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The By S. Ramaswani

There are schools ol oftort of mastery ovsr . as brealh i3 restreinrd in which insigt on Prsnayam! The togulation of prana ons's own body, the mind is alone as the key to yoga, as bdngs In its wako all wordly calm and steady and also th6y doclare lhat cont.ol ot achievements(Rajyadi) end whon tho vision (dristi) is Prana (prananirodho) incvlta. lll othors and leads upto tho di16cl€d towards Bhrumad- bly brings contfol of flrind highest spiritual attainmont hya, thon why should there (chittanirodha). In Yoga to lotsl indspondsnco of the be fear of deathT Va3ishta, c claasic, Rthi indwelling ponsciousnses purified Vasishta erplaine tho lol!- from the gross, subtla snd Thc nadis ara by a properly tionship botrvoon mind rnd ctugal bodios which are opE- regulated course of pranay€ma. breath and extols tho efficscy rated by Prana force, Hence, Sage Brahman- ol in controlling study the science of breath." anda, in his Jyotsns ot com- mentaryon Hathayoga,d€tai ls tho mind. -Yoga Vasishta. the routino to be followed by "Dear Rama, tho body is TO RESTRAIN M]ND a full time yogabhyasi. lt like a vahicfe. The Lord has In the previous two issuss assumos importance when Gr68t€dt,r€ mind and prana a feW snd tho one really finds tim6 heavy tor the tunctioning of tho benefits of Pranayamain on one's shoulders aflgr dis- body. When prana rejects gensral wero drscussed, charging ihe nscassary ras- the body, the mechanismof There are a few more kumb- ponsibrlitiesas an individual tho body also ceases. And hakas mentioned in the yoga and the mind yearnsdespara- whon tho mind works, prana texts which arealso in vogue. t€;y fo. spiritual rest. moves; it acts. The relation It is said: Let us derail the routine botween prana and Manas Brrhmrtdryopi Tridssasha ot I yogabhyasilorachieving which aro grtrramgly closJ Prvanrbhys6ss latDsraah I rho result of practice. (snyonya)tethe body is kke a Abhoovam Anlalobhsvaath dtivor to tho chanot. Tasnarth PavrDamabhy!3drh t One chould wake up a couple of hours before dawn The gods including Chatu- "Tho way lhe prana vayu (ushatkaala)-orat leastearly rmukhaBrahma practise acts, the same way manas tho In the morning(Pratahkaala). highestactivity, pranayama-. leacls. So the hrghestachi- He should contemplale on becausa the t6ar death, evomentot mind control is to of of his Guru in his mind and bo obtainedby the conce;ted It is also sard that as long then in his heart his dear deity (lshtadevata) also:Therl feels freshthereafter,he may use of alternate nostrils. lt he should clean the teeth continue with : if still is referredto as Anuloma and '(danta suddhr), completo the he.doesnot feel upto the inark viloma by/some (They are other morning ablutions he ii not to proc€€d with however differently interpr6- (suddhi), a bath and Basmad- further practico. ted by valious schools). haranamor Pundradharanam A as tho case may be, Then he should practice a called Surya Bhoda with Viparitakarani(lt is somewhat th6 requisito Bandhas practised. Then he should choose a botw€en Urdhwaprasritapad- should be It should be.followed clean place (:g ins€cts, asanam gg!!. sarvan gasanam,, by Ujj- syi, Sitkari, Sar€ti, obnoxious odour otc ) and whore rhe back of the neck Bhasrrika and any other pranayama ploasantroom (RamyaMata). is stretched facilitating the which is well established. He then should soat himself chinlockin laterKumbhakam. It should be followed in a comfortabls yogic pcs- The next st.eowill b€ to do by certakr , (especially ture on a soft (mridu) spread. Achamanam,start that divis- Mahaamirdra) taught Then again ho meditates ion of yoga called