Подготовка учителей по серии йоги Леди Нигумы (2010, Сингапур), занятие 2

[Говорящий 1]
with relation to the chakras. So, they ripen very fast. So, the bottom line is, if you do yoga, particularly one which is designed carefully, then it will affect, the seeds will be...

By the way, someone is going to take photos, and I said it was okay, I hope you don't mind. They are going to get in your face and flash, okay? It's not a chakra going off, okay.

So, the seeds that you plant in yoga have an extraordinary capacity to ripen in the same day. So, if you do yoga in the early part of the day, which I'm not saying you have to, some people prefer evening and that's fine. There's no problem with that.

Some people feel looser after a day of walking around. But if you do a well-designed series in the morning, that karma, those seeds will ripen by afternoon, okay? What I'm saying is that you'll find that if you do your yoga, this is designed to be 45 minutes, half hour, 45 minutes, okay?

If you do it in the morning, with attention to the chakras, it will plant seeds that ripen in the day. So, what you'll find, if you try it, to do the yoga in the morning, this particular series, I would say especially, then you will find that you're... You see, when we say that a seed ripens in the afternoon, what we're saying is that reality shifts in the afternoon.

You were going to have a fight at work with somebody, you know? You were going to... If you didn't do yoga, your supervisor was going to say something unpleasant to you.

And then, if you do do your yoga in the morning, it actually... Because the supervisor is coming from you, from the seeds in your heart, and because a well-designed series plants different seeds in your heart, you'll have a different day at work than you would have had, okay? It's not that you're feeling better and the day goes better.

I'm not saying that. That's also happening on a lower level. But on a higher level, since reality is pouring out of your heart chakra, we say the seeds are located at the heart chakra.

You know, we don't say, I have seeds here. A Tibetan will say, I have seeds here, you know? And they are pouring out of the heart chakra.

In fact, in this yoga system of Lady Nygma, the heart chakra is not called... Normally, the heart chakra is called Anahata in the yoga systems, because that means the thing, the drum which is beating without a stick. Okay?

It's a nice word. An means not. Ahata means hit with a stick.

So, it's a drum that's beating without a stick. Anahata chakra. But in this Nygma system, Lady Nygma system, the heart chakra is called Dharma chakra, which means the chakra from which all things are flowing.

Your day, your afternoon at work, is flowing from the heart chakra. Okay? So, if you work...

This series is designed especially to work on the heart chakra, because there are three knots at this chakra. The others are only one. This one has three.

So, if you do some good each step at this chakra, it will change the reality of your day at work. Okay? So, that's kind of, to me, very profound.

And Lady Nygma said, it changes the day at work on two levels. We tend to think of seeds as creating your outside world. So, you know, the seeds that are planted in...

By doing just a short yoga practice in the morning, before you go to work, they will change the people you meet. They will be kinder. They will speak nicer.

If you're really concerned about someone at work, or someone in your family that you have to deal with during the day, do your yoga. And that's a recognition of the fact that they're coming from you. And that will change your heart chakra.

That will change what flows out of it, which changes the people. But what I wanted to say, and then we'll start. Remember that seeds also create your thoughts.

Okay? So, not just the outer world around you. Lady Nygma, her big thing was...

Okay, I agree that if you do your yoga in the morning, you'll have a better day at work. The people around you will be kinder, and more cooperative, and things will go well. Also your family, things like that.

But what her big thing was, those seeds are also determining what thoughts come in your mind. What you hear in your head isn't coming from you. And you know that because so often your head is saying things you don't want to hear.

Okay? That's proof, right? It's not...you can't decide what you hear in your mind. That's why some people... some of us have a problem with anger, or I have a problem with jealousy, then I don't want to hear my mind saying those things, but it says those things. And I try to stop it, and I can't.

That's because those are coming from the seeds that I planted before. I'm listening, I'm not saying. So, Lady Niguma's yoga not only will change the people you meet during the day, it will change the thoughts you hear in your head during the day.

Okay? So, you know, I... Today's theme is not to tell you methods or techniques.

We finished that. Today's theme is, how can we all get ourselves to do this every day? Okay?

