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Introduction: Prana and the Body

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THE BODY AS CENTRAL There is one truth: What is relative are our angles of comprehension and perception. The masters of Tantra distinguish between two levels of understanding which correspond to two levels of reality. Laukika  (Worldly point of view) - Belief in a solid material universe which is often corrupted  Adhyatmika  which is informed by wisdom and leads one to the Truth - ultimate reality Wisdom is superior to worldly knowledge because in the absence of guiding wisdom, worldly knowledge all too easily turns destructive.  Samsara = nirvana  The finite world is really the infinite Reality - what we perceive to be the limited universe is fundamentally an illusion  The Secret of Embodiment: MACROCOSM & MICROCOSM The body (deha) which stems from the verbal root dih - to smear or be soiled - hints at the defiled nature of the body. Yet, the same verbal root (dih) can also signify to anoint or that which is anointed. The o...
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Iyengar Yoga Pranyama

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Part 1: Sitting in Asana – Prechanting INSTRUCTIONS BY BKS IYENGAR (as it is stated in Light on Pranayama ): Sit straight in simple swastikasana. Adjust your seat, the buttocks, properly. Ascend the spine. Keep the head straight. Open the chest. Fold the palms in front of your chest. Keep the bottom of the palms near the bottom of the sternum bone. Close the eyes. Ascend the spine without disturbing the position of the eyes. Eyes passive, receding backwards. Ears passive and receptive. Take the fibers of the senses of perception away from the brain so that the five senses of perception, on the face, are made quiet, and the energy recedes toward the centre of the brain. Find the centre of the buttock bones. The centre of the buttock bones is near the anal mouth. Don’t sit on the centre flesh of the buttock but on the centre of the buttock bones. Do not come forward from the buttock bones, and do not go backwards. The natural tendency of the body will be to come forward as one ...
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Conventional Medicine and Pranayama

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Conventional Medicine and Pranayama BY STEVE PAINE, OMD (HONG KONG), LAC, LCMP (HONG KONG) What does conventional biomedicine have to say about pranayama? Little analysis has been done related specifically to prayanama; however, a good deal of science is available on the subject of breathing. This article looks at some general principles and is a cursory overview of research related to controlled breathing. This information is reported in the interest of stimulating thought. The sources cited within the body at the end of this article should be evaluated carefully before drawing conclusions. What Happens When One Breathes? In normal, relaxed breathing, there is a balance between the amount of air taken in and breathed out. Residual air remains in the lungs. Under stress, breathing becomes shallow and rapid, reducing the amount of oxygen taken in and producing a still-greater amount of residual air. This breathing also occurs more from the chest than from the diaphr...
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