Trainings l Retreats
What are the benefits of pranayama? In his book, Prana and Pranayama, Swami Niranjanda Saraswati writes: “In the yoga text is written that through pranayama one can control one’s circumstances and character and harmonize the individual life with the cosmic…
The koshas as map to balance yourself In his book Prana and Pranayama, Swami Niranjananda Saraswati, writes: One who identifies with anandamaya kosha is a yogi. He has evolved to the spiritual realm, where all the experiences are spiritual experiences’.…
Explore the koshas! When you go hiking in the Himalayan Mountains, you need a topography map showing the mountainous terrain. In Delhi City, you need to know the city blocks and major sites to orient yourself. Within yoga, a different…
Nadis In addition to the seven chacras of the subtle body, the scriptures have described a network of subtle channels known as nadis through which the life force (prana) circulates. The Sanskrit word nadi derives from the root nad, which…
Clear the nadis and chacras with pranayama At pranic level, in their initial stage the practises of pranayama clear up the nadis, energy pathways in the body. The scriptures say there are over 72.000 nadis or pathways of prana in…
Prana Let’s talk a bit more about prana. The Sanskrit word prana is a combinatation of two syllables, pra and na and denotes constancy, a force in constant motion. The chhandogya Upanishad (1.11:5) says: “ In prana all moveable and…
Kumbhaka: the yogic trip Personally I love to perform Kumbhaka. This is the moment when you hold your breath in between the inhalation and the exhalation. I remember, one of my yoga teachers nicknamed the effect of kumbhaka “ the…
We can differentiate three types of breathing. 1.Clavicle breathing is the most shallow and worst possible type of breathing. The shoulders and collarbone are raised while the abdomen is contracted during inhalation. Maximum effort is made, but a minimum amount…
I started studying yoga about eight years ago. At the time my breath was often shallowly, my shoulders were hunched and I had a painful tension in the upper part of the back and neck. Yoga practise helped me to…
‘Tasmin sati åvâsa-praåvâsayor gati-vicchedaï prâñâyâmaï’ (YS 2.49) ‘The asana having been done, pranayama is the cessation of the movement of inhalation and exhalation” The fourth limb of Ashtanga yoga is pranayama. Georg Feuerstein explains this sutra as following: “When…