Бесплатный фрагмент - Hatha-Yoga Practice

Preface to the 2nd English edition

The author’s translation of the books from Russian into English was made a long time ago when I was in India (2006) and Bali (2011) for publication on the American print-to-order service. Then the books appeared on the Amazon world trade network by my spiritual names Shanti Nathini and Atma Ananda among millions of books on this topic.

The very idea of the books on Yoga is connected with my research interests as a philosopher and orientalist, which extend to both theoretical and practical aspects of Oriental culture.

Unsurprisingly, the original Russian edition was much more successful in Russia itself. The very first Russian edition of “Disciple against Wall” was published in the Ritambhara publishing house in Moscow although I lived and worked abroad, communicating exclusively in English.

Over the years, my English skills improved, especially since I professionally worked on translations from English into Russian, which was my earnings in those years, and subsequently became the basis for admission to the Russian Translators’ Union.

Preparing the second English edition through the Russian Ridero system, of course, it would be worthwhile to make a new translation of this book. However, due to the lack of time and the large number of new projects, I leave everything as it was, correcting only few obvious mistakes.

I hope that the sophisticated reader will forgive the imperfection of my early translations, paying more attention to the content that concerns eternal questions, and perhaps enjoy the specifics of the Russian mentality when transferring knowledge from East to West.

Maria Nikolaeva

St. Petersburg, 2024

Disciple against Wall

Recommendations

A new and dynamic book on Hatha Yoga that provides several important innovative approaches to this ancient discipline… The book will be useful to serious students and Yoga teachers both East and West in expanding their range of asana practices.

You appear to be a very informed and adept teacher and communicator. The information on Hatha Yoga in Russia was particularly interesting and helpful. A few comments from my side: First modern asana Yoga is not real Hatha Yoga which is mainly a Kundalini Tantric tradition. Second, Krishnamacharya is hardly known in India except through his asana guru disciples. He was a Bhakti of the Visishtadvaita (Ramanuja) line, which few of his followers seem to understand. He did not accept the Advaita Vedanta of Ramana Maharshi, Shankara, Shivananda, Yogananda, Vivekananda and most of the more spiritual Yoga gurus and great masters of modern India.

I do hope that the Russian Yoga goes more deeply into the greater Yoga tradition and the great spiritual gurus of Yoga than what is happening in the USA. I also hope that it looks at any Yoga therapy in a more traditional Ayurvedic light.

Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri), Director of American Institute of Vedic Studies, USA, 2006

A prolific writer on the Science of Yoga and Spirituality… She has traveled extensively in India, studied and practiced yoga in many different traditions. The present book reflects her originality and creativity.

“Maria is a prolific writer on the Science of Yoga and Spirituality. She has traveled extensively in India, studied and practiced yoga in many different traditions. She therefore has a wide and comprehensive understanding on the subject. She has written many books and more than ten have already been published.

Her present book, “Hatha-Yoga Practice” reflects her originality and creativity. She has given a special touch of her own to the practice of asanas by making extensive and aesthetic use of walls, floors, natural environment to make the asana practices pleasant and enjoyable.”

Swami Dharmananda, Spiritual Counselor and Teacher, International Vishwaguru Yoga Institute, Rishikesh, India, 2006

Preface. Yoga in Russia

Contemporary Yoga is equal to asana for many westerners, which don’t discriminate between Yoga and Hatha Yoga and treat meditation as a separate subject. Modern Hatha Yoga is not the same everywhere; there are a lot of different schools based on several major traditions. Each school of Hatha Yoga finds the way for development in India and abroad including Russia. Practice of Yoga was prohibited in Soviet Union, though some people could learn asanas illegally, but during the last twenty years Yoga has been spreading all over the Russia very fast. Except of some articles on Yoga as a physical culture published in Soviet period, originally Yoga appeared in Russia thanks to self-developed Yoga-masters who learned asanas by themselves from books. They became first Yoga-teachers and their disciples taught Yoga in many cities like Moscow, Petersburg etc. As a result when the genuine Indian tradition came to Russia it found a paved way for itself but at the same time it was required to satisfy the special needs of Russian mentality, which was unusual for Indian yogis. In an extremely difficult period of political and economic change in the motherland serious character of Russians forced them to apply the highest results in asana-practice and the deepest studying of Yoga-philosophy, trying to discover the truest sense of human life. After reading the next pages Dr. Frawley wrote to me: “I do hope that the Russian Yoga goes more deeply into the greater Yoga tradition and the great spiritual gurus of Yoga than what is happening in the USA”.

That is why you should not be surprised that in a very short historical period in Russia a lot of Yoga-centers were established, many professional Yoga-teachers appeared among Russians, and Yoga have already become the important part of daily life for the majority of educated people and students of institutes. Book-shops are full of translated literature on different Yoga-traditions, and some years ago first Russian Yoga Magazine started to be published four times a year. Also even ordinary people can practice simple Yoga in any fitness-club, where the main aim is the restoration of health and emotional stability after a hard working day. During the recent years Yoga has become a special subject of studying in philosophical departments of state universities, and students are allowed to maintain a diploma-work in Yoga as a science. Russian indologists translated from Sanskrit into Russian many classical texts on Yoga such as Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad-Gita, Yoga Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika etc., and now anybody can read these books in his mother tongue. Definitely Yoga in Russia is the vast area for scientific research, and in this article we’ll try to reflect on the destiny of the most famous Indian Yoga-schools after their contact with distinctive Russian culture.

Iyengar Yoga

It is well-known that Yoga became widely popular in Western countries after the famous yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar visited Europe in the middle of XX century, and according to general opinion till the present time Iyengar Yoga is the most attractive stile of practice for people in the entire world. Certainly Russia didn’t become an exception: B.K.S. Iyengar came to Moscow at the end of October in 1989 to participate in the First Russian Yoga Conference, and he stayed there for about ten days. Obviously practical teaching was the most important part of his work, including two mega-classes for the whole crowd of concerned people. First of all yogacharya asked them to remove socks and denude knees, but just after Soviet period it was completely unusual and even such simple action made a splash. All people tried to perform asanas with great enthusiasm, and of course they asked many very different questions. However there were too many new terms in teacher’s answers, and interpreting was not good enough for proper understanding of direct sense. Anyway, Iyengar’s visit produced inexhaustible inspiration for self-practice, and people continued to learn Iyengar Yoga themselves at home during the next several years.

In 1992 B.K.S. Iyengar gave an official permission to establish the first Yoga center in Russia, and in spite of some problems Moscow Iyengar Yoga Center was opened just one year later. Now, after almost 15 years full of innumerable and indescribable difficulties and advances this center has several Yoga-halls in the city and about twenty professional Yoga-teachers. It’s difficult to count, but it’s possible that more than several thousand people became permanent students of Iyengar Yoga and it’s not the final result: every day the administrators answer endless phone-calls. New Iyengar Yoga centers were established in Petersburg and other Russian cities, and they are developing successfully, as well as some groups in Ukraine and Moldova. The first Russian translation of the book Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar appeared in 1993 and was reprinted many times though later all other books by the same author were published in Russian. Also you can find alternative editions on Iyengar Yoga, for instance this my book is dedicated to technical explanation how to master asanas with the support of wall, basically according to main principles of using props intrinsic to Iyengar Yoga. But it’s necessary to emphasize that I don’t follow them strictly. It’s just an example, because there is a choice in literature on this topic.

Talking of the historical development of Iyengar Yoga in Russia it’s necessary to notice the peculiar role of Faek Beria, the favorite disciple of B.K.S. Iyengar and the director of Paris Iyengar Yoga Center. First he went to Moscow from France in 1989 specifically to accompany his teacher, but Iyengar himself asked him to visit Russia from time to time and teach Yoga there. Faek Beria accepted the responsibility and for many years he became a guardian of Iyengar Yoga in Russia and the very favorite Yoga teacher. Just one month after the First Russian Yoga Conference he came back to Moscow to give some classes and support the interested people, who couldn’t imagine their life without Yoga. In 1990 Faek Beria came to Moscow again but except of a common class he took part in a TV-program for popularization of Iyengar Yoga in the entire Russia. Next time he visited Petersburg, and just one year later there was a permanent group of Yoga-practitioners which established new Petersburg Iyengar Yoga Center. Faek Beria’s seminars still attract a lot of Russian people almost every year. As a whole, you can see a good example of indirect way, by which sometimes Yoga goes from India through Europe to Russia.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

Though Iyengar Yoga is without doubt recognized in Russia, we should emphasize that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is much more popular. The keeper of this Hatha Yoga style is Pattabhi Jois from Mysore, who is respected by practitioners, however Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is taught by Russian Yoga-teachers in a different way. Basically the vinyasa (dynamic sequence of asanas) is accepted as a principle but the order of asanas complies with the so-called Free Flow, and each class is different from another one. In Moscow and Petersburg every beginner can choose one of such Yoga-teachers, who don’t claim that they teach Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, though their stile is very similar to this type of practice. Still there aren’t any Russian Yoga-teachers certificated by Pattabhi Jois himself, but it seems normal since the rules of the examinations are very exact including the request to come to South India for one month in the year during three years or longer. Of course, it’s not a simple task for Russians. At the same time you can find in Russia a few places where people practice classical Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in groups. At least occasionally they give special lessons on First Sequence of asanas and anybody can receive direct experience of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as such.

