The two important inversion poses, Sirsasana and its better half
Sarvangasana, called the King and Queen of yogasanas are a unique
contribution of Yoga towards physical culture and physical therapy.
Several contemporary yogis have disputed the place of these poses and
have claimed that they perhaps are later day inventions. But in
Hatayoga they are considered as viparita karani mudras.

Hatayogapradipika refers to inversions as follows
“ There is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the
sun,( here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and
not from the books. If the position of the sun(stomach) is above and
the moon(the head) below (i.e., upside down) it is called
viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it from a Guru “
The pelvic area—kandasthana-, according to some yogis is a breeding
ground for many ailments. It is also the area from where 72.000 nadis
are said to emanate and also Kundalini. This area should be kept
clean. The dross should be burnt and blown away, figuratively
speaking. How does the Yogi do it?

We have an air principle in that area which is Apana Vayu. We have
also the fire principle in us in the abdominal area in the form of
gastric fire or Jataraagni. This flame is flowing upwards and in the
normal upright position the gastric fire is above the pelvic area,
flowing upward, sometimes when overactive, produces a burning
sensation in the esophagus producing the typical ‘heart burn”. The
Yogi by resorting to the inversions, as Headstand and Sarvangasana, is
able to place the pelvic area above the gastric area. Now the gastric
fire or jataragni,– figuratively speaking—flows towards the pelvic
area and heats and purifies the Nadis and the Kandasthan, arouses the
Kundalini with the heat. The fire is further supposed to be fanned and
intensified by directing the air tatwa or apana by Mula bandha; it
draws the apana closer to the fire principle and thereby the apana air
also becomes hotter and in turn melts away the dross of the
kandasthana and arouses the sleeping kundalini. So headstand and
shoulderstand, the mulabandha and the intense gastric fire help to
cleanse the nadis and the rogasthana or the disease prone area is
cleaned and spruced up.

There is another interesting concept associated with the inversions of
which I may have referred to in one of the earlier letters/articles.
It is said that our head contains a liquid called amrita which may be
translated as nectar. This nectar gives us life and drips drop by drop
through the uvula into the stomach where it is consumed by the gastric
fire to provide the life energy to live. This reservoir of nectar is
slowly used up and with its total depletion comes the end of one’s
life. The Yogi tries to ration the flow of the nectar, by remaining in
inverted position for a length of time every day—say between half an
hour to an hour or so. During the period of time the yogi is in head
stand and shoulder stand, the amrita remains stored in the head
without dripping down.
The Hatayogapradika has this to say

The Hatayogapradipika explains the inversion mudra as follows. “The
cool nectar that flows from the moon (here the head) is swallowed by
the hot sun (the gastric fire). Hence one’s body becomes aged. There
is a wonderful karana or procedure which helps to starve the sun,
(here the gastric fire). One may learn it only from a Guru, and not
from the books. If the position of the sun is above and the moon below
(i.e., upside down) it is called viparitakarani(inversion). Learn it
from a Guru. Do abhyaa of this inverted pose and increase the duration
every day. One who practices this for a yaama (3 hrs) daily will
conquer death”. When I was young I came across a Yogi who was said to
be practising sirsasana for three hours every day. His face had a
unique bluish tinge. He also practised Mouna or silence.

So by this daily practice, the Yogi is able to increase, so to say,
his/her lifespan by 5%, or say between 3 to 5 years. Normally after
Headstand the yogi is supposed to spend equal time in shoulder stand
as well.  In shoulder stand, amrita while still confined to the skull/
brain portion, now is allowed to flow to the entire head portion above
the neck and nourish all the sensitive sense organs, the two eyes, the
two ears, the mouth and the nose (shanmukha). This is also considered
necessary to maintain the acuity of the sense organs as they are way up
in the body and may not get the full nourishment .
Sarvangasana therefore is considered good for the sense organs whereas
the headstand is good for the brain.

The normal upright position and the chin up position in which we keep
our head, both result in a wasteful free flow of the limited amrita in
the head down the uvula to the gastric fire, like a free flowing tap.
The Yogis found it necessary to constantly control the flow of this
nectar and even temporarily stop it. They developed a simple technique
called Jalandhara bandha to temporarily stop and control the flow. The
term Jalandhara-bandha itself indicates the effect it is said to
produce. Jala means water and here it refers to the amrita or nectar
which is said to be in the liquid form. Dhara is to hold, here holding
the amrita in the head itself and bandha is the lock, the procedure
which helps to achieve the holding operation. So Jalandharabandha
means the lock that enables holding the nectar in the head. Of course
while we do asanas and pranayama we adjust the bandha in such a way
that we allow only a small and necessary amount of amrita to flow and
also maintain a good ujjayi control over the breath. That is why the
default position of the head in asana practice whether it is tadasana
or the seated Padmasana or Vajrasana is the head down position. One
could see the pictures of my Guru doing asanas and one could see his
head down position in most of them—even in asanas like urdhvamukha
svanasana or the well known upward facing dog pose. In the entire
vinyasakrama one would find the relaxed default head down position is
resorted to control the flow of amrita and the ujjayi breath.

Some contemporary yogis may read these metaphorical narrations with a
wry smile. However these inversions should be considered as unique
contributions of Yoga, for health. Within the first few minutes of
Sirsasana practice, the leg and thigh muscles, the gluteal muscles,
relax. The chest, back, shoulders and neck muscles also relax as all
these are not required to maintain the postural tone as in the upright
position. It has been found that due to the relaxation of the leg
muscles, the blood pressure in the legs drop to about 30mm.There is no
great rush of blood to the head among the adept yogis due to auto
regulation; yet the gravity helps to open up many capillaries in the
brain, head and face which may otherwise remain partially closed.
People with high blood pressure and retinal problems will have to be
careful. However persons with mild hypertension and under control with
diet, life style change and even medication could benefit from this
posture if they had learnt it from early life. It appears to increase
pressure on the shoulders which would result in the brain trying to
reduce the blood pressure. Therefore if one would practice Sirshasana
regularly for a sufficient duration, one’s pulse rate tends to reduce,
thereby reducing the strain on the heart. Gradually there is a
reduction in the blood pressure.

