After discussing the preliminary considerations before one starts doing pranayama we shall now describe how to go about the practice itself. Are there any definite stages through which pranayama is to be practiced? What are the do's and don'ts of the practice? How far should one go? What are the additional techniques associated with pranayama? How does one know that one is on the right path? These and other questions arise when one actually maces a beginning. Let us discuss these questions one by one.
Three components of pranayama
In any discussion of pranayama there are three oft repeated technical terms. The meaning of these should be very clear. These terms are: puraka, rechaka, and kumbhaka. We have already referred to these terms earlier. A puraka in pranayama is the act of inhalation which fulfills the following conditions.
(a) It should be deep and complete. At the end of a puraka the lungs should be filled completely, there being full expansion of all the parts of the lungs.
(b) It should be a slow act, there being no extra force applied for sucking the air in.
(c) The flow of air should be uniform from the beginning to the end of a puraka.
(d) The time taken by each puraka in successive rounds of a sitting should be the same. Thus puraka is not just any form of inhalation but it is a controlled inhalation fulfilling the above four conditions.
Similarly, rechaka is not just exhalation. It means a controlled exhalation which is slow, deep, uniform, and completed in equal time in each round. At the end of a rechaka the lungs should be emptied to the maximum extent, their tissues contracting as much as possible.
In the case of kumbhaka there is no question of speed, movement of breath, uniformity, or depth. It involves stopping all movements of breath by holding all the respiratory apparatus tight and still.
There is a fixed proportion of time to be maintained with regard to puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka. It is recommended that rechaka should take double the time as for puraka. In puraka there is muscular effort for expanding the lungs. Rechaka is a comparatively passive act helped by the elasticity of the lungs which causes them to shrink automatically when the force causing them to stretch as in puraka is withdrawn. In keeping with this natural difference between the muscular activity involved in puraka and rechaka it is most convenient to give puraka half the time as for rechaka. Some yoga teachers advocate equal time for them, but giving double time for rechaka is much better.
How long one should do kumbhaka depends upon the progress of practice and purpose of doing pranayama. This we shall explain while discussing kumbhaka and its practice.
It would be desirable to clarify two more terms here. They are a sitting and a round. There is a difference between the two. A sitting includes all the rounds of pranayama done one after the other in succession. A sitting may last five to ten minutes in the beginning and twenty to thirty minutes as one gets established in the practice of pranayama. A round of pranayama includes one puraka, one kumbhaka and one rechaka. Or if kumbhaka is not practiced at all, as is the case in the beginning, then one round will include one puraka and one rechaka. A round includes all those stages of pranayama which together make a unit which is repeated a number of times in a sitting. The length of each round should be the same. In a variety of pranayama called Anuloma-viloma one round includes two each of puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka. We shall explain why that is so while discussing that variety.
Yukta pranayama
It has been mentioned earlier that pranayama if practiced properly can help us to overcome many disorders and if practiced in an improper manner it can give rise to disorders, sometimes of a serious nature In this context it is important to know the essential characteristics of yukta pranayama and how it becomes improper. Pranayama is called yukta when no excesses are committed while practicing it. One should inhale and exhale slowly, keeping to the right proportion of time. There should be no feeling of exhaustion or fatigue at any stage. One should never exceed the capacity to retain the breath due to over enthusiasm or the will to produce quick results. The number of rounds in a Sitting and the number of sittings in a day should not go beyond prescribed limits. Greatest care is required about the extent of kumbhaka. In the beginning one should not practice kombhaka at all, but only puraka and rechaka. The duration of kumbhaka as mentioned in traditional writings is four times of that for puraka. But this proportion is to be achieved slowly after sufficient training of the muscles end the nervous centers. After finishing a kumbhaka one must be able to give the required time for the following rechaka without any feeling of suffocation. Similarly, after a rechaka there should be no craving for sucking the air with force at the beginning of the following puraka. During kumbhaka, the bandhas must be applied. These we shall describe later. At the end of a sitting one should still have some capacity left to undergo a few more rounds. There should not be the feeling of having finished something boring or difficult somehow end that one is now relieved. But the feeling one should experience must be that an enjoyable affair which could easily be continued for some more time is now being stopped, not because one is tired but because the daily routine is over. During pranayama maintenance of the required proportion of time during the three stages should be an effortless smooth happening. And at the end of a sitting one should have a feeling of peace and satisfaction. These are the requirements of yukta pranayama.
