Just Breathe

[zats_clear]

I wanted to share a technique that works wonders in calming my state of mind, letting go of pain, and reorienting my day on a more even keel. If you have done yoga for any length of time, you have heard the term "pranayama." Until a few months ago, that was pretty much all I knew of yogic breathing. On a Shiva Rea dvd, I saw what I now know as Nadi Shodhana and it was a whole new animal. There are numerous sources for Nadi Shodhana on the internet (go figure!), but I found this to be one of the more interesting, talking about an experiment done to determine the effects of this type of breathing.

Take a moment, try it out, and let me know what you think! Those of you who have already done it or other breathing techniques, please chime in as well.

I have copied the following from here:

Nadi Shodhana Nadi Shodhana, or the sweet breath, is simple form of alternate nostril breathing suitable for beginning and advanced students. Nadi means channel and refers to the energy pathways through which prana flows. Shodhana means cleansing -- so Nadi Shodhana means channel cleaning.

Benefits
Calms the mind, soothes anxiety and stress, balances left and right hemispheres, promotes clear thinking

How to do it

• Hold your right hand up and curl your index and middle fingers toward your palm. Place your thumb next to your right nostril and your ring finger and pinky by your left. Close the left nostril by pressing gently against it with your ring finger and pinky, and inhale through the right nostril. The breath should be slow, steady and full.
• Now close the right nostril by pressing gently against it with your thumb, and open your left nostril by relaxing your ring finger and pinky and exhale fully with a slow and steady breath.
• Inhale through the left nostril, close it, and then exhale through the right nostril.

That's one complete round of Nadi Shodhana --

• Inhale through the right nostril
• Exhale through the left
• Inhale through the left
• Exhale through the right.

Begin with 5-10 rounds and add more as you feel ready. Remember to keep your breathing slow, easy and full.

When to do it

Just about any time and any where. Try it as a mental warm-up before meditation to help calm the mind and put you in the mood. You can also do it as part of your centering before beginning an asana or posture routine. Also try it at times throughout the day. Nadi Shodhana helps control stress and anxiety. If you start to feel stressed out, 10 or so rounds will help calm you down. It also helps soothe anxiety caused by flying and other fearful or stressful situations.

Comments

[resa]

Hey, that's cool! I've been taking kundalini yoga classes for one and a half year now and we've done this several times in different sets of poses. I've never learned a name for it so far, but now I know. *g*

If I remember correctly, this kind of breathing often features in yoga sets for balance, especially for the different parts of the brain. The only thing we've done differently is that we simply use the thumb and the index finger of our right hand to close our nostrils. I don't think it matters much, though.

I've experienced that once I've really myself fall into this pattern of breathing (because taking long and deep breaths is still one of the hardest things for me), it calms me a lot and makes me, well, very happy, too. :-)

[zats_clear]

my sister in law is a kundalini devotee, and I have done Gurmukh's Mom and Baby dvd when my kids were little (her gift). That being said, CK and I do not know kundalini. Would you be interested in writing up some posts (over time, of course - no pressure!) about that particular style of yoga?

On a side note, I have seen ads for the Ravi/Ana kundalini yoga dvds for a long time and finally found some cuts on youtube which made me laugh myself silly. They are some of the highest selling yoga dvds out there and Ana is just a hoot to watch. She comes across as someone who has had just a bit too much happy juice, but I figure, if it makes me smile and laugh that much, then it might be worth checking out of Netflix. Not my usual spiritual and physical yoga!

[resa]

Oh, I would love to actually. I've been holding back because I'm not sure whether or not I'm the right one to write about it. I have "only" practiced kundalini yoga and can't draw a huge comparision to other styles, but I sure can describe my classes and what it does for me and how so.

Oh my, happy juice indeed. Seems very sweet, though. And whatevery works, that's right. I have no experience with dvds so far, but when my yoga group's teacher went on holiday, a couple of his teacher students (you know, students of his to become yoga teachers themselves) took over for a couple of weeks. I shouldn't have been suprised but it was nonetheless amazing how different a class is with a different teacher. For example, my yoga teacher is a very calm and quiet one. He gives the instructions, tells us about which pose does what for which muscles, organs etc., but he's a bit stingy with praise and encouraging words. Oh well... However, I always know when he talks to me during class, even if we all have our eyes closed and he says no name... "Raise your arms again, keep them up. You can do this, just a little while longer." ;-)

[sashajwolf]

I've done this in Sivananda beginners' classes. It is indeed very calming. Another similar technique, with the same benefits but slightly more intense, is Anuloma Viloma. It's essentially the same process, but you count 4 on your inbreath, retain the breath for 16, then count 8 on your outbreath. In class, where the teacher counts for you, you can silently say your mantra while you're retaining (or just Om.) That obviously doesn't work so well if you're counting yourself. It's quite powerful. You can vary the counts, provided you keep the proportions the same (i.e. the exhale is twice as long as the inhale, and the retention is twice as long as the exhale.)

[pepper]

Oh, hey - Sivananda! That's the one I've done. I thought I recognised the technique but not the name. I love the long counting of Anuloma Viloma, it's almost like sleep, and there's less chance of hyperventilating. I find it really restful, once I've got into the rhythm.

[sashajwolf]

Cool, another Sivananda person! Online spaces tend to be mostly full of Ashtangis, IME.

[pepper]

Yeah, lots of Ashtangis - I think Sivananda is growing in popularity, though. In fact, I've been inspired to have a look around locally, and immediately found a Sivananda class just down the road from me (in Oxford). I need to get back into the habit, and I'm so bad at doing it at home.

[zats_clear]

and as I mentioned to our kundalini practitioner up thread, would you and pepper be interested in posting some things about Sivananda? I know nothing, being largely a Yin and Vinyasa (yes, Ashtanga, I know!) girl myself.

It is so wonderful to have so many different variations to talk about in the comm!

[zats_clear]

we'd love to have you and sashajwolf talk a bit about Sivananda in the comm! Posting is open to all. I do largely Yin and Vinyasa (opposites for contrary!me) and CK does a wide range of more exercise-based yoga practices.

[zats_clear]

Posting is open to all. I think tagging is open to all as well so feel free to tag it "kundalini" for ease of searching later. You don't need to compare to other styles. Just post about something that interests you.

[pepper]

If I can get my head around what I recall of it (in fact, I have pages of notes, somewhere...), I'll happily post something! Or put my 2p in if lizw posts. :)

[sashajwolf]

If I can think of anything to post! What would you like to hear about?