Solar (Right) and Lunar (Left) Breath – 4

Balanced breathe are of 2 types…

First category is when the breath flows balanced in both the nostrils. This typically happens during dawn and dusk which is when the consciousness switches over based on daily rhythm. Elders prohibit us from doing any worldly activities when the breath flows equally through both the nostrils, this spells disaster. We notice some gurus tell people to balance the breath in both nostrils throughout the day which not right.

The second category of balanced breath is there is no noticeable breathe at all because of deep meditative state. Now breathe is stationed in Ajna chakra or the eyebrow point. During this stage the sub-conscious mind is active and any thought / act during this stage becomes energized and powerful. It is recommended to maintain this state during our worldly life too which is easier said than done.

As per Sage Agasthiyar in his “Saranool Sastram” he says the following activities can be done when the left breath is active:

• Wear new clothes, Jewels, giving employment, construction of wells and ponds, marriage, buy houses or take possession / occupy new house.
• Selling things, interface with government officials, meditation, learn arts etc.
• If you are travelling South or west direction then a lunar breath is good.

As per Sage Agasthiyar in his “Saranool Sastram”, he says the following activities can be done when the right breath is active:

• Teaching, fighting, agriculture, any heavy work, taking medication, sleeping, taking bath etc.
• If you are travelling East or North direction then a solar breath is good.

In short as per our understanding, all physical activities in worldly life should be performed when the right nostril is active. If you have poor appetite, feeling very cold because of weather try switching over to right nostril. A male’s magnetism increases with right nostril breathing and the female’s magnetism increases with her left nostril breathing. Equal breath through both nostrils and left nostril based breathing is recommended only for meditative purposes. Please note some who do Pranayamam during Sandyavandanam, do only left nostril based breathing. This is a very special breathing technique.

When you sleep in the night it is preferable to sleep turning to your left. Though we don’t have any control after we slept, but consciously training ourselves helps us with healthy life.This not only helps digestion but also is the best breath management possible while sleeping.

So to sum up, we saw that we are endowed with a natural breath count and also we have seen 2 important types of breath in our 3 nadis. It is told that the right side / solar breathing is very critical for healthy and long life and we have many examples of yogis and rishis living for many many years using these techniques. The choice is left to us if we want to accept and benefit from these techniques or not. Next week, we will look at what is the breathing rhythm which nature has endowed us and how should we manage this.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

Solar (Right) and Lunar (Left) Breath – 3

Now look at the picture of Lord Shiva as the Supreme Yogi depicting to be holding a staff as a support to his left hand. Not just Shiva any yogi doing meditation or not would always have his staff supporting his left hand and not right hand. Can you answer why?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lord Shiva in a meditative pose with a supporting staff in the left hand]

Let’s see the answer for this question. When you want to breathe for long and healthy life you should breathe through your right nostril. The easiest way to breathe through your right nostril is to close the left nostril or more easily press the left side of the body slightly. This can be done by leaning to the left even while sitting in a chair or by pressing the left hand on to a staff. This is what is depicted in the image of Shiva.

Any yogi would be leaning to his left or supporting his left hand with a staff or standing on his left leg highlights that he is doing effective breath management to live longer.This staff used by the yogis is called as “Vaasi Dhand”, Vaa+si means a combination of Air and Fire which is our breath. This staff is pressed against specific points in hand or armpits.

[Cuddapah Swami Sachidananda Yogeeswar]

• The quickest way to change the breathing from one right to left nostril is to sit like the Swamiji as shown above. If you want to switch from left to right then change the pose to left side with the left hand pressed on the ground.
• If you or your kids have a blockage of any nostril say right nostril is blocked, please turn to your left and sleep and you would notice that the blockage is cleared within seconds. There is no need for medication like saline and nasal drops.

Simple Do’s and Dont’s

• If you are diseased (even headaches, running low on energy) you may want to note that you may be breathing through your left nostril and not right. Try switching the breath over for a doctor-less, self-administered relief. Please note that this is not cure since the root cause is not addressed for a disease.
• Right side breathing increases the overall heat in the body and hence requires some bodily thermodynamics. It’s very important that you take the advice of a qualified yoga guru / Siddha doctor.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

Solar (Right) and Lunar (Left) Breath – 2

We will now see the explanation for 12 and 16 angulas concept based on Raguram’s understanding which of course seems to be more logical.

• The overall human height is measured as 9 talas. Tala is the fundamental measure of time and space. We will see more in details about this later.

Human form – Adi Tala, Nava Tala [Courtesy: Dr. Ganapathi Sthapati]

• If the height of a human is 9 Talas (Navatala) then the torso which is neck to start of thigh is 3 talas. From neck to navel is 2 Talas and naval to start of the thigh is 1 Tala. Each Tala is 6 Angulas and hence neck to navel is 12 Angulas.
• The solar breath starts at navel / nabhi chakra and hence 12 angulas. 
• The lunar breath starts much below at Mooladhara chakra and hence 4 angulas below the nabhi chakra and hence 16 angulas. We also need to notice the distinction between nadi and breath. The Pingala nadi may still start at Mooladara but the solar breath is from the nabhi chakra. It is always better to go with what your guru says and that’s what we do.
• Some schools tell us that 16 and 12 angulas are the length of the breath from the nose when we exhale, which may not be true. One angula is 11/8th of an inch. This would not be applicable for the exhaling length of the breath outside us.

