PERSPECTIVE AND EMOTIONAL BALANCE
aLTERNATIVE NOSTRIL BREATHING
Sit in easy pose with a light neck lock (tuck your chin in slightly so that your neck and the head are on the same line).
EYES: Eyes are closed and pressed gently up, focusing on the Brow Point.
MUDRA: Use the right thumb and right Mercury finger to close off alternate nostrils.
BREATH PATTERN: Close off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale deeply through the left nostril. When the breath is full, close off the left nostril with the Mercury finger (the little finger), and exhale slowly through the right nostril. The breath is complete, continuous and smooth. An alternative method of closing off the nostrils is using the thumb and the index finger.
MANTRA: Although this can be done without mantra, you can mentally add Sat Nam mantra. Inhale Sat, exhale Nam.
TIME: Continue with long full breathing for 3-31 minutes.
TO END: Inhale, exhale completely, hold the breath out and apply mulabandh (root lock). Relax completely.
COMMENTS:
This is a basic technique in Kundalini yoga and Hatha yoga. Every Kundalini yogi should master this practice. It is excellent to do before bed to let go of the worries of the day.
Inhaling through the left nostril stimulates the brain's capacity to reset your framework of thinking and feeling, allowing new perspectives. Exhaling through the right nostril relaxes the constant calculations and cautions of the brain, which helps to break automatic patterns. Regulating your breath pattern in this way sets a new level of brain functioning which establishes emotional balance and calmness after periods of intense stress or shock.
The times for practice vary with purpose, skill level, and context:
EYES: Eyes are closed and pressed gently up, focusing on the Brow Point.
MUDRA: Use the right thumb and right Mercury finger to close off alternate nostrils.
BREATH PATTERN: Close off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale deeply through the left nostril. When the breath is full, close off the left nostril with the Mercury finger (the little finger), and exhale slowly through the right nostril. The breath is complete, continuous and smooth. An alternative method of closing off the nostrils is using the thumb and the index finger.
MANTRA: Although this can be done without mantra, you can mentally add Sat Nam mantra. Inhale Sat, exhale Nam.
TIME: Continue with long full breathing for 3-31 minutes.
TO END: Inhale, exhale completely, hold the breath out and apply mulabandh (root lock). Relax completely.
COMMENTS:
This is a basic technique in Kundalini yoga and Hatha yoga. Every Kundalini yogi should master this practice. It is excellent to do before bed to let go of the worries of the day.
Inhaling through the left nostril stimulates the brain's capacity to reset your framework of thinking and feeling, allowing new perspectives. Exhaling through the right nostril relaxes the constant calculations and cautions of the brain, which helps to break automatic patterns. Regulating your breath pattern in this way sets a new level of brain functioning which establishes emotional balance and calmness after periods of intense stress or shock.
The times for practice vary with purpose, skill level, and context:
- 3 minutes is used when this exercise is added to a set.
- 10 minutes as a start if practiced alone.
- 15 minutes of this exercise will turn it into a very deep meditation.
- 22 minutes trains the mind to use the state created by this breath as a resource.
- 31 minutes will cleanse the body and restore the nervous system from the effects of current and past shocks.
