Transcription
Namaskar. The topic is Biopsychology of Yoga. We're discussing cakras, and today is the second cakra, called Svádhisthána cakra in Sanskrit.
Svádhisthána means "one's own dwelling", "one's own home, place of living". And also "svadhist" means "to taste with delight, to enjoy". So, in one way Svádhisthána is very much concerned with the idea of pleasure, and also it represents our dwelling place, the place from where we begin, from where our evolution starts.
But of course, you may say, "Dada, you've explained that there are seven cakras and Svádhisthána cakra is the second one. And the first one is Múládhára." Yes, Múládhára cakra is there, and Múládhára cakra contains four propensities. They all are the desires for happiness, for different types of happiness. But they all are expressed through different cakras. They sprout from the Múládhára cakra, but they find their fulfillment at the other six cakras.
In Múládhára cakra itself, only the physical desire expresses. What is physical desire? Physical desire is to procure necessary physical objects for our survival: we are seeking for food, seeking for security, seeking to... promote our... to procreate, and... we're seeking to rest. So, these are the functions of Múládhára cakra.
But Svádhisthána cakra is somewhat more expanded. Here at the level of Svádhisthána cakra, we seek not only to eat, but to obtain pleasure from eating and so on. So, Svádhisthána cakra is more already... is the mind, it's not like a purely physical desire. It's the mind which is desiring physical enjoyment. So, Svádhisthána cakra is a little bit further step in our evolutionary process. OK, so, pleasure is... it is a center of pleasure.
Svádhisthána cakra controls the liquid factor. The quality of water is to flow, is to go around different obstacles, to smoothen the sharp edges. So, when that element within us is strong, is controlled, then we become very psychological. We know where we can... how to go around the sharp edges. We understand the psychology, we understand the emotional expressions of other people, we know how other people feel, and we can somehow make ourselves in tune with other people, if that is strong. And then, if it is weak, if the Svádhisthána cakra is weak, then exactly the opposite happens - a person is moving and breaking everything around him.
So, the liquid element of the body. Múládhára cakra controls solid, Svádhisthána - liquid, Mańipura cakra - fiery element, Anáhata cakra - aerial element, and then here is the ethereal element.
Svádhisthána is located about six fingers below the navel point, about at the root of the genital organ. So, it is connected with the reproductive system and urinary system, excretion system. That is why it is associated with the functions of the reproductive system. The glands - gonads, ovaries, they're all under the control of Svádhisthána cakra.
Svádhisthána cakra, being the controller of the liquid factor, has a lot to do with the liquids of the body - with the lymph, with the urine, with the reproductive liquids. And the health of those systems also depends on the balance within the Svádhisthána cakra, the emotional balance of Svádhisthána cakra. And I have observed it through my eyes, through my own experience. I've seen when people are suffering from imbalanced emotional energies of Svádhisthána cakra, that mental imbalance also is expressing through the physical sicknesses of the reproductive area, such as the distortion of the menstrual cycle, the pain during the women's cycle, infertility, impotency and so on, all those kinds of troubles. And also by balancing the emotions, by balancing the energies of Svádhisthána cakra, one is restoring the health of the reproductive system. So, very, very important. And the health is actually built in the reproductive system.
That, you know, the liquid factor, it gives beauty, it gives beauty... Strong Svádhisthána cakra reflects in the physical vibrancy - the person is just beautiful to look upon, so fresh, and so nice, so beautiful and harmonious. And also Svádhisthána cakra is connected with the sense of taste. So, taste. Taste is the feeling of the tongue, but also taste you can say taste in your clothes, in your... taste in everywhere, everything. Just the person will have a sense of beauty. Everything will be a style, everywhere will be a taste. So, yeah, strong Svádhisthána cakra gives a tactful, psychological person, it gives a beautiful person... It gives a person a sense of beauty also. The person himself, or herself is beautiful. There is this emanation of beauty from the face, from the... somehow the entire expression is pleasant to look upon. And then, the sense of taste is there, so the person can cook good food, he understands about the harmony. So, that is strong Svádhisthána cakra.
