Day 8. Krishnamacharya General Practice #6

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 )

*

Back to General Practice sessions after Day 6 Mudra session and Day 7 Pranayama session.

Viparita Karani ( headstand) appears for the first time. Later, for example in General Session #11, Sirsa asana OR Viparita Karani but there is no indication of any difference between them that I can find in the book other than that Viparita Karani refers to the Mudra form and Sirsa asana the asana. The directions seem to be the same. Elsewhere, in the mudra section Shribhashyam mentions that the exhalation in a mudra tends to be longer than the inhalation ( twice as long is suggested) and generally involving kumbhaka.

Shribhashyam claims to be following a pedagogical progression, in later sessions kumbhaka and a concentration point will be indicated as well an alternative.

I love practicing Sirsasa Asana and Sarvanga Asana, especially with variations, but I find them deeply problematic, dangerous frankly. I’m not convinced of the many benefits claimed for them and the dangers and concerns are rarely raised.

Dangers/risks may include cervical disc injury and falling out of the posture, Osteoporosis is common from our 50s onwards ( 54 million are said to suffer from it in the US alone) bones become weaker. Also eye conditions, Glaucoma is a bit of a Ninja, you can have it before you realize it. I have glaucoma myself, I stopped practicing inversions for an extended period, now practice them again but less often and with shorter stays also I’m tested regularly for any increase in Eye pressure.

At least in Ashtanga Vinyasa a great deal of strength is developed in the arms, neck and shoulders over time that can give some support to the postures but there really doesn’t seem to be much strength developed in this system. I don’t recommend them. An alternative to Sarvangasana might be Supta Pada Angusta asana  ideally with the small of the back and hips flat on the mat if your hamstrings are are more flexible than mine lately),