This is how I do it:

1.Stand up keeping the legs apart at about two feet distance. Hang the hand loosely at your sides. Keep the head straight and look directly in front and breathe normally.
2.Inhale slowly and raise both hands towards the sky, in sidewise circular motion. Time it in such a way that by the time your hands come up, you also complete inhaling. When the hands are up, the palms should be turned forward and the arms should be in a parallel position.
3.Start exhaling and lowering the body upper area towards the ground. While bending forward, keep both hands parallel to one another and move them towards the ground. By the time both hands each the floor, you should finish exhaling.
4.Now hold the breath and stay in that position for about 6 to 8 seconds. While holding your breath, keep the upper part of the body quite loose, and the lower part, from the waist down, rigid and firm. Bend your head down towards the ground. Do not strain. Do only as much as you can comfortably.
5.Bring both hands on the legs and inhale and come up in the standing position. Now you have completed one round of Suryanamaskar Asana.
6.Rest for 5 to 6 second and then repeat the same process, while staying in the position of readiness while resting.
7.Practice 4 times daily.

There are many benefits to this asana. It activates the glands of the endocrine system. It stimulates the pancreas, adrenal, thyroid, pituitary and some other glands begin to secrete their hormones in a normal way. It has good effects on the stomach, spine and corrects many disorders.

This is how I do it:

1.Sit down on the floor. Stretch both legs in front. Make the legs parallel to one another. Put both palms on the floor and breathe normally. While sitting, keep the back straight.
2.Let one leg remain stretched on the floor. Fold the other leg at the knee and pull it slightly backward.
3.Put the heel of the folded leg at the central point between the knee and the ankle of the stretched leg. Then drop the heel on the outer side of the leg. Keep the heel quite close to the stretched leg. Now the knee of your folded leg should be upward.
4.Lift the hand which is on the side of the stretched leg and bring it up parallel to the stretched leg. Grab the stretched leg near the heel of the folded leg. Now you have made a lock with the arm and the knee. If you cannot grab the stretched leg, relax, and just touch it or keep the fingers near the central point.
5.Lift the other side hand and put its palm on the waist, keeping the thumb and index finger side upward. Now fold your elbow around 90 degree angle with the stretched leg. See that your head, neck and back are straight upward.
6.Start exhaling slowly and at the same time begin twisting and turning the waist, chest, neck and the head area in the direction of the folded elbow.
7.After making the maximum turn, hold the breath and stay in that position for 6 to 8 seconds. Your spine should be straight upwards and you should project the vision at a maximum distance.
8.Then start inhaling slowly and return to the position of readiness.
9.Now break the lock, stretch out the legs, relax the body and put the palms on the floor and rest for 6 seconds.
10.After rest, repeat the asana with the other leg, following the same method.
11.Make 4 to 6 rounds alternately.

The main effect of this asana is on the waist and abdominal area, activating all the organs and glands of these parts of the body. This asana has a very good effect also on the pancreas, adrenal, ovary in female and testicles in the male. It is easy to do and is recommended for every practitioner of yoga.

how effectively can i use it?

Trataka certainly isn’t going to improve your eyesight.

Trataka is just a meditation technique meant to improve concentration and has nothing to do with improving eyesight.

These are the steps to perform Paschimottan Asana:
1.Sit on the floor and stretch both your legs in front. Keep the heels and toes together. Be seated firmly, keeping the spine, neck and head straight upward. Keep the hands down on the floor.
2.Stretch out both the arms parallel to the stretched legs.
3.Touch the right toe with the right hand fingers and the left toe with the left hand fingers. If you cannot touch the toe, then go only as far as you can. Do not fold or lift the toes.
4.Bow your head downwards till it comes between the two arms. Exhale all the air out by the time the head is down.
5.Now stretch the toes and tighten the legs while keeping the head between the two arms and stretching both hands as much forward as possible. Stay in that position for 6 to 8 seconds.
6.Now drop both palms on the legs and start inhaling and returning to the position of readiness. Let the palms be dragged back over the legs while returning.
7.Rest for five seconds and repeat the process.

