Morning
Jaṅghā 2 · the squat without the wall, the breath moving
Feet together, arms out in front at shoulder height. Bend the knees slowly until the thighs are level with the ground, heels and toes on the floor, knees together. While the pressure is high, bend less at first.
Stay while it is comfortable, and keep breathing through the nose the whole time: a reminder runs while you hold. Then rise slowly on an out-breath, and stand until the breath is easy.
Five times, the module's own count. Here the breath is never held. If the face goes red, the head feels heavy or the eyes go dark, stand up. There are no photographs of it yet; it is drawn in line.
Aṅgula-mūla, then Aṅguli · the arms held
Aṅgula-mūla: the arms out in front at shoulder height, the whole arm stiff, the hand alone loose and drooping from the wrist. Then with the elbows bent, the same.
Aṅguli: the arms forward, the fingers spread like a cobra's hood, the whole arm stiff from the shoulder to the fingertips. Then with the elbows bent, the same.
To begin with the module gives Aṅgula-mūla five minutes and then two, and Aṅguli five and five. Begin with as much as is comfortable. Keep breathing throughout. There are no photographs of them yet; they are in words.
Uḍḍiyāna, level one · on an empty stomach
Sit upright, hands on the knees. Breathe all the way out; then, without breathing in, draw the belly in and up under the ribs. Stay while it is comfortable; let the belly go, and only then breathe in, slowly.
Three times, a few easy breaths between. Only on an empty stomach, and the short screen first; not with an ulcer in the stomach or a hernia. There are no photographs of it yet; it is in words.
The complete breath, six a minute · morning
On the back, one hand on the belly, one on the chest. The first level, four in and six out: six breaths a minute.
Fill from the bottom, empty from the top; hold nowhere. Thirty breaths, about five minutes.
By day
The complete breath, six a minute · midday
The same breath, at midday: lying down, the first level, thirty breaths.
If lying down is not possible, sit upright, eyes closed, and breathe the same way.
Evening
The complete breath, six a minute · before the meal
After the evening practice, before the meal: lying down, the first level, thirty breaths.
As the meal ends, a slow walk
The module's own order: the evening meal in silence, then a quiet walk, then bed in silence.
Begin the walk as the meal ends, not an hour later: the sooner after food people walked, the more the sugar after it fell. Slow steps, on level ground. A walk, not a run.
At night, before sleep
The complete breath, six a minute · before sleep
In bed, on the back: the first level, thirty breaths, then simply lie there.
Yoga Nidra
Lying down, the attention travelling the body, into sleep. Taught in the camp; its guidance will be added later.
taught in the camp · its guidance is comingAt home
The doctor's medicine, and the numbers
A medicine the doctor gave for the pressure or the sugar stays. If the numbers fall with practice, changing the dose is the doctor's work; anyone on sugar tablets or insulin tells the doctor about the walk.
Have the pressure and the sugar measured at the start of the camp and at its end, the same way each time.
Chest pain, fainting, or a heart that will not settle at rest: a doctor at once.
Why this order
Opium may lower the pressure for a while, but over the years it worsens pressure, sugar and fats, and in men who smoked it the fasting sugar was higher and the insulin lower. Weeks of held effort lowered the resting pressure more than any other exercise, the wall squat most; holding the breath in a hold sends the pressure highest, so the breath keeps moving. Six breaths a minute lowered the pressure in people with high pressure. And walking straight after food lowered the sugar after it, because working muscle takes sugar in even without insulin.
Before you begin
Stay well within what is comfortable. If anything hurts, stop. This supports treatment and does not replace it; anybody on buprenorphine or methadone stays on it.
While opium is still being taken, keep every breath hold short.