Category: Yoga Practice

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The breath can be a key to unlocking the mystery of the relationship…..

In looking at how to deepen (rather than broaden) our personal practice choosing to focus on exploring the breath can be a key to unlocking the mystery of the relationship between body, breath, mind and beyond.

Here we can think of the deepening into our practice arising through progressively slowing the patterning of our breathing. To do this we have to reconsider our practice, not in terms of what we do with our body but what we do with the breath within our body.

This means firstly knowing what is our basic practice breath rate per minute and then progressively slowing that rate as we progress from Āsana, through to Mudrā and then to Prāṇāyāma.

For example when working with Āsana we can start with four breaths per minute, then with Mudrā slow it to three breaths per minute and finally with Prāṇāyāma, slow it again to two breaths per minute.

An accomplished practitioner may be working with three breaths a minute in Āsana, two breaths a minute in Mudrā and one breath a minute with Prāṇāyāma.

Whereas a less experienced practitioner may be working on five breaths a minute in Āsana, four breaths a minute in Mudrā and three breaths a minute in Prāṇāyāma.

The starting point does not matter and is something that is appropriate to the history, health and training of the student. What is more important is that no matter where we start from, the journey into the mystery of the breath and its relationship to the slowing of psychic activity, is through the progressive slowing of our breathing patterns.

This is realised within the long term developmental refinement of the practice limbs of Āsana, Mudrā and Prāṇāyāma within our journey into the evolution of Haṭha Sādhana towards Rāja Sādhana.

Reference for this post by Yoga Studies

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Research on Back Pain

Irish Times image

Interesting research from University of Limerick (UL) on back pain, from an article published in the Irish Times on the 19 January 2021.
Some key points of interest as follows:

1. “Sitting up very straight is no longer advised as treatment for or prevention of back pain, according to a new international study involving researchers at the University of Limerick (UL).”

2. “For those who do suffer from back pain however, Dr O’Sullivan said that it’s reasonable to see if changing your posture helps your pain. “Don’t assume that the solution is always sitting up straight. Some people benefit from sitting up straight but slightly more people benefit from slouching.”

3. “According to Dr O’Sullivan, psychological factors such as worries and mood and lifestyle factors such as sleep and fitness are bigger influencers of back pain than posture.”

4. “The study builds on other recent research at UL which found that physiotherapists and members of the public have an unnecessarily negative view of “slouched” sitting posture and also that physiotherapists and manual handling instructors often promote very stiff straight ways of bending and lifting, even though they are not shown to prevent or ease back pain.“

5. “The best advice on back pain is to move and relax, get fit and strong and not worry about the angle of your back when sitting,” said Dr O’Sullivan.”

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The pursuit of ‘Yoga happiness’…..


“One irony from this pursuit is that any experience
will not be exactly the same next time we reach for it,
once we have been through that ‘first time taste’.
This is the nature of Avidyā and its illusory mimicry,
as lived through its child Rāga.”

“The irony of seeking well being,
is that our being is always well”

“In reality Yoga is about looking inwards at what we fear most,
rather than just looking outwards at what we desire most,
in terms of seeking yet another socially addictive pursuit,
albeit under the guise of bliss, happiness, feeling good, etc.”

Excerpts from a post published by Yoga Studies

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It is not possible to give examples of illnesses or ailments that can be improved…..

The following are reflections on some questions commonly asked with regard to Yoga  and what has become labelled as ‘Yoga Therapy’ – complete extract below published by Yoga Studies.

“I was asked in 2011 to provide ‘expert quotes’ in response to three questions for a media article by a freelance journalist on a Yoga related topic. These were my reflections that I am reposting unedited, especially given the surge in these past 7 years in what has become labelled as ‘Yoga Therapy’:

Q1. What are some examples of illnesses or ailments that can improve or be cured with the use of Yoga?

“It is not possible to give examples of illnesses or ailments that can be improved as it all depends on the matrix of the person who may also have certain combinations of problems. A student with cancer may improve or a student with a history of colds may experience little change.

