the nature of movement & health - moving into harmony · the subtle body and yogic physiology...

�

Season Finale September 2017

The Nature of Movement & Health

The Nature of Movement & HealthPrāna and the practice of Hatha Yoga �1 © Moving Into Harmony 2017

�


The Nature of Movement & Health Prana and the practice of Hatha Yoga

Prāna is the energetic matrix that weaves a tapestry of embodied life. Prāna animates all matter, reveals the full spectrum of colors of pure light, and is the origin of movement. For humans, it animates and protects the body, enlivens the mind, and creates the ego through the individualization of the soul.

“It is life’s inspiration and foundation, the urge toward harmony and health, and provides shelter from the storms of the world. It is the unifying energy behind all things in the web of life, the one in the all.” (S.Blossom, C.Tompkins, C.Easton)

Anatomy of Prāna

The gross body, or physical body is composed of that which we can see and touch. It consists of multiple systems that include the glands, organs, brain and nerves, connective tissues, muscles, bones, and joints. These are considered the most dense of prāna. The gross body is supported and modulated by the physiological body which constitutes the circulatory flow of the prānic force in the connective tissues’ fluid matrix and its communication channels, or nādis. These pathways, or channels, have movement that is more similar to electrical force, such as those produced with ground reaction in the form of a pisoelectrical current, and encompass parts of the body in relationship that are not logical.

In these pathways, the prānic force, is subdivided into five directional qualities that circulate in different areas of the body. These directional qualities are related to “winds” (vāyus), that move and carry out all functions and activities of the physical, physiological, energetic, sensory and mental levels of our being.


�


The vāyus can be influenced on the surface of the body at key junction points, called marmas. These key junctions are like gates or doorways that are accessible to those that practice yoga to undo, or open, and direct the flow of prāna. These key junctions are the intersection of muscular patterns, joints, arteries and veins, lymphatics, nerves and subtle currents within the connective tissue layers that communicate and adjoin structures. There are vulnerable areas where the prāna can be blocked or dissipated from the influence of the mind, breath, movement, gravitational forces of the earth and moon, and trauma.

Each marma is associated with specific vāyus, nādis, dhātus, and channels. These serve as the basic tools in the practice for revealing the alignment and interconnectedness of the gross and subtle body. Learning to work with the marmas is important for the development and cultivation of the proper supports reducing the muscular effort required in the shapes, and develop abilities to influence internal activities of the organs and neurological system while shifting from a physical exercise to an energetic practice.

The Subtle Body and Yogic Physiology

Prāna is considered a condensed form of consciousness. Chaya, or the shadow of God, is depicted as a black dog in Yogic astrology. Because of this condensation, experience creates analogs in the mind and translate into the body through the mediated energetics in the nādis.

“All 72,000 nādis coverage in the center of the body, the navel, and transverse out of it upwardly, downwardly and outwardly of the navel from all sides. Fixed in the navel (cakra) among them are 10 principal nādis. {The most important} three among these are the lunar, solar, and gracious channels. These 10 nādis are called the carriers of the prāna-vāyus.

The trik, three pronged fork of Shiva, represents the three most important -

๏ Sushumna - (the “gracious”) central channel runs like a column of fire from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. It pierces the chakras. It relates to the sattvic quality.


�


๏ Idā - (the “lunar”) channel has a cooling, feminine, receptive, pluralistic nature. It carries apāna, the downward movement of breath, or inhalation. It relates to tāmas inspiring creative imagination, good speech, and clear vision. Carries devotional qualities of love and caring. This nādi, delivers the nourishment of prāna to the body - the rest and digest, parasympathetic activities.

๏ Pingalā - (the “solar”) channel is heating, masculine, active, egocentric and pointed nature. It carries prāna, the breath that “flow out,” or exhalation, which is hot like the sun. It relates to rājas empowering, motivational, and determination. It orients us toward goals, pursuit of knowledge (jyāna) and clear perception. This nādi mobilizes the prāna of the body - the stress response of fight, flight, or freeze phenomena associated with the sympathetic activities in the body.

“Prāna is the day, moving upward through the right {solar} channel. The ‘sun’ is said to rise through the course of the right nostril channel. Apāna is said to be the night, moving downward through the left {lunar} channel.” - Kālottara Tantra (translated by C. Tompkins)

Idā and Pingalā begin at the third eye and wrap around the Sushumna nādi like interwoven spirals that terminate at the base of the spine, in the mūlādhāra chakra. Their functions are complementary and relate to right-left brain activity, and therefore dominance of hand use, and well as a dominance of mental or emotional processes will influence the flow within the nādis.

Āsana

In the Hatha Yoga texts, āsana practice is the first step toward the penultimate goal of self-realization and samādhī. Āsana creates steadiness, harmony, and lightness in the body. When mind and prāna are synchronized, like two dancers in the water, health is promoted. The texts encourage a place to practice free of distraction, overexertion, over socialization, and greed. Also practicing with enthusiasm, opens, courage, knowledge of the truth, perseverance and privacy reflect on the qualities of the yamas and niyamas.