pranaya- es by on9'g proceptor, intontly on lshwara (Guru). mam, Think rhen of ths great (yogindra) for WITH PRAYER Th€n silting in Padmasanam, START inspiration and proceed to the highor yoga practisesas One then proco€ds to do pranayamam as detaiied by Noda4uchintanam,w h i ch sankatpa'asin any religious Lord Siva ln Kurmapuranam, is enabledby Shanmukhimu- activity, mentioning the plEce dra, should he attempred, bnd tirne (Desa, Kaala) for Whatform is given inKurm. the particular yogic activity, puraanam?Startwith mentally Thereaftefone should men- salutingthe gleat yogis with lally surreriderall the bene- AdyotyrdiSrigaram€swora prssaa- theit sishyasand Lord Vina- fits practice d! putvaksm,l of such to the 6!ma!dhl T8lph816 Sidhysrtrm vaka. Then with a calm mirid Lord (lswararpanamot lswa- Assanepurvakaan he shouldcontemplate On the rspranidhanam). Plasn$ylmldhin Katishye I Lord (siva). He then sits in siddhasanaor (Eaddha) SATWIC FOOD Due to tho grace of Lord Pa- dmaasanam.He Aftdr practic€ is over Paremosfwara,I tlow start then should ole practico Pranayama accom- should bathe in hot water tho practrceof yoga statting paniedby rhe great,Bandhas (ushnena vaarinaa). Then vlith Asanas,and other angas aa the appropriatg stages. theciailyduties (nitya karrna) like Pranayamator attaining done, but briefly. and other yoga To start with ong should th6reof. benefits do 10 breath controls, then Jhe above mentionsd yoga praciice should be ropeated Since Nagaraja is referred incroaseit dailyby 5 numbers. at noon time. After some to as th€ deity'of Yoga,on€ This should bo doeo untrl posrlroY| rest, on€ shouid have patya should utt€r I suitabls prayer ono is in a to do (that satwic food mentioned and proceedwith tho practice eighty kumbhakams in one in yogic or ayurvedic texts) of Asanas. silting, without any difliculty and with a positive sonseof lunch, but nsvor thoso items During the practice of well bsing (susamahita). prohrbited. He'should. asanas, wherl one naturally imnrediatelyafrer luneh lsko becomesfatigued, one should Thetirst prar,ayama should cardamcm (yelam)cloves or romainin Savasanam. ll he be Naoisoshanamwrth rhe karpura, il desired, betaL caves (Tambula) wirhout as Sahita Kumbhakas. On" system. Hence persons with lime, if ho prsctis€s intenselY should practicethem, kevala low blood pressure, inertia thc praiseworthY PranaYama. kumbhaka facilitatedby the may benefit. Some schools three Bandhas. referto Chandrabheda,which The yogabhYasishould not is just reversing the process indulge in frivolous small Nadisodhana and has the effectof helping with women' patients, talks especiallY sod hanapranayamamhypertensivo he should listen .> After lunch, ts an extremoly popular pra- Puranas, Sitali to the Practic€ nayamam which is normally namasankirtanamof lshwara, referredto in Vaidic texts and pranayama but preferablyreseatch (ava- Yet another has been described in detail calledsitali is also quite pop- lokana) authentic texts of earlier. ular the procedurefollo- liberation (Mokshasastram) and wed is as follows: as yoga, sarnkya, vedanta, Suryabheda etc. 1) Sit in a comfortable By dusk, he petforms the Suryabheda kumbhakam . sayamsandhya, but Prece- requires as usual a propef 2) Curl the tongu€ into a ded by yogabhyasaas men- asanam. Thentho inhalation roll, protrud€ snd inhale tioned eallier fot over an is done slowly snd deep through the wet tongue, hour (Trighatika;ghatika-24 through the right nostril. slowly stretching the neck minutes). According to Hathayoga, such inhalation and subse- and dropping the head back FOUR TYPES quent kumbhaka sho.rld in the process. Well, a devoutyogi practi- inducepranic effect up to the 3) At the