The viewpoint of Yoga is to look at people as individuals and work from there rather than the more usual view of making lists of problems with flash card like answers to a specific problem. e.g. Sciatica, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia, Osteo-arthrosis, Chrohn’s Disease, etc.

“We cannot say that this Āsana or this Prāṇāyāma
can be given for this disease.”
– T Krishnamacharya 1984

According to Yoga we are all individuals who also have from time to time chronic or acute illnesses or ailments. In this view one hallmark is that the practice must be adapted to the individual and their current situation and immediate potential rather than expecting the individual to adapt to the practice.

This means that two individuals with the same symptoms may need very different approaches to practice and lifestyle choices because of their history, mindset and opportunity and intentions for implementing change.

“It appears that Modern Therapeutic Yoga is increasingly angled
at looking at the problems in front of the person
in terms of Yoga for What,
rather than looking at the person behind the problems
in terms of Yoga for Who.”

Yoga also tells us that nothing is destroyed so nothing is ‘cured’. We can perhaps reduce the symptoms to the point where they are dormant. Given the right sun, soil and moisture they can ‘sprout’ again. So cure is not a term that can be applied.

Yoga Psychology says being symptom free also implies that we still have to take care as the seeds can be re-activated given the right stimuli.”

Q2. Is there a certain type of Yoga which is more beneficial, when it comes to health, than other types?

“Any approach to Yoga which facilitates meeting with a student, developing an understanding of their unique background, looking at the opportunities for change which exist for the student in the immediate and near future, being able to propose a personalised practice appropriate to their situation and meeting regularly to both review and progress the practice according to the experiences and feedback from the student is beneficial.

“Yoga Cikitsā is about
treating a person in a problem.
Rather than
treating a problem in a person.”

This is really only realisable through 121 lessons, though not of the type offered by many which are comparable to a group class for one. A more comparable example would be to consulting a homeopath, or acupuncturist, or medical herbalist, or counsellor, where there is time, attention and personalised support and treatment offered.”

Q3. Is there a certain type of Yoga that can prove especially beneficial to those with asthma, and if so, why is this type of Yoga particularly good?

“As the physical basis of asthma is experienced through its effects on the breath, any approach that sees the breath as the canvas on which the pictures of the poses are painted could be helpful. Along with an approach that has the integral and intimate use of the breath in practice as a first priority, the study and application of the principles of Yoga Psychology would be very relevant to working with issues that could well underpin the student’s history of symptoms and personal experiences.”

Published by Yoga Studies.

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The viniyoga of Yoga is about Relationship

“The viniyoga of Yoga is the application of the principles that link together to offer possibilities to enhance your relationship with yourself through your practice. This opens the possibility that a deepening of your practice comes not from adding more difficult postures, but from refining your relationship with what you already have.

Life is already full of pressures to go for the newest model, to bring more in from the outside rather than concentrating on bringing more out from the inside. So we need to take care that we do not become an avid consumer of a new posture or new technique purely for the sake of it.

Yoga is a relationship within which you commit yourself to depth of involvement rather than breadth of involvement. In that sense, Yoga is no different from how any relationship with someone or something we care for and wish to spend time with should be.

From this relationship we can eventually start to experience the fruits that arise from the time, care, effort and attention. Perhaps keeping the following words of a teacher from long ago in our mind as we adapt Yoga to suit our particular needs:

“Only through Yoga Yoga is known,
Only through Yoga Yoga changes.
One who is patient at Yoga,
Enjoys the fruits over a long time”

Reference for this post  by Yoga Studies

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Yoga as a Tool

Yoga as a View, Practice and Tool
Part 3 – Yoga as a Tool

“Yoga as a tool is more likely to be the starting point for most students these days in that we often choose a style or approach to Yoga as a starting point in our Yoga experience.

There are many, many choices these days, although the common denominator now appears to be based around Yoga teachers rather than Yoga teachings.

For example we  have Anusāra, Aṣṭāṅga, Bikram, Dru, Gītānada, Integral, Iyengar, Jīvamukti, Kripālu, Kuṇḍalinī, Sahaja, Scaravelli, Śivananda, Satyānanda, Viniyoga, etc.

