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Exercise Tip for Parents No. 8: Be a Role Model

Whether they admit it or not, kids look to their parents as role models.

“What you do has a huge effect on what they do,” says Chipko, who works with youth from 9 to 18.

If you’re a couch potato, you may pass that trait on to your children. On the other hand, if kids grow up in a family where they walk the dog, hike, or go for bike rides, they will emulate that behavior, says Keller.

“When trying to teach kids discipline,” says Chipko, “you as a parent should have some as well.”

Cold weather conjures up many images: snowball fights, cuddling by the fireplace, drinking hot cocoa.

Perhaps the image of an inspired workout is best left for sunnier days — which is why you are lacking the motivation to get out from under the warm covers actually do anything, much less exercise.

No worries, though, FOXNews teamed up with Manhattan’s Crunch Fitness and New York City’s WPLJ 95.5 FM to put together an invigorating winter workout playlist.

Hopefully, these songs will have you burning a steady stream of calories by the end of December, so that you can toss back an extra glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve without the guilt.

1. Song: “Rock ‘N Roll Train”
Artist: AC/DC

Why it’s great: “This is No. 1 in 29 countries,” said WPLJ’s Race Taylor, who hosts the “Afternoon Drive” show. “It’s classic vintage AC/DC with a twist for the modern era. If you are pumping anything, this should motivate you.”

Suggested workout: “Any AC/DC song should be used to lift some major, heavy weights,” said Marc Santa Maria, regional group fitness director at Crunch. “They just make you wanna kick butt and pump that weight.”
2. Song: “So What”

Artist: Pink
Why it’s great: “This is great to bust out your rock moves and blow raspberries at the end,” Taylor said. “And, it’s probably the best use of the word ‘tool’ in a song. You wouldn’t think it, but Pink really does love her ex-husband.”

Suggested workout: “This song is hot,” Santa Maria agreed. “All attitude for stairmaster or a high-incline treadmill walk. We’re talking incline 15 power walk time.”

3. Song: “Keeps Getting Better”

Artist: Christina Aguilera

Why it’s great: “This song says it all,” Taylor said.

Suggested workout: “Picture doing 100’s or teasers in your Pilates mat class to this song,” Santa Maria said. “Keep your breaths steady and your abs as fierce as Christina’s voice.”

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Exercise Tip for Parents No. 5: Establish Family Fitness

If you want your children to know the value of fitness, exercise with them.

With infants and toddlers, go for brisk walks with the baby in the stroller, says Chipko. While they nap during the day, fit in some fitness — doing basic lunges, squats, push-ups, and crunches.

“These are all things that don’t require any equipment or space and don’t take a lot of time,” Schoenfeld says.

With preschool to school-aged children, strive for family fitness. Go to the park, ride bikes, hike, and swim while the weather’s nice. In the winter, ice-skate, snowshoe, cross-country ski, or go sledding.

“Physical activity time also provides a great opportunity to talk with your kids,” adds Keller. ”But sometimes, just doing something with them is worth more than we realize.”

Bottom line?

“Your desire to be physically active with your child will usually force a creative solution to do so,” says Keller. “You may be the only parent who is jogging around your kid’s soccer practice field, but your kid will get used to it.”

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 6: Set Goals

The very first step to staying fit or regaining fitness is to want it, say experts.

“Motivation comes from within,” says Schoenfeld. “I can’t motivate someone if they don’t have a reason to do something.”

Set short-term goals, says Schoenfeld, so as not to overwhelm yourself. If it’s four sizes you need to lose, start with one. If it’s 20 pounds, set a more manageable goal of 1-2 pounds per week.

Most people go too far and say, ‘I want to run a marathon,’” says Chipko. “That’s too big.”

Goals have to be realistic, says Chipko: “If your goal is to look like Kelly Ripa or Angelina Jolie, your determination is going to be crushed if you work out and eat yogurt for a week and you don’t look like them.”

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 7: Put In the Effort

Don’t expect to get fit overnight, warns Chipko. “It’s a matter of putting time in. Anything worth having is hard. There is work involved.”

But, you say, fitting in work and everything needed to run a household is hard enough. Who needs the added pressure of squeezing in a workout?

The truth, Keller says, is that exercise will actually give you more energy to tackle the tasks always hanging over your head.

And somewhere along the line, says Chipko, exercise will become a habit.

“People always ask me how long it’s going to take,” he says. “Everybody wants that quick fix.”

It may take a month, it may take a year, he says, but when you reach a goal you set on your own, it’s much more rewarding.

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 8: Be a Role Model

Whether they admit it or not, kids look to their parents as role models.

“What you do has a huge effect on what they do,” says Chipko, who works with youth from 9 to 18.

If you’re a couch potato, you may pass that trait on to your children. On the other hand, if kids grow up in a family where they walk the dog, hike, or go for bike rides, they will emulate that behavior, says Keller.

