Shodhan, Pranayam, Bandh and Mudra- Part II

B.PRANAYAM:

   The next important thing to master is pranayam. But prior to it, we must have good inhale and retention capacity for breath. These can be improved with the help of various exercises as shown below.

   The second important thing necessary is deep breath capacity. The same shall be used for kumbhak during various mudras. Here we will analyse the capacity of air in our lungs. The total air volume of lungs is 6 litres. Mostly people are shallow breathers. They utilize about 0.5 litre of volume during normal breathing. About 1.5 litre of air always remains inside our lungs and is called residual volume. Normal breathing is done in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 lit, meaning we use maximum of 3 litre capacity of our lungs i.e 50 %, while the remaining is unutilized. When doing kapal bhati, since it uses forced exhalation and natural inhalation, this range of breathing moves from 1-2.5 litre range. While in the case of Bhastrika pranayam where both inhalation and exhalation are forced, the breath moves in the range of 1-5.5 litre. This is clear from the graph depicted in the breathing pattern of Diaphragmatic and Clavicular breathing. 

 Another method to increase breathing capacity uses Ramping(already explained in post 'Yoga and Meditation' in yoga label), where inhalation and exhalation are done with steps. We increase the number of steps from say 4 times to 16 times max. In the maximum stage, we will inhale a single breath in 16 steps and exhale it in 16 steps. Even flaring of nostrils while breathing, is said to increase the capacity by almost 10 %.

    With the help of pranayam the mind becomes free of impurities and fit for meditation. The mind, controls our senses and breath, controls our mind. Our mind and breath have a secret connection, wherever either goes, the other follows. There is a continuous fight going on in this body between the breath and the mind. Most of the time the mind is the winner and hence an ordinary person moves from one birth to another as per his karmas, his desires. But a yogi spends his time to strengthen his pran every moment, so that at last  when his time comes to leave his body, the mind follows the pran, and not otherwise, as the yogi exits his pran from the tenth door i.e Brahmrandhara,at the top of the head.

  Forward bending of spine give strength to it while reverse bending of spine give flexibility to it. Hence  proper mix of two is essential for sitting in long duration meditation practices. Thus, a stable spine and still chitt (mind) are essential for sadhana.

   Pranayam literally means ‘elongation of the life force’, a process by which our pranic capacity is increased. Pranayam practices have been categorized in various divisions. One is called Samvriti and Visan vritti,They are as follows;

Surya bhedi¹, Chandra bhedi², Ujjai³, Kapalbhati⁴, Bhastrika⁵, Sheetali⁶, Sheetkari⁷, Kevali⁸, Bhramari⁹, Moorcha¹⁰ and Plavini¹¹. One is not going into the theoretical details of the above pranayam, which one can get from books,magazines and the Internet but, here I will be adding small and important details to make the practice more potent.

Suryabhedi¹: Inhale with full force through right nostril while closing the left nasal passage. Internal retention is carried out with Jallandhar bandh. Hold the air as long as possible comfortably and then exhale through the left nasal passage. Repeat the same procedure. It raises kundlini and improves digestive power.  It pacifies the nerves and due to forceful inhalation it cleanses the sinuses, removing various obstructions. This is good for people with low blood pressure, but it should not be done too vigorously by high BP patients.

Chandrabhedi²: It is opposite of Suryabhedi. Here inhalation is done through the left nasal instead and breath is exhaled through the right nasal passage. The left passage is connected to Ida nadi. It cools the system. It soothes the nerves but should not be done in excess by people with low BP,  and those who are too introvert.  Also both of these pranayams are not to be performed on the same day.

Ujjai³: It is simply thorax breathing. Much has been written about it, for general details one can refer to these works. From a personal perspective, one should imagine a pillar of light energy rising through the anus and passing over the vertebral column and going up through the Brahmrandhra, or crown of the head. It is a personal interpretation. It helps raise our kundlini into Sahasrar. When in deep Dhyan, if one observes ones breath it will automatically be flowing like that. It brings about peace of mind, balances the two nadis and helps prana flow in Sushmana. It cures asthama and depression.

Kapalbhati⁴: It is a method of breathing in which the exhale is done forcefully and inhalation is done naturally with the help of the diaphragm. General description is available at many places which one can refer to. Here one would like to share that during this breathing, though, breath is going on through nose but one should amplify the feeling that it is flowing horizontally through a hole in between the eyebrows, where the nose and forehead meet. Also one should keep ones chin a little upwards for increasing this feeling. It makes our sensation at the space of ajna chakra stronger. In due course one is able to see light in ones forehead from where actual sadhana of a practitioner starts. There are great details from this point on but since it is not in the scope of the present subject one would not delve into that. 

    Another important point in its practice is its speed. One should do in the range of 60-80 per minute. If it is increased it will start changing into Bhastrika and if it is too slow it will not generate the desired effect. It can be experienced that if ones does around 1000x in a sitting, its effect on the fore head and mind will be self evident. Since breath is forced out, our throat has a tendency to dry up quickly, gulp down saliva or drink small quantity of water after few sets. So do it and experience. It generates introversion and should not be done longer by introverted personalities.

Bhastrika⁵: Here the breathing pattern is forced inhalation and forced exhalation both, unlike Kapalbhati where it is only forced exhalation. It provides great energy to our body and hence is good for people with low energy. But it should not be done strongly and over longer duration by people having high BP and heart ailments. They should just follow long and smooth inhalation and exhalation patterns, without jerks during breathing and unwanted stress to the system.