end of inhala ces yoga at midnight also as hair follicles and the finger- tion, releasothe curl,fold the derailed earlier,but without trps. Thereafterone should tongue and touch the top of Viparitakaram,which i3 thB exhale slowly through the the upp6r palato. touching if casefor the evening session left nostnl. The procedureis possible the urulla. This is as well. repeatedfor a fixed number called Jihva . Then of times. Yoga shouldnot be practi- st/etch the back of the neck, sed.soonatter taking food. drop the chin to aboutthree Suryabhedahelps to relieve inches below the neckpit, The di{ferent types of heaviness in the head and forming Kantabandha. Aflcr Kumbhakas require some sinus (kapaaladosham),the kumbhaka, exhale through elucidation, four typesof Vaatadoshaand alternate nostrils. Repeat other drseases caused by wetting the tongue (before Atha Abhvaseth survabhedah microrganisms(krimidosha), Uj jayim chaapi sitalanl inhalation)...the "a,r condi- Repeatedpractice according thastram cha sahita nama tioningPranayama." Done on to Hathayogaand Yogakun- Svaat chatushtayakumbhakah hot days, this helps remove samyukthe dalini, is a superior yoga Bandhatrayena fatigue. Kevalapraplikaraha. practice.According to yoga- sikha,it also helos in cases - Yogasikhopanisad Accordrngto Yoga Sikho- of many abdornrnal (udare There aro four types of panisad,it helps to correct bahurogaghndm) disorders, Kumbhakas.to be practtsed. Pittadosha,suppress hunger Suryabhedam,. srtalam ln general,suryabheda is and thirst. Hatayoga and and Bhastram, thsse known believcd to 'heat uo' the KundaliniUpanisad attribute to Sitali other benefits as Chandrabheda have cooling In all chittavrithis (the eradication of disea*e of sffocts. objective of Patanjalayoga) (pliha), spleen abdofien For those who go by ayur- is Pranayama. To renounce (gulma), fever and bodily veda, one may state that involvementin Ptapanchaaor toxins (vishanr). Suryabhedacontrols exces$ manifest universs is called of wind (vata dosha), Ujjayi, Rechaka or exhalation_ 4) Bhasrikais likeKapala_ plegm (Kapa dosha),Sitali, rhakingthe mind fullwith the bhati,except thal thero is con- the bilg (pitta dosha) the realiz€t;onthat'l' am identi- striction of the glottis as , kapaalabhatiand cal with Brahman is called w€ll so that the resounding Puraka nadisodhanaharmonize. or lnhalation. effect is f6lt at ths throat, And Further nostrils and sven upto the VEDANTINS VIEW skull. The effectsare similar It is interesting to note Tatastadvrithinaischalyam Kumbhakam Pranasamyamaha to ,but mor6 so that the various termsused Ayanchaapi PAbhuddhanam for a potential asthmaric,as in yoga as asana,pranayama, Agnanam graanapldanam, a preventiveand not neces- Bandhas etc, have been That mental stateof "l am satilyas a cure. given an entirely different Brahman"maintained perma- connotation by cerlain nenily is called kumbhakam Summarisingthe effects, it vedantins. Tejabindupanisad (kevala).This is how Prana- may be mentioned that has the {ollowing to say yama is to be understoodby Suryabhedais heat generat- Pranayamam. about the wise, Mere holding the ing. lt is energising and Chiftadi Sarvabhaveshu nostrilsis ignorance. contraindicatedfor hyperten- Brahnratwenaiva Bhaavanam. sive persons. Bhastrika. Nirodhaha Sarwavrithinaam The above stanzas also Kapalabhati and Nadrshod- Pranayamassa uchyale. appearin one of the classic Nishedanam Prapanchasya hana maintainequitablo heat Prakarana grantas of Srimad Rechakakhvatha Sameerithaha (or temperature), whereas Brahmaivaasmi lthi ya Vrilhihi Sankarcharya,Apalokshanu- Sitali, Sitkani and perhaps Purako vaayuinchyate, bhuti.

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