pranayama

11 Reasons Why Women Need To Become Idea Machines Now

Claudia Azula Altucher Become An Idea Machine, confidence, Depression, idea machine, lean in, Paul Dallaghan, pranayama, Trust, women
We are at a point in history where we have to stop pretending we are not brilliant beings. 
We, as women, need to become idea machines, pronto.  

The power that comes through it is a gift we owe to the world. 

We have to own our talent and admit that we have something to bring to the table. 

We are in a magnificent position to affect change in the world in a feminine way.  There is no winning in playing small anymore.


I said that recently at Fei’s podcast, 

And… Of course….

In true “Idea Machine style”… 

that conversation invited me to elaborate and come up with ten/eleven reasons why it is so important for women (and men, of course) but specifically, in this case, for women, to become idea machines.

Here are them:


1.- WOMEN STILL GET PAID LESS THAN MEN

And…

Ideas are the currency of the 21st century 

Because the old job and the retirement, or even social security is rather “iffy” at best these days.

We don’t exactly know how the money will come, but then again, in the past way of life, we also didn’t exactly know, because if we did then we were at a “job”, where the number was small and fixed…

And nobody ever generates wealth that way…. Because there is little value added at a fixed, “boring” job.

Thinking of wealth in terms of ideas levels the plain-filed.

Just like the Philharmonic orchestra got more women into their pool of talented musicians once they started auditioning by hearing music BUT with a screen covering the gender.

Just like that screen… ideas allow us to level the field.

2.-LET’S ASK MORE QUESTIONS

I will tell you one thing that disheartened me while reading Lean In… 

Sheryl says that when she gives talks it is always men that raise their hands and ask questions.  Women rarely ask.

I am not saying we should be CEO’s, or start companies, or run Facebook’s operations, and I am also NOT saying we should be more like men…

NO.

I am just saying we need to start raising our hand and speaking up... And asking questions.

In the book “The Confidence Code” (see recommended reading below) I read that studies show that women will apply for a job (or ask a question) only if they feel 100% prepared.

Men will apply for a job if they feel they are 70% prepared!

And ask a question even when they don’t have one.

This is something I’ve been sensing quite a bit, and that is why these days….

I ASK QUESTIONS.  Every time.

[Keep calm image from here]

Even if I don’t know know what I am about to ask… 

Just as I did in the last conference where as I lifted my hand I had no idea what I was going to ask.  But I did have a question!

 So yes, the question was formulated between the moment the hand started going up and the moment the speaker said: “yes”?

It is evolutionary for us to raise our hands, to ask, to take risks, to be bold.  

Because our voice is missing from the conversation otherwise.

LISTING TEN IDEAS A DAY gets the idea muscle ready, flexible, in good shape, and trained to look for questions, to look for answers, to look for the “gaps”.  

Then it is easier to ask questions.

3.- THE TRANSFORMATION IS DECEIVINGLY SLOW BUT POWERFULLY POTENT

Some people have began listing ideas together with me since the book launch, and many are sharing them (sometimes daily in Twitter)

I heard of someone who sent 10 ideas to a music festival, and now that festival has him help them with their croudsourcing efforts.

I sent 10 ideas to 99Designs because I used their services three times in three months and I had enough experience to know where they could improve.

The CEO Wrote me a letter this week:

Hi. I’m the CEO of 99designs and I just wanted to let you know that we really appreciate your thoughtful feedback.  We actioning items immediately that we can address around better communication/messaging and we are actively recruiting additional customer support representatives to ensure that everyone sees a chat window when needed (peak times sometimes makes chat unavailable to some users).   

Are you happy with your final design for your book cover?  Is there anything else that I could do for you?  Really happy to help in anyway and thanks again for the tough love…  We are always striving to get better and feedback like yours helps make that possible. Kind regards

We had some follow up conversations, I thanked him for listening.

[Tortoise image from here]

He told me that he was going to talk to his staff and share the list with them…

Now, the point of this is to show how it is deceivingly sow...

You may say me: “C’mon, a letter is nothing that is not money!”

And you would be right.  

But this is the way the world works these days.

We send ideas….

We add “real, actionable, and good” value to others and…

It starts with a thank you letter… 

It may continue with an invitation to come over and talk to the staff (as it happened to James with Amazon where they flew him to Seattle)… and then…

Relationships are built, you meet new people, you get new ideas, you get BETTER ideas…

We don’t need to see the end result, we just need to list ten ideas today.

It does compound fast…  

For example James got his book Choose Yourself, and his next book “The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth” in hard cover (which Amazon never does for self published authors)  — BECAUSE OF HIS SENDING OF IDEAS

He was able to make a deal with a list to sell Choose Yourself… in hard cover.

That is now the “POWERFULLY POTENT” part appears… it is a compounding, not a staight line… it is an endless…giggly spiral and curvy up and down-ish sort of gibberish doodle… that is how a trajectory in the real world looks like now.

4.- GETTING OUT OF DEPRESSION

Last summer I went to Thailand and I was suffering from one of those bursts of depression I get often.

I was shocked when, after taking my pulse, Paul Dallaghan gave me a pranayama prescription that encouraged more solar breathing (right nostril)

I don’t want to go into details on that because I believe a prescription is that, something personal, but I did see the “RESULTS”

We as women are more “receptive, lunar, open to communication, wanting to be liked” and on and on

NOT ALL OF US, of course…I don’t want to generalize… And I know some women have a lot of sun energy in them…

[Leaving depression image from here]

I am just saying that as per ME, and in my own experience,  my feminine energy is more earth while men’s is more sky…

Female is moon (ritual, nurturing)  man is sun (possessive, abrasive)

Of course we all have both.

But I feel, at least in MY CASE, that I need to activate my solar energy a bit more.

ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM DEPRESSED

It is all nice for me to write my morning pages, journal and do collage, but…

THE 10 IDEAS A DAY engages my mind in a completely different way.

It gets me going in a way that is foreign to my basic nature of silent receptivity and listening and praying…

LISTING TEN IDEAS A DAY connects me with the “how can I help” energy in a more practical, go-get-it… sun way

5) REMEMBERING TO GIVE TO OURSELVES

When coming up with ten ideas a day we will have days in which it simply is impossible.  

Life is incredibly difficult, and things happen.  

As women we tend to want to help, soothe, and give.  

This is a wonderful feminine quality but it is also important to remember that our own soothing, helping ourselves, and giving to ourselves is critical.  

So we may skip a day of doing the ten ideas if the world goes upside down.  But we can take it again the next morning.  Because our ideas are important.

Because our contribution, the way we see the world, our thoughts, translated through a fine-tuned intuition of ideas IS IMPORTANT.

Whenever I find myself upset now-a-days I immediatelly think of listing 10 things I could do.

I start with the most ridiculous ideas (because there are no ridiculous ideas, they are just ideas, I don’t judge)…

It is usually through those that I give myself permission to actually get out some pretty good ones…

Ideas can save lives.

Ideas can save our stressed out days.

Ideas can save relationships.

Ideas can help us.  

6) CONFIDENCE

This is a tricky one for us women…  

There is an imbalance in how we are perceived weather we admit it or not…

A Harvard study had two groups of women take a math test.

