Positions, muscular effort and rest
of your shoulders, arms, hands and head (9)

1 This is a detailed description of how align your shoulders, arms, hands and head with the position of your backbone when you’re remaining seated still in a beneficial cross-legged position and standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly. This continues the detailed description of why and how to stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly in the preceding Chapter 8.

Chapter 1 describes how to align your shoulders, arms, hands and head with the position of your backbone in the context of all the other concerns of simple yoga.

All the factors of your position that are described here are described enough in Chapter 1 so that after you have read Chapter 1 you can place and maintain all the factors of your position that are described in detail here. Chapter 1 is a complete description of the method of simple yoga. When you read Chapter 1 you know enough about simple yoga to experience it.

The order that these concerns are described in detail here is the same order that these concerns are described in Chapter 1. You can do everything that’s described about your physical position easily when you’re doing it in combination with the other concerns of simple yoga.

2 You need to place and maintain your legs, hips and primarily the lower levels of your body in firm and comfortable positions first, before you concern your attention with the position of the upper levels of your body when you’re following the method of yoga described in this text. You need to be seated in a cross-legged position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition,

When you’re maintaining beneficial positions of your legs, hips and the lower levels of your body you might experience a beneficial position of the upper levels of your body spontaneously without needing to think about the position of the upper levels of your body.  If you don't maintain your legs, hips and backbone in a position that's as near to a completely developed cross-legged position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition then any part of the position of the upper levels of your body might not be beneficial.

3 When you’re seated in a beneficial cross-legged position and standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly -

Expand your chest (all of your ribs) outward a small distance toward both sides and lift the front of your chest up a small distance higher and maintain the expanded and lifted position of your chest.

Don’t lift your chest upward too high because that will cause your backbone to curve inward excessively. Allow your ribs to expand outward and to contract inward freely with the rhythm of your breathing.

4 Lift the outer ends of both of your shoulders up at the same time, then -

Move the outer ends of both of your shoulders back by rotating the upper sides of your shoulders back as well as you can, then -

Let the outer ends of both of your shoulders fall downward as far as they fall naturally.  Let them fall directly downward, not forward. Let them fall due only to their weight. Don't pull your shoulders down by tightening the muscles beneath them.

Adjust those positions of your shoulders to be even one with the other then hold your shoulders still.  If one shoulder falls to a lower level than the other, raise the lower shoulder to be even with the higher shoulder. Hold both shoulders at the lowest level where you can hold them even one with the other comfortably. One shoulder should not be situated farther forward or farther back than the other. The resulting positions of your shoulders will be higher and farther back and more even one with the other than their usual positions.

Your shoulders should not move with the rhythm of your breathing.  Although your ribs might expand outward and contract inward with the rhythm of your breathing, your shoulders should not move with the rhythm of your breathing when you’re remaining seated still to benefit from the position of your body.

Suspend the weight of your shoulders and arms by exerting enough muscular effort in the muscles of equally the top, back and front of your shoulders.  You need to exert enough muscular effort in the muscles of equally the top, back and front of your shoulders to suspend the weight of your shoulders and arms comfortably. Distribute the support of the weight of your shoulders and arms by suspending most of their weight from above, and supporting a small amount of their weight on your arms and wrists, with your wrists and hands supported on a small cushion or folded cloth beneath them, the right hand supported on the left, a short distance below the level of your navel, or with your wrists and hands supported on your thighs at your abdomen. Tighten the muscles of your arms with a small muscular effort or tension to hold your arms still. Holding the muscles of your arms tightened a little bit can help to support a small amount of the weight of the outer ends of your shoulders and arms on your wrists and hands supported on a small cushion or on your thighs at your abdomen.

Distributing the support of the weight of your shoulders and arms as described here is easy to perceive and control and to hold still.  This helps to stabilize your shoulders and arms in beneficial positions and allows the muscles of your shoulders and neck to rest as much as possible.

5 Extend both of your elbows outward a small distance and hold them equally distant from the sides of your body to relieve some pressure between the inner edges of your shoulder blades and backbone. The positions of your arms should be as similar as possible.

Support your wrists and hands on a small cushion or a low pile of folded cloth beneath them; the positions of your hands should be similar, the palms of both hands upward, the right hand supported on the left; the angles that you bend your wrists should be as gradual as possible.

The small finger side of both hands should press on your abdomen with very small pressure a short distance below the level of your navel and the tips of both thumbs should press together with very small pressure. Supporting your hands at your abdomen two or three finger widths distance below the level of your navel connects the energy in your shoulders, arms and hands with the energy in your legs, hips and backbone and relaxes many tensions.

Align the fingers of both of your hands as well as you can so that the fingers of your hand that’s uppermost are located directly above the corresponding fingers of your other hand beneath it. You can feel the correspondence of aligning these positions of your hands with fine tuning the alignment of the positions of your shoulders.

Hold both of your thumbs in semi-circular positions elevated one or two inches above your fingers and press the tips of both thumbs together with very small pressure. Align the ends of your thumbs so that the tips of both thumbs press directly one toward the other, not pointed upward nor downward. Don't press the nails of your thumbs together nor press the tips of your thumbs together hard. The tips of your thumbs fall downward out of contact when you’re remaining seated still when you begin to fall asleep.

When you maintain these positions of your shoulders, arms and hands as well as you can you’ll be able to maintain a beneficial position easily.

6 Stand your neck upright and curved or leaned forward slightly ahead of the point of balance.  This causes the muscles at the back and sides of all the levels of your neck to exert a small effort to support your neck and head. Continue to stand all the vertebrae of your neck upright and curved or leaned forward slightly ahead of the point of balance as well as you can during all of the time that you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body.

Lift your head up slightly from resting on your neck then move the base of your head back slightly then balance the position of your head to be upright and comfortable.  Lifting your head up slightly helps to relieve some pressure from between your head and neck. This harmonizes the muscular effort and rest of all the muscles of your neck and head and relieves headache caused by excessive tensions of some of the muscles of your neck.

Your eyes can be open, looking forward and downward, or closed. Don’t focus your eyesight on anything that you see in the external environment. You can open your eyelids a little more than usual to help you to wake up if you feel sleepy, or you can let your eyelids close a little more than usual to help you to be calm if you feel agitated.

If you usually wear eyeglasses you can remove your eyeglasses, or not, when you prepare to remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body.  If your eyeglasses press on the sides of your head remove your eyeglasses before you remain seated still to benefit from the position of your body.

Hold your upper and lower teeth together gently and hold the tip of your tongue forward toward your upper teeth if you can do it nearly effortlessly. That releases any congestion in your sinuses and allows the natural flow of saliva to flow down your throat without you noticing it and allows beneficial motion of energy in your neck and head. You might perceive the locations of sounds more acutely and hear sounds at farther than usual distances.

Hold your lips closed and breathe through your nose unless the passage of air is reduced due to congestion or if you need to breathe through your mouth to be comfortable.

7 Minute beneficial relaxations occur in the positions of your backbone, shoulders, arms, neck and head while you continue to hold the position of your body still.

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