“When trying to teach kids discipline,” says Chipko, “you as a parent should have some as well.”

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 1: Be Active All Day

You don’t have to be athletic to be physically active, says Keller.

Move around, walk to your neighbor’s house instead of calling, take the stairs, park farther away from your destination. All these things help burn calories and keep you moving — and they all add up.

“You are tied to the child. You can’t leave them, but you can get up and move around,” Keller says.

“There are lots of ways parents can incorporate physical activity into their day, or just as importantly, as a family activity,” says Hull. “It may take more preparation for parents, but physical activity can and should be balanced back in.”

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 2: Defy the Myth of Time

Granted, children take up a lot of time you previously had for yourself.

But here’s the great part, says Brad Schoenfeld, a fitness trainer in Scarsdale, N.Y.: “It does not take a lot of time to achieve a basic level of fitness.

“People tend to think they need to spend hours on end at the gym. It’s the quality, not the quantity. With a 15- to 20-minute weight workout, you can achieve great benefits.”

Schoenfeld, author of two fitness books, says that even the advanced athletes he trains complete their workouts in about 3 to 3 1/2 hours a week.

“You don’t need 30 to 45 minutes of exercise a day in one continuous bout,” says Hull. Shoot for 10 to 15 minutes a couple times throughout the day, he recommends.

Exercising in small chunks will help you avoid burnout and may also keep you motivated, experts say.

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 3: Define Your Priorities

Many athletes, celebrities, and those who just exercise for fitness and health have kids, says Chipko.

“It’s a matter of priorities,” he says. “I have a 44-year-old mother of four who still finds time to exercise five days a week for 45 minutes.”

When you’re stretched for time or crave a little time to yourself, Chipko says, it’s easy to go for the quick fix, like going shopping, stopping for a latte, or watching TV.

“Somewhere along the line you’re substituting a long-term goal for something short term,” says Chipko. “In the long run, quick fixes are not going to benefit you.”

Exercise Tip for Parents No. 4: Cultivate Social Support

Having a parent, a friend, or a neighbor to whom you can entrust the care of your children will pay dividends.

“A lot [of what happens with an exercise routine] depends on the opportunity [a parent] has to leave the child and do exercise outside the home,” says Keller.

If you don’t have family nearby, says Hull, “establish a network of friends that you trust and can trade off child care with.”

8 tips for staying active when you have kids.

Parents and exercise are not usually words you see in the same sentence. From the moment you step on the physical and emotional roller coaster known as parenthood, your needs often must come second to the needs of your children. Exercising, as a parent, becomes a much more ddifficult task.

This is true whether you’re in the throes of sleep-deprivation with a newborn or stay busy driving your children from school to soccer practice, tennis matches, and piano lessons. Even people who had a strong commitment to exercise before having children will struggle to find consistent time to stay fit once they become parents.

Being a parent “wreaks havoc with your schedule,” says Betsy Keller, PhD, professor of exercise and sports sciences at Ithaca College.

Indeed, a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh confirmed that new parents really are more sedentary than singles or married couples without children. The study tracked physical activity levels of more than 800 young adults for more than two years. It found that while physical activity declined among all participants during that span, it took the biggest hit among new parents.

That’s despite the fact that new parents often feel like they are always on the go, says researcher Ethan E. Hull, MEd, an exercise physiologist candidate at the University of Pittsburgh.

“The priorities of a family just change,” says Hull. “The focus isn’t with your friends, it isn’t with yourself, it isn’t with your spouse; it’s with that child. Your own physical activity just isn’t as important as the attention you’re giving that child.”

But when it comes to abandoning physical activity, you’re not just hurting yourself, say experts.

“Now that you have kids, you want to be around for the kids,” says Jon Chipko, a certified strength and conditioning coach from Montclair, N.J. “You want to be healthy, to be able to play with them, to be around when they get older.”

Time constraints, lack of sleep, and selflessness are all perfectly valid excuses for the short term, says Hull. But, he warns, be careful how much time you let go by.

“It’s easy to sit on the couch,” Hull says. “It’s not easy to get out and exercise. [But] down the road, if parents have lost all this physical activity for years, they’re not going to snap back.”

Whether you are a mom or a dad, a parent of a newborn or a teenager, here are some effective ways to incorporate exercise back into your life and fight the tendency to become more sedentary.

