Sequencing the asanas

Original tape transcribed by Julia Peterson and edited by Susan Robertson, adaptation by Francie Ricks and Geeta Iyengar

In the courses in Light on Yoga the asanas come one after the other from Tadasana up to the last Savasana. You find Sarvangasana in the middle instead of at the end. You find Savasana followed by pranayama. whereas now we prefer to separate the pranayama and the asana practice.

Sirsasana and Sarvangasana

As far as practice is concerned, you can do Sirsasana at the beginning and Sarvangasana at the end because Sarvangasana brings rest to the body. Or Sirsasana and Sarvangasana can be done one after the other immediately. Sirsasana must always come first. After Sirsasana, doing Sarvangasana (Sarvangasana, Halasana or Setu Bandha) at some point in the practice is essential. One cannot just practice Sirsasana and avoid Sarvangasana. lnversions always give sensibility and energy. You might put them both at the beginning if you feel dull or low. You finish your Sirsasana and Sarvangasana and then find some life is coming. some sensitivity is coming and that weakness has gone -- weakness not because of disease or anything, but you just feel low. At that time, when you feel low, after Sarvangasana, you can do forward bends and that will be helpful

You should not do backbendings after Sarvangasana. In Sarvangasana you put your brain and everything to rest. Sarvangasana brings the blood pressure down, that is why it is helpful for high blood pressure. Sarvangasana , Halasana and Setu Bandha are all very helpful. After Sarvangasana the blood pressure comes to normal. Then if you do backbendings the adrenal glands are activated so much that the blood rushes to the head and this kind of imbalance is very bad. On one side you increase your superiority complex by doing backbendings and then when you over-exert yourself the inferiority complex begins. Excitement and depression are two sides of the same coin.

In backbendings the adrenals are stimulated. In Sirsasana also the adrenals are activated. After activating the adrenals you have to do something that pacifies them or you will lose your mental balance, lose your temper or remain shaky. In order to avoid mental and hormonal imbalance, you have to pacify the adrenals. In Sarvangasana the adrenals get calmed down so you have to do Sarvangasana and Halasana after backbendings. So instead of doing Sarvangasana twice, avoid the first attempt and do it at the end. That is how balance has to be brought.

After Sarvangasana you can do forward bends or lateral twists. Forward bends and twists also quiet the adrenals, so you find a continuity of pacification after Sarvangasana. Backbendings energise the body but at the same time, they may generate too much energy or excitement. Whereas in forward bending and twists the energy is subdued. That is the nature of these poses. So you should see that before Sarvangasana you finish with poses that are activating.

For that reason if you are doing strong standing poses it is better to do them before Sarvangasana, so that after your standing poses and backbends you can use Sarvangasana and Halasana to pacify yourself. That should be the nature of your practice. When you activate yourself to that optimum level, the balance should be brought later to pacify yourself. This pacification is possible with Sarvangasana, Halasana, Setu Bandha and Viparita Karani. The pacification has to beat the end.

Savasana

In every program it is written that at the end you lie down and you calm all your nerves, you bring that balance etc. If that can be done with Viparita Karani, or if that same quieting effect can be brought by some other postures, such as Sarvangasana Halasana and Setu Bandha, then Savasana is not necessary. If you are in a hurry to complete your practice, then these pacifying asanas at the end will serve the purpose. Normally we do Savasana at the end of the practice but then our lazy nature is such that if we do Savasana we go to a sleepy state. We all long to lie down in Savasana but we should not just indulge in our tamasic nature. That tamasic nature has to be broken in some way. If your Savasana is of a sattvic nature, it is appropriate, but when it is making you tamasic it is not good. Since you are not a yogi of a standard that you have conquered everything, you may be tired after your practice and you will find a period of rest in the beginning which is sattyic, which is pure. Your body essentially needs the rest and you feel very nice. But then you find that feeling of "essential" rest is gone and you stay there because you enjoy it. It becomes a sensual practice. In the beginning there is a keen observation and you allow that part where you are tense to rest. You find that if your breath is dancing inside, you need to pacify it. But then when the breath gets pacified, when the cells get pacified and everything becomes quiet, gradually you start going towards sensuality. That should not happen.

