悉瓦南達瑜伽12個基本體位排序的意義

問：可否請您解釋為何悉瓦南達瑜伽12個基本體位如此排序？

答：

瑜伽的修習就本質而言是靈性的修習，其中包括瑜伽體位法的練習。它們都具有一個更高層次、更崇高的靈性目標，那就是對真我的領悟，或者說對我們真實本性的領悟。我們可以採取不同的方式以達到這一目標，哈他瑜伽就是方式之一。當然，瑜伽也會帶來其他附加的效果，比如說健康、心境平和、身體活力、心理強健、超然感知及靈性力量等等。

說到體位法，它不僅僅是為了身體的健康，還有許多療愈的益處，對健康十分有利，對我們的身體也有著深刻的影響。瑜伽體式不僅確保我們身體所有的部位都能均勻地獲得生命能量的供給，更精微的身體層面也同樣如此。生命能量的傳送一旦加強，血液流動就會得到加強。體式讓身體的所有部位都得到均衡的血液供給，此外還讓身體各部位得到良好的神經脈衝流，籍此來調節內分泌系統。又因為內分泌系統是負責分泌各種荷爾蒙到血液中的生理系統，進而帶來了生理系統的荷爾蒙平衡。

既然瑜伽體位法能有以上所有這些效果，那麼瑜伽修行者所遵循的序列就應該是特別設置的，斯瓦米•威斯奴帝瓦南達的這套體位法編排尤其如此。

如果我們留意的話就會注意到，這套體位法的特殊之處在於，它是從Sirshansana頭倒立開始。頭倒立會對頭頂起作用。頭頂在意氣身中對應於Sahasrara Chakra頂輪。接下來我們做肩倒立、犁式及魚式。這三個體式都會對甲狀腺起作用，而甲狀腺對應的脈輪是Vishudha Chakra喉輪。所以頭倒立作用於頭部的頂輪和眉心輪。而肩倒立會對甲狀腺起作用，其對應脈輪為Vishudha Chakra, 即喉輪......接下來的體式如眼鏡蛇、蝗蟲式等會對腎臟區域及腎上腺起作用，腎上腺對應於Swadhishatana Chakra生殖輪（位於性器官區域）。尤其是對女性而言，眼鏡蛇等體式會作用於生殖腺所在的性器官區域。當我們練習如 Siddhasana至善坐等體位時又會作用於Muladhara Chakra, 也就是根輪。

體式的序列對應於創世之時脈輪生成的順序。這個序列是與創世的順序一致的。接下來，當你來到Shavasana攤屍式時，你的意識和能量則向相反方向移動。你從腳底板開始，向上移動能量。先專注於雙腳腳掌，然後一步一步地將能量帶至頭頂。這個過程遵循了我們所講的創世的回溯過程。通過一次瑜伽練習，你就在精微的層面——氣脈、脈輪等所在的層面，經歷了整個創世和回溯的迴圈。在練習瑜伽的過程中，經歷整個創世和回溯的迴圈對氣脈有著深刻的影響。

再來看半脊柱扭轉這個的體式。 這個體式如何起作用呢？我們有三條主要的氣脈 －左脈（Ida）、右脈（Pingala）及中脈（Sushumna）；它們互相糾結，彼此阻塞。具體地說， 中脈阻塞會導致生命能量不能流經中間的氣脈。當你練習半脊柱扭轉這類體式時會釋放這三條氣脈，讓中脈不再受阻，那麼生命能量就可以從這條通道中流動。同樣地， 你在左右兩側練習三角式時，也是在打開這三條脈絡從而使中脈不再受阻。還有我們做的Paschimothanasana頭朝膝式，就是在推動生命能量流入中脈這個中央通道。所有這些過程都發生在能量層面上，對身體有極大的影響。身體的所有活動都是由意氣身所掌控的，由氣脈、脈輪等所構成的網路控制，因而這些過程在許多方面影響到身體。如果意氣身是健康的，你自然就會擁有健康的身體。這就是瑜伽體位法的功效。

英文問答

Question: Would you explain the reason for the order of the 12 basic postures in the Sivananda Yoga Sequence?

Answer: Yogic practices by nature are fundamentally spiritual practices, including the yoga asanas. They have a higher, lofty spiritual purpose that is Self-Realization, or the realization of our true nature. And we attain this goal by following different methods, including hatha yoga. But then yogic practices also have what is called side benefits. Side benefits can be things like health, peace of mind, physical powers, mental powers, psychic powers, spiritual powers, and so on.

