Kundalini Yoga

The science of Kundalini Yoga and meditation was developed over 50,000 years ago by rishis in India and Tibet, who systematically tested and perfected the precise movements, postures, sounds and breathing that activate different parts of the body and brain to produce specific results.

These sacred and hitherto secret teachings were brought to the West in 1969, and presented to the public for the first time by Yogi Bhajan. Not only was this the first time they had ever been taught publicly, it was also the first time they had been written down and made available to all who desired to practice, rather than to a very select band of initiates. It was his belief that the knowledge belongs to everyone.

Now, thanks our sponsors, Yoga Technology, we are able to bring these teachings to the whole world, using the medium of the Internet.

Kundalini Yoga is the science, art and technology enabling one to access and utilize his or her own creative power for elevation of consciousness, healing and other purposes beyond reproduction. This power, (shakti), is thought to lie dormant in the lower end of the spine, and is often pictured as a coiled, sleeping serpent (kundalini means coiled), until it is awakened, either spontaneously or by yogic techniques, and arises to unite with the Universal Energy (prana), empowering the individual with awareness beyond ordinary perception and powers (siddhis) beyond ordinary ability.

Kundalini Yoga is one of the few yogic paths to actually allow sex. Not only that, regular practice can greatly increase your levels of sexual energy leading to a wonderfully enhanced sex life.

Kundalini Yoga is the most powerful and inclusive of all yogas. Although sharing the same goal as Hatha Yoga - union with the Universal, Divine Source, or God, it can give results up to 16 times faster. It is also easier to practice and takes less time. You may know that Hatha Yoga postures tend to be quite difficult and you have to maintain a pose for a long time. Many people simply cannot do those poses.

KY on the other hand does not rely on difficult poses. It consists of exercises or postures (Asanas) combined with special breathing (Pranayama), hand and finger gestures (Mudras), body locks (Bhandas), chanting (Mantras) and Meditation. (See section - Components of Kundalini Yoga). These are done together, or in sequence to create exact, specific effects.

A Kriya is an exercise or group of them, with one or more of the other components, whose total impact is greater than the sum of its parts. Kundalini Yoga sets are kriyas, rather than simply calisthenic series.

So Kundalini Yoga is much more "concentrated" than other yogas. It is also safe to practice on your own since the postures are not dangerous for beginners.

Kundalini Yoga is addictive! Once the results are experienced, we want more! There are thousands of sets and meditations, an abundance covering every phase of human and super-human experience.

Preparing for and Concluding a Kundalini Yoga Session


To Begin

Sit quietly and be with your breath. Consciously slow down the breath and breathe from the belly. Be with the sensations in your body. Tune into your own rhythm. Allow a few minutes to calm down, center yourself and create your own space.

Tuning In

Before beginning Kundalini Yoga practice, always "tune in" by chanting the ADI MANTRA as follows:
Sit in easy pose, or any meditation posture that you find most comfortable, with a straight spine and center yourself with long, deep breathing. Then place the palms together in Prayer Mudra at the Heart Center, fingers pointed up at 60º, base of thumbs pressing against the sternum.

Inhale, focusing at the 3rd Eye Point and the heart and chant,
"ONG NA MO"
("I call on Infinite Creative Consciousness")
while exhaling. The Ong is vibrated in the back of the throat, the cranium and nasal passages. Properly done, it stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands which automatically tunes us into higher consciousness. Ooooooong is long,(o as in oh) Na is short, Moooo (o as in oh) is extended.

This mantra is chanted either on one deep breath, or if you need to you can take a sip of air from the mouth, but do not breathe through the nose between the two parts of the mantra.

"GURU DEV NA MO"
("I call on Divine Wisdom")
Gu and Ru are short. Deeeeeev is extended. Na is short. And Mooo finishes up the breath.


Tuning In

Music for Ong Na Mo

Inhale deeply through the nose before you repeat the mantra. Repeat 2 or more times. The purpose of this mantra is "to tune in." So chant it as many times as you feel you need to get connected. This chant protects and connects us with our higher selves. It also links us with the "Golden Chain" of teachers who brought Kundalini yoga to the world. In other words, our teachers are with us in suble body guiding and helping us.

Ong means Creator, Namo means to call upon, or to greet, Guru is the Teacher or the energy that brings light and dispells the darkness. Dev means transparent or nonphysical.

CLICK HERE for a Real Audio clip of the mantra, courtesy *Sat Jiwan Singh
(you will need RealAudio player installed on your system to listen to this)
*from Song of the Sacred Gong - available from Yoga Technology online store.