The first group had to identify their GENDER before the test, the second one had to identify their ETHNICITY

There were Asian women in both as I understand….

Guess what group did better?

The one that identified themselves as “Asian” rather than “women”, because ” Asian women are good at math” right?  We all know thaaaaaaaaat….. riiiiigggghttttt?

These stereotypes DO EXIST. Denying them gives us no favors

Acknowledging them is better because then at least we know what we are dealing with.

How does that play out in “confidence”?

Have you ever had an idea and then you said it and then later someone else (perhaps a man) took it and used it as if it was his?

This happened to me not once, but many, many times…

I find it to be my responsibility to point out that that was MY idea… not because I want to be better than but to reassure MYSELF, to regain my own sense of self-confidence.

I find that coming up with ten ideas a day gives me the confidence necessary to trust the words that come out of my mouth.

[Confidence fish photo from here]

By the way, this does not mean I turn into an *as&*.  If I say something that is out of line I still can acknowledge I was wrong. 

I am wrong many times… And I have no problem saying I am sorry.

But being an idea machine helps me identify when I am sure, in my bones, that what I am saying is the right thing …

And when you have that kind of confidence, when you know that is something is the right thing for you, in your soul, then nobody can stop you.

7) WHAT IS MY PASSION? FOR TODAY?

I laugh when I hear people in Quora ask “how can I know what my life purpose is”?

Nobody can know that…

Since I was born I have had at least 8 different “lives”… 

[Today image from here]

There is no way at 15 I could’ve said “I will be a writer” forever…

It just does not work that way.  

I am currently a podcast host, and author, a partner at a private publishing firm, a blogger, a yoga teacher, an idea machine….

And with the idea machine, the PURPOSE changes every six months or so….

Because as we start coming with lists of what we are interested on today, our lives change.

When we pay attention to what is igniting our inner fire today, then life has no evolutionary choice but to lead us in the direction of what we feel passionate about… TODAY

8) CUTTING OURSELVES SOME SLACK

Last week I overheard a beautiful young woman with four kids say that she does not push herself enough.  

She had just finished two hours of yoga asana.  

I HAD to ask her: “Do you hear yourself speak?” 

I was not mean, I was encouraging, I think any woman with four kids is a super hero period.
So, speaking of cutting ourselves some slack.  

Let’s remember that most of the time we do everything that men do, feel all the same stresses, and still make the bed and cook breakfast, thank you very much.

Ideas help us recognize our brain power, our dedication, our power of transformation, and the results we bring into the world.

And if you are ever in need of some padding in the back do this:

List your “I DID LIST”  for today

List all the things you DID, TODAY

You WILL BE SHOCKED.  Guaranteed…

9) WHEN THINGS FALL APART:

When things fall apart, as they do, having a toned idea muscle allows the wisdom of the feminine energy to change perspective, to notice where our strength lies.

Heck! We are showing up for our daily practice!, 

It helps us to reassure ourselves that this, too, shall pass.

And there is nothing like going 10-ideas on a problem…  Because it shows different ways of looking at it, and in doing so we shift our perception
10) THERE IS NO BEAUTY IN PLAYING SMALL

I am married to a strong man and I can see what happens when I play as if I am less, or not as important, and also, what happens when I act from my full power, as an equal, and sometimes even as a wise-teacher. 
It is much more productive and leading to peace and balance when I stand in the fire-center of my power and own it.  

When I speak what I know to be truth, when I say what I mean because I know it in my bones to be truth, when I trust the words that come out of my mouth and yet have the humility to recognize if at some  point they were not so wise.
I don’t know everything, or anything.  

I am not a genius, but as a female I am as powerful -if not more sometimes-  than the male energy.
My energy as female is needed in the world, badly.  
And if we don’t return to nurturing this part of our energy, if we don’t bring to the front the feminine energy that births wisdom we are doomed.
This is the time for all of us as women to bring our voices to the front, to speak up, to let our ideas count, and to do what we know we have to do.

We can elevate the conversation.

We can bring up a notch, from silly gossip ot what really counts…

To how can we own our power?

How can we be more honest with ourselves?

How can we help each other, woman to woman (and men too… I love men)

How can we make sure when a woman is interrupted, that we say “excuse me, I would like for her to finish her thought”

How can we be more kind to one another?

How can we get out of the way of our feminine wisdom?

Listing ten ideas a day seems to be working for me.

11)  FUNNY

A few weeks ago I got another of those bursts of depression.

I bought an audio book… Ellen… “Seriously I’m Kidding”

It made me feel better.

We women are GREAT at a sense of humor because we have to.

I noticed one thing listening to Ellen, she has a phrase going somewhere and suddenly it will turn crazy…

For example: she will say:

No woman is perfect… Except for Penelope Cruz

There is always that twist, that funny turn.

I’ve never laughed more than when in a group of women who trust each other…

We are witty people…

[Ellen image from here]

This is why I am recommending the book (audio better really), because we can bring our brilliant sense of humor to the world too…

One list I am going to be doing is “sentences that end in a funny twist…”

For example:

Amy Schummer:  “I went to LA last week… Have you ever had your self esteem lowered?”

See the “twist”? We are great at it, and you KNOW IT !


RECOMMENDED READING

Lean In
Seriously I’m Kidding
Become An Idea Machine
The Confidence Code
Bold

Bhastrika Pranayama – Life Force on Steroids

Claudia Azula Altucher Alternate Nostril Breathing, Bhastrika, Breathing, breathing exercises, Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, life force, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga
Bhastrika is the most powerful technique in pranayama as it rapidly fills the whole torso with air and therefore, when done right, with life energy.

It is, in a simplified way, like the three part breathing exercise from chapter 10,  only done faster and with zeal (and faster and faster when practice begins to bear fruit).

The effects of this exercise are incredibly far reaching, for example it is said it pierces through the three major obstacles to our full expression, (granthis) and cures all diseases by lessening/reducing the effects of the three imbalances we might have (or doshas ((vitta pitta and kapha)).  Further Gregor says that the benefits go “at nauseaum”.  

—–

CONTEXT:  This is a series I call Claudia’s Book Club.  The first book we are looking at is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga by Gregor Maehle.

We have read most of the book so far and we are now at the ‘practices’ portion. We have gone through the preparations, the considerations on food, environment, what asana practices are necessary and lots of other details like purification of the nose and practicing stomach churning and so on and so forth, lots of wonders from previous chapters.

In the prior-to-last chapter we learned about breathing in a “wave” form which is, like everything in this book, pre-requisite for this chapter.

On the last chapter we looked at the most important pranayama there is (alternate nostril) this exercise we are looking at today, is the one that can help advance on that pranayama exercise at a very fast rate, provided of course, that we do it right.  Now back to the chapter.

—-

Misunderstood

Bhastrika is also the most misunderstood exercise around.  Gregor says he has identified four different ways in which it is taught currently all over the world, and the differences are so vast (page 263) that he reverted to the original ancient texts and his own practice to see the effects, understand it, and come up with what the proper technique really is.  It is a delight to read his own findings and comparisons of old texts and current schools.

