It happened to me when I asked Deepak Chopra for an autograph of his book ("Way of the Wizard") which had come to me by way of coincidences.
As I asked if he would sign it all the people around us (we must have been 15) went quiet, even the room seemed to be quiet. Time slowed down. Then, in a split second, all of reality came rushing back with its loud noise and chatter and I was out of the group, with a signed copy.
If you ever experienced one of these moments, then you know exactly what yoga is trying to re-create, only in a more permanent kind of way.
BKS Iyengar says in his book "Light on Ashtanga Yoga":
That's right, your breath stops for a moment and consequently the mind is arrested.
That is all it takes to "stop the fluctuations of the mind" (which you might recall is yoga sutra 1.2 and the goal of yoga). Stop the breathing, stop the mind. But before the breath can be stopped there is even a further prerequisite...
In yoga we attempt to do this by pranayama or breath extension and training, but pranayama and the other limbs cannot be successfull if it is not happening through both nostrils at the same time!
This is why Nadi Shodhana or alternate nostril breathing, is one of the most important pranayamas there is, and why its proper learning brings about success.
When we breathe mostly through the right nostril we are accessing the left side of the brain and certain activities are more auspicioius, when we breathe through the left, we access the right side and other activities are more auspicious.
Normally we change nostril activity every 60 to 90 minutes, but the goal of the yogi, says Maehle in his book "Pranayama: Breath of Yoga" is to switch between one and the other nostril after approximately 1 to 4 minutes. He says:
It is when we are breathing through the middle swara or through both nostrils that the time is most auspicious for meditation.
As I asked if he would sign it all the people around us (we must have been 15) went quiet, even the room seemed to be quiet. Time slowed down. Then, in a split second, all of reality came rushing back with its loud noise and chatter and I was out of the group, with a signed copy.
If you ever experienced one of these moments, then you know exactly what yoga is trying to re-create, only in a more permanent kind of way.
BKS Iyengar says in his book "Light on Ashtanga Yoga":
"When you first meet a great personality whom you respect the breath stops for a while on its own. Similarly, when citta (mind) comes face-to-face with the soul the breath stops at once and ecstasy is experienced."
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| Iyengar's book |
That's right, your breath stops for a moment and consequently the mind is arrested.
That is all it takes to "stop the fluctuations of the mind" (which you might recall is yoga sutra 1.2 and the goal of yoga). Stop the breathing, stop the mind. But before the breath can be stopped there is even a further prerequisite...
In yoga we attempt to do this by pranayama or breath extension and training, but pranayama and the other limbs cannot be successfull if it is not happening through both nostrils at the same time!
This is why Nadi Shodhana or alternate nostril breathing, is one of the most important pranayamas there is, and why its proper learning brings about success.
When we breathe mostly through the right nostril we are accessing the left side of the brain and certain activities are more auspicioius, when we breathe through the left, we access the right side and other activities are more auspicious.
Normally we change nostril activity every 60 to 90 minutes, but the goal of the yogi, says Maehle in his book "Pranayama: Breath of Yoga" is to switch between one and the other nostril after approximately 1 to 4 minutes. He says:
"This is refered to as the middle svara [which] acts as a junction between ida and pingala waking and sleeping, night and day.... this junction also suspends for a moment the mind, which casts its fabric of appearance over reality."So, the way I am understanding is that through pranayama, after learning all the basics (becoming familiar with full breathing, extending the breath, mastering alternate breathing with bandhas and retentions, years of practice, etc) we are able to eventually change the nostril alternation every 1 to 4 minutes which in turn facilitates the flowing of breath through both nostrils at the same time (middle swara), and hence in arresting of the mind.
It is when we are breathing through the middle swara or through both nostrils that the time is most auspicious for meditation.
"If you find while driving that your middle swara starts to flow, pull over and start meditating" - Gregor Maehle
Hmm...so it's a myth that people use one side of their brain more? I heard that artistic people use one side more. But we keep switching sides every hour or so.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
I dont have all the facts but Maehle's highly researched book says that even science supports this change in hemisphere of the brain change every 60 to 90 minutes... In the book Swara Yoga the swami who wrote it reports seeing trouble when one of the nostrils was active too long...
ReplyDeleteInteresting ha?
what a great post and prose style. well written.
ReplyDeleteYes, very. And do you feel any changes since you started doing yoga?
ReplyDeleteGreat writing, Claudia. Yes, we've all had those time slows down moments. I was just explaining my own version to someone the other day, where I pause and breathe during the day, and feel time slowing down.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea about the nostril activity. So we can physically control our mind and consciousness by alternate breathing. Very interesting.
Thank you Kamal, and yes, you can physically control your mind by alternating or rather by changing the nostril that is more active, OR by doing the activities that are most suitable depending on the nostril that is most active. The right nostril access the left side, so it discects, thinks, controls, and is dominating... the left is more creative, open to other people's thoughts, flowing...
ReplyDeleteI noticed while sick with the flu last week that the right one was open all the time, which is not good... so to change that I would lay down on my right side with my hand in my armpit (right armpit). The pressure on this point plus laying on the right makes the left nostril open... it works! you can do the opposite to open the left.
Amazing, ha?
yes, lots, and all positive :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. I'll try it. Thanks!
ReplyDelete