Sheetali⁶ : As the name indicates, it cools our body. Breath is inhaled from the mouth through curled up tongue stretched out which moistens the incoming air striking our throat. Then, this breath is gulped down or swallowed. As it reaches our stomach, one feels coolness spreading there. Hold it for a few seconds with Jalandhar bandh and then exhale as in Ujjai. After odd number of cycles like 7,9,11… one should stop the practice and inhale deeply through both the nostrils and relax. 

If one gets fever, immediately start this pranayam and fever will be cured without medicine. One has tried it in 102⁰ centigrade fever and in just 15 minutes it was gone and did not recur. One suggests the readers to try it during fever and experience first hand.   

Sheetkari⁷: The only difference from above is that we breath in through our open lips with teeth joined together. Many places it is explained that this one is for people with full set of teeth.

Both the above pranayams are cooling, soothing to ears, eyes and good for stomach ailments. Activate liver and spleen.

Bhramari⁹: It is pranayam to focus mind on sound. One inhales through Ujjai and closes eyes, ears,nose, lips etc and makes sound like a bee and keeps ones mind focused there. It is advised to do it in a peaceful place. Thus night time is good for such practice. In my opinion, actually one should listen to antar naad instead of the sound produced physically. That meditative practice is best, which makes us fathom the depths of our inner Self than the outside world.

Kevali⁸: Kevali kumbhak is an advanced type of Pranayamic practice. As the name suggests, it is not only kumbhak or retention, but it should be understood as retention with very small inhalation. This can be explained with the help of simple example of putting a bucket full of water under slightly opened tap. Fresh water keeps trickling in, it changes the stale water as the bucket over flows.  Kevali is also like that. We keep retaining most of the breath and only change 5-10 per cent of it at any time. As our control on breath will rise more and more, our duration of kevali will become more and more. Kevali will make our breath subtler and subtler and reduce its length more and more.  

A person’s breath in normal circumstances treads a distance of 12 fingers width from the nose. The goal of a yogi is to reduce it by 12 fingers and come just to the tip of his nose i.e he should take breath from there and leave his exhalation also there. If a strand of cotton is kept at the nose tip, it should not move at all. A yogi who has such subtle breath is called a Paramhamsa. Such a person will have all siddhis and nidhis at hand and will not be dependent upon nature for anything as he would transcend all the five elements.

Moorcha¹⁰: Inhale with Ujjai and hold breath internally as long as possible. By repeating this a number for times one will feel like fainting or swooning. This will slow down our mind and grant it peace.

Plavini¹¹: It is concerned with floating on water. It is not taught much or explained in details. Due to its mentioned purpose, one amasses air in stomach and floats in water. A similar kind of floating is also done in Matsya asan. The more air we can retain inside,the better floating will be experienced. Though in the case of matsya asan one’s body is angularly floating with nose and forehead above the water surface and the rest submerged. But if one has lots of air in the stomach like a pot, then I think the body must also be supported by inside air to come up towards the surface. In that position the body will become horizontal. A similar thing can be experienced while floating on the back. When asked the secret of it from a Himalyan yogi, it was said inhale maximum and then breathe like in Kevali. As science students, we will agree that more the air inside our body better will be floating.

Anulom Vilom¹²: ‘Loma’ means hair, ‘Vi’ means against order, while ‘Anu’ means in natural order. It can be done in two ways, i.e. Anulom pranayam and Vilom pranayam. Viloma pranayam is with ramping on both sides while anulom pranayam can be without ramping.

Anuloma pranayam reduces hypertension, high BP, cleanses nasal passages, sharpens inner awareness and quiets the mind.

Viloma pranayam is good for people suffering from low BP, soothes the brain.

There are different ways suggested by different teachers but one liked the interpretation of anuloma viloma as taught by Guru Dattatreya to his disciple Sanskriti in Jabal Darshan Upnishat on his question of how to keep ones nadis cleansed, which is as follows.

 He surmised that first one should follow only those karmas as stated in the scriptures, leave all the hankering after desires and fruits of karma, follow the precepts of ashtang yoga and make ones mind still, be always truthful, perform service to learned people, always delve in the chintan of atma. Locate a good place on a mountain top, a river bank or near a bilv tree in forest where there is peace and no fear. Sit on an asan facing East or North keeping head, neck and body aligned. Close mouth and focus on the realm of moon in front of the nose tip and visualize that in pranav bindu there the nectar of Paramatma is flowing and one is having His darshan there. Then inhale through the left nasal passage and fill up ones stomach. Hold it inside and visualize nectar of the moon spreading everywhere. Exhale through right nasal passage. In the middle of the stomach, visualize the realm of the Sun. Inhale through right nasal passage and see the appearance of the deity of the Sun. Join fire (Agni beej) ‘R’ with naad and bindu. Thus, chanting ‘Ram’ spread its energy throughout and exhale through left nasal passage. Repeat it 3,5,7,9….number of times.  

Then one can add 16:64:32 ration in the poorak, kumbhak and rechak during this pranayam. In Poorak concentrate on ‘A’, in Kumbhak concentrate on ‘U’ and in Rechak concentrate on ‘M’. It is said that one who does this for six months without fail, even an ignorant person generates knowledge; if one does it for one year, one would have Darhsan of Brahm. Thus, practicing daily, a yogi gets free from the bonds of this world to experience eternal freedom.