And the weak Svádhisthána cakra is just the opposite. Around Svádhisthána cakra there are six propensities, six propensities. They represent survival instincts and they represent the psychology of reptiles. The animal symbolism of Svádhisthána cakra... in Múládhára was what? Black elephant - powerful energy. In Svádhisthána cakra it is crocodile. You know, crocodile... how they behave... It's kind of brutish force - very powerful, but very selfish. And it is representing the psychology of a reptile. Reptilian psychology is to live, to take advantage of the objects, of the world around, but not so much to give to the world around. There is no expression of care, there is no expression of love in the reptiles. The reptiles, they may deliver and eat their own offspring, you know, the snakes, they will deliver... some snakes, they give the eggs, some snakes immediately, the little snakes are there, and the snake will just eat those eggs or that offspring. So, there is no real love, there is no care for the world. Even for their own offsprings. So, it is only Svádhisthána cakra emotions, they seek to receive, to obtain pleasure from the objects, to utilize everything and everyone and not to give anything in return. That is the psychology. So, six emotions are there, the symbolism is crocodile. If you observe the crocodile, if you observe the reptiles, you will understand the functions of Svádhisthána cakra.
OK, let us see what those emotions are. First one is prashraya vritti. Prashraya means pleasure seeking tendency. If balanced, we receive pleasure in a balanced way. We enjoy the world, but we're not becoming... we are not becoming dependent on it. We may enjoy, we may engage ourselves into something pleasurable, but we're also able to withdraw ourselves from that activity. But when the Svádhisthána cakra is weak, a person is just unable to control his vritti of pleasure seeking. All kinds of dependencies, all kinds of addictions, they are due to weakness of Svádhisthána cakra. Alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, sex addiction, gaming addiction, gambling addiction, sugar addiction, computer games, internet addiction - all those, they are just different faces of one problem. And that problem is the weakness of Svádhisthána cakra. And of course, there will be other vritties also, because if the center, if the nucleus is weak, then the periphery will go out of balance. If the chakra itself is weak, then the petals, they will not be able to maintain balance - they will express without harmony. OK, then you will see also, if the person has one tendency of Svádhisthána cakra out of balance, then all other five also, they from time to time express themselves.
Another one is called "disdain". Disdain means you look down at other people. you try to be the boss, and make others underdog. This type of people, they enjoy putting others down, because that gives them some sense of confidence. "Everyone is stupid, so I must be smart. I can be smart only if everyone else is stupid." And in their idea of the world it is like that: there cannot be equality, there has to be domination. These people feel very, very insecure among the beautiful people, smart people, resourceful people - they feel very, very insecure. So, they try to find the company of the stupid and dominate over them. So, that is the... that is called "disdain vritti".
Then there is distrust. Distrust is the third one. First of all, it is deep inconfidence. You do not believe in yourself - inferiority complex. Inferiority complex is a dreadful complication in the mind. Inferiority complex prevents us from doing something worthy. We have to fight with that inferiority complex tooth and nail. We should not ever allow this inferiority complex creep into our mind. And that is coming from that vritti of inconfidence. You're feeling yourself worthless, really deep within there's a feeling of worthlessness: "Oh, I'm not really a good person, I'm not smart enough, I'm not strong enough." This kind of understanding. And then, also there will be distrust to other people as well. Whenever someone utters your name, you will run and listen, "What are they talking about? They must be gossiping, they must be talking something ill about me. Because what good can they say about me?" And then in the extreme expression of that vritti, the flow of the mind becomes paranoid. He suspects everybody. "Oh, they're plotting against me, these people cannot be trusted." Suspects everybody, and then tries to control also. This is kind of control freak tendency - I try to keep everything under control, everything should be predicted, everything should be known in advance. I cannot just relax and let things happen, I cannot just let things happen and then I respond to those things. No, I am too inconfident to do that. I try to control everything in advance. So, that kind of control freak tendency is there also at the Svádhisthána cakra.