What is equally important is that Sirsasana helps improve circulation
of the cerebro spinal fluid, which is helpful to the brain and also
for the spinal nerve bundles—the chakras. Because of the increased
pressure in the brain due to this fluid, the pituitary secretions
increase helping the better functioning of the sympathetic nervous
system which will help in many ways including the dilatation of the
bronchial tubes giving great relief to asthmatics. There is draining
of the bronchial tubes, giving some welcome relief for those with
chronic chest congestion.  Many feel increased memory power and
general better brain capacity. There are cases of even some correction
of the eyesight. The vinyasas like the twists, Akunchanasana, the
backbends like Viparitadandasana in Sirsasana and Uttanamayurasana in
Sarvangasana help the spine considerably, by not only maintaining the
flexibility of this structure but also nourish the nadis and chakras
or nerve fibers and nerve bundles in the spinal chord.

In the inversions, as mentioned in earlier articles, the internal
organs get positional correction. Pregnant yoginis may find the
inversions help relieve pelvic congestion, oedema of the legs,
conditions that are prevalent during pregnancy. Practising the
inverted poses with the variety of vinyasas gives a complete massage
to all the muscles, organs and considerably increases the blood
circulation. Perhaps equally important is the effect of the twin poses
on the major joints– the ankles, the knees, the hips and the spine.
The intra-articular space within the joints improves and hence the
joint movements when one does the various vinyasas also will improve.
Dorsal and plantar flexions performed in the ankle joints while in
these asanas help the ankles significantly. Asanas like Akunchanasana
in inversions give good relief to the knees, while inversions  help
to open the hips by dragging the big pelvic girdle down a bit and
giving more space for the femur to move and rotate nicely within the
hip socket(pl. refer to Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga for headstand and
shoulder stand vinyasas). Perhaps the most benefit accrues to the
entire spine. The inter-vertebral space is enhanced and person who
practises these inversions and the vinyasas like akunchanasana and
backbends will find the spine stretching nicely and becoming more
flexible. The narrowing of the inter-vertebral space can be tackled
positively and the low back pain reduces significantly. I would say
that the inversions are the best yoga postures to alleviate low back
pain. Overall these inversions and the vinyasas in them help to keep
the spine supple and strong. It is said one is as old as the condition
of the spine. Further, because of the relaxation of the lower
extremities Sarvangasana is a good pose to help overcome insomnia.
These twin poses are very good for health.

Contemporary Yogis find the other important inversion, viz., the
Handstand or Vipritvrukshasna very popular. This is a great pose, with
a number of variations possible. However since the head is not fixed
in this group of poses, some of the finer aspects of the other two
head- fixed inversions (sarvangasana and sirshasana) may be missing.
One finds it more difficult to maintain balance and also stay for a
sufficiently long time in viparitavrikshasana or inverted tree pose
(Hand Stand) and other similar poses like scorpion pose etc. These two
regal poses stand  ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest in conferring
health benefits to the yogabhyasis.

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of Srivatsa Ramaswami

I first heard of Srivatsa Ramaswami as a student on PP10 when I read his book ‘The Basic Tenets of Patanjala Yoga’. I have read this book many times and like its clear and direct presentation. Some years later I bought Ramaswami’s book ‘Yoga for the Three Stages of Life’ which has also been well used.

When Ramaswami’s new book ‘The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga’ was released I began practicing the sequences that he presented and enjoyed the challenge trying different postures, sequences and variations. Having an overview of Vinyasa Krama helped to clarify my understanding of the system.  Here was another facet of Krishnamacharya’s legacy that I was keen to explore. I found some glowing reports on the internet by students that had studied with Ramaswami and I was hopeful of finding an opportunity to do so myself. I found that he offered some courses in the USA and The Chicago Yoga Centre was hosting a ‘Core Vinyasa Yoga’ teacher training programme so I booked the course, a flight and a hotel. On November 4th 2007 I arrived in Chicago and went to bed that night with eager anticipation about starting the course the next morning. The course was held at the conference room in Days Inn where I was staying.

I arrived for the first session and was greeted by Suddha Weixler, the director of CYC. He introduced me to Ramaswami and told him I had come from England. Ramaswami politely greeted me and I had an immediate feeling of joy and a sense of certainty that I had made the right decision in coming on the course.

Ramaswami began the first session with prayers and then a short talk. We then began practicing the tadasana sequence under his guidance. His calm, clear instructions lead us through the sequences. We completed many vinyasas and then took some rest. Ramaswami then took questions and gave some theory and insights into the practice. During the week we went through all the main sequences and postures that appear in his book with the exception of some advanced postures. During the sessions Ramaswami told delightful stories from the puranas and about his studies with Krishnamacharya. Sessions always ended with pratyahara, pranayama, meditation and a closing prayer.

In the evening we had lectures on the Yoga Sutra. Ramaswami presented this as a practical procedure that we could follow. I felt more confident and clear about my practice as a result. My faith in Yoga was renewed listening to Ramaswami’s inspired presentations.

It was funny that I had imagined one day meeting a Yoga master in a Himalayan location, but here I was practicing Yoga and listening to the sastras in Days Inn, Chicago!

It was a transformational week for me and I knew I wanted to study further with Ramaswami. He told me that there was a sadhana retreat organised for New Year at a location in New Dehli so I arranged to go on this. It was entitled ‘The Teachings of Krishnamacharya’ and was held at Purna Holistic, an Ayurvedic health centre and spiritual venue. It was my first visit to India and was all I could have hoped for. An authentic wonderful teacher, a beautiful venue where we were cared for with diligent attention, the company of lovely Yoga practitioners and hours a day immersed in Yoga study and practice. I was even sharing a bungalow with Christopher Chapple, the Yoga scholar, who had been instrumental in organising the event.

In the mornings we practiced asanas and then explored the therapeutic application of Yoga. After lunch we met for lectures on the Yoga Sutras. I loved every minute. Ramaswami taught with such clarity and enthusiasm that it made the subject practical, clear and achievable.

Back to the UK and I had decided to move from Yorkshire to Somerset to be with my partner Sally. I sold my house and took the opportunity to attend Ramaswami’s teacher training course at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. It was a five week intensive covering the whole spectrum of Krishnamacharya’s  Yoga teachings. I could write a book on the whole experience so I will just give a couple of examples of how Ramaswami taught.

We had a two week programme on pranayama in which we met for two hours each day. Ramaswami taught us the theory for one hour using the pranayama chapter in the HYP as a guide. We then practiced some asanas and sat in pranayama. We began the first day with 10 pranayamas and over the fortnight built up to the 80 recommended in the text. It brought a sense of freedom, achievement and a definite ‘can do’ attitude to my practice. I understood the process and was confident that I could do it if I applied myself. A number of limitations and boundaries were dissolved during the course.

Ramaswami created a beautiful atmosphere in the class and harmony was maintained in the group for the duration of the course. Everyone felt they had been blessed by the experience. He would often recite passages from the Vedas, while we sat or rested in Savasana, and we felt purified and uplifted by the beautiful chanting. 

