship of Mother Sakti. He said that his father had since died and the family wanted to continue the practice of chanting the work and wanted to get a cassette because the one his father had used had become defective with overuse.

I also recorded a number of other works on sakthi. One is called Devi Mahatmya which runs for about three hours and has about 700 verses. It is chanted during the Navaratri or Dasara celebrations. My grandmother used to chant a Tamil versions of this during every Navaratri. Another work on Mother is the work called Mooka Pancha Sati (The five hundred slokas from Mooka). It is an outpouring of Bhakti by a mute dumb devotee who became a poet due to the grace of Kamakshi the presiding deity in the famous temple in Kancheepuram about 40 miles from Chennai. It is written in some difficult meters and has 100 slokas for each of the five chapters. It takes about 3 hrs to chant the entire work. One can see the slokas inscribed in the walls of this famous Kamakshi temple. I had also recited two other works on Sakthi for another company and I find these are available still in some musical stores in Chennai. One is Gayatri Sahasranama  and the other is Durga Sahasranama, which again is a popular chant during Navaratri. Lalita Sahasranam mentioned earlier is often chanted on Friday evenings and also on Full moon days. When I was young my mother used to arrange for the Saharanama archana of Lalita in our house every Friday for a number of years.

Other works I had recorded included Ramodantam or the story of Rama from birth to end. I named it Balaramayana or Ramayana for children because in the olden days this text used to be taught to school children to learn Sanskrit and also familiarize them with Ramayana. Another work, that perhaps sold the maximum number of cassettes, was “Sandhyavandana” or the prayer ritual done at dawn, dusk, and midday by thousands of people in India. I wrote an article with many pictures about this subject in Namarupa magazine a few years back.

The last program I did for Sangeetha was the recitation of Sundara Kanda of the epic Valmiki Ramayana. Many households arrange for the recitation of the same in one go or over a week. Those who are afflicted by the adverse effects of Saturn or Sani try to get solace from Sundara Kanda. It is said to revive a person from the jaws of death or desperate situation as Sita was. It is a ten hour program.

Yoga is a subject which whatever be the entry point reveals its richness slowly (yogena yoga jnatavyah) Sri Krishnamacharya was a Guru who always had something more to give something different something higher uplifting always. I loved chanting with him. Chanting is helpful, it cleanses the mind. Listening to those vedic and old chants is very uplifting.”

The following quotes from Krishnamacharya’s longest standing students clearly summarise the approach that Krishnamacharya took to his practice and teaching of yoga. He was grounded in tradition with his immense studies across the whole range of Vedic knowledge; and a great innovator, making yoga relevant to the prsent days. He felt that yoga was India’s great gift to the world and sought to make the prsent and future opulent with all that was glorious from the past.

“The approach to yoga these days may be classified in three ways. First, Yoga is treated as a Vedic Philosophy based on the sutras of Patanjali. It deals with all the aspects of Samadhi-its prerequisites and ramifications-and culminates in the realization of the distinctive natures of both prakrti and purusa, or indwelling consciousness. This realization leads to kaivalya or moksa, according to Yoga philosophy.

Second, yoga is treated as an art and as a complete physical culture (sarvanga sadhana). The many asanas and their variations, along with coordinated breathing, are what make it an art, and it is considered one of the sixty four arts (kalas or vidyas). This physical culture is fascinating to many.

Third, yoga is considered a therapy for many ailments, and as curative and especially preventive. Naturally the therapeutic approach (cikitsa krama) will be distinctly different from that of the student of yoga who approaches it as an art or a philosophy. Many texts talk about the benefits of certain asanas, pranayamas, mudras, bandhas, and so on. According to Ayurveda, those diseases that are chronic and cannot be cured by medicine alone can and should be treated with yogasanas and pranayamas.

Finally, certain texts talk about yoga practice being structured according to one’s age. These sources divide people according to their stage of life and suggest different approaches. Those approaches are called srsti, sthiti, and laya. Certain asanas and vinyasas should be done during the growth stage (srsti), and others during middle age, when their is neither growth nor decay, and still others during the period of decay, called the laya krama.”