In spite of my having shown above that the wonderful and mysterious Kundalini of the Yogic literature is the Vagus nerve of modern science, we are faced with a difficulty. We know that there are two Vagi, the right and the left, while the Yogic literature refers to one only. Is it possible that the writers of Yogic science were ignorant of the second ? Want of knowledge of its existence is hardly conceivable in the face of very accurate descriptions of the sensory nerves. Perhaps they knew that one of the Vagi was not as powerful as the other, and could not form connections or pierce through all the important plexuses mentioned by them. Our present knowledge of anatomy tells us that of the two Vagi the left Vagus is not so plentifully supplied with efferent fibres as the right and plays only a very minor part in the formation of the Solar plexus and of plexuses situated below it; while the right Vagus nerve, through its hypogastric branch, gains a direct connection with the solar plexus and the plexuses situated below it. The stimulation of the right Vagus nerve at its central connection, can control the activities of all the six plexuses of the sympathetic system, containing as it does the most important part of the para-sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system.
The mentioned of Kundalini in the Yogic literature in the singular number makes us believe that it must be the right Vagus nerve only and not the left. Even though it is accepted that Kundalini is the right Vagus nerve, there remains unsolved the mystery of controlling it. The modern physiology does not refer to the voluntary control of the autonomic nervous system. Normally the current of the Vagus is constantly going on and regularly controlling all the vital organs of the body automatically and unconsciously. When the Kundalini is doing this its normal work, it is said in Yogic literature, to be lying dormant. To us, the only visible manifestation of the interference with the normal function of the Vagus is either by means of poisons generated in certain diseases or by certain medicinal agents. This interference may be in the form of a stimulation or a depression, as seen in the working the vital organs supplied by the Vagus. Its stimulation causes inhibition of the heart action; its depression puts the controlling action out of gear. The heart then, being only under the acceleratory influence of the sympathetic fibres, beats faster. From this perceptible change, we can judge whether the Vagus is interfered with or not.
Such is, then, the state of our present knowledge, and it seems to us impossible to establish a voluntary control over the Vagus nerve. However to those who have gone through the different processes for established possibility. A convincing proof of it was given by Deshbandu by his performances, viz., the stopping of the movement of the heart and the arterial pulse of a particular part of the body, a reference to which has already been made in the opening paragraph of this book. These phenomena are mainly due to the stimulation of the Vagus the œawakened Kundalini.

