The author of the book you are reading is a disciple of The Great Yogi Satyananda, who is a disciple of The Great Yogi Sivananda. These are my Gurus! I recommend you practice Sivananda’s 12 Basic postures.
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/asana/12-basic-asanas.html
Also add in other asanas that you like to make sure you enjoy and stick to your routine ? Camel and Wheel are both important. Emphasize the backbends, they are the most effective at opening up your Chakras. There will come a time in your practice when your start seeking out and enjoying that stress you feel in your backbends. I had a Bikram instructor say once ?try to commit suicide by breaking your back bending it backwards.? I talked to him after class because this gave me quite a chuckle and he said it is impossible to break your back, that you can do more than you think. That said, ease into anything new.
On my second reading of Kundalini Tantra I wrote down every asana that Satyananda talked about when he talked about opening Chakras and I noticed that the majority of them were backbends. Some twisting poses and forward bend are also important for the lower Chakras. Then I noticed that my Sivananda Yoga Instructor did them all in his class and had many variations of the most important ones.
On further reflection, his style of variations reminded me of Satyananda’s style of having you focus on Chakras when you are doing pranayama. This makes you focus your mind away from the breath extending the time that you hold it. His variations do the same taking away your focus on the feelings of discomfort and making you pay attention to the routine. (headstand, shoulderstand, plow, wheel, bridge, cobra, pigeon are all poses that you can do variations on that will make you hold the pose longer.
I found that my Meditation time really wasn’t productive until I was proficient at both Asanas and Pranayama. Practicing Yoga Nidra also is helpful taking you into deep states of relaxation that are then easier to return to when you practice meditation.
Make sure you read and practice Maha Bandha. From page 300 of Hatha Yoga Pradipika:
Perform jalahandhara, uddiyana and moola bandha. Keep the breath outside for as long as possible and rotate your awareness from Mooladhara to Manipura to Vishuddhi, mentally repeating the names of these chakras as you concentrate on each…
After many months when you are proficient, increase by one round every second, third or fourth day, until you are practising nine rounds. Continual practice over the years will result in spontaneous cessaion of the breath, even after kumbhaka is released. You may take one or two normal breaths and then the breathing will stop automatically. Let this happen and just watch how long it lasts.
Maha bandha can be practised between each round of bhastrika pranayama. In fact, it is better to practise it in conjunction with bhastrika because kumbhaka can then be easily held for a longer time.
The first day I practiced this my Kundalini turned on and my breath stopped. 3 weeks later, I could literally stop my breath at will.
