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September 30, 2019
The kapālabhātī and bhastrika breathing techniques share the same general principle, namely that we clear the nasal passages with the force of the breath.
We must always rest between āsana and prāṇāyāma practice.
In practicing prāṇāyāma it is important to find a sitting position in which we can remain for a lengthy period and then get up without feeling stiff. The important aspect of our prāṇāyāma posture is that the spine remains upright.
While we use the breath in our practice of āsanas, we must for prāṇāyāma adopt a posture in which we can pay as little attention as possible to the body.
The seated position we choose should be determined by the intended duration of our prāṇāyāma practice.
In addition to the various breathing techniques, the ratio of the different phases of the breath to each other in prāṇāyāma is very significant.
The many possibilities for these ratios can be divided roughly into two categories: 1. The inhalation, the exhalation, and the breath retention are all the same length—we call this samavṛtti prāṇāyāma
2. The different phases of the breath are of different lengths—we call this viṣamavrtti prāṇāyāma.
In prāṇāyāma practice a very important issue is how to find an appropriate breath ratio for our individual needs.
Gazing is an exercise.
Internal gazing is not natural.
In a certain way it is like ignoring the other senses.
Another technique for helping us maintain our concentration during prāṇāyāma uses the hands and fingers.
Hand positions are called hasta mudrā.
Many different hand positions are possible.
In this way the mudrā can also be a way of making sure we concentrate on the breath.
In order to use these focusing techniques to full advantage, it is best to stay with one technique through the course of one days’ practice.
Finally, a word on counting. It is said we should take at least twelve breaths in any one session of prāṇāyāma.
Holding the breath actually gives us a moment in which nothing happens, a moment in which it should therefore be possible to do something like count.
It is said that a moment of breath retention is a moment of meditation, a moment of dhyāna.
The goal is not to use any technique at all. When we can simply be with the breath, actively observing the breath, then we are practicing the highest form of prāṇāyāma.
We use this kind of breathing when we want to focus our work in the abdominal area. Holding the breath after exhalation is in general more difficult than holding it after inhalation.
If you breathe in correctly there is no particular reason to relax the diaphragm deliberately.
Every time we do too much we cause tensions in the diaphragm.
We can prepare in various ways; certainly it is always necessary to do some preparation.
It is better to do prāṇāyāma after āsanas, provided they are not too strenuous and help us to breathe well. There are exceptions, but as a rule we do āsanas before prāṇāyāma.
To begin, you gaze internally at the center of the breath’s movement, that is, at the area of the diaphragm.
After a few months you will probably be able to gaze without any problems for your whole prāṇāyāma practice.
The eye muscles cannot be relaxed during gazing; we are using them.
Gazing must be practiced gradually, otherwise it will lead to headaches.
In India we have a custom whereby we gaze at the sun through a certain hand position every morning. The idea behind this is to make ourselves familiar with the shape of the sun so that we can visualize it with our inner eye during prāṇāyāma. Gazing at a candle, which we call trāṭaka, is something similar, but it is not necessarily linked to prāṇāyāma. Sometimes it is used as an eye exercise. Gazing in prāṇāyāma is directed to the inside rather than to the outside, because in prāṇāyāma we are orienting ourselves to what is within.
The bandhas play an important role in the cleansing processes of yoga.
The old texts tell us that by using the bandhas, the agni can be directed to the exact place where the rubbish has settled and is blocking the flow of energy in the body.
When we execute a bandha we lock certain areas of the torso in a particular way.
The three most important bandhas are the jālandhara bandha, the uddīyāna bandha, and the mūla bandha.
you always begin with jālandhara bandha;
As long as the chin is down and the back is straight we are in jālandhara bandha. This bandha is possible to perform with many, though not all, āsanas.
A word of caution: Do not use bandhas throughout the entire āsana practice.
the bandhas intensify the cleansing effect of prāṇāyāma.
These three bandhas can be used during both āsana and prāṇāyāma practice.
As in our daily āsana practice, we follow the principle of vinyāsa krama, building up to the strenuous practice of bandhas step by step.
yoga as the movement from one point to another, higher one yoga as the bringing together, the unifying of two things yoga as action with undivided, uninterrupted attention These definitions of yoga have one thing in common: the idea that something changes. This change must bring us to a point where we have never been before.
Just because yoga originated in India does not mean that we must become a Hindu in order to practice it.
Why do we set out on this journey at all? Because we sense that we do not always do what might be best for ourselves or others. Because we notice that we often do not recognize the things around us and in us clearly enough. And why does this happen? Because the veil of avidyā clouds our perceptions.
We have already talked about the fact that from the yogic point of view everything is real and there is no illusion.
Yoga also claims that everything is in a state of change and flux.
This is puruṣa, something deep within us that is really able to see and recognize the true nature of all things, including the fact that they are in a state of constant change. But puruṣa is also cloaked with the same veil of avidyā that covers the mind.
I have already described how avidyā is expressed and experienced in four different ways.
One way is asmitā,...
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Another form of avidyā is rāga, the desire to have something whether we need it or not. A third form is dveṣa, which manifests as refusing things and having feelings of hatred. And finally there is abhiniveśa or fear—afraid
