Australian_Yoga_Journal_October_2017

63

october 2017

yogajournal.com.au

The process of Nadi

Shodhana Pranayama

If done correctly, Nadi Shodhana can

be the panacea of all brain-balancing

practices.

DO:

• Remember correct posture


• Use gentle hand mudras to control
  theopening of nostrils


• Only partially close the nostrils —
  mudras held too tightly will affect
  the nervous system and brain poorly
  (read why below)


• Block the flow of air by occlusion
  (by gently blocking the outside of
  the nostrils)


• Repeat cycles allowing your mind
  tofollow the inhalation and
  exhalation process:

  
  

  Breathe in through partially closed
  leftnostril
  Breathe out through partially closed
  right nostril
  Breathe in through partially closed
  right nostril
  Breathe out through partially
  closedleft nostril

  
  

  
  

DON’T:

• Press the nare (side of the nose) into
  theseptum to block the flow of air
  in that nostril. The pressure on the
  nerves inside the nostrils competes
  neurologically with the effect that
  the flow of air is meant to have on
  the nerves in the opposite nostril.


• Practice if your nostrils are blocked
  or if you have a cold. Nothing
  should ever be forced. So if they are
  blocked, practice Ujjayi instead.

Ujjayi Pranayama

Likened to the fine silk thread of

breath, throat breathing is where

the larynx is slightly constricted

to narrow the air passage producing

an ever-so-slight noise. Try and

reduce this noise as much as you

can. The breath should be barely

audible to you, and never to anyone

else. This is a great place to

start Pranayama before moving

into to alternate nostril breathing as

it gives a basis of rhythm and texture

recognition within the body.

sympathetic nervous system (the fight/
flight response). Through a relaxed state
we are nurturing our holistic selves back
to a “self-organising emergent process
that regulates energy ...” (Siegel, 2017).

THE PRACTICE

Nadhi Shodhana
Patrick McKeown of Butekyo Clinic
says it is vital to pay attention to the
understanding of the science and
physiology of breathing. To know
that although “many postures for yoga
emphasise restriction and retention
of breath ... Yogis understood the
importance of very light breathing.”
The light breath, often achieved
through Nadhi Shodhana Pranayama,
or alternate nostril breathing,
“concentrates the airflow to a small area.
Slowing down and softening the breath as
it is drawn through each nostril can create
an air hunger. Higher concentration of
nitric oxide will enter the lungs to open
the airways. Higher carbon dioxide in the
blood will dilate blood vessels and allow
more oxygen to be released to the cells.
Slowing down the breath to create air
hunger anchors the mind on the breath
and activates the relaxation response.”

Similarly, links have been made
regarding nasal laterality and brain
hemispheric switching (Robins, 2009).
This correlation reflects notions stating
the benefits of constant refocusing (back
and forth, side-to-side) strategies that
allow an “orientating response” similar
to functions that occur in REM sleep
(Shapiro, 2012). This is due to the right
side of the brain being associated to
visual and spatial information, and the
left side with language and logic. Thus,
integration of both sides of the brain is
imperative to make sense of automatic
mind and body functions; or, to become
singular and readied for cultivating the
other aspects on the eight-fold path.

Nadi = pathway through

which the energy flows

Shodhana = cleansing

Pranayma = extending energy

We begin to understand that in the
process of Nadi Shodhana we are
cleansing the pathways, eliminating
physiological toxins (i.e. cortisol) and
thus extending all energy avenues.

The process of

Ujjayi Pranayama

DO:

• Remember correct posture


• Inhale:

  
  

  Bring air in through the nose
  whileslightly constricting the throat
  Allow the chest to rise and the
  diaphragm to expand down to the
  navel, and the stomach then inflates
  Ensure the breath is like a fine
  silk thread and barely audible

  
  

  
  


• Exhale:

  
  

  Draw the lower abdomen in and up
  The chest falls as the air moves out
  of lungs through the nose

  
  

  
  

DON’T:

• Make loud, audible noise


• Rasp for breath


• Hold breath


• Constrict


• Go against the body’s natural
  intelligence
  As shown through these practices,
  Pranayama is a healing force in the
  yogic tradition that opens us all
  into more subtle layers of being and
  existence. This is reflected in scientific
  research: The breath allows us access
  to our subtle life force. We can breathe
  our way to good health, to an integrated
  sense of being and the capacity to live a
  healthy, meditative, and connected life.

BENEFITS OF PRANAYAMA

• Strengthens the Vagus nerve, increasing
  parasympathetic (relaxation) response


• It is the doorway to conscious control,
  allows for present-moment thinking


• Increases body awareness and the ability
  to link mind to body


• Increases awareness of body-to-emotion,
  emotion-to-body response and the capacity
  to “feel” emotional sensation prior to
  reaction and behavioral action


• Increases positive affect, which has a
  reciprocal resilience affect


• Is offered as a preventive and remedial
  agent in depression, anxiety, hostility,
  cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders,
  and autoimmune disease


• Releases acute and chronic tensions around
  chest, heart area and digestive organs


• Helps sufferers of respiratory illnesses to
  overcome fear and shortness of breath


• Increases lung capacity


• Encourages correct nervous stimuli to
  cardiovascular system


• Improves detoxification through increased
  exchange in carbon dioxide and oxygen


• Increases function of auto-immune system
  by increased distribution of energy to the
  endocrine system