I was keen to help share what Ramaswami has to offer with practitioners in the UK so arranged some programmes which ran in February 2009.  It was wonderful to be with Ramaswami again and I was so happy that everyone had an inspiring and uplifting experience.

Ramaswami has all the qualities of a great teacher, he is wise, patient, generous and kind with an authentic humility that is rare to see. His devotion and gratitude to his Guru is obvious. I feel very fortunate and grateful to have been able to study with him.

· Physical health
· Freedom from illness
· The ability to sit for long periods in padmasana and other seated postures for pranayama and meditation.
· Development of the breath as a preparation for pranayama.
· Development of awareness and focus.
· Mastery of the bandhas.

The practice of asana will give us the following health benefits, whether or not, our aim is to achieve our highest spiritual potential.

· Structural stability.
· Strength, flexibility and stamina.
· Physiological immunity.
· Correct function of all body systems.
· Emotional health.
· Mental clarity and peace.
· Promotion of longevity.

The classical goals of asana  are:

samakaya – balance of the body.

sarvanga sadhana – engagement of all body parts.

The ancients had a very different approach to health to our modern western paradigm which is based on various measurements and standards of performance. Yoga, on the other hand, is based on a qualitative approach. The practice is to create a feeling of lightness in the body, the ability to withstand change and a stable body and clear mind. Apart from the fact that we use the body they have very little in common. I will call the two approaches, physical culture and yoga and look at their main objectives.

Physical culture 

· Based on performance standards; target pulse rate, % muscle to body fat, capacity to run a distance, bench press a certain weight etc.
· Building an attractive external appearance.
· Raising the heart rate. (breath rate increases along with this).
· Cardiovascular conditioning.
· Competing with yourself and others.

Yoga

· Cultivates balance, harmony, freedom from tension, and tranquillity in the physical organism.
· Promotes good circulation of blood (rakta sanchara), lymph (nina sanchara) and life energy (prana sanchara) to the whole body.
· Harmonises the breath and heart.
· Promotes excellent respiratory function and heart health without straining the system.
· Balances endocrine system.
· Promotes healthy function of all internal organs.
· Slows heart and breath rate, which promotes a calm, tension free body and mind.
· Aims to promote longevity.
· Invigorates the whole system without overtaxing it, leading to heightened energy and revitalisation.

Physical culture requires more food, longer sleep and leads to many injuries and strains.

Yoga practice leads to a reduction in food intake, less requirement for sleep and naturally reduces tension and pain in the body and discourages any activity that could lead to harm.

Another advantage of Yoga is that it is simple. You can practice anywhere without any special equipment.
The ancients observed that the body sags with age leading to displacement of the internal organs. They believed that this lead to poor function of the organs resulting in disease. They came up with some innovative and unique procedures to address this problem.

The six main organs are contained in connective tissue in three cavity’s in the body. The organs were called kosa in ancient India. Kosa means a sac or bag.

· Hrdaya Kosa-Heart-Thoracic cavity

· Svasa Kosa-Lungs-Thoracic cavity

· Anna Kosa-Stomach-Abdominal cavity

· Mala Kosa-Large intestine -Abdominal cavity

· Mutra Kosa-Bladder-Pelvic cavity

· Garbha Kosa-Uterus-Pelvic cavity

· Bindu Kosa-Prostate-Pelvic cavity

General asana practice with synchronised breathing will help maintain good tone in the body tissues. The procedures peculiar to Yoga that work on restoring the organs to their correct position are:

· Inversion – headstand and shoulderstand.

· Mudras – maha mudra, tadaka mudra.

· Bandhas – jalandhara bandha, mula bandha, uddiyana
                            bandha.

Bandhas are practiced in the inversions and mudras and can be applied in many other asana.

According to Yoga there are three things that affect our health.

· External things.

· Food .

· Physical exercises.

External things that can support health are sunshine, fresh air, water, bathing. External things that can damage our health are dangerous activities, stressful situations and unhealthy environment.

Food needs to be of the right type and quantity, eaten in the correct way at the appropriate time and with regard to season.

Physical exercise is to promote good health, longevity and harmony in the system. Exercise should not cause any injury or undue strain.

Asana practice carried out according to the Vinyasa Krama system will improve the overall circulation and promote a healthy heart due to its unique effect on the system.

Please refer to the article ‘Yoga for the Heart’ by Srivatsa Ramaswami for a detailed explanation of this.

Also it is accepted in Yoga and Ayurveda that food affects the body and mind. Food will increase, balance or decrease the three doshas of vata, pitta and kapha leading to health or disease in the body. Food will increase, balance or decrease the three gunas of sattva, tamas and rajas so leading to peace, dullness or pain in the mind. It is very important to understand this and apply it to be successful in Yoga. Many people leave Yoga and say that it does not give the promised benefits. Others continue to practise and do not attain the full benefits suffering from vacillation and instability. This needs to be investigated. If you only boil potatoes for 10 minutes they will not be cooked, they will only be cooked if you keep them boiling for 20 minutes. In the same way the practice of Yoga needs the correct conditions and application to come to fruition.

Krishnamacharya gave three reasons for practitioners not succeeding in Yoga.

1) They are not following the rules such as vinyasa.
2) Their teacher is not teaching them using the secrets and techniques that are in his/her experience.
3) The teacher has not instructed them properly about the place and time of practice, the appropriate diet and drink and activities for the practitioner.

We can benefit ourselves and others by our practice of Yoga. It is considered that meat imparts rajasic vibrations to the mind and alcohol tamasic vibrations. Rajasic and tamasic input is to be reduced for success in Yoga. It is also estimated that if the wealthy nations reduced their meat and alcohol consumption by 50% this would release enough grain to feed all the worlds hungry. So by reducing the consumption of these items we could improve our health, progress steadily in Yoga, help many suffering beings and reduce our impact on the earth.

To give all the elements of a balanced Ayurvedic diet and lists of foods according to the gunas is beyond the scope of this article. I recommend that you investigate this subject with your teacher or through books. The following book is highly recommended on Ayurvedic aspects of diet. The Ayurvedic Cookbook. The recipes are mainly very Sattvic, therefore also meeting the requirements of a Yogic diet.

Please give careful attention to diet for health, to support your Yoga practice and for the benefit of other beings and the earth.

May you enjoy peace and happiness.