�


Shandor Remete in his book Shadow Yoga(Chaya Yoga) comments on the role of āsana:

“Āsana plays a great role in enlivening the yamas and niyamas. This occurs because in the work of āsana one is able to observe in action one’s behavior, both conscious and unconscious. The innumerable variations of the five body positions of forward, sideward, backward, twists, and balances bring about different states of transformation. This is achieved through their influences over the five major winds (vayus) responsible for the basic life functions. It is of great importance that we understand the relationship between the inner and outer work in the practice. The gross body constantly influences the subtle currents and the power of the breath (vayu) should arise from the proper placement of the body and fluid movement. This is only possible when each of the positions is performed on its point of balance without overuse or underuse of the limbs.” (p63-64).

Learning to inhabit one’s body through an embodied practice, really a somatic therapy, we learn about nature and grace. “The āsanas create a bridge between what we think and feel, to support the theoretical/philosophical integration with practice and allow the embodiment of wisdom-in-action.” (S.Blossom).

The Breath & the pause

A central aspect to the yogic practice is the pause and retention of the breath, known as kumbhaka. This pause, is the doorway to consciousness, where one has the possibility to recognize the resolution of contrasting qualities:

๏ Solar / Lunar

๏ In-breath / Out-breath

๏ Objective / Subjective

๏ Extroversion / Introversion

๏ External / Internal


�


“Hatha Yoga” is the process of fusing the apparent opposing energies. The Yoga practices, both Hatha and Raja, have the penultimate goal of achieving an experience of bring oneself back to our spiritual source.

Yoga is the reversal of the life process, and thus we can not act with the yoga the same way we act out life. The practices are designed not for health or therapy, but rather to promote harmony, activities of the mind and body conducive to good existence and well being. Through harmony, a person can begin the process of deepening their experiences and trace their prāna deeper into subtler layers of being. This in turn allows the body to do what it does best which is to take care of what is essential and what is not. As Dr. A.T. Still, D.O. states so eloquently about Hatha Yoga (according to Shandor Remete):

“apart from all ordinary methods of extraneous, artificial, or medicinal stimulation, and in harmonious accord with its own mechanical principles, molecular activities, and metabolic processes, may recover from displacements, disorganizations, derangements, and consequent disease, and regain its normal equilibrium of form and function in health and strength.” (Philosophy of Osteopathy, 1889)

The practice of Yoga is really about gaining insight into letting go of everything before we die so that the journey of life becomes spiritually enriched. Without this understanding of the alignment of the practice, one falls short due to intellectualizing rather than experiencing through practical means, and are not fully delivered the liberating wisdom contained within the journey of living and dying. Hatha Yoga is preparing the way of the dying path; for one begins to see the life behind this life.

The mind has the greatest influence on the prāna. Our mental habits create rhythms of internal and external movements, as well as concentrating the prānic force within the channels and the direction it flows. Changing the flow, or circulation, of prāna, is dependent on how we change our perception, breathing, or how a movement is carried out. The practice is meant to change the conditioning that binds the prāna in fixed and limited patterns, or rhythms, in the physical, physilogical/energetic, mental and emotional realms of human existence.


�


“Prāna and the mind are two a-joining fish in the river of life. When the breath is unsteady, the mind is unsteady. When the breath is steady, the mind is steady, and the yogi and yogini become steady. So one learns to control the breath.” Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā

Breath refers to the rhythmic movement of prāna throughout the body, accomplished with many aspects to the breathing process. The first steps are to feel the nature of the shapes and their influence on the phases of the breath - the inhale, the pause, the exhale, the pause. Before pranayama, or “breath control” (for example - inhale for 6, exhale for 12), by understanding the first 3 limbs of Yoga on cultivates these qualities in the mind, and therefore the prāna:

๏ possessing self-control (yama = restraint)

๏ eating a suitable moderate diet (niyama = virtuous observances)

๏ mastering āsanas = (posture)

Krishnāmachārya stated “when the yamas and niyamas are well established, the mastery of the āsanas becomes easily accomplished.” Of all the yamas and niyamas, Hatha Yoga texts place special emphasis on mitāhāra - the controlled intake of right foods. Because the yamas and niyamas are engaged throughout the practice, lifestyle guidance of proper intake is the external practice.

About Cleansing

During a cleansing practice it is important to consider intake of food and see how this transfers into the rest of life during the integration phase after the cleanse. Altering food intake, even temporarily, has a significant affect on the mental and emotional predispositions of one’s personality characteristics. If one is able to step into self-inquiry, this process can help one delve into the sublime foundational tendencies in one’s psychological makeup. This is a personal inquiry and discovery and therefore there are not set rules or means in which to explore. The key is with compassion and perseverance.


�


Mitāharā is a very useful and relatively benign practice that has the potential to improve the health of all the tissues (dhatus) and serve as the fuel for the transformative nature of self-inquiry and reflection into:

๏ likes / dislikes

๏ attachments / aversions

๏ desires / fears

๏ agendas to practice / lethargy

๏ integration / disintegration

This practice also helps to unveil one’s perception of nourishment and satisfaction. Eating extends beyond the gut to the nature of our impressionable nature. The inability to digest the physical, mental, emotional experiences of life is considered the root of dis-ease and suffering. This is a very important step to consider before one pursues deeper more powerful and demanding practices of pranayama and meditation.


the nature of movement & health - moving into harmony · the subtle body and yogic physiology...

Documents