Tending The Heartfire Living Yoga Theology Religion Essay

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Chapter 4: Movement Meditation—Surrendering to the Source of Movement

<Fig. 64 takes up entire page with this poem and Burning Man photo or Costa Rica>

All of me is on fire

Voice, Spine, Heart, Hands

I tremble with the desire to express.

With the earth, my body emerges

From the water, creative energies flow

In the Fire, I tranform

Out of Air, I breathe new life.

In Space, I open to the Source.

the essence of truth and beauty

My body is the field of my expression.

End notes**Kristen put inspired by a south Indian artist song, Yantra book.

Movement meditation awakens our memory of a natural flow in life—we are unbound, uninhibited, filled with a creative current. We feel the primal presence of the Dancing Ones of ancestral trance traditions around the fire. When we engage in these ancient practices today, we experience being moved along a spectrum of meditative union. At one end is trance "possession" in which dancers feel themselves transformed into vehicles for a divine spirit. At the other end are the Tantric and bhakti expressions of such en-thusiasm ("the incoming of God") or en-theos ("the embodiment of the divine"), referred to in the Tantras as samavesha: "all-permeating."

Within yoga, myths, and beautiful easern paintingwe we can see the origins of asanas, mudras, dance, and music as the ecstatic expression of Shiva, the mahayogin, and Parvati, the mother of the universe. It is said that all of these movement arts arose spontaneously from their meditations, and as such, they are experienced as divine expressions of consciousness.

This inspired movement found in the classical dance forms of the temple, in krama vinyasa forms of Tantric yoga, in the kirtan of Bhakti yoga, and in the embrace of kriyas and spontaneous movement meditations in Tantric sahaja-based mediation are all forms of yoga. All though less known in the Western world were asana is the predominant identity of yoga practice, these forms realize and recognize the sacred current within and direct pathways to the dancing nature of the divine Self.

Movement meditation is deep entrainment of all of the body’s rhythms with an all-permeating inner state, a heightened experience of flow as the unifying source of movement.

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<H1>Movement Meditations across Cultures

Like this universe coming into existence

the lover wakes and whirls in a dancing joy

then kneels down in praise. - Rumi

Although free-form movement was repressed in the West for several thousand years, forms of movement meditation are still widespread today, found in a continuum from slow, rhythmic movements to wild, ecstatic spinning and leaping. In every case the dancer experiences effortlessness—time outside of time—and the movements are always generated by an inner source.

Perhaps the simplest and most pervasive movement is the ritual movement of namaskar, stemming from the root word namah, which is found in the gesture of prayerful hands as we greet one another with "Namaste." This is intrinsic to yoga and finds a home in other movement meditations across the world’s spiritual traditions.

There are many examples of movement meditations found in traditions around the world. Here are just a few. **** Kristen - put these as captions please in art log

<Fig. 65 Find and image of davening, Fig. 66 Sema, Fig. 67 Qi Gong Fig. 68 Orisha Ceremony

Fig. 69 Kecak Fig. 70 Tibetan Prostration (choose one imae to be the largest or keep all images small>

Davening—The spontaneous rocking movement of Jewish prayer

Sema—The whirling meditation of the Sufi Dervish. This originated eight hundred years ago with the great poet-teacher Mevlana Rumi, who created this practice to transform his grief at the loss of his teacher.

The Shakers—The first members of this group were known as "shaking quakers" because of the ecstatic movements of their worship services;

Qigong—A system of embodied healing through Taoist postures that connect the flow of energy in nature and in the body

Orisha ceremony—the Orishas, Divine Beings are evoked through dance, music, and chanting as participants are "mounted" by the spirit of the Orisha.

Kecak—This communal form of movement meditation has roots in the oldest Hindu trance meditations of Bali, in which the reenactment of Hanuman’s monkey army is expressed in rhythmic sound and movement that builds to a powerful crescendo.

Prostrations—From the one hundred thousand prostrations of Vajrayana Buddhism to the five-times-per-day prayer of Muslims facing Mecca to the prostrating walk of Christian pilgrims, this whole body bowing is the gateway of receptivity and humility of the heart.

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<H1>Movement Meditations and Origins of the Asanas

<Fig 71 Large Dancing Divine Image of Shiva-Shakti Dancing Fig. 72 Sahaja flow of asana of Shiva>

<H2>The Dancing Divine

Central to the architecture of many Hindu temples are images of Shiva and Shakti, Krishna and Radha, or Ganesha dancing. The temple at Chidambaram dedicated to the universal dance of Shiva is just one of many of these. And the Hindu vision of divine beings dancing has parallels throughout the ancient world.

Within the Tantras, the arising of Supreme Shakti is experienced as the expansive pulsation of highest bliss that surges through us and is celebrated as the spontaneous (sahaja) expression of our own highest consciousness (Shiva) and obliterates our contracted awareness.

That extraordinary, highest awareness that surges forth spontaneously (sahaja), intent on shattering anything that arises from the duality of "is" and "is not," is you alone, O Beloved Goddess!

—Hymn to Kali (Kalikastotra), Shri Jnananetra, founder of the Krama lineage of Tantric Shaivism. [1] 

This is described as samavesha or "immersion" into the divine current—the goal of yogic practice that transforms our ordinary, stiff, and limited experience of ourselves into an extraordinary, fluid, bliss-filled expression of the divine dancing through us: Shiva and Parvati realized within. In the kirtan of bhakti tradition, this may be expressed as, with arms upraised, people sing and dance the names of the One.

The sahaja element of such movement—its spontaneous nature—transforms the doing of meditation or yoga into a communion with a deeper source. We are released from overthinking, self-consciousness, instructional language and the external focus on reaching for a particular goal as we surrender to the sublime current moving through us.

