I got to thinking about the forward bends -paschimotanasana- last weekend, and about what they do to me. One thing is for sure, when my head raises up after being down, chest forward in an attempt to reach the knees, back a bit more straight, legs engaged, feet flexed, I am in a different world. A lot of my worries seem to vanish.
The pose centers and relaxes me and soothes the nervous system. After a good and long paschimotanasana I feel as if something in the center of my brain was straightened, I am clear.
He also mentioned that this pose awakens the agni or the fire in our stomach that burns the impurities brought about but un-proper living, maybe eating foods with pesticides, aloholo, or any other non-pure materials we may have. It is the fire that burns which we call "tapas" the fire of cleansing.
The longest I have ever stayed in the pose is probably 5 minutes. I believe other Krishnamacharya traditions stress the importance of staying there for much, much longer.
I have never felt a "fire" per say when in paschimotanasana. Have you?
The pose centers and relaxes me and soothes the nervous system. After a good and long paschimotanasana I feel as if something in the center of my brain was straightened, I am clear.
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| Preparing for it and breathing in |
Last week we got a conference dedicated to the purifying effectso of the Primary Series. Sharath mentioned specifically paschimotanassana as being a most prolific of asanas in it, hence its constant repetition in so many variations.
Paschimotanasana, as the Primary Series stands today (first sitting includes only pachim A and B -no more C or D- which is I guess yet another change to the led class) it is practied 22 times throughout the series when counting the two sides of many of the poses. That is a lot of forward bending.
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| Going down, relaxing, adjusting and going forward with every exhale |
The longest I have ever stayed in the pose is probably 5 minutes. I believe other Krishnamacharya traditions stress the importance of staying there for much, much longer.
I have never felt a "fire" per say when in paschimotanasana. Have you?
Claudia
ReplyDelete"Fire" here means more at a subtle body level . More than asana practice , I have seen an energy flowing like an electric current in my spine during my intense pranayama practice while I was doing the Advanced Yoga Teachers Training course and the Sadhana Intensive Course at the Sivananda Ashram where there was focus on intense pranayma practice .The electric current like force is the flow of prana in the sublte "sushumna nadi" and it seems according to Hatha Yoga Pradipike even in paschimotansana a similar effect occurs but I have not felt it in my asana practice but only in my intense pranayma practice .
Krishna that is fascinating. I guess I thought at some level one would feel a little even... but you may be right that it is all at the subtle level
ReplyDeletei had a dream i was doing Paschimotanasana and felt such a connection with my body that i woke up in tears. Odd right? i find a lot of comfort in this pose - i can finally hug and give my body the self love it deserves
ReplyDeleteTeeg, that is very interesting, I dont think i have ever dreamed of being in a yoga pose, what a great treat! I like the connection you make with "hugging" the body, which I read as loving it... [my interpretation]... sweet... now I kind of what to have a dream about it too! :-)
ReplyDeleteNo fire for me, but definite softening inside...
ReplyDeleteyes, softening inside, that is a nice way to put it... guess it comes full circle with what Krishna said about it being more subtle...
ReplyDeleteThank for keeping us up to date on the latest Primary Series changes!
ReplyDeleteOf course the most official and current authority Sharath himself. But is there any other record of the "current" series as taught in Mysore? It seems even the most judicious senior teachers' DVDs and books become out of date before very long... :(
Mike, yes you are right, I suppose the most official latest record would be any DVD by Sharath, and even that is a guess. Like any living lineage it is open to change, modification etc... thanks for your comment
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