Lesson - 01

First Week

Only a few men die from sudden lack of air, but multitudes perish because for years they have not been breathing enough.

—RASMUS ALSAKER, M.D., Master Key Is Health

What The Course Is-And How To Use It

As the title of my book implies, the course of exercises outlined here for home practice is designed to teach the rudiments of Yoga so that they can be incorporated into the daily routine of the average man or woman living in our Western world. I have taken into account not only the pace to which life in the United States is geared, but also the fact that most of you have not had a chance to keep your muscles limber and your joints supple. At first glance, as you look through the illustrations in the book, some of the Yoga poses may seem impossibly difficult to you—you may feel you cannot even attempt them. But please do not be frightened away. If you follow instructions, with a little patience and method you will be able to learn a great deal more than you think possible—in less time than you imagine.

The course is divided into six lessons. Each lesson consists of a number of breathing exercises and Yoga postures—probably more than you will normally have time for. You will find yourself liking some better than others, and you may as well let personal preference guide you when it comes to choosing those you want to incorporate into your own personal routine. Once having decided, repeat your chosen routine every day for a week, in order to give yourself a chance to assimilate it before going on to the next week's set of instructions. As you practice the same postures day by day, you will find your muscles stretching, your body growing more responsive and better controlled, until what seemed unattainable on Monday has become routine on Saturday. Then you will be ready to go on to the next week's lesson.

I also want to make clear that throughout the book I have tried, in outlining each day's schedule, to approximate the normal waking and sleeping hours of the average person. Those who keep odd bed and meal hours will need to adjust this schedule, making whatever changes are necessary in order to suit their particular time requirements. The best time is, of course, in the morning before breakfast, but it does not matter too much at what time of day the exercises are done, just so long as they are done on an empty stomach. Allow three to four hours after a big meal, one and one-half to two hours after a light meal, and about half an hour after a glass of juice. It is also inadvisable to do the exercises directly before eating. But the most important thing is to do them regularly, without skipping. If you happen not to have time for all of them, do just a few, perhaps even only one when you are in a great hurry-but never omit them entirely. Once you begin to skip, you are likely to do so more and more often until you stop exercising altogether.

The Waking-Up Routine

We shall begin our first lesson with the routine you should adopt the moment you have opened your eyes in the morning and are ready to get up.

First of all, learn to wake up properly. Do some stretching. Stretch your arms, yawn several times, stretch your legs, stretch your whole body. While you are still in bed, do the following stretching exercise:

Keeping your feet together, toe to toe, start to push out the right leg, without raising it off the mattress, as if wanting to lengthen it. The pull will be felt from the hip down and the leg will be momentarily lengthened by an inch or more. Hold your leg in this position while you count to sixty, then relax, allowing the right foot to become even again with the left one. Repeat with the left leg.

This exercise stretches the spinal column and tones up the sympathetic nerves. It has a rejuvenating effect on the entire body. As this is a very potent nerve exercise, you must be careful not to overdo it. Sixty seconds for each leg is the maximum. You may, however, repeat the exercise again in the evening, if you wish. If your mattress is too soft, don't do this in bed, but wait until you are ready to do the other exercises on the floor and simply begin with this one.

Incidentally, if you want to avoid those "morning backaches" or a tired feeling in your back, don't ever sleep on a soft mattress. Get a hard one or put a board under the soft one. Just try it out for a week or so and you will notice the difference in the way you feel. I myself, when traveling or staying in hotels, often pull the mattress down to the floor, unless it is too heavy. If I find I cannot handle the mattress, I slip the glass top from a dressing table under it.

Another important thing to bear in mind is never to jump out of bed, even if you are in a hurry, as this gives the whole nervous system a shock. Give yourself a little time to return to this world from the threshold of another. Make this transition slowly and gradually and give your body time to "shift gears." Animals offer a good example of natural behavior. Watch a dog or a cat, for instance. Except when in danger or emergency, they never jump up, but keep yawning and stretching for quite a while after coming awake; then they slowly get up on their feet. Imitate them. When you finally get out of bed, drink a glass of water, but water that is at room temperature, not iced. Drink it after brushing your teeth and cleaning your tongue with a special tongue scraper or with a wash cloth. The tongue, as you probably know, is a barometer that shows the condition of your intestinal tract. A bright red tongue indicates a clean intestinal tract, whereas a coated tongue indicates the opposite. If the latter is the case, you had better plan to go on a cleansing diet or fast for a few days to get rid of the impurities accumulated in your body. We shall discuss this at length later on.

Now let us return to the exercises. As has already been said, they should be done with an empty stomach, empty bladder and also, if possible, empty bowels. When you are ready to start, put on a minimum of clothing and make sure that whatever you are wearing is comfortable and not tight. Do not wear a girdle, bra, tight belt or the like while exercising. You may wear a pair of socks if your feet feel too cold.

Deep Breathing

Yoga emphasizes our relationship to the universe and therefore teaches a breathing different from the usual breathing, a breathing that reflects our inner attitude while we are performing it. This attitude is one of devotion toward the communion with the All, and should be maintained all the time one is doing deep breathing.

Conscious Breathing

I shall begin with an explanation of Yoga breathing, as it is most important for you first of all to understand how this deep breathing is done and how it differs from ordinary breathing.

Usually we are not conscious of our breathing. Breath passes through our bodies like dream waves. In Yoga, this process is lifted to the level of consciousness. It is you, yourself, who take over the direction and control of the air-flow.

In normal respiration the air is taken in through the nostrils without any special effort, sound or exaggerated movement of the nose or chest. In short, it is done unconsciously. We are not even aware of air traveling through our nostrils, down the nasal and oral parts of the pharynx, of its reaching the larynx and then the trachea and the lungs. More than that, not only are we unaware of the breathing process, but most of us don't know anything about it. You can easily prove this for yourself by asking several friends to answer this simple question: "What happens to the air after it enters the nostrils?" They will probably tell you that it goes to the lungs, although everybody realizes in a general way that the nose does not reach that far in and that there is quite a distance between it and the lungs.

Taking into consideration the limited knowledge we possess about the function of our organism, I will try to make the anatomical explanations as simple as possible. It is very easy to demonstrate the deep-breathing technique, but not nearly so easy to put it in words. We shall therefore go into it in some detail so that you may be able to grasp the idea correctly.

The Anatomy Of Breathing

Let us begin by analyzing the way the so-called Yoga deep-breathing exercise is usually done and see in what way it differs from ordinary deep breathing.