Which is...it doesn't help if you know all the techniques. I used to review 800 people for their raises every year, right? And that was part of my job.

And then my boss... I would go in and he would... he would help me review the major people, like five VPs or something.

So, I'd go in and he'd say, did you review the so-and-so VP? And I'd say, yeah, I finished the review. And he said, well, what are you planning to give them?

I said, I'm thinking to raise them $10,000. And he'd say, why? And I'd say, their performance is extraordinary.

I mean, they are just...they are creative, they get along with everybody, they spend the hours, they work hard. Everything is good. And then he said, do they come to work?

Are they here every day? He would look at me and say, do they come to work every day? And I'd say, well, you know, they have some...

He'd say, $3,000. He'd say, because it doesn't matter how much you know or how good you are if you don't show up at work. You get the analogy?

You can understand all the seed stuff very well. And, you know, you can understand how the yoga is going to affect your day. It changes the reality of your day.

But then if you don't do it, it doesn't matter how much you know. How many classes you go to, it doesn't matter. If you don't do it, it doesn't matter.

So, I don't... I think the best way to get a person to do it every day is just to tell them what I just told you. You know?

Like, if you do your yoga, it will change the day because it opens the heart chakra. And then the people you meet, the events at work, and your own mind will be different than they would have been if you didn't do the yoga. That's all.

That's all you need to know to be inspired to do yoga. Who's going to help you if you stop doing yoga? Who's going to remind you to do your yoga?

Your boss, your family member, your own head. They are going to start making noises. You know?

Like, you'll have a bad day at work. You'll have a fight with your spouse. I had a...

This morning, the guy and the lady next door went at it physically. Okay? In my room upstairs, you know?

And I was like calling. I'm trying to be quiet, you know? Like, there's somebody, you know, they're punching it out next door.

You know? And, you know, things that you see that are disturbing are... are a wake-up call.

Okay? If you have a bad day, the next day do your yoga. Alright?

If your supervisor is unpleasant, if your mind is uncontrollable, if your feelings are anger or jealousy or laziness or desire or whatever it is, if you have a bad day, that's going to remind you to do your yoga the next day. That's all. I can't call you.

You can email me. It doesn't matter. Life will remind you that you didn't do your yoga.

Alright? So, let life be your reminder. Okay?

Alright. So, I think today, because of such a high priority on Easter brunch being elaborate, in my mind, I mean, we could either worship the events of the day or we could have a big meal. So, I chose the meal.

I thought we should just go straight. We'll just go straight through the yoga. So, you've done it once and I won't talk, okay?

And I'll just lead you through the yoga. If you're not sure what to do, watch these two guys because they know better than me. Okay.

Alright, here we go. Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position. Or you could stick your feet out in front of you.

It doesn't matter. As Ben said very nicely during the meditation, the important thing is you're comfortable. It doesn't matter what you look like.

If you start thinking about your knees, there's a problem. So, be comfortable, okay? There's a custom to chant certain sacred sounds before we start.

I thought, I was not going to do that, but maybe I will do that, okay? There are different, they're called bija sounds, seed sounds, and they help open up the chakras, okay? So, there are different seed sounds that are given in different texts, okay?

And I want to explain to you the ones that are used for Lady Nygma. They're not the normal ones, okay? Let me see here.

These are a special custom in Kalachakra yoga. Kalachakra is an ancient system of yoga that nowadays is taught traditionally by the Dalai Lama. So, in this particular syllables, you are giving the syllables for the elements.

Sa chu me, say sa. Chu, me, lung, nam kha. So, earth, water, fire, wind, and space, okay?

And then, there's a custom that on the day that you become an enlightened angel, the process is that there's some kind of laya, or dissolution of your very being. Your being melts down. Your old self melts down.

And then, out of the void that comes from your old... you lose your old self, you destroy your old self. And then out of that comes a new person who is made of light, is an angel who can help all beings, okay?

So, it's a custom to say these seed syllables going backwards. Instead of sa, chu, me, lung, nam kha, you go backwards, okay? Because you are coming out of the void into a new body with the new elements, with different elements, because now you're made of light.

So, the bone, blood, and flesh dissolves. It's like Easter, okay? The old body is killed.