Concluding a Set

After a long relaxation, particularly one that follows a series of exercises, you will find that doing the concluding exercises below helps to ground you and bring you back to reality:

1) On your back, begin rotating your feet and bands In small circles. Continue in one direction for 30 seconds, then in the other direction for another 30 seconds.

2) Cat Stretch: Keeping both shoulders and the left leg flat on the ground, bring the right arm back behind the head and the right knee over the left leg till it touches the floor on the far side of the body. Switch legs and arms and repeat the exercise.

3) Still on your back, bring the knees up and to the sides, and rub the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands together briskly, creating a sensation of heat. Continue for I minute.

4) Clasping knees to chest with both hands, begin rolling on the spine. Roll all the way back till the feet touch the ground behind the head, and all the way forward till you're sitting up. Do this 3 or 4 times at least.

(5) Sit up in easy pose, palms together in prayer mudra at the heart center. Eyes are closed. Inhale completely and say a prayer of thanks. Exhale and let the thought go.

(6) A happy conclusion is to sing this song: "May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the pure light within you, guide your way on". Repeat.

Repeat if you wish. Then chant 3 long Sat Nam's. Saaaaaaaaaat is long and Nam

Article source : http://www.kundaliniyoga.org/prep.html

Deep Breathing

The problem with improper breathing is that we do not breathe deeply enough to inhale sufficient oxygen and subsequently we do not exhale all the carbon dioxide from our bodies. Therefore, carbon dioxide will accumulate in our bodies resulting in some serious ailments including high blood pressure. Breathing carbon dioxide filled air can result in fainting and dizziness because your body won’t get the needed oxygen.

With an increment in the effort you exert, your demand for deeper breathing expands. For example, your breath while performing vigorous exercises is deeper than that of normal breathing. Through breathing strength training you can learn how to put more power in your muscles by breathing in the proper way. The human body has a tendency to cease breathing while exerting effort, but this may cause a serious increase in blood pressure. So, you need to learn how to breathe properly while exercising.

In vigorous exercises like weight lifting, you need to learn proper breathing weight lifting techniques. Through practicing yoga, you will be able to know the proper breathing techniques that can help you perform your exercises.

The yoga principle of proper breathing is the usage of the whole capacity of the lung in breathing, Most people use half or two thirds of their total lung capacity. The simple technique of proper breathing is to exhale air during the power phase of your exercise and inhale in the low power phase of the exercise.

Breathing during lifting will give you more power and help you perform more reps in every set. Learning yoga breathing principles will give you the golden chance to master your breathing technique during exercise. Learn the basic pranayama techniques and you will find that your overall health status has changed drastically. The more oxygen you inhale the more toxins you will get rid of.

Article Source : http://www.yogawiz.com/

Life is breath and breath is life

There is a saying that goes” Life is breath and breath is life”. So long as there is breath in the body there is life.


Our physical health, mental balance and emotional stability are all affected in the manner that we breathe. When we breathe well our respiratory system works its best, by using full capacity of the lungs. There is a remarkable improvement in digestive, circulation and eliminative process. This will improve your state of mind and physically you will feel better. The quality of your breathing also affects the functioning of all the systems of the body and the quality of your entire life.


Improper breathing techniques is the root cause to a number illness. People get habituated and become droopy and lazy and they consider it a normal condition, which is unfortunately not.


Good breathing techniques has many benefits and is slow, full, deep and rhythmic and

1. Improves your sleep pattern.

2. It aids in calming the mind, nerves and emotion.

3. Improves all mental processes including concentration and memory.

4. Tension is released.

5. It supplies more oxygen to the body cells and so blood is purified.

6. Helps to overcome tiredness and to rejuvenate energy.


When we breathe in or inhale, oxygen is absorbed by every cell of the body to carry on activities of our life. And we breathe out or exhale to throw out waste products of inhalation, which is carbon dioxide.



When we breathe in oxygen is drawn into the lungs from the atmosphere and then carried to the blood, which is pumped by the heart and is carried around the body. When we breathe out carbon dioxide collected by the blood from all the body’s tissues are thrown out.


The lungs can expand, as they are elastic and flexible. They have a huge capacity but few people use only a small amount of it. If the lungs were opened and spread out, they would occupy an area forty times larger than the skin of the whole body.


We think that with a deep breath we can lift our upper chest and thrust it out with a gasp or a loud sniff. This is not correct. It will have reverse effect on deep breathing, because it reduces the space within your chest cavity rather then increasing it and this compresses the lung.


