Archive for the ‘Yoga Synergy Style’ Category

In this video I am demonstrating a type of shakti chalani mudra while sitting in a cold river. This is a quite advanced mudra that incorporates several types of pranayamas, bandhas, kriyas and mudras while holding the breath in and out. If done correctly by an experienced practitioner it is very effective in enhancing internal energy and health. If done incorrectly it can causes minor problems such as headaches, but if done badly by an unprepared person it can cause stroke or death. Therefore it should not be attempted until each element of the mudra is mastered individually and there is the guidance of an experienced teacher.

For people who are newer to breath-control (pranayama) it is a good idea to practice each of the techniques described here separately. Each of the individual elements of this mudra have tremendous benefits when practiced alone. For example there are benefits to be gained by separately practicing the following. Again please be cautious and make sure you have the guidance of an experienced teacher for each step you make:

• inhalation through the mouth,
• lengthening the neck,
• lengthening the tongue,
• lengthening the spine,
• holding the breath in,
• compressing the trunk while holding the breath in,
• tensioning nerves and acupuncture meridians,
• breathing through alternate nostrils,
• holding the breath out, and
• expanding the chest while holding the breath out.

This breath-control exercise begins with a complete yogic breath using the diaphragm. The diaphragmatic inhalation first expands the perineum, then lower back, then the abdomen (the diaphragm stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and the relaxation response). Then with the diaphragm still active and the air held in the lower trunk the inhalation continues using the breathing muscles of chest into the upper back (which is kept lengthened throughout the pranayama to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system). The breath then continues into the chest while keeping the breath in the abdomen as well (it is generally very hard for most people to inhale into the chest with the abdomen relaxed and expanded due to the diaphragm being still active, hence the complete yogic inhalation done in the proper way is very challenging).

The inhalation is through the rolled tongue (sitali) which cools the body (the water in this river is actually quite cold but tremendous heat can be generated with this pranayama so a cooling breath is warranted). At the end of the inhalation  the breath is held in. The throat is then moved forward and chin moved upward (tha-jalandhara bandha) to create a negative pressure that brings energy up the spine and blood to the brain. At this point the tongue is stretched towards the chin, which stretches the front of the tongue. Then the tongue is curled backwards towards the throat and gently sucked backwards into the throat (talabulam mudra), which stretches the back of the tongue. The tongue is a very ‘connected ‘organ, so stretching it in this way has a very powerful effect. The tip of the tongue is the tip of the kidney meridian. The tongue connects via various tissues to the skull, the chest and the spine. Therefore stretching the tongue has a powerful effect on the internal organs as well as the musculoskeletal system.

The head is then brought downwards and the chin is brought into the throat (ha-jalandhara bandha). The breath is held in and then compressed with the muscles that normally use to exhale from the chest and from the abdomen. In other words the chest and abdomen are compressed with a type of Valsalva manoeuvre (ha-uddiyana bandha and ha-mula bandha) that increases intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure to give a type of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a means of increasing the partial pressure of oxygen to bring it deeper into the body tissues. This type of therapy which is done medically in a hyperbaric chamber has been shown to increase cellular oxygen and promote healing.

While holding the breath in I am moving my arms and trunk in specific ways to stimulate various subtle channels (nadis) and acupuncture meridians. The changes in physical pressure increase the flow of oxygen (prana) to all the cells in the body but particularly into the spine with is kept lengthened throughout.

After holding the breath in for some time the tongue is released from the back of the throat and a swallowing action is made that inhibits the urge to breathe. The tip of the tongue is then placed at the back of the upper teeth. The right hand is used to block the left nostril and the air is released through the right nostril. The exhalation is initially passive from the chest and when the passive exhale is complete, the rest of the air is expelled by actively drawing in the perineum and then bringing then navel to the spine without making the abdomen hard. One the air is fully expelled the breath is retained out and the abdomen is relaxed so that the navel moves away from the spine.