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<H2>Tandava and Lasya—The Sahaja Origins of Movement Meditation

Although there are few textual references to it, the vision of the yoga of Shiva and Shakti’s dance as the origin of movement forms lives on in stories, myths, and iconography found in the Puranas. The great guru Matsyendramath described a vision of the body in which each cell is alive with the dancing and lovemaking of these divine beings, whom he describes as being in union in their sport of love for several eons. In between their lovemaking, creative pastimes arise spontaneously, such as the poetic meditations Shiva offers to Parvati that are found in the Vijnana Bhairava and the creation of veena, a musical instrument inspired by the beautiful movements Shiva witnessed arising from Parvati’s breath.

Yet the dance of Shiva and Sakti—known as the tandava (his movements) and lasya (her movements)—is the heart of their creative expression. There are seven forms of tandava attributed to Shiva, with several expressing the loving rhythm of sringara rasa that forms the creative cycles of the universe, while other forms, such as raudra tandava, express the fierce dissolution that comes with the samhara or the death cycle. Parvati’s lasya represents the fluid nature of the feminine and is composed of circular spiral, and swirling movements. There are 840,000 asanas attributed to their ecstatic dance.

<Text box>The Music of Parvati’s Breath

Fig. 73 Image of Parvati Fig. 74 Vina

The great god Shiva once chanced upon his wife Parvati reposing most gracefully. Her breathing was like soft music; the exquisite bosom rising and falling in rhythm. Her arms and wrists laden with bangles caused music by their motion. Shiva was intoxicated by this ravishing vision, and watched her for a long time in silence. Such was the impression created in his mind that he found no peace until he discovered a way of making a permanent record of the beauty observed. The result was the veena, a musical instrument, whose long neck represents the straight lithe form of Parvati, and the two supporting gourds her breasts, the metal frets her bracelets, and the most expressive of all, the sound generated by this instrument is said to recreate Parvati's own, rhythmic breathing.

—Nitin Kumar

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<H1>The Evolution of Asanas in India

Movement meditation is a form of embodying the divine, and as we look back through the sources of yoga teaching, from prehistory to the present, we can see an underlying transformation of the body as a vehicle of divine expression.

<Fig 75: Find a Harappan Seal of Siva Caption:

The earliest archaeological records of the yoga culture of India are found in the Harrapan Seals of Mohenjo Daru. These show postures which indicate the possibility that movement meditation was taking place in Harappan culture more than 5,000 years ago.

<Fig. 76 Vedic Surya Namaskar ** >The Vedas—surya namaskar movements and mantras (1500 BCE to present). The ritual invocation of surya namaskar, the movement meditation postures that evolved into the present-day Sun Salutation, is found in the Rig Vedas and has been practiced in an unbroken chain of daily ritual in Vedic culture ever since.

<Fig. 77 Pic of Shiva Sadhu dancing Tandava- Shiva to get in Jan or find>The Naths. Ascetic postures of the tapasyins and tandava kriyas (100 CE to present)

According to the Pashupata-Sutra and the Gana-Karika, the Pashupata sect the Naths practiced an ecstatic movement meditation and dance. [2] They were an ascetic group of yogis and yoginis whose lineage continues today; they still come together at such gatherings such as the Kumbha Mela.

<Fig. 78 Image from Shiva Painting >Flowing vinyasas in early Tantra

The eleventh century Jayadrathayamala, a Tantra of the Goddess lineage known as the "Krama" alludes to an established postural practice dating back to the sixth century that was engaged in by the Kaulas, describing the ecstatic behavior of its initiates who engage in the "Gathering of Warriors" ritual:

"Some assume series of Mudras. Some begin to dance with the playful gestures and postures taught in the Kaula scriptures. Others, who are warriors, commence the Tandava dance of the Nataraja "

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<H1 Nartaka Atman – The Self is the Dancer.

<Fig 79 Image of a Indian Classical Dance >Yogasanas or karanas—natya shastra (600 AD to present)

Indian classical dance forms such as Bharatha Natayam and Odissi, originated in temple such as Chidambaram where 108 karanas were sculpted into the walls of temple entryways. These detailed reliefs reflect the traditional prominence of temple dancers known as devadasis ("servants of God"), who integrated elements of yoga practice into their art. Of the 108 postures sculpted on the temples only about 40 are part of the dance, the rest require an extreme flexibility that would have been impossible without some training in the yogic arts. [URL: This article is by Shiva, so she’s quoting herself: http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/724?page=2]

In the temples, the devadasis were the primary conduits for the pujas (ritual offerings) performed in front of the sanctums for the audience of the Divine. When the devadasi danced, she became the embodiment of the divine; every posture, every expression is an invocation to the Divine to incarnate, to be felt as a presence in the here and now of the dancer's body. [URL: This article is by Shiva, so she’s quoting herself: http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/724?page=3]

<H2 Bhumi Pranam—An Offering Before and After Practice

<Fig. 80 Image of Bhumi Namaskar Image caption>

Just as surya namaskar (Sun Salutation) honors the sun, bhumi pranam honors the Earth. This is a namaskaram form done before and after every asana practice and every dance performance.

Samudra vasane devi (the Goddess within whom the oceans reside)

Parvata sthana manchite (who is decorated by mountains/whose breasts are the mountain peaks)

Natyam karishye bhudevi (dancing upon that goddess of the Earth)

Pada sparsha kshama sva me (please receive me with each step I offer)

- Bhumi Pranam Prayer **** Kristen Vrinda Seth Translator

<H2 Puttara vandanam—Kalarippayatu amaskar

<Fig. 81 Image from Kalarippayatu>

.Ancient martial art forms such as kalarippayatu from Kerala include a movement namaskar as part of the honoring of the puttara or shrine dedicated to Shiva and Shakti. This fluid form is practiced facing the altar connects the practitioner more deeply to the Kalari – the sacred space for practice that is consecrated on a special earth that is left uncovered to feel the raw energy of the earth which is contained by shrines at all four corners. The namaskar anchors the warrior practice by aligning one’s energy to the deeper flow.

