July 2022 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--TK's unique Teachings I

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

July 2022 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--TK's Unique Teachings I

In June 2022 I taught a four hour on line weekend program on the first four sutras of Yoga darsana and Brahma Sutras. Many thanks to all the participants and Yogavahini who kindly hosted the program. Had been wanting to teach this subject for some time

T K's Unique Teachings I 

 Modern times more women practice and teach yoga.. it was not the case earlier on. Women it is said were not encouraged to practice yoga or chant the vedas or study the astika philosophies. However, Sri Krishnamacharya would encourage women to do all that were said to have been not encouraged earlier on. He would say interested and talented women were never prevented from study and practice of all these in ancient times. He said that there were outstanding women vedic scholars earlier on. He quoted a yajurveda mantra (arunam) that says that talented women were given all respects in olden times like outstanding men were. (ta ume pigmsa aahuh). He would say that in his time, since men were not studying the vedas and were opting for service or business, interested women should be encouraged to chant and study the vedas and upanishads. He taught quite a few women to chant the vedas something unusual in those times. He also would say that more than men women have to mandatorily practice Yoga as they have the additional responsibility to bear and beget healthy children. Sick women produce an unhealthy generation. Women's health was a social issue.

Sri Krishnamacharya in his sanskrit work "Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya" deals with yoga for women rather significantly. In it he especially stresses the importance of women who have the unique capability of child bearing to maintain proper health before and during pregnancy, He says in his work that yoga can be profitably used during pregnancy for proper development of the fetus (garbha vinivriddhi) and for comfortable childbirth ( sukha prasava). Well, what about those who would like not to have children or moderate number of children? He came out with a set of powerful yoga procedures that could achieve it provided the subject had learnt these procedures from early in life and has attained proficiency in these involved yoga procedures. In modern times these yoga procedures may not be necessary as much user-friendly procedures are available with modern scientific development. But it is interesting to note that a lot of thought and effort had been put by yogis on matters relating to women.

in his yogarahasya Sri Krishnamacharya writes as follows

"purvatana dvipat baddhakona padma catushtayam

sirsa sarvanga pavanabhyamaihi garbho vinivardhate."

It says that fetal development is helped, all by purvatanasaa or anterior stretch pose, dvipat or desk pose, baddhakonasana, and padmasana all these four. Then sirsa sarvanga or headstand and Shoulder stand and appropriate pranayama

Further asanas like dandasana,  purvatanasana, padmasana, bharadvajasana, virasana, vajrasana, dvipadapitam ,  should be practised  with long and smooth breathing for sukhaprasava or natural childbirth..Other yoga procedures suggested would include Jataparivritti, the five konasanas, like trikonasana (without the twist), urdhvakonasana in inversions, upavishtakonasana, baddhaknasana, suptakonasana. Among pranayamas, sitali, nadishodhana may be practised.  During pregnancy one should avoid forward bending poses like pachimatanasana, uttanasana and others, He also would say that women up to five or six months of pregnancy may do sirsasana and sarvangasana! The inversions, sarvangasana and sirsasana  done for about five minutes with relaxed breathing may be beneficial during pregnancy as it would help reduce edema of the legs and pelvic congestion common among pregnant women. In his yoga rahasya Sri Krishnamacharya gives some more suggestions of yoga practice. There are procedures suggested for proper development of the fetus (garbha vinivriddhi). Can women do these asanas, like the inversions? Is it not dangerous. One day after my class Sri TK asked me to come again in the evening to see him teach a young lady who was pregnant for the first time. After a few simple breath oriented vinyasa, he asked her to get to sirsasana for about five minutes with smooth breathing. The young, first-time about six-month pregnant student effortlessly got to the posture stayed steady for the duration specified and smoothly came down. There was no panic no fear but absolute calmness and comfort. So, these procedures may be done if the teacher is confident and convinced and the student is comfortable. Obviously, these cannot be done by someone who does not know yoga practice. It is not like taking a pill or asking a medical person to perform a procedure. The applicability is limited as many women do not have the knowledge of yoga practice. Therefore, It will be good if parents encourage their girls to learn yoga from young age. It will not only make them healthy but also become healthy mothers if they wish to have children later on in life. Further Yoga helps to understand intuitively one's own anatomy better and during childbirth or during pregnancy they would be able to take better care of themselves. 