I first heard of Srivatsa Ramaswami about twenty years ago when I read Basic Tenets of Patanjala Yoga, his booklet on the Yoga Sutras. It struck me that the author was quite traditional, but also extremely learned – he wrote with clarity and authority. Ramaswami, I discovered, was a long term student of Krishnamacharya, a contemporary of Desikachar’s and one of the 3 original trustees of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), along with Desikachar and Mr. Kuppuswamy, one of Desikachar’s classmate. Paul Harvey told me that he had spent some time studying with him when he was in India in the early 80s; he also mentioned that he was a very nice man!

Since then Ramaswami has written a few other books – Yoga for the Three Stages of Life (Inner Traditions 2000), The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga (Marlow and Company, 2004) and Yoga Beneath the Surface (with David Hurwitz, Marlow and Company, 2006). In all of these books, the impression remained: clear, traditional, sincere and vastly learned.

When my good friend Steve Brandon went to study with Ramaswami for a fortnight in the USA a couple of years ago, he sent me some very enthusiastic emails telling me what a joy the course was. I remember Steve commenting that whilst certain of the American Big Names of yoga were drawing audiences of 70 or 80 to their classes, Ramaswami sometimes worked with fewer than 10 people – and yet his knowledge of the subject was obviously far superior. Steve was so impressed that not long afterwards he spent another fortnight with Ramaswami – this time in Delhi – and he shared a room with Christopher Chapple the well known Sanskrit scholar.  Finally Steve decided to join a 5 week intensive with Ramaswami in the States, and, still enthused he invited Ramaswami to come to the UK for some retreats and workshops.

I was lucky enough to attend the 5 day retreat that Ramaswami conducted at the beautiful Earth Spirit Centre near Glastonbury. Steve had done a great job of organising the retreat and it ran very smoothly. It was a fairly small group – and a mixed group. There were some experienced Viniyoga graduates, others who came were much less experienced or had come from different traditions. Being on retreat with my old friends – Chris Priest, Dave Charlton and Gail Reeves, Sheila Baker and many more – made me quite nostalgic for the old days at Hawkwood where we often were on retreat together.

I confess that the prospect of 6 hours of strong asana a day was rather daunting – the timetable consisted of 3 hours of asana in the morning, 3 in the afternoon and an evening talk. Although the asana was strong – it was actually great fun, and you could stop whenever you needed to. We were talked through 10 primary vinyasas – each taking up to two and a half hours to complete fully. Thus, for example, we worked on the tadasana vinyasa, the asymmetrical seated asana vinyasa, shoulderstand vinyasa, lotus posture vinyasa, prone backward bend vinyasa and more. Ramaswami was presenting an encyclopaedia of asana and their application – many variations in each posture were explored as well as some modifications. Going through the sequences and understanding how they were applied and taught changed my perception of the Vinyasa Yoga book (which in truth, I had only previously glanced at). Now I was beginning to see the logic and application of the vinyasas.

The asana work was in fact entirely consistent with what Paul had taught on his 4 year Viniyoga Teacher Training Programme – particularly when he talked about siksana (uncompromised) application. However, we went rather quicker and deeper into strong postures than I’m used to – and we also stayed in a few postures for far longer than is usual in most Viniyoga classes (for example, 3-5 minutes in pascimuttanasana).  I ached rather after a couple of days, but by the end of the week I felt really good in my body: it was a great workout detox!  Although it was out of the usual parameters of Viniyoga; I’m really pleased to have actually explored those areas in some detail. One of the great strengths of Viniyoga is its accessibility – the approach to asana is safe, user-friendly and skilful. However, if one were to level a criticism (and I’ve certainly heard this by others), I think it is that the range of asana – and even sometimes the intensity, can be limited. So it was a great complement to the Viniyoga Training that we have been so fortunate to receive that during this retreat we were practicing asana that we’re not necessarily going to do everyday; but it was OK - we could understand it and have some first hand experience of more siksana asana practice as taught by Krishnamacharya.

The evening lectures were short but direct forays into the world of the Yoga Sutras. Very clearly and precisely, Ramaswami presented his understanding of the essential teachings of Patanjali, as he had received them from Krishnamacharya. Again, I was struck by the traditional approach – he was very to the point and said: this is how it is. There was certainly no evangelism – in fact I thought there was some similarity between his approach to asana and pranayama and his teaching of the Yoga Sutras – clear, direct and uncomplicated.  Take it or leave it! Although this may be challenging for a relative new comer to the Sutras (for example, he did use quite a few Sanskrit terms without necessarily explaining them in detail); for many of us who are more familiar it gave an added dimension and plenty of food for thought.

Ramaswami was essentially generous with his teaching – I really had the impression he wanted to pass on what he had learned from Krishnamacharya – with no agenda other than to share. However, to say that anybody truly represents Krishnamacharya is difficult, as Ramaswami pointed out. He said that Krishnamacharya’s learning and teaching was so vast and varied that we can only hope to reflect some small aspect of it. As one of the very few remaining long term students of Krishnamacharya, I’m sure he is a credit to his Teacher. After some years of feeling rather distanced from the Krishnamacharya tradition, Ramaswami very much re-connected me - his gratitude to Krishnamacharya was evident, and a couple of times he stopped and seemed briefly overcome with emotion for his Teacher. This was clearly a man teaching in a lineage, very much “close to the Source” - and it was very moving to see. Once again, the tremendous breadth of these teachings was evident: so much has evolved from the work of Krishnamacharya and we are very lucky to have the opportunity to work with so many great and inspiring Teachers in the lineage

Ramaswami’s demeanour throughout the teaching was very simple, humble and humorous. He struck me initially as slightly shy – perhaps a little reserved; but as the week went on he joked and interacted more; he was great to be with! There was a sweetness to his presence and if you get the chance – do go and work with him! He will be at the aYs Convention, as well as running various workshops and retreats in the UK in July 2010.

For further info about Ramaswami, see www.vinyasakrama.com
For further info about Ramaswami’s teachings  in the UK including teacher training, see Ramaswami section on this site.
For further info about yoga with Ranju www.yogamala.co.uk
For further info about training with Ranju www.sadhanamala.com

Ranju Roy
April 2009

-Traditional Sanskrit prayer

In an ancient civilisation people were suffering from pains due to defilements of body, speech and mind so they prayed to the Lord for help. The Lord instructed Adisesa to take human form in answer to their plea for help. He was born to Gonika, the pure hearted daughter of a sage, and named Patanjali ‘one who falls to prayers’.

It is said that Patanjali wrote three treatises in order to provide the knowledge for people to develop good health, accurate and wholesome expression and clarity of mind.