The Steroids of Pranayama

You may wonder, last chapter we looked at what I coined the only pranayama there is, we talked about the alternate nostril exercise and how it is really all you need, then why Bhastrika?

It turns out Bhastrika, with its enormous amount of air/prana/energy intake into the system can further you along the alternate nostril pranayama practice like nothing else, it is the steroids of pranayama.

How It Works:

It is a complete yogic breathing cycle, breathing in with the belly, rib-cage and chest, and then exhaling with the chest, rib-cage and belly only with intended (forced, worked) inhales for the three part intake, and intended exhales for the three part exhale.

Because it is done rapidly (as one gets comfortable and with the practice) it might look like a thoracic bellowing (hence the confusion) but it is much more than that as it is sending air to every part of the torso.

I would not recommend anyone trying this or taking it lightly.  It clearly needs a very good foundation, but I find that knowing where I am going along the path always stimulates me and gets me to keep practicing.  For that, it is an amazing read.

I found very interesting this idea that it pierces through the obstacles to our success (granthis),  hear Gregor out:

“Yoga proposes that along the spine there are three energetic blockages that block the ascent of spiritual energy and thus one’s spiritual evolution….” (page 267)

The three knots are called just like the three main representations of the Divine: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, which are the gods (or energies) of creation, maintaining and destruction/rebirth.

Here are the three energies that govern all of us in the rich
imagery of Indian drawings, creator, maintainer and destroyer/re birthing

Real Life Effects

Piercing these knots helps with very practical things in life, like grounding ourselves in a serious relationship of love rather than hoping around lovers, or  finding our voice and our work, even making a living, meaning finding our place in the world and owning our light and talents.  And they are not just psychological knots:

“The interesting thing about the yogic granthi model is that yoga does not see these blockages as just psychological but as actual energetic blockages located in the pranic body” (page 267)

Believe it or not we are coming to the end of the book.  I am grateful at all the things I have learned with this book and how it has inspired and deepened my own practice.  How are you liking it?

—-

How Not To Be An Idiot In Pranayama – Purifying The Nervous System

Claudia Azula Altucher Alternate Nostril Breathing, Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, nadi shodhana, Nerve Purification, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga
Today we look at the exercise which DEFINES pranayama. Heck I would go further to say it is pranayama.  Nadhi Shodhana is the alternate nostril breathing exercise done with retentions in between nostrils. It is the exercise that purifies the nervous system and no matter how many books you look at, and study with, you will see, it all comes down to this and only this one, again and again.

Why? Because this exercise has the power to clear the nervous system AND the subtle nervous system, the one we don’t see with the naked eye, and the one that doctors do not catalogue, the one that works underneath it all and that only yogis can sense, or so we would like to think.

purification

Why #2? Not only that but this exercise balances the activities both hemispheres of the brain leaving one in a state of peaceful alertness to meditate (satvic or intelligent, peaceful, open) as opposed to over excited (breathing too much through the right nostril), or lethargic (breathing too much through the left).

After reading and reading about pranayama I am almost tempted to say that this is the ONLY pranayama necessary. Everything else, every other pranayama exercise will either:

a) build to it ( kapalabhati, ujajji (for breath extention), bandhas, as well as all the preps, like, proper food intake, asana practice, proper sitting position, right attitude,neti and all the kryas etc), or

b) make it more powerful As in, there are other pranayama exercises which help us to come back to it and get deeper into it, faster (like bastriska which we will look at in the next chapter).

For example, when we experience body/mind imbalances we can practice other adjacent practices to heal us and return to this one (like surya bedhana or chandra bedhana which will be explored on the next chapters).

Once we are back in balance, we can also use powerful techniques, like Bhastrika (next chapter), to improve the rate of oxygen we get during this practice and advance faster. But it all ends here, it all stems from this practice and it all leads to this practice, to Nadi Shodhana.

You may wonder about the “idiot” thing in the title:

“Hatha Tatva Kaumudi says that “whoever commences practices of kumbakha [retention of breath] without nadi purification is an idiot“ (page 234)

My underlying on the word idiot.Gregor says this shows sense of humor on the part of teachers, and it also stresses the part where stress needs to be placed.

Without nerve purification which is what Nadhi Shodhana means (and is the topic of this chapter) we are simply not moving into higher states, we are just preparing.

—–
CONTEXT:  This is a series I call Claudia’s Book Club.  The first book we are looking at is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga by Gregor Maehle.

We have read most of the book so far and we are now at the ‘practices’ portion. We have gone through the preparations, the considerations on food, environment, what asana practices are necessary and lots of other details like purification of the nose and practicing stomach churning and so on and so forth, lots of wonders from previous chapters.

In the prior-to-last chapter we learned about breathing in a “wave” form which is, like everything in this book, pre-requisite for this chapter.

Now we are onto the actual IT of pranayama, the key practice of the whole book.

THIS IS IT YOU GUYS! -Now back to the chapter:

—-

HOW TO PURIFY THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

We now we find ourselves at a crossroads, do we want to continue to enjoy the healing benefits of the practice? Or do we want to go deeper into the unveiling of the blurry images that keep us from seeing reality as it is? because if we do, and if we want to pursue the higher realms of yoga, the upper four limbs, then this is it.

Take the blue pill you continue with your practice as if nothing
Take the red, you start and commit to Nadi Shodhana, and…
Down the rabbit hole you go.

NERVE PURIFICATION HAS TWO STAGES:

The actual purification can take anywhere from 4 months to 4 years says Gregor in the book, he is mentioning teachers who said that, or implied so, here and there. In reality there is no time limit or mark, it is a very individual process.

The effects of yoga can be felt when we can retain for over 40 seconds during this practice, not something that can be done in a few weeks I would guess, not for me anyways:

A lot of the pranamaya magic, like burning karma, purging the subconscious and fixating prana to cure diseases takes place above those levels (10:40:20).  (Page 258)

The retention part in that quote is represented by the number in the middle, the 40 seconds count! The 10 at the beginning, is for the inhale, and the 20 at the end, for the exhale.

How we get there is slowly, of course, and first we learn nadhi shodhana without retention, which is called nadi shudhini:

1) NADI SHUDHINI

Nadhi Shuddhi, is just like Nadi Shodhana but it does not have retentions.  It is the practice that comes right before it. The Technque includes:

– Both Nadhi Shuddhi and Shodhana always commence with an inhalation through the left nostril and finish with the exhalation through the same. (Page 239)

– For breathing we use the three stage double up wave within the complete yogic breathing cycle (see this chapter)

– We start with the 1:1 ratio (page 240). This means that we start with the same count for inhale and exhale, a recommended starting point could be 4 or 5 counts, something easy from where we can build up without straining. In that case it would be inhale through the left for 5 counts and exhale through the right for 5 counts, see how that feels.

Here is a drawing I made, it starts on the first and goes on in order, it also tells you what to visualize and the mantra that goes with the lunar cycle (first two) and the mantra that goes with the solar cycle (3rd and 4th).  All together these four form one full cycle.

