Cleaning the Nadis - AnandaAcademy

Nadi Shodhana - Alternate Nostril

Ujjayi "Ocean Breath" - "The Victorious Breath"

The Bandhas - Mula, Uddiyana, Jalandhara

Surya Namaskar - Sun Salutation

Sit in a comfortable meditative position with straight back and relaxed shoulders.

With your right hand, lightly place the pad of the thumb on your nose just to the right and below the bridge; lightly place the pads of your ring and little fingers on the corresponding flesh of the left side of your nose. The index and middle fingers can be clinched in a fist or extended toward the forehead.

Gently press with the ring and little fingers to close the left nostril, exhale fully through the right. Then inhale fully through the right, close it with the thumb, release the left nostril, and exhale through it. Inhale through the left nostril, close it with the fingers, release the right nostril, and exhale through it.

This represents one full round of Nadi Shodhana that cleans both the Ida and Pingala.

You can also do half rounds and focus for 12 half rounds for cleaning Ida and 12 half rounds for cleaning Pingala.

USEFUL TIPS
Begin to inhale and exhale through your mouth. Start with a long exhale where you begin to tone the back of your throat (your glottis or soft palate) slightly constricting the passage of air. You should hear a soft hissing sound.

Once you are comfortable with the exhale method, begin to apply the same contraction of the throat to the inhalines. You should once again, hear a soft hissing sound. This is where the name of the breath comes from, as it sounds like the ocean.

When you are able to control the throat on both the inhale and the exhale, close the mouth and begin breathing through the nose. Continue applying the same toning to the throat that you did when the mouth was open. The breath will still make a noise coming in and out of the nose.

The Mula Bandha at the base chakra helps the energy flow toward the direction of your navel through the pelvic region. It stops energy from moving downwards.

For a perfect Mula Bandha or Root Lock, pull the perineum inward. The perineum, the spot between the anus and the genitals (men) / pelvic floor (women) (initially your anus will lift into the body, but over time, with refinement, it will stay neutral).

To attain this posture, sit straight in a meditative pose. Then, inhale and concentrate on contracting your anus and the pelvic floor. Try to draw your pubic bone upward and inward. Following that, exhale and unlock the lock slowly. Repeat it ten times. Continue to practice this until you master in isolating the perineum while it contracts.

1. Sit upright in a meditative pose.
2. Inhaling, contract the entire pelvic floor, pulling inward and upward.
3. Exhaling, slowly release it. Repeat 10 times.
4. Practice the same contractions but reverse the breathing, contracting on the exhalation and relaxing on the inhalation.
5. Now focus on the perineum, contract and pull that area inward and upward. Exhaling, release it.
6. Again, reverse the breathing, performing the contraction with the exhalation and relaxing it with the inhalation.
7. Continue over a number of practice sessions until you can isolate the perineum while it contracts, and maintain the contraction while you continue to breathe for ten or more breaths.

Mula bandha is performed by contracting and lifting inward and upward the muscles of the perineum.

If you are not quite sure how to engage mula bandha, think of doing a Kegel exercise; imagine you are urinating and stopping the flow quickly. That is engaging your perineum.

To begin, it helps to simultaneously contract other accentuating muscle groups, for example, gently squeezing the knees together (by contracting the adductors) increasing contraction of the pelvic floor muscles. Pressing the hands together has the same effect. This phenomenon is known as 'recruitment.'

On an energetic level, the apana vayu (one of the ten forms of energy discussed in yoga physiology) is raised upwards to combine with the prana vayu, thus generating energy of a higher dimension, facilitating the awakening of the kundalini. Mula bandha helps to maintain celibacy by acting to sublimate sexual energy and raise it to higher chakras.

Uddiyana "flying upward" bandha is to be done while holding our breath at the end of a full exhalation (known as bhaya kumbhaka), then "make a false inhalation, keeping the glottis closed and expanding in the chest, as though breathing in but not actually taking in air."

To lock the Uddiyana Bandha:
Inhale deeply and fully exhale deeply, holding the breath out; pulling the belly in toward the spinal column without releasing the breath. BKS Iyengar instructs to "lift the diaphragm high up in the thorax and to pull in the abdominal organs against the back of the spine." Notice how scooped in and up the belly is.

Hold it for 10 - 15 seconds and then release slowly by softening the abdomen and taking an inhalation.

* Step 1: Pranamasana – Prayer pose

Stand facing the direction of the sun with your feet together. Bring your palms together, palm to- palm, at the heart. Expand your chest and relax your shoulders.
Inhale as you lift hands from the side and exhale when you bring your both palms together at chest

* Step 2: Hastauttanasana – Raised arms pose

Inhale and rise hands upward, slowly bend backward with the biceps close to your ears. Stretch the whole body from heels to the tip of fingers.

