Welcome to Day 30 of our 40 Day Retreat 2009.
Yesterday, we continued with the subject of Pranayama and we spoke about complete breathing.
Importance of Practice
Of course, I have been urging you to practice as there is nothing better than practice. You need to get the muscles accustomed to this new form of breathing. You need to do it, not just one day or every weekend, but do it everyday until you become good at it. That is how we master something. Do it regularly and be disciplined.
I was saying yesterday that when you want to remember something, do it every day. Just as we try to pray every day, eat and wash ourselves every day, we need to be disciplined. When we do it every day, we do not forget it. Isn’t that right? Do it every day!
The subject of pranayama is very exciting. It carries prana, energy. We have been speaking about prana in the air we breathe. Just to breath in is to bring in prana. We also said yesterday that when we learn to breathe in a complete way, emptying completely and filling completely, you are able to bring more prana into the system and more oxygen. So the blood is able to take more oxygen throughout the body.
Need to Balance and Stimulate Left Brain and Right Brain
Today, I want to focus on an exciting breathing which is well worth the practice. We have two brains, a left brain and a right brain in two halves. The left brain deals with logical analytical thinking, and the right brain deals with creativity, intuition, emotion. We need to be able to balance both. Some of us are more left brain, while others are more right brain.
There is a yoga breathing exercise that stimulates both left brain and right brain. Of course, when your brow chakra is opened, you take in more prana and you are able to stimulate the left brain and right brain even more. When you breathe in a certain way, and you have an awakened brow center the stimulation of the brain is much more. Does it excite you? It is exciting for me. Actually, there has been research done on this subject to show that it does impact the way we think and feel and how the brain is stimulated. This exercise in its simple form is called Nadi Shodhana which means the purification of the nadis.
Besides stimulating the left and right brain as a brain stimulating exercise, it purifies the Nadis. It becomes a very powerful exercise when we add breath retention to it. That is called Anuloma Vilom, alternate breathing. I am going to speak a little about this today.
Characteristics of Left and Right Nostril Breathing
When we breathe through the left nostril it has a cooling effect on our being, and it is said to be lunar breathing. And when we breathe through the right nostril it has a warming or heating effect. It is called solar breathing. The body feels much more dynamic and active with right nostril breathing and much more quiet, cool and passive with left nostril breathing. That is why when we need to do active work, when the right nostril is active it supports the activity. However, when we want to do creative or mental work, the left nostril supports that activity.
Yogic science says that the nostril breathing changes in a very natural way about every two hours. However, when the system is not working properly it may be longer. But we can equalize that breath in a conscious way by this breathing exercise that is called Nadi Shodhana and Anuloma Viloma.
Breathing Tips
I am going to tell you about this exercise so that you may practice it. A few tips about breathing:
- We breathe in a more complete way when we breathe by emptying first and filling after.
- When we do breathing exercises we should to do it when the stomach area is comfortable.
- Do not do it just after a meal. If you have taken a light meal then practice about half an hour after. If you have taken a heavier meal then exercise an hour or two hours after.
- We put additional pressure on the heart when we have a full stomach, and we are holding the breath in the chest cavity.
- If ever you are practicing breath retention exercises you need to do this under guidance because you need to have a healthy heart to do this.
- Ensure that your doctor says it is safe to do breath retention.
The Practice
When doing Nadi Shodhana and Anuloma Viloma we begin with the left nostril and, of course, breathing out first. Breathing out from the left nostril and then breathing in. We close the right nostril when doing this. When the breathing out and breathing in are complete, we close the left nostril and then breathe through the right, breathing out and then breathing in. Then we close the right nostril and breathe out through the left. That makes one cycle.
One of the Mudras that is used for this is to take the index and middle fingers, put them down, then use the ring finger next to the little finger. These two fingers are used for the left nostril when you use the right hand, and the thumb is used for the right nostril. This is a Mudra that is normally used. Of course, it does not mean that you have to use this Mudra as there are other variations. But I enjoy doing it this way. You can practice with me today.
Observe Difference Between Left and Right Nostril Breathing
Let us explore how left breathing feels and right breathing feels. Put the fingers on the nostrils. Close the right, breathe out though the left and breathe in through the left (demonstrated). Observe how your body feels as you breathe in and out. Continue this for a while. Observe how your body, your mind and your emotional being feel. Get a sense of what left breathing feels like; it is lunar breathing.
Then close the left and let us do only the right and get a sense of what right breathing does, breathing out and in. Do it until you can feel the difference (demonstrated). I can feel it immediately, so there is a difference between left and right nostril breathing.
Balance the Breath with Nadi Shodhana: no retention
We are going to balance both now as we do Nadi Shodhana. Let us put the hand in position. Remember to sit with the back as straight as possible. We close the right, breathing out through the left and in through the left. Now close the left breathing out through the right and in through the right. Close the right, breathing out through the left. That is one round (demonstrated).
There is a rule for the length for inspiration; in breath, expiration, out breath, and for retention. This is a basic rule. The ratio is 1: 4: 2 so breathing in one unit, holding for 4 and breathing out for 2. But in this exercise we are going to do now, there is no breath retention. So we can use the 1:2 ratio. You begin first by learning how to balance the breathing and then you can become more conscious of the ratio.
Ratio 4:8
In this one we will do the ratio. We will breathe in 4 counts 1 2 3 4, and we will breathe out 8 counts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Let us begin (demonstrated). Breathe out through the left and breathing in for 4 counts, hold, breathing out for 8 counts, hold, breathing in 4, breathing out 8. In 4 out 8. In 4 out 8. Relax. In the beginning you can breathe in 2 counts and out 4.
Ratio 2:4
Let us do 2 and 4 counts, so it becomes simple for you. Breathing out, breathing in 2, breathing out 4; breathing in 2, breathing out 4; breathing in 2, breathing out 4 and relax. In the beginning do not even think of the numbers until you get the hang of it. Then you can bring the numbers in. This is the exercise that can stimulate both areas of the brain and can also cleanse the Nadis.
Practicing Breath Retention; ratio 2: 8: 4
I am going to do one where you can hold the breath. We will do 2 counts of breathing in, and then hold to a count of 8, and we breathe out to a count of 4. Do this and see how it feels. This is safe breath retention for those of you who have heart problems. Please do not do this until your doctor confirms that it is safe to do it (demonstrated). If you were to hold the breath that is what you would do. Breathing in to the count of 2; breathing out to the count of 4; holding to the count of 8.
Practice this, but in the beginning just get the feel of breathing through both nostrils and equal amounts, and see how it feels in the brain after a while.
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