– We inhale through the left by covering the right nostril (using the Shanka Mudra see photo below), then cover the left nostril and exhale through the right.  That is the lunar cycle, then inhale through the right (covering left nostril) and exhale through the left (covering the right nostril)

Shanka Mudra, used for alternate nostril blocking while
practicing nadi shudhini or shodhana
from Gregor’s book

– Visualization: Gregor suggests visualizing the moon during the lunar cycle (inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right) and pronouncing the syllable that goes with it Vam.  Then visualizing the sun during the solar cycle (inhaling through the right and exhaling left), and mentally repeating the mantra Ram.  There is a beautiful explanation in the book on page 241, which is way beyond the scope of a post and should be read in full.

– When are we ready to move on to the final practice?

– “You can go on to the next technique once you can comfortably, without straining, practise daily for around 15 minutes at the 20:40 ratio ([inhaling for 20 counts, exhaling for 40]. Alternatively your teacher may let you move on faster particularly if he notices about you the signs that Vasishta speaks about which are lightness and effulgence of body and increased agni” (page 243)

And so, once you get there, finally!

2) NADHI SHODHANA

So, here we are finally, feeling the lightness and effulgence of the body, with increased inner fire, and ready for the complete nerve purification.

The chapter goes on to explain nadi shodhana which is simply inhale through the left nostril, retain (with all bandhas, see chapter on bandhas) and then lift up your chin and exhale through the right.  That is one round.  That is the lunar cycle.

Then you do the same but in reverse inhaling through the right nostril, retaining and exhaling through the left. That is the solar cycle. And once you have done both you complete one round.

There is an in-depth discussion of rations and on how to improve the practice until you can get to the golden place of 20:80:40, inhaling for 20 counts, retaining for 80 and exhaling for 40,  at which point you can also add the “external” retentions, meaning retentions of breath done after exhaling and on empty.
—

I do sincerely hope that if you want to practice that you will a) read the book and b) do all preparatory practices and take it one step at the time, something that Gregor keeps on repeating throughout the book. I hope that you will also find a teacher for the beginning practices so that you ensure to set the odds in your favor and for success.

Let me leave you with the closing paragraph on this amazing chapter:

“The royal ratio for this most important of all pranayama techniques, Nadi Shodhana, is 1:4:2:2. It should form the foundation of every pranayama practice and be practiced daily. Only after a certain proficiency in Nadi Shodhana has been achieved should one move on to practice other pranayamas. The reason for achieving proficiency in Nadi Shodhana frst is the injunction of the shastras [yoga authoritative scriptures] that higher yoga can only succeed if the nadis are purified beforehand. Nadi Shodhana is the main method for achieving this aim.”

———

The ‘Conquering’ Breathing Exercise

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga
Why is this specific type of breathing called victorious? “It is so called because the technique allows us to become victorious in pranayama… extension of prana, [extension of life force] and that is exactly what Ujjayi [pronounced: “oh-jai”, (jai rhymes with pie)] or victorious breath does.” (from page 224)

Continuing with the book club we are now in the most fascinating part of Gregor’s Book in which he is discussing the specific practices of pranayama. After spending several weeks on his chapters with the preparations, we are now onto the actual sitting for the practice itself.

Context: This is a series called Claudia’s Book Club.  The first book we are looking at in great detail is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga, by Gregor Maehle.

I find the book infinitely rewarding to read and to learn from about the fourth limb of yoga and a very timely message to carry as we move away with our obsession with asana and start paying attention to the breath which is as much a central element of yoga.
—

Breathe as Darth Vader would, only slow and long…
That is Ujjayi breath, it makes that sound
If the Darth Vader analogy does not make sense to you then here is a more specific and anatomical definition provided on page 224:
“If one inhales through both nostrils, the technique used is Ujjayi, the victorious breath. In Ujjayi the epiglottis, the lid on the throat that prevents water or food from entering the bronchi when swallowing, is partially closed. This produces a gentle hissing or whispering sound. “

Krishnamacharya called it
“the hissing of a serpent”
The Yoga Secret Behind The Ujjayi Breath
Gregor says that there is a secret behind this breathing, a yogic secret of sorts, and that is that “the breath whispers consists of the sibilant sah on the inhalation and aham on the exhalation”, therefore, whenever practicing to this sound we are pronouncing the mantra soo-ham which means “I am that“.
By repeating “I am that” we come into contact with the discrimination of noticing what is real and what is not, we pray in each breath that we identify with that which is never born and never dies, with the energy of the eternal now, away from the constraints set up by our chatting mind and ego desires and aversions, we become present, we are.
How To Practice
1) The sequence Gregor proposes starts with slowing down the breath, adding the ujjayi technique and using the three part breathing that we looked at last week.  
You could start with 6 counts for the inhale, while breathing in three parts, and six counts for the exhale also breathing in three parts (see last week), all while pronouncing the secret mantra.

“The long term goal is to slow down the breath to one respiratory cycle per minute or less that is assuming a 1:1 ratio, one takes 30 seconds for the inhalation and 30 seconds for the exhalation. At this point concentration develops powerfully.”  From page 228
That is the connection between pranayama and the limb that comes after it, withdrawing senses and falling into a state of concentration.  I can see how slowing the breath and controlling it in this manner, focusing on the sacredness of the sound, and over a long period of steady practice, can bring about a centered state of concentration.
However, proceeding with caution is always stressed:
“Generally speaking you want to increase your practice only once you are absolutely sure that you are ready for it. For most people it is more difficult to arrive at the 20:40 count than to practice a 30:30 count, though the total length for both is the same.” Page 232
And in order to move onto the next practice that will be explored on the next chapter he advocates being at least at the 20:40 (inhale/exhale) ratio.  
One Important Point
He says: “Yogis never thought that rigidly fixing ratios would bring success … What is important is what works for you.“
We are slowly extending the breath, soon we will be adding retention and practices that cleanse all nervous systems, both gross and subtle, here more than ever it becomes key to work with our own system, with what we have, and how it gets along with the changes.
I have had practices that left me twitching, my face would not stop moving, I knew immediately then that I had overdone it.  Working with our own body becomes more and more of a subtle practice  we re reaching the more subtle levels of being embodied and using our bodies for divine purposes.
—-

The Breathing Exercise That Gets Rid Of Our Fears

Claudia Azula Altucher Breathing, Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga, Pranayama Preparations, Sleep
There was once a little girl who kept having repeated nightmares about monsters chasing her. Her parents were concerned for it was getting out of hand. She was not capable of falling asleep as terror would haunt her dreams.

A talented psychiatrist talked to her and suggested next time she found herself being chased by monsters that she turn around and look at them in the eye. She said nothing, just looked at the doctor.

On her next session she told the doctor that when she found herself being chased by the scary creatures again she turned around, and as soon as she did the monsters turned into bubbles and started jumping up and down in place.  She never had the dreams again.

I don’t remember where it was that  I read that story but it perfectly illustrates what Gregor says on page 201

“Emotions, especially the powerful ones like pain, fear, shame and guilt tend to get bigger and more powerful when we don’t look them straight in the eye. They grow bigger and bigger when we turn our back on them, and eventually they become so big that we get the feeling they may devour us, which is true in a metaphorical sense.”

Just like in the little girl’s dream.

Let’s go down the rabbit hole of pranayama together. We start
by releasing irrational fears, the breathing described here heps
click on the image to see Gregor’s book

—Context: This is a series called Claudia’s Book Club.  The first book we are looking at in great detail is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga, by Gregor Maehle.

