December 22, 2006
OF ALL BANDHAS GREAT AND SMALL (aka; Where Babies Come From)
OF ALL BANDHAS GREAT AND SMALL (aka; Where Babies Come From)
by coach ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt
(Note; for Student Use, i will keep a copy of this essay in the WF SanghaLounge within the "Yoga" cave.) 
"As a kid, i used to practice Mula Bandha on long chairlift rides nearly every winter day. Though i did not know the Source of these Inner Instructions, nor even the Intent of these Inner Practices, i still did them. Blind Faith, you might call it. I later realized that i was simply picking up Inner Work leftover from previous lives."
- coach ilg
excerpt from an upcoming book
photo; telemarking at Parajito. photo by Ananda.
Bandha
as in Mula Bandha; the Lock at the Root which seals off and thus prevents the unconscious leakage of our life force. Steve Marlowe, my 'zero-tolerance' bicycle commuter and racing teammate used to shout, "GO Mr. Muuuuuuula BANdha!" when i jumped off the front of bike race or attacked a hillclimb when i lived in Los Angeles. i owe my recovery from spinal fracture and pelvic detonation to a steadfast gripping and training of Mula Bandha.
In forward folds and particularly when doing the "Inner Cleansing Techniques" like 'stomach rolling', Mula Bandha must be activated to ensure proper energetic transmission and purification. photo of coach in a "WF Toilet Yoga" program.
Bandha
as in Uddiyana Bandha; the "Flying Upward Lock" of yogic empowerment science that tends to mystify many Westerners yet promises each of us victory over such massive obstacles like food, sleep, dis-ease, and even death. This Bandha holds us at gunpoint to the bowling bowl of lethargy that resides in our 'pooch' area. This lethargy is actually the Princess Kundala, slumbering awaiting our bravery to arouse and seduce Her upward, thus the name; Upward Flying. 
While you are just sitting and shitting, i am refining my chances for Enlightenment. It's all a matter of Willingness. No better place to train the small muscles required for Uddiyanic development than in my unique "Toilet Yoga" routines, available only to WF Online Students due to safety. These routines are POWERFUL catalysts to the energetics of Enlightenment. photo by Ananda.
Bandha as in Jalandhara Bandha; the seductive Net at the Throat Center which, when grabbed and mastered, captures the dripping of the inner solar energies and luxuriates a busy mind into her analgesic balm of lunar nectar. Nothing quite like the meditative wash of Jalandhara that also prevents immature facilitation of cosmic energies.
MOMMIE AND ME
As a Wholistic Fitness Student, i am trained to "Question All Word Choices." This is a WF Technique used to attain a yogic goal of "Speech Purification." What else has conditioned your Reality besides words? Nothing. Our egoic shell began forming around our True Nature when perhaps our mother first grabbed our tiny hand and gently patted our'self' with it while repeating, "Steve..." then lifted our hand to pat herself while repeating, "Mommie."
"Steve"
"Mommie."
This is YOU and this am ME. (read; "we are different from each other.")
The Separation of Self and UniVerse began there and has only accelerated and intensified for many of us, until our Awakening.
Words. Be VERY care-full with them. If used unConsciously, they are Bombs. Destructors of Unity. Instigators of Duality.
BACK TO BANDHA AND BEYOND
Bandha. In Sanskrit, the now accepted language of Yoga, the word Bandha means, "Restraint" or "Bondage".
Like everything in yoga, the word Bandha is chock full of multilayered meaning. Some range from the gross anatomical gripping of the uro-genital triangle muscles to the more etheric such as the bonding of our base layer mindwaves (manas) to spiritual ignorance (avidya). This is just the start. A more refined meaning of Bandha refers to the adhesion of layers of our consciousness (cit) being glued via avidya to the taking and retaking of lives through a depressing cycle of life, tension, death, and rebirth.
To expound for a moment on that last sentence: have you ever considered why most babies scream like hell coming out into this world? have you ever considered why or studied how the Enlightened Ones are allWays born in very auspicious manner?
An unEnlightened Being experiences (re)birth with a lot of Pain; Pain for Mom certainly, yet far more for the in-fant. The in-fant was just sailing about in In-fantity (Infinity; why do you think they are called "In-fants?). Suddenly, their ageless Soul took another Form (kinda like words except in the Soul Realm). Bingo bango; the overpopulated Human Realm gets another unEnlightened Being!