· One on Ayurvedic Medicine (cikitsa)
· One on grammar (pada)
· One on Yoga (mental health) - Yoga Sutras
In the Yoga sutra there are two things that Patanjali says we can do with life;

· Bhoga – pursue worldy pleasures
· Yoga - seek spiritual knowledge

In order to pursue either of these goals, a healthy mind, speech and body are essential. We think, speak and act. These three are called karana, the three human activities and their refinement and perfection leads to the highest human happiness and the potential for the fulfilling achievement of spiritual freedom.

Ayurveda teaches us how to nourish and nurture ourselves, and how to live in harmony with nature.

Yoga teaches us how to attain optimum health, mental peace and spiritual freedom. 

So Harmony Yoga, inspired by the sage Patanjali, would like to share with you the knowledge by which you may achieve optimum health, peace and happiness, and spiritual freedom.

Note: For a more detailed story of the life of Patanjali see the book;

Yoga for the Three Stages of Life by Srivatsa Ramaswami p.21-29

Wishing you health, peace and freedom.

Charles Darwin’s 200th Birth Anniversary has—indirectly–energized
many to restart the debate about God, Creation and Evolution.

This kind of discussion, though, has been going on from time immemorial.
Sayana, the well known commentator on the Vedas, starts his commentary
by pointing out that several of the sayings of the Vedas on Heaven and
the less favorable place and the details of how to get to the former
and avoid the latter can never be proved or disproved. Even if they
debate for a billion years (sata koti varsa) the believer can not
prove to the nonbeliever the existence of these worlds and God, nor
can the non-believer disprove their existence to the believer.
Recently, several Darwin believers have put up graffiti  billboards,
etc., proclaiming—inter alia, — “Probably there is no God, so go out
and enjoy life”, drawing an equally telling response from a believer
—“God exists, so go out and enjoy life”.

The most popular theory of creation of modern science is the Big Bang
theory. Great minds have propounded this theory. Basically it asserts
that the present Universe we experience evolved out of a dime sized
entity called “Singularity” that the universe has expanded from this
primordial hot and immensely dense initial condition at some finite
time in the past, and continues to expand to this day.

The mathematicians would say that this singularity has no dimension and
infinite density. Then the Universe evolved out of it. I understand
that the Big Bang theory does not address the question whence the
Singularity was formed and how. Some speculate that these are formed
from matter and energy sucked by the Black Hole(s), which is the end
chapter of the previous evolution. Implicitly there is no mention of
the need for an intelligent cause (Nimitta Karana) for the creation.
It evolves by itself. Of course there are many scientists who believe
that there could be an intelligent principle behind it—though they may
not call it God.

This view that the Universe evolved without God or an
efficient cause has been there along with the theistic view from time
immemorial. An orthodox philosophy, Samkhya avers that the entire
Universe evolved out of a singular non-dimensional entity called Mula
Prakriti, without an efficient cause (nimitta karana) called God.
Both these views hold that the Universe, the macrocosm that we
experience has a real, material cause. And theists believe in a
material cause which is also efficient/intelligent cause, which is
God. This macrocosmic view that out of the huge macrocosm, countless
individual entities like us have sprung up or were created, or
evolved, is generally accepted. But there is a third view less known,
less straightforward, which tries to understand the whole evolution
from a different point of view, from the point of the individual
microcosm.

Yoga looks at it from the individual viewpoint, as briefly explained
below, which will help and lead us to understand the third viewpoint
about Creation, propounded by the Advaitic School of the Upanishads.
All my life I am the subject and the world around is the object. I see
objects, hear sounds, smell things etc. When I am awake and see an
object, the sequence as all of us know is as follows.

Light falls on the object that I see, the light is reflected by the object, and the
light particles, reach my eyes and then the retina. The retina
converts them into electrical impulses and they reach some part of my
brain. Then there may be some chemical changes in my brain cells and
communications among the brain cells resulting in my seeing the
object. But in physical terms all the information reaches my brain and
is absorbed. With this the physical phenomena end.

After these reach my brain, how do I see the object, outside of me, in front of me? 
The information is in my head physically but how do I see it outside of
me? Nothing goes out of my head. The brain projects an image, not
outside but in the mental space according to Yogis, because the
projection does not and cannot take place in the physical space. My
mind projects it and there has to be some awareness or consciousness
in me which sees or experiences this mental projection.

The yogis call the projection a chittavritti. The chittavritti is the projection of
the mind made out of the information received through the eyes.
Of course the projection is a little more involved. The mind not only
gets information through the eyes but also through the ears and other
senses, and the mind collates the information and makes a composite
presentation which I see in the mental space, just as the objects
appear to be outside of me. I not only have the outside picture
reproduced in my mind but also me, the subject, as part of the
experience. I am also aware that I am in the midst of the total
picture as the ‘subject’ experiencing the outside world. I also feel
emotions attached to the mental picture. I also react to the
experience, sometimes with a happy or sometimes an unhappy
disposition. Anyway there is a composite picture I experience. The
totality of what I experience including that I am the observer, I like
it, I don’t like it, everything,– this is the chittavritti at a
moment. In the next moment, the chittavritti changes. Moment after
moment there is a new chittavritti and the non-changing Self, the pure
consciousness keeps observing this changing flux of chittavrittis.

The chittavritti is not confined to objects outside that I see
directly.  Sometimes, I infer from partial sensory perceptions or
occasionally I try to picture on the basis merely of what I hear. Then
there are occasions when I close my eyes and produce my own
chittavrittis, without objects, like in dreams—day or night. Then I
have chittavrittis produced purely from past incidents which I
remember. Then of course my mind completely closes shop when there is
an ‘experience of sleep’. So I have a variety of chittavrittis, all
taking place in my head. My chittavritti which is the totality of my
experience at any given moment takes place not in physical space but
in mental space or in virtual space. So even though the objects I
perceive may be real, what I experience is virtual. This is what
happens in all of us all the time. But even as the experience may be
with virtual objects, the objects of the outside world are real
according to Yogis.

But the Vedantins, especially advaita vedantins, ask a further question.
If the experience we have takes place in mental space or chitta akasa,
the experience of the prior moment also should be taking place in
virtual space. So the objects that reflected light particles for my
eyes to perceive themselves are virtual objects. Thus going back they
aver that our entire life experience is only virtual and not ‘really’
real. We can extrapolate this to the entire outside world and say the
Universe is not really ‘real’, it is an illusion.

