Yoga Report

Patanjali seems to focuse on Kumbhaka, the pause between inhalation and exhalation and that is what he calls pranayama.

Patanjali says that “retention of breath after expiration removes the obstacles to yoga”.

prANAyAma : prANA = breath; Ayama = pause, break; in later haTha yoga literature, prANa is sometimes used to indicate a subtle psychic force; however in patanjali, it is clearly used as a breath; either together with pracchhardana (expulsion) or vidhAraNa (retention); or shvAsa/prashvAsa, etc. patanjali: originally 4 types of prANAyama; later authors merge types 3 and 4 to reach three types p. 36: – bAhya kumbhaka, (hold or kumbhaka after full exhalation or recaka); – Abhyantara kumbhaka (kumbhaka after inhalation or puraka) – kevala kumbhaka – unclear – pause all at once and with ease (patanjali 3) or pause through many inhalation and exhalations (patanjali 4)

from http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/amit/books/kuvalayananda-1966-prnyma-pranayama-popular.html

from the pranayama instructions from sivananda “42. Gradually increase the period of Kumbhaka. Retain for 4 seconds in the first week, for 8 seconds in the second week, for 12 seconds in the third week and so on, till you are able to retain the breath to your full capacity. “

“That is called Kumbhaka (cessation of breath) when there is neither expiration nor inspiration and the body is motionless, remaining still in one state. Then he sees forms like the blind, hears sounds like the deaf and sees the body like wood. This is the characteristic of one who has attained quiescence.”

a few quotes by Bruce Lee

“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it”

” Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. “

“Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety; in that state of mind, there is perception. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. Awareness has no frontier; it is giving of your whole being, without exclusion.”

Something that happens to me again and again is that I go into competition mode. I compare myself to what others have achieved. Nadi Shodana is supposed to be a relaxed and calm practice but it really feels like a struggle right now. My intuition tells me that it works like it does with any yoga pose. I remember how much I struggled with the plow pose in the beginning. There was pain and I could not hold it for such a long time.  I could stay longer in the pose after a while and there was not a definite point where it all cha, it was more of a gradual process. With time it got much better and now it is relatively easy. Breathing has such a strong influence and the thoughts that comes up are much more dramatic when I do breathholds for example. I wonder if I will ever master the art of pranayama.

The only thing to pay attention to is that it is a healthy struggle. I mean if you push yourself into a lotus pose and you have very big thighs it is going to damage your joints

8 times in a row I held the breath for 2 minutes. I had about 2 minutes of rest in between. felt totally fine.

The secrets of Prana, Pranayama & Yoga Asana (Narayanananda) suggests to practice Nadi shodan 4 times a day. In the morning , at midday, in the evening and at midnight. Only in the morning you can combine with other pranayamas. Do 4 rounds.

trace mind from muladhara up to Sahasrara along with the Sushumna Nadi. Think that you are taking the Kundalini Shakti fully from the Muladhara Chakra to Sahasrara. While retaining the breath think that you are holding the Prana equally all over from the top of the head to the toes of your feet and also filling the whole of your body and mind with purity, health etc. When exhale trace the mind from Sahasrara back to Muladhara and while tracing thus, think that you are taking the Kundalini Shakti back to Muladhara and at the same time keep time.

The lowest kind of Pranayama is 12, 48 and 24 seconds. The impurities of the body are thrown out

The middle kind of Pranayama is 24,96 and 48 seconds. There will be tremors in the body.

The highest kind of Pranayama is 36,144 and 72 seconds. One perceives the levitation of the body and an influx of great bliss. The Kundalini Shakti rises upp fully and when it reaches Sahasrara one attains Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

Narayananda suggest that one should increase the number of rounds to 10 if there is a problem with increasing the time. One can increase the number of rounds all the way up to 80. when increasing the number of rounds one should only practice 2 times a day.

I have experimented with a 10:40:20:20 rhythm when doing my regular sadhana. Holding the breath out for 20 seconds as I do the plow pose and then keeping it in for 40 seconds. I can notice how much of a struggle it is in the first few rounds and how it slowly gets easier.

I do the first 5 rounds of Nadi Shodana with Bandhas and the next 5 without.

Picked up the Prana Pranayama Prana Vidya book by Swami Niranjananda Saraswati again.

I have decided to go for a relatively low counting and the advanced practic of the Nadi Shodhana Pranayama. Stage number 15 have a ratio of 1:4:2:2. With 10 as a base this becomes 10:40:20:20 seconds. I will use a metronome to get this numbers right. I have decided to got for 10 rounds.  The following  Bandhas will be used:

- Jalandhara and moola bandha during the retention of the breath

- Maha bandha (Jalandhara , uddiyana and mool bandhas) with external retention