<H2 Naga sarpam- Embodying Serpentine Flow

<Fig. 82 Image of naga Sarpam ritual >Movement forms such as the naga sarpam ritual of Kerala are ritual trance-based movement practices that honor the primal energy of the life-force and the connection to Nagas or sacred serpents. This generate kriyas (spontaneous movements) and states of sahaja flow as conduits of trance music, ritual, and yantra-mantra.

<H2 Ganga Namaskar – Ritual Movement Offering with Sacred Water

Fig. 83** find an image of a person dunking in the Ganga>

Om Hrim Gangayaye Om Hrim Swaha!

The rivers of India are filled with people beginning their day with a ritualized namaskar honoring the purifying element of water visualized as the great mother Goddess Ganga. All forms of water are visualized as coming from her source which begins in the Himalayas in Gangotri. Movements involve individual variation of mantras, slokhas and prayers that are combined with submerging in the water three times.

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<H1>Movement Meditation Practices

Existence is a lamp and my being the oil it burns.

I am standing naked in the world

forever in homage to all movement.

I cherish every atom that the One moves in this Dance.

—Kabir

Now I invite you to your own experience of the vinyasa of movement meditation. We will start very simply with a spontaneous movement practice. Then I’ll introduce you to several forms of movement meditation: pranams or prostrations; mudra vinyasa and heart rhythm–based kriyas. We will close with of Surya Namaskar often mistakenly translated as "Sun Salutation" as well as Chandra Namaskar connected to the fourteen phases of the moon as the embodiment of the cosmic rhythm.

<H2>Open Yourself to Spontaneous Flow

Wander or dance to exhaustion in utter spontaneity (sahaja). Then, suddenly, drop to the ground and in this fall be total. There absolute essence is revealed. – Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

Fig. 84 Image of Shiva in Sahaja or spontaneous flow

Whether you are seated or standing, lying down or on hands and knees, begin to let your body respond to the pulse of life as you find it in your breath; let the breath coax you into movement. Feel the base of your spine begin to rock very slowly with the flow of your breath. Release any tension in the body, particularly in the deep lower belly; this will invite the experience of being moved by the sacred current. Slowly allow the subtle unwinding and meandering movements that arise from within. Feel how these movements respond to release. You may find yourself moving in circles or spirals, rising up or sinking down. Your movements may be subtle and slight and remain that way, or they may build in power and complexity. Let them arise as they will.

Beneath all you are sensing, you may begin to experience the intrinsic joy all creatures express as they embody their true natures. You may feel love for the Mover that is in each breath, for each caressing of the space between breaths. This love arises naturally; allow your devotion to kindle the Heart Fire and create even greater flow. Allow the subtle creativity of prana to pour through you, and know that you can experience this at any time, in any space, in any position, without limit.

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<H1>Pranams—Whole Body Invocation

I saw you and became empty.

This emptiness, more beautiful than existence

and yet creates more existence. - Rumi

<Fig. 85 Image of Prostration>

Whole-body prostration, called pranam, is one of the most universal of movement meditations. This expression of surrender creates a point of contact in the frontal brain, heart, belly, base of the body, and hands that is deeply grounding and relaxing. It reawakens our connection to our heart and creates an inward shift on all levels: body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Prostrations may be offered once; in a continuous, moving prayer of 108 rounds; or with great devotion as the means of moving around a temple or sacred mountain. They are the full-body expression of total release, intimacy, and surrender. You can offer prostrations as a practice all its own or to transition between the rhythms of the day, and you can combine them with chanting or mantra.

<H1> <H2>Expanding the Heart Field – Mudra Vinyasas

All bodily movements,

created spontaneously from awakened consciousness,

pure in essence, become sacred gestures or mudras.

- Sahajayoginicinta, 8th century Yogini

Mudra vinyasas are mudras (sacred gestures) that move with the flow of breath as well as mantra. I have developed the following mudra-mantra vinyasas as a means to consciously expand the energetic field around the heart particularly at the beginning of practice. As you move, the archetypal meaning of the movement is revealed to you as arms expand in generosity or draw inward close to the heart. This is a way of dropping in to a non-verbal knowing

Contemplate the pulse of life that is contained in these movements. Feel the interconnected flow as you move into a meditative state of heart coherence. You can enjoy this from 3 to an infinite number of times feeling the generation of the heartfield.

Text Box: Movements of prana

The movements of prana are the movement of creation - the breath, the cellular pulse, the quantum shimmer, the ocean tides, leap of a tiger, expansion and contraction of the heart. Invoked in sacred text from the Vedas to the Tantras, Yoga Sutras to Hatha Yoga Pradapika, these five movements (pancha vayus) are all aspects of the one flow of prana. Prana Flow-Energetic Vinyasa is dedicated to the embodiment of prana as brought forth in this invocation chant:

Om Prana Swaha - I honor the "in-drawing, rising energy" as the essential Self (Swaha)

Om Apana Swaha - I honor the "downward, rooting flow" as the essential Self

Om Samana Swaha - I honor the energy that "contracts to the core" as the essential Self

Om Vyana Swaha - I honor the energy that "expands omnidirectional from the core" as the essential Self

Om Udana Swaha - I honor the energy that "rises and moves outward" as the essential Self

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<H2 Samana-Vyana Mudra Vinyasa - Expanding and Contracting

<Fig. 86, 87, 88: Three small images of Samana Mudra Vinyasa>

This meditation cultivates the awareness of the core pulsation—inward (samana) and outward (vyana)—that connects us with the rhythm of life in every cell and heartbeat.