The attributes of Kundalini given above could only be true if it were a nerve which, when excited, carries impulses to the various plexuses just mentioned. These, in their turn, throw out filaments to the spinal-cord (Sushumna nadi), at their various levels, to get the knowledge of their working. What nerve in the modern anatomy could adequately represent Kundalini to justify the importance given to it by the Yogi ? None bit one of the cranial nerves could do it. Of such nerves there are eleven pairs; and of these, one of the longest reaches the level of the umbilicus where it ends in the Solar plexus (Kundali-chakra) and further gains connections through filaments with the other plexuses situated lower down. That pair of nerves is the Vagi, popularly called by English authors “ The wandering nerves.” It forms the bulk of the para-sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system.
To our mind Kundalini, interpreted as the serpent power, is the Vagus nerve of modern times, which supplies and controls all the important vital organs through different plexuses of the sympathetic portion of the autonomic system. a few have tried other interpretations of Kundalini but, none, to my knowledge has interpreted it in this way. Here we will try to trace the course of the Vagus nerve and its communications with the different plexuses of the sympathetic system and compare it with the course of Kundalini as given in the books on Yoga.
THE VAGUS NERVE, ITS SOURCE AND FUNCTIONS : The Vagus or Pneumogastric, the tenth cranial nerve as we know, is connected with hind-brain. It arises with other cranial nerves (the ninth and eleventh) from the grey matter in the floor of the fourth ventricle. Here it is attached by eight or ten filaments to the medulla oblongata in the groove between the olive and restiform bodies. At the level of the Jugular foramen at the base of the skull the Vagus nerve presents a well marked swelling called the ganglion of the root of the Vagus (Jugular ganglion). This ganglion sends a branch to plexus which is situated at the base of the skull and is known as the carotid plexus (Taluka-chakra). A little lower down, it presents another swelling called the ganglion of the trunk of the Vagus, ganglion nodosum; and further downwards the nerve passes vertically along the spinal column through the neck, chest and abdomen, where it ends into a plexus and forms connection with the solar plexus.
On its course downwards and before it ends, it sends branches to the prevertebral plexuses of the sympathetic portion of autonomic nervous system. in the neck, it sends a branch to the pharyngeal plexus (Vishuddhi-chakra); in the thorax it sends branches to the deep and superficial cardiac plexuses (Anahata-chakra); in the abdomen it forms connections with plexuses of the coeliac-axis (Manipura-chakra), and then ends in a plexus known as the solar plexus (Kundali-chakra) which is the downward extension of the Manipura-chakra. The Vagus also has filamentous connections with the renal, hepatic, splenic and pancreatic plexuses.
The Vagus is the only nerve which is composed of motor and sensory fibres, both efferent, i.e., outgoing and afferent, i.e., incoming. The efferent or inhibitory are anabolic in action while the afferent or acceleratory are katabolic in action.
The efferent fibres, which exercise a restraining influence over the action of larynx, pharynx, lungs and heart, start from the medulla oblongata and are always, according to the manuals of Yoga, kept in action by the divine fluid (the cerebro-spinal fluid) which is secreted by the moon in the brain – very likely referring to the lateral ventricles from their resemblance to the shape of the crescent moon. These fibres originate from the cells of the ganglion nodosum, but as they enter the bulb, the fibres bifurcate. The ascending branches are short and arborise with the efferent fibres of the bulb above. The descending branches go downwards from the centre of the Vagus nerve and form connections with the fibres of the sympathetic in the Solar plexus. The afferent fibres of the Vagus have their source in the Solar plexus, and its two semilunar ganglia called the abdominal brain, and reach the vagal centre in the medulla.
From this description of the arrangements of the fibres of the Vagus, it will be seen that the stimulation of the Vagal centre either directly or indirectly activates both sets of fibres. It will stimulate the inhibitory action of the efferent fibres and put under restraint the functions of the organs supplied by them such as those of the heart, the lungs, and the larynx; simultaneously with this phenomenon, it will stimulate the accelerating action of the afferent fibres and excite the functions of the organs supplied by them such as those of the stomach and the intestine and also cause dilatation of the blood vessels of the abdominal viscera with consequent increase in the secretion of the digestive glands in the abdominal cavity. The depression of the Vagal centre will produce just the opposite effect in the functions of the organs supplied by the afferent and efferent fibres. Thus there will be a see-saw action, as the Vagal centre is stimulated or depressed. From the facts just mentioned, it could be seen that to ensure perfect inhibition of the functions of organs in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, one must stimulate and depress the efferent and afferent sections, respectively, of the Vagus at their source. Normally the activities of the Vagus are automatic and unconscious. If, however, it is possible to bring it under control of the will, one could then achieve everything that is said about the “awakened Kundalini,” in the foregoing pages. Is it possible to establish voluntary control over the sources of the afferent and efferent fibres of the Vagus ? In the Yogic literature, methods are suggested to secure such a control. It is further suggested that if they are pursued practically and rigidly, a student of Yoga attains to the powers of performing the so-called miracles; and when he utilises these powers, he enables himself to force open the door of Liberation (Moksha).
Through an impulse along the afferent nerves from the larynx, the lungs and the mucous membrane of the nose, it is possible to stimulate reflexly the Vagal centre. In an earlier part of this book while dealing with the object and technique of the Pranayama, it has been shown how these organs are made use of by a Yogi to influence the Vagal centre. The greatest difficulty is, however, experienced in controlling the afferent fibres of the Vagus, which have their centre in the Solar plexus and from where the afferent fibres pass upwards in the body of the Vagus. This part of the Vagus (Kundalini) is described as lying curled up and dormant, breathing rhythmically. It is called in Yogic literature the “sleeping Kundalini.” A student of Yoga is advised to rouse this sleeping Kundalini forcibly by catching her tail by various process of Pranayama and Pranayama with Bandha and Mudra (vide infra). By a constant practice of these processes, both the Vagal centres, upper and lower, are made susceptible to the commands of the will; thus a Yogi establishes a voluntary control over them, so as to stop the activity of such organs as are ruled by the autonomic nervous system.
The Vagus nerve may thus be divided into three parts. The first portion in the medulla is composed of efferent fibres and is situated at lower part of the fourth ventricle of the brain, and corresponds with the mouth of the sleeping Kundalini.
The second portion, from below the base of the skull down to its connection with the solar plexus, is composed of afferent and efferent fibres. It is curved in shape and corresponds with the body of the Kundalini.
The third and the last portion, composed mainly of afferent fibres, connects the hypogastric (Swadhishtana) and pelvic (Muladhara) plexuses with the body of the Kundalini through the intermediary solar plexus. This is said to be the tail of the Kundalini (see fig.)
It will thus be seen that the description of the Vagus and its connections with the important plexuses of the sympathetic, runs parallel with the description of the Kundalini and her connections with Chakras. These plexuses of the sympathetic system send communicating branches to the posterior nerve-roots of the spinal cord (Sushumna-nadi) which in its turn is connected by centripetal fibres to the brain (Brahma-randhra-chakra) the seat of all knowledge. These anatomical connections complete a cycle. This completion of a cycle may be brought about at any level of the body corresponding to the situation of the plexuses of the sympathetic system, and a desire to control any of the plexuses by means of the Vagus may bring about inhibition in the functions of the organ supplied by that particular plexus. It is on this assumption that we can explain some of the miracles performed by a Yogi. A Yogi, through the Vagus, or more accurately through the vago-sympathetic nerve, either by direct or reflex action, more particularly the latter, establishes a complete control over the unconscious automatic action of the involuntary muscular fibres. This is what a Yogi desires, so that the normal automatic action may not interfere with his desire of becoming one with Him who is all-oervanding. According to the science of Yoga, the brain is not the beginning of all the nerves but the end, where the sum of all impressions of nerves is stored up. The brain is, therefore, called the Lotus of a thousand petals, and, as these petals surround the cavity from which the soul is liberated, it is also called the Brahma-randhra-chakra.