So we have three possibilities, following this line of reasoning.
Firstly the universe is real even though our experience, known as
chittavritti is virtual.  This is the position of the Yogis, and we
would agree with that. The second view is that it is not possible to
say for sure if the outside world exists or not (anirvachaniya) since
our experience is limited to our virtual chittavrittis. The third view
is that there is no real outside world, there is no real creation and
the experience is virtual and the universe is illusory.  But, one may
assert that the objects are real, we can see, we can feel them. But
the Mayavadins or those who say that the world is only an illusion,
aver that just as we feel the dream space, dream objects and the dream
self to be real during dream but they are found to be an illusion when
we wake up, likewise the waking state experience also is virtual and
there is no real world outside. They say that there is no real
creation, all our life we have a succession of virtual experiences.

Let us get back to the ideas at the beginning of the article.So we
have now three views about creation of the universe.

One is that it evolved from “Singularity” and that is the material cause of the
Universe. Like  the modern scientist, Samkhya does not feel the need
to agree to an efficient cause like God, the creator.

The second view is that God created the Universe and He is both the material and the
efficient cause.

The third view is that the creation itself is anillusion and hence there is no need to
subscribe to a material cause,like the Singularity or the Mulaprakriti. However since
there is an experience, the experiencer (Atman or drashta), which is non changing
pure consciousness alone exists which observes the illusionary experience. Some
Buddhists schools find no need for even postulating the constantly observing Self.

So, the Upanishads aver that there is an origin of the Universe, like
the Singularity of the Scientists or the Mulaprikriti of the Samkhyas,
which ‘origin’ the Upanishads call as Brahman, literally meaning “the
principle that expanded into this Universe’. But the comparison ends
there. While the Singularity is inert, without consciousness, Brahman
is pure, non-changing consciousness.

It is the considered view of the vedandins that matter cannot produce or become  consciousness; the object cannot become the subject. The advaita vedantins
further aver, likewise, Consciousness cannot produce or become matter,
it can only be an observer. So they postulate the theory that what evolved out of
the Brahman is not really real, but only an illusion. Brahman does not
expand like the Singularity does as postulated by the Big Bang Theory.

In fact it is said that the zero dimension Brahman contains the entire
universe within itself, but the Universe appears to be outside of it–
like during our dream state the dream objects are within our
consciousness but appear to be outside us. Or, it is like the thin
film of the reflecting surface of a mirror giving  the impression of
having the three dimensional space and objects behind it.

One may therefore examine theories of creation other than the most
popular views of “God created the Universe” or “the Universe evolved
on its own”. The third view is that there is no real creation.
Uncomfortable?  But this obviates the need to answer the rather
difficult questions, “Whence did all this material come to make this
Universe.” Or “Why God created this Universe” and many other
questions. The theory of illusory evolution is plausible and
tantalizing. Some traditional theists (astikas) who are drawn towards
the logic of this third theory of Virtual Creation (maya vada), call
the Lord a Mayavin, or the Creator of the Grand Illusion.

Srivatsa Ramaswami

· Reduction of distraction, control of senses.
· Study of texts pertaining to Yoga.
· Spiritual practice appropriate to your own situation and religion.

Some personal self-reflection and the development of self-awareness is essential to engage with these practices.

It is beneficial initially, to bring our attention to the body & mind in three important areas, eating, speech and thought. I am going to offer a few simple practices that you can do to cultivate mindfulness in your daily activities.

Lets first have a look at eating.

‘It is always because of indiscipline in food that the agitation of the mind and imbalances in the body appear in a fearful form.’                                          Yoga Rahasya Sloka III-5

‘The body is the outcome of food. Even so, disease is the outcome of food. The distinction between ease and disease arises on account of wholesome nutrition or the lack of it respectively.’                                                  Charaka Samhita Sustrasthana 28:45

Yogi’s recommend eating moderate quantities of food that are nourishing and conducive to harmony. Food is ideally fresh, tasty and light. A Yogic diet is sattvic and supports a sattvic mind state and disease free body.

The first step towards making beneficial changes to our diet is to become more aware of our relationship with food and the choices we make. These mindfulness practices (along with a well thought out Yoga practice) help us to start mastering the senses.

Mindfulness practices for eating

· Look at your food for a short time before starting to eat. Take a mouthful of food, put down your cutlery and chew slowly. Swallow and then take another mouthful.
· Eat a meal in silence. No reading, music or TV. Be mindful of chewing, tasting and swallowing. Stop eating before you feel full.
· Miss a meal (evening is best to try first), and just have a glass of warm water. Observe your mental, emotional and physical reactions to this. Do not do this without medical advice if you have diabetes or a similar condition.
· Keep a food diary for a week, record everything you eat and drink and review it at the end of the period.
· Try making a new vegetarian dish that you have not had before.
· Replace something you eat or drink habitually with something different. For instance have a completely different breakfast to your usual menu. Or just replace a morning coffee with a warm water or herbal tea.

Try out these exercises and see what you find out.

To find out more about Yoga & Ayurvedic diets these books are a good start:

The Yoga Cookbook – Sivananda Yoga Centres. Gaia Books.

The Ayurvedic Cookbook – Amadea Morningstar. Lotus Publications.

What is Hatha Yoga?

The most popular text on Hatha Yoga is The Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama. The name Svatmarama means one who delights in communion with his higher self. It indicates that he was a Yogi who was in perpetual samadhi.  The author’s name and the opening passages of the text leave no doubt that the goal of Hatha Yoga is a spiritual one.

The primary practice of Hatha Yoga is pranayama. Ha is prana and tha is apana. The union or integration of these two forces is Hatha Yoga. The text describes the procedure for attaining this end.

In Yoga there are five primary aspects of the prana (life force) that regulate all the physical functions.

They are:
· prana vayu - heart
· apana vayu - downward force
· vyana vayu - circulation
· udana vayu - upward force
· samana vayu – digestion

After the preliminary preparations, detailed in the text, the practice of asana, pranayama and bandhas are integrated to facilitate the union of prana and apana.

The control of breath and a long exhale and hold, along with the three bandhas must be mastered by the aspirant.

The names of these techniques are:

· bahya kumbhaka – external breath holding
· jalandhara bandha – throat lock
· mula bandha – rectal lock
· uddyana banda – abdominal lock

With these tools in place the precedure goes like this.

The aspirant sits in a Yogic posture.  Following a long exhale the mula bandha is engaged which is said to lift the apana. Uddiyana bandha is then engaged uniting the apana with the prana. The integrated prana is now close to the fire in the belly (jatharagni). It is then heated and causes a dormant obstruction (kundalini) to move giving free passage to the prana to enter sushumna, the main nadi (channel) in the spine. Rising up through the chakras (nerve hubs in spinal column). Finally reaching the sahasrara chakra the Yogis say it merges with Siva and gives moksa (freedom).

