Sample teaching

the story of an asana

“And now its time for ushtarasana, the English speaking world knows it as the camel pose… To begin kneel on your mat and make sure you are facing east. Keep your knees together; beginners are exempt from this rule, who are allowed to keep their knees apart for better stability. Watch me first; place both your palms on your waist, keep your eyes closed and gather your complete attention and focus at the manipura chakra, or the solar plexus. You can take a little while to get proper concentration at that point. Please keep in mind that spending a few hours for proper concentration for a few seconds in the asana is more effective than practicing the asana for ten hours without concentration and focus. After the asana is done I shall explain to you the meaning and purpose of this concentration.

Now watch me carefully doing this asana before you attempt to do it. After achieving the focus at the solar plexus take a slow and deep breath into that point. Synchronized with your breathing and whilst maintaining the focus gently push your waist forward and bend your body backwards, placing your palms simultaneously on the soles of your feet. In this position keep the body as relaxed and stress-free as possible. Hold the position, focus and breath for about ten seconds and then return gently to your initial kneeling position in the same way. If you were not satisfied with the focus you may repeat the asana. Any doubts? If not proceed, for I will not be talking during your asana.

Those of you who have the fear of falling backwards during the asana, you may practice to get over that fear by doing something like this. I will call it the ‘Z’ pose; mind you it is not a yoga asana but it can give you all the physical and superficial benefits of the camel pose. It can be practiced at any time without worrying about its place within the sequence.

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Before we go to the next asana let me quickly tell you the meaning of this focus and why the asana is named after the camel… In an asana when there is a physical and spinal manipulation, the body matter is broken and converted into energy. This energy is channeled to the focus point along with the inhaled prana by conscious-mental direction, and thus gets accumulated at the desired chakra. In the camel pose we focus at the solar plexus because the energy generated by this pose is of a similar wavelength as the energy vibration of the manipura chakra. You will soon discover the exact energy resonance of all the 187 asanas and their corresponding chakras.

So now let me tell you why this asana is named after the camel. Do you know that the human body is the final product of millions of years of the evolutionary process? It is the most amazing example of physical architecture created to aid and support the intentions of a supremely capable mind. This perfect and final product lives up to its purpose when its memories, capacities and functions are brought to realization. The reason why asanas are named after species is during their practice, we reenact and relive our entire evolutionary process and realize the perfect state of the human today.

So back to the camel… As you all know, the camel has the unique ability to rationalize the use of food and water in its body in such a way that it does not bother about eating and drinking too often. This is something a yogi would like to achieve - to go beyond the constant needs of hunger and thirst. The correct practice of the camel pose develops this unique quality of the camel in the yogi; as the body gets so tuned it regulates its exact intake of food and fluids. Apart from this, the yogi ends up getting a much stronger spine and powerful and toned thigh muscles - you can take this as being the unintentional side effects of the camel pose.”

The above illustration is intended to give a taste of the teaching and not as a teach-it-yourself guide. We suggest not to practice any yoga asana without the guidance of an experienced teacher.