The excitement of all the Chakras, mentioned above takes place always through Kundalini. It is the lever of consciousness by which the individual realises his onesness with the Absolute. The creative impetus, which emanates from the divine, is communicated through Kundalini, the serpent power as it is called, to the six chakras or plexuses and their connection. Normally, Kundalini is sleeping a trance-sleep (Yoga-nidra), and when it is awakened from this slumber and made to work, the Yogi perceives all supernatural truths. The resurrection of the soul from the grave of untruth becomes an actual fact, and perception of beauty, which is an attribute of the Self, fills the heart with joy. Health is also said to be the gift of Kundalini; Kundalini is the mother of joy, of sweet rest, of sleep, of faith and of wisdom. Kundalini is the queen and guide of lives that breathe, i.e., of all vertebrate animals. What is this of a Yogi and to which is a prime-mover of the practice of a Yogi and to which such wonderful powers have been attributed ? Kundalini has long remained a mystery. In the following pages I propose to attempt an explanation of this mystery in terms of modern science.
Swami Vivekanand, in his book Raja Yoga, defines Kundalini as follows : “The centre where all residual sensation are, as it were, stored up is called Muladhara-chakra, and the coiled up energy of actions is Kundalini, the coiled up.”
Arthur Avalon in his book, The Serpent Power, states that “Kundalini is the Static Shakti.” He says further : “It is the individual bodily representative of the great cosmic Powers (Shakti) which creates and sustains the universe ”; and in support of his statement he gives at the end of the book the scientific and masterly exposition of this Shakti, composed by his friend Prof. P. Mukhopadhyaya. All the explanations about this Shakti, though learned, could as well as be applied to the autonomic nervous system. The static or anabolic power is the para-sympathetic portion of it, and the Dynamic or Katabolic power is the sympathetic portion. Some have suggested that Kundalini is the inferior Venacava, while others conjecture it to be the large bowels. On what basis these conclusions have been arrived at, I am unable to conceive.
According to Hata-Yoga-Pradipika, the Kundalini is said to be lying dormant guarding the opening of the passage that leads to the seat of Brahma. This seat is said to be Brahma-randhra, that is, the ventricular cavity in the brain. The passage to that cavity, in my opinion, is the narrow space at the lower end of the fourth ventricle in the brain, which communicates the ventricles of the brain with the channel in the spinal cord (Sushumna nadi) and the subarachnoid space (Akasha). The dormant Kundalini thus guards the three important openings in the cerebro-spinal nervous system. Unless she is awakened, or made consciously active, one cannot send one’s embodied soul (jivatma), which is supposed to reside in the heart (Hridaya), along the Sushumna nadi to the Brahma-randhra nor is he able to assist the soul captured in the Randhra, to be freed to join the Universal Soul (Paramatma) outside.
Likewise the Kundalini is said to be sleeping above the Kanda; and the shape of the Kundalini between these points has been described as being like a serpent. To understand the exact extent of this Kundalini we must determine the position of the Kanda in the body. Different authors have given slightly different locations of this Kanda but they all agree that it is placed in the lower part of the body but above the anus, and that its size is about four angulis, i.e., about three inches in the length, and an equal number of inches in breadth; that it has the shape of a leaf or triangle, or that of a bird’s egg, broad above and narrow below, and that it is covered with a soft, flimsy, plaited, white cloth.
According to Goraksha-shataka the situation of the Kanda is on a level with a point between the umbilicus and the penis. That point corresponds to the upper border of the triangular piece of bone at the lower end of the spinal column which is wedged in between the two hip bones and is known as the sacrum, the upper border of its front surface is known as the promontory of the sacrum.
By Yanya-Valkala, the Kanda is located about nine angulis, i.e., six inches above the mid-point of the body and extends about four angulis in length and width. The mid-portion of the body is said to be the space which is two angulis (a little over an inch) above the anus, and an equal number of angulis below the root of the penis. This space, according to our knowledge of anatomy, corresponds with the Coccyx, the lowest bone of the spinal column. A distance of nine angulis above this space corresponds with the promontory of the sacrum. In Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika, the origin of Kanda is given as twelve angulis, i.e., nine inches above the raphe of the perineum and that too corresponds with the promontory of the sacrum.
Though the different manuals on Yoga describe the location of Kanda in different terms, they agree as to its root being a point between the navel and the external genitals.
This Kanda is also called Mula-Kanda or Muladhara, that is root-bulb or root-support, probably of the Meru-danda. This Muladhara is said to be the receptacle of a plexus or a Chakra called Muladhara-chakra; it is also said to form the backward limit of the Yoni (perineum). The soft white plaited cloth with which it is said to covered is, I believe, well represented by pelvic fascia with its folds which lines the internal surface of the sacrum (Kanda).
Kanda, thus, could be identified with the sacrum, though it is translated to denote ‘ganglia’ in some of the Marathi and English books on Yoga. Kundalini at the site of its origin, which is above the promontory of the sacrum, is said to be lying dormant in the shape of a serpent coiled up. Lower down it joins the Muladhara-chakra which is at the end of the Kanda (the sacrum). Higher up, it passes through the different chakras and meets the brain through an opening in the Talu (the base of the skull). A fuller account of these chakras will be given presently.
In the Tantril Manual, Shat-Chakra-Nirupanam, it is said that the pericarp of the Adhara lotus is a triangle or Kanda mentioned in the Hatha-Yoga-Pardipika. Inside this triangle there is a linga or phallus called Swayambhu, which tapers like a new unopened leaf-bud. This description of the phallus well applies to the lower end of the spinal-cord with its dural sheath, which ends in the canal of the sacrum (Kanda) blindly in a cul-de-sac at the level of the second sacral vertebra. This phallus extends a little beyond the triangle. Above it, on a level with the lower end of the spinal canal (Chitra), the Kundalini is said to be sleeping, closing the mouth of the Bragmadwara. This position of the sleeping Kundalini is about the same as the position of the lower end of the dormant Kundalini mentioned in the Pradipika.