Our lungs can be compared to a pair of balloons which when blown expand in all directions that is forwards, backwards, sideward and downward as well as upwards. This expansion depends a lot on the tone and elasticity of the muscles involved in breathing process: the intercostals muscles, the diaphragm and to some extent the abdominal muscles.


The brain sends the nerve impulses through the brain to the intercostals muscles and the diaphragm, by which breathing is controlled. Here the muscular action is automatic and the impulses are not under our control. By improvising our breathing techniques we in our consciousness can control the condition of the muscles and the quality of their action.


1. The intercostals muscles

The intercostals muscle occupies the space between the ribs. To help with inhalation and exhalation the muscles extend and contract.


When the intercostals muscle are functioning well the action of the ribs are free and smooth. These muscles are attached to our breastbone in the front and to our spine at the back. When we breathe in, the space within the chest is increased facilitating the lungs to fill and expand because the muscles swing upwards and outwards towards the armpits. On the other hand when we breathe out they relax and come back to their original position.



The lungs return to their resting state and the space within the chest is reduced.


2. The diaphragm

The diaphragm is a dome shaped sheet of muscle, which is large and strong and separates the chest from the abdomen. Its functions are to allow the lungs to fill and expand: empty and reduce with the help of the intercostals muscle. As you breathe in your diaphragm moves downwards increasing the space within the chest cavity. When you breathe out it relaxes coming back to its resting position and space within the chest is reduced.


As explained earlier the action of the diaphragm is not under our control, but the quality of action is related to the condition of the intercostals muscle. The action of the diaphragm will be limited if there is less movement and the toning is not proper. The movement is unlimited and proper, and breathing is slow, full and rhythmic if both are functioning well. The abdominal organs are toned, massaged and exercised by the movement of the diaphragm.


3. The abdominal muscles

In the process of breathing the abdominal muscles also have a role to play. The abdomen is separated from the chest cavity by the diaphragm. Since the diaphragm lies in between it forms the floor of one and roof of the other. When we breathe in the diaphragm moves downwards to create space within the chest, and the abdomen provides room for it to do so. The abdominal muscles create the required space, by moving forward a little. The diaphragm and the abdominal muscles relax and return to there resting position after every out breath.


Our abdomen should be in a relaxed position when we breathe in normally. The breath will be unnatural if we try to push it forwards purposely. Gradually you will develop a potbelly, because your abdominal muscles will weaken and droop. But towards the end of an out breath if there is a slight pull on the abdominal muscles, then it assists the upward movement of the diaphragm leading to a more complex out breath. The abdominal organs are massaged and the left over air (carbon dioxide) is thrown from the lungs. For the abdominal this is the most effective way of exercising them.


Very few of us breathe well. And so we need to improve it. Babies and young children breathe well. But with age, most of the people lose this ability. Shallow breathing techniques is the result of stress, tension, emotional problems, atmospheric pollution, lack of exercise, smoking, poor postural habits and poor eating habits. Rapid and irregular breathing techniques takes place mainly in the upper chest, with little use of ribcage and lung capacity.


When we get habituated to restricted breathing, the intercostals muscles are forced to work less and they forget their actual functions and finally lose their natural elasticity and the ability to get back to their original shape. Everything suffers because the action of the diaphragm is quick and restricted, the ribcage becomes rigid and fixed and we start breathing in shallow manner.


It will take time to change your faulty breathing techniques. To start functioning properly in the earlier manner, tone and elasticity should be restored to the intercostals muscles. Don’t start breathing more deeply suddenly to set right your breath. That will be unnatural and will make you feel uncomfortable.


Exercising is the proper way to start developing healthy breathing habits. Any form of exercise like walking, running, cycling and swimming will help. This will make your breathing apparatus to work more efficiently because your need for oxygen increases. There are even exercises designed specially, for the intercostals muscles to work while sitting or standing. When you exercise the chest opens, the ribcage extends and the lungs expand. All this will lead to slow and deep breath, which is perfect.


When the tone of intercostals muscle improves, there will be a natural healthy breath pattern, which will increase the flow of energy throughout your entire body system. This will improve your health physically and your concentration mentally. But your lifetime habit of breathing cannot be changed within a day. You will observe the changes only if you practice daily for a few minutes.


Many of the exercises that we discussed in earlier chapter especially arm rotations, the upper back exercises and various spinal stretches all aid proper breathing. In the next chapter exercises for movement and breathing in a standing position are discussed. These cultivate better breathing habits in us.


If you sit badly things will be very bad and you will be unable to breathe properly because if your spine stoops your chest will collapse and your abdomen will be squashed. Office environment hardly facilitates better breathing because you are sitting inside almost all the time without fresh air and poor ventilation. Due to this there is very little breathing exercise and there is not much requirement of oxygen and the lungs and breathing muscles are not working efficiently.


