the mechanics of the practice then you will

gain little or no results. But if you remain

aware throughout the practice, then a few minutes relaxation in this way can be worth more,
and be more refreshing than many hours sleep.
Many ailments are caused by inhibitions
imposed on the body functions by the higher
brain centres. By disconnecting your awareness
from your body, the lower brain centres are
allowed to carry out their duties without
hindrance from the higher brain centres. T h e
lower brain centres then start to restore
equilibrium in the muscle body tone and
endocrinal system. Further, your awareness
on different parts of the body, or whatever, as
prescribed by the practice, removes stress and
fear. As such the adrenal glands stop injecting
adrenaline into the blood system. This brings
the body down to a lower level of activity. T h e
whole body is allowed to rest from its continual
stimulation.
All the previously mentioned factors interrelate with each other. A reduction in thoughts
and worries reduces the adrenaline level in the
blood. The reduction of adrenaline in the blood
reduces the intensity of emotional and mental
conflicts and so on. T h e overall result must be
experienced to be believed: an indescribable
feeling of freedom from mental turmoil. You
must try it for yourself.
Mental programming
Now we have a problem. You have experienced calmness and have rested your body by
performing the prescribed relaxation technique. Yet ten minutes later you meet someone
whom you intensely dislike. Your tranquillity
and well-being immediately disappear. Adrenaline is released. You become your abnormal
normal' self-depressed, angry, aggressive and
uptight self. Your mind has been programmed
to respond in that manner. You had no choice
but to be angry when you happened to meet
that person.
Your brain is a computer and it has been
conditioned since birth. You responded in the
way that you did because of your mental
programming. You are at the mercy of the
way that your mind has been conditioned to
act. T h e root cause of your chronic tension lies
in your emotional reactions to people and
situations around you. And your reaction is
determined by your conditioning. Is there no

way out of this dilemma - anger, fear, etc? T h e

answer is to change the program in your brain
so that you don't respond in a negative way
when you meet a particular situation. However
this cannot be achieved overnight. But with
patience it can be done. It is this subject that
we intend to discuss in the next lesson 1 .
Practices for relaxation
It may seem surprising, but the first step in
attaining deep relaxation through asanas is to
tense the whole body. It is only after applying
muscular tension to the entire body that you
can subsequently allow your whole body to
relax. Think of when you did a particularly
hard day's physical work. Do you remember
how easy it was to lie down on the bed and rest
or sleep? This assumes, of course, that you did
not over-exercise your body to make it ache at
the end of the day.
NAUKASANA (BOAT POSE)
This is a very good asana for relaxing the
muscles and joints of the body. It brings
immediate relief to people suffering from
nervousness and tension.

Technique
Place a folded blanket or rug on the floor. Lie
flat on the blanket facing upwards (supine).
Rest your straight arms on the floor beside
your body with palms facing downwards.
Breathe in deeply and retain the breath inside.
Simultaneously raise your legs, arms and
shoulders off the ground.
Ensure that the arms and legs remain straight.
Point your arms towards your feet.
Try not to raise the feet or shoulders more
than 15 cms from the ground.
Stretch and tense the whole body.
Feel that every muscle is tensed.
Don't strain, but try to hold this raised position
for as long as possible, while retaining your
breath.
Aim at eventually maintaining the raised
position for at least a slow count of 10, though
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