It appears from the description and position of the dormant Kundalini that it must be a prevertebral plexus of the autonomic nervous system, and that plexus I take to be the Solar plexus of the sympathetic which lies on the vertebral column on a level with the first and second lumbar vertebrae, where the lower end of the spinal-cord, called the Conus-medullaris, with its canal comes to an end. Extending from this sleeping Kundalini, otherwise called Kula-Kundalini, a fibre is described which descends and shines like a chain of brilliant lights in the cavity of Mula-lotus. From the skirts of this dormant Kula-Kundalini there starts another Kundalini, which ascends along the Sushumna nadi and reaches, as said elsewhere, to a point (Bindu or Para Shiva), which is bathed in the stream of the ambrosia (Cerebro-spinal-fluid) from the Eternal Bliss (Brahma-randhra), and illuminates even the lowermost cavity of this bodily universe by her radiance.
It will thus be seen that Kundalini extends from the brain to the Muladhara-chakra and is divided into two parts by the Kula-Kundalini which rests on the lower end of the spinal canal Brahma-dwara or the gate of Brahma.
Whether the Brahma-dwara should be taken to mean the lowermost ends of the spinal canal, or its uppermost end where it joins the Brahma-randhra or whether it should be taken to mean the whole of the spinal-cord, by which the Kundalini as a conscious force is made to ascend to the Sahasrar, is decided by the description given in the Shat-Chakra-Nirupanam, where it is said that the Kundalini in the lower gateway of Brahma is in a sleeping or inert state and at the upper gateway of Brahma it resides, in an active state capable of being stimulated. Thus these two points, the upper and lower gateways of Brahma, define the limits of the Kundalini or the Parameshwari of lives that breathe.
When this Kula-Kundalini is awakened or made active, it forces a passage through the different Chakras and excites them to action, and, as it rises step by step, the mind becomes opened and all visions and wonderful powers come to a Yogi, when it reaches the brain. The Yogi then is perfectly detached from the body and the mind, and the soul finds itself free in all respects.
Kundalini then joins her lord Para-Shiva (the olivary body) who has the form of a dot “O” (Bindu-rupa) and is situated in the Itata-linga (medulla oblongata) which has as its perticarp cerebrum (Brahma-chakra). Kundalini thus connects herself with Brahma-randhra, a cavity in the brain, where the Brahma or the Soul, is located, and the knowledge of which the Yogi seeks to attain. It is this cavity which is guarded by six doors, and Kundalini is the only force that can open them. It is this cavity, where Prana centres all its activities; it is here where the soul is carried to reside; it is here that the unruly Chitta, the mind-stuff, is captured and made steady by the process of Pranayama; it is here that the Chitta is submerged in Prana, this submersion bringing all the activities of the mind and Prana to a standstill. The soul, thus made free from the thralldom of the intellect, feels its own joy and sees itself “So’ ham” i.e., “I am That” or “I am He,” literally “That am I.” It is only when the mind and the Prana act as two conflicting entities that they run riot and keep the soul in the bondage of the Maya, the surrounding objects of the senses. Though the soul is freed from the shackles of Prana and Chitta, it is still made to remain there by the current of Vasana, which is guarding the orifice of this cavity in the form of Kundalini,, the cord of desire. These desires revert the soul to the control of Prana and Chitta (the mind-stuff), and successive rebirths are the result. This anything but what the Yogi desires; he wants to escape this, which can only be done by tearing asunder the cords of desire by bringing Kundalini under control. When Kundalini is made to obey the callings of the soul, the soul escapes from this cavity to occupy another cavity called Akasha, which surrounds the brain and the spinal-cord. Further the soul, freed from the control of Prana, Chitta and Vasana, lives outside the Brahma-chakra, the cerebrum, and is said to pervade the whole universe. When the Yogi attains this state, he is said to be in the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, seedless Samadhi by which he gets in tune with the Infinite and escapes rebirths.
A question may be asked as to what we are to understand by the term Vasana which leads an individual to successive rebirths. To know the proper meaning of the term, according to Indian Philosophy, we shall have to deal with Karma of the embodied soul, the Jivatma of a being. Karma of an individual is comprised of desire (Vasana) start a current of thought, which is conveyed to the Jivatma and is then translated, through his agency, into actions, good or bad ones to misery. Karma is of three kinds. Sanchita Karma, the outcome of Sanskara (impressions of past lives) and desires (Vasana), is all the accumulated and unexhausted Karma of past lives with which is still to bear fruit. Prarabdha Karma is that part of the Sanchita Karma which is worked out and the result of which is made known to us in our present birth. Kriyamana Karma, either Vartaman or Agami, is that which a man is continuously hoarding up by his present and future actions. It will thus be seen that the vicious circle of Vasana, by continuously forming a web around the soul, forces it to remain embodied for liberating and experiencing the past Karma. Its final emancipation then could only be achieved by putting a stop to generation of new Karma by conquering our Vasana or desires. When this is done there is nothing left to generate new Karma, and the Jivatma is liberated from successive births. On the physical plane, this can only be done by controlling the cord of desire, the Vagus nerve (Kundalini), by consciously controlling all the involuntary action of the body, which are in some sense or other under the control of the Vagus nerve. By submersion of the voluntary and involuntary actions of the body into Chitta and Vasana all the functions of the body are brought to a state of automatism. Finally, the embodied soul (jivatma), freed from the activities of the body, merges into the Supreme Soul (Paramatma) outside the body and gains its final emancipation, i.e., liberation from re-birth.
All the writers on Yoga have translated Randhra as a ‘hole.’ It could as well be translated as a ‘cavity’ (Apte’s Sanskrit Dictionary), and I would rather put that second interpretation on the word “Randhra” as it is more in keeping with our knowledge of Western Anatomy. This cavity is surrounded by a chakra or plexus of a thousand branches, known as Sahasrara or Brahma-chakra, the cerebrum. Here the word thousand should not be translated too literally. It is there to convey the idea of innumerableness. This Randhra is the inter-communicating cavity of the four ventricles of the brain and is continuous with the central canal (Chitra) of the spinal cord (Sushumna nadi). This cavity is constantly secreting a fluid called the Nectar of Life or the divine fluid, the cerebro-spinal fluid. At the end of this cavity is an orifice which connects the internal cavity of Prana with the external cavity of Akasha surrounding the brain and the spinal cord and known as the sub-arach-noid space, and is bathed with the divine fluid which is secreted by Brahma-randhra.

