BASIC BREATHING
AND CLEASING TECHNIQUES
RESPIRATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF THE BODY. YET MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT AWARE OF THE SIMPLE FACT THAT THE BREATH DOES NOT FLOW EQUALLY THROUGH THE TWO NOSTRILS. AT TIMES ONE NOSTRIL IS MORE ACTIVE THAN THE OTHER , AND AT OTHER TIMES AT MAY BECOMES LESS ACTIVE THAN THE OTHER. AND AT OTHER TIMES IT MAY BECOME LESS ACTIVE THAN THE OTHER. THIS IS BECAUSE ON EACH SIDE OF THE SEPTUM SEPERATING THE TWO NOSTRILS, THERE ARE STRUCTURES CALLED TURBINATES THAT REGULATE THE PATHWAY OF AIRFLOW WITHIN THE INNER NOSE. THESE TURBINATES ARE COVERED BY MUCOUS MEMBRANCE, WHICH IS COMPOSED OF ERECTILE TISSUE. THE SWELLING OF THE TURBINATES CHANGES THE INNER CONFIGURATION OF THE AIR PATHWAYS AND CAN THUS RESTRICT OR EVEN BLOCK THE FLOW OF AIR. THIS EXPLAINS THE UNEQUAL FLOW OF BREATH THROUGH THE NOSTRILS.
ONE OF THE AIMS OF YOGIC BREATHING TECHNIQUE IS TO EQUALIZE THE AIRFLOW IN THE NOSTRILS. THIS IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE DEVILIZATION OF THE IDA AND PINGALA NADIS AND THE OPENING UP OF THE BLOCKED SUSHUMNA NADI. IN A MOMENT, WE WILL CONSIDEROF BREATHING TECHNIQUE CALLED NADI SHODHANAM, OR PURIFICATION OF THE NADIS, THE PRACTICE OF WHICH LEADS TO EQUALIZATION OF THE BREATH IN THE RIGHT AND LEFT NOSTRILS, AND THEN TO THE OPENING OF THE SUSHUMNA NADI. EQUALIZING THE FLOW OF BREATH CALMS THE MIND, AND IN STATES OF DEEP MEDITATION THIS EQUAL FLOW IS EVIDENT.
JALA NETI (WATER CLEANSING)
A PREMILIMINARY STEP TO EQUALIZING THE FLOW OF BREATH IS CLEANSING THE NOSTRILS, AND FOR THIS YOGA MANUALS DESCRIBE A TECHNIQUE CALLED JALA NETI (PURIFICATION WITH WATER). LUKEWARM WATER, WITH A LITTLE SALT DISSOLVED IN IT, IS POURED INTO ONE NOSTRIL WHILE THE HEAD IS TILTED SO AS TO ALLOW THE SALINE SOLUTION TO FLOW OUT THROUGH THE OTHER NOSTRIL. (A CUP CAN BE USED TO DO THIS, BUT IT IS FAR MORE CONVENIENT TO USE A POT WITH A NARROW SPOUT). THIS LUKEWARM, SALINE WATER NOT ONLY DISSOLVES AND WASHES AWAY ANY ACCUMULATED MUCUS AND DIRT, DISSOLVES AND WASHES AWAY ANY ACCUMULATED MUCUS AND DIRT, BUT IT ALSO, BY OSMOSIS, DRAWS OUT EXCUSES WATER FROM SWOLLEN TURBINATE STRUCTURES. IT ALSO FACILITIES DRAINAGE OF THE SINUSES.
IF THE WATER IS FIRST POURED INTO THE LEFT NOSTRIL AND FLOWS OUT THROUGH THE RIGHT, THE FLOW DIRECTION IS THEN REVERSED BY POURING THE SALT WATER INTO THE RIGHT NOSTRIL AND ALLOWING IT TO DRAIN THROUGH THE LEFT. THIS ACCOMPLISHES A THGOROUGH CLEANSING OF THE AIR PASSAGEWAYS. PERSONAL INSTRUCTION IN THIS TECHNIQUE FROM A QUALIFIED TEACHER IS RECOMMENDED IN THIS TECHNIQUE FROM A QUALIFIED TEACHER IS RECOMMENDED BEFORE ATTEMPTING IT ON YOUR OWN. DAILY PRACTICE PREVENTS CONGESTION OF THE SINUSES AND MAKES YOU LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO COMMON COLDS AND OTHER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS.