And then, yesterday, Saturday, between Good Friday and Sunday, right? There's nothing. And then, on Sunday, the new body rises, you see?

This is a custom in this series that you use the sacred syllables for sa, chu, me, lung, nam kha. You go backwards, okay? Space turns into wind, turns into fire, turns into water, turns into earth, in the sense of a new body.

So, that's the mantras we're going to do. So, the first one, space, is called gshan. Kha, kha, shan, gshan.

So, I'll do it once. Do you want to do it? Are you good at singing this?

No? Okay. She's a singer, okay.

Gshan, gshan, gshan, gshan, gshan, gshan, gshan. Then, breathe some through the chakra, between your legs, okay? Next chakra.

And Brian did this in a class. We had a nice class. He used the notes of the scale.

And there are... The chakras match the notes of the scale, okay? Okay, now for svadhishthana, at your tailbone, okay?

Which is wind. Yam, yam, yam, yam, yam, yam, yam. Breathe through that chakra.

The breath goes out the back of the spine, at the tailbone, and comes back to the back of the spine. Then the navel chakra. Always remember, navel doesn't mean the front.

It means at the level of the navel at the spine, okay? So, never think your chakras are glued on the front of your body. They are back right in front of the spine, okay?

Here we go. Ram, ram, ram, ram, ram, ram, ram. Breathe through your spine, out through your spine to the back, behind your navel.

Okay, now the heart chakra, dharma chakra. Lam, lam, lam, lam, lam, lam, lam. Then the throat chakra, back of the neck.

Sum, sum, sum, sum, sum, sum, sum. Okay, there's a visualization that goes with this, that you can learn some other time, okay? Sum is for Sumeru, which is the...

It's like the first volcano that comes up out of the ocean when the earth begins, okay? Then we do at the tip of the head, okay? Say, just one long, OM.

Okay. There's a tradition in the secret teachings that Lord Buddha didn't get enlightened at the Bodhi tree, under the tree, that he was enlightened long before that. And...

It's a practice where you come out of the elements, the first mountain comes up out of the sea, and then you are sitting on the top of the mountain with your spiritual partner. And then you get enlightened together in the same day, at dawn, on the same day. So, whom relates to that on the top of the mountain?

That's a long story. They say Lord Buddha got enlightened with his partner, Tilottama, on top of the mountain. So this is a tradition to say, these come out of the elements and then reach the top of the mountain and then become enlightened.

This is a tradition. Okay. Come stand at the front of your mat.

Hands to your chest. Exhale down. Inhale up.

Exhale to forward bend. Left foot back. Knee down.

Stretch. Push up. Knees, chest, chin.

Cobra. Back into Dandong. Left foot up.

Right knee down. Right foot up to match the left. Bend.

Back up. Hands to your chest. I'm sorry.

Okay. Well, we'll do it this way for the first one. Hands down.

Exhale. Inhale up. Exhale down.

Right foot back. Knee down. Stretch.

Push up. Knees, chest, chin. Cobra.

Back into Dandong. Right foot up. Left knee down.

Stretch. Left foot forward to come to the right foot. Bend.

Hands up to the sky. Hands to the chest. We'll do it one more time, but with a clasp in the back.

Okay, ready? Exhale down. Inhale up.

Raise. Exhale down. Clasp the hands behind the back.

Left foot back. Knee down. Stretch.

Push up. Knees, chest, chin. Cobra.

Dandong. Left foot up. Right knee down.

Stretch. Right foot forward to meet the left. Clasp your hands.

Bend. Hands to the sky. Slowly.

Hands to your chest. Hands back, clasp. Right foot back.

Stretch. Push up. Knees, chest, chin.

Cobra. Dandong. Right foot forward.

Stretch. Left foot forward to meet it. Bend, clasp the hands.

Hands to the sky. Hands to the chest. Okay, we're going to skip the transition and just sit down.

Both feet forward, both legs forward. Right heel to your groin. At least touch.

It reminds you of the chakra. Hands to the sky. Halfway down.

You can do your shin if you want. Don't stretch much. Breathe to the place where your heel is touching your groin.

Come back up, straighten. Stick out your chest. Go down all the way.

Sit up. Extend both legs. Left heel to your groin.

