Part I: Chapter II / II – (iv)
c) Sukh Purvak Pranayam – Easy and comfortable Form of Pranayam
Sitting on Padam or Sukh Asana, one should close the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand and exhale the air slowly and rhythmically in one long and unbroken expiration through the left nostril. Now the left nostril is also to be closed with the little or ring finger of the right hand and the Vahya Kumbhak be maintained as long as possible without the least discomfort. Then the breath is to be inhaled, very, very, slowly, through the right nostril after removing the thumb which is to be followed by Antar Kumbhak. Then the order is to be reversed. All these eight processes constitute one pranayam. One ought to commence with five to ten pranayams in the morning and in the evening, on an empty stomach, and gradually increase the same to twenty, together with increased Kumbhak or retention without causing any inconvenience.
While doing pranayam, one should think that Divya Sampardie (Niyamas) like mercy, compassion, love peace and joy, are being absorbed in the system and Asuraya Sampardie (Yamas) like anger, lust greed and selfishness, are being discarded and ejected by the system. It would be well to do Simran, if one may like, during the pranayam.
In the higher stages of Pranayam, the vital breath rises in the Sushmana Nadi and flows toward Sahasrar. The movement is felt in the first instance like that of an ant, and gradually grows into that of a frog, till with the clearing and purification of the nadi, through continued practice, the prana begins to fly like a bird.
There are different types of breath-controlling processes, e.g.:
- Out-breathing and in-breathing through both nasal channels combined with Kumbhaka.
- Out-breathing and in-breathing through one of the nasal channels at a time followed by Kumbhaka. It is called Surya Bhedana and Chandra Bhedana, when performed through the right and left sides respectively.
- In-breathing through both and out-breathing though one of the nasal passages at time.
- Shitkari and Shitali: These are two forms of sipping and sucking the air through pouted lips, along the tongue (after closing both the nostrils), and after holding the air a little deep down, to release it through the nostrils. This is just like drinking the vital breath the crow-beak.
- Bhasrika: It consists in taking breaths in quick succession through one channel at time, and then slowly exhaling the last breath through the other channel and vice versa. It is just like working the bellows and hence is called bellows-breathing or Bhasrika.
Pranayam, or yogic breathing, can be practiced profitably and successfully under the guidance of a Guru or an adept in the method and by those who observe truthfulness, continence, temperance, moderation in diet, humility and patience, are not given to any kind of addictions, and above all, are free from heart and lung diseases and congenital disorders.
The great achievement of pranayam is to awaken and bring into full play the coiled serpentine energy of Kundalini, lying in a dormant state at the spinal root-centre. As it rises higher and higher in the Sukhman, the various subtle centres in the subtle nadis get illuminated, till it reaches Sahasrar, the fountain of light. With the destruction of the veil over the Radiance of Eternity, the mind gets quickly absorbed and concentration follows of itself.
The muscular and nerve control by the practice of asanas is but a preparatory stage, and the real technique of yoga begins with the harnessing of the vital pranas or the ten engines in the body.
Pranayam brings Chit Shudhi, Manas Shudhi and Nadi Shudhi and thereby steadies the mind and helps in concentration, and in destroying the coverings or koshas on the soul. It removes all desires, improves designation and helps in maintaining brahmcharya (continence) and attaining ekagrata (one-pointedness) and kumbhaka (state of peace), with or without purak or rechaka.
Pranayam should be done after answering the call of Nature and after thorough cleansing of the nares or nasal channels with pure and tepid water, and by gargling the throat.
It should be practiced all alone in a sitting posture in a room with open windows to let in fresh air with the mouth closed. After fifteen minutes of the practice, a cup of milk does good. Bathing is to be avoided immediately after such exercises.
The object of pranayam is to restrain the vritis of the mind and to make the mind-stuff steady, like the jet of a lamp in a windless place. All abhyas or practice whatsoever is directed to driving the mind to its source – Hirdya Guha – and to get it absorbed in atman.
The evil vritis of the mind can be removed by cultivating good vritis, so as to replace lust (kam) by continence (brahmcharya), pride (madha) by humility (nimrta), greed (lobh) by contentment (santosh), niggardliness by magnanimity, delusion by discrimination, dishonesty by honesty, fickleness by determination, arrogance by politeness, jealousy by nobility, attachment by detachment, enmity by friendliness, and so on.
The Vedantic method consists in cutting the branches of sankalpa from the tree of the mind (manas), and then destroying the tree itself by cutting the roots in the ego.