Srivatsa Ramaswami. Yoga for the Three Stages of Life. P.234

“He (Krishnamacharya) divides the practice of yoga into three parts. When you want to develop muscular power, power to concentrate, power to do difficult postures, etc., this is called sakti krama, sakti in the sense of power. And then, he also considers another yoga practice, what is called adhyatmika krama. This is what many people like, that is, to go beyond the physical and to understand, say, God or oneself; in other words, to know what is inside us. Third, cikitsa krama, meaning people who are not ready for sakti krama or adhyatmika krama , or who may not be interested in them, but who come to us with some problem. We have to modify the practice of yoga asana and breathing so that this problem is reduced. According to him, this cikitsa krama is to eliminate impurities in what he calls kosa and nadi.”

T.K.V. Desikachar. The Yoga of T. Krishnamacharya. P.19

“A considerable amount of literature is now available on Pranayama (from ancient and contemporary yogis), an important anga of Yoga, even though a smaller and smaller number of Hatha yogis do a smaller and smaller number of pranayamas. In fact, according to Brahmananda who wrote an important commentary of Hathayogapradeepika, Hatha yoga is indeed Pranayama. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras succinctly gives the parameters of pranayama along with the benefits. Hathayoga pradeepika and several other hatha yohga texts talk about a variety of pranayamas with different ratios in considerable detail and as I said enough literature is available on pranayama.

However since it is also the anga prior to the antaranga or meditation, parts of yoga pranayama has been used to prepare oneself for meditation. If in pranayama you can introduce some noble thoughts for meditation like an uplifting mantra, bhava thought or an image such pranayamas are called sagarbha pranayama or pranayama pregnant with lofty ideas. Sri Krishnamacharya in his “Nathamini’s Yoga Rahasya” says that sagarbha pranayama is several times more beneficial; more than the mechanical pranayama done generally by hatha yogis.

Sagarbha pranayama done with pranayama mantra from the vedas, which also includes the potent gayatri as a part of it, has been in vogue since the vedic times. Sri Krishnamacharya in his yoga work “Nathamuni’s Yoga Rahasya” gives a number of instructions for doing pranayama towards the end of the first chapter. He commends the use of Pranava and the pranayama mantra with gayatri while doing pranayama practice. Usually pranava (OM), the most potent mantra and the mother of all mantras, as a stand alone mantra is used by renunciates like consummate yogis and advaitins. And the gayatri impregnated vedic pranayama mantra is used by householders and others in all pranayama.

In fact Manu, in his famous Manusmriti, says that the pranayama mantra which consists of prnava, the seven vyahritis, the gayatri and the head or siras portion should be recited while holding the breath in Kumbhaka three times to be called pranayama. Sri Krishnamacharya also emphasizes the need to meditate on the meaning of the mantras like the suggestion of Patanjali in YS.

Most people who do ritualistic pranayama in India use the pranayama mantra referred to earlier. Manusmiti says as follows

“sa vyahritim sa pranavaam
gayatriim sirasa saha
trifpateth ayataf pranah
pranayamassa uchyate”

Here is the translation: “Pranayama is that in which the seven vyahritis (bhuh, bhuvaha…) each preceded by pranava (OM) then the gayatri, then the siris are (silently) recited.”

It should be chanted (silently) while holding the breath (kumbhaka). When it is done three times it is called panayama. The pranayama
mantra is 64 syllables and takes about 20 seconds to chant, more or less. The verse quoted above says three times and some interpret it as chanting the mantra three times while holding the breath, but generally it is chanted once and three such pranayamas will make one bundle of pranayama. If you try to do the chant thrice in one go it would taken a minute and holding the breath for one minute could be a real challenge to most and so most people stick to the earlier option.

What about the duration for inhalation and exhalation? Sri Krishnamacharya says in Yoga Rahasya that it should be vishamavritti indicating that the time duration for inhalation exhalation and breath holding would vary. So many go by the 1:4:2 ratio.

