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practice. The main postures are : 1. Sukhasana,2. Padmasana, 3. Siddhasana, 4. Swastikasana,5. Vajrasana (Muslim prayer position).

The great artery Aorta arises from the heart. It carries

oxygenated blood to the different organs. It descendsdownwards in the chest and the abdomen. It divides intotwo arteries for right and the left leg. It supplies adequateblood to the organs of abdomen, pelvis and legs. It crossesthe inguinal region. Then it descends downwards in thethigh, back of the knee, the calf muscles and it reachesup to the soles of the feet. There is kinking of the arteryin inguinal region when we sit in cross leg postures andsome pressure is exerted on the artery in the legs. The

legs dont require much blood in these postures, sorelatively there is much blood supply available to theorgans of the abdomen as less blood flows in the legs.The heart muscles also get extra blood circulation.

We can understand this fact in a simple way. Thesalesmen, salesgirls of the malls, traffic police etc. haveto work in the standing position for the whole day. Theysuffer from varicose veins in the legs in a long run. There

is dilation and tortuosity of the veins over the legs (calfmuscles) due to excessive and continuous flow of bloodin downward direction and there is stasis of the bloodin the legs. So the blood circulation may become deficientin the heart. Having the habit of sitting in the cross legpostures improves working capacity of liver, spleen,pancreas, kidneys, intestine, bladder and adrenals due toextra blood perfusion. Therefore the people of India hadthe habit of sitting in cross leg posture while offering

prayers in the morning, while taking meals, Satsang,Swadhyaya, Bhajans etc. So the food was better digestedand the concentration of the mind was also good.

There was no difficulty for the heart to pump bloodtowards the brain or there was less strain when a personis in cross leg position. So every thing was regular, easyand natural. Hence there is a tradition to sit erect in astable position keeping the head, neck and the chest in

one line with peace of mind before starting Yogabhyas.Patanjali Darshan also insists to have stable and comfort-able Asana. Geeta also says, Samam Shiro Griva Kayaand indicates to sit straight by keeping the head, neck

and trunk (spinal column and chest) in one line. Formthe habit of sitting with cross legs. Always do prayer,alone as well as with family, without fail, everyday andcompulsorily.

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