Breathing through one nostril
For normal breathing we usually use both the nostrils. Although both of them do not allow the flow of air equally, sometimes the right nostril being more open and sometimes the left one, both are used in breathing unless one is choked due to cold or other reasons. While practicing pranayama it is better to use one nostril at a time in the beginning. The nostrils take part only in puraka or rechaka, but never in kambhaka. In different varieties of pranayama puraka may be done through the left or right nostril or through both. The same is true of rechaka. In some varieties puraka is done through the mouth as we shall see later. But rechaka is never done through the mouth. It is necessary to learn how to close one or both the nostrils in pranayama.
A special technique is recommended in the texts. The right hands to be used in this. The index and middle fingers are bent against the palm. The thumb and the two remaining fingers are kept straight. The thumb is used for closing the right nostril. The left nostril is closed with the ring and little fingers. Closing of a nostril is to be effected not by closing the aperture but by pressing the thumb or the fingers gently on the side of the nose so that the inner surface of the side of the nose touches the septum. Thus the whole of the front portion of the nasal passage is closed and not only the orifice. When both the nostrils are to be closed as while doing kumbhaka, both the sides of the nose are gently pressed against the septum, using the thumb and the two fingers simultaneously.
This arrangement for closing the nostrils is convenient for all purposes because the position of the fingers can be shifted easily to keep one nostril open for puraka and the other for rechaka or for changing the order in each successive round.
But is such an arrangement indispensable, it may be asked. Some persons may find it more convenient to use the left hand in place of the right. Some persons prefer to use only the index finger for closing the nostrils in puraka or rechaka. A traditional teacher may frown on this. But a beginner should be given some laxity if the traditional way of closing the nostrils is found cumbersome due to any reason.
While dosing the left nostril in the traditional way the thumb is to be placed on the bridge of the nose. When the left nostril is kept open and the right one closed the two fingers are to be kept on the bridge of the nose. Some persons hold them away from the face instead of keeping them on the bridge of the nose. But that is not convenient. It is best to learn the traditional way in the beginning and follow it properly.
If both the nostrils are used for puraka as well as rechaka, then both the hands may be placed on the knees. If one is sitting in the Padmasana pose the hands may be placed on the heels. Even in Padmasana when one hand is used for closing the nostrils the other may be placed on the knee. In kumbhaka the nostrils should always be closed.
Making a beginning
We have discussed to far what one should know about pranayama before actually making a start, what the problems are that arise and how they should be solved. Remembering all the points discussed, if one wishes to start practicing pranayama how should one proceed step by step in order to get the desired benefits? We are now in a position to discuss this problem.
Assuming an erect sitting posture one should close the eyes, relax the body and mind, and watch the process of breathing that goes on in all of us without usually catching our attention. When one watches it silently it would be found that inhalation and exhalation follow each other in successive rounds, each found taking nearly four seconds. Thus every minute we are breathing fourteen or fifteen times. To some extent we can change this rate of breathing by making it rapid or slow. That is why pranayama is possible at all. This capacity of ours to modify breathing at will is taken advantage of in pranayama. Normally in daily life the respiratory centers bring about modifications in breathing as required by the needs of the body. In pranayama the activity of these centers is controlled systematically and they are trained in a set pattern.
After watching the normal breathing process for a while one finds that while breathing in and out the full capacity of the lungs for expansion and contraction is not utilized. To fill the lungs completely we have to take a long breath. This naturally takes a longer time than that required for a normal inhalation. This is true also of emptying the lungs fully. Filling and emptying the lungs fully is the first step in pranayama. One should take a deep breath as slowly as possible without using any extra force for sucking in air. When the lungs are filled completely the air should be drawn out slowly to empty the lungs as far as possible. This may be done ten times and the total time taken for doing this may be noted. On the next day the same procedure should be repeated, noting the time taken for ten rounds of deep breathing. Both the nostrils may be used. After continuing the practice for eight to ten days one should experience that the time taken for ten rounds is nearly the same every day. How long that time is, is not what matters much. It may be anything between two to five minutes. What is more important is taking equal time for ten rounds each day. Some people may achieve this in just two or three days. Others may take a longer time. When it is found that ten rounds are finished in equal time, every time it can be said that one has taken the first step in pranayama successfully by achieving uniformity in breathing.
