dhanurāsana – part one

"In the Mahabharata[1], when Arjuna is exercising his art of archery, Drona, his teacher, asks him to focus on the eye of a distant bird. Arjuna, the master archer, sees nothing else – the rest of the world disappears – and his arrow flies precisely to the target.

“The art of archery is a perfect metaphor for training the mind. The archer has to be relaxed and concentrated. The bow itself must be strong yet flexible, and it is through tension and letting go that the arrow can fly straight and true to its target.

“I find the Bow pose a wonderful exercise for developing concentration and engaging the will. The kind of strenuous movement it demands does not just happen; we have to put in the effort. We have to want to do it. In the same way, if we want to become an instrument for the Divine [in us], we have to put in the effort.”[2]

Phonetic pronunciation: duh-nu*-rah-suh-nuh (*u as in “put”)[3]

dhanu = bow
āsana = pose

Instructions[4]

• Do not be in a rush to achieve a result in this posture. Go slowly and do not pinch your lower vertebrae.
• Lying flat on your stomach, bend your knees and bring your feet toward your buttocks.
• Reach your hands back to grab onto either your ankles or your feet. Try to keep your knees close together.
• Feel your shinbones projecting away from your seat, and at the same time, feel a lengthening from your shinbones through your second toe.
• Inhale – Feel your breastbone lengthening forward as you lift the chest up off the floor.
• Feel the thighs lengthening back, out of the hips.
• Do not be concerned with how high off the floor you come; rather, listen to your breaths.
• If your breathing becomes shallow and quick, you need to back off a little.
• If you are going to lift higher, do so on inhales, and relax into the posture on exhales.

To come out of the pose[5]

• Lower your upper body and release the legs back to the ground
• Place your hands next to your chest and press your seat back onto your heels to come into bālāsana (child’s pose).
• Breathe into the back, feeling the back rise on the inhales and fall on the exhales in order to release any tension from the lower back.

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[1] Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa (literally "history"), and forms an important part of Hindu mythology. It is of immense importance to culture in the Indian subcontinent, and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (dharma or duty, artha or purpose, kāma, pleasure or desire and moksha or liberation) takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'Self') and the workings of karma. The title may be translated as "the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty". According to the Mahabharata's own testimony it is extended from a shorter version simply called Bhārata of 24,000 verses.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata
[2] Swami Lalitananda, The Inner Life of Asanas [the best of hidden language hatha yoga from ascent magazine] (Timeless Books, 2007), pp. 77-78.
[3]Pronunciation and translation provided by Mikelle Terson, Asana Learning Deck, http://www.yogablossom.com/
[4]Alan Finger with Al Bingham, YogaZone, Introduction to Yoga (Three Rivers Press, 2000), pp. 156-157.
[5] Alan Finger with Al Bingham, YogaZone, Introduction to Yoga (Three Rivers Press, 2000), p. 157.

bālāsana – part one

Bālāsana (child's pose) is a place to surrender, to allow one’s self to feel small, safe, and protected, a cocoon to rest in. This is also a beautiful posture to reestablish the connection to the breath through the back space of the body (feel the back of their ribs expand with each inhale and to feel their spine lengthen with each exhale). [1] While resting in this protective cocoon, bālāsana releases tension in the shoulders and spine and relieves mental fatigue giving a place to withdraw from the outside world.

Phonetic pronunciation: bah-lah-suh-nuh[2]

bālā = child
āsana = pose

Basic Instructions[3]

• Sit on your shins with your knees slightly wider than your torso and
• Your big toes touching and your heels separated
• Inhale
• As you exhale
• Release your torso down onto your thighs
• Feel your thighs release onto your calves
• And feel your whole body surrender to gravity as you release toward the ground
• Gently lower your head to the floor in front of your knees
• Place your hands, palms up, next to your feet (or outstretched)
• Completely relax the neck and shoulders
• Use pillows or bolsters for support under your torso or forehead if you have a tight lower back or stiff hips, knees, or ankles
• From this place, look inward and follow the movement of your breath
• Hold for 1-10 minutes (or for a certain number of breaths) as you withdraw the senses from their involvements with the external world (pratyahara)

Pratyahara – Withdrawal of the Senses[4]

To unravel these stresses you must work in a conscious, methodical manner. No matter in which way, or where, or to what degree you have been carried away, you can bring yourself back. In relation to each stress and to each area of over involvement, you must bring yourself back to your home. That’s pratyahara, the opposite of vikshepa (the process that grabbed you, hurled you into the air, and threw you to the ground with so much force).

Pratyahara requires that you see how your mind and senses became so entangled and involved. Then you can recapture them and gently pull them back to yourself. This is pratyahara—spiritually speaking, a “homecoming.”

“One who completely withdraws the senses from their objects, as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, his wisdom stands firm,” says the Bhagavad Gita. Like a turtle drawing its head and limbs into its home, you withdraw from the objects of your senses and from the entangled places of your mind. You are withdrawing your mind from your money, your car, your spouse, your honor, your self-image, your failure, your success, your loss. Thus you are freeing yourself from all that has grabbed your mind.

Then what happens? The virtue and brilliance of your soul will become established in its own abode—that is the meaning of the soul abiding in itself. All will find their rightful place. Instead of you following them, they will follow you. You are vast, and yet you do not know how much room you have for honor and insult, success and failure, love and hatred. When you practice pratyahara, everything will find its rightful place in the vast expanse of your consciousness, without exerting any burden on you.

To Come Out of the Pose[5]

• First lengthen the front torso
• Then with an inhalation lift from the tailbone as it presses down and into the pelvis

Cautions[6]

• Diarrhea
• Pregnancy
• Knee injury: Avoid bālāsana unless you have the supervision of an experienced teacher.

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[1] http://www.yogaclassplan.com/child-balasana-pose.html
[2] Pronunciation, and translation from Asana Learning Deck, by Mikelle Terson, http://www.yogablossom.com/.
[3] Modified from Come to your Senses, by Jennifer Rodrigue, Yoga Journal, September, 2009, p. 64; Untangling yourself from the grip of addiction can seem impossible, but Yoga can lift you to Higher Ground, by Stacie Stukin, Yoga Journal, September, 2008, p. 91.
[4] Excerpt from The Journey Inward, A Master’s Guide to Relaxation, by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Yoga + Joyful Living, Issue 102, July/August 2008.
[5] Balasana, www.yogajournal.com/poses/.
[6] Balasana, www.yogajournal.com/poses/.