With your hands upon your heart, inhale into your heart’s center. Receive the breath as an offering to your core fire. As you exhale, slowly move your hands away, palms facing your heart, feeling the electromagnetic field radiating into your hands with a palpiable quality slowly expanding outward. Continue to breath with this inward and outward movement to move into a meditative heart rhythm.

<H2> Prana-Apana Mudra Vinyasa – Aligning

<Fig. 89, 90, 91 Three small photos>

This meditation connects you with the two primary movements of prana: the grounding force (apana) and the rising force (prana) which helps us integrate the vertical alignment of our heart with our brain and belly as well as heaven and earth.

Feel your roots as you exhale down into your pelvis (if sitting) or feet (if standing).

As you inhale, sweep your arms overhead, either bringing your hands together or keeping the palms open and receptive.

As you exhale, slowly draw your hands down the centerline of your body, connecting with the energy centers of the chakras on the way down from your forehead to the base of your spine.

As you inhale, begin the cycle again. Allow the flow of this movement to redistribute your energy between the upper and lower poles, brain and heart, heart and belly, belly and roots.

<H2>Wave—Samudra Vinyasa

<Figure 92, 93, 94 Samudra Vinyasa>

The wave creates a natural feeling of the ocean (Samudra) washing over you.

As you inhale, draw your hands straight up to the sky.

As you exhale, release your spine and your arms like the crest of a wave across the shore bend your elbows and draw your open arms forward along with your entire spine toward the earth. Inhale draw your spine and your arms back and up as a wave coiling from the shore.. Continue these movements in an undulating rhythm.

<H2>Anahata Heart Chakra Mudra Vinyasa with Mantra

"The worshipper utterly inebriated drinks from the cup of the inbreathings and the outbreathings of love." – Kabir

<Figure 95-97>

Bring your hand to your heart, either with open palms or in anjali mudra. Integrate the heart gaze and feel its effects deepen your awareness as you open your heart. To integrate chanting with the mudra, circulate the chant as you exhale and the hands come through your heart in offering.

On an inhale, slowly draw your hands in front of your heart..

As you exhale, begin to offer the vowel sounds of om ahhh ohhhh mmmmnggg or any mantra from your spiritual tradition or just primal sound as you extend your arms open and feel the emanation of the radiance in your heart.

When you reach the full extension, inhale and wrap your hands behind your back, as if drawing and integrating a deep core truth within yourself.

Circulate this movement for several rounds.

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<H1>Rhythmic Kriyas: Heart Rhythm–Based Movement Meditations

Kriyas are movement meditations that circulate simple energetic patterns throughout the body. Inner kriyas are often linked with the breath and mantra through the flow of prana in the spine. Outer kriyas are simple, rhythmic movements that create a meditative state of heartbrain entrainment.

<H2> Anahata (Heart Chakra) Kriya

<Fig. 98 small or large picof Anahata Kriya>

O Goddess, enjoy the extremely slow movements of your body, of a mount, of a vehicle and, with peace in mind, sink into divine spirit. – vijnana bhairava tantra

You can practice this fluid, circular movement in the heart chakra region to liberate the ribcage.

Begin in a comfortable seat. Take a long, slow in-breath.

As you exhale, bow the crown of your head toward your heart so that your spine rounds and the back of your heart expands.

On an inhale, draw your heart through in a wave-like motion that now expands the front of the body. Breathe through this gentle wave-like motion of the spine. Let yourself be guided by this tidal rhythm as it entrains your heart, breath, and brainwaves into a receptive state.

<H2> Agni Kriya

<Fig. 99 Agni Kriya>

Agni kriya is a more energized version of anahata kriya and is practiced while standing firmly rooted. This kriya liberates the entire system and has the added benefit of toning your core and digestive system.

Stand with your feet hip distance apart. As you become rooted, visualize earth energy rising through your feet and into your pelvic floor (mula bandha), then into your belly (uddhiyana bandha).

Bring your hands to your shoulders and slowly begin to twist from side to side. In that simple twist you can feel what the Upanishads invoke as the loosening of the knot of the heart. Your upper body will become freer as your base supports your movement. As you move with this kriya, let go of all extraneous thoughts and feel the solar, stimulating quality of positive friction igniting your energy field.

<H2>Tala Kriya—Rhythmic Movers and Shakers Meditation

The dancing foot

The formed assumed by your dancing Guru as Shiva

Find out these within yourself and your fetters shall fall away.

- Tirumoolar, Periya Puranam

<Fig. 100 Image of Collective Shaking>

Shaking is one of the oldest meditations on the planet. We are born knowing instinctually how to vibrate our bodies, from root to crown; toddlers and young children do this naturally. Music is not required, although it can generate inspiration for shaking meditations.

Either standing or sitting, root your feet to the earth. Feel for the pulse in the core of your body. Follow the rhythm instinctually, moving as the music, in whole body entraiment. Feel the rhythm of the pulse rising up from your feet into your pelvis. Shake with your whole being in all rhythms that arise. Like your original dance as a baby, let your whole body shake from feet to crown.

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<H1>Namaskar—Devotion in Motion

Offerings, devotee, supreme Shakti are but one. This is the supreme devotion – the realization that the heart is supreme consciousness – Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

<Fig 101: Suggestion of Sunrise large base image to encapsulate the below>

Namaskar is a special type of vinyasa, a ritual offering in the form of a synchronized sequence of mudras or asanas. This is a kind of movement alchemy, designed to awaken and transform the mover.

Classical sequences such as surya (sun) and chandra (moon) namaskar are integrated with mantras that correspond with the phases of the sun and moon to awaken a corresponding inner movement. The understanding of amaskar beyond yoga is not yet widely known and yet other forms found in Indian Classical Dance and martial forms such as Kalarippayatu have their "salutation" forms as we saw earlier.

