The question remains: is Malini’s yoga an early sign of hatha-yoga? For me, this Saivite yoga discourse points much more back in time to wisdom-liberation discourses, than it points forward to hatha-yoga. The decisive point is the Tantric subtle body discourse. Saivite six-limb yoga is not, like the later hatha-yoga, about manipulating and releasing physical divine energies of the subtle body, as when the hatha yogi forces Kundalini to ascend through the subtle body. Like the Yoga Sutra, the yoga of the Malini uses the body as an anchor point loaded with symbolic power. Hatha-yoga is about physical work while the Malini is about mental work. The efforts of Saivite Malini yoga are aimed at consciousness and mind, while hatha-yoga is about activating physical divine energies. Hence I see Malini as a Gnostic borderline mystic yoga.
This – Malini’s strong element of Gnosticism; the emphasis on rationality and contemplation; the One as pure consciousness and the mystical realisation of it – leads further to the question of whether this Saivite yoga to a large extent was included and subsumed into Brahmin monotheistic discourse? Were the Saivite ascetic renouncing groups in reality Brahmins (or groups run by Brahmins) merging yoga and Tantra with monotheistic Siva worship286?
Bend your knees, into a right angle position with your Yoga poses 3rd trimester heels parallel and resting on top of the ball, your arms reaching straight over your head Yoga poses 3rd trimester . Inhale and reach your arms off the floor, towards the ball, at the same time rolling the ball forward with your heels. Your trunk should follow the ball as it rolls, imitating the movement quality of the ball, without over-contracting your midsection. As your spine reaches its straightest possible position, without over-tightening the muscles on top of your thighs, reach your arms into a twisting letter T. Bend your knees if your back is sinking. Return your arms back to the center, reaching straight forward, and roll back down evenly through each vertebra of the spine. Gradually bend your knees to the starting position, returning your arms back overhead. Repeat 5 times.