By doing this the nadis get cleansed. Various symptoms are there to gauge the cleansing of nadis. The first symptom is lightness in body; second symptom is increase in digestive fire and third is hearing of antar naad. Till these symptoms are experienced, keep doing practice. Such is the saying of Lord Dattatreya.

Then he explained the effects of pranayam as follows which are very interesting. According to him they should be done during both sandhyas, morning as well as evening.

By holding the breath at the nasal tip, pran comes under control,

By holding it inside naval, all diseases are removed,

By holding it in the big toe, lightness of body is achieved,

By drinking air through curled up tongue fatigue is removed, pitt is reduced and the body becomes disease free,

By attracting the air through the tongue as above, holding it in the neck slowly one should drink it. Thus all the diseases are removed.

By attracting air through Ida holding in the middle of eyebrows, one should visualize as if drinking nectar, all diseases are removed,

By attracting the air through both nasal passages and holding in the middle of navel, all ailments of stomach are removed,

By attracting through both the passages and holding it therein, all diseases of the eyes are removed,

By attracting through both the nasal passages and holding it in ears, all ear problems are removed,

Similarly, if held in the head, all problems pertaining to the head are removed. One should try them to experience first hand. 
..............TO BE CONTD TO PART III...................Shaktanand.
                                                          ~OM~

 

Shodhan , Pranayam, Bandh and Mudra - Part I

  Before going in for yoga, one firmly believes that one should undertake various cleansing techniques as devised by our ancient yogis. Doing thus, further practices become easier to perform and experience. Various cleansing procedures can be tabulated as follows:

A.SHODHAN:

Malakulasu nadishu Maruto naiv madhyagah,

Katham syat unmani bhav, karya sidhih katham bhavet. 4/2/HYP.

Till all the nadis are filled with impurities, pran can never flow in the Madhya nadi. without achieving that one can never generate Unmani bhav. Without it, how can one achieve the end result.

Shudhameti yada sarvam, Nadichakram malakulam,

Tadaiv jayate yogi pran sangrhane akhshmah.5/2/HYP.

Till all the impurities is removed from various nadis in body, a yogi can never be able to assimilate pran shakti inside.

NETI: It comprises of two methods, Sutra neti (two sutras or threads are used in it, namely, rubber catheter and specially prepared cotton thread) and Jal neti.

Sutra Neti: Wash the thread, whether rubber or cotton and clean the nasal passages. If rubber thread, hold the close end front and open end in the rear. With thread held in thumb and forefinger at the opening of particular nasal passage, push it with the help of other hand in small steps slowly till it comes out in our throat without leaving the other end lest by accident it is swallowed in to our body. Insert thumb and forefinger in to the mouth and catch hold of the thread in throat. Without leaving the upper end at the entry point of nose, take this end also out of mouth. With the help of both the hands, start moving the thread up and down the nasal passage and throat cavity. It will cleanse both areas.
   This entails increase in power of nerves in the area of eye brow centre, improves eye sight and hearing power. Many nasal problems are removed by it. First timers should try rubber catheter first and later on use cotton sutras as they are difficult to get these days in market and a little harder to practice. 
    
   After learning this properly, take two rubber catheters. One of them should be inserted in one nasal passage head first while other should be inserted in the second nasal passage tail first. As told earlier, take ends of both out of our mouth. Then put the head of the one thread in the tail of the other catheter. Now, start pulling the nasal side catheter ends which will make the joined ends of catheter in mouth go back in to throat cavity. Slowly pull one side catheter out of the nasal passage. This way, we will get one catheter completely out of nasal passage. Dissociate its end from the end of other one and we will be left behind with one catheter only with its two ends hanging out of two nostrils.  Holding these two ends, move them in and out, there by rubbing both nasal passages simultaneously.    

Jal Neti: For this we need a special neti pot or one can improvise a bottle with tube fixed to it as shown below or we can use a glass directly to drink the liquid. Neti is performed in different stages with water at first, milk next and ghee in the third stage. If one has mucous in nasal passage then warm water should be used or else normal water can be used. A little salt can also be added to it or else it will cause irritation in the nasal cavity. Drink water through nasal passage and spit it out through the mouth. It should not be swallowed. One glass is sufficient for cleansing. Closing one nostril, blow breath out through the open one forcefully so that no water is left in the nasal cavity. Do the same with the other nasal passage also. Thus, the whole of the nasal cavity has become clean. High blood pressure patients should use normal water. Salty water kills germs as well as reduces swelling inside the nasal passage.

   Now fill up your mouth with water (by even inflating our cheeks to store maximum inside). Lowering our chin above sternum, closing the passage going in to throat, blow the mouth water out through nasal passages as an elephant does. This is called Gajkarni after elephants Sanskrit name of Gaja. Again blow the nasal passages clean.

   Further, there are blood sinusoids located in the mucous membrane of our nose which warms up the air entering in our breath to body temperature. Further it is humidified so that it is not dry when it goes into the lungs or else it will make our lung membrane dry where alveoli or air sacks will loose their flexibility which is essential to store air in them. Further the cavities in the bones of face trap dust particles also which are partially stopped by hair in our nasal passage also.