Take a deep breath. Just put down the book for a moment and do it the way you have always been doing it. Most people vigorously sniff air in through the nostrils, simultaneously raising the chest and popping out the eyes. Yoga deep breathing is not done this way at all. Let us examine what happens when you take the usual kind of deep breath. First of all you interrupt your normal—or unconscious—breathing and make a conscious, deliberate effort to inhale. In doing this, you use considerable force. You also produce a loud sniffing sound by automatically contracting the nostrils. In Yoga deep breathing the process is so entirely different that it is better to completely forget the way you have been doing it and learn anew. To begin with, you do not consciously use the nostrils at all; they remain completely inactive during inhalation and exhalation. Instead, you draw in the air by using the area situated at the back wall of your mouth, called the pharyngeal area. This connects the mouth with the nose, and is the continuation of the nasal openings which end behind the soft palate leading from the mouth into the throat.

You will understand this still better if you will take a hand mirror and look into it, opening your mouth wide. (I suggest that you once again interrupt your reading and pick up a mirror right now, otherwise you may forget about it.) What you see, especially if you press down the tongue, is a wall in the form of a dome. The air passage is located directly under this dome. This is the pharyngeal area. And it is this area instead of the nostrils which you must learn to use in Yoga deep breathing. This, then, is the main technical difference between ordinary deep breathing and Yoga deep breathing.

Have you ever before been aware of the possibility of drawing in a breath through an area other than the nostrils? Probably not. However, people suffering from a post-nasal drip are made very conscious of this other area.

If you sniff in water, especially salt water, through the nostrils and eject it through the mouth, you will instantly become aware of the pharyngeal area, which connects the mouth with the nose. It is this connection that makes it possible to draw the air in through the pharyngeal area, while keeping the nostrils completely inactive during deep breathing. The action is felt only at the back of the throat during the exhalation and the impression is that of a hydraulic suction pump or press operating in the back of the mouth. In fact, the entire action is similar, since during inhalation one feels as if the air were being drawn in, and during exhalation as if it were being pressed down the throat, though in reality, of course, it is being expelled.

It really should not be too difficult for you to do the deep-breathing routine since you have already been doing it for a long time, and without any instructions. Without your being aware of it, this is what takes place while you sleep, for in sleep the sense organism is not functioning and cannot therefore interfere with the rhythm of breathing. When asleep we automatically, or shall I say instinctively, resort to deep breathing at certain intervals. This probably is an indication that deep breathing is of an elemental nature and we can, by means of it, consciously establish a contact between our inner selves and the deep forces of Nature.

Learning to Breathe Correctly

Since you know how to do deep breathing while asleep, a simple method of learning to do it during wakefulness should be to simulate sleep. Lie down, close your eyes, relax the whole body, drop the chin and imagine that you are asleep, thus letting your breathing become deeper and deeper. But first a word of warning: When exaggerated and overstrained, deep breathing leads to snoring, so you had better learn to relax and breathe softly and gently! Also, the next time you happen to be in a room with someone who is fast asleep, listen for a while to his or her respiration; you will quickly notice the difference, both in sound and rhythm, between the "waking" and the "sleeping" breath.

In Yoga deep breathing, you start filling the lower part of the lungs first, then you fill the middle and upper part. When exhaling you first empty the upper part of the lungs, then the middle, and last of all the lower part.

This process, however, is not divided into three separate actions. Inhalation is done in one smooth continuous flow just as one might pour water in filling a glass. First the bottom is filled, then the middle, and finally the upper portion. But the process itself—pouring in order to fill the entire glass-is an uninterrupted one. Just so is the air taken in, in one uninterrupted inhalation, while the lungs fill with air; just so is the air expelled until the lungs are empty. But you must do it slowly and in a most relaxed manner. No effort or strain should ever be exerted. This is very important.

You then become aware of the function of your own diaphragm. You expand the flanks when inhaling and contract them when exhaling. The lower part of the rib cage naturally expands first when you breathe in and is compressed last when you let the air out. This too should be done gently, without any force or strain. The chest remains motionless and passive during the entire process of respiration. Only the ribs expand during inhalation and contract during exhalation, accordion-fashion. To use force during inhalation is completely wrong. One should do it with ease, without any tension or strain whatever. In deep breathing, exhalation is as important as inhalation because it eliminates poisonous matter. The lower part of our lungs seldom are sufficiently emptied, and tend to accumulate air saturated with waste products, for with ordinary breathing we never expel enough of the carbon dioxide our system throws off even if we do inhale enough oxygen. If, on the other hand, the lower part of the lungs are properly expanded and contracted, the circulation in the liver and spleen, which are thus "massaged" by the diaphragm, are greatly benefited.

Another important thing to remember is that while doing deep breathing the spine should be kept straight, so as not to impair the free flow of the life-force, or Prana. This also helps to develop correct posture. The yogis attach such great importance to correct posture that they have devised several different positions for their various advanced breathing practices as well as for meditation and concentration.

The favorite posture is the Lotus Pose, or Padmãsana, a word derived from Padma, which means lotus in Sanskrit, and Asana, which means posture. (The accent in Padmãsana falls on the first syllable of the second word, Asana, not on the second as would be natural in English.) The other three postures are Siddhãsana, Swastikãsana, and Samãsana. You will learn them one by one later on.

In all of these postures the spine has to be kept erect, in one straight line with the head, neck and trunk. The necessity for keeping the spine straight is emphasized in all Yoga practices where it is a must. We human beings are the only inhabitants of this planet who have a vertical spine, whereas in animals it extends horizontally. Only man, the crowning creation, through the awakening of his consciousness has acquired a vertical spine. Yoga reminds us of this; it is considered a symbolical connecting link between earth and heaven.

When you sit down on the floor with your legs crossed, visualize a stream running through you in a straight line, starting at the top of your head and continuing into the ground.

Imagine, too, that this is the axis around which your body has been molded. This will help you learn to sit up straight without being stiff and tense. You should, in fact, feel comfortable and relaxed as you sit this way.

Your First Deep Breath

Now as you sit down on your exercise mat, get ready to start your first real lesson in deep breathing. If for some reason you are unable to sit on the floor, you may sit on a chair or else stand up. Deep breathing can also be done lying down, provided the spine is kept straight. But normally we should do it while sitting cross-legged. If you cannot assume the Lotus Pose as yet, cross your legs in any way easiest for you. (The complete technique for assuming the Lotus Pose is given later in this lesson.)

Again, first check your posture. The spine should be straight, the head erect, hands on knees, eyes closed. Now concentrate on the pharyngeal space at the back wall of your mouth and, slightly contracting its muscles, begin to draw in the air through that space as if you were using a suction pump. Do it slowly and steadily, letting the pumping sound be clearly heard. Don't use the nostrils; remember that they remain inactive during the entire respiration process. When inhaling let your ribs expand sideways like an accordion—beginning with the lower ones, of course. Remember the chest and shoulders should remain motionless. The entire inhalation should be done gently and effortlessly. When it has been completed pause for a second or two, holding the breath. Then slowly begin breathing out. The exhalation is usually not as passive as the inhalation. You use a slight, a very slight, pressure to push the air out—although it feels as though you pressed it against the throat like a hydraulic press. The upper ribs are now contracted first, the nostrils remain inactive and the chest and shoulders motionless. At the end o£ the exhalation, pull in the stomach a little so as to push out all the air. You have just taken your first deep breath.