As I am on the subject of reflex centres, I should like to say a few words about the Shaktis that are said to preside over the six important plexuses (Chakras) of the sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous system. Every Chakra is said to have its subsidiary Shakti in addition to the general Shakti – Kundalini – which rules all the Chakras.
The Shakti of a Chakra exerts an inhibitory influence through a subsidiary nerve centre in the spinal cord, and controls unconsciously the activity of the organs excited by fibres of the sympathetic plexuses.
The Muladahara-chakra (the pelvic plexus) and the Swadhistana-chakra (the hypogastric plexus) have ‘Dakini’ and ‘Rakini’ respectively as their controlling Shaktis. These Shaktis are comparable with the efferent impulses generated through the subsidiary nerve centres in lumbar region (Apana-prana) along the fibres of the pelvic nerve, otherwise called nervierigens. This nerve is chiefly concerned with the stimulation of the external organs of generation (whence its name “nervi-erigens”). It also sends out fibres to the musculature of the colon, rectum and bladder.
Manipura-chakra (the plexus of coeliac-axis) is ruled by the Shakti ‘Lakhini’. She is said to be four-armed. This Shakti is the efferent impulse generated along the three or four splanchenic nerves through the auxiliary centres in the thoracic lumbar region of the spinal cord (Samana-prana). These nerves send inhibitory fibres to the stomach and the intestine and also to the secretory, and sensory fibres to the abdominal organs.
The Shakti presiding over the Anahata-chakra is ‘Kakini’. This Shakti is the efferent impulse generated along the fibres of the thoracic- spinal nerves through a subsidiary centre in the upper thoracic region of the spinal cord. These fibres control the heart, the lungs and aorta. The main nerve regulating the functions of the heart, the lungs and the aorta is the vagus, which has its centre in the medulla oblongata. But now it has been proved, that even if both the vagi are cut, so as to do away with the controlling influence on these organs, a preliminary state of excitation occurs which is brought about by the sympathetic coming into action producing acceleration for a short time. This acceleration is immediately followed by the normal automatic working of these organs, showing thereby the possibility of another controlling nerve centre in the spinal cord just below the medulla (Prana-reflex).
Vishuddhi-chakra is presided over by the Shakti ‘Shakini’. This is the efferent impulse generated by the cervical nerves and also by the branches of the Vagus through the nerve centre in the medulla; both the above Shaktis are located in the region of Prana proper. This Shakti is said ti reside in the region of the moon, which appears to me to be the ventricular cavity in the brain. It is also said that the nectar (the cerebro-spinal fluid) is constantly dropping on the head of this Shakti and that she is seated on the bone, i.e., on the superior surface of the base of the skull. The last Chakra, Ajna, is controlled by the Shakti ‘Hakini’, i.e., the efferent impulse generated along the fibres of the oculo-motor nerve through a centre in the thalamus. This Shakti is said to reside in the marrow (majjastha) of the brain. Elsewhere, it is said to reside in the Chakra (Chakrastha), i.e., Brahma-chakra which we know to be the cerebrum. It is said to be white in colour. So is the thalamus, the sensory basal ganglion in the brain.