Nadis and Chakras [Book Yoga Nidra, by NC Panda]

• We would notice that the flow crisscross between our nose and brain and this is one of the reasons why our sides of the body are controlled by the opposite sides of our brain.
• The more we breathe through the right nostril the wastage is low and we would lead a long and healthy life. Alternatively when we breathe through your left nostril the breath wastage is more and they noted that it hampers long life and good health. We will see more on this tomorrow.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

Solar (Right) and Lunar (Left) Breath – 1

Irrespective of whether we consider that breathing as an activity that we perform or we identify our very existence with breathing, it is important to know the basics behind this activity. The basis of this article is  our Yoga / Siddha system. Some of the interesting aspects are given…

If you divide the human body vertically along the sternum it has 2 symmetric sides – right and left side. (have you recognized that most of the organs are symmetric along this meridian?) Right side is called as male, +ve, Yang, Surya, Pingala, Ravi and so on. Similarly left side of the body is called as female, -ve, Yin, Mathi, Ida, Chandra. These 2 aspects are bipolar yet non-dual in the sense one cannot exist without the other. The Yin-yang symbol, the Arthanareeswarar image and the Star of David conveys this same aspect.

Out of the 72000 nadis / meridians in the body there are 3 nadis which is very important. Pingala, Ida and Sushmna. All nadis carry subtle energy called Prana or Chi through our body. When we breathe through our right side and the breath that comes through the right nostril is called Pingala and left breath is called Ida. It is actually the name of the nadi and the breath is called Surya (right) or Chandra (Left). The objective of the article is not to talk about Sushmna but look at the rhythm we have between right and left nostril breathing.

Figures given above highlight the 3 Nadis and 7 chakras. You would note that the flow of nadis is different in all the pictures. There are multiple schools of thought on this.

Right breathe characterizes solar power and hence physical energy, enthusiasm, drive, health, aggression, sexual potency and long life. Left breathe characterizes humility, truthfulness, creativity, spirituality, obedience, compassion etc.

We know that every human being is endowed with ~ billion breath package and the concept of long life is based on how much breath you save and not waste. Yoga states that if you breathe through the right nostril (Solar breath), then it is effectively 12 angulas of breath length and if you breathe through the left nostril (Lunar Breath), then it is effectively 16 angulas of breath length. Ask your Yoga guru about this angula measurements, most may not be aware of it. More details on this tomorrow…

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

Kundalini and Chakras

Kundalini

Kundalini is the serpent power or sleeping Sakti, that has 3 1/2 coils with face downwards, in the Muladhara Chakra, at the base of the spine. No Samadhi is possible without its being awakened. The practice of Kumbhaka in Pranayama produces heat and thereby Kundalini is awakened and passes upwards along the Sushumna Nadi. The Yogic practitioner experiences various visions. Then the Kundalini passes along the Six Chakras and eventually gets united with Lord Siva, seated on the Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus, at the crown of the head. Nirvikalpa Samadhi ensues now and the Yogi gets liberation and all the divine Aishvaryas.

 

One should practise control of breath with concentration of mind. The awakened Kundalini that is taken up to Manipura Chakra may drop down again to Muladhara. It has to be raised again with effort. One should become perfectly desireless and should be full of Vairagya before he attempts to awaken Kundalini. Kundalini is like a thread and is resplendent. When it is awakened it hisses like a serpent beaten with a stick and enters the hole of Sushumna. When it travels from Chakra to Chakra, layer after layer of the mind becomes open and the Yogi acquires various Siddhis (psychic powers).

Shat-Chakras

Chakras are centres of spiritual energy. They are located in the astral body, but they have corresponding centres in the physical body also. They can hardly be seen by the naked eyes. Only a clairvoyant can see with his astral eyes. Tentatively they correspond to certain plexuses in the physical body. There are six important Chakras. They are: Muladhara (containing 4 petals) at the anus; Svadhishthana (6 petals) at the genital organ; Manipura (10 petals) at navel; Anahata (12 petals) at the heart; Visudha (16 petals) at the throat and Ajna (2 petals) at the space between the two eyebrows. The seventh Chakra is known as Sahasrara, which contains a thousand petals. It is located at the top of the head. Sacral plexus tentatively corresponds to Muladhara Chakra; Prostatic plexus to Svadhishthana, Solar plexus to Manipura, Cardiac plexus to Anahata Chakra, Laryngal plexus to Visuddha Chakra and Cavernous plexus to Ajna Chakra.

Reference

The Science of Pranyama by Sri Swami Sivananda

Nadis – The Nerve Currents

Nadis

Nadis are astral tubes made up of astral matter that carry Pranic currents. They can be seen by the astral eyes only. They are not the nerves. They are 72,000 in number. Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are the important ones. Sushumna is the most important of all.