You know, life will always disappoint people of Svádhisthána cakra. Because life never acts according to our whims. We may plan a thousand plans, but life will still do something else. We can have plan A, plan B, plan C, plan D, but life will make plan ABCD. And then, the enjoyment of life is to be able to respond to life. Something happens, you're not freaking out, because it is not according to your preconceived notion. But you respond, you... it's just like you're taking a board to go to the beach and to do surfing, you know, with the board over the waves... And then, a wave can never go according to your preconceived plan. The wave is always going the way it's pleased to go. And then you adjust yourself to that wave. But Svádhisthána cakra is the state of mind, where you exist in a kind of capsule, you exist in a kind of cocoon, and you're not interacting with the world. And your idea of the world is very different from the actual world. You have some... in the mind... some picture in the mind, which doesn't actually suit with the external world. I'll talk about that a little bit later in the next vritti. So, deep inconfidence - you're not believing in yourself, and then you're not believing in others. So, that's why trying to control everything, anything and everything. These people, they try to peek through the crack in the wall, they hear, they listen, they check e-mails, they check SMS, so, this kind of behavior.
Then there is "múrcchá". Múrcchá means stupor, when the mind becomes blank, and you cannot think anything. You cannot decide, you cannot think, there is no clarity in the mind, the mind is just like hazy, it's like foggy. You are not able to... to come up with ideas, to come up with decisions. So, that kind of state is called "múrcchá", the mental stupor. And sometimes it is extreme - the mind becomes completely paralyzed, and also external expression becomes completely paralyzed. One time I saw on a train there was a couple - a husband and a wife. And the wife was very pushy and somehow she was unhappy with the husband, so she was pushing him. She was following a very simple, straightforward logic. She was asking him questions: "My dear, have you married me?" "Yes, I did." "Did you promise that you'll provide everything for me: money, clothes, food, living place?" "Yes, I did that." And then - final question killing him: "Where is the money?" At that point the man freaks out. He goes into that frozen state. He just like... His eyes, they kind of shut down, they become like two crystals of glass. They are no more human eyes. And he is just staring at one point. And she is going around him, "Hey, where are you? Are you listening to me?" And he is just like this... So, that is called "stupor". You kind of shut, you cut, you sever the connection between yourself and the external world. Because the external world is too painful. You are unable to change, and the world is requiring from you that internal change. And you shut down the connection to prevent the attempts of the external world to change you. You stop that. You stop the communication. And then you're living in your bubble of imagination. You're living in the world where round things you consider to be rectangular. You see something round, but you think it is rectangular in your own mental conception. You shut down your mind, you don't any more respond. So, that is the vritti. In psychology they call it "denial": "Oh, I have no problem." "But you're an alcoholic!" "No, no, no, I'm not an alcoholic. Sometimes I drink, I don't have any problem." You understand what I mean? So, it is hard for this kind of people, because it is a very ancient way to survive. Like the dinosaurs: if a smaller dinosaur is running for its life, and a big dinosaur is catching up on it, all of a sudden, that force of Svádhisthána cakra starts to work and the smaller dinosaur becomes paralyzed out of fear, just paralyzed, and becomes frozen - the mind doesn't work, the body doesn't work. And the big dinosaur is like... "Where is my prey? Anybody's seen? It's just been here, I cannot see." Because the eyes, they perceive the movement. And when the movement is not there, then we cannot perceive. And then, maybe there is a chance that it will save itself, that small dinosaur. So, in the reptilian mind there is this vritti of stupor. Even now you've seen the crocodiles: they're just staying like that. You don't know whether it is alive or not. Or the lizard - it can just stay in one position for one day, and then turn a little bit, 5 minutes, like this. And then stay another day. So, that's stupor - extreme expression, it is even the body becomes stiff. One time we had a kitten, like a cat, we have a retreat center in the forest, so, a cat has come to us, and then we were feeding that cat, but she still remained like a wild one. And she delivered her kitten somewhere, nobody knew. And then that kitten, sometimes we see, it comes to eat also. But everyone is curious, everyone wants to catch that kitten and play with it. But the kitten is very frightened of the human company. Somehow, one time we managed to catch him. We caught him and, "Ooh, so nice kitten!" But the kitten is not happy with our expressions of joy. He is first trying to fight, to scratch us, but we hold him firmly. And