The art of Sitting in Pranayama

HOW TO SIT

In the Bhagavad Gita(VI, 10-15) Krsna explains to Arjuna how a yogi should practise to purify himself:

In a secret place, in solitude, let the yogi be constantly in harmony with his soul, master of himself, free from hope and worldly possessions.
Let him find a spot which is clean and pure and sit on a seat that is firm, neither too high nor too low, covered with layers of cloth, deer skin and with sacred (kusa) grass.
Seated there, let him practise yoga for self-purification, with a concerntrated mind, and with his organs of perception and action under control.
With his body, neck and head erect, immovable and still, with his vision indrawn, his sight fixed as if at the tip of his nose.
With soul at peace and fearless, firm in the vow of brahmacharya, let him rest, with a vigilant controlled mind absorbed in me as the supreme.
The yogi, whose mind is ever under his control, always starving to unite with the self, attains the peace of Nirvana – the peace supreme that rests in me'.

without giving anatomacal details, the above quotation describes the traditional method of sitting for meditation. The self is no doubt beyond purity and impurity, but it gets caught by the desires and by the mind. Lord krsna says, ' As fire is covered by smoking and a mirror by dust, as an embryo is envoloped by the womb, so is the self engulfed in desires generated by the senses and made by the mind. So keep the body firm as a mountain peak, and the mind still and steady as an ocean, for meditation. The moment the body loses its own intelligence or firmness, the intelligence of the brain loses its power of clarity, both in action and receptivity. When the body and the brain are well balanced, pure intellectual illumination is experienced.

In meditation, the head and neck are held erect and perpendicular to the floor, whereas in pranayama chin-lock is performed. This prevents strain on the heart, keeps the brain passive and enables the mind to experience inner silence.

In the art of sitting for meditation the aim is to sit straight, with the spine upright and the back ribs and muscles firm and alert. Therefore, position the body so that if a vertical line is drawn from the centre of the head to the floor, then the centre of the crown, the bridge of the nose, the chin, the hollow between the collar-bones, the breastbone; navel and public symphysis are in alignment.

On the other hand, the eyebrows, ears, tops of the shoulders, collar bones, nipples, floating ribs and pelvic bones at the hip joints should be kept parallel to each other. Finally keep the mind-point between tops of the shoulder – blades perpendicular with the sacrum to avoid body tilt.

In pranayama the first essentials are to learn how to sit correctly with the head down, so that the body remains straight and steady, and how the maximum amount of air can be taken into the lungs to oxygenate the blood. Keep height of the spinal column the same throughout the practice.

Be continuously alert and adjust the body to a correct alignment throughout the practice, whether it be inhalation, exhalation or retention of the breath.

Just as an interior decorator arranges a room to make it spacious, so does the sadhaka create maximum space in his torso to enable his lungs to expand fully in pranayama. His capacity to do so increase with practice.

According to bhagvad gita the body is called the field or abode od the self and the self is the knower of the field, who watches what takes place when the body has been cultivated by pranayama. Pranayama is the bridge between the body and the self.

In order to cultivate the requisite field of a activity in the torso, the first thing to bear in mind is how to sit. Unless the seat is firm, the spine will sink and give way, the diaphragm will not function properly and the chest will cave in, making it difficult to fill the lungs with life- giving air.

Here an attempt is made to describe in detail the technique of sitting for pranayama by dividing the body into four areas, namely: (a) the lower limbs, that is the buttocks and pelvis, hips, thigs, knees, shins, ankles and feet; (b) the torso; (c) the arms, hands, wrists and fingers; (d) the neck, throat and head. Be firm in the areas of buttocks and pelvis, which are the foundation for correct sitting.

When practising pranayama, one normally sits on the ground in a posture, such as siddhasana, swastikasana, bhadreasana, virasana, baddhakosana or padmasana. In all of them see what the spine and the ribs resemble the broad middle portion of a banana leaf, the spine being the stem and the evenly -spaced ribs the veins. The talibone is like the end of the leaf. These postures have been described in light on yoga.

Although a number of postures are in use, in my experience padmasana is the king of them all for the practice of pranayaam or meditation. It is the key to success in both cases. In it, all the four areas of the body mentioned above are evenly balanced and the brain rests correctly and evenly on the spinal column,giving psychosomatic equilibrium.

The spinal cord passes through the spine is more stretched than its other parts, while in virasana it is the lumbar area that is more stretched. Some of these postures may be more comfortable, but for accuracy and efficacy padmasana is the best of them all. In men is kept stretched, with maximum space between the pubis and the diaphragm, enabling attention should be paid to the three important joints of the lower body – the hips, knees and ankles – which have to move effortlessly.

PADMASANA

Sit on the base of the pelvis after doing padmasana. Rest both buttocks evenly on the floor. If you sit more on one than the other, the spine will be uneven. Press the thighs down to the floor, bringing the thigh bones deeper into the hip sockets. Stretch the skin of the quadriceps towards the knees. Brings the hamstrong muscles closer in order to lessen the distance between the thighs. Then the anus and the genitals will not rest on the floor. The line of gravity here is a very small area of the perineum between the anus and the genitals. The upward stretch of the spine begins from here and the body is simultaneously lifted upwards and sideways from the inner frame of the pelvis. Try and keep the top and bottom of the pubic areas perpendicular. If this is difficult, sit with the buttocks resting on a rolled blanket. In padmasana both knees will not rest evenly on the floor.

Do not turn the soles of the feet up to the ceiling, but keep them facing the side walls. Stretch the metatarsals, by turning big toes towards the little ones, then the arches of the feet remain firm. If either arch drops, then the buttocks and anus lose their grip, the trunk inclines and the spine sags in the middle, disturbing the whole balance of the torso. Do not spread out the knees or deliberately press them to touch the floor. Any such attempt will only disturb the centre of gravity. Later, due to regular practice, through the knee remains above the ground one does not feel it. In order to get evenness in balance on the hips, it is advisable to rest the knee which is above the ground on a rolled towel. Change the crossing of the legs on alternate days to get evenness in balance.

References

The above mentioned information is added from the book called LIGHT ON PRANAYAMA by B.K.S. IYENGAR.