After taking this first step one should slowly increase the number of rounds from ten to twenty, adding rounds every day. Further one should practice twenty rounds per day for about a week or ten days, taking care that the duration of a sitting is the same every day. Then one is ready to take the second step. In that the time taken by each round is to be measured, and that should be the same for all the twenty rounds. To facilitate this, two things are to be done. Instead of breathing through both the nostrils one may now use only one nostril at a time. The throat should be contracted slightly, so as to produce a sound like that represented by the letters 'hm' Let us elaborate these two procedures.
For using alternate nostrils for puraka and rechaka one should proceed like this:
Closing the right nostril in the manner described earlier, the first puraka is done through the left nostril. At the end of puraka the following rechaka is done through the right nostril. Then the order is reversed, doing the next puraka through the right and rechaka through the left nostril. This makes one round.
Each successive round is to be done in the same way, doing puraka through the left, rechaka through the right, then reversing the order to do puraka through the right and rechaka through the left nostril. There is one rule to be remembered, namely, that the nostril is to be changed after puraka and never after rechaka. That is to say, after a rechaka the same nostril is to be used for the following puraka. The flow of air passing in and out can be regulated more easily by using one nostril at a time for breathing.
This is helped further by producing the Am' sound by contracting the throat slightly. The throat or voice box, called Adam's apple, forms the upper expanded portion of the trachea or windpipe. It consists of two vocal folds or cords which emend from the front to the back of the throat. Between the vocal cords there is an elongated fissure called the glottis. When the vocal cords vibrate due to air passing through the glottis, sound is produced. The pitch of the sound is controlled by changing the width of the glottis. In pranayama to produce the 'hm' sound the glottis is partially closed by contracting the throat muscles, thus offering a slight resistance to the flow of air which gives rise to the sound. This sound is different from the one produced by the contraction of the nose. It is important to learn to produce the frictional hissing-like sound from the throat in a low uniform pitch without excessive contraction of the throat. Hearing this sound while breathing in end out's an absorbing exercise. When it is produced uniformly without Up8 and downs one can assume that the flow of air is uniform during puraka and rechaka, which is an important condition to be fulfilled for both of them.
But uniformity of the flow of air is only indicated by the sound. It is not caused or governed by it. For a uniform flow one should expand the chest slowly and uniformly during puraka. This requires good control on the muscles of respiration which bring about an expansion of the thoracic cavity by their contraction During rechaka these muscles are relaxed. A controlled relaxation of them synchronized with the elastic recoil of the lungs is very essential for a deep and uniform rechaka.
Toward the end of puraka one should not allow the abdominal wall to bulge. On the contrary it should be slightly tightened and pulled back by contracting the abdominal muscles, keeping the anus contracted. This helps to suck in more air making the puraka complete. Toward the end of rechaka also the anus and abdomen should be contracted so as to expel the air more completely. While doing this the muscles of the back and neck are also brought into action so as to make the thoracic cavity shrink as completely as possible.
When one succeeds in finishing all the rounds in a sitting in equal time, keeping the puraka and rechaka slow and uniform, and doing them through alternate nostrils, one may be said to have mastered the second step of pranayama. No attention had so far been paid to the proportional time to be given to puraka and rechaka. To start paying attention to that marks the third step.
We have noted earlier that puraka in pranayama should be given half the time as for rechaka. For doing this after mastering the second step one should note the time taken by a comfortable rechaka in two or three successive rounds. Half of that time should be given to puraka. When this is decided, one should go on doing twenty rounds in which each puraka will be completed in equal time and each rechaka will be done in double that time. When one can do twenty such rounds smoothly and comfortably one is on the threshold of pranayama. Whether one takes one or two or three months to reach there is immaterial. What matters more is that one should arrive there systematically without any haste.
