http://www.historyindia.com/TGI/
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Vote for up to 10 out of 50 nominees that you think are most deserving. Make your vote count.
The following asanas are very beneficial for insomnia. You don’t have to practice all of them, but you do have to practice them in sequence. For example, you wouldn’t practice shoulderstand before headstand. Try to practice as much of the sequence you have time for – before bed each night. Once the insomnia is under control, you can practice the sequence less often, 1 or 2x per week.
1. Uttanasana (standing forward bend)
2. Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged standing forward bend)
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog)
4. Adho Mukha Virasana (child pose)
5. Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)
6. Janu Sirsasana (knee to head pose)
7. Adho Mukha Paschimottanasana
8. Supta baddha Konasana (reclined cobblers pose)
9. Supta Virasana (reclined hero’s pose)
10. Salamba Sirsasana (headstand)
11. Salamba Sarvangasana (shoulderstand)
12. Halasana (plow pose)
13. Setu bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose)
14.Swastikasana (simple crosslegged pose)
15. Viparita Karani (legs up on the wall pose)
16. Savasana (corpse pose)
I have explained this to my students in class; however, it is much clearer when taught by the Master himself!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.
Information taken from BKS Iyengar’s “Light on Yoga”
Savasana means ‘corpse pose’. In this asana the object is to imitate a corpse. Once life has departed, the body remains still and no movements are possible. By remaining motionless for some time and keeping the mind still while you are fully conscious, you learn to relax. This conscious relaxation invigorates and refreshes both the body and mind. It is much harder to keep the mind still than the body. Therefore this apparently easy posture is one of the most difficult to master.
Technique:
• Lie flat on your back, keep the hands away from the thighs with the palms facing up.
• Close the eyes. If possible place a cloth (or eyepillow) over the eyes. Keep the heels together and the toes apart.
• Begin by breathing deeply (through the nostrils). No jerky movements should disturb the spine or the body.
• Concentrate on deep and fine exhalations, in which the nostrils do not feel the warmth of the breath.
• The lower jaw should hang loose and not be clenched. The tongue should not be disturbed (Meaning it should not be pressing into the roof of the mouth). The pupils of the eyes should be kept completely passive.
• If the mind wanders, pause without any strain after each slow exhalation.
• Stay in the pose between 15-20 minutes. (Most yoga classes practice Savasana between 5 and 10 minutes. When practicing at home try to find time to practice for at least 10 minutes to gain all benefits).
When the nerves become passive, one feels energy flow from the back of the head towards the heels. One also feels as if the body is elongated.
Benefits:
• Chapter 1, Verse 32 of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika states ‘Lying upon one’s back on the ground at full length like a corpse removes fatigue caused by the other asanas and induces calmness of the mind’.
• Chapter 2, Verse 11 of the Gheranda Samhita states, ‘lying on the ground in Savasana destroys fatigue and quiets the agitation of the mind’
• The mind is the organ of the senses- the Prana or the “breath of life.” Steady, smooth breathing in Savasana is the best antidote to the stresses of modern civilization.
Additional Benefits:
• Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
• Relaxes the body
• Reduces headache and insomnia
• Helps to lower blood pressure
I get to the check-in counter and the woman behind the counter tells me my bag is 9 kilos too heavy.
Okay, I’ll just pay the surcharge.
There is no surcharge maam you must take 9 kilos out of your suitcase and come back in line to reweigh it.
What?!
Yes, maam go over there.
Over where?
Over there in the back of the line.
What!?
Yes, over there.
I have to wait in this line again?!
No, No, just come back to me.
I proceed to take my overstuffed suitcase to the side and empty it onto the floor taking out books and other souvenirs that added weight to my suitcase. I stuff as much as I can into a small plastic bag, my backpack and my computer bag and return to the front of the line. A passenger yells at me not to cut, but I have a ‘very annoyed’ look on my face and he closes his mouth.
I put the suitcase on the scale again and she tells me to go back and take four more kilos out.
No, I say, I am doing it right here.
No maam you can’t.
I ignore her, open the suitcase and proceed to throw any article of clothing I think I won’t need ever again onto the floor.
Maam you can’t do this.
How many more kilos? I say.
Two.
I throw more clothes onto the floor.
Maam you can’t leave those clothes there.
I’m not, I am throwing them away.
What?
I have too many kilos and something has to go.
How many more?
You’re fine now.
Thank you. Did my waitlist for Business Class come through?
No maam.
I proceed to the immigration area…lovely…it’s a one hour and forty-five minute wait to get through the line. Thank goodness my flight has been delayed for three hours.
I get through immigration and proceed to the next line – Security. This line is short, only about 30 minutes. The woman security guard spent an additional ten minutes making sure I wasn’t an Irish terrorist.
It is now 1:30AM my flight doesn’t leave until 3:10AM, I’m tired, but the road is leading home.
I made it one of my unofficial goals to eat as many unknown fruits as I could while I was in India. Here are a few of the ones I tried.
On June 25th, 30,000 pilgrims marched through Pune to worship at a nearby temple. Here are just a few of them on their way home from the pilgrimage.
Pose of the Month – Utthita Trikonasana 
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