Category: Hatha Yoga

Six Practices of Shat Karma for Purification

The Shat Karma comprises of six practices. The six practices of Shat Karma for purification are –

 

  1. Dhauti
  2. Nauli
  3. Basti
  4. Neti
  5. Trataka
  6. Kapalbhati

 

These six practices aim at cleansing the whole body internally from top to toe. Practically all diseases are the result of accumulated impurities in the body. Hence the Shat Karma practices, if regularly done, make us immune from diseases due to their cleansing effect.

 

The Dhauti would clean the throat, the food canal, the stomach and the rectum; Basti the Colon; Neti the head or the body above the shoulders; Nauli the intestines; Trataka the eyes and the Kapalbhati would purify the lungs and the blood.

Seven fold practices of Hatha Yoga

The seven fold practices of Ghata i.e. Physico-mental body are as under:

 

  1. Shat-Karma – for purification
  2. Asana – for strength
  3. Mudra – for steadiness
  4. Pratyahara – for firmness, fortitude and calmness
  5. Pranayama – for lightness
  6. Dhayana – for clear perception of the self
  7. Samadhi – for Kaivalya, stainlessness, sinlessness and Isolation

 

The most important of these seven elements for a sound mind and sound body is Shat-Karma.

Utkat Asana

03_Utkat

 

Technique

Keep your feet 4 fingers apart and put your hands by the sides of your waist. Now bend yourself in such a way that your body acquires the shape of a chair. Keep the trunk straight without support.

Repeat 3-4 times from standing position to the asana.

 

Benefits

  • Beneficial for the proper functioning of legs and stomach.
  • Keeps the muscles of the back healthy by relieving us from from back ache.
  • Improves digestion.

Garud Asana

02_Garud

 

Technique

Stand upright. Bend the left knee slightly and twist the right leg over the left leg so that the right instep is tucked behind the left calf. The arms are crossed in front of the chest so that the left elbow rests on the right biceps against the elbow joint, and the left hand is kept above the right hand in front of the face. Stay steady at least ten seconds, breathing freely.

Then repeat the pose, balancing on the right leg and reversing the arm and leg positions.

 

Benefits

  • Promotes suppleness in the legs and shoulders.
  • Strengthens the knees, ankles and calf muscles.
  • Develops balance and improves concentration.
  • Garud Asana is very helpful for the people suffering from urinary diseases.

Kon Asana

01_Kon

 

Technique

Stand straight. Open your legs wide apart so that they obtain a triangular shape. Bend your right knee and touch the toe of your right foot by your right hand. Keep your left arm stretched above your left ear as in the picture.

Repeat the same for left knee and right hand.

 

Benefits

  • Helps the large intestine.
  • Useful for legs as it exercises leg muscles.
  • Cures constipation.
  • A good exercise for the patients suffering from bronchitis.
  • Strengthens body muscles and removes laziness.

Shat-Karma: An Introduction

Yoga has been defined by Patanjali, the renowned author of the Yoga Darshana, as ‘the control of the functions of the mind’. The mind is a part of our subtle body which has a direct bearing on the gross body. Hence in Yoga we take both mind and body together in all our practices and even so in the selection of the diet. The subtle and the gross are regarded as one entity. A Yogi literally accepts the maxim ‘sound mind in a sound body’ and also the contrary. He agrees with the remarks of the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa that the body is the first requisite of the fulfillment of Dharma i.e. path of virtue, and also endorses the views of Lord Krishna expressed in the Shrimad-Bhagvad-Gita that ‘Yoga results in the efficiency of actions’.

 

Actions can be performed more efficiently when both mind and body are sound and in perfect health. Consequently, in Yoga, a Yogi practices to develop and control both his body and mind. In the science of Yoga, these are separately dealt under the two principle branches – Hath Yoga and Raj Yoga. Hath yoga involves the seven fold Sadhana or practices for mental and physical soundness or physico-mental perfection. Raj Yoga, the so called Ashtang Yoga involves the eight fold Sadhana.