* Step 3: Hasta Padasana – Hand to foot pose

Exhale, slowly bend forward from the waist, touch the earth with head touching the knees, keep the spine erect.

1. Surya Namaskara done regularly renders these 3 organs capable of resisting diseases:
- Digestive organs: stomach, liver, intestines etc.
- Heart and lungs: cold, coughs, asthma, etc.
- Nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord.
2. Normalization of the immune function as per the individual needs.
3. Improvement in cardio-respiratory function with prevention and control of respiratory and cardiac conditions.
4. Activation of a sluggish neuro-endocrine system with normalizing of metabolic function.
5. Improvement of general posture with creation of a strong and flexible spine.
6. Skeletal musculature function is enhanced in both the upper and lower limbs.
7. Improved circulation to the whole spinal and para spinal area.
8. Helps strengthen muscles and joints
9. Helps with insomnia: Surya Namaskara asanas will help calm your mind, giving you a good sleep.
10. Strengthen muscles and joints.
11. A regular menstrual cycle: Sun salutation can also be beneficial for women who are suffering from irregular menstrual cycles as it helps regulate it.
12. Lower blood sugar Level: Surya Namaskar also aid in bringing down your blood sugar levels.
13. Sun salutation helps you to lose weight.
14. Strengthens the heart.

Hong Sau

Kriya Chakras

Kechari Mudra

Maha Mudra & Yoni Mudra

The energy needed to keep the body functioning is like a magnet that draws us into matter consciousness and restlessness.

Every night we experience the reverse of this principle when we sleep. Then our energy is withdrawn from the periphery of our body and into the spine. This is why sleep is so rejuvenating. Paramhansa Yogananda, however, called sleep “counterfeit samadhi (oneness),” because it is a subconscious act, as opposed to meditation, in which we use our conscious will.

The direction of the flow of our inner energy determines our state of consciousness. Breathing techniques, like Hong-Sau, allow us to redirect this energy inward so we can experience a higher level of consciousness.

While many meditation methods ask you to concentrate on something outside of yourself, the beauty of the Hong-Sau technique is that you focus on something inside of you—the breath. Since our minds are naturally drawn toward movement, the breath also is a natural focal point for meditation.

The Hong-Sau Technique of Paramhansa Yogananda is the perfect tool for developing the concentration needed for practicing meditation. Its purpose is to help still the mind by calming the breath and focusing on the mantra Hong Sau, "I AM Spirit."

Swami Kriyananda wrote in The New Path, “Devotees attempting inward communion with God often find their efforts thwarted by restless thoughts. But long ago yogis found a technique for overcoming this obstacle. The breath, they discovered, is intimately related to the mental processes. A restless mind accompanies a restless breath. By simple, effective techniques for calming the breath, they found they could free the mind more easily for divine contemplation.”

As the breath flows, so flows the mind, yogis say, because there is a feedback system between the mind and the breath. As the breath becomes calmer, so does the mind, and vice versa. In the practice of Hong-Sau we concentrate on the breath, and as we do so, the quieter it becomes.

The Great Seal
maha = great, mighty, strong
mudra = sealing, shutting, closing

Breathing:
Executing this pose properly while engaging all three bandhas is considered to be the ultimate test of the breath because mahamudra restricts all the normal respiratory movements out of the body cavities: There is strong stabilizing action in the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, the rib cage is held in a lifted position, the costovertebral joints are immobilized by thoracic twisting, and the sternum is lifted into the chin by the scalenes. All in all, the body is forced to find another, unusual way to breathe.

This is the structural reason why, when all the usual, visible, external breath movements have been stabilized, something deep in the core of the system must mobilize via a new pathway. That pathway is commonly referred to in Yogic literature as Susumna – the central channel.

The word Yoni signifies the Ultimate Brahman of Brahmayoni.

The sequence of steps for Yoni Mudra:
Sit straight with spine straight, eyes closed. Place your thumbs on the ears and the index fingers resting gently on the eyelashes. Place the middle fingers on the respective nostrils. The ring fingers are placed above the lips and the little fingers below them. Ensure that your elbows are at shoulder level, parallel to the ground. Passively observe the breath. The mind may wander to other thoughts but gently bring it back to the breathe. Recommended practice: Practice daily in the morning / during the day, as required. Maintain the mental state for as long as possible.

Benefits of Yoni Mudra: Helps the mind to withdraw the senses–reduces unnecessary mind chatter. Provides the required pause–needed for a change of perception. Greatly aids in bringing a distracted mind to attentiveness. Brings clarity of thought. Brings about peace and harmony.

"Kriya Yoga is an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened," Sri Yukteswar explained to his students.

"The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India's unique and deathless contribution to the world's treasury of knowledge. The life force, which is ordinarily absorbed in maintaining heart action, must be freed for higher activities by a method of calming and stilling the ceaseless demands of the breath."
- Sri Yukteswar