then, when he understood that he cannot do anything with us, he just started to become frozen. His muscles became like a stone. And then, the one who was holding that kitten, he became so himself afraid, "Oh! What have I done to the poor thing?" He just put it down on the earth, and then slowly, slowly the control of the body started to be regained by that kitten, and then he would move like, "Er-er-er-er..." and then finally he ran away. So, imagine that when this vritti goes out of proportion, out of order, then it brings that complete suspension of the mental activity and then physical activity. In a light option, in a light way it just makes the mind stiff. The mind is dominated by dogma. What is dogma? Dogma is a fixed idea - you have accepted a certain world view, a certain outlook, and whatever happens in the external world, you just don't accept. You know, one time I was attending a lecture of a so-called spiritual teacher. And he was telling, "Oh, nowadays it is Kali Yuga - dark age, and we're becoming more and more stupid, with every generation human beings become more and more stupid. You imagine such a fact. I'll prove it to you: even 500 years ago people knew that the earth is flat. But now this knowledge is lost." And then there is silence in the lecture-hall. And everyone is just trying to comprehend what he has just said. But that is the state of mind, where you refuse to respond to the world, you have an imaginary idea and then you become committed to that idea, you become devoted to that idea. It's a kind of dogmatic thinking, religious thinking: the scripture says this - it must be so, I'm not willing to review my world view. I'm not willing to review it. I'm just stiff on that. So, that dogmatic... dogma is dominating our world. In the sphere is religion, in the sphere of politics, in the sphere of economics, in the sphere of culture, in the sphere of education - everywhere, and everywhere the dogma is playing the crucial role. And that's why humanity is progressing along the path of progress, and the progress is painfully slow due to that dogma. Because we are not willing to respond to the external reality. So, that is the vritti - múrcchá, the stupor, the inertness of the mind. Whatever was put there inside, when the mind was tender: when I was a child I got some blocks or blockages of information and then I believe in that to be truth. And then I never change my ideas. So, yeah, that kind of religious... religious attitude. You know, the most favorite religion of Svádhisthána cakra is what? - conspiracy theories. They suspect everyone, "Oh, something's going on... somebody is hiding the truth from us, somebody is plotting against us, Svádhisthána cakra people they really love conspiracy theories. And they really see the world in dark kind of tones and they feel very insecure in this world. They feel the world is a hostile environment. Okey.
And then there is this vritti called "kruratá". Kruratá means crudeness, the crude manners. It means you are behaving in such a way that it is hurting other people. But you don't feel the feelings of others. It's kind of indifference to the feelings of others. Lack of culture, lack of civilization, you are not civilized, it's not civilized behavior. For example, someone is lying on the ground and you're walking. And you walk by. Why did you walk by, why didn't you help that person? What person? You will not even see. You will not even understand you have to do something. Completely indifferent. One my friend, he is from... one time he came to a very developed country. And he said, "I was driving a car and I was asking a person, you know, nearby, 'Excuse me, how can I get to such and such place?' 'Excuse me, can you please tell...' " Three or four times he asked. Then he said, "I realized that the man just simply ignores me." He's just simply showing this ignoring, he's ignoring him. Indifference. That's called "kruratá vritti". You do not respond, basically, to the world. You don't want to interact with the world. You don't care for anything. That is indifference.
And then finally there is "sarvanásha". Sarvanásha is a horror, is a fear, but such a strong powerful fear is when the thought of imminent death, of annihilation occurs in your mind. "I am going to die!" Then you become, you know, that emotion creates that stupor, it creates the stiffness and you just become frozen. You may experience this emotion if you come to a very high building, skyscraper and then you come to the edge and you look down, you will see, "uhhhh..." the endless... it's a very abyss, you know. That moment you will feel here, at the level of the genital organs you will feel some energy. And you feel that you become like, your muscles they become stiff, and you become kind of paralyzed. So, that is sarvanásha – the fear of annihilation. There are many kinds of fear. Some fears are here, some here, some here. The fear of Svádhisthána cakra is very strong, it is a horror. Those who sometimes experience that fear, they say, it is a fear, more terrible than death. One man, he was telling me, that he is seeing these nightmares and in the nightmares he's just experiencing that terrible fear. He was seeking for advice, what can I do against that? He said, it is better to die than experience that kind of fear.