I find the book infinitely rewarding to read and to learn about the fourth limb of yoga and a very timely message to carry as we move away with our obsession with asana and start paying attention to the breath which is really the most central element of yoga.

We are now entering the final part of the book which deals with the specific techniques of pranayama.

If you haven’t yet, look at the previous posts on preparations, they contain the foundation which build up to this part in which we finally get to explore all of the actual practices. Exciting times!
—-

Back To Getting Rid Of Our Fears

It turns out that no pranayama is possible if we cannot clear the basic emotions that run our lives, I mean, it is possible just not effective, not when it comes to taking us to higher states of silence and concentration, and hence to the heart of this very moment.

Leaving behind all preconditioning is hard to do, and fighting who we are is useless just as the Gita pointed out (which Maehle reminds us of), there is no use in fighting our own nature, no use in repressing our negative emotions, all we can do is look at them:

“Once acknowledged as a denied part of us, they [negative emotions] will shrink to life size. It is usually the fear of he fear that is most fearful, and not the primary fear itself” (Page 202)


The Exercise
The exercise is a simple three part breathing exercise which Gregor calls oceanic breath, and makes quite nice by adding the metaphor of the “waves”.  Iyengar calls it the three part breathing, I call it the exercise that will put you to sleep, it is that relaxing!

Here is a post in which I describe it, at least the first part.  It all comes down to being able to separate the three parts of the torso:

  • Abdomen
  • Ribcage
  • Ceiling of the Chest

And being able to breathe into each of this parts (inhale and exhale) separately.  Then we can put it all together in one breath in three parts, inhaling with the abdomen, small pause, inhaling some more with the ribcage, small pause, inhaling with the chest, and then out with the chest, ribcage, abdomen.

Gregor says it is good to pay attention to the wave, to see how smooth we can make it and also to the sensations of the spine (pent up emotions) we may have as we go up and down.  These are the monsters we need to look in the eye and watch them turn into bubbles.

What I did Not Know

Gregor then reverses the wave, this I did not know.  Instead of going up (from the abdomen to the chest) and then down, he does the wave as a “double up” meaning that you breathe from the belly to the chest, and then, again in three parts, exhale from the belly up, leaving you at the chest area on the end of the exhale.

He says this is so that the energy is directed upwards, which is what we want, rather than down and into the worldly energies.  Very interesting.

Another thing is that once the breaking into three parts becomes comfortable he breaks it again into six parts, making us pay a lot more attention to each little part of the torso to which the breath goes and turning it into a real wave.

Have you tried it yet? I am loving it.

——-

Why Gross Purification Is Critical To Yoga

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, kapalabhati, Kriya Yoga, Kriyas, Nauli, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga, purification
I don’t just mean gross as in “external” or “most visible” I also mean gross as in disgusting.  Yoga techniques of purification can indeed be, well, gross.

I remember our days in Thailand, during the five weeks of teacher training, waking up at 4:30 together with the other 34 lucky participants of our program, and to drinking and throwing up salty warm water (half a gallon if you could) while the kettle was getting to boiling point so we could make coffee for the enemas, then using the neti string and pot to clarify the passages of the nostrils.

You could hear a symphony of people having stomach reflexes or right out vomiting in the nearby rooms.  And that was just at day-break.

In Thailand, after all those morning kiyas, taking a rest
day on a Saturday with friends from the program

It was hell, and it was beautiful. I’ve never felt more clear or centered in my life than right after those five weeks in Ko Samui.

Even weeks after returning people still commented on how clear my eyes seemed, how I looked “radiant”, and perhaps the biggest proof of the effect of all this torture was that I was fired from my job and had to sell my house right after landing, pretty much, and it did not affect me in a bad way.

Something in me had gathered enough energy to face things with a calm and detached attitude. I was pure.  I was a lucky girl.

——
This is the series I’ve come to call Claudia’s Book Club in which we are starting with a very timely book: “Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga“.
This week we are observing the chapter called: “Kriyas” (purification) which is one of the preparations for pranayama.
Pranayama is the fourth limb of yoga, the one that we venture into once we have a certain level of peace in our lives and once we are somewhat established in daily practice of asana or poses.
The discussion of pranayama in this book is directed towards the serious yogi rather than the casual observer, and contains treasured secrets and fantastic revelations for anyone who is willing to keep investigating and slipping down the rabbit hole of this beautiful practice.
—-
Is it really necessary for us to do all of these purifications?
Do we really need to wake up every day to enemas and vomiting water and cleaning the nostrils and doing kapalabhati and nauli?  Not necessarily comes bakc the agreement of countless of yogis who came before us and that Gregor mentions with detail in the chapter.  
To illustrate let me tell you about Paul.  He was the (amazing) teacher in Thailand and a very senior student of yoga.  While he was doing the program with us, in spite of being in top physical shape and radiance, he sometimes coughed.  He explained to us that every time he began feeling a cough throughout the day he would start doing Vaman (the vomiting of warm salty water in the morning from an empty stomach) daily for a week or so, until it cleared.  The reasoning behind this was that he would purify his body of phlegm, which would help him attain higher states of yoga through pranayama.
Taking a cue from Paul we could all see that we were going through as many Kriyas as possible because we were learning them, and as new teachers it would be good for us to experience them, but clearly they were not all necessary, not every day.  Gregor agrees with this view as the chapter unfolds.
Sharath is known for saying that the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in particular, with its six series growing in difficulty, is so intense that it requires no purification on the side, all the clearing that is necessary happens as we get on the mat every day regardless of what series we are on.
The key here is to be clear that an intense practice of asana means exactly that:  An intense practice.  Not just a casual class here and there but rather a dedicated every-day type of commitment. A personal dedication.
One important distinction 
An important difference however is brought up by an ancient text called the Hatha Tatva Kaumudi, Gregor says:

“The HTK gives us a different view of the importance of the kriyas. It proclaims that the gross body gets purified through the kryias whereas the subtle (energetic) body is purified through pranayama”. Page 174

Aha!
So through asana and through the kriyas we clean the body, the level ground, the base, then from that we can purify the higher states, the subtle energies by the practice of pranayama.

That probably answers the question on the title of the post, it is by purifying the gross body first that we can even get to the more subtle purification brought about by the deep practices of pranayama.

The Most Important Kriyas
Many of the Kriyas (there are 40 if you count the subdivisions says Gregor) are part of the Ayurvedic system of Eastern Medicine, but Gregor says that

“The most important kriyas, however, Nauli and Kapalabhati, are not cotained in Ayurveda, and it is these two processes that are very important for modern pranayama practitioners.” Page 175.

The book covers both of them in detail as well as the practice of neti, to counteract air pollution that comes to all of us living in major metropolitan areas.
Nauli
Gregor breaks Nauli (stomach churning) into four parts.  I have been going back to the drawing board with it and paying close attention to his words.  I find myself still in the first stage after months of practice.  I feel that explaining Nauli is beyond the scope of the post and that a thorough reading is in order for anyone interested as it will illuminate things in a way I probably cannot do justice to.
Gregor in Nauli I
I will say that the level one does not go that far.

