- Hello! We are in one of our final sessions of yoga teacher training in Pullman, Washington at Sanctuary Yoga, Dance, and Barre, and we are using your yinyoga.com website. We have a question about the phrase "sex control". What is meant by this phrase, particularly in the description of the asanas swan and deer. Could you elaborate on that a bit more? Thank you, Sarah
The term “sex control, comes from BKS Iyengar's book Light on Yoga. I don't see this claimed for Deer Pose (did you mean Caterpillar?) He describes what he means in his book Light on Yoga where he explains that, due to increased blood flow to the genitals, these postures can help control sexual urges and promote Brahmacharya or celibacy. So, it other words, it helps one manage their sexual desires. Now, having said that, I don't believe that there is any scientific evidence for this, just supposition and perhaps anecdotal evidence on his part.
Cheers
Bernie