The beginner should not try to take too full a breath at once. Start by breathing to the count of four. Then hold the breath, counting to two, and start slowly exhaling, again to the count of four. Breathing in and out to an equal number of beats is called rhythmic breathing. You allow four beats to fill your lungs, two to retain the breath, and four to breathe out. The respiration should be timed in such a way that at the end of the four beats you have completed the exhalation. Don't just stop at the end of the count when there is still air to be expelled. You should adjust your breathing to the timing. Repeat, but do not take more than 5 or 6 deep breaths at one time during the first week. This is enough for today. You shouldn't do more even if you are enjoying it. Be careful not to overdo the breathing, especially inhalation, as this may lead to unpleasant results such as dizziness, nausea, headaches, even fainting spells due to hyperventilation caused by a sudden, excessive intake of oxygen. You should not invite unnecessary trouble instead of getting full benefit out of these lessons. As your teacher, it is my duty to warn you against possible ill effects caused by over-breathing. Please be patient; it is for your own good that I am offering this advice.

Deep breathing is often quite a revelation to people who do it for the first time. "I just discovered my lungs," a man once said to me. Incidentally he happened to be a photographer who came with a reporter to take my picture during an interview. Both got interested in Yoga and admitted they badly needed it because, to use their own words, "everybody in the newspaper office has an ulcer and suffers from tension."

If you want to see how the ribs expand during inhalation and contract during exhalation, watch yourself in the mirror. The chest should then remain uncovered, of course, at least to the waistline. It should also be a joy to you to "discover your lungs," and to know that you can consciously take a deep breath and direct it to any part of your body you desire.

Exercises For The Neck And For The Eyes

Now we are going to take up the exercises for the neck and for the eyes which will help do away with eye strain, tension, and stiffness of the neck. You can do them whenever you please—at the beginning of the lesson, at the end of it, or at any other convenient time.

A number of my students practice these exercises while taking a bath, listening to the radio, or at intervals while at work, whether at a typewriter or a kitchen sink. One of my friends does them in the car while waiting for his wife to finish shopping; another while the commercials are on, when he watches T.V. It all depends how much time one has to spare.

Before starting these exercises, see for yourself how flexible your neck is; then decide whether or not it needs to be exercised.

Just drop your head forward, then rotate it several times. If the rolling goes smoothly without any grinding or crackling noises you have nothing to worry about; if it doesn't, better try the neck exercises.
Usually the trouble begins when the joints, or rather their linings, are inadequately lubricated and begin to stiffen from accumulation of calcium deposits—a sign of old age regardless of how many or how few years ago you were born. As one new student remarked after finishing the exercises, "It sounds as if I were eating gravel!" This crunching sound is certainly a warning of impending trouble—unnecessary trouble, too, as one can preserve one's elasticity, health, and youthful appearance by spending a few minutes a day doing the right type of exercise.

TECHNIQUE: Here is how the neck exercises are to be done:

Sit on the floor with your legs crossed and keep the hands on the knees. If you prefer to sit on a chair, choose a hard one, otherwise you will find it difficult to keep your back straight, which is essential.

Relax the whole body. You should be conscious of it only from the neck up—the rest should remain motionless and as unstrained as if you were sitting under water up to the neck.

1. Now close your eyes and effortlessly and gently let your head drop forward and backward, then again forward and backward. Do each exercise four times to begin with. Later on you can increase the number to six or more. When dropping the head backward keep your facial muscles relaxed; the lips should part slightly when the head is thrown back.

2. In the next exercise, you first turn your head to the extreme right and return it to normal position; then turn to the extreme left and return to normal again. Repeat four times. Turning the head to the sides contracts the muscles, returning to normal position relaxes them.

3. In the third exercise you bend your head to the right as if someone were pulling your right ear towards the right shoulder, and straighten the head, bend it to the left and straighten again. Repeat four times.

When bending the head to the side, don't lift the shoulder, and don't tilt the head either—let it move only from its upright position into an almost horizontal one, otherwise there will be very little pull in the neck. This pull should be strongly felt in the left side of the neck when the head is bent to the right; in the right side when the head is bent to the left.

4. The next exercise resembles the neck movements of a turtle, for you should literally "stick your neck out" as far as you can, then draw it back again. In doing so, you will make a gliding movement forward with your chin, as if trying to reach far out with it and thus to lengthen the neck. Here the pull will be felt in the back of the neck on both sides between the ears as well as in the middle. Repeat this exercise four times.
5. In the last exercise, do the same movement that you did to test the elasticity of your neck. Drop your head forward and feel it grow lifeless and heavy, then let it slowly roll clockwise several times; repeat counterclockwise the same number of times. Do not stiffen the back or shoulders, but let the head hang relaxed so it will roll like that of a sleeping baby or someone who has had too many drinks.

At the end of the last exercise, pat the neck with the back of both hands, smacking it under the chin and on the sides. To pat the back of the neck, use your palms and finger tips.

The daily practice of these exercises will loosen up the tension in your neck muscles and keep them relaxed and elastic. It will also control any tendency to a double chin and help to improve your eyesight. The vision gets better and clearer as the ophthalmic, or eye, nerves receive a richer supply of blood.

Eye Exercises

Remain sitting in the same position as before. Open your eyes, then check on your posture. Is your spine erect? Hands on the knees? Body relaxed? Head straight? That is how you should always remain while doing eye exercises. The whole body must be motionless; nothing must move except the eyes.

Now raise your eyes and find a small point that you can see clearly without straining, without frowning, without becoming tense and, of course, without moving your head. While doing this exercise look at this point each time you raise your eyes.

Next, lower your eyes to find a small point on the floor which you can see clearly when glancing down. Look at it each time you lower your eyes. Breathing should be normal—that is, you don't have to do deep breathing.

Technique:

1. (a) Raise the eyes to look at your chosen high point.

(b) Lower the eyes to look at your chosen low point.

Repeat four times. Close the eyes and rest a moment.

2. Now do the same using points to your right and to your left, at eye level. Keep your raised fingers or two pencils on each side as guides and adjust them so that you can see them clearly when moving the eyes to the right and to the left, but without straining.
Keeping the fingers at eye level, and moving only the eyes, look to the right at your chosen point, then to the left. Repeat four times. Blink several times, then close your eyes and rest.

3. Next choose a point you can see from the right corner of your eyes when you raise them, and another that you can see from the left corner of your eyes when you lower them, half closing the lids. Remember to retain your original posture-spine erect, hands on knees, head straight and motionless.

Look at your chosen point in right corner up, then to the one in left corner down. Repeat four times. Blink several times. Close the eyes and rest.