All you do is (on an empty stomach of course) bend your knees and put your hands on them, then breathe out, breathe out some more, then lock the throat so the air cannot come in or out and do a fake breathe in, the stomach is then sucked in, diaphragm massaged.  Then push the stomach down and up.  It is recommended to build up until where we can do 20 sets in one breath retention.  

I am still building up to that.

Kapalabhati – Skull Shinning Breath

Here is a post on “everything you need to know about kapalabhati” which is the scull shinning technique of exhaling forcefully, from the belly, not moving any other part of the body and letting the inhale happen.

Gregor mentions that the most common mistake he sees on students learning kapalabhati are:

a) They move other areas of the body rather than just isolating the belly part
b) They force the inhale, which is wrong, only the exhale is forced, the inhale happens.
c) They go beyond capacity meaning they do too many
d) I would guess posture is an issue with this one too.  The lotus pose is the recommended pose for it, but if not available for long practices then proper checks have to go into the sitting position being right, with a straight back while respecting the curvature of the lower back with proper support.

Here is a video of me practicing Kapalabhati. It’s gotten over 3000 views in YouTube. Wow.

After watching it when I made it, I noticed that I fell into one of the traps that Gregor mentions in the book, I was getting tired, so to speak, at around count number 29 or 30.

Since watching the video I slowed it down by doing less counts, and built up over time instead.

Have you read the book? Did you like the explanation on nauli and how it was divided into four stages? What did you learn that you did not know?

—–

The Lotus Pose: A Laboratory for Spiritual Emancipation

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga
“It is completely illogical to have third series as a pre-requisite for pranayama” said K in a comment recently, he is referring to the entry level barrier placed through the lineage in which I practice of having to master the equivalent of Olympic fests of yoga poses before being able to start on the limb of breathing extensions or pranayama, and which would take us higher in the tree of yoga on the road to liberation.

I relate to the frustration, perhaps this chapter of Maehle’s Book will help clarify why yoga poses or asanas ares so important and also WHICH asanas we need to focus on.

Not only that but it may also clarify what is pranayama proper, meaning when we take it seriously, as opposed to the pranayama which is used only for healing benefits, as yoga therapy does and which may require less strict entry level points.

ONLY CERTAIN ASANAS ARE NECESSARY

OP Tiwari, a living world master of pranayama, says that it is important to be proficient at “certain” asanas,  meaning the ones that apply to pranayama, a far distance from mastering 3rd series of Ashtanga Yoga.

“He [Tiwari] says that once one has achieved asana siddhi (power) in certain postures, one may commence pranayama. In other words, asana siddhi is not a term that applies to the simultaneous mastery of all postures but only the postures that are applicable to pranayama” (Page  129)

—
This is the series I’ve come to call Claudia’s Book Club in which we are starting with a very timely book: “Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga“.
This week we are observing chapter seven (although the chapters in this book don’t actually have numbers, but if they did, this would be it).  
The title of the chapter is Asana.

We happen to be now reading into the second  part of the book in which he is covering all preparations for pranayama.  This second part includes four chapters: on proper food intake or Mitahara (last week), asana (this post), bandhas (next week), and finally kryias (methods of purification).

I hope you join me in reading, commenting, and telling me what aha! moments you get.
—-

Back to the Illuminations of this chapter:

Page 127 starts by going over a myriad of scriptures and old yogic texts and how they all agree that before starting a pranayama practice one must be doing asana.

One must be grounded in the poses, understand the body, have gone through the fire of the postures.

But then the question becomes: do I need to know all the asanas?  There are 7000 that Krishnamacharya listed, some people say there are as many as living beings, and after all, what is needed for meditation or pranayama is only a solid, balanced sited pose, nothing else.

Enter the lotus pose, or padmasana. Then again, Padmasana would be mastered -according to this chapter- only if one can be within it comfortably for 3 hours.  There we go!

ONLY IF YOU SERIOUSLY WANT LIBERATION THROUGH YOGA

Gregor states that this is pranayama taken seriously, the kind that begins when retention of the breath is longer than 48 seconds, and if one wants to actually use the ladder of the yoga techniques to climb to samadhi.  It is not simple breathing exercises.

“I hope that I have created some curiosity and enthusiasm in you towards padmasana. But please don’t be as silly as I was going to the 3-hour level so fast. Your knees will thank you for it.” (page 133)

He then goes over a list of requirements for padmasana, which includes feet and hands turning away from the floor, legs not lower than the muladhara or root of the spine (perineum), pelvis tilted  forward quite strongly, etc.

For those of us for whom padmasana (lotus) is very difficult, there are 2 other recommended poses, which although less effective in producing the energetics that padmasana does, can help us learn and build up to it, they are:

(a) siddhasana,
(b) svatikasana, and
(c) virasana,
they diminish in difficulty as you go down the alphabet, with virasana being the most simple.  He recommends starting there, with virasana, and learning progressively how to get comfortable on the other ones until when we can build up to the full lotus.

Virasana, also known as hero pose

The chapter mentions as a way of closing that inversions are also very important, not just the sited poses.

WHAT TEACHERS MEAN BY PRANAYAMA IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAME

There is also an interesting discussion in which he points that the entry level for pranayama has been lowered around our current world, but it is important to notice that in those cases teachers are using pranayama in the “therapy” form, for healing, not for extraordinary results as those obtained from a deep practice.

In other words, two teachers could be talking about pranayama but they could be naming something which means different things in their mind.  One could be talking about simple yogic exercises of breathing (no retentions or small retentions) to bring about relaxation, peace, healing, the other one may be talking about pranayama proper as intended in the scriptures and for spiritual liberation.

Retentions of 48 seconds or more with bandhas and proper technique is what should give us a hint as of what is it they are really talking about.

3 Hour padmasana! 3 hours in the lotus pose! What do you think?
—


Food Drugs and Yoga: Stacking The Odds In Your Favor

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book Club, Gregor Maehle, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga
I think everyone should read this part of Gregor’s book because in a polarized issue like that of food, drugs, etc, it trusts that, once we have the right information, we will aim to stack the odds in our favor of reaching the mystical states of yoga, that we will make our own decisions with our own intelligence and discrimination.  More importantly, that the practice itself, as it gets more refined will inform us of better food choices. Love that, love how it passes the ball back to us, to the individual, to inspiring our own intelligence in our choices.

          “The most important rule in relation to diet is the one that says one person’s food is another person’s poison.  Just because a particular category of food works for Indians does not necessarily mean that it will work for people of East Asian, Mediterranean or African descent”. (Page 118)

—-

My book filling up with notes. You can click on the image
if you want to see it in Amazon, write a review etc.

This is a series I’ve come to call: Claudia’s Book Club, yes I am borrowing from Oprah, but you already knew that.

The first one I am exploring is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga by Gregor Maehle, an extraordinary book that comes at a time where we need to move on from our obsession with asana (yoga poses), and start paying attention to the miracle of the breath, sense withdrawal, meditation, in short, the higher limbs of yoga, but, most importantly pay attention to the way home!

