A really busy day! The first exercise we learnt was called 'Anulom Vilom' - this one is for boosting your brain power. Needless to say I paid full attention. There are multiple things to be kept track of. First, your right nostril has to be covered with your right hand thumb and you have to breathe in through your left nostril - a deep breath, mind you. Then cover left nostril with ring and little fingers of your right hand (3rd and 4th fingers) and exhale through right nostril. Then breath through right nostril, cover it with your right hand thumb, remove the fingers from left nostril and breathe out through it.Then inhale through left nostril and so on. You have to keep doing it as many times as you can - the ultimate goal being to do it for 10 minutes. Just keep it in mind that you have to finally finish exhaling through left nostril. Two, your eyes need to be closed and your inner gaze focused on the tip of your nose or on the point between your eyebrows. Third, the tips of the last 2 fingers of your left hand should touch the thumb at its tip. And this exercise has to be done either on empty stomach or 2 and quarter hours after eating anything. I am not sure I have got everything down correctly but this is as much as I can remember it. Of course, the instructor has promised to send us relevant material so I need not burden my tiny brain with it all. I like this exercise and have made up my mind to include it in my Yoga regimen along with Kapaalbhati and Bhastrika.
The next exercise was called 'Bhramari' (My guess is it has something to do with the Sanskrit word 'Bhramar' meaning Bumblebee as you end up making a humming sound). This one is for emptying your mind of all thoughts. I have been looking for one since what looks like eons :-) However, the instructions given by the instructor completely unnerved me at first. He asked us to cover both ears tightly using both hands, then close eyes and try to make the Om sound through nose without opening mouth. As if this wasn't enough, next he asked us to reduce the pressure on one ear while chanting 'O' part of it and alternately on the other while chanting 'm'. Next, to keep both ears loosely covered but to chant 'O' while keeping teeth clenched and 'm' while un-clenching them. After everyone tried this, he asked each one what sensation he or she felt in the head. People gave various answers. When he asked me, I told him I was so busy following the instructions that I didn't pay attention to what was going on in my head. He said that he had asked us to do it in these steps to make us feel the 'vibrations' in our heads. The actual way to do it is to cover the small part of both ears (and not the whole ears) with your thumbs (so you cannot hear anything), then keep 2nd finger of each hand above each eyebrow, cover the area between the edge of the eyes and nose with the 3rd finger and keep the last 2 fingers below the eyes - all this while keeping the eyes closed. Then chant Om through nose. I have forgotten how many times you are supposed to do this. But in the end you are supposed to bring both hands above your head and rub them against each other vigorously - while keeping eyes closed. Then cup the hands above your eyes. When you open your eyes inside your cupped palms, you should see total darkness. Now blink your eyes in this darkness. This is basically passing the energy accumulated in your palms to your eyes. When this is done, rub your palms vigorously over your face to transfer remaining energy there. The instructor didn't say this but I hoped this would rejuvenate the facial skin and delay the appearance of wrinkles :-) Must say I didn't feel enthusiastic about chanting Om through nose in the class but I don't mind doing it in privacy of my home.
The exercises done in the last session of the class didn't appeal to me much. In fact, it was rather awkward trying to do them. The first one was the Lion Position or Sinhasana. You have to sit in Vajrasana with legs slightly apart and put the upturned palms of both hands below the knees. Then you have to stick your tongue out, shift your gaze in between your eyebrows and shout. I mean no disrespect but I found it both funny and awkward at the same time. If I had come to the class last week and chanced upon people doing this Asana I would have turned right on my heels and left. As if on cue, the next exercise was to throw hands in the air, look up and laugh heartily. This I did without any effort because I was anyways close to bursting out laughing. The instructor said that this is to be done to show God that we are happy (so that He doesn't ask us to return home to Him!). Not sure if he was being serious or was joking. The last part was clapping 5 times (2 claps first and then 3 claps in succession) - but with fingers set wide apart. This is supposed to provide acupressure to all pressure points inside palms.
After the class ended I asked the instructor about the back exercises he had shown yesterday. He said that there is a video of it somewhere and promised to look it up for me.
So, all in all today was a very fruitful day. :-)
P.S. Please do not attempt any of the above exercises without consulting a trained Yoga teacher. I cannot guarantee that I have got the details right.
The next exercise was called 'Bhramari' (My guess is it has something to do with the Sanskrit word 'Bhramar' meaning Bumblebee as you end up making a humming sound). This one is for emptying your mind of all thoughts. I have been looking for one since what looks like eons :-) However, the instructions given by the instructor completely unnerved me at first. He asked us to cover both ears tightly using both hands, then close eyes and try to make the Om sound through nose without opening mouth. As if this wasn't enough, next he asked us to reduce the pressure on one ear while chanting 'O' part of it and alternately on the other while chanting 'm'. Next, to keep both ears loosely covered but to chant 'O' while keeping teeth clenched and 'm' while un-clenching them. After everyone tried this, he asked each one what sensation he or she felt in the head. People gave various answers. When he asked me, I told him I was so busy following the instructions that I didn't pay attention to what was going on in my head. He said that he had asked us to do it in these steps to make us feel the 'vibrations' in our heads. The actual way to do it is to cover the small part of both ears (and not the whole ears) with your thumbs (so you cannot hear anything), then keep 2nd finger of each hand above each eyebrow, cover the area between the edge of the eyes and nose with the 3rd finger and keep the last 2 fingers below the eyes - all this while keeping the eyes closed. Then chant Om through nose. I have forgotten how many times you are supposed to do this. But in the end you are supposed to bring both hands above your head and rub them against each other vigorously - while keeping eyes closed. Then cup the hands above your eyes. When you open your eyes inside your cupped palms, you should see total darkness. Now blink your eyes in this darkness. This is basically passing the energy accumulated in your palms to your eyes. When this is done, rub your palms vigorously over your face to transfer remaining energy there. The instructor didn't say this but I hoped this would rejuvenate the facial skin and delay the appearance of wrinkles :-) Must say I didn't feel enthusiastic about chanting Om through nose in the class but I don't mind doing it in privacy of my home.
The exercises done in the last session of the class didn't appeal to me much. In fact, it was rather awkward trying to do them. The first one was the Lion Position or Sinhasana. You have to sit in Vajrasana with legs slightly apart and put the upturned palms of both hands below the knees. Then you have to stick your tongue out, shift your gaze in between your eyebrows and shout. I mean no disrespect but I found it both funny and awkward at the same time. If I had come to the class last week and chanced upon people doing this Asana I would have turned right on my heels and left. As if on cue, the next exercise was to throw hands in the air, look up and laugh heartily. This I did without any effort because I was anyways close to bursting out laughing. The instructor said that this is to be done to show God that we are happy (so that He doesn't ask us to return home to Him!). Not sure if he was being serious or was joking. The last part was clapping 5 times (2 claps first and then 3 claps in succession) - but with fingers set wide apart. This is supposed to provide acupressure to all pressure points inside palms.
After the class ended I asked the instructor about the back exercises he had shown yesterday. He said that there is a video of it somewhere and promised to look it up for me.
So, all in all today was a very fruitful day. :-)
P.S. Please do not attempt any of the above exercises without consulting a trained Yoga teacher. I cannot guarantee that I have got the details right.
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