The Ashtanga Yoga Center is the most valid Russian organization where you can study traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. It has branches both in Moscow and Petersburg and it is recognized by International Yoga Federation. In recent years many Yoga-teachers from this center have visited Mysore, practiced with Pattabhi Jois himself, and then they give daily classes separately for beginners and advanced practitioners. In addition they organize short intensive seminars on classical Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga not only in Russia but also in India: for instance, regular seminar will be held by Mikhail Konstantinov, the leader of Moscow Ashtanga Yoga Center, in Goa, where also Russian Yoga Center exists permanently. But other Yoga styles are also acceptable in the center, and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga doesn’t contradict to other noble traditions. For example, Bal Mukund Singh, the most famous disciple of Sri Dhirendra Brahmachari, was invited to Russia two years ago, and he held successful workshops both in Moscow and Petersburg.

The main principle of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga reads as follows: 99% practice +1% theory. Pattabhi Jois has written three books only. The most important of his treatises Yoga Mala was translated into Russian long time ago and published in the Ukraine. Besides people can find the description of this style in my own book Hatha Yoga Practice: Disciple among Teachers, published in Petersburg and reprinted in Moscow. In my work a separate chapter was dedicated to my own experience in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, received in Mysore with two other famous teachers B.N.S. Iyengar and V. Sheshadri. In the supplement you can see the First Sequence of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in pictures, which contains almost one hundred asanas. For future Ritambhara Publishing House, attached to Moscow Ashtanga Yoga Center, is preparing for publishing the first Russian translation of book Ashtanga Yoga written by a western Yoga-teacher Jon Scott. Some new articles on Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga appear periodically in Russian Yoga Magazine under the editorship of Mikhail Konstantinov, and the September, 2005 issue was dedicated to 90-th anniversary of Pattabhi Jois as the holder of traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, who continues to teach and inspire disciples by his own example of Yoga-life. Mikhail Konstantinov, who is also a director of Ashtanga Yoga Centre, has been recognized as the first Russian certified Yoga teacher of this style. For sure, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga will become more and more popular in Russia.

Other Yoga Schools

Certainly all other schools of Hatha Yoga are well-known in Russia and gradually they find their followers, although they don’t become so popular as Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. As you know, both these styles are raised to Sri Krishnamacharya, who was the guru of both B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. Nevertheless he made his own son the successor and holder of his main tradition, and until now T.K.V. Desikachar is teaching Vini Yoga in Chennai. But this style didn’t spread too vast neither in India nor abroad. It is not famous in Russia also: only the Ukrainian master Andrey Lappa completed a full course of education in Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram under the guidance of Desikachar himself, but he integrated this knowledge into his own system and he never teaches Vini Yoga as such. Despite the failure of this branch, Russian yogis respect Sri Krishnamacharya as one of the main staffs of contemporary Hatha Yoga. Evidently his fame owes its existence to the fact that Sri Krishnamacharya studied philosophy in Benares University during as many as ten years. In his case the development of intelligence became the base for reconstruction of ancient yogic tradition and its adaptation to modern society.

Another great yogacharya of XX Century Swami Sivananda Saraswati also became a source of several Hatha-yogic schools, and his teaching got interesting ways of development in Russia. As you know, he established the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, and his disciple’s activity created the biggest net of Sivananda-ashrams in the entire world, both in India and many Western countries. Of course, Sivananda Yoga is well-known to Russians from books, and yet there is no Yoga center where beginner could study only this style of practice, without any mixing with other traditions. It is the monastic character of this school that may be the reason for that, since Swami Sivananda was a sannyasin, but it’s almost impossible to found ashrams resembling Indian tradition in Russia. At the same time many Yoga-teachers accept the basic principles of Sivananda Yoga for holding classes in some fitness-clubs, where people need relaxation and restoration of emotional stability. The similar destiny overtook the teaching of Bihar School of Yoga, founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, the most famous disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati. Everybody in Russia knows such his techniques as Yoga Nidra, Swara Yoga etc, and Yoga-teachers put them into practice but still nobody teaches Satyananda Yoga systematically.

We could continue this overview with long enumeration of Indian yogacharyas who influenced the development of Russian Yoga in a varying degree at his personal visit or just owing to his books. Generally it can be said without exaggeration that Russian practitioners aspire to master Yoga under auspices of different Yoga-teachers because they are interested to understand Yoga as such, without isolation inside of one and only school. Though you can find plenty of Yoga centers and Yoga-teachers in Russia today, even now some people study Yoga by themselves from books and on their own experience, trusting their own intuition and understanding. Original yogis who live in small towns find essential support visiting seminars in the closest cities, where they are able to participate. Russian Yoga-teachers like to organize short intensive seminars with the filled daily program. Fruitful meetings with Indian yogacharyas also become part and parcel in Russian yogi’s lives, and international contacts can easily happen in the territory of their own country as well as in the motherland of Yoga itself. Progressively Russian practitioners believe that Yoga-practice is the best way to the ultimate Self-realization.

Introduction. Metaphorical DeadEnd

Wall seems to be a metaphorical deadend on the spiritual way; however, we can interpret this metaphor literally. When a disciple is forced to interact with himself, he finds himself in front of a blind wall without his teacher, besides the wall becomes the dependable means for reflection. Actually, there is nobody outside you, if your Self is all-inclusive. But while you don’t encounter the barrier, you generally perceive all to be outdoors, except yourself. Whenever you fall into a really deadlock condition, in the first instance you face yourself in the concrete. In the full glare into your depth an inner space arises inside and starts to expand inexorably, while the wall appears to be somewhere beneath, scarcely distinguishable from spiritual level.

Extremity is similar to inspiration; and after a brief irresolution you ask an inevitable question: how to work with the wall which blocked your path? Hatha Yoga is profoundly symbolical like any practice rooted in mystical Tantrism. In order to get outside of the wall in the general sense, you should approach a real wall. And as a simplest solution you can practice Yoga with the support of a wall. Nevertheless the situation is not completed in the same way, since the wall extricates from a block to vertical, establish new dimension for life and practice. The first wall access is destined mainly for beginners, but with the further development of volume in the practice the wall offers plenty opportunities for advanced students. The wall is accustomed and becomes a small part of the life-structure, and then you are able to move it on your own will, disposing it at any angle.

At the very beginning the wall is perceived as an obstacle, but actually it becomes a turning point in your practice, permission to be directed upwards, to advance your mastery and personal energy. The wall is a great teacher, for every possible enlightenment starts from the proper work of your body. This body includes everything. So, if you know your own body through and through and you are able to control it, then there is nothing that does not correspond to your conscious decisions. Contemporary situation redoubles together with evolving of Hatha Yoga practice, which I denominated in one of my previous books as disciple among teachers. Everything is equal to nothing; and many of the Yoga-instructors are not different from the wall, which recovers your inner guru. But still, don’t worship it; apply the wall forbearingly, since it is nothing more than an external sign or marker on the way up.

Part I. Theory: Entrance to Vertical

The wall is a sort of vertical landing-strip, where you gather speed of Self-realization. Interaction with the wall acts as a psychological workshop in a greater measure, than mastering of physical form. However stop short of perversion: this is not Yoga with cold partner, but the practical way to become aware of your own body. First of all Hatha Yoga practice is the work with consciousness and energy, therefore you should not cherish illusions on importance of the body as such. Primarily the wall testifies physical disability in front of barrier, where you can understand and feel this disability. Any corporal-oriented training is intended to convert knowledge about your existence into experience of your objective reality. The question is how you are living currently — on the flat or on several levels of being?

The common man scurries between coming and going horizontal energy flows, produced by their scrappy thoughts, absurd impulsions, disorderly actions caused by other similar people. In the chaos he tries to pave wandering way to nowhere or just beyond the horizon on the same level of consciousness, merely marking the limit of perception. Do you embrace highest sky overhead and deepest earth underfoot? This question is far from lyrical. The development of energy structure supposes the vertical orientation of consciousness. More simply, in awaked state the bodily axis is positioned directly, and it consists from the links between conscious centers on different levels. In such a way Hatha Yogis work with charkas inside of Sushumna, while you can find alternative options for nurturance of realization in other traditions. But principally this is the vertical movement.