—-

Back to the Aha! Moments of Chapter 6

Instead of (a) making pre-formulated decisions for each and every one of us, (b) give us moral issues to ponder on, or (d) down-right shame us, this chapter trusts that we will know what is right for us as we continue to delve into the higher realms of yoga, as our pranayama practice becomes more and more sophisticated.

Moderate Diet: That is What Mithara Means

I love the idea of the word “moderate”, which is what mithara means and which is the title of the chapter.

“Moderate” gives me room to explore, to be present with who I am at the moment, and with what moderate means to me as a South American woman with Spaniard and Italian ancestors living now in the harsh climates of the North Eastern United States. Entiendes?

Of course we all will “aim” towards a more refined way of eating and in-taking of everything, from coffee, to drugs, to chemicals in our vegetables, to antibiotics, but this will happen as we come to understand what we need, in a real way, not by observing pre-imposed ideas but by delving into the truth of who we are, right now.

The scripture general guidance when it comes to this are divided into three:

“There are three ways of looking at Mitahara … (1) the Bhagavad Gita describes mitahara as consuming only sattvic (clean pure) food… (2) The Vasishta Samhita measures mitahara through the number of mouthfuls a yogi takes… (3) The Hatha Yoga Pradipika which states that one’s food needs to be offered to God before eating it.”

So, purifying the diet, eating only what we need and offering it to the Divine. Aren’t those great things to “aim for”?

Milk And The Yogis Who Stacked Odds In Their Favor In The Past

Many people are intolerant to milk. For them the journey of going into the higher realms of yoga becomes one of investigation, of finding what is nutritious and light on the stomach.  In the past, before the industrialized nations, yogis used milk to reach the higher states of rapture that pranayama brings about.

Back then milk was probably less tainted by processes and chemicals, and it worked wonders, take for example Krishnamacharya or Theos Bernard:

“…Krishnamahcharya links milk to his ability to stop his heartbeat during Nadi Shodhana pranayama, Theos Bernardo too, learned from his teacher that pranayama could lead to the state of living on air, to which only milk was to be added. “

If you have not yet read the article on Krishnamacharya stopping his heart here is grimmly’s post, you may want to take a look, fascinating.

I am also becoming interested in Theos Bernard.  I have read a recent book on him that focused mostly on the controversies around him and not the yoga. Heaven Lies Within Us.  Makes me curious. (Here you can read some excerpts of that book for free) is the book from which Gregor got the above quote

The book by Theos Bernard, click on image if
you would like to see it in Amazon

What Is The Direct Relation Between Food and Pranyama?

On page 123 there is an interesting discussion on this.  It mostly has to do with the fact that on the advanced states you will want to work towards a more pure diet so that you can actually reach the 40 seconds of retention, which are easier on a body that is less full, less crowded with internal activity that pulls it down and more prone to experience the apana forces, the forces that uplift.

“Kumbhakas [retention of breath with proper technque] beyond 40 seconds are used to delete karma and conditioning and eventually to rise Kundalini. None of these areas should be approached when eating meat.” Page 123

I don’t know about you but in my own practice of pranayama I am barely able to retain 13 counts now, and that is after months of practice.  It takes a long time to reach those 40 counts.  On the way I am noticing in a progressive way which foods and which things interfeer with practice, little by little.  Again, I like the “theme” idea of noticing what can be let go off, and what needs to be taken in the case of nutrition, as a journey towards stacking the odds in our favor.

What I like is that we can still respect where we are right now but eventually, “aiming” towards letting go of red meat (to begin with and if we want to reach higher states).

Note that  Gregor points out that there are people in the West who have reached mystical states WHILE EATING MEAT.  It is possible, but yet, the statistics are higher in the Indian nation where vegetarianism is more the norm.

What If I Can’t Stop Eating Meat?

Welcome to my world.  I am taking it one day at the time.  Gregor maintains that eventually, as the pranayama practice gets to be more advanced we will derive more substance from the prana or the vital energy of the air and will not need so much meat, even if our ancestors and genetical disposition craved it till now.  So I am trusting, and doing what needs to be done today, with where I am right now.

What About Coffee and Tea?

I’m not so refined yet
Still love my cup


He says:

“Coffee and tea are mobilizers and expellers of prana that do not go well with pranayama”

Contrasts with the “no coffee no prana” of Ashtanga Vinyasa, does it not?  Well, we will have to make our own decisions. Love that.

What About Recreational Drugs and Alcohol?

Great discussion on this! Some highlighs for you to ponder on:


“Alcohol simply mobilizes and expels prana. Pranayama tries to accumulate prana and increase the energy available for spiritual practice.” Page 124 

“Tobacco hemp opium are neuro toxins that also make your mind tamasic [sleepy. less bright] and they block the nadis [subtle nervous system of energies] which you want to purify through pranayama.”  Page 124

My Case:

I have been experimenting with food for a very long time.  Lately I have realized that wheat products are very bad for me, they make me bloated and constipated and I have eliminated them almost completely from my diet.  Here is a post on my diet, and here on the book that opened my eyes: “Wheat Belly”, I called the post: My Big Fat Wheat Belly.

What do you think about food and yoga?  Have you noticed changes in your diet that came accross because of the natural progression of your practice?  How does the practice inform what and even when you eat?

Meditation is Useless Unless Both Nostrils Are Active

Claudia Azula Altucher Claudia's Book Club, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga, Swara Yoga
My copy is getting pretty crowded with notes…
you can click on the image to go to Amazon

This is a series I’ve come to call: Claudia’s Book Club (borrowing from Oprah). The first book I am exploring is Pranayama The Breath Of Yoga by Gregor Maehle.  Why this as the first? Because it is timely and filled with great information – If you are not reading it yet, join me by going through the chapters and commenting on things you discovered, aha! moments or questions.  Here is a link to the book in Amazon.

Enter the Aha! Moments of Chapter 3:

If you understand this chapter you would be insane not to practice pranayama, says Gregor [my bold], but I paraphrase, here are his words:
“I consider this the most important chapter in the book, because somebody who really understands it would be insane not to go on and practice pranayama.  The reason for writing this book is, after all, to get you to go beyond asana and practice pranayama too”
WHAT YOU DON’T HEAR IN A MODERN YOGA CLASS:

Meditation does not work if we are heavily breathing through one nostril and not the other. Not something you hear in a modern yoga class.

Asana paves the way, at least for me it does, and if you want to check for yourself, pay attention after your next practice to how your breathing is functioning.  Chances are your will be breathing evenly through both nostrils, especially if you practiced the Ashtanga method of asana which encourages balance, alignment, use of bandha, drishti and deep breathing with sound.

We are then invited to experiment and see how whichever nostril happens to be more active influences each side of the brain.

“Try it out: study an academically difficult subject… and see how far you get when breathing through the left nostril… or try to be empathic and compassionate to the woes and suffering of another being  when breathing through the male, analytical right nostril”

RIGHT NOSTRIL VS LEFT NOSTRIL MORE ACTIVE

Check on yourself right now, close one nostril and then the other, I bet you one of them is a lot more active. If not you may be on the changing period.

There is a moment every 90 minutes or so where the changing of the guards happens. At that time, for a short, brief, moment, we are breathing through both.
left nostril at work, creativity is auspicious

If you are breathing mostly through the left nostril here are activities that will be most auspicious.