Now do the same exercise in reverse. That is, first look to the left corner up, then to the right corner down. Repeat four times. Blink several times. Close the eyes and rest.

4. Next is an exercise which should not be done until three or four days after you have begun the course. It consists of slowly rolling the eyes first clockwise, then counterclockwise as follows: Lower your eyes and look at the floor, then slowly move the eyes to the left, higher and higher until you see the ceiling. Now continue circling to the right, lower and lower down, until you see the floor again. Do this slowly, making a full-vision circle. Blink, close your eyes and rest. Then repeat the same action counterclockwise.

5. Next comes a changing-vision exercise. While doing it you alternately shift your vision from close to distant points several times.

Take a pencil, or use your finger, and hold it under the tip of your nose. Then start moving it away, without raising it, until you have fixed it at the closest possible distance where you can see it clearly without any blur. Then raise your eyes a little, look straight into the distance and there find a small point which you can also see very clearly.

Now look at the closer point—the pencil or your finger tip-then shift to the farther point in the distance. Repeat several times, blink, close your eyes and squeeze them tight.

6. And now for the palming which is most important for preserving the eyesight. Palming also has a beneficial, relaxing effect on your nervous system.

Remain seated on the floor. Draw up your knees, keeping your feet on the floor and slightly apart. Now briskly rub your palms to charge them with electricity and place the cupped palms over your closed eyes. The fingers of the right hand should be crossed over the fingers of the left hand on the forehead. The elbows should rest on your raised knees and the neck should be kept straight. Don't bend your head. Do the deep breathing while palming your eyes.

If you are going to do the palming for longer than a few minutes, better sit down at a table, place some books or pillows in front of you to support your elbows so that you will be able to keep the neck straight, and palm the eyes in this position. I know of a man who did this for two hours at a stretch every day in order to regain his lost vision. But bear in mind that during a long session like this deep breathing can be done only now and then at long intervals. If the palming is done for only a short period, however, one can do deep breathing for half a minute or so at first, gradually increasing it every week.

YOGA POSTURES

Of all creatures, the human being has the least sense for management of his body.

—EHRENFRIED E. PFEIFFER, M.D. PH.D.

You are now ready to start learning the Yoga postures. Naturally we shall begin with the simplest ones, then as your joints and muscles start to limber up we shall proceed to those that are more difficult to do. Please do not allow yourself to be frightened away or easily discouraged. Remember that these are not calisthenics, that you are not in competition with yourself or anyone else, and that none of the exercises must be forced. Be satisfied to make progress slowly. You will be amazed to discover how much your body will soon be able to do.

Rocking

Let us begin with the bracing Rocking exercise. This exercise helps overcome the drowsiness and stiffness that one so often feels on waking in the morning. As you do the Rocking exercise, you will also experience an agreeable, invigorating sensation due to the fact that your vertebrae are being given a good massage. This exercise will limber up your spine and keep it in a flexible and youthful condition. The yogis say that you can dodge old age as long as your spine remains elastic and strong. Rocking will also help you to sleep better and more soundly. I remember the effect it had on one of my students, an officer in the British army, who had been suffering from insomnia. About a week after he started studying with me, he burst into the class triumphantly announcing that he had slept the night through without any pills. He has probably slept like a baby ever since.

The Rocking exercise, for keeping the spine flexible and youthful.

Rocking is actually a very simple exercise, and in a few days you will be able to do it without difficulty regardless of your age, stiffness, and even weight.

TECHNIQUE: Sit down at the end of the exercise pad to make sure that your back will not hit the hard floor. Draw up your knees, and bend your head down. Put your hands under your knees. You can join your hands or not, whichever is easiest in the beginning. Now, keeping your spine rounded, swing back and forth, back and forth, in quick successive movements imitating the swinging motions of a rocking chair. Don't straighten your spine as you rock backward or you will find yourself lying flat on your back, unable to swing forward again. Don't try to do the rocking movement too slowly either, at least not in the beginning. Just imagine you are a rocking chair in motion, and enjoy the fun of it.

Here is another helpful hint: Straighten the knees just as you swing backward and then immediately bend them again as you swing forward. Don't pause after you have swung back but simply continue the to-and-fro movement. Otherwise you may get "stuck."

You may feel a little clumsy and awkward the first day, or you may even be afraid of losing your balance and falling down. This can hardly happen, remember, since you are already down on the floor. In a few days, when you grow accustomed to rocking, you will probably enjoy this exercise as much as I do, and you will appreciate its bracing and invigorating effects. Again, remember to keep the spine rounded and the head bent forward all the time, otherwise you will bump it against the floor when you swing backward—and never again want to do this exercise, which otherwise may well become your favorite.

On the second or third day, you can try to combine rocking with deep breathing. Inhale while rocking backwards and exhale while returning forward. Be sure not to have any zippers, buttons, hooks or buckles in the way when rocking backward or you may be in for an unpleasant and even painful sensation.

TIME: DO this exercise four to six times, then lie down to relax until your breath returns to normal again; finally take a few deep breaths while still lying on the floor.

BENEFITS: The Rocking exercise stimulates the flow of nervous energy through the spinal cord and establishes a better connection between the central nervous system and the rest of the body.

Raised-Legs Posture

Your next exercise will be the Raised-Legs Posture, Udhitta Padãsana in Sanskrit. Its technique is not difficult to grasp, but it may take a little time before you are able to execute it properly.

TECHNIQUE: Lie down on your back, hands along your sides. Inhale a deep breath while raising the right leg until it is at right angles to your body. Stay in this position for a while, without bending the knee, keeping the other leg flat on the floor. Then start exhaling while slowly lowering the leg again.

Raised-legs Posture, or Udhitta Padãsana, for strengthening and reducing a flabby abdomen. (Photo by Jim Buhr)

Repeat with the left leg, then with both legs at once. Now take a rest.
TIME: Hold this position three seconds, gradually increasing it to twelve seconds. At the start do the exercise only once or twice. After a few days you can try raising and lowering both legs together four or five times without stopping.
BENEFITS: This posture gives the abdomen an internal vibrating massage, thereby strengthening the muscles and reducing the fat. It is a good exercise for people who have a flabby abdomen.

You may find it difficult in the beginning to lower both legs slowly especially as they come closer to the floor. However, you will improve before the week is over. Your abdominal muscles will probably feel a little sore the day after you start, as this exercise gives them a strong massage. But this will be only temporary.

CAUTION: This posture should not be done by women suffering from female disorders or by anyone who has a weak heart.

Head-to-Knee Posture

Next we shall do the Head-to-Knee Posture, called Janu-shirshãsana in Sanskrit—from Janu meaning knee, Shirsh meaning head, and Asana meaning posture.

TECHNIQUE: Sit up straight with both legs stretched out. Then bend the left knee and place the sole of the left foot against the right thigh, as high as possible.

