in the past after doing asanas often times I had been restless in sivasana. While the asanas are to relax the nervous system, it also seems to wake it up. are there certain asanas that may help to slow the body/mind down if I were to hold them longer then other asanas? For instance, if a back bend tends to help wake you up maybe a forward bend would calm you down? also, I would be interested in finding a good book on asanas that tell you what each asana targets in relation to things such as mental activity, heart rate,(for me my heart rate has always been on the high side, even when I was very physically active) , not so much on the muscles of the body, nor the bones etc…
moving on from here
thanks
Brother Neil
Hello Neil,
Generally speaking, what you ask for comes from a teacher rather than a book AND can vary from student to student so it actually has to be seen in them and adjusted. While there are some general effects of poses there is no one effect that all people will have from the same pose done the same way.
That having been said, you can page through Yoga: the path to holistic health or Light on Yoga, both authored by BKS Iyengar.
[ul]
[li]Yoga Nidra (to aid in deep relaxation)[/li][li] Pawanmuktasana Series 12&3[/li][/ul]
Both available from the Bihar School of Yoga publications.
Expect a learning curve of about least 3 months from starting to gaining abetter handle on and familiarity with the 2nd practices group, but well worth the investment.
Hi Neil,
When you do the Rotation of Consciousness through-out the body parts,in Yoga Nidra, you do this relatively quickly you kinda skip along them not staying overly long, and there’s reason for this.(I have speculated myself that it can be so new neural connections are set up - you’d need to try it for yourself to see what i mean. I think it’s possible awarness can surface in areas that were previously dormant)
Also there are relaxation asanas listed as such in ‘Asana Pranayam Mudra &Bandha’.
And you can uturn your Yoga NIDRA in to a Cosmic version by widening your consciousness to MOVE ON —>>>>to include or go beyond, widen not just the body,but to include the ground you’re lying on( really sink into it ,feel it’s heavyiness), watch the map of Florida recede…,.then the United States, you can just about make out the outline beneath the clouds and so on…
MOVING ON to – the Earth (picture that little blue planet)
-----then the vastness and deepness of outer space, the twinkling of the stars…(nothing can touch you here.)Watch them shimmer.Amaze at how enormous Deep space really is
and then the milky way, billions of other galaxies and then…
…the totality of things, of all dimensions---- the Cosmos ( Cosmic Consciousness.)
P.S --There may well be different kinds of yoga nidra i am not altogether familar with.But you can use one sort and explore that.The Bihar version of Yoga nidra starts you off with the fingers one by one then the palms,hands, wrist ,forearms,then elbows,shoulder,and so on,under-armpit,waist,hips, inner thigh,kneee clak ankles feet, toes— then switches to the left side, finally ending with the neck and head. Other versions of yoga nidra may do this or something else quite differently using a quite different system even altogether perhaps. It’s all about exploration, of the (big) Self, we are told…
Enjoy!!
[quote=justwannabe;31051]in the past after doing asanas often times I had been restless in sivasana. While the asanas are to relax the nervous system, it also seems to wake it up. are there certain asanas that may help to slow the body/mind down if I were to hold them longer then other asanas? For instance, if a back bend tends to help wake you up maybe a forward bend would calm you down? also, I would be interested in finding a good book on asanas that tell you what each asana targets in relation to things such as mental activity, heart rate,(for me my heart rate has always been on the high side, even when I was very physically active) , not so much on the muscles of the body, nor the bones etc…
moving on from here
thanks
Brother Neil[/quote]
Hola Neil,
Your experience of asanas is spot on – some do “wake you” up and “calm you down”. And there are certainly some basic principles to asanas, that this one will generally be [I]rajasic[/I] (stimulating) and another will be [I]tamasic[/I] (grounding), but depending on what is happening for us individually, our reaction and response to the asanas may be different. This variance is due to our missing something in the bigger picture of what is happening in our body-mind complex – we are responding to an asana out of the truth of what is happening in this body-mind complex, not what our perception is offering. This is when the art of Yoga meets the science of Yoga.
Of course, you have learned these same things as you’ve you grown your own practice over the years. Adapting to yourself as an individual and adapting too to the unique circumstances of present conditions is where you will likely have the benefits that you desire.
For a book resource, I would recommend David Frawley and Sandra Summerfield Kozak’sbook,[I] Yoga for Your Type: An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice[/I]. The authors do an excellent job breaking down the actions of each of the asana they present in this book.
There other books offered that will have postures broken down by increasing or decreasing a specific dosha or guna. Here are some general and basic guidelines to follow when using these books as practice guides:[INDENT]Postures that increase kapha and tamas, tend to slow the heart and breathing rates. They tend to create a grounded effect in the body and mind. Over utilized, these can also create too much kaphic and tamasic effects, leaving the body “heavy” and the mind lazy.
Postures that increase pitta and rajas tend to increase heat in the physical body and increase heart and breathing rates. They tend to have stimulating effects in the mind as well. Over utilized, they can produce too much heat, they can also push pitta out of its seat of digestion and into the other areas of your body creating too much heat here and not leaving enough where we want it, in the belly for digestion. The mind can become agitated and angry with too much stimulating practices. Pitta and rajas states love more pitta and rajas — if you watch yourself and others in heated moments when rajas is unguarded, fights, arguments and the like will continue to escalate, unless someone has enough balance, or “cool” headedness to not add to the fire.
Postures that increase vata tend to increase heart rate and breathing rates too. Vata postures can be used to bring an overly kaphic or tamasic state into balance, as they are balancing, or opposite, qualities. Vata is quite delicate, being easily provoked – ALL diseases in the both the body and mind complexes first begin with an imbalance of the vata dosha. Being as it is, utilizing postures that balance vata, or decrease vata, are recommended as part of a comprehensive and balanced asana practice.
[/INDENT]Mukunda Stiles offers balancing vinyasas in his book,[I] Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy[/I] too. He discusses and quotes Classical Yogic and Ayurvedic texts that guide us in choosing asanas that benefit our minds, bodies and spiritual hearts depending on our needs and responses. What you are picking up on in your question of, [I]“are there certain asanas that may help to slow the body/mind down if I were to hold them longer then other asanas?”[/I] is really excellent, because this is true for postures; extending your stay in a postures tends to increase kapha. It creates [I]sthira[/I] (stability) too and it can build bone and muscle tissues (kapha) in some individuals too. Holding asanas appropriately, and with right breath, balances vata and brings pitta into balance too. You are noticing the subtitles of the practices and yourSelf in the practice – hey, that is Yoga! 
Yoga Sutra of Patanjali II:28,
[I]By sustained practice of all components of Yoga, [/I]
[I]the impurities dwindle away [/I]
[I]and wisdom’s radiant light [/I]
[I]shines forth[/I][I] with discriminative knowledge.
[/I][LEFT]
Your own,
Nichole
[/LEFT]
Thanks IA for your recomendations
Hey core, i got a nidra CD, might do me some good to listen to it more
thanks Nichole for your post, looks like between you and IA I will choose one of the four books mentioned, need to figure out which.
Thanks
Brother Neil