Review > Why Everyone Needs to Have the Bihar Yoga App

There are plenty of yoga apps out there. Some are free while others come at a nominal cost. You can take your pick from guided yoga routines to detailed instructions for specific poses, relaxing meditations and even asana based workouts for weight loss, strength training, core building et al. But my affinity to the traditional teachings of the Bihar School of Yoga led me to their app: Bihar Yoga.

The seemingly simple interface includes a wealth of information in print as well as guided practices, chants and meditations. Most of the printed text is from the bestselling book Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha. Even if you possess the book it is just very convenient to have it on your phone/tab for a quick reference. But what I love most about the Bihar Yoga app are the guided practices of Satyananda Yoga Nidra and Meditation. These are crystal clear recordings in the voices of Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati. Available in English as well as Hindi I really think these are priceless!

Satyananda Yoga Nidra was devised by Swami Satyananda Saraswati as a deep relaxation technique. This simple practice has a profound transformative effect on practitioners, inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. Available in different variants for Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced practitioners I would highly recommend everyone to take the time out to just lie back and follow the guided talk. Especially in today’s times when most lifestyle diseases stem from stress and inadequate sleep, Satyananda Yoga Nidra proves to be a very powerful antidote. Even if you feel that kicking back with a book or watching television with the family are relaxing activities, they are mere sensory distractions. In Yoga Nidra, the state of relaxation is reached by turning inwards, away from outer experiences.

For more details about this powerful technique you may buy the book, Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. But for now let me suffice by saying that enough research has gone into proving the therapeutic effects of sleep. Yet, unless you are free from muscular, mental and emotional tensions you can never truly relax. The practice of Yoga Nidra is the scientific method of removing these tensions. During the practice of Yoga Nidra, one appears to be asleep, but the consciousness is functioning at a deeper level of awareness, leading you to the state of dynamic sleep. It is thus a more efficient and effective form of psychic and physiological rest and rejuvenation than conventional sleep.

I could go on and on about the benefits of this fantastic practice, but I hope you are already inspired to experience its wonderful effects on yourself.

Healthy Practice > The Most Important Reason To Try Jal Neti

Many years ago I had a mild allergy that led me to bouts of sneezing, watery eyes, et al. After ruling out sinusitis and various other allergies, it seemed that I was "allergic" to stress and fatigue. Actually, the body's immunity falls drastically in conditions of stress and exhaustion, hence one is susceptible to allergic reactions. As a result, every time I was preparing for any exams in school or college my allergy would come up. And if I prepared for my exams over a couple of months the symptoms would remain over that many months. But I realised this correlation between stress and sneezing only much later. When I started working for a magazine, whenever the pages were being readied to be sent for printing my sneezing would return. A regular anti-allergy pill usually settled the condition.

Over the years, as I practiced yoga consistently and moved to freelancing (that reduced the stress of sending a magazine to press) I thought I had outgrown this condition. In the last few weeks however my day-long bouts of sneezing started again. Only now, I am wary of popping pills. I do like to experience the magic of yoga and our ancient techniques that actually help the body to cure itself rather than merely suppressing the symptoms by having a medicine.

I had, of course, heard of Jal Neti, but had never tried it (not even during my teacher's training course at the Sivananda Dhanwantari Ashram, Kerala). Like most people I just didn't like the idea of taking in water through one nostril and expelling it from the other, and alternating this procedure. I used to call these techniques "abusive", justifying the label by saying that it was "unnatural" to treat a body this way. But in reality these practices are a far more natural alternative to healing a body than ingesting chemical laden medicines.

The Technique
1. Buy a neti pot. They come in various materials including different types of metals or plastic. Since I wasn't sure how long I would practice jal neti, I avoided the metal one since it was more expensive and bought a plastic pot online. It is light and convenient. I even plan to carry it with me for my forthcoming vacation.
2. Pour lukewarm saline water into the pot.
3. Now tilt your head to one side and slightly back.
4. Insert the nozzle of the pot into the upper nostril; keep your mouth open and continue to breathe through your mouth. Insert the nozzle gently but thoroughly to ensure that water doesn't leak out from the same nostril.
5. The water will naturally flow out of the other nostril.
6. Now repeat with the other nostril.
7. Centre the head and look downward to let the excess water flow out.
8. Gently blow your nose to remove excess mucous.
9. I also like to rinse my mouth once I'm done.

The whole process doesn't take more than 2 minutes. I do it right after brushing my teeth in the morning.

The Benefits
1. It clears up the sinuses and removes mucous from the hard to reach areas.
2. Especially beneficial if you stay in a city with a high rate of air pollution.
3. It cools the eyes from within.
4. It helps deal with and prevent various respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, etc.
5. Even if you don't have any breathing problems, you will realise that you're breathing much better.
6. And the most important benefit according to me, and one that inspired me to write this post is that having both the nostrils unobstructed have lots of positive effects on the entire body.
In the benefits of this practice, Swami Satyananda Saraswati has explained in the book Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha: "A balance is brought between the left and right nostrils and the corresponding left and right brain hemispheres." This leads to harmony between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of the body which is important to induce a state of balance throughout the body and the systems governing circulation as well as digestion.