Volume Realization in Yoga Practice

Theoretically the wall sets up third-dimensional coordinates and forms volume awareness. Usually Hatha Yoga practice takes place on horizontal floor only. You fail to get rid of habitual stream of consciousness even during whole two hours, since you continue to take action on the same level. As you know, visual environment depends on state of consciousness, and if you start thinking more sublime, then the former world disperses and a new world concentrates around. Instead of elevation you strive to imitate an instructor’s posture, looking for other practitioners, and their shapes provoke a lot of extraneous whirls in mind. You are irreparably smeared-out “floor screen’, and there’s nothing to be done but to slide on surface, as if you would be like shadow, which is unable to observe improvement.

Access to the wall adds instantly a chance to correlate with vertical surface, especially when you stay face to face with it. You discover third coordinate axis that is the height, which hitherto was present somewhere in under-self only, but you never match up this line consciously. Nevertheless you always exist in the midst of vertical planes such as walls, trees, rocks etc.; just you constantly project them under your feet and skillfully skirt their imagery. Intentional inclusion of asanas on the wall into practice is not so much artificial means, as return to native habitat of human being. Appearance of summit and bottom out of eyeshot is similar to elementary enlightenment, but as you know any enlightenment is never ultimate. Just you start understanding the principle of gradual extension of consciousness, and then you learn to gain advantage in self-development.

As a preliminary let us mention a kind of such a curious flash at runtime of headstand, which was described with a real yogic humor by Essudian and Heich. The result of regular Shirshasana practice looks like a miracle. Following lingering persuasion neurotic or victim technocratic society starts performing Shirshasana incredulously and indifferent. At the first attempt he doesn’t succeed to stand on his head, and feet seem to adhere to floor area, but he feels some flush of freshness. Next day he tries again, first at the wall, and now he is able to remove feet from the floor, although he cannot straighten legs upwards. Giving over futile attempts he gets on his feet again with wonderful sense… Then he laughs! On the following day it is obtained a shade better. Finishing Yoga practice he sits in the armchair and suddenly can reads without any glasses; toward the evening he notes dissolution of usual singing in the ears; and the next morning he brings back to memory, that he forgot oneself in sleep without an accustomed dose of soporific drug…

It is the case, since the inversion restores the feeling of vertical axis, which is an identification post for conscious centering. Debugged work of sensory organs and equability of nervous system directly depend on availability of inner column. Balancing on his head for the first time with full attention, anybody concentrates an amorphous cloud of awareness to the vertical line. This is just the direction of thinking or transmitted radiation from top downward. But because he need to entrench himself in this abstraction, he starts embodying it into his own energetic structure. Of course everything starts from self-visualization not on the horizontal surface but along the vertical axis. Then this imagination commences to take shape of tuning work out vertical energetic channel, and further externalizes oneself into perfect coordination of formerly weakened connections between different parts of body.

It will be observed that Hatha Yoga masters give consideration to extensionality of the practice construction very rear in distinction from adepts of Tantra concerned with arising of Kundaliny. Mostly Hatha Yogis emphasize to create asana sequences, exploiting usual one-dimensional thinking, but almost not invoking capability for extension of consciousness. However there are several attempts, and for instance we quote the conception of Andrey Lappa. He tries to set up not only some sequences, but integral system, called multilevel algorithm of vinyasa. Here vinyasa means dynamical set that is the repetition of some asanas according to contra-posture principle in general, taking into account the compensating action. Application of this algorithm enables him to form Yantra or universal technological yogic diagram. More simply he puts into consciousness all asanas at once, in addition ordering them not on the surface only, but also according to level of complexity in terms of type of support.

Hierarchy of vinyasas is constructed as transition from simple to complex, from less effective to more effective. For example, if somebody is not able to perform hand-stand, then all inverted asanas are represented for him variations in headstand and shoulder-stand. Try as one would to combine accessible postures, while level of his ability will not be increased to the next-higher order, he will not pass on the next level of practice, where most of asanas are performed with support on the hands. Basic vinyasas operate for starting and rotating of psycho-energetic Mandala. Their powerful influence depends on some effects, especially on the next one. Inversion of head and spine in space influences basic subconscious “fixations’ to direction of gravitational field, therefore the intensity of energetic structure steps up.

This complex structure is completely and nobly presented in the book Yoga: Tradition of Union by Andrey Lappa himself. But here it is necessary for us to note vertical and volume only.

Walls of House: Vastu of Yoga Shala

Walls confine some volume of space, which is used for Yoga-hall or house, where you spend most of your time. This well-defined volume is most commonly recognized as a territory, existing in planar dimension again. However we should give special attention to this limited space. Indeed in Hatha Yoga practice we develop sensibility, starting from the plain and unequivocal perception of the body in all structural aspects but finishing with the very physical feeling of entire Universe. Emphatically there are some intermediate intelligible contents between these almost incommensurable quantities. This is a reason why such magic sciences as Chinese Feng Shui, Indian Vastu and many other types of geomantic knowledge were developed almost in all cultures from hoary antiquity.

Frequently Hatha Yoga practitioners are inclinable to neglect these rules. They are sure that alignment of body by itself influence environment, forcing it to tune with inner changing. Principally, they are right, but the only question at issue is the degree of force exertion. For instance, in order to remove calculus from kidney exclusively by energetic methods you will need to waste immeasurable more subtle energy, than in the case when you will take advantage of rougher remedy like herbs, massage etc. At the limit it is safe to say that only stupid person will light up a candle by force of his glance, if he has matches in hand. That is why yogis prohibit the demonstration of risen siddhi (supernatural power). It is equally true that Feng Shui and Vastu practice will be the least-cost one from the viewpoint of your energy consumption, especially in an infant state. Better don’t try to expand Procrustean bed by powerful radiation.

Moreover rules of this sort are never mechanical, but these prescriptions require the development of sensibility also. In such a way learning Feng Shui and Vastu you continue Yoga practice in substance. Merely broader volume is included into the sphere of your feeling and thinking under the character of your body. In Yoga practice mastering in asanas requires to remove muscular blocks, pranayama helps to align energy flows in subtle body, and meditation teaches to concentrate consciousness independently from any body, which should not to stop penetration anymore. In Feng Shui practice you have to study the same: how to move furniture or to put fans in proper places that general structure of your home allows to relax and spreads your consciousness without impinging sharp corners, emanative envenomed shafts.

Despite popularity of Feng Shui, since Hatha Yoga belongs to Indian tradition, here we’ll describe some basic principles of Vastu that is Indian art of living space construction. Feng Shui makes special reference to correcting means, enabling to improve inferior dwelling, but Vastu is predominantly dedicated to underlying planning. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to use Vastu in Western cities, where most people may not plan their flats themselves, though they are free to construct villas. Nevertheless we can take advantage of this knowledge for diagnostic of present accommodation and relative correction of our own proper habits that to live and practice there specifically better. At least we can choose the direction of that wall, which we are going to use for asana mastering.

Certainly Vastu of Yoga Shala (or just Yoga hall) takes into account the directions, limited by walls, and your choice of Yoga-room depends on general configuration of building. The walls are considered to be auspicious, if they are faced East or North, particular the north-east corner. Namely this direction is the best as a special place, which is intended to lead for Yoga practice and meditation. In India the Puja room (where they perform rituals) is located in the center of house, but north-east corner is also possible for divine worship, however it is not appropriated in other directions. Properly, if you are serious in Yoga and devote your progress to Lord in any favorite form then practice will be important part of daily Puja.

It is essential also to puzzle out the common features of Vastu Purusha Mandala as a concept, which based on feeling of vibrating inner space in the house. Ancient Hindu not so much believed, how much experienced, that each place on the ground surface possesses peculiar vibration, therefore they selected the site for construction very carefully. Every place has some quality of life and represents some energetic entity, which were called as the Purusha (Person) by Hindus. He was regarded with reverence as the certain deity of house, and Hindus held exclusive ceremony, approached him with prayer and asked him to turn according to the proper direction. After this rite Vastu Purusha (Spirit of House) proved to keep his head on north-east corner and his feet in the opposite south-west corner. It is not difficult to relate that Puja room was located directly in the Purusha’s heart or head.