When we speak about asanas, they have a lot of therapeutic benefits, a lot of health benefits, and have a profound effect over the physical body, although their purpose or their goal is not precisely the physical body. Yoga asanas are assuring an even supply of prana, or life force, to all the parts of the physical body. An even supply of prana is assured not only for the physical body, but also for all the other subtle bodies. Once the distribution of the life force is enhanced, the blood flow is also enhanced. Yoga asanas assure the even and harmonious flow of blood to all the parts of the body. On top of it, they assure a good flow of nerve impulses to all the parts of the body, thus affecting the endocrine system. The endocrine system is the bodily system that secretes hormones into the blood, and thus creates what we call hormonal balance in the physical body 。

The yoga asanas are doing all these things, and then of course, the sequence that the yogis are following, specifically Swami Vishnudevananda’s sequence, is a very special sequence.

This is a very special sequence because if you notice, the sequence starts with Sirshasana. Now, the headstand affects the crown of the head. The crown of the head in the astral body parallels what we call the Sahasrara Chakra, the crown chakra. Then you do the shoulderstand, then you do Plough, then you do Fish. All these three affect the thyroid gland that parallels the Vishudha Chakra, the throat chakra. The headstand affects the crown chakra and the third-eye chakra; which are the head chakras. Then when you do the shoulderstand, you affect the thyroid gland that parallels the Vishudha, which is the throat chakra...Then, when you do postures like Cobra or Locust, and so on, you affect the area of the kidneys and the suprarenal glands that sit on the kidneys, that parallel the Swadhishatana Chakra, which is the chakra in the area of the sexual organs. Of course, specifically for ladies, practices like Cobra will affect the area of the sexual organs where the sexual glands are located. Then, when we do postures like, for example, Siddhasana, we affect the Muladhara Chakra, which is the root chakra.

The order of the asanas parallels the flow of the chakras during what we call the time of creation. This follows creation. Then, when you do Shavasana, your attention and energies go the opposite way. You start from the bottom of your feet and you withdraw the energy up. You focus on the bottom of your feet and step-by-step you withdraw the energy up to the top of your head and this follows what we call the dissolution of creation. In one practice you go through the whole cycle of creation, and the dissolution of creation, on the subtle level, on the level of nadis, chakras, and so on. By going through the whole cycle of creation, and dissolution when practicing yoga, this has a profound effect on the nadis.

For example, postures such as Half Spinal Twist. What the half spinal twist does is that you have the three primary nadis — Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna — and they are entangled, they choke each other. Specifically, they choke the Sushumna and do not allow the prana to flow through the Sushumna, through the central channel. When you do things like spinal twist, you are freeing these three nadis and you are freeing the Sushumna from being choked. Thus, allowing the prana to flow through this channel. Similarly, when you do the triangle on the left side and on the right side, you are opening these three channels, so the Sushumna is not choked. Then, when you do things like Paschimothanasana, or head to knee posture, you are encouraging the flow of the prana into the Sushumna, into the central channel. All of these processes, which happen on an energetic level, have a profound effect over the physical body. They affect the physical body on many, many levels because the physical body is governed and controlled by the astral body and by the matrix of nadis and chakras and so on, that control all the activities within the physical body. If you have a healthy astral body, surely you are going to have a healthy physical body. And this is what the asanas are doing.

斯瓦米•斯瓦如帕南達是斯瓦米•威斯奴帝瓦南達的大弟子之一。他年輕時就開始習練瑜伽，一生都致力於瑜伽的練習和教授。他在全世界各地教過瑜伽導師培訓課程，目前主要在世界範圍內教授高階的瑜伽哲理課程及講座。他負責巴哈馬的悉瓦南達瑜伽靜修靜修林，是巴哈馬及中東地區的靈性導師。他是國際悉瓦南達瑜伽扶檀多中心的理事會成員。

Swami Swaroopananda is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda. A practicing yogi from a very young age, Swami Swaroopananda has dedicated his life to the practice and teaching of yoga. He taught in Yoga Teacher Training Courses around the world and is currently teaching advanced yoga philosophy courses and lectures internationally. He is Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat and acharya (spiritual director) for the Sivananda centers and ashrams in the Bahamas and the Middle East. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.