So for the Hatha Yogi the primary practice is pranayama, to attain the spiritual goal which they call moksha. The liberated Yogi is said to exist in samadhi until they pass away.

Many people today practice Hatha Yoga techniques for the wonderful health benefits that they impart. However, to follow the path described in the classical texts requires a dedicated and sustained effort over a long period of time under the guidance of an experienced teacher.

The Hathayogapradipika of Svatmarama with the commentary of Brahmananda is a useful and well regarded reference work.  It is published by The Adyar Library and Research Centre of The Theosophical Society.

Note: Some practitioners say that the awakened kundalini rises up the sushumna. Another interpretation is that kundalini represents a blockage (avidya) which is removed by the practice, allowing the prana to enter the sushumna.

Srivatsa Ramaswami will be teaching a residential study retreat on The Hathayogapradipika in Cumbria, UK during August 2009.

 YOGA FOR THE HEART

Sri Krishnamacharya, my Guru would characterize yoga as a Sarvanga
Sadhana or a method that is helpful for all parts of the body, not
just the skeletal muscles. Every part of the body can be accessed and
treated, aver the yogis.  Therefore some of Yoga’s influence on the
heart may be considered here. One of the views expressed repeatedly by
my Guru was that the heart should not be strained; that even while you
exercise yoga procedures like asanas, the heart rate should not
increase significantly, which is markedly different from the ‘aerobic’
approach.

Further there is another aspect. There are six vital kosas
or sacs in the body which are the six important internal organs. The
Heart is called the hrudaya Kosa or the Heart sac, which is in the
thoracic cavity and is responsible for the circulation of blood (rakta-
sanchara) to all the purificatory organs like the kidneys, the lungs
etc., and also to all the tissues in the body. The heart is surrounded
by the twin walled heart covering or sac called pericardium, which
allows the heart to move smoothly within the thoracic cavity. This
organ which is made up of musculature is attached to the chest walls
which are also made of muscles. These muscles, due to our upright
position most of the time, tend to sag due to gravity, over time, even
though they are well supported. This sagging of the Hrudaya Kosa
according to Yogis has a progressively debilitating effect on the
Heart– which becomes less efficient by the slow downward displacement
of the organ from its original intended position. This hypothesis of
the ‘heart sag’ engaged the attention of the yogis.

So in this article let us examine what the yogis of yesteryears did to
1. Help the heart in its function of pumping blood and also
2. Correct the slow decline in its efficiency due to physical descent, albeit slight, of the heart
and also its elasticity.

There are two segments to rakta sanchara or blood circulation. First
is the return of the blood to the heart so that the heart can then
pump blood to various parts of the body including the purifying organs
like lungs (svasa Kosa) and kidneys. All the blood that is received by
the various muscles and tissues will have to return to the heart. The
muscles, especially the skeletal muscles are partially contracted all
the time so that they maintain a tone. This slight contraction helps
to squeeze some ‘used’ blood out of the muscles into the venous
system.  The veins contain valves which prevent the blood from
backtracking  to the muscles. Further, during the movements of these
muscles the blood is pushed slowly towards the main vein which carries
all the return blood to the heart.  In terms of skeletal muscles both
the extensor and flexor muscles under normal enervation maintain
constant tone while at rest. Thus even a ‘couch potato’ is able to get
the blood circulating, due to this phenomenon called ‘muscle pump’
though such circulation is not very efficient. If the return blood to
the heart is scanty or below normal, the heart will have to pump more
often to push out the same amount of blood per unit time. If this
‘stroke volume’ is increased then the heart would be able to pump
blood more efficiently. It will beat a fewer number of times to
circulate the same amount of blood, which according to yogis will help
to reduce the strain on the heart. It is considered desirable.

There are a few things the yogi does to improve this venous return. By
doing a number of vinyasas, she/he is able to squeeze out more blood
out of the cells. In vinyasakrama, by a well thought out regimen of
vinyasas and asanas, one will be able to work out all the muscles,
tissues and cells of skeletal system, so much so that there is a more
complete scavenging of the system. And as the ‘deoxygenated blood’ is
wringed out of the tissues, fresh nourishing blood enters the
tissues.

What is equally important or more important is the effect of breathing
on this venous return of the blood. When we breathe in we do it by
expanding the chest. When we expand the chest during inhalation, the
diaphragm also descends and there is a partial vacuum created in the
thoracic cavity, — there is a significant pressure gradient between
the thoracic cavity and the outside atmosphere. So as the chest
expands, due to the pressure difference, the air rushes into the lungs
through the nostrils, trachea etc. Normally this takes place for a
couple of seconds, then the involuntary inhalation stops, then the
exhalation starts  due to the relaxation of the chest muscles and some
air, say about 500ccs out of the 5 liters or so of air in the chest is
expelled. This is normal breathing. What is important in our
discussion is that when the chest expands, the partial vacuum created
has also an effect on the heart which is  in the same thoracic cavity.
The blood which is slowly moving through the main vein, the vena cava,
is sucked in by this partial vacuum and its suction has the effect of
accelerating the flow of blood to the heart chamber. The Yogis take
advantage of this phenomenon, also called the ‘respiratory pump’
effect. By expanding the chest more, and more slowly, the negative
pressure in the chest cavity is increased and maintained longer, by
holding the breath for a period of time, during Kumbhaka. During the
long inhalation and breath holding, the suction pump effect is
maintained and the flow of blood back to the heart is accelerated.
Thus a good Pranayama practice helps the venous return of the blood to
the heart.

The Vinyasakrama method of doing yoga practice therefore has an
additional advantage. Performing the tens of scores of vinyasas helps
squeeze out ‘bad blood’ from every muscle and joint , the simultaneous
synchronized slow breathing employed especially the inhalation helps
to suck more blood to the heart. As the vinyasas and asanas help to
squeeze out blood, the slow deeper inhalation by maintaining a
negative pressure of the chest cavity for a much longer period of time
helps to return more blood to the heart, so much so that every time
the heart beats it is able to pump more blood, i.e., the stroke volume
increases. In about half an hour of Vinyasakrama practice one can do
about 100 vinyasas taking the rest periods into account and during
this period there is a significant improvement in the blood
circulation in the entire system. This yoga method has a marked
difference with aerobic workouts. In these types of aerobic
exercises– which is what happens when people do yoga as a workout,
without any reference to slow breathing– the blood circulation
improves but due to faster working of the heart and lungs. The same
amount of blood circulation is achieved by a greater number of heart
beats, which according to Yogis is inefficient and strains the heart.
Further in the workouts, the body creates more waste products and
creates more ‘bad blood’ due to substantially increased metabolism,
whereas in Yoga where slow synchronized breathing is involved as in
Vinyasakrama taught by Sri Krishnamacharya, the increase in metabolism
is minimal.