Raise your arms. Halfway down. Breathe to where your heel is touching.

Sit up. Raise your hands to the sky. Stick out your chest.

And then all the way down. Up to sitting. Extend both your legs.

Then bring them both back in for Baddha Konasana, bound triangle. Relax there and breathe, okay? Through your groin.

If you can, bend forward for five more breaths. If you can't, stay where you are. As far as you can, doesn't matter.

Rise up. Cross your legs comfortably. They can just be flat down.

Hands to your knees, palms up. Chin Mudra. And then for five breaths, contract your groin, okay?

Little contractions at your groin. And then hold the contraction. Bring in your abdomen.

Suck in your abdomen. And hold the contraction. Release.

Take a few breaths. Just watch your breath. Three small drops, three times.

So watch. It's three sharp exhales, okay? Take a breath.

Again. Again. Today we'll do the transition.

I like to just plant my hands like this. Down dog. Push up.

You can do the knees, chest, and chin. Cold breath. Back into Child's Pose.

Stay in Child's Pose. Stay. Wow.

Stay in Child's Pose. Sit up. And extend your feet again.

Lay down on your back. Raise your left knee to the sky. Left foot on your right thigh.

Left hand to the sky. Open like a book. Left knee goes to the right.

Hand comes to the left. If you can, turn your neck to the left. Count for five.

Try to get all five fingernails of your left hand on the floor. Raise your left knee to the sky. Extend your left leg.

Right knee to the sky. Left hand to your right knee. Right foot to your left thigh.

Raise your right hand. And open like a book. Look to the right.

If you can, all five fingernails on the floor of your right hand. Raise your right knee. Extend your right leg.

Come up to sitting. You can just do your shins halfway down in Paschimottanasana. Paschi came into Latin as Vaschi, came into English as West, meaning the back of your body.

Ut means very much. Tana came in English as tendon, meaning to stretch, or tenuous, meaning that's a stretch. So, Paschimottanasana.

Stay halfway down. Breathe through your tailbone, out. Grab your shins or your ankles or your toes or your hands.

I want to show you a trick, okay, very fast. It can really be helpful. This is Dharmamitra, okay?

This is how he does it. You can start with your knees bent like that. And there's contact between your abdomen and your thighs, right?

You feel contact. So then grab something. It could be your ankles, it could be here.

And then straighten your knees without losing the contact. And don't go farther than you can without losing the contact. If you don't straighten your legs all the way, it's okay.

But keep the contact. And he says that protects your back. And that would open the chakra better, okay?

Sit up. Bend your knees. Raise your feet off the floor.

I like to put my hands like this. And then, if you can, straighten your legs, okay? Hold for five.

Five. Four. Three.

Three. Two. That's an old Sri Vatavi joystick.

One. Then release. Lie down on your back.

Knees to the sky. Keep your feet where they are. Don't move your feet.

And just release your knees to the left. Both knees. Then on an inhale, up.

Release them to the right. And do that for five breaths on your own count. Windshield.

Distributing the drops. At the Svadhishthana chakra. Raise your knees.

Come up to sitting. You don't have to make noise. Just like...

And then back into a vinyasa, a transition. Down dog. Push up.

Knees, chest and chin. Cobra. Down dog.

Left foot up between your hands. Right knee to the ground. Right hand to the sky.

And then you can just do a light elbow behind the knee if you like. Breathe through your spine, behind your belly button. Both hands to the floor.

Bring your right foot forward to meet your left. And do a forward bend, uttanasana. Here you can breathe.

Nice place to breathe through the back of your spine, behind your navel. Release your head and your neck. Let them hang on their own weight.

Bend your knees, both hands to the floor. Bring your left knee to the ground. Raise your...

If you have trouble balancing here, spread your right foot out a little bit. So you have more of a... Raise your left hand to the sky.

And then twist to the right. Hands to the ground. Bring your left foot forward to meet your right for a standing forward bend.

And then bend, uttanasana. Let your head hang. No muscles working in your neck.

Your neck is broken, you can't hold it up. Just let your head... Your head weighs 30 pounds.

Let it loose. Sit down on your bottom. Extend your legs.