In Prana Flow- Energetic Vinyasa, I have been devoted to bringing the power of namaskar as devotion in motion through over forty different namaskars connected to fire, water, earth, the heart, and to mandalas—circles of the wholeness.

<H2>Surya Namaskar

Become the Sun in the heart of your body.

<Fig. 102 This chart>

Macintosh HD:Users:shiva1008:Desktop:l10.jpg

There is one yoga practice that every human who has lived on earth has practiced in some form: a namaskar or bow to the sun. We have all spontaneously responded in awe to the transformative power and beauty of a sunrise or sunset and experienced in our hearts, even if just for a moment, a state of meditative communion. This instinctual meditation is a universal experience of yoga - the heart of surya namaskar.

Surya namaskar is that special sequence of asanas that unfolds with an inherent harmony.

The Sanskrit word namaskar has a reverential connection to the life force of the universe that is sadly lost in translation as the stiff English "salutation." The root of namaskar is nama—literally, "not me"—which conveys an inner bowing, an openness to feel, receive, and absorb the miracle of life. The mantras that are integrated with the twelve movements of surya namaskar, including six bijas that are repeated twice, have been linked to the ritual movements and mantras recorded in the Vedas.

Raising your arms to the sky is a natural movement that generates joy and receptivity. Bowing with your knees on the earth is a universal expression of grounding or returning to the source. Hands drawn inward facilitate internal movement. Expansive arms open to the world. The movement meditations of this namaskar both kindle and balance the Heart Fire.

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<H2> Chandra Namaskar

Thirst drove me to the water where I drank from the moon's reflection. - Rumi

<Fig. 103 Encapsulating Sunset with Moon rising***>

<Figure 104 of Shiva in Chandra Namaskar with the Moon>

Chandra namaskar is the sequence of surya namaskar with the addition of two backbends, for fourteen movements in all corresponding with the phases of the moon or the tithis. The origins of these offerings to the moon are not as well documented as the sun namaskar, although hymns to the moon and soma are also found in the Vedas. This namaskar carries the restorative nature of the moon and induces slow, inward, ojas-generating movement. It is best to cultivate the lunar gaze by circulating these movements while facing the moon, or by visualizing receiving the lunar nectar with every breath. This induces a healing cascade of hormones that you can feel as heart-brain connection.

<Fig. 105 Chandra namaskar image below with mantras to be added by Sounds True>

Chandra card_rev2.jpg

<H3>The Chandra Namaskar Mantra

Each verse of this mantra corresponds with a movement.

Mantra Meaning

Om Kamasvaryal Namaha Salutations to she who fulfills all desires

Om BhagamaUnyal Namaha Salutations to she who wears the garland of prosperity

Om NityakUnnayal Namaha Salutations to she who is ever compassionate

Om Bherundayal Namaha Salutations to she who is fierce

Om Vahnivasinyal Namaha Salutations to she who resides in fire

Om Dutyal Namaha Salutations to she whose diamond-like Vajra essence is indestructible power

Om Tvaritayal Namaha Salutations to she who is swift

Om Kulasundaryal Namaha Salutations to she whose beauty and virtue is the essence of the kula family and community

Om Nityayai Namaha Salutations to she who is eternal

Om Nilapatakinyai Namaha Salutations to she who is adorned with infinite mystery

Om Vijayayai Namaha Salutations to she who is ever victorious

Om Sarvamangalayai Salutations to she who is always auspicious

Om Jvalamalinyai Namaha Salutations to she whose essence is the fire which burns through all illusion

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<H2>Prana Flow Mandala Namaskar

<Fig 106 Mandala namaskar images with only the caption of breath underneath or just the images depending on how it looks>

My heart is pulsing with passion, like waves on an ocean.

I'm at home, wherever I am…I can see with closed eyes the beauty that dances. 

Behind the veils intoxicated with love, I too dance the rhythm of this moving world. - Rumi. 

This Prana Flow Mandala Namaskar is but one of 40 evolutionary namaskars that have emerged from my body and teachings from the source Sun and Moon Saluataions. This namaskar embodies the flowing qualities (lasya) supported by the grounding strength (tandava) that balance the sun and the moon within. The book website has the full flowing version you can follow live.

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Chapter 5: —Movement Alchemy - Energetic Vinyasa and the Seuqencing of Rasa

*** This is the best title – unable to change in the front as TOC is locked.

<Fig. 107 Movement image of the art of yoga>

Life is Change. Learn to Surf. – Swami Satchitananda

Throughout the last chapter, we were tending our inner fire and through practices from outward movement (solar) to inward movement (lunar) including Surya and Chandra Namaskar, the Sun and Moon salutations. In the process of receovering our inherent rhythms from mechanized ways of being or "doing yoga", energetic vinyasa is a way of of sequencing (vinyasa) to our inherent flow of our lifeforce (prana). Too many times in the West, we override whatever our natural state through rigidly practicing a set-sequence or a specific workout without regard to our actual energy or the rhythm of the day, week, moon or seasonal rhythm (the teachings of the next section). Moving with the tide of both our natural energy flow and the macrocosmic cycle is like tacking your sail to the wind. We have a natural momentum available to us whether it is a lunar meditative quality of the waning moon or a Friday afternoon or the winter season or the solar rising energy of the full moon or spring emerging. The practices in this book form a small portion of the "pathways of prana flow" over sixty four different namaskars (sun salutations), approaches to the opening and strengthening of our embodiment and most of all to stay connected to our heart wisdom that navigates the oscillations of our existence.