   After this one can take normal temperature milk (not boiled), drink 50-100 gm through nose and do not spit it out but drink it fully. This helps in energising the nerves of nose and eyebrow centre. It is said 100 gm of milk taken as above is equal to 1 kg of it taken through the mouth.

   Further, one can take liquid desi ghee and drink it through nose. These three methods complete the Neti procedure.

   The last procedure under it is taking out mouth water from the holes in the eyes. A fluid is continuously produced in our eyes called Lachrymal glands. It passes through the nasolachryml ducts in to the nose and keeps the nasal passage membrane moist. In 24 hours about 1 lit. of this fluid is secreted by the glands in eye. It is through this duct, a trained yogi forces the water kept in mouth out through the eyes. One must have seen such things being shown on discovery channel many times. It removes all kinds of problems of our eye, cleanses this duct. Capacity to force milk out through eyes is considered to be perfection of neti kriya.

   Thus the whole of our nasal system becomes perfectly clean for any kind of pranayam practice.

Dhauti: Next kriya for cleansing is dhauti. It is used for cleansing our esophagus or food pipe and stomach. This also comprises of different methods.

Chatur angulam vistaaram, hast panchdashayatam,

Gurupad isht margena, siktam vastram shanaih graset,

punah pratya haret chaitat, uditam karma tata. 24/2/HYP. 

Take a four finger, 15 hand length cotton cloth which has been thoroughly dipped in water. Slowly as instructed by ones guru, one should take it in and pull it out.

   First procedure is Vastra dhauti. A pure cotton cloth 4 fingers wide and 15 feet long is taken in rolled up form. It is immersed in water and thus thoroughly moistened.Then one of it pushed in to throat with finger and then drinking water one ingests it in to food pipe. Like one eats food, same wave dhauti is gulped down without chewing. It goes up to our stomach.  Then one can do nauli kriya. After that it is to be taken out. The whole procedure must be learnt from an expert before doing independently. It cleanses the whole food pipe as well as stomach. The yogi from whom one learnt this procedure use to take 120 ft long dhauti cloth to demonstrate that it is not difficult to do, though he once shared that his guru uses only 2-3 feet length for quick cleansing. Sometimes during initial stages, while taking out the dhauti from food pipe, it gets a little struck in esophagus, our food pipe. One should not worry at that time,  if it gets a little struck then DO NOT try to pull forcefully but drink some water as a small length is re-swallowed and then slowly pull it out.

Vaman Dahuti: Next method under dhauti is Vaman or vomit. Take warm water if one has mucous inside, else even normal water will also suffice. Drink four glasses of it and vomit it out. One may use ones fingers to assist in vomiting.

Generally, dhauti is of five types while Antar dhauti is of four kinds as below:

Antar Dhauti¹, Varisaar Dhaut², Dant dhauti³, Hrid dhauti⁴ and Mool shodhan⁵. Antar dhauti further divided in to Vaatsaar^a, Vanhisaar^b, Vaarisaar^c and Bahishkrit^d.   

(1) Antar Dhauti:

Vaatsaar^a: As the name suggest it involves air in it. It helps to cleans neck, esophagus(food pipe) and stomach. Sit in any dhyan asan and inhale air forcefully through mouth which is kept in kaki mudra. Gulp it down the throat and hold for a few seconds in stomach and then breath it out through mouth. Repeat this process again and again. Digestive power is increased and its debility removed.  

Varisaar^b: It is also called ‘Shankhprakshalan’.It is a kind of cleansing with water but followed in a specific manner as detailed below.

    After taking regular food, do not eat anything or drink any heavy liquid for 18 hours.

    Take two utensils of water, one hot boiled and other normal tap water. Mix the two in a jug so that it is drinkable. Add salt into it as per taste.

    Now drink 2-3 glass and move your arms along with waist from side to side while standing. This would entail the water in the stomach to move through various apertures in our body, thus cleansing them. Keep on drinking and thus moving. When ever there is an urge to pass stool or urine, sit on the toilet seat and let it pass naturally. Do not try to force anything. A time will come in 1-2 rounds when as soon as we drink water, immediately we will  have to pass it out. Thus keep repeating the process, till water coming out of body is completely clean. At this juncture stop drinking water further and lay yourself down on your back for one hour without moving to any side. After that one can eat khichari made out of moong daal, 3 parts (without covering or dhuli) and rice, 1 part with desi ghee of cow. Nothing else should be eaten that day but this khichari. There is no restriction to amount eaten. Also try to remain in bed for the whole day and prefer not to perform any physical work. Next day onwards one can eat anything and do anything as per ones normal routine.

If one is a high blood pressure patient, then till BP is normal one is advised not to do this practice. Heart patients should not perform this.

   For people suffering from diabetes, it is the best cure and it should be done as per the following schedule, under guidance;

   Twice a month for first three months (6 times in three months); once a month for next three months (3 times in three months); once in two months for next three months(3 times in 6 months). Thus a total of 12 times one would do in one year. It is believed that by that time disease of diabetes will be removed from its roots. A normal person can do 3-4 times in a year to extract it benefits. It also removes the worms from stomach, bilious belching, effect of excessive pitt dosha and vaat dosha.