And lie down on your back. Arms next to your sides. Palms down.

Left leg up on an inhale. Down on an exhale. Right leg up on an inhale.

Down on an exhale. Left leg up, flex your foot. Left leg down, point like a ballerina.

Right leg up, flex. Right leg down, point. Left up, flex.

Left down, point it. Right up, flex. Right down, point it.

Left up, flex. Left down, point it. Right up, flex.

Right down, point it. Palms under your buttocks, palms down. Both legs up, flex.

Both legs down, point it, don't touch the ground. Both legs up, flex. Down, point it.

Don't touch the ground. Both up. Both down.

Both up. Both down. Both up.

Come down on a count of 10. 10. Point it, 9.

8. 7. 6.

5. 4. 3.

2. 1. Collapse nicely.

Relax for a second. Come up to sitting. Legs cross comfortably.

Kapalabhati, right? Shining skull. You can do 15 to 20 sharp exhalations.

Concentrate on shaking up your belly button area. Okay, here we go. Concentrate on the exhale, okay?

1, 2, exhale. Relax. Take 3 deep breaths.

Extend your legs. Identify your right foot. Place it on the outside of your left knee.

Sole of the foot on the ground. Then left foot comes next to your right buttock. I'm sorry, backward.

Okay, stop that. Identify your left foot. Outside of your right knee.

Right foot to your left buttock. The point is that every twist should be to the left first. And that's...

We'll talk about that some other time. Raise your right arm. And then, if you can, your elbow behind your knee.

If you can't, just hug your right knee, okay? Imagine breathing through your heart chakra, behind your heart. At your spine, behind your heart.

The breath is coming out your back, behind your heart. Release to center. Do a counter-twist to the other side.

Both legs out front. Now we do that other one. Right foot to the outside of your left knee.

Left foot to your right buttock. Raise your left arm. And twist to the right.

If you can, raise your hand like this. And spread the fingers. And that helps the prana flow.

Don't bunch up your hand. Spread the fingers as wide as you can. Again.

Breathe out the back of your spine, behind your heart. Release to center. Twist to the left side.

A counter-twist. You come to this comfortable cross. It's that thing again, you're like, hands down.

And then back into a down-down. Push up. Down.

Knees, chest, chin. Cobra. Back into down-down.

Left foot up between your hands. Rotate your back foot flat. And come up into a warrior one.

And then right away open into a two. And hold for five. Smile.

Smiling releases the termination points of the two side channels at either side of the nose. Seriously. It's much easier to do yoga if you're smiling.

Keep your arms where they are. Straighten your legs. And reverse to the other side.

Straighten your legs. Face the side of your mat. Shorten your stance.

Stand your feet a little bit closer. We're going to do trikonasana, triangle pose. But we're going to do it Sivananda style.

Which is much better for opening the nasty channels on the side. So you bring your right arm up to the sky. Make contact between your right ear and your right bicep.

Don't lose that contact. Which means you won't be able to go very far and that's fine. Now turn out your left foot.

Left foot to the front of your mat. And then go down into trikonasana. Bend to the left.

Don't lose contact. Don't try to look good. Try to feel a stretch on your right side.

You won't be able to go very far. And that's fine. Keep your arms straight.

Keep your fingers straight and wide open. Don't lose contact between your ear and your arm. Palms should be facing the floor.

Come up. Release the right arm. Right foot out towards the back of your mat.

Left arm up to the sky. Make contact, left ear and bicep. And then bend to the right.

You won't be able to go very far. And it's much better for your side channels. Palms should be facing the ground.

Elbows should not be bent. Rise up to standing. Release your left arm.

Turn towards the front of your mat and bring your feet together. Hands at the chest. Clasp your fingers.

Hands to the sky. Bend to the left. This is not very elegant.

It doesn't look so good. But it's probably the best pose in the world for your heart chakra. Smile.

Focus at one point in this ugly ceiling. If you're having a rough day and you do this just at your desk, you'll feel some release of prana. You might burp a little bit like that.

It's a good sign. And it's releasing the knot at the heart. Come to straight.

Change the clasp. And then bend to the right. It's good if you can pull out and down with your other hand.

Keeps your elbows straight. Hands up to the sky. Back to your chest.