THE CHAKRAS – THEIR LOCATION AND WESTERN ANATOMICAL EQUIVALENTS
The chakras mentioned in the Tantric literature are six in number. These are independent units carrying on their assigned function. Each Chakras has Shakti controlling its own activity. In addition to these independent Shaktis of each Chakra there is a universal Shakti which has the power of controlling all these Chakras mentioned above. In the physical form she is lying dormant and coiled up like a serpent in an individual. When this is awakened by Yoga practices the individual gains for himself the power of performing miracles.
The lowermost Chakra, with which Kundalini forms a connection and through which it is able to send impulses, is the Basic-plexus called the Muladhara-chakra. It has four branches (Dala) and the shape of a triangle, or, in the words of the Garuda-Purana the shape of the pudendum pubis (Bhaga). This description tallies very accurately with the description of the Pelvic plexus of the autonomic system, situated near the sides of the rectum. It is a continuation of the hypogastric plexus which bifurcates below into two lateral portions to assume the shape of triangle; and by contemplation of this Chakra the Yogi obtains freedom from disease, knows the past and the future and gains all psychic powers. It also forms connections with the Swadhisthana- the chakra which is situated in the pelvic region or Guhyadesha, just on a level with the root of the penis and is probably the hypogastric plexus. The Swadhisthana-chakra has six petals or branches. By contemplation of this, freedom from death and disease is obtained. Higher up still, Kundalini forms herself into a plexus, which is known as the Kundalini-chakra or solar plexus and its location is in the region of the navel. Its direct extension upwards is called Manipura-chakra, which can be identified with the plexus of the Coeliac-axis. The proximity is so great that no distinction is made between the Kundali and Manipura-chakras. The Kundali-chakra is described to be of a red colour and to have ten branches. It is called the Lotus of Happiness. By contemplation if this chakra, a Yogi is able to enter into the body of another person; he obtains the power of transmuting metals, of healing the sock, and of clairvoyance. After passing through these Chakras the Kundalini forces its passage through the Anahata-chakra which has twelve branches and is located in the Hridayadesha, i.e., the region of the heart. This description appears to identify itself with that of the Cardiac plexus of the sympathetic system. By contemplating this Lotus, a Yogi becomes clairvoyant and clairaudient and is able to see adepts moving in the air, and gains the power of travelling at will to any part of the world by the exercise of his volition. Of the six important lotuses or plexuses the one situated in Kantha the region of the throat (Pomum Adami), known as Vishuddhi-chakra, has six-teen petals or branches. It is probably the pharyngeal plexus of the sympathetic; and it is said to be the lotus of purification. By contemplating this lotus, the whole body is purified of diseases and ailments and a Yogi is able to live a thousand years in eternal youth. In fact, he is dead to all the outer world, and becomes absorbed in his inner life. The power behind a malediction of a Yogi also depends upon the command of this lotus. Abstract scientific men are likely to laugh at the various powers assigned to the different plexuses. Still, we have read of things in the ancient Vedic and classical literature which have been proved to be true. Reality of these achievements of a Yogi, time alone would show.
Kundalini then passes to the Taluka-chakra, i.e., the cavernous plexus of the sympathetic system which is situated at the base of he skull, and thence joins the Ajyna-chakra. This chakra is the Naso-ciliar extension of the cavernous plexus of the sympathetic through the ophthalmic division of the fifth cranial nerve, ending in the ciliary muscles of the iris and at the root of the nose, through the supra-orbital foramen. It has two petals or branches and is situated between the eye-brows. It is the spot which is contemplated while undergoing the process of Pranayama. Here is found the great light, the third eye as it is called, and by contemplation of this a Yogi gains wonderful psychic powers. This chakra is called the plexus of command.