The Asana sequence which is often ignored

Yoga / April 28, 2020 / 1 Minute Read / Comments

The reason why I was drawn to the Himalayan Tradition was because of the simplicity, authenticity and focus on the real essence of yoga: “nothing happens in the gross body that does not have its origin in the subtle body,” said Swami Veda Bharati. What starts in the mind manifests in the body. However, in this series of easy warm ups, we start with moving the forgotten body parts, joints, and glands and experience the subtle effects on the mind with deliberate, slow and smooth movements. The connection of the breath with the movement creates a focused and meditative (satvik) state perfect for deep relaxation or yoga nidra, breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation. The benefits range from increased awareness, flexibility, and mobility to decreased stress, pain and tension. In this series, we build a bridge for other yogic practices by calming our body, mind and spirit, thus returning to our true essence: love and inner peace.

Most of this warm up is adopted from the Joints and Glands exercise manual of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training Program and I find it to be a complete workout. I start my daily morning yoga routine with these exercises. In the below video, I demonstrate a step-by-step warm up of every joint, gland, followed by a deep relaxation. Do check it out and let me know if I am missing any body part 😃

Before the deep relaxation, I recommend self-massaging all the joints and muscles with sesame or your favorite oil for maximum effect.

Other classical yoga traditions also have warm up sessions called sukshmavyayam and it is always recommended to start any asana practice with full-body warm ups although not as extensive as the Joints and Glands series. These seemingly easy movements have deep impressions on the subtler aspects of the mind and everybody should give a try.

P.S. Para aquellos que hablan Español, he agregado el mismo video pero con audio en Español para que puedan seguirlo, no encontré ningún video del mismo tema.