It is really interesting for us that the vertical axis of Purusha’s body is found in horizontal and his Sushumna is oriented from one corner to another one. Thus, Chakras in Purusha’s subtle body situated on diagonal of house, and they work as centers of energy’s conversion. Eventually it is obtained that the highest (cranial) Purusha’s Chakras, which produces the most subtle and extreme vibrations are also located in north-east corner. For instance, master of Vastu, Suresh Pavar from Mysore, recommended even to add on building to north-east direction. As a result, if you constructed the energy structure of your house correctly, then it’s highest point will be found north-eastwardly. Surely, mastering asanas with support of walls in north-east corner, you’ll get maximal effect from Yoga practice.

In greater detail the principles of Vastu were described in my other book “Vastu — Indian Feng Shui. Garlands from Mythic Flowerage”, published in Russian (Saint-Petersburg, 2004). There I gave special attention to cultivation of Indian plants in Western doors. Certainly, some citizens took advantage of that book and made small jangles or garden in window aperture of Puja room, and these plantings improved tone for Yoga occupation. Generally alfresco the choice of energy field is also determined by vertical energy flow, directed by trees or rocks. However we will come back to this topic, when we pass from practice with support of wall on improvisation with support of an uneven surface of rocks. That has relation to development area in practice, while we are going to sort out its background.

Support — Invitation to Development

Not only exchanging the area of support in asanas from feet to palms radically shifts the level of practice on the whole, but also exchanging the surface of support itself shifts the quality of practical consciousness. Most Hatha Yoga instructors, especially among Iyengar-style practitioners, use wall for the mastery of asanas on different levels both the simplest and complicated one. The wall works as support in both cases: at asanas’ simplification in Yoga-therapy or at advanced practice in researching for additional variations. However there is the principal difference between interaction with the wall and employment of other subsidiary means (ropes, blocks, rollers etc.). The fact is that dependence doesn’t arise but challenge guides the way for the further development. Nevertheless it should be mentioned, which other props could be entered into practice as well as the reason why it would be better to restrict oneself to the wall only instead of anything else.

In the first instance let us settle upon the basic idea for using all props and take a good look at real case in the practice by B.K.S. Iyengar himself. Once an aged philosopher was leaded to Yoga Shala since he became so weak that already could not move without exterior help by his disciples. Yoga teacher examined a patient, then prescribed him hardest standing asanas, and explained: “He will perform them supine!” In other words practice started from a simple imagination of mastering these postures by himself, then an imitation of external forms were added to their projection, while finally the oldster was able to perfect asanas really standing. This day a stretch of three months he left Iyengar’s Yoga Shala, walking on his own foot by his lonesome. It is quite easy to answer the question how was such a miracle possible, just enough to refresh memory about interconnection between body, energy and consciousness.

In a broad manner all that is well-known not only in the ancient Yoga but also in the modern psychology. When we represent ourselves in a specific pose, then the imaginative power displaces energy body similar to actual form, because subtle body falls for mental influence easier than physical body. But because namely energy flows govern all physiological functions, body is going through changing, which is necessary for real execute of the posture. Otherwise, the first idea takes shape in an image then the image incarnates into the thing. In such a way indeed it is possible to prepare for asana practice even in the invalid’s wheel chair, say nothing of less tough lucks. Likewise you can force yourself to get over inertial resistance rather simple laziness, since as you know the most difficult in Yoga is to spread mat and enter upon practice. At the beginning try to spread mat and to lay down that “indulge in reverie” on Yoga practice. Surely sooner or later the imagination will start to externalize oneself into life, since body will intend to move completely naturally…

Let us return to props or subsidiary means. One may ask how they could be entered into practice at all, because somebody will hardly believe that in the ancient times Yoga was mastered with the help of chairs. The case is the personal fate of Iyengar himself as well as his guru Krishnamacharya’s interest in development in the area of Yoga-therapy. Namely Krishnamacharya input in use subsidiary means for alleviation learning advanced asanas at the very beginning, and this tendency became the characteristic feature of Iyengar Yoga. Deficiency of sitting meditations in Iyengar’s system is also raised to Krishnamacharya’s idea that asana practice as such lets to improve the self-consciousness power. But the only person who had firsthand knowledge of unreal attempts to take Yoga by “assault” he could enter so many auxiliaries into usual Yoga practice and make special reference to “art of prudence”, up to and including idea of asana imitation by feeble. Owing to Iyengar’s admission, he learned the most advanced poses not in the course of regular and long-term engagement but just before demonstrations. In any such situation it was important to perform asana faultlessly at the very first attempt though explanation was reduced to two-three brief denotations.

At the first meeting Krishnamacharya shown Iyengar just some simple asanas, but he was so weak after many diseases in the childhood, that soon teacher lost any interest to him. Yet it fortuned that few days before International Yoga Conference the best disciple escaped Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Shala. Nobody was ready to demonstrate yogic postures and guru gave attention to Iyengar again. Next morning he showed him about thirty-forty basic asanas at the same time, one after another, and said shortly: “You must do it”. There was no any other option in this situation. Iyengar got few days only to master asanas till the very perfection and demonstrate on the conference. During the show he fell all over himself so tears appeared from the eyes. Demonstration passed and knocked its opponent for a loop, and teacher confided that he didn’t expect such a result. That event connected Iyengar’s life with Yoga forever; however he paid the extreme price and suffered from pain in the whole body for long months.

That is why Iyengar tried to discover new methods when he started to teach Yoga himself that traumatize his disciples on no account. Therefore not only in classes on Yoga-therapy but also commonly he prescribed for beginners a lot of props. Of course, the props establish subsidiary points of support for body; they make asana accomplishment easier and help to correct it more properly. But all that aids and appliances became habitual in such a degree, that anybody may call them the feature of Iyengar-style. Even if you perform the advanced asana like Pincha Mayurasana (forearm balance) perfectly, you should learn the special technique how to master the same posture with the help of block hold between palms, etc. It seems the same regarding to the wall: technical development of asanas at the wall made a peculiar kind of art. Then wall is not a support anymore but means of evolution by practice. And yet there is one amount of invention.

For the matter of meditative component of asana practice, this was noticed above. As you know the main goal of meditation is citta vritti nirodha that is elimination of whirls inside of consciousness. Put the other way round, consciousness is purified step by step from any conceptions, fades into blank self-actualization. When meditation becomes a part of asana practice, then it is required to keep some posture. You should completely relax your whole body and narrow down its perception to the single grasp of this unique form. In the process you can take into consideration some details of alignment bodily position but then they should be dissolved in consciousness. However introduction of all possible ropes, blocks, chairs, blankets and other inconceivable compositions into bodily form never will give you to do the last step… But the wall is the clean surface!

Part II. Practice: Montage of Asanas

Outsets we shall distinguish asanas discretely, that quite satisfy the requirements of Iyengar’ style. In static practice one should take into consideration cross impact of asanas at their combined influences on the body, and still they are spaced from each other. Asana is microcosm, where you should establish an order without spot or wrinkle, adjusting position and condition of every part and even a cell of your body. This is a reason that asanas’ arrangement is secondary, and when you are coming to Yoga-hall it is difficult to dope out, if instructor suggests to perform in the beginning simple forward bend or hand-stand. Virtually inimitable pattern of asanas is taken shape at every lesson, though they emphasize one another in some measure. Eventually asanas’ classification which is suggested here is derived; and you may grade the sequence in other easy-to-handle way.

Notwithstanding you should take into account some rules of asanas’ combinations. If you have ahead nobody except unanswered wall, then the simplest method not to harm is the following. Perform any posture for alignment and relaxation after every asana. It is necessary to keep neutral position unless and until you feel that all tracery consisting from many stress regions, appeared at the mastering the previous asana, have already vanished into thin air. Then you can proceed to forming-up forthcoming asana. Even if you construct completely wrong sequence, effects from misalignment will not accumulate, and you will escape trauma, which would be inevitable otherwise. All that is working for some period, which is enough to learn how to organize correct self-practice. Don’t hope for omnipotence of relaxation; don’t ride Yoga on assumption of momentary mood.

The best pose to be appropriated for relaxation after a particular asana depends on body position. If you are standing, you can come back to Tadasana and aline the body. Otherwise you can perform Utkatasana that is forward bend with elbow lock. If you are sitting, it would be better to relax in Darnikasana or child pose: sitting on your knees you should bend forward, put stomach on thigh and forehead on floor, and place hands along legs. Certainly here you can use for alignment any symmetrical meditative asana like Padmasana, Vajrasana or their simplified versions. If you are lying on the back, then you can naturally perform Shavasana or corpse pose: spine and head are in-line; straight arms and legs are diverted from body at an acute angle. If you are lying on the abdomen, it is not necessary to turn. You can relax in Makarasana like crocodile: put your forehead down on hands crossed before head and separate extended legs aside, setting footsteps’ interior edges on the floor.