Inhale deeply, slightly raise the upper part of the body to draw in the stomach, then exhale slowly, while bending forward to get hold of your right foot with both hands. The forehead should touch the right knee. Release the posture.

TIME: Remain in this posture for three seconds, gradually increasing the time to ten seconds. Repeat once or twice, then reverse legs and bend the head toward the left knee. After this lie down and relax. Take a few deep breaths before sitting up again. When you reach the point where you are able to keep this posture for a longer period than you can hold your breath, simply resume breathing while remaining in this position.

BENEFITS: The Head-to-Knee Posture is a helpful exercise in more than one way. It is good for preventing or relieving indigestion, constipation, and troubles arising from an enlarged spleen. It tones up sluggish bowels, strengthens the legs and adds to your energy and vitality.

In the beginning you will probably find it difficult to reach your outstretched foot with your hands. You may even begin to wonder whether your arms are not too short. The fault, however, is usually not with the arms, but with the abdomen which has grown too large or with the spine which has lost its flexibility. The moment you limber up, you will find no difficulty in reaching your feet.

Preparation: Bend the left knee, placing left foot against right thigh, as high as possible. (Photo by Jim Buhr)

Bend forward, holding right foot with both hands. Touch forehead to right knee. (Photo by David Hernandez)

The use of a strap or belt will make the early days of practice easier. (Photo by Jim Buhr)

The Head-to-Knee Posture, or Janushirshãsana
 
Meanwhile, simply get hold of your calves, ankles, or toes and grasp them firmly while bending the head toward the knee, even if it does take some time before you are actually able to reach the knee with your forehead. Lack of immediate success need not discourage you. I too had the same difficulty when I first started, nor did I believe I would ever be able to accomplish this feat. The important thing if you want to get results is to keep practicing daily.

You may find it easier to do this exercise with the aid of a strap or belt as shown in the picture on page 22. As you bend forward, shorten the strap, letting your hands come closer and closer to the end of the loop. You will be surprised to find that in a comparatively short time you will be able to grasp your toes which, not so long ago, seemed to be completely beyond reach.

After you have taken a short rest, sit up again in the same Head-to-Knee Pose to do the next exercise, which will eventually enable you to assume the Lotus Pose.

The Lotus Pose

As a preliminary exercise, place your left sole against the right thigh, then begin to make a bouncing up and down movement with your left knee as though it were made of rubber; the moment you push the knee down to the floor, up it bounces again. Do this bouncing in fast successive movements so that the leg resembles the wing of a flying bird. This will stretch and limber up the rigid ligaments and muscles and help you gradually to assume the Lotus Pose. First bounce the right knee, then reverse legs and bounce the left knee.

A variation on this bouncing is done as follows: Keep the right foot on the left thigh instead of placing it against the thigh, then start bouncing the right knee, as shown in the picture on page 25. If the bouncing knee easily touches the floor, then bend the left knee, take hold of the left foot with both hands, gently glide it over the crossed right leg and place it on the right thigh. Now both legs are symmetrically crossed and you are sitting in the Lotus Pose.

The hands should be kept on the knees with the palms open, and the thumb and second finger of each hand should touch, forming a letter O.

It often happens that new pupils, who had never suspected they could do it, are able to assume this posture during their first lesson. But mostly it takes time before people are able to master the Lotus Pose. So keep on practicing the knee bouncing daily until eventually your knee does hit the floor. This will be a sign that your legs are sufficiently limber for the Lotus Pose.

The Lotus Pose, or Padmãsana, demonstrated by the writer's mother, who is seventy-seven years old.

Practice for the Lotus Pose: (a) Place right foot on left thigh; start bouncing right knee until it touches the floor, (b) Next, bend left knee, grasp left foot with both hands and glide over right leg. (Photo by John Field)

Gloria Swanson relaxing in the Lotus Pose. (Photo by Miller)

The Lotus Pose, or Padmãsana, is one of the basic Yoga postures. The others are the Headstand, the Shoulderstand, the Plough, the Cobra, the Twist and the Stretching Postures. There are also the Stomach Lift, Yoga Mudra and the Reverse Pose. The last two are not called Asanas, or postures, but Mudras, meaning gestures, while the Stomach Lift is called Uddyiana Bandha—Bandha meaning restraint or contraction.

For thousands of years the Padmãsana has been assumed in India not only by the rishis and yogis, but by ordinary people as well. Because of its calming effect upon the mind and the nerves, it has become a classical pose for concentration and meditation. Many Indians, especially in the South, also habitually sit in this pose when working, reading, writing or eating. It makes it easy to keep the spine erect, which as I have already said is a must. In the West, the Lotus Posture is often called the Buddha Pose, since most paintings and sculptures of the Enlightened One represent him seated in the Lotus Posture, with the hands on the knees or on the upturned heels.

In India one often sees people in deep meditation sitting motionless in this posture for hours. It has no special therapeutic value except to keep the joints in flexible condition and hold the spine erect, which is necessary for the breathing practices. It also helps develop a good posture.

The Cobra Pose

The posture you are about to do next is called Cobra, or Bhujangãsana in Sanskrit. It belongs to the basic group of Yoga postures. You will find it easy to assume, especially if your back is not too stiff and rigid. Even if your back is not limber you will be able to do the Cobra, though not perfectly at first.

TECHNIQUE: Lie down on the abdomen with your chin touching the ground; place both palms on the floor, or rather on the exercise pad, at shoulder level. Keep your elbows high off the floor, legs straight, toes pointed, feet together.

The Cobra Pose, or Bhujangãsana, stimulates the adrenal glands. Recommended for backache, gas pains, and ovarian and uterine disorders. (Photo by Jim Buhr)

Now while inhaling a deep breath, slowly raise the head, then the shoulders, chest and upper part of the body—the lower part of the abdomen should remain on the floor. Hold your breath and keep arching the spine until you feel strong pressure in the lower part of the back. Do not straighten the elbows; they must stay bent. Remain in this posture for a few seconds. Then begin to exhale, gradually lowering the body until the chin touches the floor again. Repeat once more and relax.

TIME: Keep the pose for two seconds, gradually increasing to ten seconds, and do it from two to seven times, adding one time every 14 days.
BENEFITS: The Cobra Posture affects the adrenal glands 'which are situated above each kidney, sending them a richer supply of blood. This posture is also beneficial for backache due to overwork or long hours of standing. It adjusts displacements in the spinal column and tones the sympathetic nerves. It is an especially good exercise for women suffering from ovarian and uterine troubles. This posture is also practiced for development of body heat. People troubled by gas after meals will find the Cobra Posture to be very helpful.

CAUTION; When bending the body backwards, be sure not to make any violent jerks, as this may injure some rigid muscle. Come up slowly, gradually, like a rising cobra or a sphinx. After finishing the Cobra Posture it is good to rest in a knee-chest position, with the back rounded to relax it after the strain of holding this position.