Yoga also takes care of blood circulation to the internal organs.
Whereas the asanas help basically the skeletal muscles, Yogis have
devised methods by which the vast amount of muscles and tissues inside
the body are also exercised so that the large quantity of blood in the
muscles and tissues inside the body also is squeezed out and brought
into circulation. Deep inhalation done during pranayama pushes the
diaphragm down and puts useful pressure on the abdominal and pelvic
organs. Further some adept yogis also do mulabandha and some
Uddiyanabandha after inhalation (and holding the breath) so that there
is pressure on the internal organs (the abdominal and pelvic organs)
from above, below and the anterior side, virtually wringing more blood
out of these organs and muscles. Again after exhalation more powerful
bandhas are employed by which the internal muscles and organs are
exercised, squeezed and massaged. In Uddiyana bandha while doing bahya
Kumbhaka, the adept Yogi, like my Guru, is able to push the diaphragm
pretty deep up into the thoracic cavity providing a healthy external
pressure on the heart muscles to squeeze out blood even from the heart
muscles and providing a gentle massage to the heart, thereby helping
the elasticity of the heart muscles in the process.

There is another unique procedure the yogis employ for the venous
return of blood to the heart. It is the inversion asanas, like
Headstand, Shoulder stand and the various vinyasas in these poses. The
heart is way up in the body, almost 2/3rd  or even higher up, in
normal upright position. While it helps the heart to pump out more
blood efficiently to the 2/3rds of the body like the visceral organs
and the lower extremities, the return of the blood to the heart is
somewhat hampered  due to gravitational resistance. So the inversions
like Sarvangasana help to drain fluids, especially blood from the
lower extremities and also visceral muscles. This is accentuated by
doing a variety of Vinyasas in the inversions. The combination of
Vinyasas in inverted poses, synchronized breathing and employing the
bandhas helps to return more blood to the heart from the muscles and
tissues below the heart. Again exercises like Kapalabhati, Vanhi sara
(agni sara) and the bandhas help in the process.

As mentioned earlier, another view that used to be strongly expressed
by my Guru is that all the internal organs get slowly displaced or
tend to sag from their original positions and thus become less
efficient/ become diseased over a period of time due to partial loss
of tone. The muscle tone of the heart is very good when one is young
but with age and gravity the muscles start sagging–lose their tone a
bit, become less elastic, like all other muscles. So the yogis
resorted to inversions or viparitakaranis. For the heart, Sarvangasana
is ideal, and in that position the heart snuggly rests in the upper
portion of the chest cavity, well supported and rested. Perhaps this
is one of the reasons why Sarvangasana is referred to as the Heart of
the Asanas. A ten minute stint in Sarvangasana, with the bandhas helps
to restore — or slightly overcorrect– the heart back to is original
position. The Pranayama that is done thereafter is said to normalize
the position by neutralizing any over correction during the inversion.
Deep Uddiyanabandha and other abdominal exercises like Kapalabhati,
Vahni Sara etc, help to massage and strengthen the heart muscles, so
that the heart can continue to pump blood to all parts of the body
efficiently.

Therefore, if the heart condition is normal for a person, then, it may
be a good practice to do exercises for the chest and the accessory
muscles of the thorax first. Please refer to hasthavinyasas in
Tadasana chapter in my book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga”. These
help to exercise the accessory muscles of breathing and help to expand
the chest significantly. Then do as many vinyasas as possible in
different asanas to cover the whole body. Stay in Shoulder stand for a
good ten minutes doing also a variety of Vinyasas. It is better if one
can do Headstand as well for several minutes. Do Pranayama for about
ten minutes preceded by Kapalabhati and accompanied by Bandhas. Do
good meditation for about 10 to 15 minutes so that the mind relaxes
and the heart and the chest muscles relax. You may also consider
chanting aloud vedic or other laukika mantras like Sahasranamas etc.
Or read aloud from the scriptures for about 15 to 20 minutes
everyday.

It is said that prayer is very efficacious. There is a vedic prayer
addressed to Sun god (the sun is the god of health) specifically for
the good functioning of the heart.

“hrudrogam mama surya
harimaananca nasaya”

Oh! Lord Sun. Do remove my heart ailment and the greenish patches in
my skin (due to improper oxygenation and blood circulation)

In due course the rest heart rate itself comes down. Following my
Guru’s advice, one should avoid doing yoga as a workout as that
substantially increases the heart rate. In Hatayogapradipika, the
author Svatmarama, quoting another great Hatayogi, Gorkshanatha,
mentions that the yogi should not do strenuous activities (kaaya
klesa) and these are detrimental to overall progress in Yoga.
Brahmananda who has written a lucid commentary on this text, gives
examples that are considered to be strenuous exercises that are fit to
be eschewed by the Yogi. He specifically gives the examples like
lifting and carrying heavy weights and doing repeated Sun Salutations
(bahu surynamaskara) as strenuous exercise which a yogi should avoid
doing. My teacher also would say that the yogi should be thin (krisa)
and not overweight. One could say,
“Overweight is bad
Lean or fat”
as overweight puts additional strain on the heart.

Aerobic Exercises are good in their own way; they help to strengthen
the cardiovascular system. Even so Yoga, as practiced by the
Vinyasakrama system, is the antithesis of aerobic exercises. The
Breath-yoga deliberately reduces the breath rate and consequently the
heart rate, whereas the aerobic and the aerobic like yoga (like the
continuous 108 Suryanamaskaras), significantly increase the breath
rate and heart rate during exercise.  While workouts and practice of
yoga as a workout help to reduce Rajas, they also accentuate Tamas.
But, breath-vinyasakrama-yoga done slowly, with synchronized
breathing, followed by deep Pranayama helps not only reduce Rajas but
also Tamas. The reduction of these Gunas makes the mind calmer  and
fresh or Satwic and a calmer mind is conducive to the healthy
functioning of the heart. Therefore it may be a good ‘Health Policy’
to encourage youngsters, especially teenagers to practice yoga, the
breath-asanas and vinyasas, pranayama, various mudras, vipatitakaranis
and appropriate meditation, eat moderate and satwic food and thereby
they can take lifelong care of the heart.

Srivatsa Ramaswami