Few among us have plenty of time that they take the liberty to spend so long breaks even during practice. Indeed in such a situation at the start your exercises will be limited by several asanas in total. Surely this approach has undeniable advantage for realization of going processes outside, but incidence will be hardly remarkable inside of the body at all. For a lot of pragmatic people, although they need relaxation in the first instance, the abovementioned sounds as something unsuitable. How to act when you wish to maintain the dynamical style of practice? There is some other way, which renders assistance to fulfill asana by asana; and that is the contra-posture principle. You need to adopt the certain skills and analytical powers, but usually it is simply to observe the method. Merely you keep a check on compensation influences: for example, bend is next to arch, etc. But at the present let us examine asanas themselves.

Types of Body Pressure onto Wall

Since the wall is not just a wall for us but the prop leading to transcendence, therefore further we are going to envisage Hatha Yoga as psychic technique. That is not the case that you merely adjust the body, why it would look superior and function smooth-running. No doubt it is essential too but still absolutely insufficient. It is more important that you learn how to take advantage of methods which hopes to influence body for the purpose of transformation through entire personality, including feeling, thinking and spirituality. So, you must aspire not to master advanced asanas faster, but to fulfill simplest asanas with perfect self-awareness. No need to perform handstand askance, even though body seems dead straight from external view. The question is what you are feeling at the moment, whatever your mind is concerned with, what extent your consciousness is merged into divine. So, along the strike of exposition on technical details we shall note their action on systemic condition.

According to words by one instructor of Hatha Yoga every possible asanas classification is the effort to press multifaceted entity inside square box. Needless to say, it is not necessary to squeeze it there. Simply and solely keep in your mind that any common description possesses a high potential; and optionally you can evolve it under the very different reflex angles, no matter how extensively and no matter how extensively and sweepingly. Such a schema should be accepted as a working model, which is able to fulfill required operation in fixed stage, while you replace it by something more appropriate. Don’t become attached to exterior forms, whether it is mental definition or physical ability to do anything perfectly. Today you perform a technique delightfully, but in the case if you are developing tomorrow you can discover that it is not requisite without theatrics and even interfering. It is equally true for typology: in advance keep more emptiness or free space. You will need it for progression and accumulating of your own experience.

As for the principle of given classification, we are going to discriminate asana’s types owing to distinctive bodily pressure onto vertical surface at poses’ performance against the wall. Although the wall is the very simplest thing, it proves that interaction between you and wall passing rich in point of fact. Sometimes its evenness is the most important, but sometimes its stability is more important and so on. You need to spread body on the wall’s surface for mastering some asanas, but you need to skim the same wall by fingertips only for mastering other asanas. Moreover you will be interested in wall’s extension till one or another level; in this case solid surface is not necessary, just distinctive object is required in the space above horizontal plane. The wall is always good enough for this purpose because it serves as such an object at any level. Well, let us see what we are able to do specifically relying on these general principles.

Axial Alignment inside of Body

As you know monkey became human being when one upraised from all fours, straightened back, reared head and looked around, keeping balance on total of two feet. And now to be serious hitherto perfection of vertical position leaves much to be desired. Modern man suffers from chronic stoop, blocking connection between lower and higher centers. As a result pristine instincts live owing to their own nature, determining body to commit spontaneous deeds; visionary schemes hulk up vainly at head; and non-processed splendid feeling glimmers in cramped chest. There’s no doubt about prolongation of vertical axis beyond body up and down. As a matter of fact even that part of personality, which confined from top to heels, doesn’t manage according to conception of straight line. But axis refers to elemental geometric constructions both ideally and in flesh.

Habit to make sideways of corpus is destructive also. When you put all the weight of body on one leg then this side is cramped while opposite side is bagged out of control. At this rate the balance between Ida and Pingala is broken, that’s why you lose sense of proportion externals of activity and passivity, say nothing of extrusion of inner organs. Of course, we should move and currently assume asymmetrical positions. That means liberty of action includes namely possibility to deviate from neutral position and come back to axis again to perform new actions. Otherwise all structure would be permanently deformed. So, when we start Yoga practice, the wall helps us for alignment of vertical body position as such. We seek for performing of Tadasana and setting of right angles at forward bending.

Tadasana — Rock Posture

When you are standing straight and stable like an inviolable rock, then your body becomes light and clarity appears in your consciousness. It is important to align the body in vertical from all directions, reclining against the wall alternatively back, side and forehead. It stands to reason that every time you should recede from the wall one step back and try to feel and keep the vertical without any support. Resting against the wall there is no need to approach a complete contact between your back and the wall, since a spine is certainly slightly curved. But measure and course of its incurvation are under the question; and here the wall helps to do the next three correct movements that to put back into alignment.

Outthrust of tail bone forward-up lets you to spread lumbar on the wall, eliminates cramp, which sooner or later inevitably results in rheumatism and backache. Legs ought to get over that position, because it requires little bit other opening of hips than habitual. Brace yourselves by arm crosswise behind shoulders and expand back; whereupon force shoulders apart aside and slightly down, opening chest. It is important to turn shoulders not backwards, as usually anybody undertakes to perform, constricting spinal column and creating tension in chest. You should move shoulders namely every which way; also your back and chest are found stretched and relaxed equally. Finally don’t try to press your neck against the wall, overturning your head upwards. But on the contrary make an effort to achieve that result by extension of neck upwards, as if you would be pulled from crown of head. In the process chin will come down slightly; and this motion will cause relaxation of your throat.

After experiencing every inch of spinal column from the top to the bottom you should recoil one step from the wall and try to maintain the vertical position succeeded by means of wall now with a help of muscles only. Then come back to wall again and check your sensations. Surely, you don’t need to walk as a stick returning to your daily life likewise you pass on execution of other asanas continuing practice. Nevertheless Tadasana is the basic pose for standing relaxation; and it serves as the primary position throughout standing asanas. Good idea to repeat Tadasana after performing any other pose that test an alignment of body, whereupon you may proceed to sequent asana.

Regular control of vertical is also beneficial in the real life because it improves your current conditions such as self-confidence, equability during manifestation of feelings, stability of subjective attitude in business stream. From psychological point of view Tadasana promotes to form certain inner column, that is the base of a character, but on the energy level it constructs the central axis. Entire energy structure consisting from subtle bodies, channels and centers is orientated in correspondence to the axis. The appropriation of axis must become the first object of your attention. Hereafter you will gradually accustom to operate with feeling of axis in the worldly life, arranging with relation to vertical all things and connections around.

There are some details in forming of Tadasana which are imperceptible outwardly to anybody untutored in Yoga, but visible to somebody who knows on his own experience how an internal work reflects into an exterior shape. At the perfect weight distribution on footsteps the pressure is fallen not within toes or heels, but directly on the middle point which is well-known in acupuncture. In order to find the place you should make an effort to keep footsteps in contact with floor area: arise your toes, set them apart, and then put them down in a spread state. At these movements skin on backside of footstep is shifted outwards. Besides you can do the series of turning by palms outward and return that set up thoracic girdle strictly over hips. It is important to perform this motion either side that to catch perfect mid position. Likewise temporary body bending with slow return to Tadasana can help to feel vertical.

A criterion for the correct fulfillment of the pose is perfect balance, when gravitational center is not dislocated. Similar to skyscraper, your corpus neither falls nor even quakes. It is essential to get irreproachable vertical position going to realize inverted asana later. Body should get the same position in Shirshasana (headstand) as in Tadasana, especially the form of legs and feet. If you are able to stand straightly on your feet, then it will not be difficult for you to stand straightly on your top anymore. Alternatively the mastering of headstand has unconditional value for getting into the habit the standing straight on your feet. You see, performing headstand you begin to observe such details which went into the sub-consciousness long ago during millennial feet-stand practice. Psychoanalysts confirm that everything is mixed in this sphere and nothing can be preserve directly as it was. As a result the skill of straight walking is liable to all kinds of extraneous influences and incrustations.

Sidelong Alignment

As it was mentioned above you can prepare yourselves for the aligning body in Tadasana also with reclining against the wall by each side or with resting upon the wall by forehead. In both cases the vertical is saved, though it is felt inside of body and working in another way. The sidelong alignment helps to accent the function of lateral canals Ida and Pingala, which are parallel with central axis.

Try to stand against the wall sideward pressing exterior edge of footstep close to the wall as far as possible. You will be required to take stronger purchase on the opposite leg, since a thrust of the hip against the walls will push your corpus outward. Simultaneously arise up the arm nearest to the wall, turning palm and pressing it onto the surface, and merely stretch down another arm, pulling it along the corpus. Thus the whole lateral line of your body is extended along the wall from foot to palm. In this position the exposed side of the body is extremely stretched and compressed; on the contrary, the interior side is completely relaxed and expanded, spreading-eagle on the wall. The alternation of left and right sides renders a possibility to work at energy streams going through both lateral canals namely Ida and Pingala. Say nothing of the influence on tissues and organs by successive exertion and relaxation.

