To Adjust the Heat in the Body for Improved Digestion and Weight Loss

(Self-Experience — Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, p. 2).

Camel Pose. From a sitting position on your heels, reach back and grab your ankles. Arch your body up, allowing the head to drop back. Hold this posture for 11 minutes. Inhale and relax.

Rock Pose. Sit on the heels with your hands on your knees. Keep the spine straight. Hold this position for 11 minutes. Inhale and Relax.

Baby Pose from Rock Pose. Lean forward until your forehead rests on the ground in front of your knees. Let your arms and hands, palms up, relax on the ground by your legs. Hold this position for 11 minutes.

Comments: Begin by practicing each exercise for 1-3 minutes. Work slowly and gradually up to the maximum practice time of 11 minutes.

Camel Pose Techniques (for beginners): Kneel with your thighs at right angles to the floor with your weight on your knees and the bottom of your flexed toes. Place the hands on the hips, fingers down. Stretch the pelvis forward, keeping enough tension in your thigh muscles to keep you from falling backward. At this point, look and reach back with one hand, swinging the other hand forward for balance, grabbing the top of the heel (or ankle if it is easy for you). Do the same with the other side. To come out of this position, push up asymmetrically from one side. It is harder to come up on both thighs at the same time. When you can come in and out of this gracefully, either one side at a time or from both sides at the same time, then you can do Camel Pose with the toes extended and the tops of the feet flat on the floor. Beginners often let their head hang down which can strain the neck. Concentration should be on lengthening the entire spinal column instead. An alternative to sitting on the shins is to sit with the legs extended in front of you and use the same backbend-type motion. An alternative way to come out of Camel Pose at the end is by sitting down through the position and lifting the head. Camel Pose opens the diaphragm and chest. It energizes the navel and heart centers and adjusts the internal organs.

Rock Pose Techniques: Sit on the heels. The heels should be straight up into your sit bones in order to stimulate a meridian point in each buttock. If it is painful to sit on your heels in this way, use a cushion or blanket underneath your ankles or between your buttocks and your heels. Rock pose strengthens the pelvic muscles which helps prevent hernia and is helpful to women in childbirth.

Baby Pose Techniques: Begin by sitting on the heels. Bend forward and place the forehead on the ground, putting pressure on the Third Eye. Arms are at the sides, near the buttocks, palms facing up.