Vanhisaar^c: This kriya as the name suggest has to do something with digestive fire. It is also called agnisaar. To perform one should sit down in padmasan or any asan which is possible keeping spine straight, breath in and move one’s stomach in and out. Do it in the sets of say 20 times each. As we get tired, muscles become stiffer and movement of the stomach becomes more and more slow and difficult. In such a state one can seek assistance of fingers to press the stomach in and relax by keeping hands on the waist and fingers on either side of the navel. People with gall bladder stones should refrain from it.

   Alternately do it on exhaled breath also same number of times. One can do maximum of hundred times in a day depending upon ones capacity.

   It increases our digestive fire and all the organs of the digestive system are massaged.

Bahishkrit Dhauti^d: Practice on empty stomach. Breath in through mouth in Kaki mudra and take it in to stomach. Hold it there as per ones capacity and then exhale through mouth. Slowly one should increase practice of holding the air in stomach.

   As per Gherand Samhita this process requires holding air in stomach for 1hr 30 minutes and then moving it out through anus.

   Do abdominal breathing 8-10 times sitting in padmasan. Then exhale and suck stomach in as if touching our spine. Hold as long as possible and then inhale afresh. Again exhale complete and suck in stomach. One can repeat this process 3,5,7… times as per ones capacity. It invigorates all the parts of our digestive system and is very beneficial.

Dant Dhauti²: It involves cleansing of our teeth with help of datum of Keekar or Neem tree. After this one should cleanse the pallet with thumb and back of the tongue with first two fingers. Thus phlegm is removed and taste buds are cleaned. Mouth becomes fresh and taste is restored.

Hrid Dhauti³: Though its name is after heart but its cleansing takes place in the food pipe only. It is known to be of two types, Dand and vastra dhauti.

Mool Shodhan⁴: Also called Ganesh Kriya, it is cleaning of the anal aperture with middle finger. Thus cleansing the hole from inside and outside, massaging all the muscles in it. This keeps it in perfect condition and removes any onset of diseases like piles, worms, constipation, skin problem etc.  

Jihvamool Dhauti: This procedure cleans our throat, strengthens our tongue, improves our voice and removes stuttering of speech. Tongue is used for speech as well as taste. For this procedure with the help of three fingers cleans the back side of tongue from above and underneath. Then with the help of fingers pull the tongue many times as if milking it.

Kapalrandhra Dhauti: To cleans the kapal randhra, we use our thumb on pallet, both hard and soft part, properly. It removes the problems of forehead. Headaches are removed and poisonous secretions which turn in to ulcers at later stages are also ejected from body.

Kapalbhati : Some places it is also described in three ways as Vaam kram¹, Vyut kram² and Sheet krim³. As its name suggest it is cleansing of our forehead area. Vaam kram¹, it is a kind of forceful anulom viloma but starting from right nasal passage. Inhale with force from right nasal passage, exhale with force from left nasal passage; inhale with force from left nasal passage and exhale with force from right nasal passage. This forms one cycle. Repeat it a number of times. Both passages of our nose should be open. It removes all kinds of waste from our nasal cavity as well as forehead.

Second Vyut kram² involves drinking water from mouth and expelling it out of nose. Thus phlegm is removed.

Sheet kram³ involves sucking water through nose and expelling through mouth. It provides youthfulness, decrepitude never figures, phlegm is removed.

Basti kriya: It is also of types. One is called Jal basti and other is called Thal basti. For Jal basti sit in clean flowing water of a river or in a tub in utkat asan with water up to navel. Insert a pipe in anus. Thus water will rise inside the intestines. One can do nauli prakriya and then expel the water out of the system through anus. This will clean our colon of any kind of degenerating stools etc. Urinary disorders cured, digestive disorders cured and vaat dosha removed.

Thal basti involves positioning in paschimotanasan, performing nauli movement and then ashwani mudra. It removes constipation, increases digestive fire, reduces flatulence.

Nauli: This is also of two types, one is called Dakshin (right side) nauli and other is called Vam (left side) nauli. It cleanses our digestive system and massages all organs their and thus improves their working capacity. It is also used for awakening of kundlini, where it is rotated in particular manner for a longer duration of time.

Tratak: Take one to 1.5 inch diameter black circular paper. Stick it at level of one's eye while sitting in front of a wall at a distance of approximately two feet. Relax and watch your breath a few seconds. Then focus your gaze at the centre of this black circle without blinking till tears start flowing from your eyes. This practice may be done once only. Thus the eyes get cleansed, its power increases and the gaze becomes penetrative and focused.  Though it is a Dhyan kriya, but can be used for cleansing also. One believes that it is to be used ultimately in Antrik Tratak.

Most of the cleansing techniques discussed here are yogic but many special kriyas for cleansing are mentioned in tantric texts also. We have not gone in to their detail here.....Om! 

...TO BE CONTD in PART II 
(dealing with Pranayam)
                                                                                                                                                                    ~OM!~

YOGA and MEDITATION

Yoga means the joining of two or more things. In the loftiest of ideals, it means the joining of Atma (Self) with Parmatama (the Supreme). Our ancient seers and rishis wrote inexhaustible material on the subject. But in the modern world yoga has become synonymous with asanas only. As no sound in the universe is beyond the seven suras Sa,Re,Ga,Ma,Pa,Dha,Ni (as per western system, Do,Re,Mi,Fa,So,La, Ti) similarly, no form in the creation is beyond yoga. It is said Lord Shiva created 8,400,000 representing as many forms of life in cosmos. Later on, they were reduced to 84 for practical ease of the yogi. Further, still fewer asanas were referred to in yogic text like Gherand Samhita etc. Here, we are just trying to understand the above mentioned subject from a practical point of view for a modern person to implement in his life and reap some benefits by it. Hence we will not be going into the yogic sutras but into general discussions and point of views only.