The question is what really depends on these uncomplicated actions in your practice as well what is obviously changing in your daily life. Even if you will merely try to stand against the wall by one and another side, then you will feel the remarkable difference between both sides of your body. This is the case; they are opposite and mutually complementary. It is well-known from different functions of left and right brains likewise from operation of solar and lunar channels in the slender body. Theoretically both sides must be compensated, and on physical layer it reflects in symmetrical movements. However in the vast majority people possess one-sided view on current circumstances and usually they reproduce one-dimensional behavior. All asymmetrical asanas are always mastered on both sides that you would achieve alignment starting from this simplest stand.

There are some details in working out the literal aligning also such as transferring of pressure onto the outer side of footstep and tightening of the inner side. Be sure, the case in hand is mental effort which produces a whisk of tissues in flesh. Don’t try to perform this exercise moving legs up and down. Moreover you should strive to work by both legs in each position, but not only with the help of outer leg. Being retained against wall by one and another side, you will work out both footsteps in different ways. But totally the entire body becomes stressed from outside and relaxed inside. Thus the body attains exact borders, and all necessary processes happen at the limits naturally.

You can add this posture into many asanas’ complexes which are suitable for elimination of all superfluous arches, for example arches in feet and back (Tadasana) or arches in palms at the pressure by hands against the wall (vertical variation of Dandasana). But it is worthy of special mention underneath.

Frontal Extension of Body

Now you vertical structure has already become similar to real column which is more stable then original axis. However you should also feel the frontal line of the body for better forming of inner volume. You see, in the common standing position and especially when back is close to the wall almost the whole weight of the body suppresses the spine that is back side only. Even if you perform lateral alignment then you give attention to Ida and Pingala in the spine column, therefore your concentration moves to your back naturally. It is happening also in the case if you sink on your heels, but such a sinking is fatal at spontaneous efforts to maintain posture without special correction of feet. This situation is quite natural therefore you have to assume the next specific position for working out the front line.

Stand opposite the wall, recoil one step backward, maintain straight corpus from heels to top, and lean forehead unto the wall. Don’t touch the wall by any other point of your body as well don’t push the wall by the forehead since this position is irrelevant to category of thrusts. The distance between your feet and the wall should be enough that you could feel a tension in the front line of the body. But there should not be too much free space otherwise you’ll incline to fall limb and bone on the wall. So, you are standing on own legs firmly, moreover you are pushing the floor by your feet that preferably extract all forward side of your body. On this evidence your arms could assume either position: pull them upwards pressing palms against the wall or make elbow lock setting palms on elbows crosswise. These variations are different according to their ability for combination with other postures in sequences.

Outstretching arms you distantly commence to prepare your body for handstand producing a pressure on palms and extending body in line. For this reason it is advantageous to interchange that position and Utkatasana or forward bending with putting palms before feet (when flexibility allows it). Beyond all doubt afterwards you will press into handstand namely from this pose. As an intermediate link in the exercises for mastering shoulder’s position you can use also Adho Mukha Shvanasana or down facing dog in common yogic parlance. In this posture palms and feet thrust against the floor so far that tail bone forms the corner of a triangle. It is no wonder that later we will come back to this standard asana very often. But the most natural movement to the next pose is the passage to arms’ position with a thrust into the floor by elbows.

An alternative pose with elbow lock is well suited to the relaxation after Tadasana, especially if you deepened the extension of your back with arching. For instance, if you hold a hook overhead and arch all your body pushing off the wall by heels as strong as possible standing with your back to the wall. Then turn heading forward to the wall and put forehead and elbows on its surface. Then slightly bend your knees and completely relax you chest, but after that again straighten and stretch your legs. This method operates in many asanas with wall; hence it is desirable to master it well in primary version. If you are not able to stretch your body correctly, then it’s always better to wait before performing the ideal posture and to relax in approximate pose. Finally it makes sense to go through every movement in reverse order: put both hands upwards, return to Tadasana with your back to wall, and recoil from wall. Repetition from the end to the beginning is among basic methods which are suitable for mastery of adjoining positions too.

Let us add to the pattern asanas apart from the wall. You will remember that thrust by palms combined with Utkatasana (foreword bending) and Adho Mukha Shvanasana (down facing dog) with straight arms. It is preferable to repeat both asanas with elbow lock. Doing forward bend you should extend straight-back but turn off shoulders down to loins to replace them upwards. It is essential to control this movement, since everybody has tendency to squeeze neck by shoulders in the position, but that is wrong. Down facing dog is mastering in the same way, though you push the floor by elbows instead palms. Setting up and withholding of such a triangle is much harder work.

Hands at Right Angle

At present you may set about alignment of your body not against the wall but in parallel with the wall, and by this time that demands more advanced vertical feeling. It will be observed, that these postures seem illusory simple. However even Indian Yoga-teacher boggled his first attempt preparing himself to demonstrate them in front of camera. When we are standing in front of the wall in some distance, there is an alternative approach to shape right angles with the help of limbs. Specifically we can use both arms or legs or one of them, in what connection we can turn back, face or side against the wall. However forward bending with pressing palms or feet on the wall is more like thrust against the wall, and preferably we’ll give consideration to this type of poses underneath. It is clear, that each several poses lead the way for the whole chain of asanas, similar in appearance and attractive for construction of new sequences.

Stand in front of the wall at arms length and put your palms on the wall on the level of your shoulders. But don’t just stand, because you should produce a pressure to the wall by hands, which provokes in return even stretch in all your body that promotes a formal alignment. This position is nothing else than turned around 90 degrees Dandasana, or the thrust against the floor by straight arms with holding of your body in one line. It makes sense to alternate this thrust against wall and the classical stick pose. You can improve standard Dandasana with support of the wall too, merely putting feet on the wall at your shoulders’ level. Then inversely you are pushing floor by straight arms and all your body is orientated true-horizontal. Interchange of these positions lets us achieve a clear feeling, which muscles are working for maintaining each position.

Hereafter turn with your back to the wall and assume the mirror position in reference to the previous pose, namely fix your palms on the wall at the level of shoulders. It will be not simple to do it at your leisure, however this posture renders a possibility to develop shoulder joints and open thoracic cage what is beneficial when you will run through more complicated asanas. It’s better to start standing sideward against the wall, press palm of one hand to the surface, and lay middle finger true-vertical. Then turn back on the wall and lead another hand to the same position. Probably, in this case you will need extraneous help not only to remove hand back but also to open shoulders under light pressure on them from the front (sometimes it’s enough just to touch with fingers). At that process skin will be displaced from your shoulder backwards and down on your back. Certainly you should make an effort to attain the right angle not so much by arms’ strength, but by means of shoulder relaxation and thoracic cage opening.

Herein one could be recommended taking advantage of ropes, although on the whole we’ll talk about their employment underneath. But you can accomplish quite simple exercises for development of shoulder joints. Fix two ropes (or one rope in the middle with two free ends) to the hook not too high. Stand with your back to the wall, set throwing hands upon free ends and hang on ropes all over. Then start to perform bends back and forth, and in this process your arms will be intensively hinge in shoulders, furthermore stretching under the body weight. However movements should be completely controlled. Never admit any careless handling with your own body!

Another variation is using ropes fixed higher then your head and with exterior assistance. Stand with your back to the wall in some distance, set arising hands upon free ends, and slightly hang on ropes foreword. Assistant must stand behind you, hang on ropes just above your hands, and put arising foot between your shoulder blades. The foot pressure should be intended in a greater measure upwards than forward. Also the pushing should be very careful that stretching would be soft and gradual. An assistant may slightly pull your hands back that you could relax perfectly without any personal efforts to arching.

Legs at Right Angle

Certainly you can not put both legs on the wall at the right angle, provided that you don’t sit on the floor. Such a position here you will use in order to admeasure a proper distance from the wall only. It is necessary to stand one leg on the wall correctly; otherwise you will never succeed in the right angle. Besides you can use the preliminary sitting pose to correct and remember the right position of hips. Nevertheless the sitting posture with your face against the wall, straight legs and feet pressing on the wall deserves attention as such also. Namely this pose serves as the original location for many asanas relating to thrusts on the wall. Never fear if you will stay on this point since it will be useful further. But we continue to examine standing asanas and vertical alignment in parallel with surface of wall.