Which is fine in itself. However the question that arises is how much do the various ‘types’ actually apply the Haṭha energetic principles of Practice in order to realize the View of Yoga? My own field of expertise lies within the teachings often referred to as Viniyoga, so I can only speak with experience from this perspective.

The primary principle here is that the Practices of Yoga must be adapted to the starting point, potential and needs of the student. Within this premise is a further question how, or even how much, the tools of Yoga utilize the Practice principles of Haṭha, in order to realise the View of Yoga as presented in what is seen as the primary teaching on the goal of Yoga, the Yoga Sūtra.”

Excerpts from Yoga as a Tool – published by Yoga Studies

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Yoga as a Practice

Yoga as a View, Practice and Tool
Part 2 – Yoga as a Practice

“A further irony in the emerging role and identity of Yoga in the West today is with regard to the term Haṭha Yoga. The term is mainly used generically these days to identify and group ‘physically’ based Yoga practices.

As a teacher I am often asked in connection with the question what kind of Yoga do you teach, is it Haṭha Yoga?

The irony is that when we look at what Haṭha Yoga really is we find that the physical elements are relatively limited with very few Āsana discussed.

Furthermore within the few discussed, the largest group are concerned with sitting, in preparation for practice elements other than Āsana.

Primarily to facilitate a quality of being able to sit still and as if move beyond the physical body.

Here the primary concern and field of activity for Haṭha Yoga practitioners is with regard to the energetic or ‘Prāṇa’ body and its role in helping to facilitate a quality of energetic ‘clarity’ and energetic ‘stillness’ ultimately as a ladder to support the practitioners exploration of meditational states of being in terms of Raja Yoga or the Yoga of Samādhi.

The role of Haṭha is to help take the student towards the View and to help refine the View.

What is important also is that we understand the various influences that exist in the West today in terms of ‘Yoga’.

What seems to be in danger of being lost in all of this are the ‘energetic principles’ that underpin Haṭha Yoga because people have become very focused on the physicality, or even gymnastic type influences.

It seems that modern Yoga practice is dominated by Āsana and the words Āsana and Yoga appears to have become sadly synonymous.”

Excerpts from Yoga as a Practice – published by Yoga Studies

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Yoga as a View

Yoga as a View, Practice and Tool
Part 1 – Yoga as a View

“It is interesting these days that as a Yoga teacher the question I am more likely to be asked is ‘What kind of Yoga do you do?’ rather than ‘What is Yoga?’. It’s either that we think we already know what Yoga is or, more likely, that the view is becoming lost within the myriad of ways in which Yoga is offered.

These days there seems to be little apparent clarity around what Yoga is, or if there is a view, it is not very apparent.”

“If the teacher does not have a ‘view’ to inspire and guide them whilst accommodating the many vagaries of Yoga classes today then we are more likely to be looking at the view dissolving into the many nuances of postural performance.

A Yoga view would be that a group class moves from the starting point of physicality towards some point of stillness, giving students an experience of ‘sitting’ and experiencing the potential of stillness at some point along the way.

The priority in terms of what we are trying to teach is ‘stillness’ or an experience of ‘Cit’. Can I be present within the activities of the mind? The longer I can be present, the more awareness that can emerge.

When people touch that stillness something happens – a wanting to move away from the dominance of the activities of the Citta.

The more that we go back in time with Yoga the more we see the goal was the achievement of the ability to sit and experience stillness. The more forward we move in time with Yoga the more we see the movement towards increased physicality.”

Excerpts from Yoga as a View – published by Yoga Studies

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When less Āsana time than you would like…..

“When less Āsana time than you would like,
better to reduce the number of Āsana,
or the number of repetitions,
or the length of the stays,
rather than, reducing the length of the breath.
Or….. even considering lengthening the breath,
thus even fewer Āsana, all with a longer breath than usual.
Here the Bhāvana could be to observe the effect
of a more spacious than usual Āsana breathing
on a more cramped than usual daily mindset.”
– Paul Harvey