The next step consists of increasing the time or length of each round. This can be begun after one practices twenty rounds of a particular measure without any difficulty for a fortnight or more. Supposing that each such round is of fifteen seconds, i.e., five seconds for puraka and ten seconds for rechaka, how should one proceed to make each round longer? From a fifteen second round one may now go to a twenty-one second round in which puraka and rechaka will be of seven and fourteen seconds respectively. On the first day out of the twenty rounds the first eighteen rounds may tee of shorter length, i.e., fifteen seconds in our example. In the last two rounds the longer duration should be applied. After two or three days the last four rounds may be of the longer duration. Proceeding slowly like this in about twenty days or more all the rounds in a sitting will be of twenty-one seconds, duration. If there is a feeling of discomfort or suffocation at any stage one should halt the increase in practice and continue what one is doing for some more time, attempting to increase the time of each round after more practice. One should never exceed one's capacity.
After practicing twenty rounds of the longer duration for a fortnight one can increase it further, say, to a round of twenty four seconds. The procedure is the same. After practicing that round for about a month one may take up a round of thirty seconds which would include puraka for ten seconds and rechaka for twenty seconds. Twenty such rounds would take ten minutes. This is a good measure of deep breathing which is quite sufficient for daily practice for the maintenance of good health and even in many cases as a therapeutic measure. For ordinary purposes kumbhaka is not necessary at all. Some persons may find it difficult to reach this stage even after a practice for six months. Some may achieve it in just one or two months, and some may find it quite comfortable to start their practice with puraka 'of ten seconds and rechaka of twenty seconds. Individual differences in this regard are considerable. So one should know one's limits and should not transgress them. After reaching the goal of twenty rounds of thirty seconds each one may make it apart of his daily routine and practice it regularly. Unless one wants to go further in the practice of pranayama this much daily practice is enough for practical purposes.
Introduction of kumbhaka (retention)
Kumbhaka means the stoppage of the process of breathing either after filling the lungs, which is mostly the case, or in some cases after emptying the lungs. The latter form is much less common than the former. We do hold the breath, as mentioned earlier, for brief moments under special circumstances. Some people can do this even for two to three minutes at a time as in the case of the pearl divers. But that is not repeated in successive respiration. After retention for a long time one may go out of breath and so the retention is followed by taking rapid breaths just as one does while undergoing great physical exertion. Retention of breath in pranayama is very different from this. Here the intention is not to hold the breath once only or for the longest possible period, until one gets out of breath. Getting out of breath at any stage is to be completely avoided in pranayama. Repeating the act in successive rounds very comfortably is important for kumbhaka.
How and when should one start doing kumbhakas? Does it have any special advantage? Why is it not necessary for ordinary purposes to practice it? These are some of the questions that arise about kumbhaka. We shall discuss only the first of them here, leaving others for later chapters.
As is evident from what we have said about how one should go about for beginning the practice of pranayama, kumbhaka is not to be begun until the respiratory system and the nervous centers that govern its working are trained sufficiently in the mechanism of deep, uniform breathing. Formally, as mention earlier, it may be begun after one has already practiced twenty rounds a day of thirty seconds each, of puraka-rechaka for some weeks.
While introducing kumbhaka for the first time one should go through eighteen rounds out of twenty in the usual manner. In the nineteenth round kumbhaka may be done after puraka, taking the same time as for puraka, i.e., ten seconds. Both the nostrils are to be closed during kumbhaka. And the bandhas should also be applied. These will be described presently. After holding the breath for ten seconds the bandhas are withdrawn and rechaka is done through the right nostril. The same procedure is to be repeated in the last round, alternating the nostrils. After practicing this for three or four days, the last four rounds may include kumbhaka. If this can be done comfortably then after a week the number of rounds including kumbhaka may be progressively increase d at the rate of two per week until all the twenty rounds of puraka and rechaka are replaced by those including kumbhaka. If this is found difficult then one may continue to practice only ten plus ten rounds excluding and including kumbhaka respectively for some more time and then proceed to have kumbhaka slowly in all the rounds. Hurrying towards something spectacular without sufficient practice must always be avoided. It is very important to remember this. How much practice is sufficient to proceed further should always be decided by the ease and comfort that one experiences during the practice If one exceeds one's capacity for holding the breath the rechaka following it will show it. There will be a tendency to expel air more rapidly than required and rechaka will end in a shorter time. Uneasiness may linger even in the puraka following it and air may be sucked in with extra force without proper control. If such a thing happens at any stage one should stop and take a few normal breaths. After giving rest to the respiratory apparatus a fresh start may be mad to complete the remaining rounds.