Once the breath has been out, a type of Mueller manoeuvre is applied that allows chest to be expanded (tha-uddiyana bandha) like inhaling to the chest. The abdominal muscles are then progressively activated then relaxed in a way that gives an observer the impression the abdominal muscles are rolling from left to right. This is an illusion (named lauliki) that is an internal cleansing process (kriya) generated because there is a sequential activation of:

• right rectus abdomini muscle,
• both rectus abdomini muscles (nauli  = ha-mula bandha),
• the left rectus abdominis and then
• a positive pressure compression of the abdomen (which actives the external oblique muscles) (ha-mula bandha)

After holding the breath out for some time the chest is brought downwards (compressed), the tongue released from the back of the upper teeth and a swallowing gesture is made. Then a new cycle can begin.

Each cycle of this pranayama (which is generally about 2 minutes long ideally) leads to rapid buildup of carbon dioxide which causes an increase in blood flow to the brain and heart (via vasodilation) and cells (via the Bohr effect), calmness to the nervous system, deep clarity to the mind and a very reduced need for food. This gives tremendous benefits to your circulation, your energy levels and your internal health in general.

To learn more about breath-control, internal locks, energy control gestures, and internal cleansing processes you can enrol in our online course on the Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga  at http://anatomy.yogasynergy.com .

To learn more about these techniques you can get the Yoga Synergy DVD entitled ‘Stilling Calming Cleansing Body Breath and Mind in Dynamic Meditation’ from http://yogasynergy.com .

This video was filmed by Zac Human in the river near Ubud, Bali while i was teaching at Daniel Aarons Radiantly Alive Teacher Training course in 2008. The energy in and around this river was amazing. I must say this was one of the most nourishing yoga practices I ever done in my life because of where I was.

This is a short video of underwater yoga freediving of two types of fish pose (lotus) swimming by me (Simon Borg-Olivier in the black Stingray suit) and Christopher Morey (in the blue Orca Suit).
The video was shot at William Truebridge’s Freediving Master Class (brilliant) at the Blue Hole Long Island Bahamas, September 2009.
Thanks to Freediver Photographer Alfredo Romo for filming us and for allowing use to show his video here.

Underwater yoga has been a favourite pastime of mine since I was a kid. My father (George Borg-Olivier) was a freediver in the Mediterranean Sea and he taught me how to swim a lap of an olympic pool underwater before I swim on the surface. In my late teens my Tibetan Lama told me that traditionally (in the system he learnt) that postures where help for a long as one breath retention. So progressively I developed my underwater yoga practice know finding it the easiest place to hold the breath and be in a pose. In this practice I take a breath in, hold my breath, go underwater and get into a posture, hold for some time floating just under the surface, then exhale fully and sink down underwater (to the bottom if it is not far!) and hold my breath out and perform uddiyana bandha, mula bandha, nauli and lauliki (rolling my abdomen with my chest expanded etc). Then, I swim to the surface (often still in pose such as the lotus as in the video above) and when I break the surface I inhale to begin the next posture. I regularly practice a 30 minute sequence of up to 30 posture in this manner.

In the photographs below, photographed by Freediver Photographer Mads Becker Jørgensen (thank you Mads) at Deans Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas, I have no air in my lungs and I sinking to the bottom in Supta Bhekasana in the first photo and Padmasana in the second photo. I am only about 5 metres from the surface but you can see the blackness of the 250 metre deep Blue Hole on the left hand side of the first photo and the right hand side of the second photo. On one such breath retention I was in Baddha Padmasana (the bound lotus) with no air in my lungs sinking down and waiting to touch the bottom…but the bottom didnt come …  and it was getting dark… then realised I missed the floor and gone into the Blue hole … with no air … still bound in lotus … I felt briefly like Houdini before mildly panicking and undoing my legs and swimming to the surface which was much further up than I imagined. This experience gave me a lot of respect to William Truebridge who goes down 95 metres into this hole in one breath, and to all the freedivers who dive in the Blue Hole.

In this third photo I am doing an inhalation retention and floating in Padma Ardha Matsyendrasana. No chance of sinking in this one! Also very stimulating on the spine and internal organs to be so twisted with lungs full of air.

Many years ago I realised that I liked the effects of not breathing so much (please see my last post on not breathing much and how to slow the heart ) that I decided to incorporate this into my land practice as my Tibetan Lama had suggested. Hence although I teach most of my students to breath naturally in a posture (until it is mastered, as suggested in the Sutras of Patanjali, and as B.K.S Iyengar had told me when I was lucky enough to train with him) in my own practice i regularly hold my breath in and out for extended periods of time while holding posture and while moving between them.