A balancing asana, when you are standing on one leg and arising another leg as high as possible holding big toe by homonymous hand, is called Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana. It is easier to do it standing with your back against the wall especially if you proceed to the next variation and take arising leg aside. However the sense of making this motion with your face against the wall is namely that you master the right angle between your leg and straight your spine with horizontal line of hips. If you are standing with your back against the wall, you don’t give attention to these details because they become proper by themselves. But standing with your face against the wall you are required to accomplish the task more consciously.

In order to admeasure the right distance from the wall exactly you should sit down on the floor and thrust your footsteps against the wall. Then bend your legs and stand up directly at the same place where you were sitting a moment ago. Now you should bend downward, grasp one footstep from outside by palm, straighten trunk arising the bended leg, and erect this leg finally putting your foot on the wall. If your hips are warped then it makes sense to repeat the last movement one more time. Slightly bend your upper leg, correct normal position of hips, and straighten the leg again. But your ability to master the right angle without changing of hand location depends on proportions of your body. In the event that lengths of your arms and legs disproportionate, you have to correct the point of holdfast. Be careful that return your foot on the floor with the help of your hand also or do it very slowly and consciously, don’t throw your leg down out of control.

The following asana is performing in much the same way but in this case you are standing with your side against the wall. This pose can be very difficult for beginners whose hips are not opened that means their hip joints are not developed. Don’t force events because you can use for opening of hips other asanas with better effect. At the moment just form an estimate of your posture and feel measure of defect. At this rate it is more easily to work out the asana with your back to the wall. Especially if Yoga-teacher can assistant you, pushing one of your shoulders to the wall and turning your opposite leg aside and upward. The right angle is important for your body alignment but really the higher is your leg the more advanced is asana. In the process your leg and corpus should be in the plane with the wall, while the arising of leg in front of the face is a completely different asana.

At the limit carrying the last asana to extreme, you achieve both forward and cross splits in vertical plane, balancing on one leg. At the beginning you should keep these forms flat and plain in your imagination at least under the character of reference. But when the angle between your legs will become obtuse, then you will get an auxiliary facility to use the wall rather the column. So, turn your face to the column, press both opened legs as close as possible to the surface, and pull your body to upper leg, arming the column. It is far from something out-of-limit, and I observed in Mysore Yoga Mandala how many western students were doing this.

Attempt to Stand on the Wall with One Leg

Finally it sticks out a mile that in the last variation the body position is similar to Ardha Chandrasana, or half-moon. We can master this pose with support of the wall also, just making quarter turn in space. Now a stationary foot is standing on the wall, entire body is parallel to the floor, and foot and hand (which pressed the wall in previous pose) are standing on the floor. At the same time an opposite arm is arising upwards, that as a result both arms form straight line and face is turned up to ceiling. You can alternate both described postures on both sides, eliciting the effect of indifference to horizontal and vertical. See, your body keeps the same form but preserves it by different means. Needless to say in this connection, right angles are working much deeper, so the effect becomes evident much faster.

It will be observed that you can develop horizontal position with your back or abdomen against the wall too. In the first instance your body is more opened for exterior assistance, but in the latter case you get more options for correction by your own forces. But we will come back later to this asana adding variation with spine twisting at the body turning to opposite side. This pose belongs to complicated thrusts on the wall, and we proceed to this category of asanas just now.

Try-out of Limit Stop and Pressure

At psychological level the case in hand is some self-assertiveness. In balanced state it passes into such excellent capacity as insistence in achievement of positive selected goal. Work with the wall will let you to develop the power of conation or ability to pull strings, if you are too infirm. Conversely the same wall will teach you to reckon with barriers and oppositions, if you are prone to bear heavily on amenable environment improvidently and recklessly. Additionally the wall will instruct you how to search out truthful directions for force exertion that neither fall down in a vacuum mechanically nor undertake to unseat monolithic mountains. In short, at this point the wall answers for working-out a sense of proportion in action on the outside world. In what connection at symbolical level you provide various forms of pressure in terms of changing body position in asanas. As a matter of fact it is possible to press outwards not only with different powers, but in different ways also.

Forward Bending at the Right Angle

Body bending (hips flexion only) with putting limbs on the wall belongs to the category of thrust on the wall. Herein also we have two postures wherein body maintains identical positions though they are differentiated in space orientation simply and solely. Either you stand on your legs while your corpus and arms are stretched in line and expanded, or you stand on your hands and then you get more options for work with legs and hips using an abdominal press. Of course, degrees of pressure on the wall are incommensurable in both cases. In the first instance you are pushing softly to extend your back, but in the latter case the thrust must be extremely rigid otherwise you will not hold the right angle at all.

Nevertheless you shouldn’t fear handstand in this position since really it relates to elemental postures. It is enough to abut hands on the floor and to shift from one foot to another walking upwards on the wall, until your legs will make the right angle with the surface of the wall, although at the start the angle maybe more or less oblique. Also it is important to stretch your spine up and to pull your head down and to the wall in order to release cramp between shoulder blades. Never bear heavily on hands in handstand, but to the contrary you ought to push your body upwards. In the current and the previous positions arms don’t rest on the floor but work constantly. As it happened at body alignment, herein you see exactly similar forms of asanas, which distinguish in nothing else than space orientation. You can alternate both positions mastering the same form as before.

Starting from the simple thrust with hands on the wall, again we can refresh memory about such an intermediate position as down facing dog. A cause for its engaging is obvious: dog posture serves as training for complete arm balance, while bending with pushing the wall by hands serves as preparing for handstand with pushing the wall by feet. Thus, dog appears the certain interlink in the chain of complicated asanas. In the capacity of training dog posture you should push off the wall by hands to such an extent that completely eliminate arch in your back. Alternatively we can adopt both thrusts in order to improve dog as such, since it represents the most well-balanced thrust by all fours. Look at the both thrusts against the wall. If we’ll connect feet and palms by imaginary line, we’ll get the same triangle like in the common dog on the floor. In other words, we optimize that asana in both positions as on inclined plane, orientating head up or down. Whereupon any diagonals come into existence under different reflex angles in our personal space of practice apart from vertical and horizontal lines.

In order to feel the body in these postures much better you can make the following motion, which is very useful for ordinary dog too. Bend your legs in the knees; slightly arise your heels (above floor or aside wall); pull your tail bone back; and then perform the exact triangle again. Standing on the floor you can give special attention to your shoulders, if it is possible to find window sill or another shelf in the wall. Squeeze a wooden block between your palms; and also remove your straight fingers aside; then place your elbows on the shelf and perform already accustomed position. The difference is evident: you thrust not palms but elbows on the wall, and you try to expend your spine backward owing to force which you use for squeezing of block. You pass muscular effort from the palm to the tail bone, and the stronger you squeeze block the easier you align spine. Be careful that no arch, let somebody looks at your back.

Limit Stop at Slipping

Further the wall can serve as the limit stop at performing that asana where hands and feet have tendency to separate sliding over the floor. In the case the wall becomes a limit of horizontal plane while the vertical itself is operative at short interval. There are two failures: both hands and feet move in opposite directions sliding on the floor when you try to keep them at fixed distance; or just feet move from each other when you try to perform some posture astride. But any support of the wall is not too proper to preserve distance between both hands only.

Continually mentioned dog can be mastered on the floor with thrust against the wall by palms or inversely by heels. An alternative approach is the thrust by feet at the very low-level above the floor; probably you can touch the floor by big toes, if the wall is too slippery. But a criterion of correct performance of asana on rough wall is the measure of legs stretching for the thrust, which doesn’t give to slide feet down till floor. You should stand on the wall closely and securely, and in that event rather work off an arching back, than maintain straight a spinal column. Your head is pulling to the wall and to the floor simultaneously, while it will touch surface by top of forehead. If you prefer to turn, then push the wall by palms, more properly by hollow between your thumb and finger. Otherwise put the base of your palm on the floor but put the base of your fingers on the edge of cornered block. Keep your palm extended and stretched at the right angle to your arm.

When you master triangles it is convenient to set up the footstep of your back leg against the wall and to line up a whole asana in perpendicular to the wall. Triangles are standard elements of Iyengar-style, and students repeat them by body like physical mantras. The most difficult in performance of correct posture is the opening of your hips that entire body would be really in the plane. Maybe you will need an assistant with rope. The helper should pass the rope between your legs and throw it over both hips against buttocks. Then he pulls one free end backwards, turning the back hip outside, and at the same time he should pull on another free end by another hand, turning the front hip inside. Being alone you can use support of the wall again. At this rate it makes sense to line up triangle with your back close to the wall, being retained against its surface with your small of the back and opening hips by means of exertion and relaxation of required muscles.