"Holding the breath comfortably according to one's capacity without ever exceeding this capacity," is the principle which should not be lost sight of by a student of pranayama. Following this principle, one should reach the goal of twenty rounds per day, taking one's own time to reach it. Each round will take forty seconds and a sitting will be over in about fourteen minutes. After one practices such sittings daily over a period of four to six weeks, one can increase the duration of kumbhaka from ten to fifteen seconds. On the first day the last two rounds, after a week four rounds, and after three weeks six or eight rounds may be made of a fifteen-second kambhaka. This number may then be increased to twenty in due course, never ignoring the case of performance. After one is established firmly in the practice of kumbhaka for fifteen seconds, this time may be increased progressively in the same manner es described above, to twenty seconds, then to twenty-five seconds, and ultimately to thirty seconds. To practice twenty rounds of kumbhaka of thirty seconds is a fairly large measure of pranayama. Very few students reach such a stage. Going still further than this may be deemed necessary only when one is interested in devoting oneself seriously to the practice of pranayama for the purpose of arousing the kundalini and attaining samadhi.
If there are long gaps in the practice due to any reason one should restart the practice with a shorter duration of kumbhaka and roach where one had left the practice in two to three weeks.
Application of Bandhas (holds)
Bandhas are special techniques prescribed in yoga which re applied while doing kumbhaka. Bandha means binding or holding tightly in a certain position. In pranayama it means the contraction of particular muscles of the body. There are four main bandhas associated with pranayama. They are: Uddiyana bandha, Jalandhara bandha, Mula bandha, and Jilva bandha. We shall describe their technique and significance one by one. Let us take the last one first.
JIVHA BANDHA
Jivha means the tongue. In this bandha the tongue is pressed against the roof of the mouth causing an upward pull to be exercised on the root of the tongue and the adjoining tissues to which it is attached. -This is the least common among the: bandhas. But it is mentioned in the Hathayoga-pradipika (111. 22) as an option for the much more prevalent Jalandhara bandha.
JALANDHARA BANDHA
Jala means a net. In the present context it means the network of the nadis or channels passing through the neck. We shall explain the nadis later. Jalandhara bandha consists of bending the neck forward and setting the chin below the throat. This helps to hold the breath with better control. So it is recommended that this bandha should always accompany kumbhaka whether one applies the other bandhas or not. The parts around the throat including the thyroid gland are pressed in this bandha, and the back portion of the neck is stretched. An upward pull is exercised on the spine. Except in one particular variety of pranayama, this bandha is not to be applied during puraka or rechaka.
UDDIYANA BANDHA
Uddina means a jump. In this bandha the thoracic diaphragm is moved to an extreme upward position. The wall of the abdomen is pulled towards the back giving a concave appearance like the bottom surface of a pond. A pond is called, adaga in Sanskrit, and this bandha is also called Tadagi Mudra in yoga texts. That is done after an exhalation so that the depression in the wall of the abdomen looks quite pronounced. When it is done while holding the breath in, during pranayama the concavity is not so well marked because the diaphragm does not rise high in the thoracic cavity because the lungs are already filled with air.
When practiced independently either in a standing or sitting position on an outgoing breath, the bandha provides a very good exercise to the abdominal viscera by causing pressure and stretch on them. This helps to remove congestion and promote blood circulation which is very important for the health of any organ. While doing it in pranayama after a puraka, a stretch and pressure is developed in both the thoracic and abdominal cavities. In the early stages of the pranayama practice when kombhaka is not yet introduced, this bandha should only be practiced moderately toward the end of the puraka. This, as we have nosed earlier, helps to inhale more air, filling the lungs more completely. The physical and therapeutical advantages of Uddiyana bandha are very great, and for this reason it is compared in the yoga texts with a lion that combats the elephant called death.