As a teacher, you may give Savasana to the students. For a beginner it is all right to do Savasana, then at least he will be free from tension and you know that he will not suffer with high blood pressure, headache or other problems. But in your own practice this question always arises as to whether Savasana is sattyic or not. It gradually gets transformed into a tamasic state. Your mind is first of all rajasic, so after you rest fully you find that your mind starts playing tricks from inside, you start calculating what you have to do, you start having thoughts that are irrelevant at that moment although they may be relevant to your daily life. Thoughts soon come to the surface of the mind. You may not show any mobility from outside but inside the mind is dancing. That is rajasic nature. Tamasic nature is such that you are completely relaxed, but while you are not thinking or disturbed physically or mentally, you may go to a sleepy state. From outside it seems perfectly all right, but it is such a dull state that the moment you get up from that Savasana you are just blank at that time. Savasana should not be a blank state. The resting process should be such that you face your inner fully wakeful state. Your consciousness should spread all over the body; you should feel its existence as though it's all pervasive. The moment that fades you go to tamasic nature. Savasana is not just relaxation; you must witness that relaxation. That is sattvic. After Sarvangasana your Savasana should be sattyic. If your practice has ended with a pose of a sattvic nature such as Pascimottanasana or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, you don't need much of Savasana. If you are going to continue with pranayama, then you are ready to switch over to pranayama. When you have developed that sattvic nature, when the mind is pure and not disturbed and it hasn't gone to the state of tamas, when you have witnessed yourself and your existence, then you are ready for pranayama.

Asanas before Pranayama

There should be a gap of at least fifteen minutes after inversions before you do pranayama. This time can be allotted to Savasana. The sequence should be inversions, Savasana, and then pranayama. Never do Sirsasana after Sarvangasana. This includes rope Sirsasana. And Viparita Dandasana on the backbending bench with the head down is also an inversion, in a sense. It's not fully an inversion because the legs are downwards and it can be done during menstruation. But the curvature in Viparita Dandasana is such that since the anterior spine curves for the back arch the nerves are absolutely in a wakeful state.

That is why when you do backbending there is excitement, even irritation if you do too much. For your pranayama practice, the excitement and restful state of the nerves should be balanced. The nerves should be in a fully wakeful state but not in a state of excitement. You also can't start in a sleepy state. If you suffer from high blood pressure, keeping the head down in Viparita Dandasana you are also likely to increase your blood pressure a bit, which before pranayama can be harmful. So you must do a pacifying pose. There is always a pair of asanas to be done. If you do Viparita Dandasana, Setu Bandha is the pair of that. Sarvangasana is the pair of Sirsasana. When the wife and husband are together, there is a mutual understanding and a harmony in the house. Similarly, harmony in adjust the body is also required. If you do Viparita Dandasana and then you do Setu Bandha after it, you find your neck having that curvature where you balance on the shoulder or neck and that pacifies your glands. The excitement will lessen, and the nerve fibres that you have awakened in Viparita Dandasana will be pacified. Similarly in Sirsasana you find that you are completely in a wakeful state but Sarvangasana is pacifying, Halasana is pacifying. Sirsasana and Viparita Dandasana stimulate the pituitary whereas Sarvangasana pacifies the pituitary. You find that in Halasana the throat and the head are relaxed more, and in Semi Bandha Sarvangasana the release of the chest is more. If you feel compression in the chest in Halasana, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana will release that compression.

So before pranayama you can do these six asanas in the following sequence, Sirsasana, supported Viparita Dandasana, Sarvangasana, Halasana, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and Viparita Karani. Or if you have less time, you have to see that you do only pacifying ones like Sarvangasana or Halasana or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. If you have only ten minutes you can do Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. You have to suit your practice to your requirements at that moment. For instance, if I have a class at nine o'clock I can't remain in Viparita Karani until the last minute and then suddenly begin at the class.

Because if I go to too much of a restful state that makes me too quiet and serene. A peaceful, sattvic nature of mind is not too good for teaching; you need a more rajasic state of mind. Alertness is required for teaching, and also for pranayama. If I really need rest, say if I exerted myself and I need rest, then a short time in Viparita Karani so that I am fresh will help. But if I just lie down and sleep for fifteen minutes that will bring on a tamasic state and to teach in that state is impossible. In this manner you have to see with which poses to end the practice. Before pranayama, the excitement should not be there, and the blood pressure should not vary as it does in Sirsasana where the blood pressure is raised and then later it drops. When the blood pressure varies you can't relax yourself as required for pranayama. That is why you have to end with Sarvangasana, Halasana or Semi Bandha Sarvangasana, or keep your pranayama practice as a separate practice at a different time from your asana practice. In the early morning or in the evening at the time of twilight one can do pranayama. This is how one has to Following this sequence will create balance of mind and make the body and mind conducive to the practice of pranayama. The sequential order of the inversions is like a threshold between asana and pranayama. They energise the body and enliven the mind without creating excitement. And in addition to creating balance by the way in which you sequence the asanas you do, you also have to train your mind in that manner, so that it is ready and capable to go to that state of passivity necessary for pranayama.

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