We're going to do virkshasana, which means tree pose. It's not vriksha, which is a different word. If you're not used to doing this pose, you can just do ankle to ankle.

You can do heel to ankle like this. And just stay like that. That's okay.

It would be your right heel touching just above your right ankle. That's okay. If you can, on an inhale, bring your right foot up to your groin.

It's easier off your mat, on the carpet. And then arms to the sky. If you can, push your right knee back towards the back of your mat.

And smile. And focus on something other than the suffering. Okay, release.

We'll do the other side. Micro-bending the knee helps a little bit. Then release to you.

Release. Then we're going to come down on your back. Watch these guys, okay?

Watch these guys. They're going to do what you could call a half shoulder stand. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, it's called Viparita Karini.

The point is that the acupressure, which opens the twist, right? Opens the knot. In this pose, it's going to be behind the Dharma Chakra.

So we're trying to put pressure on the spine behind the heart, not behind the neck. Shoulder stand puts the pressure behind the neck, right? So they're going to do...

This pose puts pressure behind the heart, okay? So you're only halfway up. And there's some kind of a...

I don't know how you should say it, but... There's some kind of a balance thing where you're not... Your feet aren't supposed to be straight up.

They're supposed to be like this, okay? But the point is you should feel it behind your heart. That's the point.

Try to make contact between your heart and the floor. Okay, go up into that. And we'll stay there for ten breaths.

Ten... Nine... Eight...

Seven... Six... Five...

Spread your toes. Four... Spread your toes.

Three... Two... One.

Release to the floor. Come to sitting. We'll do a vinyasa.

Vinyasa just means a transition, okay? So palms down, back into down dog. Now listen carefully.

Come to push-up. And then lower all the way down to your belly. Okay.

We're gonna do locus pose, shalabhasana. Arms to your side. Palms up towards the sky.

And then on an inhale, raise your chest, head and legs and arms. And hold for five. Five...

Four... Three... Two...

One. Release to the ground. Pillow your head on your hands, okay?

And look to your left. Turn your head to your left. Take a little rest.

Breathe through your heart chakra, out the back. The heart is not to open. Three loops around the central channel.

This isn't official. Come into a sphinx. This is sphinx, okay?

I just want to tell you something. If, you know, we were talking about doing tonglen, the giving and taking meditation for all living beings, right? So if you are able to loosen the three loops at the heart, which is why there's more poses for the heart, right?

You will have a direct experience of seeing the face of every creature on this planet at the same moment. If you are able to open your heart chakra slightly, you will have an experience where you see the face of every living creature in this world and frankly on countless worlds at the same moment, okay? What they call bodhicitta, true love.

You will have that experience if you can open the heart chakra. So all of this is meant to open the heart chakra, okay? Shalabhasana is good.

Now we're going to do Dhanurasana, bow, okay? So belly, back on your belly. Bend your knees.

Grab something. Ankles, clothing, feet. And then on an inhale, raise your chest, head and legs.

Five. Smile. Four.

Giggles, even better. Three. Two.

One. Come back down. Up to sitting.

I like this one. This is David Lai, one of David Lai's favorite poses. And it is an old Tibetan pose.

It's called Gyaleng Tidem. Say Gyaleng. Gyaleng.

Tidem. Gyaleng means a racehorse. G means a mare, racing mare.

G means the cream in their body, the milk in their body. Gem means we're going to distribute the milk throughout the body. And that's the drop distribution for the heart chakra.

Okay, so all of this is a bunch of rolls, horse rolls. Okay, straight legs if you can. Five of them, okay?

It helps to exhale when you go back. Okay, that's one of the best poses you can do for your chakras. Okay?

It massages all the chakras. And it distributes the prana through all the chakras. It's a very powerful, very happy pose.

Okay? That's one of the best poses you can do. Hands behind you.

Fingers facing forward. Okay? Knees, feet to the, soles of the feet to the floor.

Come up into tabletop. And let your head fall back. We're trying to loosen the chakra behind the neck.

So, if you like, you can turn your head no. Turn your head yes. Loosen up your neck.

Let your neck go. Let your head go. Five, four, three, two, one.