So, here at the Mańipura cakra the fear is to... is activating. It motivates you either to fight or to run away. And here is just an anxiety, is the worry, "Oh, what will happen, what will happen, what will happen." This kind of attitude. So, if you find like three types of: Anáhata, Svádhisthána and Mańipura cakra people, and if there is some calamity, what will the Svádhisthána cakra people do? You will find him in some closet, sitting like this, immobile. And you, you'll spend a lot of energy to take him out of there. The Mańipura cakra – you will not find, he already ran away and sitting in some tree, three kilometers away. And Anáhata cakra, he's running around and asking everybody, "What will happen? Ah, is there police coming? Oh..." You know? Like that. Worry. Worrying. Mentally very-very agitated and active. Yeah. These are three kinds of fears.
Okey, I think you understood the gist of what Svádhisthána cakra is. I think you're getting the idea: it is connected with the liquid element, it is controlling the reproductive system, it is hosting six emotions which are characteristics to reptiles. By studying reptiles, you can understand Svádhisthána cakra. You know, if you are communicating with a crocodile, and if the crocodile will cut off... cut your hand with his mouth and if you try to shame that crocodile, "Oh, crocodile, why did you do like this? I loved you, I cared for you but you harmed me so much." And the crocodile will not understand because the emotion of shame and this type of complicated emotions are not known to him. He will say, "I wanted to eat and I ate, what's wrong with that?" You know, there is this Mafia slogan, "Nothing personal, pure business." "Sorry, pal, I did not want, I did not mean to harm you. I just wanted to take and I take what is mine. I just wanted to eat and I ate, sorry, that you have come on the way." So, that's the psychology: "I don't really care what will happen around. I just care for myself."
But when the Svádhisthána cakra is developed, it gives the sense of beauty, it gives the beauty to the person, it gives psychological ability. You understand the emotions of others, you are very tactful, you are very considerate. And you have a very healthy reproductive system, strong reproductive system.
So, how to improve Svádhisthána cakra? First of all, we should try to keep the nerves of Svádhisthána cakra calm, not agitated. So, the nerves around the reproductive organs, they should be kept calm, not agitated. Because once the reproductive system becomes active, it's, you know, it's not a small thing to produce a new life, so it's quite a great deal of energy needed. But once you excite the reproductive system, once it starts to prepare itself for reproductive action, reproductive process, then tremendous amount of energy is spent by the body for that. And, nowadays lots of excitement comes through what we see, through what we hear, because our culture is very saturated with erotic feelings and that stimulates very much the Svádhisthána cakra. So we should try to avoid as much... I mean, I am not saying that we should completely, how to say... not to have that aspect of life. I'm just saying, that we should not spend unnecessary energy to that. It is considered in yoga that the reproductive function can be utilized without harming the body and mind four times a month, not more than that. Okey and then unnecessary excitement should be avoided.
Yeah, so prashraya vritti, the seeking pleasure mentality will be under control. And also, yeah, just to... Prashraya should be controlled whenever we can. Like, if we... to practice moderation, if we eat something sweet, eat a little bit of that sweet. If you eat tasty food, eat moderate amounts. So, the practice of moderation is very important for developing Svádhisthána cakra. It's one thing.
Then, to keep the nerves of this area calm, we use a very-very healthy, scientific practice. When we go to the toilet to pass urine, after that the reproductive system is warmed up, the heat is created there, and also some urine is there, so some impurity is there. And if we allow that to continue, then the bacteria will multiply and then we'll create more impurity. And that impurity will cause excitement in the nerves, it will irritate the nerves. So, it should be avoided. So, after the toilet, we pour cold water over the genital organ and simultaneously cleaning and cooling it down. The warmth means energy, means movement, movement means excitement, excitement means stimulation of the areas of the brain connected with this. And then the brain will start sending energy, start to mobilize the body to support the reproductive system. And then it wears off, it will wear out the reproductive system, it will unnecessarily, how to say, make it old and also it will waste the energy of the body. So, we should use this practice. Once I started to use, I saw, you know, in the yoga center I came and I see, I've seen a bottle, just a bottle, plastic bottle standing in the toilet. And I asked, "What the hell this bottle does in the toilet?" And the brother said, "You know, sometimes I am sitting in the toilet and I become so thirsty and I must have that bottle." We laughed with him and then he explained, he said that after toilet it's good to pour cold water over the organ and also after defecation to clean very-very thoroughly. So, when there is no impurity, there is no stimulation of Svádhisthána cakra and it remains calm, and it is easier to control all the emotions of Svádhisthána cakra. It's one thing.