MULA BANDHA
Mula means the root. Mula bandha is the contraction of the anal sphincters and the pelvic floor. While in Uddiyana bandha one sucks the belley in, the lower abdomen is also slightly contracted. This contraction is completed by contracting the anal sphincters. Thus Uddiyana bandha and Mula bandha usually go together. They should be applied toward the end of puraka as well as rechaka, to make these acts complete by allowing maximum expansion and contraction of the lungs.
Mula bandha together with pressure of the heel on the perineum has a great significance in the arousal of the kundalini. It stimulates the nerve endings in that area where the kundalini power is said to be located. This is helped by the stretch caused by Uddiyana bandha in the abdomen and the upward pull on the spine exercised by it and by Jalandhara bandha. That is of value only to advanced students of yoga who practice pranayama for hours everyday together with bandhas. But even an average student can draw many benefits from a little practice of the bandhas. They ensure an efficient working of almost every function in the body such as digestion, blood circulation, secretion of harmones from the endocrine glands, excretion of waste materials from the body, etc.
What do the bandhas bind actually? Physically they may be said to bind particular muscles and hold them tightly in position for some time. But that is not all. In yoga the bandhas are applied mainly for binding the prana. This is a special purpose for which pranayama is practiced, and the bandhas help it greatly. The prana is said to be bound by them, made to have an impact on the kundalini, causing it to be awakened.
It should be remembered that when pranayama is practiced along with the bandhas, the need to watch one's capacity and never to exceed it becomes all the more great, because while holding the breath and creating internal pressure and stretch one is modifying the normal process of breathing very considerably. A slight mistake at this stage may be dangerous. There have been cases in which the practice of pranayama has lead to disorders. These have been, indeed, not due to pranayama as such, but due to lack of care and restraint.
Three grades of kombhaka
When a student learns the technique of pranayama for the first time he is naturally expected to go slow and continues the practice on a low note. But after one achieves expertise how much pranayama should one practice? Is there any final limit for the number of sittings per day, number of rounds per sitting, and the length of kumbhaka in each round? We have already considered these problems so far as an ordinary student is concerned. For an advanced student the answers to these questions will be different, arid we shall now discuss them.
Patanjali has given three criteria for measuring pranayama, namely, space (desha), duration (kala) and number of rounds (sankhya). Space is both outer and inner with reference to the body. Outer space is the area upto which the impact of the incoming or outgoing air is felt during puraka and rechaka. Inner space is the area from the feet to the head where the impact of kumbhaka is felt in the form of sensations like those of the touch of an ant moving on the surface of the body. The duration was traditionally measured by a unit called matra.
Various measures of a matra are mentioned in ancient texts. Patanjali has said that with practice pranayama becomes prolonged and subtle. But how prolonged and subtle it should become in terms of the three measures mentioned by him, is not explained by him or his commentators.Insteadof saying how many rounds one should do and how long each round should be, Patanjali has referred to the result that prolonged and subtle pranayama would produce. The result is removal of the veil of ignorance.
The exact measure is described in the texts of Hathayoga. Pranayama is divided into three grades, intense (uttama), moderate(madbyama) andlowest (adhama). The intense measure comprises practicing pranayama four times a day, as mentioned in the Hathayoga-pradipika (II. 11.), that is to say, in the morning and evening, at mid day and midnight. The number of rounds in each sitting is to be eighty. The extent of kumbhaka in each round should be twelve and half matras. A matra is defined in this case as the time taken by an individual while sleeping for one respiration, that is, about four seconds. This means that the longest duration of kumbhaka in intense pranayama will be about fifty seconds. Considering the ratio of time for puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka, which is one, four and two units respectively,we may say that the highest measure of a round of intense pranayama would include puraka for twelve seconds, kombhaka for forty eight seconds and rechaka for twenty four seconds, thus making up a round of one minute and twenty four seconds. Eighty such rounds would mean nearly two hours for a sitting, and one may thus speed Bight hours (seven and a half hours, to be more exact) per day in the practice of pranayama. Such intense practice is said to lead to the arousal of kundalini in six to twelve months. It is for such highly devoted students of yoga that selection of a suitable place, control of diet and rules of conduct become all the more important.
