In this context the word “asana” means a posture, a steady position of the body. There are special methods of working with one’s body in order to prepare it for further stages of the spiritual work. Systems of asanas and other exercises of this stage of work are collectively called “hatha yoga”. They also help one acquire initial concentration skills and provide an entry-level development of energetic structures of the organism.
One should start doing asanas only after studying and accepting the principles of the previous stage. Practicing hatha yoga without switching to a cruelty-free diet leads to coarsening of one’s energy and to accumulation of coarse power, and this in turn leads one astray from the true Path.
The best time for doing asanas is early morning — approximately 4-5 a.m.
Each session has to be followed by shavasana — a deep relaxation of the body and mind while lying on one’s back for about 20 minutes. If one does not do this, health disorders may occur, such as deterioration of the eyesight, anxiety, insomnia etc.
To do shavasana you should lie down on the back with your eyes closed. Make sure you are comfortable in this position. Nothing should distract you. Relax the body starting from the toes. Imagine that a vertical plane — like a glass wall — starts moving through the body from the toes to the head, leaving no tension behind. Feeling of all parts of the body that are behind the plane disappears. Alienate them by saying mentally: “This is not mine, this is not mine!...”. If a feeling of some parts behind the plane reappears — move the plane through this section once again. After the plane has passed the head you may experience the following states:
The first state: consciousness (self-awareness) vanishes. You fall in something resembling a deep sleep, but this is not a sleep. Consciousness is regained in about 18-20 minutes. You feel thoroughly rested, as if after a long deep sleep. This is quite a blissful state. You do not have to stand up abruptly, just enjoy it.
The second state: consciousness remains, but absolute peace comes down. You may scan the entire body with an “inner sight”. You may enter the inner space of your body from below. You may see light and dark regions. Gray or black colors are disorders on one of energetic planes, which correspond to active or still latent stages of diseases. Try to gather all dark stuff in heaps as if with a rake and throw it outside the body.
When doing shavasana we may also experience involuntary exits of the material body: we may suddenly feel ourselves in our usual form but in an unnatural position — for example soaring above the floor, standing on the head and so on. There is nothing to worry about: once we feel like getting back into the body — we find ourselves there right away. But under no circumstances one should encourage oneself to perform such exits: these are still exits into a coarse space dimension — into the so-called “astral plane”. One should learn how to exit immediately into the highest space dimensions; but the methods for doing this are different.
Children under age of 12 must not be taught shavasana: having realized that they are out of the body they do not always want to get back into it.
Attempts to do anything with kundalini as a part of hatha yoga training are flatly prohibited: this can lead to severe health disorders — both physical and mental. Working with kundalini is a task of buddhi yoga stage. Raising kundalini is allowed only after all chakras and major meridians have been cleansed and developed thoroughly.
One also needs to understand that hatha yoga is just a preparatory stage for the actual yoga path. This is why devoting one’s life to it, counting on any serious spiritual success — is not serious. Moreover, excessively long hatha yoga practice may even be harmful, for it produces the effect of hyper-development of the astral body. This will be a serious obstacle for refinement of consciousness and for its “crystallization” in the subtlest eons. Only working with the spiritual heart by programs of raja and then buddhi yoga can ensure serious advancement.
