om body
“The solar plexus can
function as a gateway to
gaining conscious control
over the autonomic
nervous system.”n Improved digestion and absorption
of nutrients.
n Improved blood sugar balance.
n A balanced adrenalin secretion, which
in turn helps to balance the fight and
flight response as well as regulating
behaviour, motivation and attention.
n Improved sensitivity for the
abdominal organs.
Yoga teaches that we are in essence pure
spirit or consciousness, which expresses
itself through three bodies – the physical,
the astral, and the causal body. The
astral body contains 72,000 nadis, or
subtle energy channels. Seven chakras,
or networks of nadis, are found along the
sushumna nadi, the main energy channel
located in the spinal cord. Each chakra of
the astral body corresponds to a nerve
plexus in the physical body. The solar
plexus is the physical counterpart of the
manipura chakra. Through the practice of
asanas and pranayama, as well as other
hatha yoga practices, the two main energy
currents of the astral body, prana and
apana or ha (sun) and tha (moon), converge
and unite in the manipura chakra (ha-tha-
yoga). In the physical body, this union can
be compared to balancing the sympathetic
and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Prana, nadis and chakras are subtle in
nature. Therefore, one may doubt that they
actually exist. Visualising the impulses of the
phrenic nerve travelling through the solar
plexus to your diaphragm can help you to
deepen your sensitivity for the solar plexus.
By focusing on these physiological
changes, you may become aware of the
more subtle life force, or prana, which
operates ‘behind’ or actually ‘within’ the
impulses of the nervous system.
Breath retention
in pranayama
When we hold the breath, it appears that
the activity of the respiratory system has
stopped: after inhalation, the diaphragm
remains contracted, keeping the lungs
filled with air. Yet this contraction of the
diaphragm is only possible through a
constant flow of impulses along the phrenic
nerve. Each impulse which travels through
the right phrenic nerve is linked to the solar
plexus, which in turn has a direct influence
on the autonomic nervous system. From the
perspective of the nervous system, breath
retention is very dynamic.
Breath retention is an essential part
of pranayamas such as alternate nostril
breathing (anuloma viloma) and lung
purification (kapalabhati). Many pranayama
practitioners experience warmth,
magnetism, lightness and expansion of
energy in the abdomen during breath
retention. Through relaxation, visualisation
and concen tration, these sensations can
be guided along the spine to the third
eye (ajna chakra) between the eyebrows,
evoking an elevating experience of mental
clarity and expanded consciousness.
These sensations can be understood both
as activities of the solar plexus and the
nervous system, and as movement of prana
(subtle life energy) in the nadis and chakras
of the astral body.From unconscious
to conscious
Yoga aims at quality more than quantity.
The quality consists in becoming moreaware, more conscious of all changes in
body and mind, and being able to bring
them into a harmonious balance. The
conscious control which yogic breathing
produces in the autonomic nervous system
via the solar plexus opens a gateway to
consciousness. Every new breath is a
chance for a new awareness.Swami Sivadasananda is a Yoga Acharya,
director of the International Sivananda
Yoga Vedanta Centres in Europe, Acharya
for South America and a long-time disciple
of Swami Vishnudevananda. He is known for
his inspiring and relaxed teaching methods
in asanas and pranayama. Find out more
at: sivanandalondon.org