Moderate or madhyama pranayama includes kumbhaka of thirty two seconds, while the lowest or adhama type means a kumbhaka of sixteen second's duration. Two sittings a day would make a moderate practice, and one sitting every day is sufficient for ordinary purposes. Similarly, the number of rounds: twenty rounds will be enough ordinarily while forty rounds in a sitting would make moderate practice.
One should be very clear about the goal that one wants to reach and decide whether the ordinary, moderate or intense practices to be followed. Confusion regarding this may be dangerous.
Incessant abdominal breathing: Kapalabhati
While describing the necessity for breathing we have pointed out that oxygen is indispensable for the process of oxidation through which energy is released. In this process while oxygen is utilized two gases are produced: carbon dioxide and water vapour. It is essential to remove these gases out of the body. They are collected by the blood from all over the tissues of the body where oxidation is going on, brought to the lungs, and exchanged there for oxygen from the inhaled air. After this exchange they are eliminated in the following exhalation. When one holds the breath for some time as in kambhaka this process of elimination of carbon dioxide and water vapour stops for a while. Accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood beyond a certain limit is dangerous, because it acts as poison and may kill living tissues. To counteract the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood there is a technique in yoga which helps to eliminate it faster, so that the composition of the blood becomes normal again. It is called Kapatabhati. Kapala means the skull, and kapalabhati means the technique which makes the skull bright or shining.
The technique of kapalabhati is as follows: Sitting in a posture suitable for pranayama, the student relaxes the wall of the abdomen, contracts the anus, and exhales rapidly and abruptly with some force with a sudden contraction of the abdominal wall just below the navel. By suddenly pulling the abdominal wall towards the back in this manner pressures exerted inside the abdominal cavity which makes the diaphragm to rise slightly, make an impact on the lungs, and cause a forced exhalation. The abdominal wall is then relaxed again so that the diaphragm comes down, causing vacuum inside the thoracic cavity. This vacuum is filled by air entering into the lungs. Then the abdominal wall is immediately contracted again, bringing about another forced exhalation which is followed by inhalation due to the relaxation of the wall of the abdomen. It is important to note that in this process inhalation is a passive act but not so exhalation. This is the exact opposite of what happens in normal breathing where inhalation requires application of force for contracting the muscles of the chest and exhalation happens without applying any force, but due to the elastic recoil of the lungs.
One goes on repeating the process of forced exhalations twenty, thirty or forty times. When one gets tired the process may become difficult and the rhythm may be lost. Here one should stop. All these exhalations done repeatedly in this way constitute one round. The following points should be noted:
1. Each exhalation should be sudden, not prolonged.
2. While inhaling there should be no effort to suck the air in.
3. There should be a fixed rhythm in the process.
4. The chest muscles should not be used.
5. Exhalations and inhalations are to be brought about mainly by the movements of the abdominal wall.
Kapalabhati is thus an exercise in rapid abdominal breathing. One may do two exhalations per second. The flow of air should not be obstructed by contraction of the throat or nose. But there is slight friction of the air as it comes out and due to this a low sound is produced. Contraction of the abdominal wall should be moderate and not vigorous, although it is-sudden. Most of the students can do kapalabhati well on the first day. But a few find it very difficult to synchronize the movement of the abdomen with exhalation and inhalation. They contract the abdominal wall while inhaling. This should be carefully avoided. On the first day one should do as many exhalations as could be comfortably and rhythmically performed in a non-stop process. Then after resting for half a minute another round may be done and then a third round after half a minute's rest again. The number of exhalations per round may be increased slowly by five to ten per week until one can comfortably do each round for one minute making one hundred twenty exhalations in that time. This may take about two months from the start.
Normally we inhale and exhale about 500 ml. of air every time, amounting to a lung ventilation of seven litters of air per minute. In kapalabhati breathing is slightly deeper so that the quantity of air respired each time is nearly 600 ml. and there are 120 such respirations per minute. Thus the lung ventilation per minute in kapalabhati increases to 70 litters or more, i.e. it is increased ten times. This helps rapid elimination of carbon dioxide from the blood. Because of this it is observed that after around of kapalabhati one can hold the breath more easily. In an experiment recently conducted by the present author in this regard (see "Effect of Kapalabhati on Retention of Breath: An Experimental Study" by K.S. Joshi, published in the journal Yoga Awareness, February 1981, p. 14) it was found that kapalabhati increases the extent of retention of breath significantly in the kumbhakas following a round of kapalabhati and that this increase is the highest in case of the immediately following retention.