Come down. Now we're going to put pressure on the neck chakra. What would be the best way?

Shoulder stand. Okay? Yeah, shoulder stand.

So, if you have a shoulder stand, go up into a shoulder stand. If you don't have a shoulder stand, raise your hand. Somebody can help you with a, with a, what do you call it?

Yeah, if you can't come up with your legs straight, you can do the half shoulder stand. And we'll hold for 20 breaths, okay? Breathe through your neck.

Breathe through the back of your neck. Come on down. Come to sitting.

We're going to do Uddiyana Bandha, which is basically you're just trying to glue your tummy to your spine. Classically, you would take a retention here. A ukkha.

In Tibetan, they call it ukkha. We're not going to do that. All right?

So, what I'd like you to do is chin mudra. Uddiyana. Close your eyes.

Breathe softly. And then slowly try to suck in your stomach. That's all.

Suck in your stomach. Try to bring it in and up, but keep breathing lightly. We're not going to do a retention, because until you have a lot of training, it can cause the chakras to tighten up.

Try to find a place of tension where the belly can stay sucked in and up, and you're still breathing lightly. You can breathe through your throat. Release.

Just during the day, okay? By the way, we just did the gathering, right? That's a gathering motion.

So, when you're at work, you can do that all the time. Just keep a slight awareness of a bandha, or some kind of sucking in your stomach there lightly. You can do that all day, and if you make a habit of it, it's good for you.

It has other effects on your spine, and the alignment of your spine. If you can keep a slight bandha here, just as you're working at your desk or on your computer, learn to keep a slight bandha there. And then it has an effect.

It loosens your tailbone and your spine, and then it corrects the rest of your body. Your body alignment will be corrected by that. All right.

Extend your legs. Lay back on your elbows. And then release your neck to the back.

We're distributing the drops in the neck. Sit up, and then go over into child's pose. But, two variations.

I mean, probably it's better, more comfortable for you if you spread your knees slightly, and then bring your abdomen down between your knees. You can extend your hands forward towards the front of your mat, or you can bring them back towards the back of your mat. Whatever is more comfortable for you.

Try to find something that's not painful and that's very relaxing. It's nice to put your forehead to the floor, because there's a small chakra there. There's a small knot at your forehead.

And just try to relax. Okay, come to sitting. We're going to do a dharmamitra.

I think dharmamitra is like the greatest yogi in the world. Not because he's the only one who can do half the poses he does. And he's 70-something.

But because he's a kind person. And he's obviously opened his channels. You want to know if a person's channels are open?

Are they nice to other people? That's open channels. You don't have to stand on your head with no arms, which is what he does.

The reason he can do it and nobody else can do it is because he's a nice person. And his channels are open. And he's being kind to people.

I heard he has this scooter thing, right? What do you call it? Without an engine.

Yeah, the kids use. That's how he gets around New York. And yeah, like a push thing, you know.

Standing. And then he cut off a bus one time. And he came to class that day.

He told us a story. He said, oh, I'm so bad today. I cut off a bus.

Well, what did you do, dharmamitra? Well, he went really fast, but I chased him. And I chased, chased, chased.

And then I got up next to him at a stoplight and I apologized. And so my meditation went well today. And that's how he is.

So anyway, he calls this the king of poses. It's going to be a headstand. If you comfortably have a headstand, then we'll go into a headstand.

If you don't comfortably have a headstand, you will hurt your neck. And don't try, okay? Without a good teacher.

Go to a good teacher. Have them teach you, okay? Don't do it today.

I don't want the insurance thing, okay? If you have a headstand, we'll go up in the headstand for like 20 breaths. If you don't have a headstand, Ningbo and Mercedes are going to show you a variation that you can do, okay?

That's all. He's doing this thing with clasping your... But you can also just cup the back of your head, okay?

Which is probably easier for new people. So go up into either one. The king of all poses.

The opening... It opens the chakra at the top of the head. The most powerful pose.

And the most important pose of the day. If you can, hold it for like 20 breaths, okay? I like to hold it for half an hour.

It's a different thing. If you're not up yet, and you want a nice trick, get this far, and then walk your feet towards your head. And you'll just pop up automatically, unexpectedly.

