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.”