Breath and Pranayama
I did not start the practice of pranayama until1944 when I had already
been teaching yogasana for several years. You can take comfort from
the fact that however poor your own pranayama is, it can scarcely be
worse than mine was for the first few years. I would wake around four
o'clock in the morning and have coffee with my wife. Often I would
go right back to sleep. If not, after only three or four minutes, I would
start gasping and have to stop. My lung capacity was still impaired
from childhood tuberculosis, and in addition I had always overexerted
myself in back bends. Through them I had gained suppleness but not
the power of resistance. Somehow I persevered. But my chest was taut,
and my muscles were sore. Even with my back against a wall, my
breathing would be heavy and labored. Gradually I came to realize that
whereas back bends strengthen the inner muscles of the spinal column,
forward extensions develop its outer muscles. So I did forward bends,
timing myself to gain endurance. The pain was intense, like a sledge
hammer hitting my back, and the soreness persisted for hours after
ward. I concentrated on twists too, to build up the lateral muscles. It
was all very frustrating, and although I avoided the depression that can
result from practice, I was terribly restless. Yo u can never do
pranayama with an upset mind. Sometimes I used to feel fresh, while
at other times I was moody and tense as I never knew how to relax the
brain in inhalation or understood the art of the grip needed in
the process of exhalation. The grip is the ability to maintain the
pranayama posture in a way that allows for inner flexibility and avoids
disturbing the posture because of the movement of air. Fortunately, I
had the assets of courage and determination in the face of repeated
failure.
Initially my guru had told me categorically that I was unfit to do
pranayama. In the old days, spiritual knowledge was considered an es
oteric subject and jealously guarded by its masters. They wen· ahrupl
V I T A I I T Y T II 1'. I' N 1'. II I; Y Il l l II Y I /' I! tl N A )