One may inhale for 5 seconds then chant the mantra during internal holding for 20 seconds and then exhale for 10 seconds. The breath
holding after exhalation is considered a hathayoga practice and many orthodox people who do pranayama as part of the Puja or Japa ritual dispense with bahya kumbhaka and the bandhas. The quickie pranayama is three times but it is recommended that on should do 10 times the samantra pranayama.  (Contrast this with the hathayoga approach of going up to 80 times mantraless pranayama).

Since children sometimes as young as 5 were initiated into vedic studies, it becomes obligatory for them to do sandhya and hence mantra pranayama and silent gayatri chant. But then because they are young they may not be taught to do calibrated pranayama. Usually in the course of time they would learn to do long inhalation and exhalation say in nadishodhana. Later they will be taught the whole vishamavritti pranayama as explained earlier.

So the mantra is chanted silently in pranayama. But most people just chant the mantra without the pranayama–they may merely touch the nose but not do the pranayama. So we have one set of people who do pranayama without mantras as most hatha yogis do and another group especially in India who chant the mantra faithfully but do not do the pranayama at all and thus both lose out. It even led the much revered previous Sankaracharya of Kanchi to remark that if only Indians would hold the breath (kumbhaka) rather than just touch/hold the nose they would all become great yogis and spiritual persons.

My Guru also said that when doing any mantra in japa, in pranayama or meditation, one should think of the meaning or import of the mantra. That makes it lot more powerful and meaningful. What does this mantra signify, many times we get initiated into a mantra routine without knowing what it means. All yogis know that Patanjali insists on contemplating on the meaning of pranava when doing pranava japa to get the grace of Iswara.

“Om Bhuh, om bhuvah, om suvah, om mahah, om janah, om tapah, om satyam; then the gayatri and then the siras which runs like this, ”om apah jyoti rasah amrtam brahma bhurbhuvassuvarom” is the pranayama mantra. This mantra appears in Mahanarayana Upanishad, the last chapter of Yajur veda. This upanishad also contains several beautiful mantras used on a daily basis like the offering to the five pranas (before taking food), meditating within the heart etc. I got the whole chapter (about 45 minutes of continuous chanting) recorded some 25 years back by “Sangeetha” and I believe it is available in some stores in Chennai, India. You may learn the pranayama mantra—visit my website www.vinyasakrama.com/chants and click on the “Learn Pranayama Mantra chant” tab.

So what is the meaning of this wonderful pranayama mantra? Again there are different interpretations. The conventional meaning for the seven vyahritis is seven different worlds starting with the world we live in to six other higher worlds. But the word loka is interpreted in a more esoteric sense by a few scholars. They say that the words loka and look are derived from the same root. And the seven lokas are the seven perceptions of the ultimate reality which is Brahman the pure non changing consciousness.

So this approach which gels with the advaita philosophy would be as follows: According to the Upanishads, Brahman in its pristine state is alone and there was no time or space (aksha and avakasha) in contention. The Brahman once thought that it should become many (bahusyam praja yeyeti). Then in the next stage, It deeply contemplated as to how it should create the universe and make many microcosmic individual consciousnesses. This state was known as the stage of tapas of the Brahman (sa tapo tapyata). Then after deep contemplation and planning It created the entire Universe (idam sarvam asrujata). After this creation the Brahman entered and permeated the entire Universe (tat eva anupravisat) and every being as the individual Self.

The seven vyahrutis are considered as representing the seven states of the same consciousness four at the microcosmic level and three at the cosmic level. So when doing pranayama during breath holding internally, one would say ‘om bhuh’, contemplate on the consciousness, represented by pranava or ‘om during the waking state. Then as the second vyahriti ‘om bhuvah ‘ is recited, one would think of the same consciousness being aware of the individual dream state.

‘Om suvah” would refer to the same consciousness witnessing the deep sleep stage. Om mahah, the fourth vyahriti is the consciousness beyond the three earlier mentioned known amongst the vedantins as the fourth state of the mind (turiya) or the yogi’s kaivalya state. The same consciousness now is identified with the Brahmana that created the Universe (Om Janah). Then the next mantra, the sixth “Om tapah” would represent the Brahman as one deeply contemplating and finally the pristine state of consciousness “Om satyam” the one and only Brahaman.