Ida and Pingala

There are the two nerve-currents one on either side of the spinal column. The left one is called Ida and the right is known as Pingala. These are Nadis. Tentatively, some take these as the right and the left sympathetic cords, but they are subtle tubes that carry Prana. The Moon moves in the Ida and the Sun in the Pingala. Ida is cooling. Pingala is heating. Ida flows through the left nostril and the Pingala through the right nostril. The breath flows through the right nostril for one hour and then through the left nostril for one hour. Man is busily engaged in worldly activities, when the breath flows through Ida and Pingala. When Sushumna operates, he becomes dead to the world, and enters into Samadhi. A Yogi tries his level best to make the Prana run in the Sushumna
Nadi, which is known as the central Brahman Nadi also. On the left of Sushumna is situated Ida and on the right is Pingala. The moon is of the nature of Tamas and the sun is that of the Rajas. The poison share is of the sun and the nectar is of the moon. Ida and Pingala indicate time. Sushumna is the consumer of time.

 

Sushumna

Sushumna is the most important of all the Nadis. It is the sustainer of the universe and the path of the universe and the path of salvation. Situated at the back of the anus, it is attached to the spinal column and extends to the Brahmarandhra (Crown chakra) of the head and is invisible and subtle. The real work of a Yogi begins when Sushumna begins to function. Sushumna runs along the centre of the spinal cord or spinal column.

Above the genital organs and below the navel is the Kanda, of the shape of a bird’s egg. There arise from it all the Nadis 72,000 in number. Of these, seventy-two are common and generally known. Of those the chief ones are ten and they carry the Pranas. Ida, Pingala, Sushumna, Gandhari, Hastijihva, Pusa, Yusasvini, Alambusa, Kuhuh and Sankhini are said to be the ten important Nadis. The Yogis should have a knowledge of the Nadis and the Chakras. Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are said to carry Prana and have Moon, Sun and Agni as their Devatas. When Prana moves in Sushumna, sit for meditation. You will have deep Dhyana. If the coiled-up energy, Kundalini, passes up along the Sushumna Nadi and is taken up from Chakra to Chakra the Yogi gets different sorts of experiences, powers and Ananda.

Reference

The Science of Pranyama by Sri Swami Sivananda

Prana and Lungs – Part 2

It is through vocal cords that are located in the larynx that sound is produced. Larynx is the sounding box. When the vocal cords are affected by too much straining, as in singing and continuous lecturing, the voice becomes hoarse. In females these cords are shorter. Hence they have a sweet melodious voice. The number of respiration per minute is 16. In pneumonia it is increased to 60, 70, 80 per minute. In Asthma, the bronchial tubes become spasmodic. They contract. Hence there is difficulty in breathing. Pranayama removes the spasm or constriction of these tubes. A small membranous flat cap covers the upper surface of larynx. It is called Epiglottis. It prevents the food particles or water from entering into the respiratory passage. It acts the part of a safety valve. When a small particle of food tries to enter the respiratory passage, cough comes in and the particle is thrown out.

Lungs purify the blood. The blood starts in its arterial journey, bright-red and rich-laden with life-giving qualities and properties. It returns by the venous route, poor, blue-laden with the waste matter of the system. Arteries are tubes or vessels that carry pure oxygenated blood from the heart towards the different parts of the body. Veins are vessels or tubes that carry back impure blood from the different parts of the body. The right side of the heart contains impure venous blood. From the right side of the heart the impure blood goes to the lungs, for purification. It is distributed among the millions of tiny air-cells of the lungs. A breath of air is inhaled and the oxygen of the air comes in contact with the impure blood through the thin walls of the hair-like blood-vessels of the lungs called pulmonary capillaries. The walls of the capillaries are very thin. They are like muslin cloth or sieve. Blood oozes out or exudes readily. Oxygen penetrates through the walls of these thin capillaries. When the oxygen comes in contact with the tissues a form of combustion takes place.

The blood takes up oxygen and releases carbonic acid gas generated from the waste products and poisonous matter, which has been gathered up by the blood from all parts of the system. The purified blood is carried by the four pulmonary veins to the left auricle and thence to the left ventricle. From the ventricle it is pumped into the biggest artery, aorta. From aorta, it passes into the different arteries of the body. It is estimated that in a day 35,000 pints of blood traverses the capillaries of the lungs for purification.

From the arteries the pure blood goes into the thin capillaries. From the capillaries the lymph of the blood exudes, bathes and nourishes the tissues of the body. Tissue respiration takes place in the tissues. Tissues take up the oxygen and leave the carbon dioxide. The impurities are taken by the veins to the right side of the heart.

Who is the creator of this delicate structure? Are you feeling the invisible hand of God behind these organs? The structure of this body bespeaks undoubtedly of the omniscience of the Lord. The Antaryamin or the Indweller of our hearts supervises the working of the inner factory as Drashtha. Without His presence, heart cannot pump blood into the arteries. Lungs cannot carry out the process of purifying the blood. Pray. Pay your silent homage to Him. Remember Him at all times. Feel His presence in all the cells of the body.

Reference

The Science of Pranyama by Sri Swami Sivananda