Before babie-hood, we actually Woke Up during what we grown ups call 'death' only to Realize, 'oh crap, i did not do the Inner Work last time to get Free (moksha)," and well, as we begin our re-Entry into a new incarnation through 'birth' we are still close enough to In-fanity to Realize, "i REALLY don't want to go through all this again! WHAAAA, WHAAA!!!"
And if the realize of our lifelong suffering again ain't enough at the moment of our 'birth' to add more insult to our ongoing avidya, the 'good doctor' slaps us a few times as our Welcome Wagon to the Human Realm.
However, those of you who are going deep into your WF Practices already have Realized all this fundamental stuff and are thus determined to gain the top step of this Human Race; Enlightenment. Freedom from reBirth...Freedom from Avidya.
"The root of all human suffering is (spiritual) ignorance."
- Buddha.
How did the Buddha Wake Up?
Well, He started out by realizing the folly of trying to find Freedom and Happiness in anything or anyone outside our self. He renounced the Outer World, drew His senses inward, and began just like where you and i are each morning: returning again and again to Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha, and Jalandhara Bandha. To Seal Off the outward directed senses and energies is Job Numero One.
As i continued to contemplate the Word Choice of 'Bandha," i drew a slash in the word after the "d".
Band.
As in, "Oh man, i've got these bands in my neck that are killing me!"
Such bands are locks, seals, preventing the flow of Prana in that area.
Make Sense?
Go(o)d.
Now,
go forward, upward, and most of DEEPER into your Daily Word Choices and Posture and Breath and enjoy being a skilled hunter of your Inner World.
It is really the only World that will matter on (y)our final exhale.
om so ti,
your humble coach
Labels: WF Sutra Studies, WF Teachings, Yoga
December 18, 2006
WF Sutra Studies. Coaching Contentment; by Way of the Ancient Sources
WF SUTRA STUDIES
with Coach Ilg
for DL Subscribers Only
"When all the nadis are now full of impurities become purified, then only can the yogi successfully perform pranayama."
*
"So, one should practice pranayama with a mind in which the sattivic element prevails until the Sushumna nadi is freed from the impurities."
Verses 5 & 6, Chapter 2 - Hatha Yoga Pradipika
If you are not doing regular Pranayam or at least mindfully attempting to sustain Ujjayi Pranayam during your asana classes or sessions, do not skip this DL. It will 'hit' your cells at a level so that when you do finally Shift Higher and are devoted to raising your Vibrational Fitness above and beyond that of the common man, certain spiritual underpinnings will be in place enabling you to take great flight over your current struggles with duality.
in other words, it is always a go(o)d thing to read DL, if not study it as your Practice of Svadhaya. the Students are are moving Higher Faster and Safer always go straight to DL as their spiritual food. then, they chew on it, contemplate it, and Practice the DharmaTeachings which i interlace between the black and white words of these thousands of entries. All of my effort during these years is not for me. i could take the Divine Downloads that continue to pour through my Practice Sessions and daily life and just run back to the High Mountains of my childhood and suckle all the Wisdom for my own spiritual gain.
yet, that is not Yoga. that is certainly not being a Karma Yogin; Selfless Service which is the type of yogi that i am. soon enough, my public life and track record will be left for the Outer World to ignore or perhaps one day realize. for now, it is important that you and i keep our Practice Strong and Sincere and focused upon Balance Across The Capacities of our Human Body and Spirit. This is known as "Wholistic Fitness" and it is go(o)d stuff!