Squatting Pose

Now get up to try the Squatting Pose, called Utkãsana in Sanskrit, which requires no particular skill or preparation. It is only when the knees have become too stiff that one will meet with difficulties while doing it.

In the Orient, especially in India, the common people often sit this way. You can see them squatting on sidewalks and beaches, in doorways and railway-stations. Once a rich Indian who owned a graphite factory decided, after visiting England, to provide his workers with stools to sit on. A few days later, the men came begging for the stools to be removed: they felt much more comfortable squatting.

TECHNIQUE: First version: Stand with your feet about a foot apart. Take a deep breath, while rising on tiptoe; then, while exhaling, start lowering your body, so that eventually you sit on your heels. Slowly rise again to standing position, keeping the back straight.

Second version: Proceed as above, but without raising your heels from the ground. Then sit in the Squatting Position with the buttocks almost touching the floor, the body slightly bent forward and the thighs pressing against the abdomen.

A third version is much more difficult, as you must squat while keeping the feet close together, but without raising the heels off the ground.

The Squatting Pose, or Utkãsana, limbers up stiff knees and helps improve elimination, (a) For first version, stand on tiptoe; lower the body until you sit on your knees with the back straight. (6) For second version, keep heels on the ground; balance by tilting body slightly forward, abdomen pressed against thighs. (Photos by Jim Buhr)

Repeat any of the variations three or four times or do each one once. Then lie down to take a few deep breaths.

If your knees have lost their flexibility and you are unable to lower the body to the Squatting Position, start doing it by holding on to a door knob with both hands (open the door and grasp the knobs on both sides), or grasping the arms of a heavy chair or anything else that will hold your weight without toppling over, such as a piano, a bed, a sofa or a pillar. Gradually squat lower and lower down, making little swinging movements. In a few days you will be able to squat better.

This posture helps to limber up stiff and aching knees and to get relief from lumbago. It makes stair-climbing very easy and is a good exercise for skiers and mountaineers.

These, however, are not the main reasons for teaching you this exercise: one should learn to squat for better elimination. This position has been designed by nature itself as the correct posture for evacuation of waste matter, because of the spine being slightly bent forward and the thighs pressed against the abdomen. The use of high-seat toilets in the West is probably largely responsible for multiplying the number of sufferers from poor elimination and constipation. And these conditions in turn are directly or indirectly causing a host of other troubles and diseases.

There is but one disease, according to the world-famous surgeon, the late Sir W. A. Lane: insufficient drainage—inadequate elimination of poisonous waste material. Unless it is thrown off, poisonous waste remains in the system and begins slowly to undermine the health of our organism, finally destroying it.

A governess of my friend's children taught all of them to use the squatting position on the toilet seat, having observed that she herself never had any elimination problems in France where in their home they had a floor-level toilet without a seat.

They have floor-level toilets in India and Japan too, by the way, except in houses built for foreigners.

Not an aesthetic matter for discussion, it is nevertheless one of paramount importance for our well-being, and therefore should not be treated negligently or joked away.

The Squat is your last posture for today. You should not overtire yourself, especially since this is your first lesson.

BREATHING EXERCISES

You will now learn two breathing exercises. The first is very beneficial for people suffering from asthma. The second is especially good for those having sacroiliac troubles.

First Breathing Exercise

Lie down flat on your back and place your feet up on the wall as high as possible; stretch the arms out above your head keeping the elbows straight. Now do deep breathing while remaining in this position. Start with four deep breaths, then gradually increase the number. You may do this exercise even while lying in bed. Incidentally, people suffering from asthma will benefit greatly from this breathing exercise.

Second Breathing Exercise

Stand straight, feet together, hands at your sides, keeping the spine very erect. Cross the right foot over the left one, keeping toes on the floor, but the heel off, and the back part of the right knee on top of the left knee cap. Don't straighten the knees, and don't move the body to the left—it is important that it remain with the spine centered.

Now take a deep breath. While exhaling, bend forward until fingertips touch the floor or come as near touching as you can manage. Return to standing position and take a deep breath.

Do this exercise three times, then reverse the legs and feet and repeat. When bending forward, be sure not to move the buttocks or shoulders. The bending should be done by the spine alone, starting from above the waistline.

If done correctly, this exercise removes the "morning" backache. People suffering from sacroiliac troubles should do this exercise twice a day to get relief.

RELAXATION

Your lesson for today is over and you will finish it with a period of complete rest and relaxation.

First, relax your hands by loosely shaking them a bit as if trying to shake water drops from your fingers. Do the same with your right foot, then with your left foot. Now stretch your hands above your head as if trying to reach for the sunrise on tiptoe and stretch as high as you can.

Next, let your body gradually become limp and heavy; pretend you are a drooping, long-stemmed water lily, and slowly sink to the floor. Lie down and close your eyes. This lifeless pose is called Savãsana in Sanskrit.

Now concentrate on the tips of your toes: relax them by withdrawing all activity from them. In the same way relax your feet, then the legs, the thighs, the trunk, the back. . . . Let the feeling of relaxation gradually overtake the whole body. Relax your shoulders, your arms, your fingertips. . . . Drop your chin and let the lower jaw sag to relax the muscles of the face. Now try to feel you are so heavy you are sinking into the floor, still fully relaxed and completely at your ease.
Lie like this, quietly, for a while. Then take a few deep breaths and try to visualize a cloud—a soft white cloud drifting in the sky. Hold this image for some time, then dismiss it.

Now imagine that you are this cloud. You feel so light ... so relaxed . . . just floating in the sky . . . passing another cloud . . . gently gliding along . . . above a green valley . . . a field ... a forest . . . above a small lake in which you see your reflection. . . . How pleasant to be so gently airy ... so free and happy. . . . You are just a cloud in the vast blue sky. . . .

Next try to dismiss all thoughts from your mind and make it completely blank and thoughtless, as if you were sinking into oblivion, into nothingness . . . fully relaxed . . . peaceful and quiet. .

Stay like this as long as you wish. Then begin slowly, very slowly, to stretch your body. First stretch your arms above your head, yawning deeply. Stretch the hands . . . the fingers . the shoulders . . . the spine . . . the legs. . . . Roll over on your right side and arch your back. Roll to the left side, arching once more. Again lie flat on your back or abdomen. Then, after a while, still yawning and stretching, slowly sit up.

You may now get up and go about your business. But in our classes we always finish the lesson with a period of meditation in which everyone joins, including those who have taken up Yoga merely to get rid of some extra weight, of premature wrinkles, constipation, tension, insomnia, and similar complaints.