The essence of pranayama comes from learning how not to breathe (see my post on the reasons for breathing in yoga ). But often people use the muscles of breathing for reasons other than to get more air. With an understanding of breath-control you can use the muscles of breathing for benefit wihtout actually breathing. For example, expanding the chest (like inhaling to the chest but not inhaling) can pull energy and information up the spine; contracting the abdomen (like making a full exhalation from the abdomen but not exhaling) can give some stability and strength to the lower trunk as well as massage the internal organs; and learning how to use the diaphragm (like inhaling with the diaphragm into the abdomen but not inhaling) can relieve lower back pain, increase trunk strength, calm the nerves and enhance blood flow without the heart beating faster.

The nice thing about the lotus swimming I do in this video is the effect on the spine. The hips and the arms move in opposite directions to move through the water. This uses the side spine muscles in a way that creates spinal side bending. The spine is mobilised and manipulated because to move in this way you need to relax the muscles of exhalation that can stiffen the spine by gentle activating the diaphragm (the main muscle of inhalation) and alternately use the side spine muscles. As the muscles on one side of spine are activated by bringing the same side hip and shoulder closer the opposite side muscles reflexly relaxed. Hence, the spine is massaged and blood flow is increased by the alternate on-off pumping of the spinal muscles without the need for the heart to beat faster. This principle is easily adapted to yoga done in a room or even in natural walking.

As an aside, and just for fun, it is interesting to relate my experience with my kids Amaliah who was at the time just 6 and Eric who was just 3. In May 2010 I was with the kids in a pool and Eric who could not really swim on top of the water much yet was sitting on the edge of the pool and put his legs into the lotus posture and dropped himself head first into the water then to my surprise swam for a while in lotus. When he surfaced I asked him how he learnt this trick. His reply ‘I saw Amaliah doing it!’ So I questioned my daughter ‘How did you learn this?’and she replied ‘I saw a video of you doing it Papa!’. Hmmm so it seems one doesnt really teach kids anything – they just copy!

You can see more of Amaliah and Eric doing their munchkin yoga for kids at Yoga Synergy at http://munchkinkids.com

You can learn more about breath-control and the applied anatomy and physiology of yoga on our online course

Arm balancing postures and positions such as the Cataranga Dandasana (the push-up) can be very exhilarating. They can energise you by increasing your circulation and they are also good at developing chest, arm and core strength. When done correctly they can really help relieve and prevent back and neck pain and can give direct stimulation to the heart and lungs.

Click on the following thumbnails to open and enlarge the full photographs of Bianca Machliss (Director, Yoga Synergy) demonstrating some arm-balancing postures. (All photos by Alejandro Rolandi)

Often women have trouble doing these arm balancing postures because of relatively smaller chest and arms and larger hips relative to men. Often men can only do these poses out of brute force, but when you understand and adopt the following tips strength is not as much of an issue and more people especially women can begin to enjoy and benefit from arm balancing postures.

Simple Tips to help to Arm Balancing Postures and Push-up positions:

• (note that every position that takes weight on the arms has specific details that may not be mentioned here)
• have the palms flat on the floor but grip with your finger tips
• press more on the inside (thumb-side) of the palms for better force transfer from the forearms to the wrists
• squeeze the heel of the palm inwards (as if trying to turn the palm out) in order to stabilise the elbow
• tighten the underarm muscles by pressing the arm pits in the direction they are pointing
• generally bring the shoulders over the over the finger tips (for most arm balances)
• spread the shoulder blades and lengthen the skin between the shoulder blades in the upper back
• push the sitting bones and lower trunk toward the same direction the navel is pointing until the front of the abdomen becomes firm without sucking the navel to the spine
• breathe into the firm abdomen to give you relaxed inner power that can be maintained for a long time without stress
• don’t do anything that feels painful or is potentially dangerous for you

This is a video lecture on the essence of yoga and its related anatomy and physiology of yoga, a demonstration of some advanced yoga and a short beginner level class i gave to about 500 people at Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney at the start of 2010. Thanks to Sheona White for organising this and Ross Glendenning and Verity Gill for there assistance in demonstration.