SUTRA NETI (STRING CLEANSING
IN THIS EXERCISE A RUBBER CATHETER WITH A COTTON STRING ATTACHED IS INSERTED INTO THE NOSTRIL AND THEN TAKEN OUT THROUGH THE MOUTH, OR STRING ALONE MAY BE USED IF THE END HAS BEEN STIFFENED WITH WAX. ALL THE IMPLEMENTS SHOULD BE STERILIZED BEFORE THEY ARE USED AND, AS HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE, THE DEMONSTRATION OF THIS TECHNIQUE BY A COMPETENT TEACHER IS RECOMMENDED BEFORE YOUR FIRST ATTEMPTS.
THIS EXERCISE CLEANSES THE NOSTRILS, STRENGTHENS THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE, AND BENEFITS THE EYES.
RHYTHMIC DIAPHRAGMATIC
BREATHING
THE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF BREATH CONTROL IS DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING. THE AVERAGE PERSON USES HIS CHES MUSCLES RATHER THAN HIS DIAPHRAGM WHEN HE BREATHES, AND SUCH BREATHING IS USUALLY SHALLOW, RAPID, AND IRREGULAR. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE LOWER LOBES OF THE LUNGS, WHICH RECEIVE AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF BLOOD, ARE NOT ADEQUATELY VENTILATED, SO THE GAS EXCHANGE WHICH TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE AIR IN THE LUNGS AND THE BLOOD IS INADEQUATE. RESPIRATION PHYSIOLOGISTS REFER TO THIS AS A VENTILATION-PERFUSION ABNORMALITY. WITH DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING, SUCH INEQUALITIES BETWEEN VENTILATION AND PERFUSION ARE MINIMIZED. THERE IS ALSO EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING IS BENEFICIAL BECAUSE IT INCREASES THE SUCTION PRESSURE CREATED IN THE THORACIC CAVITY AND IMPROVES THE VENOUS RETURN OF BLOOD, THEREBY REDUCING THE LOAD ON THE HEART AND ENHANCING CIRCULATORY FUNCTION.
THOUGH CHEST BREATHING HAS NOW BECOME NATURAL AND INVOLUNTARY FOR MOST OF US , IT IS REALLY A PART OF THE FIGHT OR FLIGHT SYNDROME, AROUSED WHEN THE ORGANISM IS CHALLENGED BY SOME EXTERNAL STRESS OR DANGER. BECAUSE OF THE RECIPROCITY BETWEEN THE BREATH AND MIND, CHEST BREATHING, IN TURN, GIVES RISE TO THE TENSION AND ANXIETY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FIGHT OF FLIGHT SYNDROME. WITH CHEST BREATHING, THE BREATH IS SHALLOW, JERKY, AND UNSTEADY, RESULTING IN SIMILAR UNSTEADINESS OF THE MIND. ALL TECHNIQUES AIMED AT PROVIDING RELAXATION OF THE BODY, NERVES, AND MIND WILL BE INEFFECTIVE UNLESS CHEST BREATHING IS REPLACED BY DEEP, EVEN, AND STEADY DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING.
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ALTHOUGH DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING IS SIMPLE, EASY, AND BENEFICIAL, THE HABIT OF DOING IT HAS TO BE CONSCIOUSLY CULTIVATED BEFORE IT CAN BECOME AUTOMATIC . A SIMPLE PRACTICE TO ACHIEVE THIS IS TO LIE ON YOUR BACK ON A MAT OR RUG, WITH ONE PALM PLACED ON THE CENTER OF THE CHEST AND THE OTHER ON THE LOWER EDGE OF THE RID CAGE WHERE THE ABDOMEN BEGINS. AS YOU INHALE, THE LOWER EDGE OF THE RIB CAGE SHOULD EXPAND AND THE ABDOMEN SHOULD RISE, AS YOU EXHALE, THE OPPOSITE SHOULD OCCUR. THERE SHOULD BE RELATIVELY LITTLE MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER CHEST. BY PRACTICING THIS EXERCISE YOU WILL FIND IN DUE TIME THAT DIAPHRAMATIC BREATHING BECOMES HABITUAL AND AUTOMATIC.
