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http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/hinduism-forum/459206-continue-satsang.html Re your query on granthis well they are the locks purposefully placed by nature so that you cannot play around with Kundalini Shakti. It is very tempting to exploit so it is like a valve to control upward rise of the Kundalini Shakti. The granthis are mainly three in number. There could be other sub-granthis but the emphasis on three main granthis which is referred in yogic texts as (1) Brahma Granthi (2) Vishnu Granthi and (3) Shiv Granthi To open, purify and strengthen Brahma granthi we need to perform Ashwini Mudra or Mula Bandha or both. This should not be confused with KEGEL exercise which isolates urinary tract and you then contract it. In ashwini mudra you simply contract your anal hole and pull it up as high as you can and then gently release it. This amounts to one count. Do ten counts daily in the morning and ten in the evening. Daily increase by ten counts to reach a target of 60 and then stop. Now continue doing 60 counts in the morning and 60 in the evening. Mula Bandha consists in contracting and holding it as much as you can comfortably do and then gently release it. Usually i avoid my students from performing it because if you over do it, it leads to increase in high BP. Ashwini mudra is safe. Ofcourse once you get a hang of it you can syncronise contraction while breathing in and as you relax breathe out. To open, purify and strengthen Vishnu granthi we need to perform Uddiyana Bandha and Agnisara. I prefer teaching both as i never allow my students to cross a count of 9 while yogis and others do it for a count of 500 etc., I would prefer my students do more sets of repetitions. Remember this is done in breath held out state so for Aam Admi (layman) i prefer 3 sets of 9 repetitions of Uddiyan Bandha and 3 sets of 9 repetitions of Agnisara. Uddiyan bandha means flying upward lock. It simply means reigning in unstrained emotions moving upward in the stomach. Though it is usually performed standing by bending in your knees i prefer to teach it in Vajrasana. Take a slow deep breath then consciously breathe out and let the breathe stay out which is referred as BHAYYA KUMBAK. In antari kumbak you breathe in and hold the breath inside your body while here you breathe out and hold out. Count upto slow count of 9 and then breathe in again. This amounts to one set of 9 held out breath. Do two more sets of 9 held out breath. Now Agnisara means stoking the fire. Now you may question where is the fire to stoke? This actually refers to " hunger fire " usually provoked by Dilute Hydrochloric Acid and Bile Juice. So in agnisara

you breathe in and then breathe out and let the breathe stay out as in uddiyana bandha and now you should churn your stomach in and out (remember this is done in breath held out state) to a count of 9 only. Ofcourse yogis and other strong people do upto 500 and 1000. My aim is for layman who is obese and sick. If he or she can reach 9 count i consider it as a blessing because with a paunch you can hardly move it around. The balance Shiva granthi will be discussed in my next instalment as i am getting late for my yoga class. With warm wishes, Sudhakar HARI OM TAT SAT! Cheers! )

Here is the balance instalment of Shivgranthi. To open, purify and strengthen shivgranthi one has to do Brahmamudra which can be done sitting or standing. You have to gently lower your chin to rest on the jugular notch near the collar-bone. Be careful otherwise you could get a muscular catch in the neck region. Now slowly breathe in and simultaneously raise your chin so that your back of head turns towards your back and you try to gaze in the direction your face has moved. As you breathe out gently again lower your chin to rest on your jugular notch. Start with three repetitions only and then increase to a total of ten only. Meantime after finishing front and back stretching of the neck muscles, turn your neck gently to right and left 3 times and then increase to a total of ten only. Next lower your chin to your chest i.e. jugular notch and gently turn your neck clockwise for 3 rounds and anticlockwise for 3 rounds. Slowly increase to a count of ten which should be in about two to three weeks time and not at once please. Now the last neck exercise is referred as " lateral twist " wherein you gently try to lower your right ear to touch right shoulder which is not possible at all to majority of human beings-but attempting to do this exercise nicely twists the neck to a different angle. Do like wise on the left side too. As usual gently start with 3 rounds to ultimately reach 10 rounds. These four exercise represents four faces of Lord Brahma and we imitate this by doing above exercise hence it is called BRAHMAMUDRA. This exercise stimulates your thyroid gland as well as strengthens the neck muscles and cervical bones and lastly beautifies your neck region. It also helps to get rid off double chin. These 3 granthis exercise come under the asana section. But while doing Pranayama the adept combines the three granthi exercise together and is referred as Triyambak Pranayama. It is wrought with danger unless you have strengthened your physical body and then personally guided by your teacher.

Hope this satisfies your need to know about granthis. Ofcourse as i said in the beginning it is purposefully kept by nature to thwart a human from fiddling with Kundalini Shakti. Best to approach a live teacher to know further. With warm wishes, Sudhakar HARI OM TAT SAT! Cheers! )

The 3 granthis are 3 knots, that stop us from attaining full enlightenment 1. Brahm Granthi is attachment to physical body & desires. It ties us to this physical world. We identify with our Karma & desires, the strongest of which is the sex desire, which doesnt allow our energy to rise. Piercing the Brahm granthi is breaking attachment to physical body & its desires, as well as realising our Karma is actually done by God. It is Brahma who creates the world & runs it, yet we think we are running the world. Our sex desire is a lower form of Brahmas desire to create the world. Realising this pierces Brahma granthi. 2. Vishnu Granthi is attachment to our emotions, & not loving everyone equally. It may also mean attachment to astral world. Vishnu, the cosmic spirit that lives in the heart of all, loves everyone equally & without any conditions, yet our love is petty & conditional(you must love me as Im your father, husband, wife, daughter etc). Realising the true state of the universe, which is one of immense love, is piercing Vishnu granthi. Vishnu runs the Universe- he does so out of Pure Love for the creatures that live in it. When we reach this state, we also go beyond Vishnu Granthi. 3. Rudra granthi is the most difficult. It relates to our mental ideas- we think God is such & such. That there is actually some called Brahm-Vishnu-Shiv sitting somewhere running the world. Or that there was a Christ who suffered for our sins. All these things are ok in the beginning, but later on they stop us from achieving full enlightenment. To reach the final state, we must dissolve all our mental ideas about what God, spirit, moksha is. The Chit(mind stuff) must be completely pure, only reflecting light of God, & having no thoughts of its own. In Hinduism, it is said this state cannot be achieved without grace of God. Hence it is called Rudra granthi, after Shiv who seems like a difficult God(as is breaking our attachment to our thought, which is what Rudra granthi is), but Shiv is actually very kind inside, if we worship him with love.

A thing to make clear is just because Brahma granthi comes before Vishnu/Rudra, doesnt mean Brahma is inferior to them, or vishnu to Shiv. These are just words to explain difficult concepts. To break these granthis is to go beyond human into the Divine. Hatha Yoga identifies these granthis with psychic knots in the spine(Sushmna Nadi) but that is not strictly correct, as these granthis are not just Pranic knots that can be broken by Yoga, but require change of our whole attitude to life. with love Shantnu