We simply sit down in the Lotus Pose, or else cross-legged, close the eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then we sit very still, trying to direct our thoughts to the Infinite Light which is God, Truth, Love, and is beyond form, beyond our understanding. We try to realize that It is everywhere, both outside us and within us; that we, as human beings, are the carriers of the Divine Light here on earth, that it dwells in our hearts, that our bodies are the Temple of the Living Spirit, and that we should let this Spirit shine through our eyes, speak through our words, be felt through our deeds.

Then we send a thought of peace and love to all those around us, to our family, our friends, those whom we love, those whom we don't love, to all living beings on this earth and beyond. At the end we all say aloud:

From the unreal to the Real,
From the darkness to Light,
From death to Immortality
OM
Shanti, shanti, shanti.
OM is the sacred sound of the Hindus, and Shanti means peace in Sanskrit.

You may also say any other prayer, or use your own wording —this is up to you. But I suggest that at least once a day you remind yourself that you are of divine origin and that you are on this earth to bring love, peace, and goodness to all living creatures.

GENERAL RULES AND SUGGESTIONS

Let us now recapitulate your first lesson item by item.

While still in bed you did the alternate stretching of the legs.

Then you learned how to do deep breathing.

Next you did the neck and the eye exercises.

Then came the Rocking exercise, the Raised-Legs Posture, the Head-to-Knee Posture, the preparatory exercise of knee bouncing for the Lotus Pose, the Cobra, the Squatting Posture, the two breathing exercises, and finally, relaxation.

If you have never done any exercises before, or have not been doing any for a long time, it is advisable the first day to start only with the breathing, the neck and eye exercises, one or two postures and relaxation. Then gradually, day by day, add the remaining postures, taking care not to overtire yourself.

Now let us go over the general rules and suggestions regarding your exercises and hygiene.

(1) Always do the exercises on an empty stomach; allow three to four hours after meals, one-and-a-half to two hours after breakfast or light refreshment. Never exercise when the bladder is full. Never eat immediately after the exercises, but wait for about half an hour before taking a meal. This is especially important if you have been doing strenuous exercises for an hour or so.

(2) Exercise in a well-ventilated room or in the open air.

(3) Do not exercise for more than fifteen to twenty minutes during the first few days.

(4) Rest frequently between exercises.

(5) Actual exercise time, after the first three weeks, should not exceed an hour.

(6) Don't wear tight clothes while doing the exercises.

(7) The Yoga postures are always accompanied by deep breathing, which is done with the mouth closed.

(8) After any long illness, resume the exercises slowly. For the first few days do only the breathing, relaxation, and neck and eye exercises.

(9) The same rule holds for women during the days of their monthly periods.

(10) One should refrain from doing the more strenuous exercises after the third month of pregnancy.

(11) Don't feel concerned if the exercises should produce a sense of fatigue during the first few days. This tired feeling will soon disappear. It is usually caused by over-toxicity. Merely take a rest without trying to fight off this fatigue.

(12) Take good care of your teeth. Rinse the mouth after every meal; cleanse your tongue as well.

(13) Internal cleanliness is most important for maintaining good health. Keep your body free of poisons by drinking plenty of water between meals—but never ice water—and by taking an occasional enema, even if you are not constipated.

(14) In order to get rid of toxic waste matter, it is advisable to take an enema the morning (or the evening) before you begin this home course. One of the most effective cleansers for this purpose is a honey or a coffee enema.

Prepare the honey enema the following way: Dissolve three full tablespoons of honey in a quart of water at room temperature. Retain the enema for ten to fifteen minutes.

The coffee enema is made as follows: To a quart of boiling water, add three tablespoons of ground coffee. Do not use instant coffee. Boil for three minutes, then simmer another twelve minutes. Strain. Cool to room temperature. Take the enema and hold it for ten to fifteen minutes.

This may sound strange to you, but coffee when introduced through the colon does not react on the nervous system. Instead, it stimulates the solar plexus and liver secretions by affecting the adrenal glands and the gall bladder. It also activates the mucous membrane of the colon and thus helps to eliminate the accumulated toxins. A coffee enema would therefore also help to arrest the beginning of a cold or to stop a toxic headache. It is best not to take a coffee enema late in the evening, however, to avoid being kept awake at night.

(15) Do not sleep with a light in your room.

(16) Sleep in a well-ventilated room, with windows open, if possible.

(17) Do not sleep with green plants and flowers in your bedroom, for they give off carbon dioxide at night, whereas during the day they give off oxygen.

(18) Sleep with the feet to the South and head to the North, that is, parallel to, and not across the magnetic-force lines of the earth.

(19) For most people, the best sleep is before midnight, so don't keep late hours.

(20) Sleep with as little clothing as possible, or still better, in the nude.

(21) Do not sleep on a soft mattress and with high pillows, as this doesn't allow the spine to remain straight.

(22) It is always advisable to check your heart, lungs and blood pressure before starting on the Yoga postures.

At the end of our next lesson we shall have a lengthy discussion on the problems of diet. Meanwhile it would be best if you cut down on fried, fatty and heavy foods, on liquor and on cigarettes. This last is advisable even though the ill effects of smoking are greatly diminished by deep breathing.

DISCUSSION ON THE EFFECTS OF BREATHING

In our classes we often hold discussions at the end of the lesson, on various subjects directly or indirectly related to Yoga.

As you already know, Yoga is both a science and an art of living, and therefore touches innumerable facets of our daily life, from cleansing the skin to cleansing the mind, from a broken ligament to a broken heart, from overweight problems to marriage and even delinquency problems. There are actually very few matters on which Yoga has nothing to say. I propose that in this book, too, after each of our lessons we also discuss some of these subjects, for they might be of interest or help to you.

We shall begin with breathing—the essence not only of all the Yoga practices but of all life. Breathing is the most important of all our functions, for without breathing we could not stay alive longer than just a few minutes. Yet most of us do not know much about the effect breathing has on our body and mind; still less do we know about the role it plays in unfolding the spirit within us.

Our blood and entire organism is composed of millions and millions of tiny cells, and it is through breathing that oxygen is carried to these cells by the blood stream.

We have only to remember that not a single tissue cell can be built without red blood, and in turn, not a single red blood cell can be built without oxygen, in order to have a clear understanding of the paramount part that breathing plays in sustaining life.

Try comparing a single cell with a toy balloon: Inflated with air, it is firm and "young," ready to fly up to the skies. But let our balloon develop a leak and it soon loses its tone, begins to shrivel, and finally wearily sinks to the ground.

The same is true of the behavior of each individual cell in our body. Unless provided with sufficient oxygen it becomes depleted, tired and lifeless. As a result the whole body begins to lose its youthfulness and vitality.

The life and functions of each cell are sustained by oxygen which dominates the activities of the entire body. Oxygen is a vital factor in the composition of minerals, the maintenance of normal electrical potentials, the breakdown and disposal of waste material.

We ourselves are rarely completely aware of all these complex processes going on in our body day and night, year in and year out. However, we do know that all of them would come to a standstill without oxygen. It is therefore our duty to assist the organism in this unending task, and we can do this by learning how to expand our breathing capacity.

