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HeinzGrill is a spiritual teacher and researcher, lecturer, mountaineer, healingpractitioner, and author of around 150 books on topics including yoga, thedevelopment of the consciousness, medicine and health, nutrition, architectureand mountaineering. Born in Bavaria in 1960, he established his first yogaschool and began training yoga teachers in 1989. He moved to Italy in 1999where he has set up the so-called "Sun Oasis", a centre wherespiritual thoughts are fostered and can radiate out to society. Over the years,more than 100 000 people have participated in his teaching. Whilsthis fields of activity are many and varied, the essence of all Heinz Grill'swork is to bring alive those deep spiritual truths of existence which havelasting validity. His teaching and his books enable others to develop their owninner feeling for these truths, and to give them expression in their chosenfield of work or life. His aim is to enrich the visible forms of society withinner, invisible spiritual content. Thus, the practice of yoga too is seen notmerely as a means towards personal well-being, but as a vehicle for givingprofound spiritual principles an outer, physical expression. HeinzGrill's ideas have a huge power to inspire people. This is because his words,whether written or spoken, always carry within them not just factualinformation, but an invisible aliveness which gives them a genuineauthenticity. He is authentic not only in the sense that he knows what he isteaching, but in the sense that what he is teaching carries in it a truth thatis universally valid. Thus, those reading or hearing his words have the sense"I always knew that, but I could not have put it into words myself".His words carry within them a substance which directly awakens the soul,triggering in his audience an inner development to new realisation andmaturity.

• ContentsForewordHow to use this bookThe Soul Dimension of YogaThe practice of yoga and its meaning The three basic forces of the soul Where is the home of the soul?Breathing and the life of the soulThe meaning of inhalation and exhalationThe difference between free breathing and guided breath Forming mental pictures has an effect on the breathThe different regions of the soul-life Mladhara-cakra and the earth element Svadhi'hana-cakra and the water element Ma~ipra-cakra and the air element Anahata-cakra and the warmth elementVicuddha-cakra, and learning to differentiate between a consciousness free from the body and a consciousness bound to the bodyAjna-cakra and the development of a freely creating power of thouSahasrara-cakra and the experiencing of soul contentAttention, Concentration and Relationship A practical example for attentionThe beginning of a path of consciousness to develop the soulThe different energies in yoga, three different radiations of the auraDifferent demands in the exercisesRhythmically building up an exercise and developing yoga out of the social contextAn exercise does not lead to escape from the world Rhythmically building up an exercise in three phasesInner calm and relaxationThe development of the soul-life takes place in three stepsShaping life with content - anahata-cakraExercises for experiencing the spine pictorially -parcva pariv (R)tta triko~asanaThe tip-toe pose - pada gu'hasanaThe tree - ta asanaThe St Andrew's cross - saodhisthanaThe shoulderstand - sarva gasanaThe development of expansiveness - ma~ipra-cakra A basic exercise for expansiveness: vihayas - free space The plough - halasanaThe head to knee pose - paccimottanasanaThe bow - dhanurasana The camel - u'rasana The triangle - triko~asanaThe lying triangle - anantasanaOpenness through developing mental pictures, releasing the old and beginning anew - vicuddha-cakraThe wings - pak'atiThe yoga gesture - yoga mudraThe fish - matsyasanaThe half moon - anjaneyasanaThe head to knee pose in half lotus -eka pada padma paccimottanasanaWater and the movement of gathering - svadhi'hana-cakraA soul exerciseThe standing head to knee pose - uttanasanaThe locust - calabhasanaThe wide stretch and forward-bending variations -ko~asana, eka pada paccimottanasanaDeveloping a power of consciousness free from projection -ajna-cakraA basic exercise for developing the mid-point in the head The sitting twist - ardha matsyendrasanaThe headstand - c/r'asanaThe cobra - bhuja gasanaEncouraging primordial strength and developing a freely available decisiveness - mladhara-cakraThe earth - bhmiThe leg pose - utthita eka pada hastasana The inclined plane - prvottanasana The peacock pose - mayrasanaThe development of complete freedom from the body -sahasrara-cakraThe fire of lengthening - d/rghasanaThe lotus - padmasanaThe half diamond - supta vajrasanaThe scorpion - v (R)ccikasana The horse - vatayanasana The crow - kakasanaThe scales - tulada~ asanaThe dove - kapotasanaA methodical sequence with which to construct a practice sessionThe sun prayer - srya namaskaraA meditation on the three circlesAuthor's notesTranslator's notes from the text General notes on the translation Recommended literatureAbout Heinz Grill