Second is, males should use a special underwear, it's called langota or kaupina. That kaupina underwear is the most comfortable thing as an underwear. It is a very tight piece of cloth that fixes the genital organ in a certain position. If there is no movement, there is no stimulation. First time when I tried, I was nineteen years old and then I got curious, I saw that other brothers they wear some strange underwear, I asked, "What's that?" They said, "Oh, you don't know? It is really a powerful thing." So, I acquired one and I put it on. And I remember, I came to my university and before that I just... I remember that state of mind, my mind was so foggy and so hazy, it was like... like this very-very-very unfocused. And very much dominated by, you know, attractions, you know, the girls and all this. And all of a sudden, I felt myself next to a demigod. I am so clear, so strong in my mind, and completely pure mind, no distractions in the mind. I just felt, "Wow, I can do anything and everything as if my, you know, brain just accelerated so much, wow!" I didn't expect that simple underwear can cause such a transformation in my mind. Since then I am wearing that. It really makes a difference. You know, some people I ask, some people they report similar experience as myself, some people they say, "Oh, it is not convenient." But most of the people they say it is quite convenient and it really helps. They report that it is really helpful for them to control the Svádhisthána cakra and have a more clear and sober mind. So, that is another one.
Then your intestines should be clean all the time. The presence of stuff inside also stimulates the nerves within the intestines. And it kind of keeps the mind down, at the level of the lower chakras. So, it is very difficult, those who are meditating, they know, if you wake up in the morning and you could not go to the toilet for some reason, it will become very-very difficult to concentrate. Even to sit straight will be very difficult. You will feel yourself weak, because the toxins are there and just your mind cannot get elevated. So, there should not be constipation, the bowels should always be clean. And those clean bowels – how to achieve? Svádhisthána cakra controls what? Water element. If you drink enough sufficient water, that is also balancing Svádhisthána cakra. Sufficient water means at least 3 liters, 2-3 liters per day we need to drink. Water purifies the body, purifies the body, purifies the cells, purifies the intestines, purifies the digestive system and it is very-very good for health. Drinking water itself is a powerful health practice. One my good friend, he is a medical doctor, and he's saying, "One of my patients, she suffers from asthma and I gave her a simple piece of advice: you, please, drink water, drink this much water every day." And then next time she comes, she is not using anymore hormones, she is completely cured. She said, "Just by drinking water I became completely OK, I became completely fine." You know, water is life, is a miraculous effect, so by drinking water we restore our youthfulness, we restore our beauty and we really support the proper function of Svádhisthána cakra.
Then avoid the food which is stimulating the lower... the propensities of the lower chakras. What are those foods? Mostly, non-vegetarian foods: meat, fish, alcohol, tobacco, onion, garlic, eggs – these types of products. It's called tamoguna products, tamoguna foods. We should try as much as we can avoid those, because it really... life becomes so much easier without those foods. Those foods, they really stimulate, especially garlic, onion, oh... they stimulate the lower chakras, and it becomes very-very difficult to control them. Without onion, garlic, people become much more smart, they become much more gentle, and they become much more clear also. That's my experience also. When people come to learn meditation and if I sense the smell of garlic, then I rather not teach meditation. I would say, "Can you please, you know, not eat for two-three days then you come." Because a person cannot understand, cannot grasp the subtle concepts of spirituality. Because meditation, like advanced stages of meditation when you're explaining, it requires intuition, it requires concentration, so... and the person cannot grasp, the mind is just too superficial. So, yeah... I see the effect is very strong. In myself, if I have some... for at least nineteen years I have not eaten these foods but sometimes maybe three years ago I got a little bit, a little piece of, I think, garlic somewhere in a spice it was present, it was vegetarian food in the flight and they put some, I think, in a spice. So, I ate and I felt something strange. And then after twenty minutes I started to feel an aftertaste in my mouth. And I understood, no, I have got some garlic inside. And then I felt very-very... I felt very strange. I felt my emotions become numb, my inspiration is gone, and my mind is moving very difficult, it's not sharp anymore. So, it has a powerful effect on us, we should avoid.
