Harimedia Forum

Balancing the Breath to Increase Mental Poise

I am asking you dear Garuda Pandit, do you think there is some value in doing this exercise?
http://www.spirituality.indiatimes.com/ ... 417542.cms

"When greeting a sunny day joyously, one tends to inhale, as if drawing into one’s very lungs the wonders of creation. When one is ill or unhappy, he sighs as if to throw the burden out of his body or mind. The increasing power of inhalation or exhalation is associated with the strengthening of upward or downward currents of energy in the spine.

The balance of these two currents results in a state of mental poise, and in a deepening inner awareness. When the two currents are perfectly balanced, even the movement of physical breathing is stopped. Only in breathlessness is one able completely to concentrate the mind.

Advanced yogis are able to remain breathless for long periods of time. The practice of kumbhak, or forcible retention of breath, is done for brief periods in order to focus one’s mind on a particular thought or state of consciousness.

A breathing exercise that is intended to help balance and harmonize the two currents in the spine (known as pran and apan) is a technique known as alternate breathing:

# Close the right nostril, inhaling through the left for a count of 8.
# Hold the breath, counting 8
# Close the left nostril and exhale through the right to a count of 8.
# A slight constriction in the throat, so as to make a gentle sound there during respiration, will help to increase the consciousness of the corresponding movement of energy in the spine.
# Repeat six times.
# The proper position of the fingers during this breathing exercise is to extend the thumb and the ring and little fingers, closing the forefinger and middle finger against the palm. Close the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand. Close the left nostril with the ring and little fingers."

Dear Harsi,

I was introduced to this breathing method some years ago, and I did practice it during that time. For awhile I associated with a group that used this method (and others similar to this) as a precursor to meditation. So, I had some time to observe the effects on a group of people.

Firstly, I feel that any kind of pranayama or qi gong can be useful and effective for raising one's vibratory level and opening the chakras/meridians etc. So my first response would be that you should try it out and see how it works for you. Not to prejudice your experience, but I'll tell you how it worked for me. It did make me feel kind of "supercharged", maybe from the increased level of oxygen or the clearing of the lungs. It seems to work well if you feel fatigued, to give you a little jump-start. But I wouldn't over indulge because it coulde also tend to deplete one's energy (as in any kind of over-training).

Secondly, I noticed that this kind of "force fed" energy practice was often too much for people. Imbalanced personalities and psychologies could tip too far to one side as a result of forcing too much in. I prefer the natural method of releasing accumulated tension from the body (through whatever methods you like) and then allowing the qi/prana to fill in the gaps where necessary. Something like a yoga practice where you gently bring the body to the point of opening slowly. Or the standing qi gong I described in another article.

To summarize, try it out. It can be a fun method of breathing to increase energy. I would like to hear what your experiences are, after you have trained it a few times.

GP

GPandit wrote:Secondly, I noticed that this kind of "force fed" energy practice was often too much for people. Imbalanced personalities and psychologies could tip too far to one side as a result of forcing too much in. I prefer the natural method of releasing accumulated tension from the body (through whatever methods you like) and then allowing the qi/prana to fill in the gaps where necessary. Something like a yoga practice where you gently bring the body to the point of opening slowly. Or the standing qi gong I described in another article.

To summarize, try it out. It can be a fun method of breathing to increase energy. I would like to hear what your experiences are, after you have trained it a few times.

Thanks GPandit for the, as one is used from you, very practical and expert information you so nicelicy wrote. This method of increasing ones energy is working well, but as you described, one has to get indeed somehow used to it, and that is not so easy. I also prefer more the natural methods it gives one a better feeling afterwords.