There are many forms which come under the heading of yoga, namely, Hatha Yog, Raj yog, Laya yog, Kundlini yog, Karam yog, Gyan yog etc. Hatha yog comprises of six steps; 1.Asan, 2.Mudra, 3.Pranayam, 4.Neti, 5.Dhauti, 6.Basti. Asanas are defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, "Sthiram sukham aasanam" that position which is comfortable and steady. Asanas open the energy channels and psychic centers. The gross form of the mind is the body and the subtle form of the body is the mind.  The practice of asana integrates and harmonises the two. Every mental knot has a corresponding physical, muscular knot and vice versa.  Thus the body is kept disease free and the nervous system gets balanced. It keeps our spine straight, flexible, and youthful. Mudras are gestures of psychic, emotional, devotional, and aesthetic attitudes. They are gestures compelling energy flow that link the individual pranic force with the universal cosmic force or we can say that it is a method by which gross is connected to subtle. Mudras are also defined as a 'seal', 'short-cut' or 'circuit by-pass'. They are a combination of subtle movements which alter mood, attitude and perception and which increase awareness and concentration. By postures adopted during Mudras specific glands in the body are affected. Their secretions help us digest our food, which in turn helps in the formation of blood. Blood is the life force of the gross body. Malfunction of any gland affects the working of body and generates in us lower tendencies. In the case of a brute person if his glandular secretions are controlled, he can be converted into a divine personality. Mudras which are most practiced are Vipareeta karini mudra, Sarvangsadhana mudra, Moolbandh mudra, Udiyan bandh mudra, Mahamudra etc. Further, there are lot of hand mudras which are used in tantra also discussion of which is beyond the purpose of introduction here. Pranayam is literally the way of extension and expansion of the dimension of prana, which is our vital energy or life force. Pranayama utilizes breathing practices to influence the flow of prana in the nadis, the energy channels of the Pranamaya kosha or energy body. They are the different methods by which breath is taken to elongate our life force. Two most important organs in this process are heart and lungs. Their healthy state is essential for robust health. Further, different pranayama help us alleviate different problems of our body like cold, cough, typhoid, TB, pneumonia, fever etc. Further, it develops concentration gives peace of mind and inner joy.  Neti is a process of cleaning our nasal cavity. Regular practise of it cures headaches and other ailments of head, also improves eye sight. Dhoti is a process through which our digestive tract is cleansed while Basti is the process through which our excretory track is cleansed. According to Hatha yog, 'Shareeram Adyam Khalu Dharma Sadhanam' i.e. if a body is kept perfectly hale and hearty, mind would be, as a natural consequence, sound-concentrated & elevated. A Hatha yogin knows the body thoroughly and fully controls it. According to it no human is good or bad, it is only due to defective functioning of various glands human nature gets distorted. Glands are nourished by blood and blood is formed from our food. Pure Satvic food will generate Satvic qualities while Rajsic and Tamsic will generate respective qualities in us. Hence balanced diet  is a must for such practitioner. That is why it is said 'Jaisa ann vaise mann' i.e. As the food similar will be the mind.

Raj yog, also called Ashtang yog, was devised by great rishi Patanjali. There are many view points as to the period when he devised this system but all do agree that a sage by the name of Patanjali existed. According to his system mind is more subtle than our body and vital energy, Pran. If it comes under control that body as well as the vital energy can be controlled. Hence, this system stresses to control our mind unlike earlier system which propagated controlling of our body. This system has been devised in to eight steps namely, 1 Yam, 2Niyam, 3Asan, 4Pranayam, 5Pratyahaar, 6Dharana, 7dhyan,8 Samadhi.  Yam are rules of social conduct, Niyam are the rules of personal conduct, Asan are physical poses, Pranayam is control of pranic or life force, Pratyhaar is sense with drawl, Dharana is concentration, Dhyan is meditation while Samadhi is super consciousness state. The whole system has been explained in four steps by the sage in the form of small sutras, namely Samadhi paad 51 sutras, Sadhana paad 55 sutras, Vibhuti paad 56 sutras and Kaivalya paad 34 sutras. Discussion of these sutras is not the purpose of present article. We get many excellent details on it already provided by our great rishis.While going through various upnishads, one finds very interesting reference provided to the system of yoga from practical point of view which one is sharing here for interest of the readers.

According to

Trishikhbrahmanopnishad:

One should keep on doing asan till both sides become equal.
One should do 80 matra of pranayama four times a day i.e morning, noon, evening and midnight. One should progressively reach 80 matra. In three years one would get yog siddhi and one day all the karmas will be severed. Sleep and food intake will reduce, strength will increase and body will start shining.
Whichever part of the body is diseased, hold pran there and it will get cured.
With the help of Shanmukhi Mudra the mind comes under control. 

Naradparivrajikopnishad:      

Punitive regimen for speech is silence, punitive regimen for body is fasting or abstaining from food, punitive regimen for the mind is pranayama. One who carries these three dandas, punitive regimens is truly called a Dandi Swami.

