This means the three places of attention or action: posture, breathing system and looking place. These three are very important for yoga practice, and cover three levels of purification: the body, nervous system and mind. They are always performed in conjunction with each other.
Asanas [āsana] purify, strengthen and give flexibility to the body. Breathing is rechaka and puraka, that means inhale and exhale. Both the inhale and exhale should be steady and even, the length of the inhale should be the same length as the exhale. Breathing in this manner purifies the nervous system. Dristhi [dṛṣṭi] is the place where you look while in the asana. There are nine dristhis: the nose, between the eyebrows, navel, thumb, hands, feet, up, right side and left side. Dristhi purifies and stabilizes the functioning of the mind.
For cleaning the body internally two factors are necessary, air and fire. The place of fire in our bodies is four inches below the navel. This is the standing place of our life force. In order for fire to burn, air is necessary, hence the necessity of the breath. If you stoke a fire with a blower, evenness is required so that the flame is not smothered out, or blown out of control.
The same method stands for the breath. Long even breaths will strengthen our internal fire, increasing heat in the body which in turn heats the blood for physical purification, and burns away impurities in the nervous system as well. Long even breathing increases the internal fire and strengthens the nervous system in a controlled manner and at an even pace. When this fire is strengthened, our digestion, health and life span all increase.
Uneven inhalation and exhalation, or breathing too rapidly, will imbalance the beating of the heart, throwing off both the physical body and autonomic nervous system.
An important component of the breathing system is mula and uddiyana bandha. These are the anal and lower abdominal locks which seal in energy, give lightness, strength and health to the body, and help to build a strong internal fire. Without bandhas, breathing will not be correct, and the asanas will give no benefit. When mula bandha is perfect, mind control is automatic.
-Dr. M. A. Jayashree
From "An interview with M.A. Jayashree", PhD. Integral Yoga Magazine. Spring 2010, pp. 33-4. (Transcribed by A. Jamison, 17 April 2011.)
वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे
सन्दर्शित स्वात्म सुखाव बोधे ।
निःश्रेयसे जङ्गलिकायमाने
संसार हालाहल मोहशांत्यै ॥
आबाहु पुरुषाकारं
शंखचक्रासि धारिणम् ।
सहस्र शिरसं श्वेतं
प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥
vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe |
niḥ śreyase jaṅgalikāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāṁtyai ||
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
śaṁkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam |
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
praṇamāmi patañjalim ||
I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus
The awakening happiness of one's own Self revealed,
Beyond better, acting like the Jungle physician,
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
One thousand heads white,
To Patanjali, I salute.
From the KPJAYI website.
Listen to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois chant the opening mantra.
Read the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali online or get a translation.
In the words of Paul from New York, "India is beautiful, horrible, inspiring, confounding, and amazing."
And a television, which cures anything.
my stomach would turn and writing about this right now is making me hold my stomach and cover my mouth. But I'll do it for you, dear reader. I've even dug some flicks off the Internet.
You've got the chapati, roti, dosa, and paper dosa. All super greasy. Our "house mom" said that you should eat them only once a week, not three times a day. But everyone else downs them with such vigor and enthusiasm that I didn't want to be left out. But from now on, I'm initiating a boycott. I don't eat gluten anyway, so why did I think this was a good idea?
back bend. So anyway, I came up and said "oh, hi!". He smiled and said "hi" back. I turn into such a goofball when I practice. Drop backs felt good, which was really great and then drop backs with Sharath went well as also. He had me grab my ankles which I haven't been doing as Guy has been out of town and the person covering for him, Mark, hasn't been doing ankle grabbing yet with any of the students. I thought it would be weird going straight to it without doing second series stuff but actually it felt really good. I think I just needed a good stretch after not practicing that much and all the travel. He did tell me though that I had to fix my feet. I kno
w I tell everyone this, and now you have to believe me that it is really bad to turn your feet out in back bends and it is a super hard habit to break.