So, there you go! I hope I have inspired you to give jal neti a shot because of its far reaching benefits on overall health and not merely a technique to clear the nose.

Yoga > The Importance of Bandhas and Mudras Explained Very Simply

As a dedicated practitioner of yoga for more than 15 years now, I have always been very partial to one of the 8 limbs of yoga - asanas. A few years ago I started enjoying pranayama. And although I do practice certain mudras and try to incorporate bandhas in my practice I had never really understood the importance of the latter two. This is fine because mudras and bandhas are usually introduced after some proficiency has been attained in the practice of asana and pranyama. 

But the latest issue of the Yoga magazine, published by the Bihar School of Yoga helped demystify the mudras and bandhas. Understanding how they impact our energy body, and hence our complete entity, motivates one to understand these subjects deeper and also make them a part of our regular practice. 

Mudras: In the article entitled 'Hatha Yoga' by Swami Niranjananda Saraswati, it is explained that mudras and bandhas are ways to enhance the workings of the energy body. As observed by various scientific experiments under Kirlian photopgraphy (a camera that captures the images of our energy body) it has been seen that even simple mudras of the hand (some mudras even involve the whole body in a combination of asana, pranayama, band and visualisation techniques) help to preserve and reabsorb the energy that may otherwise get dissipated or wasted. To give you an example, in the jnana mudra, the hand gesture of joining the tips of the thumb and index finger, it was observed that the energy that would have dissipated from the hands, re-enters the body. In other words when one practices mudras in accordance with yogic scriptures and under the guidance of an experienced teacher, the energy can be recycled within our body.  

Bandhas: The same article explains the application and importance of bandhas very simply. Bandhas are locks in the physical body that impact the pranic or the energy body. Bandhas are applied in the three major areas of our body where there is a large mass of nerves. One group of nerves is in the neck region, another is behind the navel in the abdomen and the third is near the rectum. Physically, these are centres that collect sensations from the body and deliver them to the brain. But when you apply a bandha, these sensations are contained in one region and the energy flow is limited only to one place! "Why must we do that?" you may be wondering. 
Swami Niranjananda explains this through an example. "When a running tap is closed it builds pressure. Gradually the pressure increases. Then when the tap is opened, the pipe throws the water swiftly through the tap, and the water pressure normalises. Similarly, the use of bandhas unites the energy by blocking it, then by releasing the bandha the energy is distributed more evenly."

For more details on Mudras and Bandhas refer to the book Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. 

Yoga > The Pawanmuktasana Series – Simple, Yet Highly Effective

I have been talking about the simple asanas being very effective. What could be more effective that the Pawanmuktasana series as designed by Swami Satyanand Saraswati! I can safely vouch for this series to be solely responsible for strengthening my muscles gently and preparing my body for more intermediate and advanced asana practice.

The Series: For details on the Pawanmuktasanas either consult a teacher certified by the Bihar School of Yoga or refer to the book titled Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyanand Saraswati himself. The detailed instructions and diagrams are sufficient to get you started on these series that have almost no, or negligible, contraindications.

The Benefits: As prescribed by Swami Satyanand the Pawanmuktasana series must precede other asanas. Holding an asana for a long duration (even if it is only for half a minute) can be quite intense on the muscles involved. The repetitive movements of the Pawanmuktasana series prepare the muscles gently to enable the holding of a posture comfortably and joyously, instead of putting a strain on the muscle and making one prone to injury.

But if one was to do the complete series it can even amount to a full body workout. In fact, the complete series provides a very balanced routine because it engages most of your limbs and muscles. Just because it seems very gentle it may look rather ineffective as far as toning up the body is concerned. But actually, if you practice the complete series just for a month you'll notice considerable physical effects, including toning of the abs.

The ‘simple’ hand, foot and neck movements are anti rheumatic, the ‘simple’ leg movements are great for digestion and strengthening the abdominal muscles and ‘simple’ exercises like chakkichalan and rowing are great for shakti bandhas. And beyond the aforementioned benefits these seemingly simple exercises work at various levels like loosening and stretching of muscles, nerves and joints at the physical level and even at the deeper levels of the energy and the mind.

The Modern Application: Although it can work up to be an effective cardio activity, the simplicity of movements ensures that it works gently even on stiff muscles, hence greatly reducing the chance of injury. I also feel that the Pawanmuktasana series may have been the base for vinyasa yoga, and hence most of the trendy and new age flow yoga styles. In this series the emphasis is on movement and repetition. 

My Experience: Even though I have been practicing yoga consistently, whenever I let go of the pawanmuktasanas for a long gap I start seeing the stiffness coming back into the body, especially in my shoulder joints or wrists. I have thus decided to incorporate the Pawanmuktasana series regularly in my practice.