Oxygen is also essential to the proper function of each of our internal organs, of which the most demanding is the brain. The brain requires three times the amount of oxygen used by all of the rest of the body.

There are over five million mentally-retarded children in the United States. According to the late Dr. Philip Rice, who dedicated his life to the rehabilitation of so-called problem children, many of these unfortunate youngsters are the victims of oxygen starvation of the brain and their condition could be greatly improved by putting them on a program of correct breathing exercises. He also feels that these same exercises would be of equal benefit in many cases of juvenile delinquency.

In his excellent book Building for Mental and Physical Health,2 Dr. Philip Rice states that the I.Q. of a child can be increased by enlarging his intake of oxygen through correct deep breathing. However, he strongly condemns the wrong kind of "deep breathing" (in which the upper part of the chest is raised) labelling it a "thoroughly pernicious method." This, incidentally, is exactly the type of breathing usually taught in schools, gyms and health-clubs.

An inadequate supply of oxygen gradually impairs the function of the organs, speeds up the aging process and results in weakness and ill-health of body and mind. A deep breather need not worry—he can protect himself against all of these troubles. But civilized man is a shallow breather. He uses only one-third of his lung capacity, the other two-thirds being seldom, if ever, used.

How can man then expect to think, to create, to work and live in full measure, if he never uses more than one-third of his breathing capacity? He cannot expect to receive adequate nourishment for his cell functions, no matter how well and how much he eats, because the various processes of nutrition demand oxygen for the proper molecular exchange between the nutritive elements and the tissues. Then the electrical powers become fully released and are able to produce a greater amount of the enzymes that sustain our life.

Dr. Max Jacobson of New York, who was the first to isolate enzymes in their pure form, is of the opinion that for the maintenance of healthy cell-life, for cell renewal and survival, proper oxygen metabolism is imperative and indispensable.

2 New York: Comet Press Books.

Getting the most out of one's body by supplying it with oxygen is like getting a nut out of a shell with the help of a nutcracker. Therefore, if you want to have a good digestion, do not neglect the deep breathing that provides the organism with additional oxygen. The same advice holds for smokers. Talking to them about the possible dangers of excessive smoking is of no avail. They are probably more familiar than I am with all the literature linking cigarette consumption to cancer of the throat and lungs. Their raucous coughing alone should be a warning signal that something is wrong. But taking five or ten deep breaths after every cigarette would at least ventilate their otherwise permanently congested and clogged lungs.

The yogis, having recognized for several thousand years the tremendous power of breath, have successfully worked out an unsurpassed technique of utilizing this power for man's good. Deep breathing, as taught by them, can work wonders on tired, sick, and aging bodies and on restless, strained, and fearful minds.

Tension, sleeplessness, indigestion, constipation, nervous headaches, heart conditions, as well as mental abnormalities-including, delinquency—are often the results of oxygen starvation. Unfortunately, the importance of deep breathing has not yet been fully recognized by most authorities, whether at home, in school, in hospitals, courts or prisons.

Even doctors seldom seem to realize how much of their patients' health and well-being depends upon their habits of breathing, although oxygen tanks are rushed to bedside in cases of emergency, when a person suffers a stroke or a heart attack.

Interesting observations on the results of oxygen starvation have been made by an Englishman, Frank Totney, who in his little book Oxygen, Master of Cancer voices the opinion that cancer is caused by oxygen deficiency in diseased cells that start rapidly multiplying in order to get sufficient oxygen. Whether he is right or not I am in no position to judge, but I do know that his ideas for cancer prevention very closely resemble the Yoga principles of breathing, diet, exercising and hygiene. Just like the yogis, he believes in the necessity of keeping the body internally clean by means of deep breathing, drinking more water (one glass for every 14 pounds of our body weight each day), eating plenty of fresh fruit, salads, and vegetables and purifying the colon by taking enemas about twice a month or so. In short, his idea is to rid the system of the accumulated poisons that are the direct cause of most of our ailments.

As man begins to advance in years, his life forces begin to slacken and he comes closer to the influence of the mineralizing earth forces. The cells of his body become less elastic, losing their ability to absorb oxygen the way they did before. Hence the body begins to shrivel, or else grows fatter and stiffer, and the organism is less capable of coping with all the work and the emergencies we expose it to.

A sufficient amount of oxygen is simply a must to prevent physical and mental deterioration and the kind of old age most people are afraid of—an old age that is reckoned not so much by the number of years one has lived as by deterioration of the functioning of the body's organism and of one's mental faculties. But so long as a human being does not know how to control his breath, he cannot ever expect to become master of his body or of his mind—he will always remain their slave. Even a common cold, for example, can turn an otherwise brave, fiery, cocky man into a pitiful creature like a chicken on a rainy day. We literally can, if we know how, breathe away most of the ills, tension, fatigue and other troubles we are heirs to, from a lack of self-confidence to a lack of confidence in God.

As we have already said, centuries ago the yogis worked out the most complete and elaborate science or art of breathing ever known to man. By using it, they have become capable of developing astounding, seemingly supernatural faculties and powers, over and above their ability to keep their bodies young, strong and free of disease.

But even an ordinary man, not only a yogi, can gain a certain amount of control over his body and his mind by means of deep rhythmic breathing.

Breathing, incidentally, is our only direct contact with the outer world, as everything else comes to us as impressions through the senses. Since breath is of cosmic nature we can, by using it consciously, establish a contact between Earth and Cosmos within our own body.

All this does not happen overnight, of course. Steady and diligent work is required in order to achieve such results. Most Yoga practices, especially the advanced ones, are based on the mastery of various breathing techniques. The majority of them, however, are ill suited to the Westerner and it is therefore best not to go into them in order to prevent possible dangers or even disaster.

A couple from Seattle recently came all the way to Los Angeles to see me because they had gotten into trouble by attempting Pranayama. Here is a direct quote from their letter, which tells its own story:

We found a young Hindu, a University student, from whom we took five lessons. We were getting along splendidly until we started practicing Pranayama under his direction. Since then we have both felt miserable. In your book, Forever Young, Forever Healthy, you have rightly warned against practicing Pranayama.

This, I believe, should serve as an urgent warning to others.

To master the advanced stages of Yoga requires long years of special preparation and training under conditions difficult to approximate within the limitations of the present day American mode of life. Therefore, we should limit our attention to the practice of deep breathing, and especially rhythmic breathing, as this also increases the circulation and the flow of that mysterious life-energy which in Sanskrit is called Prana, meaning Breath, Absolute Energy. This subject, however, we shall not discuss until later, at the end of your fourth lesson. Meanwhile, in the next lesson we shall deal with the values of nutrition, and give you an idea of how to ward off the aging of the body organism and preserve its youthfulness by learning to select the right kind of foods.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...