Daily Practice: Do it 4 times a day. Care must be taken not to stretch the muscles abruptly. Those with back injury or spinal disorders with severe pain are advised to practice very lightly and comfortably, without forcing the body to bend excessively.

Benefits of the Asana:
This asana benefits the whole of the spinal cord, the complete nervous system and all the organs and glands of the abdominal area. For diabetics, it has a curative effect by activating the pancreas and the glands of the endocrine system.

Shalabha Asana is a difficult posture to do and is classified as one of the advanced yoga poses. So, it is advised that one must first master the most basic postures first, before embarking on a rather hard one to do. At any rate, a sufficiently healthy individual could do it and would benefit greatly from doing so.

Steps to perform Shalabha Asana:

1.Lie down on your stomach. Put any cheek on the floor. Stretch the hands on both sides of the body and keep them close to the thighs. Make a fist on both hands in the same position. Stretch both legs and let the toes flat on the floor. Keep the whole body straight and breathe normally.
2.Inhale slowly but deeply through both nostrils and hold the breath.
3.Lift the head slightly, make it straight and let the chin rest on the floor.
4.Make the fists firm and tighten the arms and the hands.
5.Now tighten both the legs together and lift them up quickly as high as you can.
6.Stay in that position for 5 to 6 seconds or less, keeping the legs quite tight all over.
7.Then exhale slowly, while simultaneously lowering the legs down towards the floor.
8.When the legs have touched the floor, turn the head to rest it on either cheek; and let the body relaxed. Rest for 5 seconds and repeat in the same order.

Daily Practice: Repeat it only 4 times daily. (Do this after the Bhujanga Asana). If you have difficulty in lifting both legs, then alternate by doing one leg at a time.

Benefits of the Asana:
It has curative effects on various abdominal troubles and activates the kidneys, liver, pancreas and the whole abdominal area. It removes constipation, wind troubles, indigestion, acidity and gastrointestinal disorders.
It also gives flexibility to the spine while invigorating the eyes, the face, lungs, chest, neck, shoulder and the whole upper area of the body.

Is doing shirsh asana only ,without doing other asans, cure dipression? For how much duration daily?

Shirshasana is a powerful Asana and is considered as the “King of Asanas” due to its effect on the entire body. The Sanskrit word “Shirsha” actually means head. Hence this posture is better known as “The headstand posture”. Though beginners may find this posture difficult, they can initially take the help of a friend while practicing. During practice, the head can be given an extra padding like for instance a folded blanket. A pillow is not advisable as it would be too soft.
DESCRIPTION

1.Fold both the legs at the knees and be seated on the heels of the feet. The body, neck, spine and head should be kept erect. Palms can be placed on the knees. Breathe normally.
2.Interlock the fingers of hands and place them on the soft padding by leaning forward.
3.Keeping elbows shoulder widths apart, gently place the back of the head on the inner side of the interlocked fingers. Now slowly lift knees from the floor and take one or two steps towards the head.
4.Inhale and simultaneously lift the legs gently so that they are in a vertical position. Keeping the back straight, relax and breathe deeply from the abdomen.
5.Hold on in the same position for fifteen seconds. The time duration can be increased gradually up to three minutes with practice. While returning to the initial normal position, first bend the knees and place one leg on the floor first and then bring the other down.
BENEFITS

As there is an increased blood flow to the brain, Shirshasana improves memory and intelligence. The body parts that are benefited through this Asana are the endocrine glands; the Pituitary, Thyroid, Parathyroid and Pineal glands. It also helps in any sort of non-alignment of the spine. It also helps in improving the quality of sleep.

