You must shave everyday before you go to battle, the general used to tell the boys in his battalion, or so the story goes. Because if you don't shave, you look slovenly and sloppy. When you look sloppy, you feel sloppy. When you feel sloppy, you get careless, and when you get careless, you get shot. Small things count. Posture, for example. Try winning a debate or an argument while slouching. Very difficult. But try sticking your chest out, if it doesn't stick itself out automatically in the course of a debate, and you might feel a little more confident and actually win it. The mind and body are intimately connected, and it is possible to experience certain states in certain postures. Take, for example, the traditional Indian gesture of touching an elder's feet. The act itself is pregnant with meaning, but could lose its meaning if done automatically. Which it most often is. But done consciously, it says a lot. It says that you are willing to surrender, to submit, to let go of your I-ness, to become ego-less. On the other hand, trying to convey surrender, submission, and ego-lessness by sticking your chest out in front of an elder will only send out the wrong signals.
Different schools approach yoga in different ways. Some prefer to teach asanas at the physical level, while some, like the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz in North Mumbai impart asana education along with the education of bhavas. Basically, this way you get two for the price of one-double mazaa aur kam daam. And since it is easier to experience surrender and ego-lessness in the forward bending posture, students are encouraged to cultivate this bhava while doing all forward-bending asanas. The bhava itself is known as vairagya or detachment, objectivity, humility, surrender, letting go, faith in a benevolent reality.
But we are jumping the gun here. The four bhavas crucial to cruising along happily in life are dharma, jnana, vairagya, and aishvarya. In other words, they mean a sense of duty, knowledge, detachment, and self-reliance, qualities without which we are in big trouble. Of course, this doesn't mean that an automatic transformation will come over the person practising the forward-bending asana. What it does mean is that getting into that particular posture presents the practitioner with an opportunity to cultivate a certain state of mind, in this case vairagya. And vairagya or detachment, as is commonly believed, is not about growing one's hair and beard and moving to the hills, leaving one's family to fend for itself. The man of vairagya doesn't flee from the scene, but instead participates with detachment. For example, if there was a fire, the man of vairagya would not lose his balance and pray for rain, but would instead be calm and composed enough to remember that an urgent phone call has to be made to the fire station.
On the other hand, the backward-bending asana is not conducive to learning humility, but one could try and cultivate self-reliance, self-dependence, confidence in these postures. Like the postures themselves, the two bhavas of humility and self-reliance may appear to be contrary attitudes, but the thing is in the timing. There is a time for being humble and there is a time for being self-reliant, and being in the right state at the wrong time is not a very rewarding business. Most of us are humble when the situation calls for self-reliance and self-confidence, and that may explain why we get taken for a ride by our wily politicians.
Yoga Mudra is a forward-bending asana. To practice Yoga Mudra, sit in Sukhasana, hold the wrist of one hand with the other from behind.
Inhale for three seconds and sit erect, pressing shoulders back, and keeping the neck erect.
Bend down gently towards the right knee, exhaling for three seconds, and while going down relax your shoulders .
Try, only if it is convenient, to touch your knee with the tip of your nose.
Return to the upright seated position, inhaling for three seconds.
Repeat on the left side in the same way.
Repeat this three times.
In the fourth round, bend forward to touch the floor with your forehead.
Relax your shoulders when bending down and press your shoulders back when you rise.
At the physical level, the moderate stretching of almost all the posterior muscles of your trunk and neck contribute to your muscular tone and to better circulation in the spinal column. It also helps in elimination of toxic wastes, reduces your paunch and reduces fat. As if that were not enough, it massages the internal organs, helps you with constipation and flatulence, and improves circulation in the region of your face and head. It is not, however, recommended for people suffering from cervical spondylosis, spinal and abdominal injuries.
Bhujangasana, on the other hand, is a backward-bending asana, and this posture is associated with self-reliance, willpower, self-efficacy, and building a healthy self-image.
For Bhujangasana, lie on your stomach with your legs straight and your feet extended. Put your palms flat on the floor at the level of your shoulders.
Rest your forehead on the ground and relax your head.
Slowly raise your head and shoulders off the ground, bending your head as far back as it will go.
Try to raise your shoulders without putting too much pressure on your palms.
Keep your navel as close to the ground as possible.
Hold the position for as long as comfortable.
At the physical level, Bhujangasana stimulates the appetite and eliminates constipation. It is beneficial for the internal organs, especially your liver and kidneys. It helps in certain cases of spinal problems and keeps your spine supple and healthy. It is not recommended for people with abdominal injuries, hypertension, and severe cardiac problems.
These asanas are an aid to developing the above-mentioned qualities and should be accompanied by other sincere efforts to cultivate the bhavas.

Go to TOP