In addition to the physical yoga demonstration and the lecture I demonstrate here strength using internal relaxation power from diaphram, a relaxed abdomen and a relaxed neck. I also demontrate breath-control that can slow the heart rate from 88 to 33 beats per minutes in about 45 seconds. Thank you  to 3 of my main teachers who taught me the essence of this work. Prof Bhim Dev, Natanaga Zhander (Shandor Remete) and Zhen Hua Yang

Please click here to see the video.

Definitions and Introduction (APCh 1, 2,4, 7 Appendix C)

· Bandha is defined as co-activation (simultaneous tensing) of antagonistic (opposing) muscle groups around a joint complex; Bandhas require multi-joint muscles and multi-joint complexes; Bandhas strengthen and stabilise joint-complexes; Bandhas help to move prana (energy) citta and (consciousness) through the nadis (subtle channels including nerves, blood vessels, lymph vessels and acupuncture meridians)

· Ha-bandhas are compressive, create heat and increase local pressure. They push energy and blood away from their region and reduce local blood flow

· Tha-bandhas are expansive, decrease temperature and local pressure. They pull energy and blood away from their region and increase local blood flow

· There are many ways to generate bandhas at each of the nine main joint complexes. The main ways are listed below with simple instructions to guide you in this posture as a follows:

· Below are listed some of the instructions you can give or things you can do in the posture Utthita Trikonasana

Kulpha (ankle) bandha (APpp 178-186, 395-396)

Use ha-kulpha bandha on both feet (This bandha pushes the blood away from the feet and should mainly be used when the foot is on the floor)

· Grip (flex) the toes (like trying to make a closed fist)

· Lift the arches of the feet – (once kati (hip) bandhas are applied then emphasise the lift of outer right foot and inner left foot)

· Lean towards the front of the feet

Janu (knee) bandha (APpp 158-163, 396-397)

Use tha-janu bandha on both knees (This bandha enhances blood flow through the knee and should mainly be used with the knee extended in a weight-bearing posture)

· Pull up the knee caps (in order to activate muscles in front of the thighs or knee extensors)

· Try to bend the knee with knee caps still pulled up and/or press into the front of the foot (in order to activate muscles in the rear of the thighs or knee flexors)

Kati (hip) bandha (APpp 134-142, 398-399)

RIGHT LEG (flexed hip)

Use ha-kati bandha (This bandha restricts blood flow through the hip and should mainly be used with the hip flexed, i.e. in poses with the thigh moving towards the front of the body, in standing or in the air)

· Try to turn the thigh outwards

· Start with the RIGHT foot slightly turned inwards (outer foot parallel to the long side of the mat) then press the heel inwards and press the front of the foot outwards (this is like trying to turn the thigh outwards, but effectively co-activates hip abductors and adductors)

LEFT LEG (extended hip)

Use tha-kati bandha (This bandha enhances blood flow through the hip and should mainly be used with hip extended, i.e. in poses with the thigh moving towards the back of the body, in standing or in the air)

· Try to turn the thigh inwards

· Start with the LEFT foot turned 45-60 degrees outwards, then press the heel outwards and press the front of the foot inwards (this is like trying to turn the thigh inwards, but effectively co-activates hip abductors and adductors)

Mula (lower trunk) bandha (APpp 207-209, 400-401)

Generally best to use tha-mula bandha (This bandha enhances blood flow through the lower trunk while stabilising and firming the lower trunk. It is best maintained with natural diaphragmatic breathing where should be feeling like you are keeping your abdomen relaxed and breathing into the abdomen not the chest but if you were to touch your abdomen it would feel firm to touch because of the way you are doing the posture and using your postural muscles)

· Lengthen the spine (especially by pushing the tail bone and sitting bones in the opposite direction from the first thoracic vertebrae and the collar bone)

· Narrow and compress the waist (using the postural abdominal muscles and not the muscles of abdominal exhalation)

· Learn how to inhale using the diaphragm (pull the diaphragm down) while not letting the abdomen puff out and this will increase intra-abdominal pressure and add to the stability of the lumbar spine

· OR Try to push the sitting bones down and forward and while trying to pull the middle back in and up, without actually shortening the spine

· OR Stretch the mat with the feet (specifically try to stretch the mat apart from the ball of the RIGHT foot to the heel of the LEFT foot)

