HEAT — PURIFICATION THROUGH FIRE in HEAT — PURIFICATION THROUGH FIRE
The cleansing and purifying nature of heat during yoga practice — referred to as tapas — is a concept that appears in various different styles of yoga and in many yoga texts. In some styles of yoga, the practice room is heated to a high temperature. In Astanga yoga it is thought that heat must be generated from within.
The heat generated when you practise Astanga yoga is said to have a strong cleansing and purifying effect on your body, and to burn away mental, emotional, physical and spiritual debris. Heat comes from three sources: the athleticism of the movements themselves, the fast-moving pace of an Astanga yoga series and the combined use of uj1ayi breath and the bandhas (see pages 35—39).
On a physical level, heat quickly makes your body much more flexible. When your muscles and joints are very warm they become pliable and soft, and stretch much further than they would do normally. This is important in Astanga yoga because it prevents you from injuring yourself in postures that demand great flexibility. Sweating during yoga practice is purifying because it carries toxins out of your body:
Heat purifies the mind and spirit as well as the physical body. The theory of yoga teaches that human beings exist in a subtle as well as a physical form. The subtle body has its own distinct anatomy consisting of channels (known as nadis) and energy centres (known as chaknis). In the area of the navel is the digestive fire, known as Agni. Heat produced during yoga stokes Agai, with the result that “impurities”, such as emotional blockages and mental patterns, are burnt away allowing energy to flow freely around the body’s subtle anatomy.
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The cleansing and purifying nature of heat during yoga practice — referred to as tapas — is a concept that appears in various different styles of yoga and in many yoga texts. In some styles of yoga, the practice room is heated to a high temperature. In Astanga yoga it is thought that heat must be generated from within.
The heat generated when you practise Astanga yoga is said to have a strong cleansing and purifying effect on your body, and to burn away mental, emotional, physical and spiritual debris. Heat comes from three sources: the athleticism of the movements themselves, the fast-moving pace of an Astanga yoga series and the combined use of uj1ayi breath and the bandhas (see pages 35—39).
On a physical level, heat quickly makes your body much more flexible. When your muscles and joints are very warm they become pliable and soft, and stretch much further than they would do normally. This is important in Astanga yoga because it prevents you from injuring yourself in postures that demand great flexibility. Sweating during yoga practice is purifying because it carries toxins out of your body:
Heat purifies the mind and spirit as well as the physical body. The theory of yoga teaches that human beings exist in a subtle as well as a physical form. The subtle body has its own distinct anatomy consisting of channels (known as nadis) and energy centres (known as chaknis). In the area of the navel is the digestive fire, known as Agni. Heat produced during yoga stokes Agai, with the result that “impurities”, such as emotional blockages and mental patterns, are burnt away allowing energy to flow freely around the body’s subtle anatomy.
yoga teacher training india
yoga teacher training in india
yoga teacher training in goa
yoga teacher training in rishikesh
yoga teacher training in kerala
