Light on Yoga: The Bible of Modern Yoga

4I8 Light on Yoga

Ta�asana (Plate I) or with an exhalation do Vipar'ita Chakrasana
(Plates 488 to 499) and relax.

Effects

The effects of this asana are the same as those of Ganda.. Bherund-..

as ana. (Plates 5 8o and 58 I.) The purpose of these two asanas is to

awaken Ku��alin'i the Divine Cosmic Energy in our bodies, symbolised

by a coiled and sleeping serpent lying dormant in the lowest nerve

centre at the base of the spine. The Yogi makes a conscious effort to

arouse this latent Energy and lead it up the spine to the brain (the

Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus in the upper cerebral centre) and

then he submerges his ego by concentrating upon the Divine Source

of all energy in order to be released from worldly bondage. 'As rivers

flow into the sea and so lose name and form, even so the wise man,

freed from name and form, attains the Supreme Being, the Self­

Luminous, the Infinite.'

I98. Tiriang Mukhottanosana Sixty* (Plate 586)

Tiriang means oblique, transverse, horizontal, reverse or upside down.
Mukha means the face and also chief, principal or prominent. Uttana
is a deliberate or an intense stretch. In this back-bending posture the
head is upside down with an intense stretch on arms, legs and the
entire trunk.

Technique

1. Stand in Ta�asana. (Plate 1.) Spread the legs a foot apart and rest
   the palms on the hips.


2. Push the pelvic region slightly forward (Plate 483), exhale and curve
   the trunk back so that the weight of the body is felt on the thighs
   and feet. (Plate 484)
   3· Raise the arms above the head and drop the hands to the floor. (Plate
   485.) Immediately straighten the arms at the elbows and rest the
   palms on the floor. This is now Urdhva Dhanurasana. (Plate 486)

4· Without moving the heels, widen the distance between the toes, so

that the feet will be at an angle instead of parallel to each other.

5· Exhale, stretch the trunk as high as you can above the floor and

bring the hands closer and closer to the feet. Stretch the head and

neck as far back as possible and touch the feet with the hands. (Plate

585.) Take a few breaths which will be fast and laboured due to the

intense stretch of the abdomen, chest and back.