Thus it is advisable to do three rounds of kapalabhati in the beginning of a session of pranayama. There is another way in which it may be used while doing pranayama. If one is doing twenty rounds of kumbhaka in a sitting then one round of kapalabhati may be done in the beginning, the second one after six kombhakas and the third one after six more kumbhakas. This is observed to be of great help for making the kumbhakas comfortable throughout a sitting. Sometimes it is observed that in a sitting the initial kumbhakas are quite comfortable, but toward the end of the sitting there is some uneasiness. One way of overcoming this difficulty is to reduce the duration of each kumbhaka. But perhaps a better way would be to introduce a round of sixty strokes of kapalabhati after six or eight kumbhakas. Here kapalabhati may be said to act like a safety valve for the elimination of accumulated carbon dioxide, which is one main cause of uneasiness during the practice of kumbhaka.
There is an important variety of pranayama in which a round of kapalabhati is introduced before each round of -pranayama. That is called Bhastrika pranayama. Bhastra means a bellows. This variety of pranayama gets its name from the fact that in every round of it the abdomen is moved like the bellows. Some students and even some teachers of pranayama who are not properly trained are confused between this and kapalabhati and use the word bhastrika for kapalabhati. That may sound reasonable because in kapalabhati also one moves the belly like the bellows. But technically it is wrong, because both bhastrika and kapalabhati are technical terms having fixed or defined meanings, and unless we change the definitions themselves the words should not be used interchangeably.
Kapalabhati is traditionally regarded as one of the cleansing techniques of yoga. There are six main techniques for cleansing different parts of the body. We have already discussed one of these earlier, namely, neti. Kapalabhati may be said to have great significance es a cleansing technique because it cleanses the whole body by removing carbon dioxide which is a poisonous impurity produced continuously in the body. The fact of making the skull or the brain shining is perhaps associated with the impact made by the forcefully outgoing air in each exhalation on the sinuses of the skulland the olfactory mucous membrane. But the exact mechanism involved has not yet been studied.
Holding the breath out
As mentioned earlier there are two ways of doing kambhaka. We have so far discussed only the more common way, that of holding the breath inside. Holding the breath out, although much less common, is also quite useful from the therapeutic point of view.
It is sometimes recommended by some teachers of pranayama that the two types of kumbhaka are to be practiced together in the same round, that is, one should do puraka, inner kumbhaka, rechaka, and then outer kumbhaka in one round, counting the number of such rounds in a sitting. This is not mentioned in any of the major texts of pranayama. Such a practice would be extremely strenuous. So it is better to practice the inner and outer types of kumbhaka separately.
For practicing outer kumbhaka it is not necessary to have any proportional time for puraka and rechaka. Kapalabhati can very well be combined with each round. A convenient procedure would be as follows:
Assuming a convenient posture make a round of sixty strokes of kapalabhati. Make the last exhalation as complete as possible, contracting the anus and the abdominal wall. Close both the nostrils, apply the Jalandhara bandha and hold the breath out for ten, fifteen, twenty or more seconds, depending on how long it can be held comfortably. Then give up the bandhas and have a few normal respirations. Then repeat the whole procedure for a second round. Four such rounds are enough in the beginning. The number may be slowly increased to ten in a period of about four weeks.
After finishing the required number of rounds of outer kumbhaka one may continue the sitting for the practice of inner kumbhaka after taking a few normal breaths. Thus instead of introducing outer kumbhaka in each round of inner kumbhaka as advocated by some teachers it is far more convenient and useful to combine the two in the above manner. It is always advisable to go through a few strokes of kapalabhati before every round of outer kumbhaka.
Outer kumbhaka is a very good respiratory exercise. When combined with the practice of inner kumbhaka it greatly enhances the therapeutic value of the latter. It is not to be used as a substitute to inner kumbhaka. That is why we do not find any emphasis on it in the traditional texts. The procedure given above is also not taken from any text. But the present writer has found it very convenient to combine outer and inner kumbhakas, and a very practical and useful way of combining them is described here.
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