Forward Bending with Back Pressure

When you are standing with your back against the wall performing triangle then you can change the side passing through a fulfillment of one more asana that is Prasarita Padottanasana. In that case you need the support of the wall because forward bending forces you to move your hips back but namely this tendency doesn’t allow you to bend lower till the very limit. However it is quite difficult to keep balance if you spread your legs aside broadly in vertical plane therefore this asana works as a balancing posture even near the wall. Nevertheless Prasarita Padottanasana helps a lot for opening of your hips if you increase the distance between feet at the same time bending lower with a straight spine. The last-mentioned condition is of critical importance, so you can inure yourself to meet the requirement with help of the next asana. While practicing the pose you need neither hips opening nor balancing that’s why you can relax and bring into focus the forward bending.

In standing position the forward bending is called Padangushtasana if you catch big toes by fingers or Padahastasana if you put palms under footsteps. However the degree of your bending is not important in the preparing variation against the wall. In order to master this posture you should lean your buttocks unto the wall, extend your arms downward and put them on your legs in any distance from the floor. Concentrate on straightening of your back. At the limit you will fold in twain putting your abdomen on your thighs. But don’t try to touch knees by forehead otherwise certainly you will round your back. With intent to feel your body in this position firstly you should bend your legs so much that really put your abdomen on the thighs keeping straight spine. Then slowly straighten legs, not bending your back in this procedure but turning your chest upward and still pressing your abdomen against your thighs.

Now you can try to repeat the same movement without support of the wall, then come back to the wall and continue your work with straight legs. However, it’s a requested preparation to do simple training motions standing in Tadasana. Separate your heels outwards and try to bend forward working with an external side of feet and without moving your buttocks back. Straightening up you should feel the energy flow springing from footsteps and going through legs to hips. After such a pumping of legs channels you should turn with your back against the wall, put your heels within one step from the wall, and abut your tail bone on the wall. As a matter of convenience it is desirable to put a wooden block under the base of toes. Then feet and legs will rest at the right angle to each other as in the general standing position. Anyway keep your legs straight, stretch your arms in the direction to feet, bend your body down with a straight spine, and look to your front.

In order to deepen the bending you can set your hands on ankles and pull your body to legs. At the same time keep your back straight and try to put an abdomen on thighs, like you carried through formerly with legs bending. After that you should upraise corpus withholding ankles with your hands, and attempt to arch the back. Exactly you don’t have to round your back, but in quite opposite way you should arch the spine like for back bending. You can use one more trick which forces your muscles to work. Bend your legs a little bit, hold something like a blanket between an abdomen and thighs, and straighten legs without loosing the blanket. At the process always keep hands on your ankles because you need to master namely this posture. The effort for holding the blanket is directly the effort for the perfection of this asana. However if you feel and understand the work of your muscles quite enough, then it’s better to do everything without supplementary props. You see, the less of supports means the better practice.

Attempts to Stand on the Wall with Both Legs

There are interesting variations mastering the maintaining of the body in horizontal with inversion of space, where the wall serves as a support for feet. Performing Chaturanga Dandasana you should press feet against the wall as if you would stand on the wall in order to stretch an entire body forward. For mastering the advanced asana you should put your feet on the wall at the shoulders’ level that all body become in parallel with the floor. The thrust by feet is very useful for the common Dandasana too though not so much, and we have already mentioned this asana above shortly. You see, in this posture feet aren’t going to slip and back is straightened easier. On the contrary as we specified above in details firstly you can work out Dandasana standing with your face against the wall, leaning on its surface by palms, and producing at the moment the effort which you need for a thrust on the floor. As a result the wall serves as a support for hands here also.

However it is possible to apply the thrust on the wall by feet when you perform asana which is symmetrical to Dandasana. This is the same inclined thrust with straight body but facing up and keeping whole weight on your arms reversed in shoulders. The name of the pose is Purvottanasana. For preparation you should recover sitting on the floor, facing against the wall and pressing it by feet. Remember, how you mastered the pose earlier (before putting one leg on the wall at the right angle). Since there is no need to worry about legs anymore, you can decide two other tasks namely opening of shoulders and inversion of wrists. Going gradually from the simple to the complicated you can do the next sequence of motions. Put your palms behind buttocks turning fingers back and arise hips up till the whole body becomes in one line. Then come down on the floor, make finger lock, reverse the lock and arise straight arms up, as if you push the ceiling with your palms, stretching the body upward. Again come back to the original position, put hands aside buttocks turning fingers forward, and perform Purvottanasana one more time though it will be much harder. Finally put buttocks on the floor and arise straight arms up turning your fingers back as if you would perform handstand on the ceiling.

The last pose requires significant efforts, though extrinsically it looks quite simple. But the point is that ordinary person’s wrist is undeveloped to an extent that he is not able to make at least the right angle between back of the hands and forearm. Yoga-teachers recommend a special preparatory exercise for working out the wrist apart from the wall. Stand on all fours, turn fingers back, closely press palms against the floor, and try to sit down on your heels without losing contact between palms and floor. In so doing you are required to bend wrists to opposite side till the acute angle. Of course, after that you will be able to make the right angle without any efforts and even with feeling of distinct release. It was noticed that you will need the same position of hands for mastering any type of handstand; and there are an innumerable multitude of these asanas. However not all of them are necessarily inverted postures, therefore you will start to learn them very soon.

Invariable Sense of Equilibrium

Unnecessarily to struggle for cultivating sense of equilibrium since psychological demand is undeniable. In this case the border between psychic and physical abilities is essentially thin. In league of mind and body the one’s weakness calls another’s weakness invariably. You will feel perplexedly, if you stumble accidentally, and vice versa you stumble on level ground unless you are racked in verity of your deed and have no self-confidence. Equilibrium is a quality of consciousness, which is needed for many asanas including special group of balancing postures. We are going to explore herein nothing else than last-mentioned asanas, but don’t forget that your developed sense of equilibrium will be required very often. You need to keep balance in inverted asanas, both at back and forward bends, in all kinds of combined variations (like headstand with twisting).

For performing of any balancing postures you should just slightly touch the wall controlling equilibrium or stand close to the wall to correlate body position with its surface. Formerly we marked few poses among standing asanas where you need to keep the balance. However there are a lot of standing postures on one leg which are suitable specifically for development of equilibrium as well as some sitting asanas demand of stability. All of them are mastered according to the general arrangement. Firstly you perform them against the wall; then you touch the wall with one point of the body; finally you stand apart of the wall but keep such a distance that you could easily lean on its surface in the same moment when you loose the balance. Yoga-teachers always note that the secret of equilibrium is fixed looking on any selected stationary point, and then lower the point then easier to stand without shaking.

But there are some special events also: for instance, when you perform Navasana then the wall can serve as a counterbalance. Thrust your feet against the wall at the face level, keeping half-bent legs, and gradually straighten them pushing off the wall and removing corpus backward. This motion helps to produce tension, which is necessary for alignment of spine and head in slanting line. You may interlock your fingers and put the lock under the nape in order to release retention of pose. Check how the power of pushing feet against the wall is converted into the power for keeping your spine erect. You create the force in your legs and then move this force through your body up resembling the current’s transfer by wire. Then try to stay off the wall but continue pushing imaginary wall to reproduce in flesh the same effort. When the body becomes the erect one then it will work as the required counterbalance to legs, and you will be able to maintain equilibrium.

After you mastered Navasana apart from the wall, you can use the skill for performing the next asana. Exactly in the same way Ubhaya Padangushtasana is held by pushing legs forward. It looks very similar with Navasana though there is the only difference: you hold big toes with your fingers or put your palms on your footsteps. In that case you make the same effort to keep the equilibrium, but you push your feet against own hands instead of the wall. At the perfect stretching of straight legs, arms and spine, the whole body forms a triangle, which is required to be kept standing on one corner. If you have already aligned all sides and created necessarily tension inside of structure then the asana has stabilized down to the ground. Now you can face up without any difficulty and even face back (turning your head up) and close your eyes calmly. When all three sides of triangle are fixed, then you can relax and allow them elongate, but your body will not shake even in the slightest degree.

Twisting: One Wall from Both Sides

The psychology of twisting is plenty ambiguous as well as the twisting itself is a paradoxical motion. Starting from psychophysiology namely twisting has the strongest effect on spinal column that is main channel of connection between brain and all the rest of your body. Nervous system in totality depends upon the condition of spinal column therefore twisting helps to make true the impaired coordination of movement, to make away with psychosomatic diseases of internals, and restore emotional security. Flexibility of spine means youth of body — the statement is not unreasonable to be repeated many times, since it is really multifaceted. Symbolically twisting develops the skill to writhe oneself free or dislocate from any situation. Any twisting in asana should be mastered on both sides, and this habit works as insurance from phenomenon of kinking in all senses.