Yeah, drinking water, eating proper food and then asanas. Asanas – what asanas are there? The most powerful is Gomukhásana. It's called "cow's head" posture. Gomukhásana. That asana, first time I did... Actually, asanas... Svádhisthána cakra is a bit... it is static. And it takes time to improve its function. So, if Mańipura cakra you can within three days completely transform the energies here but in Svádhisthána cakra you have to do two, three, four, five, six months and then you can really feel a strong effect. So I was doing Gomukhásana for six months and then really my world has changed. Really, the mind started to work differently. It's the most powerful in my experience. Then there is Shalabhásana also strong, the "locust" posture. Then there is Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá and Bhújauṋgásana. These three I have given you in the basic meditation course. I think you are doing them already. You might experience their effect already. I was doing yoga classes before and one girl she said, "Dada, my whole life... I was suffering with painful cycle, whenever the cycle would come, I would just be, you know, excruciating pain. And I am doing asanas just for one month and the pain is gone. It's a miracle for me." Yes, miracle for her but not for me. Because these three basic asanas they balance the lower chakras and restoring the health, the physical health, restoring the health and the beauty and the harmony within the body and mind. So, those are also powerful. Jánushirasana, Utkat́a Paschimottánásana. These asanas are also good. You can look for them in my... Under this video I will mention... First, if I have not yet recorded in English, then I will just put links in Russian and then later I will replace. So, I hope by now it's already replaced and everything is in English, okey, but if not, at least in Russian you can see, at least you can have an idea what posture looks like.
Then, there is this breathing exercise. You lie down in the "corpse" posture, just like this, you lie down on the floor, relax... It should be done in the morning, should never be done in the evening or afternoon. It requires the morning energies. And then you focus at the root of the genital organ. Or six fingers below the navel point. Then you imagine that you are breathing in, while breathing in, while taking the breath in, air in, you feel that you are taking the entire energy of the Cosmos within your Svádhisthána cakra. And while breathing out you're letting go of that energy, and that energy returns and merges with the infinite ocean of energy. And you do seven breathing cycles. Means, seven breathing in, seven breathing out. That is called Amhashi mudra or water breathing, it also improves the function of Svádhisthána cakra.
Okey, so Svádhisthána cakra is controlling water element, is concerned with pleasure, is concerned with beauty, concerned with harmony, concerned with tactfulness, psychology – these are our good qualities of Svádhisthána cakra. If not controlled then... if weak then strong, crude, ruthless emotions will function within your mind creating disharmony in yourself and around yourself. That person becomes completely egoistic and acts in a very selfish way and actually in a very stupid way. That's why the people of Svádhisthána cakra they cannot progress very far, they cannot become very successful. So, we should bring under control the Svádhisthána cakra.
How to bring under control? The asanas I mentioned: Gomukhásana, Shalabhásana, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana, Jánushirasana, Utkat́a Paschimottánásana. Breathing exercise called Amhashi mudra, you breathe in and breathe out through Svádhisthána cakra. Svádhisthána cakra is located six fingers below the navel point. And it controls six vritties: Six vritties are: prashraya – pleasure seeking tendency, avajiṋá – disdain, belittlement of others, then there is this múrcchá – psychic stupor, then there is kruratá – crude behavior, crude manners, then there is sarvanásha – is the fear of annihilation, and then there is this the inferiority complex or distrust to others and disbelief in yourself.
So, yeah, I think that the complete picture of Svádhisthána cakra is given. It is enough for now. We can further return to the topic and have some more discussion about like, narrow down the area, we have more understanding of the details. Yeah, If you like the video you please 'like' it. And if you like it very much and you feel it is worth sharing, you share it. Subscribe to this channel and you can share with friends and social networks and your YouTube channel. I am very appreciative of that, thankful of that. And thank you for your attention, thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy, and I've enjoyed being with you. Thank you. Namaskar.