Pranayama and Meditation

All day long we breathe without giving it a thought. In yoga, breathing is also something we practise on purpose. Pranayama is the practice of controlling the breath: how deeply we breathe in, how long we hold it, and how we let it go. The name joins two ideas. Prana is the breath that keeps us alive, and ayama means stretching it out or keeping it under control. Pranayama is always done sitting still in a steady meditation posture, with the back and neck straight.

One round of breathing has three parts, and yoga gives each part its own name. These names appear again and again when a breathing practice is described, so it helps to know them first.

Two kinds of pranayama are taught here. The first is Bhastrika, in which both breathing in and breathing out are done with force. The second is Kapalbhati, in which the whole effort goes into breathing out.

Picture the bellows in a blacksmith's workshop. Each push draws air in hard and then drives it out just as hard. The word Bhastrika means bellows, and in this pranayama your chest works in exactly that way.

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped sheet of muscle just below the lungs. It separates the chest from the belly. When the breath is drawn down as far as the diaphragm, the lungs fill completely. In Bhastrika only the chest swells as you breathe in. The belly does not swell.

Bhastrika is never started at full speed. A healthy person, or someone who already practises pranayama, raises the pace gradually: slow first, then medium, and only then fast. The practice lasts 5 to 10 minutes.

Follow these steps in order when you practise.

• Sit in any comfortable meditation posture with your back and neck straight.
• Draw the breath in through both nostrils with full force, down as far as the diaphragm.
• Let only your chest swell as the air comes in. Keep the belly flat.
• Push the breath out through both nostrils with the same force.
• Begin at a slow pace. As your practice grows, move to a medium pace and then a fast one.
• Continue in this way for 5 to 10 minutes.

Bhastrika trains the mind as well as the body. As you fill yourself with breath, hold this thought: all the good things in the universe, its strength, energy, purity, peace and joy, are entering my body together with the breath.

Practised regularly, Bhastrika helps the body and the mind in these ways:

• It helps in curing colds and coughs, allergies, breathing illnesses, asthma and sinus trouble. The lungs grow strong, and the heart and brain benefit from receiving pure oxygen.
• It is useful for problems of the throat such as thyroid trouble and tonsils.
• The blood is purified and poisonous waste is removed from the body.
• The mind stays steady.

Kapal means the forehead and bhati means shining. Kapalbhati differs from Bhastrika in one clear way: no effort at all is put into breathing in.

Each time, the breath is thrown out through the nose in one sharp push. The air then comes back in on its own, without being pulled. Kapalbhati is done for at least 5 minutes, and it can be done for longer.

While doing Kapalbhati, hold this thought: with every breath I throw out, all the illnesses of my body are leaving along with it. Imagining the illnesses being destroyed as the breath goes out brings a special benefit of its own.

• The mind and the face gain brightness and beauty.
• It is especially helpful in diseases of the heart, lungs and brain.
• It helps with obesity, diabetes, constipation, and kidney and prostate diseases.
• The mind stays steady, calm and cheerful.
• It gives special benefit in diseases of the stomach, liver and kidneys.

Both practices involve breathing hard through the nose, so they are easy to confuse. The table below sets out how they differ.

Pranayama steadies the breath, and meditation steadies the mind. In meditation the mind is not allowed to wander. It is held on one thing. Two methods follow. In Nabhi Chaitanya Dhyan the attention rests on the navel, and in Bindu-kendrit Dhyan the eyes rest on one fixed point.

Nabhi means the navel, and chaitanya means awareness, so the name says what the practice is: awareness held on the navel. It is done at bedtime, and the whole attention rests on the navel centre.

Method:

• Ten minutes before going to sleep, sit up on your bed.
• Let your breathing stay normal. Do not try to change it.
• Lie down slowly, so that you stay in this relaxed state for 5 to 10 minutes. Your breathing must not change as you lie down.
• Bring your whole attention to the navel centre.
• Stay like this for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The source of the body's energy is hidden in the navel centre, and meditating on it brings that energy out. That is why the benefits of this meditation are about energy and the ability to work:

• Regular practice builds up energy in the body.
• You become better able to finish your work with full concentration.
• You do not feel weak for the next 24 hours.

Bindu means a point and kendrit means centred on it. The flame of a ghee lamp is considered the best object for this meditation, because it helps the mind become concentrated and steady. A small, still flame gives the eyes one clear place to rest.

Where and when: to sink deeply into this meditation at night, choose a quiet, private, slightly dark room where insects do not come in. It can also be done in the morning, once you have finished your asanas and pranayama.

• Light a lamp and place it 2 to 3 metres from where you sit, exactly at the level of your eyes.
• Sit in whatever posture is comfortable for you.
• Rest both hands lightly on your knees or in your lap.
• Close your eyes and settle your mind, the way you prepare yourself before any meditation.
• Then gaze steadily at the flame for 5 or 10 minutes, or for as long as you can.

When Bindu-kendrit Dhyan is practised regularly, the person practising it gains these benefits:

• The eyes become very bright, clear, shining and attractive.
• Eyesight improves, and eye diseases are helped.
• The mind stays focused, steady and cheerful.

Some yoga practices were learnt and practised in class 9. They are to be practised again this year in the same way:

• Agnisar Kriya
• Jalneti Kriya
• Yoga Nidra
• Kapalbhati

Their methods were learnt last year. Now they simply join Bhastrika, Kapalbhati and the two meditations as part of your regular practice.