Jabalopnishat:

Where the nose touches the space between the two eyebrows, is the realm of the meeting of This and That world. One who prays from it during both sandhyas, sunrise and sunset, gets knowledge which is of the Atma. He alone is fit to give sermons.
Concentrating the pran on...
      Nose, one gets control of pran,
      Navel, diseases are removed,
      Ears, ear problems are removed,
      Forehead, all problems of the head are removed.
If one drinks air through kaki mudra (with puckered lips) for three months, one gets Saraswati and for six months his body is freed from all kinds of ailments.

Trishikhbrahmanopnishad:

Five Akaash: Antah karan, mind, intellect, Chit and ego.
Five Air: Pran, Apan, Saman, Vyan and Udan.
Five Fire: Hearing, Skin, Tongue, Pran
Five Water: Sound, touch, form secretion and smell.
Five Earth: Speech, Hands, Feet, Procreative organ, and Anus.
To always follow the scriptures in ones actions, is called Karma yog.
To keep ones Chit always busy in Atma is called Gyan yog.
To follows both one gets Moksha immediately.
To be completely detached from the body and its senses is called Yam.
To always dwell and be attached to Param Tattva is called Niyam.
To be detached from all things is called Asan.
To understand the world as illusion is called Pranayam.
To interiorize Chit is called Pratyahaar.
To still the chit is called Dharana.
To Continually feel that, 'I alone am everywhere' is called Dhyan.
To forget even Dhyan is called Samadhi.

Yogtattvaopnishat:

Yog without knowledge and knowledge without yog is of no use. One who desires moksha should practise both. Slowly one should raise the pranayama to 80 matras, then signs of yogi start appearing in him/her.

Yogchudamani Upnishad:

By continuously doing nadi shodhan for two months, digestive power will increase, the body becomes disease free and one will hear Naad.
12 Pranyam=1 Pratyahaar, 12 Pratyahaar=1 Dharana, 12 Dharana=1 Dhyan, 12 Dhyan = 1 Samadhi.

Maitranyopnishat:

From severe penance one gets knowledge and from such knowledge mind comes under control. The moment mind comes under control, one gets Atma darshan and once that happens one is freed from this world.
Chit is the cause of this world. Hence one should put all efforts in cleansing our chit.

Kathopnishat:

When five sense of perception, together with mind are at rest, when even intellect has ceased to function, that, says the sages, is supreme state of Samadhi.

Adwayatarakopnishat:

At a distance of 4 fingers from our nose Blue light is seen,
,,          ,,            6  ,,            ,,            ,,    Darker hues are seen,
,,          ,,            8  ,,            ,,            ,,    Yellow light is seen,
,,          ,,            10,,            ,,            ,,    White light is seen,
such a sadhak is called yogi.
If a jyoti is seen at a distance of 12 fingers from forehead, one gets amritattva.

Yog-kundliniyopnishat:

Chit is agitated due to two things, 1.Desire and 2.Air. Desires are controlled through knowledge and air or pran is controlled through yog.
Surya Bhedi pranayama cure diseases of wind and worms.
Sheetali pranayama: fever and thirst.
Bhastrika: digestive fire increased, burns all sins.
Ujjai: fire increased, forehead cooled, dhatu rog removed, control on sexual urges.

Mandal Brahmanopnishat:

16 matra for poorak, 64 matra for kumbhak and 32 matra for rechak and hence the total matras become 112.

Subalopnishat:

When a practitioner associates himself with
Pran, he sees realms of rivers and cities,
Apan, ,,               ,,   Gandharwas and Rakshashas,
Saman, ,,             ,,   divinities and Luxmi,
Vyan, ,,               ,,   divines and Rishis,
Udan, ,,               ,,    realms of Kartikeya and Jayantdev etc.

Adhyatamopnishat:

To listen to Brahm vakyas like Tat Twam Asi etc. and try to realise them is called Shravan.
To seriously dwell on whatever is heard, is called Manan.
Doing the above two, understanding the meaning without any doubt and establishing it in ones chit this is called Niddhaysan.
When the chit becomes completely still, focused only on one thing, dhyan etc. are also left behind.  This state is called Samadhi.

The above are a few explanations on yog given in various upnishads.

Laya yoga:

It is a method by which ten nadas are heard inside our body. Flashes of lights are seen between the brows by which one gets joy and ecstasy in ones heart. At the start, one hears nothing, which specifies the ignorant state of the sadhak. As he progresses, he starts hearing various nadas. After experiencing the ten nadas, once again nada disappears. But this non-hearing is no longer of the first ignorant kind. It is the state of Laya.

Swarodaya Yoga:

It is a process by which a yogi perfects his breath. It comes under his complete control. With its help he can achieve anything in the world. Irregular breathing forewarns him of the misfortunes about to come. He even hears the approach of death and prepares himself in advance for the final encounter. Astrology can be wrong but swar yoga can never be wrong. Thus an adept in this field is a Siddha.

Kundlini yoga:

This yoga deals with chakras which are located inside ones sushmana nadi located in the middle of ones spine. It involves application of various yogic kriyas and requires great visualization capacity. It is said first comes Hatha yoga then comes Raj yoga and then comes Kundlini yoga. For this, one has to understand the anatomy of body, movement of pranas and hence the concept of the subtle body, its experience, various psychic path ways, Sakti chalan etc. Thus one can say it is an advanced form of yogic practise.

