The body is a temple

Over the eons people have intuited A Divine Presence, have told stories to bring that awareness to life, and have erected beautiful temples to celebrate it and to visit to bring them closer to its power and grace. Many rituals of purity also developed. It is understandable that if you had a temple that housed a powerful deity, you would want to keep it clean.

In yoga we come to understand that the Divine, or Universal Consciousness, or whatever you wish to call it, is accessible within ourselves.

This makes our body the temple. So it is worthwhile to consider what we can do to make it a pure and sacred space. The thoughts we think, the attitudes we embrace, the food we eat, the words we speak, are all to be considered in our quest for sauca (pronounced "sowcha"), purity.

In fact, sauca is the first Niyama, or personal practice, mentioned by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras.

The yogi sages also developed practices to purify the body, called shatkarma. One of these is neti or nasal cleansing. Jala neti, water cleansing, is an excellent daily practice to keep the nasal passages clean and healthy. It is recommended for anyone who has sinus conditions. It removes dirt, bacteria and mucus from the nasal cavities. The saline solution will toughen up the nasal membranes so they are less susceptible to infection and allergy. Some people even report that it helps in giving up smoking!

There are many different shaped neti pots besides the one pictured. The way to use them is to use a mildly saline solution of water. Use sea salt if available, and not iodised salt in the proportion of on teaspoon for half a litre of water, which is the same as human blood. The water should be around body temperature, slightly warmer is better than cooler. Test as for a baby's bottle. You turn your head one the side and insert the spout of your pot into the upper nostril and allow the water to drain through the nasal passages and out the other nostril until half the solution is gone. Gently blow out through both nostrils to clear and then repeat on the other side.

Now take a deep forward bend, uttanasana, and look towards the floor, breath in through the mouth and out through the nose. Then look towards your knees and again breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose. Some water may drain. Come up gently and do some rapid sniffing breaths, first through both nostrils, in and out, and then through each nostril individually. This will dry the nasal passages.


(First published in "On the Mat", the newsletter of Yoga Spirit Studios.)

Let yoga support you through winter

Here it is, the depths of winter. This is a season when the body can be attacked by a myriad of cold and flu bugs. A robust immune system is called for, and fortunately yoga can help.

  

If you do succumb to a cold, be very gentle with yourself.  Do not go for vigorous practice; instead treat yourself to restorative practices to give the body a chance to recover. 20 minutes in Viparita Karani might be just what the doctor ordered.

  

But what can be done to prevent illness  in the first place?

  

Simply by de-stressing, the body has more opportunity to fight disease. How often has it been that you fell sick just when you were most busy or run down? Allow yourself the time to be gentle and reflective in your practice; time to practice restorative poses; time for meditation; time to find that place in yourself that allows you to cope with life's vicissitudes with greater calm.

  

Don't neglect the more vigourous practises in the balance however. A strong cardio vascular system built of repetitions of the sun salutations, and muscular strength established through stronger practices such as held standing poses will always assist your overall health. These practices are also wonderfully warming, to help get you through winter days.

  

Practices that focus on the heart chakra such as chest opening back bends can help to bring balance and vigour to the thymus gland, a regulator of the immune response. Chest opening also assists in the clear passage of breath, improving lung health and assisting in the oxygenation of the blood, essential for the health of all of our tissues.

  

Inversions can stimulate the endocrine system, and clear sinuses. An inversion is any pose where the head is lower than the heart, so Downward Facing Dog, Bridge Pose and Viparita Karani (legs up the wall pose) qualify.

  

Pranayama (breathing) practices will also improve lung function, and practising some more vigorous routines will warm the body, and encourage good breathing as well.

Undertaking all the meditative practices that strengthen the energy body will also boost your ability to "digest" whatever comes your way, strengthening the immune system. So work with the subtle body, with the pranic channels, and energy centres. If you need to find out more about these practices, come and work with me.

(Adapted and enlarged from an article first published in "On the Mat", the monthly newsletter of Yoga Spirit Studios.)