Then there are procedures that may prevent conception made up of deep pelvic procedures. Asanas like pasasana , yoganidra asana (not the passive pratyahara procedure popular these times nown as yoganidra), garbhapindasana or the feus pose, bhadrasana and importantly matsyendrasana. In fact, he would say that the procedures done along deep racaka or exhalation followed with the three bandhas, mula, uddiyana and jalandhara could also be used for spacing children or mitasanthana or a limited small family. 

Yoga therapy has caught on nicely in the last few years. Lots of empirical studies have been conducted to establish the efficacy of many yoga procedures for different health conditions. Sri Krishnamacharya himself was a master healer and many came to him for treatment of physical and psychological issues. One well known Neurosurgeon who knew Sri Krishnamacharya quite well once said that Sri TK had an intuitive understanding of human anatomy. This is evident from a couple of slokas found in the first chapter of his Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya,

"Shatkousikousikam hi sariram, gadyate munibhiH sphutam|

svasakosa annakosa tatha mutrmalakosakau

rajo virya (hrudaya) atmakau ceti shoda kosasya samsthitiH.

The human body is said to be of six kosas or sacs that actually contain important organs and support subsystems in the body. They are 

1. Svasakosa or literally meaning breathing bag or the lungs. The lungs are contained in a sheath called pleura. They are central to the respiratory system
2. annakosa or food bag which is the stomach. We know the stomach is a bag and is central to the digestive system
3. mutra kosa or urine bag which is the bladder a bag to contain the urine. Some call the kidneys to be the mutrakosa as is known in several Indian languages. As we know that it is central to the urinary system
4. Then we have malakosa or the one that holds the solid waste. The tubular structure is like a hose likesac or container and it has to be in good shape
5. virya/rajo kosa. It is the bag containing the vitality or the prostate and in women it is called rajo kosa or the uterus. It is the fetal bag and is the central organ to the reproductive system in the body
6. We have then the hrudaya kosa or the heart. The heart is contained in a sac called pericardium and is a vital organ contained in the chest and is central to the circulatory system

The yogis of yesteryears had identified six important internal organs and their systems and thought it necessary to maintain the health of these six organs and the subsystems they support. These six kosas are to be kept in healthy condition. Asanas, vinyasas generally take care of skeletal system. But yoga contains several other procedures to get inside the body and access these vital kosas or organs to maintain their health. This was an important, in fact the most important information regarding yoga therapy or better yoga for health. One cannot maintain good health without taking care of these vital internal organs. Even though general exercise like walking jogging gym wok and even asanas take care of the skeletal system and indirectly help to a small degree the vitakl internal organs, the unique yoga procedures like the inversions, pranayama, the various bandhas and mudras help to reach inside the body and help these vital organs and the systems they support. In fact, most of the benefit of yoga for health can be obtained not by merely doing asanas but by adding importantly pranayamas, bandhas and mudras. Sri TK in the next sloka indicates as follows

"Pranayamat kosa suddhiH" He says by pranayama the internal organs can be purified, By pranayama is indicated the mudras. They  become effective only with good pranayama especially deep racaka and bahya kumbhaka .He used this approach in his treatment methods. However, this important teaching of Si Krishnamacharya is not well considered among yoga therapists. Lot more benefits and results can be achieved by taking advantage of the range of procedures available in hatayoga like asanas, vinyasas, pranayama, bandhas and mudras and then meditation. On the basis of my studies with him I wrote a few articles earlier and they are available as "Yoga for Internal Organs". I find that  document in my friend Jenneifer Campbell-Overbeeke's website.

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These are just two aspects that I thought were unique to Krishnamacharya's teachings. Maybe in the next letter I can touch upon a few other unique features like the use of breath in asana practice, It is so different from the way yoga is practiced nowadays like any other aerobic exercise without coordination among the mind, breath and the body movements. Then his teaching of the texts which were not limited to Hatyogapradipika and then the marvelous chants of his, in that beautiful commanding voice not limited to yogasutras,