· OR Nauli (activate the rectus abdominis by pushing the pubis towards the chestwhile generating tha-uddiyana bandha on exhalation retention)

Only use ha-mula bandha (the compressional form of mula bandha which restricts blood flow through the lower trunk and is best used and learnt during forced abdominal exhalation) when both this posture (asana) and basic breath-control (pranayama) have been mastered separately and can now be applied at the same time. N.B. most practitioners with less than 10 years or rigourous yoga are not ready for this stage and will over-tax both their physiology and anatomy by inappropriately applying this type of positive pressure core stabilisation or ha-mula bandha prematurely trying to apply it in postures.

· Narrow and compress the waist and especially the lower abdomen (using the abdominal muscles of exhalation), but generally only hold for a few moments

· Grip the perineum then exhale fully and tighten the genital, the lower abdomen and armpits

· OR contract the diaphragm with or without an inhalation

Uddiyana (chest and upper back) bandha (APpp 208, 211, 402-403)

Ha-uddiyana bandha (This bandha restricts blood flow through the upper trunk and is good to use during spinal bending postures, i.e. use when bending forward, backward, sideways or twisting in order to stabilise the spine)

· Contract the front lower rib cage and the rear lower rib cage (near the kidney region) inwards towards each

· Exhale fully from the chest (ha-uddiyana bandha is easiest to feel on a safely performed forced chest exhalation)

· Equally round out the upper back then lift the collar bones so the front and the back of the chest are equally stretched

Tha-uddiyana bandha (This bandha enhances blood flow through the upper trunk and is safest to use in neutral spine postures such as Utthita Trikonasana)

· Expand the lower rib cage

· Inhale to the chest or expand the chest as if you are inhaling (this can be done at any time of the breath cycle)

· Equally round out the upper back then lift the collar bones so the front and the back of the chest are equally expanded

Jalandhara (neck & head) bandha (APpp 209-211, 404)

Ha-jalandhara bandha (This bandha restricts blood flow through the neck)

· Move the head down and move the neck back

· If and when you rotate the head to the left then move your left ear away from your left shoulder

Amsa (shoulder) bandha (APpp 87-92, 405-406)

Generally to create amsa (shoulder) bandha, move or push the armpits in the direction they are facing and move the elbows in the opposite direction

Ha-amsa bandha (This bandha restricts blood flow through the shoulder and is best used when the shoulders are extended by the side of the body or abducted out to the side)

· Push the shoulder down towards the hips and push the elbow away from the hips

Tha-amsa bandha (This bandha enhances blood flow through the shoulder and is best used when the shoulders are flexed, i.e. arms above the head)· Push the shoulders forward towards the chest and push the elbows backwards away from the chest

Kurpara (elbow) bandha (APpp 112-113, 407)

RIGHT ARM

Tha-kurpara bandha (This bandha enhances blood flow through the elbow and is best used when the elbow is extended)

· Gently and simultaneously tighten (bulge) the biceps and triceps brachii

· Here the arm is pulling against the ankle (or the big toe or the floor) so try and bend (flex) the elbow then try to rotate the forearm inwards (elbow pronation)

LEFT ARM

Tha-kurpara bandha

· Gently and simultaneously tighten (bulge) the biceps and triceps brachii

· Here the arm is pushing to try and straighten (extend) the elbow so try to rotate the forearm outwards (elbow supination)

Mani (wrist) bandha (APpp 113-120, 408-409)

RIGHT ARM

Ha-mani bandha (This pushes the blood away from the hand and should mainly be used when the hand is weight-bearing or grabbing something)

· Grip (flex) with the fingers and pull the back of the hand towards the wrist (extend the wrist), as if trying to make a closed fist with the hand

· OR in an open handed position in case the hand is on the floor or resting by the side of the ankle in the air then try and make a tight closed fist with the hand

LEFT ARM

Tha-mani bandha (This pulls the blood towards the hands and should mainly be used especially on inhale when the hand is not weight-bearing or grabbing something)

· The wrist is guided by a closed hand position (in this case grabbing the ankle but it could also be the big toe) so stretch (extend) the fingers and slightly pull the front of the hand towards the wrist (i.e. slightly flex the wrist)