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<H1 TEXT BOX: The Evolution of Energetic Vinyasa – Prana Flow Namaskars

<Fig. 108 Prana Flow Namaskar Mandala with caption>

Namaskar_Mandala_ayruveda.png

After ten years of Sun Salutations in my body, another calling started to emerge. I was hesistant at first to change as my core practice that had begun with classical sun salutations from the teachings of the Himalayan Institute when I was 14 in Memphis that continued with the transformative set-flow of Surya Namaskar A & B of Ashtanga. Something began to shift within at the beginning of my yoga practice – a desire to not follow a set-routine but to move with the unique quality that was arising and changing each day from the spontaneous sahaja movement that was rising like the moon or to the intrinsic need to move lower to the earth with the falling leaves of autumn.

Beyond the scope of this book but available as an additional practice resource from the books website, I am sharing with you the concept of the Prana Flow Namaskar Mandala to offer a basic framework for approaching the shifts that occur through the wheel of the year and the solar-lunar cycle. Here the 64 namaskars are arranged around the seasons as well as the elements. The mandala reflects the seasonal flow of the seasons beginning from the top fo the mandala representing the new year and flowing through the seasons connected to the doshas (inner wheel of vata-pitta-kapha) as well as the rasas (vira, sringara, shanti). These are general guidelines that also follow the movement like in a solar wheel of increading light from Jan- June (the solar right side of the mandala) and the waning light from June – Dec (the lunar left side of the mandala). The namaskars connected to the earth begin up the center line in the flow of the Chakras beginning at the bottom with the foundational earth or bhumi namaskar through the elements to the most subtle namaskars at the top connected to our highest devotion. These represents the deva-devi namaskars in which all of our movements are offered to the source.

It has been my great pleasure in my practice and teachings to see the benefits of "energetic diversity" as type triple A highly driven solar students integrate their fluid nature with joy and others find their slow moving peaceful movements providing tremendous support during the high-stress of the holiday season in December or the solar stimulation of the fire namaskars helping to stoke the inner fire when it was dim or going out. Firekeeping through our body gives us the ability to be "movement alchemist" – a way of cultivating rasa through changing rhythms, qualities of being, particularly asanas in the body. For the past twenty years, I have been creating the Prana Flow – Energetic Vinyasa system to empowers householders yoga practitioners to be "agents of change" by respecting, attuning to and moving with their life-force.

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<H1 Tending the Fire – Observing the Variables of Energetic Vinyasa> –

There are four basic variables that guide an energetic vinyasa practice,: Kala (time/rhythm), Desa (place), Bhava-Rasa (inner state) and Dosha (constitution). These components will be further developed in Part Three and Four but are offered here to understand how we can assess and work with our movement alchemy.

Variable One: Kala

Time and rhythm (rtam) has a profound effect on our energy. What time of the day, week, lunar cycle, and seasonal cycle you are in has a strong affect on your energy and needs for practice as we will explore in Part Three. In general, the rasas vira, shanti, and sringara are correlated to the Sun (Vira or the activeate inner state of the warrior), the Moon (Shanti Rasa or the inner meditative transforming calm) and the interplay of the Sun and Moon (Sringara Rasa or the sensual union of the masculine and feminine within

Variable Two: Desa means place, home, and has to do with both the ecology and the environment in which you are living or travelling. In hotter or dryer environments, one has to be careful of too much fire, so as to not overheat or overstimulate pitta or vata. In cooler climates, the fire has to be carefully cultivated so that one’s vital energy does not become too dim. The power of desa is ultimately within one’s heart which leads to the next variable: bhava or bhavana.

Variable Three: Bhavana, your feeling state, has a profound effect upon your embodiment in terms of the effects of stress and dissonant emotions vs the the healing effect of coherent emotions upon your functioning and well-being that we explored in Chapter three. Coherent inner states from a lunar calm, loving gratitude to solar passion and enthusiasm when authentically generated elevate our optimal flow. Focusing on bhava within your practice is a beautiful way to balance your inner and outer world through movement.

Variable Four: Balancing Your Dosha

In Ayurveda, the cycle of the seasons mirrors these same changes in the doshas, the bodily humors of Ayurveda: vata, pitta, and kapha, which need to be balanced in different ways at different times through more solar or lunar energies and also the rasas. You will read much more about this in Part 3 but in essence we can either balance or enhance our constitution by changing our practice both seasonally and in accordance to what is arising in our body.

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<H1> Rasa Vinyasa – Movement Alchemy

Rasa is a divine emotional state. It is eternal, indivisible and inconceivable essence of the supreme transcendental bliss. It is a state of ecstasy which a devotee experiences in the height of his devotion for God.

—Swami Sivananda

Rasa is defined in many beautiful, inter-related meanings from "nectar", "taste", "essence", "alchemy" and to an all-permeating state of being.

In the tendency for yoga students to focus on the "doing" of yoga, rasa can offer a tonic for living yoga as a form of mindfulness with heart or "heartfullness" where rejuvenation in the moment is available if we can be subtle rasikas (seekers of rasa) in the face of routine, the business of life, and the dulling of our senses. As we have cultivated already through our practice, our feeling state (bhava) is not an obstacle to yoga but an access point to our heart’s presence and a way of working with the authentic truth of who are are in every moment.

Our yoga practice then becomes the field in which to dissolve the fragmented rhythm of "thinking mind" into the entrainment with our heart as the ingration of our awarness as "feeling mind". An artist learns how to attune themselves to the energy that is present to transform a mechanical playing through their heart energy to access the flow of presence and generate a note, movement, brush stroke that is brimming with transformive energy or rasa. If we find the juice of life is diminished, look to restoring your inner participation in life, the taste in each moment – to recover the rejuvenation in being. Rasa vinyasa is a process of movement alchemy where we can positively integrate our inner state not as an obstacle but as a living art.