Karma yog:

This concept stresses on complete surrender. One has to become a perfect medium for the nature to carry out its work through.

Gyan Yog:

This is a method by which one arrives at realization by enquiry into the Self or Atma.

Now , we will come back to the real subject of discussion here, Meditation. For meditation, a beginner has to sit. To sit one has to choose a comfortable asan. Generally six dhyan asanas are prescribed in various texts, though one can have any other also. This is depicted in the slide below, hence one may choose one from here.


                                                       

Most of the people are shallow breathers. One must follow a method by which lung capacity may be increased. There can be many methods to do so but an easier one is being explained here. This can be done by ramping, first on inhale, then on exhale and later on both. We may start with inhaling a breath in five steps first, then increase to 6, then to 7 and thus go up to 16. Same should be applied on exhale also. This can be done sitting or while walking also. Inhale in 16 steps and exhale in 16 steps. This will help us increase out intake capacity as well as help increase retention power. Thereby we get good control over our breath.

                                                           RAMPING OF BREATH

In addition to the above we can breath in various forms while sitting. This will help us experience lung capacity and help increase it. Further, we must be subtle enough to experience the flow of the five pranans in our body. They have also been shown clearly. It is  easiest to experience in a lying position but can also be experienced in a sitting position also. Since all the sadhanas are to be done in the subtle body, hence we must experience the five pranas, which run in the subtle body, while breath flows in the gross body. Pran runs always in the direction opposite to the breath. The day starts moving in the same direction, it will indicate approach death. Though there are five minor prana also which should be experienced. After this, we should locate and experience Sushmana nadi in our body along with Ida and Pingla. Once these are experienced, it will be easier for us to dive deep into higher meditative moods.

                                                   THE FIVE PRANAS IN THE BODY

In the figure below, one tried to show the places where different elements flow inside the nasal passages. 1 is for Air, 2 is for Fire, 3 is for Earth, 4 is for Water and 5 s for Ether element. Left nasal flow cools our body while right nasal flow warms our body. In a healthy person , flow of breath takes place for one hour. In those sixty minutes various elements flow as per the table shown above. After that flow stops and it passes over to other nasal passage. Both time wise and breath wise break up is given for general reference. Every Shukla paksh ( nights increasing moon), first three days Ida starts in the morning from sunrise. Next three days pingla starts in the morning. Like this they keep alternating every three days. While in case of Krishna paksh (nights of waning moon), Pingla operates first three days followed by Ida and then they alternate. Thus nasal passage flow changes 12 times during day ad 12 times during night. These change over periods are also known as samkranti. This flow can be changed by holding certain postures, so that desired passage and required element could be made to flow to achieve desired results in any particular endeavour.

After understanding the various aspects of breath and pran, gross and subtle body, information of various yogic nadis is being shared. Whole thing is quite self explanatory and hence easy to understand.

                                                   THE BRAIN AND YOGIC NADIS

Now coming to the practical part of this whole thing. Sit comfortably in any position, keeping the spine straight but not tight or stiff. With thumbs close both ears, with forefingers press both eyes with slight pressure, with middle fingers press closed both nostrils and with force inhale deeply and completely through mouth with kaki mudra (puckered lips like beak of crow). Then with the ring fingers and baby fingers press your lips together so that the mouth is also closed. Hold this position as long as comfortable fixing ones gaze, watching the inner area between the eyebrows, the Chitakash. Observe, watch and listen! When difficult to hold slowly release the breath through the mouth without moving the fingers. Again take another deep breath through the mouth with kaki mudra and close mouth hold breath as long as possible, observe and then again release the breath through mouth as earlier. Repeat for a third time also. Throughout, keep your gaze fixed at the Chitakash. Many practitioners do it a number of times but one prefers to go for quality than quantity. Hence one recommends it for three times alone but with full concentration, observation and maximum timing.

After the third cycle, remove all the fingers quickly bringing them into your lap, one on another and keep your body as still as possible and keep watching the space between eye brows. The lower figure shows the various stages of patterns shown there inside us. In the second and third sketch, a central point is marked. This is called bindu, as is located just above the third eye. This is the point from where a yogi enters in to his internal journey. Below this point is the outer world while above this point is the inner world. So this bindu is the division between Vyashti and Smashti.  The Sadhana of a yogi starts after this point as it is his first step. It is said Ashtang yog sadhana leads one to this bindu only. Real sadhana starts here onward. Below this bindu, matra of mind is one, while after passing through it mind is reduced to half which is one of the greatest steps towards liberation. From here on as the practitioner scales various levels  at each point mind is reduced to half of the previous amount. This way one leads to Unmani where mind is represented by 1/512 th one matra. This state is written to be almost a negligible state of mind, though mind can never be zero. These details are explained in the last two sketches.

                                                                                                                           

This is has already been explained in the blog earlier, hence dear readers should refer to earlier post for details. The whole thing has to be started with general relaxation of the body, neutralisation of various sense organs and their experiencing power. Thus leading through Nadi-shodhan, Bhootshudhi and Chit-shudhi to arrive in the joyous tranquil state of the Self.


                                                       MEDITATION CHART - I

                                                        MEDITATION CHART-II

Hope all of you will like this post and benefit from it. Look forward to your comments on the same........Om!.Shaktanand.