As I sit here, reading over my notes of the chapter, compiling info, thinking about clear ways to convey a message, and writing, guess what nostril is more active?  The right one indeed. I am thinking, collecting, distilling information.  The mind is hard at work.  Here are other activities auspicious for right nostril breathing.

Right nostril at work? This should be appealing

Fight or Flight? Which nostril is more active does not only influence a particular side of the brain, it also influences the nervous system at large. There is the sympathetic branch which controls the fight or flight instinct. It is activated by the male dominating right nostril.
Would you fight?
And then there is the parasympathetic system that “enables us to recharge, rest and sleep, and experience pleasure” activated by the, you guessed it, left nostril breathing.
But it does not end there, there is then the afferent and efferent nerve currents and the catabolic and anabolic functions.  A lot of very wordy terms which I had not heard before in the context of yoga and a wonderful read from page 45 on.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BREATHE THROUGH BOTH NOSTRILS

That is the most auspicious time to meditate, whenever both nostrils are working together. It is also the least auspicious time to do anything that has to do with ambitions and the world of reality as we have come to know it.

From page 51:

“A Tibetan lama  told me that pain meditation without any additional aid would take on average 300 lifetimes to lead to success”

If you saw all of the episodes in the show Battle Star Galactica
You probably understand what 300 life-times could feel like

It continues:

“The core idea of pranayama is that meditation is almost a waste of time if it does not take place when the middle ssvara is predominant, that is when the sushumna (see previous chapter conversation), the central nadi flows.”

So in pranayama we are working at not only extending the breath, controlling the count of inhale, exhale, retentions, using proper technique etc, we are also aiming at getting both nostrils to be active at the same time, and for longer and longer periods of time.

How do we do this?  It seems, after all, pretty involuntary that the nostrils take precedent and start working and change on us.

There are ways to change the flow, all of them are described in the book.  In Thailand I learned of the easiest method perhaps, which is, if, say your left nostril is blocked, lay down on the right side and within a few minutes the left nostril will open.  (This is unless you are sick, or under the influence of something).

The book also points out that you can insert a stick or a book or something firm under the opposite armpit and press your arm towards your torso to open the opposite nostril.

Once you have both nostrils working at the same time you have accessed the mechanism that can take you into the mystical states of yoga.

I like this quote from page 53:

“Mind and the five senses operate trough the left nostril. Prana, the creative life force, and the five organs of action express themselves through the right nostril. Consciousness, the true self, is activated and accessed through the central channel. Use each one at appropriate times.”

QUESTION FOR YOU

There is a question that stays with me, maybe you can tell me what you think.  All this talk about both nostrils being active makes me wonder about those people who got to the state of yoga without practicing the eight limbs, for example: Ramana Maharshi, Eckart Tolle.  How does it work for them? Do they breathe through both nostrils at the same time all the time?

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Get Your Body to Be 16 Years Old Again! A Yoga Secret

Claudia Azula Altucher Breath of Yoga, Claudia's Book Club, Health, Kundalini, longevity, pranayama, Pranayama Breath of Yoga, samadhi, vayus
This is a series I’ve come to call: Claudia’s Book Club, yes I am borrowing from Oprah, but you already knew that.

The first one I am exploring is Pranayama Breath Of Yoga by Gregor Maehle, an extraordinary book that comes at a time where we need to move on from the obsession on asana, and start paying attention to the miracle of the breath and meditation. Timely!

This early chapter on Prana [life force] has so much in it that I had to break leanings and discoveries it into two parts!  (here is last week’s part where you can see if you are a master of yoga or not)

Gregor has asked for reviews, and I am sure you, just like me,  would love to keep him on the writing chair! He also has a book on meditation that will be available in a few months, lucky us. You can read about it on his Facebook.

Enter the the Aha! moments relating to these three things:

(1) the Vayus, 
(2) the most important yoga secret, and
(3) how to have the body of a 16 year old again.
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From page 38 and onwards there is a must-read talk on the VAYUS which are the “winds” or “airs” within the body (also: from wikki  definitions include: “blown, blower, breathing”).

I like to think of vayus as “currents of energies” since even thought vayu means “air” it does not actually refer to the air in the way we think of it (a gas, a material thing, a substance) but rather a more pranic or life-kind of air, a more subtle energy, something akin to an electromagnetic field.

I see them is as subtle energies that play an important part in keeping us alive and in our well being.

The graph below, taken from this version of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika shows the five most prominent vayus and the areas of the body they affect

The three more important ones are those that affect the torso
and abdomen area, that is where all the yogic advanced magic happens

I learn from Gregor that three vayus in particular, (prana apana and samana (the three in the middle in the picture description) are critical in regards to three areas:

  • Meditation
  • Health and Longevity
  • Kundalini Raising (attaining the goal of yoga)

And He helps us understand how they are related.

1- Vayus and Meditation – The Powerful Secret

The way I understand it is that if we can keep our attention on the forces that go down as we breath in and the chest expands (counter-intuitive isn’t it?)…

AND

keep our attention on the expansive forces as we breathe out (where we normally would feel the energy leaving the body), that is how we can powerfully quiet the mind.

page 38 and 39 (I drew the square around the text for one of the
most powerful secrets of meditation)

It reminded me of a video of Richard Freeman in which he explains exactly this point.  You can see it by starting the stream at 1:35 and going to to 3:30.  He does a much better job than me.

Here is a rough drawing I made:

Left, as you inhale keep your attention in the forces that contract
as you exhale keep your attention in the forces that expand
And your mind will quiet!


Did you get this part?  Big Aha! moment for me.

Every time I meditate now I keep it in mind, at least in the beginning, while going within, sending he senses in, and attempting to calm the mind.

2- Vayus on Health and The Body of A 16 Year Old

My own notes on page 39 read “using bandhas to make the vayus meet at the manipura chakra”.

From page 40:

“…by pulling the apana vayu up and forcing the prana vayu down the body of the yogi becomes as that of a 16-year-old.”

and

“Both vayus eventually lead to a depletion of life force as prana vayu is projected out of the body in an upward trajectory and apana vayu downwards. Apana vayu can be turned upwards throuhg use of Mula and Uddiyanna Bandha and prana vayu can be directed downwards by the application of jalandhara bandha and Jihva bandha…”

How do you understand this part?



3.- Vayus and Kundalini Raising

By kundalini Maehele explains, we need to think of what Patanjali referred to as meditation (dharana or the 7th limb of yoga) or the state in which we are one with all, no “I” is present.  

It is the state that can only be reached after we are able to concentrate (6th limb of yoga) on one object and only one object for a long time (say 3 hours).

I can barely keep my mind on one single thought for maybe one minute!

If the life energy is tied to the lower chakras then “one will express oneself in terms of survival, sexual identity or assimilation of wealth, food and objects...“

When the life force is rising then kundalini can be achieved, or the state of meditation

“The driving up of kundalini is caused by the mingling of prana and apana in kumbhaka (breath retention with proper locks and technique) at the manipura chakra.”


Question for you:

Have you ever tried the technique described as the most powerful secret of meditation? Has it worked for you?

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