Breathe through the top of your head. Breathe through the chakra at the top of your head. All the prana now is released from the dots.

Each knot has been opened from the bottom, from the groin. Then we open the tailbone. Then we open the navel.

Then we open the heart. Then we open the neck. And now the last chakra is open, and prana is flowing.

So see prana flowing very smoothly through your body from your groin to the tip of your head. Prana is flowing perfectly. You're breathing out through the top of your head.

No more knots. No more kinks. The flow is perfect, comfortable.

Nice prana flow. This is the end of the asanas. It's the end of the opening of the chakras from the bottom to the top.

Breathe through the top of your head. Okay, come on down. Into child's pose for five breaths.

Come up slowly, and then back down onto your back for savasana. Final relaxation. If it's comfortable, palms to the ceiling, okay?

Arms out, palms to the ceiling. Let your feet fall out to the side. It's called dead man's pose because you're totally, totally no resistance to the earth.

The earth is now inviting you to it. No resistance to the earth. You died, and you're just completely conked out, completely released to the earth.

This is a good time to set a clock if you're at home. We'll be coming around and just massaging some people's foreheads or feet, and don't be shocked. Okay, start to come back to your body.

Wiggle your feet. Wiggle your fingers. Turn your head from side to side.

And in your own way, in your own speed, come up to sitting. Okay, we'll do three oms to conclude the practice. Breathe in.

Om. Breathe in. Om.

Breathe in. Om. Okay, my very first teacher, Geshe Ngoan Dargye, 19, I don't know, 74, 73, he said, practicing by yourself is like a single pencil, and it's easy to break.

And in practicing with a lot of other people, yoga or meditation is like a bundle of pencils, and you can't break it. He said that there's more power to practicing together. So we had the opportunity this week to visit some really good studios, yoga studios, here in this area.

One is Red Lotus Yoga Studio, which I really enjoyed, and Brian Grenadier and his partner. Yeah. So try to go sometimes when you have time.

It's nice to go out at least once a week or twice a week for your practice, but you also have to get used to doing it in your own house, or you'll never really keep up a daily practice. You can't afford, and you don't have time to keep going to a studio every day, most people. So you're going to have to have a practice in your home.

The manual, which Mercedes worked on very hard, it gives you breath-by-breath, what to do breath-by-breath, each inhale, each exhale. Ningbo did that part. I wrote that part.

Anyway, we all worked on it. It'll give you breath-by-breath instructions so you can do it at home, and there's pictures that Ningbo and Mercedes prepared. I'd like to thank them for that.

We also had a nice opportunity to go to a yoga studio called Updog, and that's a very beautiful studio. Very nice vibe there, very good vibe. And then...

What's the other one? Hamsa, which means a swan in Sanskrit. Lufthansa means swan of the sky, right?

Of the air. That's a beautiful... We went to there.

They're all really good studios, and they're all teaching authentic yoga. You have to keep going out and learning more from people who are really good teachers. At least I experienced three really good teachers in this area, and you're lucky to have them.

Go out once in a while when you can, get to the studio, and they will take you further. They can help you go further. Do you want to go over the schedule?

[Говорящий 2]
We have some slight schedule changes just because our time is a little unexpectedly different. It's 11.30 now, and we're going to break until 12. Some people I know have to check out at 12, and I just wanted to let you know that the room next door, we can store all our luggage there, and we're going to lock it, right, Rory?

Yeah, we're going to get it guarded or locked or something like that. We'll take a half hour break now so people can change and check out. Also, I think there's a tea and a fruit break or something right now.

From 12 to 1 then, we're going to have Wisdom for Daily Life, and then we're going to have the Easter brunch. Instead of at 12.30, we're going to have it at 1, just because we're about out. If somebody could just let the staff know.

Easter brunch will be now from 1 to 2.30, and then karmic management with Geshe Michael and the graduation now will be from 2.30 to 5 instead of 2 to 5. We have a half hour break now, and then we come back for Wisdom for Daily Life, and then we start brunch. We just need to let the staff know we're starting brunch a half hour later than expected.

Thank you. Can I say something? Also, they're on our side, so these two.

Okay, great. Thank you, Erin.