Day 10. Krishnamacharya General Practice #8

See the Guidelines for Practice page at the top of the blog.

Basically, the breathing is long and  slow, the eyes closed, bandhas engaged, Jalandhara bandha in particular. After each asana, mudra,and pranayama ( unless indicated otherwise, usually by "followed by") we are directed to lie down and rest for one to two minutes to notice the effect. See the guidelines post for more on this most important element of the practice.

 

Points of concentration are introduced for different asana, mudra and/or pranayama from this session on. I will be including the chart below with each post, the concentration post mentioned in the session highlighted in bold.

Points of concentration: 16 vital points. (No concentration points in todays practice)

sirsa - the fontanel

murdhna - middle of forehead

bhrumadhya - between eyebrows

nasagra - extremity of the nose

talu mula - back of the palate

lalata - root of the uvula

kantha - throat

kantha kupa - back of the throat

hrdaya - middle of the heart

nabhi - navel

sroni - centre of the pelvis

mula - perineum

jangha- point at top of thighs

janu - point at middle of knees 

gulpha - point at middle of ankles 

pada angusta - point of the big toes.

Also of note...

Murdhna: the point located in front of the nose

Divya Chakshush: Point behind the head (occipital)

Aditya (the sun) is the disk of the sun, black and shiny,

The star: lying on his back to look as far as possible on the sky 

Taraka: the horizon point,

Kumbhaka

A.K. = Antah Kumbhaka (holding of breath after inhalation ) 

B.K = Bhaya Kumbhaka (holding of breath after exhalation )

*

NOTE

Choice of seated posture ( note from Andrea Panzer).

"Just to add to "may be Ananta Asana"...there are always 4 seats to choose for Concentration or Pranayama...(ev 5 ...when we include Baddha Kona Asana) and the advice of Sri Sribhashyam has been, that we explore their differences in the effect concerning bandha, concentration and breath...there is Danda Asana, Ananta Asana, Padma Asana, Vajra Asana ("buddhist seat")....the second idea to share is that also Baddha Kona Asana can be given as alternative for Sirsa Asana...as well as Utthita Pada Hasta Asana"