Rasa is translated as essence as well as a divine nectar synonymous with soma, amrita, and ojas and in particular the heart. Hridaya rasa is the essence of the heart, the very essential para ojas that resides in the heart from birth. Hrdaya rasa, which, the highest teachings of yoga tell us, leads to the experience of "one taste" or eka rasa—the healing internal flow that can be cultivated.through heart of yoga and the arts where the inner state

First try to discover the emotions.

Having embraced the and made love,

You will find the Jewel of Love. - Baul song

In substances in the body or in food, rasa is the quality of your vitality. Restoring your essence is related to ojas in the body and soma in the subtle body, although there is also a current that connects soma, rasa, and ojas in relation to the spiritual and emotional states of beauty, joy, love, and sublime ecstasy. Bharata, the author of the Natyasastra, classifies rasa into eight groups: erotic love (sringara), heroic (vira), , marvelous (abdhuta), compassionate (karuna), comic (hasya) terrible ( ) , disgusting (bhibasta), and furious (raudra).

The place of pure wisdom can be accessed through an intense flow of a particular emotion (rasa) arising from within. One who presents a pure-hearted offering with focused attention to a particular rasa will experience the transformation of that rasa into the Supreme,

universal consciousness of one’s true Self.

—Shri Abhinavagupta, from his Tantraloka ("Light on Tantra") [3] 

To this the Tantric sage Abhinavagupta adds a ninth rasa, shanti (the tranquility and bliss of enlightened awareness). He teaches that any one of the eight rasas, all of which carry a degree of intensity, can be a trigger for liberation from suffering, as long as we do not try to reject or cling to any particular rasa that may arise. Rather we can work with the alchemy of the heart with any variation of emotions arising as a particular pulsation of pure Shakti (emotional energy), to be honored—that is to say authentically experienced without repression or pushing away accepted—as it arises, so that the intensity of the rasa may then be alchemically transformed through the power of the heart’s capacity to transform dissonant emotions as we explored as in chapter three.

Cultivating rasa is not just to work with and balance emotions but to enhance the inner flow just as artists of every medium – dance, music, painting, poetry have honed to inner flow of rasa for thousands of years to bring heighten the inner state.

The following exploration of hridaya rasa – the rasa of the heart – continues with the essential process of balancing the sun, moon and within the fire of the heart through the three primary rasas utilized in Indian Classical arts – Vira (solar energy) Shanti (lunar energy) and Sringara (the alchemical flow of love).

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<H1>Tending the Heart Fire with Energetic Rasa Vinyasa

As you learn to circulate the appropriate rasas the juice of your life-force revitalizes as we become reflections of the full-sprectrum of nature rather than set-forms disconnected from the changes of life.

Vira Rasa—Activating Solar Potency

Wake up and Roar - Poonjaji

<Fig 109 vanity fair Tiger photo >

<Fig. 110 Tiger Photo>

Vira rasa is the natural invocation of the rising energy of nature, which can be felt at any time when change is being ignited as a force of growth, evolution, and vital energy. Derived from the root meaning of vira as "hero", virya – "potency, activation, ability to transform", vira is the embodied state of inner and outer strength, potency, courage and verve. Vira rasa is related to the yogic process of tapas - unwavering commitment and dedication. Vira rasa is the activation of solar energy to cultivate the juice of your life (ojas), not, as Ayruveda cautions, to burn ojas up.

<H1 Tending Vira Rasa: Activating and Igniting the Fire

Kala/Tala (Time and Rhythm): Optimal times include the initation or any cycles as well as the peak waxing energy, morning or before sunset, new moon –full moon, Tuesdays (day for Mars) or any day of the week when you are naturally energized or when you need to awaken a dim fire. The rhythm of vira rasa involves is activating, steady as in the ability to build energy, ecstatic intensity and. Desa – Beginning of New Year (rebirth of the light), Spring Season, in cool climates (to keep one’s inner fire, not forced), environments of high prana that are naturally energizing

Bhava – Bhava (somatic mood): warm, engaging, energizing, awakened, naked, feeling states that are often beyond one word descriptions but have the clarity, passion, presence, noble, wisdom in action, expansive heart qualities which inspire us and a deep, ancestral and spiritual level. Vira is part of every being alive who made it through the transition of birth and our ancestral legacy to be able to face life and our own shadow tendencies with truth, courage and the heart of a warrior unfraid of the dark, contracted, difficult spaces in life.

Yoga Practice – Dynamic Solar Namaskars, Agni Kriya, Shaking Movement Meditation, sequences which cultivate embodied concentration, sustaining power through alignment, breath, bandha, awareness (one unconscious step and you fall off the edge), and use of krama (stages) to evolve one’s potential in strength, flexibility and confidence. Linear asanas with strong lines such as the warrior family (virabhadrasana), all arm balances, standing balance poses, core cultivation activate Vira Rasa. Pranayama: kapalabhati, bhastrika, ujayi pranayama with retentions. Solar meditations.

Dosha (constitution) -

Living Vira Rasa –Vira Rasa stokes the fires to help us overcome any obstacle, challenge, regressive habits by encouraging the embodiment of courage, stamina, and steadiness with our daily life.

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<H2 Sringara Rasa—The Way Love Moves>

Design note: larger text please:Love moves in ecstatic sways. The taste that melts, the spine archs, the heart stirs, ahhh, oohhh, mmm purrs, the way love moves in spontaneous abandon and freedom. We can move as love to trigger the alchemy, the heartbrain entrainment in embodied flow. When the heart regions open, and loves sway begins. the heart nectar begins to pour through the body

<Fig 111 A beautiful Sringara Movement photo

Fig 112 find a small photo of Krishna-Radha in embrace –

Fig 113 suggestion of any other small photos to fins sway of palm tree…bend of a river>

"Burning with longing-fire, my living is composed only of this desire to be in your presence."