This Asana reduces and prevents health conditions such as tension, fatigue, nervousness, insomnia, amnesia, fear, headache, constipation, Asthma, spleen or liver disorders and congestion of throat. As the blood circulation to the scalp is increased, it promotes hair growth.

Dear friends i am searching for the book mentioned above. i have searched in many book stores and also many book sites including amazon but book is not available. even i tried to purchase this book from bihar school of yoga through net but they send a reply saying book is not available now. does anyone know where can i get this book.

As previous poster suggested, it does appear there is a copy currently be offered on the U.S. ebay by a Canadian seller.
The listing does say he/she will ship to anywhere in world.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ASANA-PRANAYAMA-MUDRA-BANDHA-Satyananda-Saraswati-YOGA_W0QQitemZ350088466194QQihZ022QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Also, there is half.com (owned by ebay) with following offers:

http://product.half.ebay.com/Asana-Pranayama-Mudra-Bandha_W0QQprZ2843461QQtgZinfo

And there is following site, which claims book is being reprinted, but they are accepting back-orders for it:

http://www.vedicbooks.net/asana-pranayama-mudra-bandha-p-901.html

Namaste’,
dwb

Or is physical yoga getting more popular in India as well?

Wow. You have made my day. What an interesting and well thought out question.

I have been to India 3 times. I have Indian American and Indian English friends. What I have found interesting was that not everyone practices physical yoga or has yoga philosophy/teachings in their day to day activities.

It was really narrow-minded of me, because not all Christians or Jews or Muslims practice their faiths each minute and not all Conservatives think about their political views all the time, etc. People live modern lives often without the time to practice various philosophies or belief systems or whatever…

I found that most people of Indian background were quite okay with Westerners doing yoga – many thought of it as a positive way to experience Indian culture. Some found our way of doing things amusing…others (deep, serious practitioners) were disturbed at the superficial levels that many of us practice.

There were even people, usually a bit older and of certain classes, who thought of Westerners doing the asanas as a bit weird. I don’t know how to explain it.

Being African American, people were either completely bowled over that I was deeply interested in Yoga (diet, philosophy, asanas, etc.) and very happy or found it extremely funny.

I didn’t see any real hatred of Westerners for this though…just some concern from the most serious people. I can truly understand that….it bothers me when people make fun of or butcher things that are a part of my own culture.

This is how to do it:

1.Lie with your back on the floor and look upwards at the ceiling and keeping both arms straight alongside the body with palms touching the floor. Breathe normally.
2.Inhale slowly but deeply through both nostrils and holding the breath,
3.Stretch out both your toes as much as you can slowly lift both legs up about 10 to 12 inches high from the floor for about 6 seconds.
4.Then start exhaling and lowering the legs toward the floor, both actions to synchronize that the legs reach the floor as you finish exhaling.
5.Rest for two normal breaths for about five to six seconds, and
6.Repeat the process. Practice 4 times daily.

This asana exercises all the abdominal muscles, external and internal and thus corrects disorders of the pancreas and cures constipation, wind troubles, indigestion and intestinal disorders. It takes away excess weight of the abdominal area.

It has also a curative and corrective effect on backache or troubles in the waist, buttocks and hip joints, while strengthening the spinal cord and energizing inner cells and benefits the whole nervous system.

hi guys i m going 2 high spiritual process infront of my guru,my guru said u will site 2 hours continue site a same asana so practise that.plz give me ideas and u r tips thanx 2 all.

If you keep your goal- to maintain same posture for 2-3 hrs- it will appear difficult.

Never think to maintain same posture for certain duration, instead fix your goal to spiritual progress & keep all your attention towards the spiritual process & the ultimate goal, as told by your guru. If it happens 2-3 hrs will pass like 2-3 minutes. This state comes after regular practice. With regular practice we develop very strong interest in our goal & then time starts flying.

Same thing happens in worldly matter also – if you are fully devoted to your goal like- music, painting or reading books etc- you unknowingly remain in same posture for many hours & it appears like few minutes only.