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September 30, 2019
Practicing in this way not only makes a difference in our quality of attention; it also changes the way we arrive in the final position and hold it.
Variations are possible not just in the āsanas themselves but also in the preparations we make for them. The exercises we practice before a particular āsana can make a difference as to what we experience and where we feel the effects of the āsana.
While we are practicing an āsana we have the opportunity to direct our attention to different parts of the body.
“The feeling of the breath” refers to the feeling of energy or prāṇa moving in the body. The principle underlying each classic āsana has a particular implication to the movement of prāṇa in the body.
The key to right practice and the appropriate variations of an āsana is to maintain the link between breath and body.
Rather than struggling with the body in an āsana, we monitor the āsana with the number of breaths and the breath ratio (inhale, pause, exhale, pause) that is appropriate for us.
We should not compromise the easy flow of the breath to achieve the āsana.
Yoga recommends two possible ways for achieving the qualities of sukha, comfort and lightness, and sthira, steady alertness. The first is to locate knots and resistances in the body and release them.
It is by proceeding gently that we will feel light and be able to breathe easily in the position and therefore really benefit from it.
The second possible means for realizing the concept of sthira sukha consists of visualizing the perfect posture.
There is a common misconception that āsanas are only positions for meditation.
They are valuable because they enable us to sit upright and stand for long periods of time and to meet with greater ease the many demands made on us by our daily lives.
In the Yoga Sūtra there is another very interesting claim made about the effects of āsanas. It says that when we master āsanas we are able to handle opposites.
Rather, it means becoming more sensitive and learning to adapt because we know the body better; we can listen to it and know how it reacts in different situations.
The word prāṇāyāma consists of two parts: prāṇa and āyāma. Āyāma means “stretch” or “extend,” and describes the action of prāṇāyāma. Prāṇa refers to “that which is infinitely everywhere.” With reference to us humans prāṇa can be described as something that flows continuously from somewhere inside us, filling us and keeping us alive: it is vitality. In this image, the prāṇa streams out from the center through the whole body.
Ancient texts such as the Yoga Yājñavalkya (see appendix 1) tell us that someone who is troubled, restless, or confused has more prāṇa outside the body than within.
the Yoga Sūtra mentions disturbances in the breath, which can take very different forms.
if all the prāṇa is within the body, we are free of these symptoms.
What we are trying to do when we practice prāṇāyāma is nothing more than reduce this rubbish and so concentrate more and more prāṇa within the body.
Our state of mind is closely linked to the quality of prāṇa within.
Various sources call prāṇa the friend of the puruṣa (consciousness) and see in the flow of prāṇa nothing but the working of the puruṣa.
Prāṇa can be understood as the expression of puruṣa, but it is to be found both inside and outside the body.
The idea of prāṇa existing within or beyond the body can be understood as a symbol for our state of mind.
if we notice hesitancy, discontent, fear of doing something because it might be innapropriate, and so forth, we can assume that there are blockages in the system. These blockages do not just occur in the physical body; they exist even more in the mind, in consciousness. Every kind of rubbish we find in ourselves was originally produced by avidyā, that is, incorrect knowledge. The idea that yogis are people who carry all their prāṇa within their body therefore means that they are their own masters.
Following the Yoga Sūtra, we can say that prāṇāyāma is first and foremost awareness of the breath:
Patañjali makes a few practical suggestions for keeping our attention on the breath.
But the true aim of the various techniques and breath ratios of breathing in prāṇāyāma is first and foremost to give us many different possibilities for following the breath. When we follow the breath, the mind will be drawn into the activities of the breath. In this way prāṇāyāma prepares us for the stillness of meditation.
Prāṇa enters the body in the moment when there is a positive change in the mind.
Changes of mind can be observed primarily in our relationships with other people. Relationships are the real test of whether we actually understand ourselves better.
Without prāṇa there is no life. We can imagine that prāṇa flows into us as we inhale, but prāṇa is also the power behind breathing out. As well, prāṇa is transformed in the body into various powers, and is involved in processes that ensure that we rid ourselves of what we no longer need.
There are five forms of prāṇa, all having different names according to the bodily functions with which they correspond. These forms of prāṇa are: udāna-vāyu, corresponding to the throat region and the function of speech prāṇa-vāyu, corresponding to the chest region samāna-vāyu, corresponding to the central region of the body and the function of digestion apāna-vāyu, corresponding to the region of the lower abdomen and the function of elimination vyāna-vāyu, corresponding to the distribution of energy into all areas of the body
Certain physical positions are beneficial for the meeting of fire and rubbish.
All aspects of prāṇāyāma work together to rid the body of apāna so that prāṇa can find more room within.
Prāṇa has its own movement; it cannot be controlled. What we can do is create the conditions in which prāṇa may enter the body and permeate it.
The way to influence prāṇa is via the breath and mind. By working with these through prāṇāyāma, we create optimal conditions for the prāṇa to flow freely within.
Just as the activities of the mind influence the breath, so does the breath influence our state of mind. Our intention as we work with the breath is to regulate it so as to calm and focus the mind for meditation.
Problems can arise when we alter the breath and do not recognize or attend to a negative bodily reaction.
The object of prāṇāyāma practice is to emphasize the inhalation, the exhalation, or retention of the breath. Emphasis on the inhalation is called pūraka prāṇāyāma. Recaka prāṇāyāma refers to a form of prāṇāyāma in which the exhalation is lengthened while the inhalation remains free. Kumbhaka prāṇāyāma focuses on breath retention. In kumbhaka prāṇāyāma we hold the breath after inhalation, after exhalation, or after both.
Whichever technique we choose, the most important part of prāṇāyāma is the exhalation.
The exhalation is vitally important because it transports impurities from the body, making more room for prāṇa to enter.
The Yoga Sūtra discusses the breath in this order of importance: bāhyavṛtti or exhalation as the most important, then abhyantaravṛtti or inhalation as secondary, and finally stambhavṛtti or breath retention.
The most important tenet of prāṇāyāma is this: Only when we have emptied ourselves can we take in a new breath, and only when we can draw the breath into us can we hold it.
In one prāṇāyāma practice called ujjāyī, or throat breathing, we deliberately contracting the larynx slightly, narrowing the air passage. This produces a slight noise in the throat as we breathe.
Ujjāyī breathing has many variations.
In the technique for lengthening both the exhalation and the inhalation, we breathe alternately through the nostrils and do not use the throat at all.
Another very useful breathing technique includes using the tongue. During inhalation we curl up both edges of the tongue so that it forms a kind of tube, then we breathe in through this tube.
Those people who find it impossible to roll the tongue in this way can achieve the same cooling effect by means of another technique in which they open the lips and teeth a little as they breathe in and place the tongue carefully in the space between the upper and lower teeth, a position in which the air can still flow over the tongue.
The techniques of ujjāyī, nāḍī śodhana, and śītalī help us to direct our attention to where the breath is in the body.
Kapālabhātī is a breathing technique used specifically for cleansing. If we have a lot of mucus in the air passages or feel tension and blockages in the chest it is often helpful to breathe quickly.
The word bhastrika means “bellows.” In bhastrika breathing the abdomen moves like a pair of bellows. If one nostril is blocked, then we draw the air in quickly through the open nostril and breath out strongly through the blocked one.