Like I have been mentioning always learn to sit well on top priority. Breathing is something without which we cease to exist therefore we need to create good conditions for this important activity. This I have already explained in Chapter 1. You will be giving yourself a chance to breathe well at all times if you learn to sit well.


Yoga is a word adopted from Sanskrit and it means union. In simple words it is the union the co-ordination of mind, body and breath. Maintaining balance, peaceful existence and integration is the main aim of yoga. The important factors in yoga practice are breath awareness and co-ordination among breath and movement.


The body and mind are linked to each other by an important factor, breath. The aim with which we practice breath awareness and co-ordination is to bring the body and mind into peaceful existence. We create energy by observing and following breathing exercise and besides that we can save energy rather then waste it. By breath awareness we learn to concentrate on a single thing at a time. This is a good foundation towards meditation practice.


During a practice session there is a short period for relaxation usually at the beginning and at the end of the session. When we practice breath awareness throughout the session our mind becomes calm, steady and attentive. Your inward attention increases and you become more sensitive towards your inner being. This will further lead you to a sense of profound stillness, refreshed and peaceful feeling with your inner self which is the last part of relaxation.


The peaceful and quiet atmosphere at home or the atmosphere of a yoga class are very encouraging to attain state of harmony and to carry on your breathing exercise when compared to work place atmosphere. Whether you are practicing for two minutes or two hours the principle is the same.


At work place too you may get well adapted to carry on with your breathing exercise if you practice regularly. Prepare yourself absorb wholly in what you are doing and forget all the problems lying on your desk for a few minutes.


After certain time of practice you will be overwhelmed by the benefit from the breathing exercises and would love to devote more time to it. You may even start practicing at home. If this happens then your efforts will bear fruits of which you haven’t even imagined. And what started off, as a mere exercise to relieve certain tension will end becoming an important part of your life.
Article Source : http://www.yogawiz.com/yoga-office/breathing.html

Pranayama - Powerful Breathing Exercise

Prana in Sanskrit (ancient Indian language) is the universal principle of energy. It is all pervading and vital for life. It is found in all forms of life, in human beings, in animals & also in plant life.

Prana shines in our eyes. It is through prana that our ears hear, the eyes see, the nose smells & the brain functions. It is prana that does digestion, excretion and secretion.

Prana is spent by thinking, moving, talking, writing etc. A healthy man has abundance of prana or nerve-energy or vitality. The prana is supplied by food, water, air, solar energy etc. The supply of prana is taken up by the nervous system. The prana is absorbed by breathing. The excess of prana is stored in the brain and nerve centres.

Pranayama is a control of Prana and the vital forces of body. It is a regulation of breath. The aim of Pranayama is the control of breath.

Pranayama though it concerns with the breath, gives good exercise for the various internal organs and the whole body. Pranayama bestows good health and a steady mind.

How to do Pranayama?

Sit in a chair with chest, neck and head in one vertical line. Do not bend your body either forwards or backwards. You can sit in Padmasan or Siddhasan also. You must experience joy & pleasure in doing the same. You should not feel any undue strain. Always inhale & exhale slowly.

Whenever you feel uneasy, depressed or dejected practice pranayama. It is a sure way to feel refreshed.

1) Equal Breathing Pranayama:

Stand erect in a relaxed comfortable position, with feet apart. This practice can be done in a sitting position also. Inhale slowly and continuously in a relaxed manner to a count that is comfortable. (You can count silently in mind 1001, 1002 & 1003 etc. One can initially begin counting 1001 & 1002. Later, after practice one can go upto 1003 or more).

As soon as the inhalation is complete start exhalation in the same manner, keeping the same count as above i.e. equalize inhalation & exhalation.

Concentrate on the gentle uninterrupted long flow of the breath. Do this practice for 10 rounds.

2) Alternate Nostril Pranayama:

Sit in a comfortable position. Exhale fully. Close right nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly through your left nostril. Close left nostril with index finger and exhale through right nostril. Inhale through right nostril. Close the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril. Continue this pattern for 10 rounds. For the next round start with the opposite nostril. (I.e. inhale through right nostril).
Benefits:

Appetite is improved. Energy level improves. Concentration improves. Mind becomes one pointed.

It is important to avoid stress in performing pranayama.

(Disclaimer: Consult your doctor before practising pranayama, if you are suffering from any heart ailment /high blood pressure or nervous disorders).


Source : http://yogatechniques.blogspot.com/