With this the abhyasi is able to identify and meditate upon the same one Brahaman as seen in different states. The theory that there is
only one consciousness that exists both at the cosmic and at the microcosmic level is the bedrock of the advaita (No two
conciousnesses) viewpoint. So an advaitin while doing pranayama is able to reinforce the advaitic conviction.

Then the second part of the pranayama mantra is the gayatri mantra. It again refers to the ultimate reality as the inner light. Just as the
sun with its lustrous orb lights the entire world, the Brahman/Self lights the entire chitta or the internal world of the meditator, so that the chitta vrittis are experienced or ‘seen’ in the mind’s eye .

The last portion known as the siras or the head, is an encomium to the ultimate Brahman. It refers to It as OM., pure consciousness, the
universal light, the essence of the entire Universe, immortal (unchanging), the source of the universe, and is known to the individual as the inner Self during the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep.

This meaning of the pranayama mantra is vividly brought to the mind as the pranayama mantra is recited silently during antah kumbhaka. Then it is known as samantraka or sagarbha pranayama. According to Manu this samantra pranayama is the greatest Tapas/meditation.

It is said that those who are well versed in the chakras are able to identify the seven vyahritis with the seven chakras in the body using the respective bijakshara or seed mantras. Some make an effort  to visualize the cosmic Brahman  in the seven chakras in the microcosm itself.

There are other types of mantras used. For instance, saivaites tend to chant the siva mantras as they hold the breath as mentioned in the Tamil Saiva classic “Tirumandiram”. The mantra “sivasiva” of four syllables is chanted 16 times during one breath hold corresponding to 64 syllables as in the pranayama mantra referred to earlier.

Here is a pranayama for renunciates:

While doing puraka or inhalation the thought would be that the entire universe is ultimately drawn into the Brahman. Then while in
antahkumbhaka the contemplation would be that the outside Universe and I are no different from the Brahman. Then while exhaling the ego “I’ with the entire Universe is discarded as nothing but an illusion, not real, not significant. And in bahya kumbhaka one would contemplate that pure Brahman alone is real, It alone exists.

Those who believe in the reality of world and the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva), would use pranayama to reinforce their faith.

Inhaling through the left nostril one should think of the four faced Brahma the creator aspect of the trinity and of blood red hue (rajas
guna) while chanting Om 16 times. Then closing both the nostrils  and holding the breath in  kumbhaka one should think of the white colored(satva guna) Hari, the protector/sustainer chanting pranava 64 times.

Then while exhaling through the right nostril one should meditate on Siva of dark color (tamo guna) chanting pranava 32 times. Then one should start inhaling through the right nostril for 16 matras chanting pranava 16 times and continue the pranayama for a predetermined number of times with both mantra and bhava.

Different smritis and very old yoga texts refer to a variety of pranayamas with and without mantras. Almost all the puranas have a
section on yoga which describe different asanas and pranayamas. (I think with all this evidence one may say with some conviction that
Yoga is more than 100 years old). For more information on pranayama you may consider referring to my book “Yoga for the Three Stages of Life” pages 189 to 211.

Sri Krsishnamacharya’s Yoga teachings were unique and very rich. In Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow
movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one’s capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say ‘breathe with hissing sound’ (a la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or ‘with a mild rubbing sensation in the throat’.

In this way, with long deep inhalation and exhalation, the intercostal muscles are stretched and toned up and by the time pranayama is
started the accessory muscles of breathing are well exercised so that one has a well oiled breathing apparatus for a very productive
pranayama practice. And while doing pranayam introduction of mantras and bhavas helps to bring the mind to a focus which will be of considerable help when one starts the meditation process. Thus Sri Krishnamacharya following the tradition of yoga described in old yoga texts like the yoga sutras, the puranas, smritis and other ancient texts helped to understand and achieve the best of an outstanding ancient system called Yoga.”

(c) Srivatsa Ramaswami  www.vinyasakrama.com

The morning runs from 09:30 – 12:30 and includes a presentation on the whole programme, plus a Vinaysa Krama Yoga session. There will be time set aside for you to ask questions and light refreshments will also be included.

For further details and to book your place, please contact Steve.