[Rajib KANUNGO]

Reply from a practitioner :

“Hari Om Sir, had known this bit of information earlier. Had and still have a doubt lurking behind when asanas are done and hence not could do similar poses whole heartedly till now. Please guide me as appropriate and if sounds impertinent question then please forgive and assure…thank you…”

[Rajib KANUNGO]

Ganesh sir replied :

Given my current understanding, there are several such ideas which have contradictions… one another, not related issue, is the consumption of milk… another is if it is correct for women to chant veda mantras…

The logic behind given is that women’s abdominal structure is different and so practices like prANAyAmA and vedic chants aren’t appropriate for women.

though, I know for sure, we don’t prescribe some of these postures during pregnancy…

some of our scriptures, esp, Buddhist ones, but not limited to only that, speaks of women in a certain way… for example, a birth as a man is better for spiritual growth than that of women… I heard a Buddhist text says, if you have to put your hand in to a snake pit or give the hand in to a woman, choose the latter…

I know that some of the tantric part of hatha yOga prathIpikA*, specifically refers to women as an instrument for some of the tantric practices of men…

(* to the best of my understanding, nothing of this sort, in fact no mention of gender, is

there in the yOga sUtrA)

So, I don’t know how much of these are tools of suppressing the feminine, and how much of these are really reliable… at the end of it, as we say often from the yOga sUtrA, even though we start from AgamA (reliable texts with credible authors), pratyaksha (प्रत्यक्ष) is the only experience to be relied on…

The lineage of both sivAnanda and krishnamAchAryA that we belong, says anything of this sort…

If we were to take some aspects of what you had referred, women is not to do many of the AsanA practices, including sUrya namaskaram.

it is a matter of one’s belief… and I am more and more realizing, how much our mind gets swayed…

Coming to your practice, I think it is good that you are observing your conflict and are engaging with that both within as well as in this discussion… I think that is a good first step… do observe, how does this impact your practice of the AsanA itself. this is similar, or perhaps a more subtler way of the internal conflict between the experience and the need to describe/ verbalize your experience. here, the mental construct perhaps is coming in the way of my experiencing as is.

also, quite unfortunately, all those who have said anything like these are all Men… I haven’t come across any women who have said anything on these matters from their personal experiences…

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Rajib KANUNGO.

[Rajib KANUNGO]

Another practitioner replied :

In our Vedic system u know, they say women should not do ShAstAnga Namaskeram as the womb should never touch the ground and so we women do as shown in the picture above.

[Rajib KANUNGO]

Reply from a practitioner :

Yes my parents also have taught me that when men prostrate in temples doing shastanga namskaram gives them utmost benefits and women in the above way. I do experience convenience when we do the child pose and at the same time uneasiness while lying down to do dhanur asana or to lying down resting facing one side. I would prefer to lying on any arm and facing sidewards instead.