*
let us revisit Verse 5 and re-read it to-get-Her ("Her refers to the Princess Kundala; the Kundalini Force at the root of the subtle spine):
"When all the nadis are now full of impurities become purified, then only can the yogi successfully perform pranayama."
the great Yogi Swatmarama wrote down these two verses - along with the rest of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika - in the 17th century, compiling these words from the orally transmitted Teachings of the Ancient Sources.
these Sutras (thread like) are intended to be short for easy mental consumption by the Student. by 'easy' i mean, simple to memorize.
it may require a lifetime or more to actually realize and be able to Practice the Teaching of any one of these hundreds of Sutras.
welcome to yoga.
genuine, ancient yoga.
the type of yoga that can only be understood as it was inTended; from a Teacher With Direct Experience to a sincere, hard sweating Student.
the word "successfully" in the above verse means that the Student finally understands by Direct Experience the difference between Air and Ether, two of the Five Constituents of Prakriti or the manifest universe. the word "successfully" means that the Student can FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY feel the textural difference in the 'weight of the currents' from a Pranic or Life Force stance. the only way to get to this incredible stance is to purify the nadis (subtle channels) through assigned breathing Practices known as Pranayama. without nadic purification, the diverse currents will not enter the main Energetic Freeway system of Enlightenment known as Sushumna or the Most Gracious Channel.
what are the 'impurities' of these subtle channels? a fractured, overloaded nervous system from too much media, emotional, and mental input (see yesterday's DL) and overeating, over or undersleeping and imbalanced physical exercise. for example, if we catch ourselves being laterally dominant (always using one hand and one leg system more dominantly in daily life than the other) then, the yogi will not be able to "successfully" perform pranayama. meaning; your most powerful energetics will not enter Sushumna. instead, the pranic currents start agitating the subtle fields of physiology and psychology and you become even more imbalanced. this is why Wholistic Fitness is designed so wisely; to train the physical nervous and muscular system until she is in Balanced Symmetry through cardio, strength training, asana, meditation, and nutrition BEFORE attempt to fan the cosmic fire by pranayama. one reason we have such Imbalanced Yoga Teachers and systems these days is simple; no one is Patient enough to follow the Ancient Way. in this humble Temple beneath the Sacred Peak; we are. 
How Clean Is Your Inner Firewood?
Pranayama ignites whatever Inner Fuel you currently contain. If your diet is poor, your fitness imbalanced, and your mind fractured, then Pranayama will only intensify those weaknesses. this is why a Teacher must be working with you one-on-one to help you properly clean up your inner fuel before ignition of your Higher Energies.
in the first years of Practice, we must make fit our nervous system because the nadic system is the subtle aspect of the nervous system. when modern studio yogis go into classes taught by inexperienced 'teachers' and begin doing pranayama, the prana will not enter Sushumna because the Student has not been appropriately, accurately, and slowly instructed on how to purify the nadis. coupled with this is the all too frequent fact that the modern yoga student does not Practice the ethical or moral constructs of the ladder of Yoga; the yamas and the niyamas. 
until the Etheral Breath (prana) is controlled and directed into and if even Purification work has been done by the Student and actually enters the Sushumna, then Unmani Avasta is attained; the control of the pran into Sushumna. this Podium of the Hatha Yogi is inDeed the attainment of the 'object' of Hatha Yoga; the object is the union of "ha" and "tha", the union of pranic currents in their appropriately purified channels which leads to an incredibly Sacred Stillness and immense Seat of Inner Power and Wisdom.
in Wholistic Fitness, we use my unique Teachings of "At-Sink Pranayam" each morning (as part of another trademarked WF Practice; 'Early Morning Ritual'), to produce a drastically fast, safe, and enjoyable manner of unmatched steadfast Pranayam practice. This Divine Power coming into our system is what Shifts the WF body from reliance upon the gross "NeuroMuscular System" to the far more fun and powerful, "Pranic System" and shifts the Mental State from a yo-yo swinging between Rajas and Tamas (chaotic, uncontrolled or heavy, depressed) to a mind that is Sattvic; composed, elegant, coordinated, and most of all; content.
yup, even during the Holidays; utter contentment is the sure sign that you have been steadfast and MINDFUL in your Pranayama; the Gateway To The Divine Power Locked Within.
that is enough for today.
perhaps i will touch on Verse 6 at a later time.
if you seem interested.
if not,
hey, i am pacing the Energies of WF and Her Transmission into the Outer World based on YOUR willingness, YOUR fierce devotion, YOUR desire to Rise Ever Higher, Ever Deeper, and
Ever Inward.
that is all.
om so ti,
your loving coach across the body/mind board
photos;
1) coach in a DharmaTalk with Ananda
2) coach's schematic of Base Level Pranic Fields during a Private Intensive
3) WF Temple chimera
Labels: WF Sutra Studies, WF Teachings