– Rumi

Sringara rasa is the rhythm and way of moving as love. We find it in the spontaneous backbend that arises when we taste something sublime; when we fling open our arms in response to a beautiful sight in nature; when we hear a lovely piece of music and close our eyes and smile; when we make the humming sound mmmm in the pleasure of a delicious taste or in love making, in feline purring and the buzz of the bee’s pollinating dance. These naturally arising movements of sringara trigger a response in heart rhythm-brain wave flow that stimulates the slower heart rate rhythms and the flow of hormones of love—oxytocin, seratonin, dopamine, and opiates. If you are not feeling loving, try moving as love which has an instinctually fluid, connected quality that is part of the art of sringara rasa expressed in curving movements, and music where notes and melodies bend and way.

It is impossible to be rigid and express love at the same time. Sringara rasa is the cultivation in the heart of the love union of male and female. Sringara rasa is fire and water, sun and moon, passion and peace. It is a cultivation of the heart and sensuality of yoga that helps us feel and generate loving energy toward ourselves, others, and ultimately the Divine. If you too often feel dry, brittle, bitter, or lacking in heart energy, learning to cultivate sringara rasa in your body and life is like discovering a secret well that flows inside you, and can never run dry.

<H1 Tending Sringara Rasa

Kala/tala –time and rhythm – Sringara rasa is best to practice before or when we have become hardened or mechanical, lacking in feeling or connectedness with our own body or with others; suitable for all times of practice and all seasons particularly to cultivate bhakti during holidays of love such as Valentines or before love union or for any cycle where you are intentionally stoking the love fire. The rhythm of Sringara Rasa is a melodic meandering, smooth, passionate, building orgasmic dyanmic leading to a peak release and then integration/communion into bliss. This rhythm is found in all forms of art from music to dance and drama as it is the rhythm of climax of creation that makes Sringara Rasa so compelling.

Desa (where/ecology) – all seasons, all places and particularly in rasa-filled natural environments by the ocean or in tropical countries where nature’s sway and abundance relaxes your whole being into the eros of nature.

Bhava (somatic mood): sensual receptivity, seeing/feeling/hearing/tasting the beloved in the diversity of life and within one’s being.

Yoga Practice: all movements that are circular, wave-like and fluid mirror the sway of love that sringara rasa invokes most typified in the heart-liberating flow of backbends in yogasanas. All meditations, mantra, mudras and chanting within asana (lengthens exhale, awakens the vibration in the heart center), viloma and anuloma pranayama (drinking and savoring the breath in stages).

Dosha (constitution) -

Living Sringara Rasa - Open to experience life in sensual fullness, the way in each you touch, taste, see, hear the world and experience each breath as a form of the beloved. Notice how your movement and voice change and become more smooth, elegant, regenerative for yourself and others.

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<H2>Shanti Rasa—The Rhythm of Peace

<Fig. 114 Find an image in nature or for human beings in peace>

I have settled my restless mind, and my heart is radiant:

Living in bondage I have set myself free:

I have broken away from the clutch of all narrowness.

Kabir says: ‘I have attained the unattainable,and my heart is coloured with the colour of love.

 

Kabir

Shanti rasa is the embodiment of deep peace. In the arts, shanti rasa is the culmination of all rasas like the shavasana at the end of a yogic journey. The symbol of a lotus rising from the mud is the timeless yogic symbol of shanty rasa, for peace is not dependent on cloudy or clear water, or external circumstances but a deep connection to eternal essense within. The rhythm of shanti rasa is inwardly connected, even if outer rhythms are turbulent or dissonant. Cultivating shanti rasa in movement, for most people, involves slowing down and allowing your movements to become very simple and yet powerful, often moving close to the earth, as with prostrations that we learned in Chapter 4. For this reason, shanti rasa is closely connected to lunar sadhana and is regenerative in nature, like fertile earth nurturing the seed. Shanti rasa is good to cultivate when you feel depleted, while traveling, or whenever you feel ungrounded. Shanti is the state of living, breathing peace.

Kala-Tala (Time/Rhythm)– Shanti rasa is best to circulate when you are feeling stress or too much fire; suitable for all times and seasons but particualarly early morning, early afternoon (siesta time), evening before bed, and waning energy (full moon – new moon). Shanti Rasa is important during the summer months of high heat as well as late fall particularly the last six weeks of the year between Oct. 31- Dec. 21, during the vulnerable transition. Keeping a slow and balanced rhythm that is steady, smooth, spacious and without extremes is the key to being peace.

Desa (Where/Ecology) – Moving in peace is essential in peaceful natural settings to absorb the subtle energy or prana of nature as well as in places of high stimulation such as New York City or Hong Kong.

Bhava (somatic mood): calming, sama (even), equilibrium, acceptance, compassion (karuna), santosha (contentment).

Yoga practice: In applying shanti rasa to vinyasa, a meditative, even rhythm throughout the practice is key including frequent reflective pauses through postures such as child’s pose or prostrations or standing in stillness to allow the nervous system to unwind, the fluctuations of the mind to relax and the internal equilibrium to deepen. In asanas, all forward bends, hip openers, inversions, and any asanas approached with equanimity and a "cooling" bhava are movement medicine. Pranayamas such as nadi shodhana, sama vritti ujayi pranayama (even inhale and exhale), ujayi pranayama with emphasis on increasing exhale (1:2) are also tremendous movement tonics for healing any stress or dissonance in your heart field.

Dosha:

Living Shanti Rasa – Slow down and feel a release of any pressure as you find the rhythm of nature, the ocean tide within the rising and falling of the 10,000 things" as it is described in the Taoist text, the Tao Te Ching. Cultivate an authentic value of inner balance, equilibrium, wisdom and serenity that is the fruit of living yoga.

<Design Note place this somewhere with Sanskrit of OM Shanti too:>

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

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