And pranayama comes back

I have been giving a lot of thought as to what is the best path to follow for a steady pranayama practice, so I read, compared Thailand notes, asked around, and concluded some very basic things that must be considered before starting a practice, or in my case, re-starting. Some notes:

• It is a potentially dangerous practice that must be approached with care.  It is after all the breath/life force we are putting on the line, and it is not a coincidence that the Pradipika uses the metaphor of "taming a tiger".

• It is a "practice" and that means ritual (opening/closing chants), discipline and frequency (daily).  For opening chants I am using what I learned in Thailand, the Ganesh Matrna (Vakratunda Mahakaya...) to remove obstacles, which is pretty adequate, and the prayer to the Lord asking to be taken from the darkness to the light (Om, Asato Maa Sadgamaya...Tamasoma...).  Also the prayer to the teachers, (Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu...).  For closing: Om Shri gurave namaha, Hari om.

• Unlike asana, measurement is key to progress. Ratios, lengths, the amount of increasing, etc. must be tracked.

• Forcing is not an option, this is a modesty and surrendering practice which results in the awakening of kundalini, therefore "starting where we are" is compulsory, meaning, if I can normally only do a balanced inhalation/exhalation ratio to 3 counts (seconds), then that is where the starting point should be. No forcing mother nature, not even a little bit.  And if tempted to force then intention must be checked.

• Readiness to start the practice can be determined (hopefully with discrimination), by Yogasutra II.49, which says that "once firm posture is acquired, the movements of inhalation and exhalation should be controlled".  Also on this note, I found Sivananda's take  very interesting, he states that if you can hold a firm seated posture for 1/2 an hour you are ready for pranayama, AND that you can hardly make any spiritual progress without it (pranayama).

• Ratios and timing are a very personal thing, but one thing I can say is that I am being very respectful of the general consensus of going slow.  I can relate only by looking at how slow asana progress happens, so I agree, it must be a slow process.

• Learning what the three bandhas are and how they work before starting is fundamental.  Overall, having a teacher demonstrate the basics is indeed necessary.  I am grateful to Paul.

After revisiting Iyengar, Sivananda and Swami Rama, I realize that Thailand was following him, the latter, and so his book Path of Fire and Light was the one that resonated the most.  I just like how the book spills out all the secrets,  how it tells you what to expect, of every moment, and how it outlines (sort of you still have to fill in the spreadsheet) a full practice, from beginning to enlightenment. No kidding around, plain and simple, and in English!   Thank you Swami Rama! (picture)

A few days ago Grimmly posted about the I-touch application for pranayama, yes there is such a thing!, isn't it great? His review is pretty good, so I got it, and I find it very helpful.

There is a lot more to pranayama and I am sure I will keep on discovering, it is fascinating to me how a little attention opens so many doors.  Now I realize, through Sivananda, that there is a whole chanting of the Gayatri Mantra and visualization that goes with it.  The information indeed seems all very occult, even by 2010 standards.

The actual practice:

Preparations:
Uddiyana Bandha and nauli  (stomach churning)
Agni Sara 
Jivha Bandha (pressing the tongue on the palad and stretching)
Kapalabhati 
Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril nerve cleaner)

Pranayamas
Ujjayi 1-1-2
Shitali 1-1-2