Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean

Balanced breathe are of 2 types…

First category is when the breath flows balanced in both the nostrils. This typically happens during dawn and dusk which is when the consciousness switches over based on daily rhythm. Elders prohibit us from doing any worldly activities when the breath flows equally through both the nostrils, this spells disaster. We notice some gurus tell people to balance the breath in both nostrils throughout the day which not right.

The second category of balanced breath is there is no noticeable breathe at all because of deep meditative state. Now breathe is stationed in Ajna chakra or the eyebrow point. During this stage the sub-conscious mind is active and any thought / act during this stage becomes energized and powerful. It is recommended to maintain this state during our worldly life too which is easier said than done.

As per Sage Agasthiyar in his “Saranool Sastram” he says the following activities can be done when the left breath is active:

• Wear new clothes, Jewels, giving employment, construction of wells and ponds, marriage, buy houses or take possession / occupy new house.
• Selling things, interface with government officials, meditation, learn arts etc.
• If you are travelling South or west direction then a lunar breath is good.

As per Sage Agasthiyar in his “Saranool Sastram”, he says the following activities can be done when the right breath is active:

• Teaching, fighting, agriculture, any heavy work, taking medication, sleeping, taking bath etc.
• If you are travelling East or North direction then a solar breath is good.

In short as per our understanding, all physical activities in worldly life should be performed when the right nostril is active. If you have poor appetite, feeling very cold because of weather try switching over to right nostril. A male’s magnetism increases with right nostril breathing and the female’s magnetism increases with her left nostril breathing. Equal breath through both nostrils and left nostril based breathing is recommended only for meditative purposes. Please note some who do Pranayamam during Sandyavandanam, do only left nostril based breathing. This is a very special breathing technique.

When you sleep in the night it is preferable to sleep turning to your left. Though we don’t have any control after we slept, but consciously training ourselves helps us with healthy life.This not only helps digestion but also is the best breath management possible while sleeping.

So to sum up, we saw that we are endowed with a natural breath count and also we have seen 2 important types of breath in our 3 nadis. It is told that the right side / solar breathing is very critical for healthy and long life and we have many examples of yogis and rishis living for many many years using these techniques. The choice is left to us if we want to accept and benefit from these techniques or not. Next week, we will look at what is the breathing rhythm which nature has endowed us and how should we manage this.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

“Chaitanya Shashwatah shanto vyomatito niranjanah. 
Bindunaad kalatitah tasmai shri Gurave Namah”

My Salutations to that reverential Guru, who is verily the eternal consciousness, which is of the nature of peace, transcends space and time, full of light and knowledge and who is beyond the stages of Bindu (Source or Moolam), Nada (Primordial Vibration) and Kala (Time) from unmanifest to manifest.

Now look at the picture of Lord Shiva as the Supreme Yogi depicting to be holding a staff as a support to his left hand. Not just Shiva any yogi doing meditation or not would always have his staff supporting his left hand and not right hand. Can you answer why?

 [Lord Shiva in a meditative pose with a supporting staff in the left hand]

Let’s see the answer for this question. When you want to breathe for long and healthy life you should breathe through your right nostril. The easiest way to breathe through your right nostril is to close the left nostril or more easily press the left side of the body slightly. This can be done by leaning to the left even while sitting in a chair or by pressing the left hand on to a staff. This is what is depicted in the image of Shiva.

Any yogi would be leaning to his left or supporting his left hand with a staff or standing on his left leg highlights that he is doing effective breath management to live longer.This staff used by the yogis is called as “Vaasi Dhand”, Vaa+si means a combination of Air and Fire which is our breath. This staff is pressed against specific points in hand or armpits.

[Cuddapah Swami Sachidananda Yogeeswar]

• The quickest way to change the breathing from one right to left nostril is to sit like the Swamiji as shown above. If you want to switch from left to right then change the pose to left side with the left hand pressed on the ground.
• If you or your kids have a blockage of any nostril say right nostril is blocked, please turn to your left and sleep and you would notice that the blockage is cleared within seconds. There is no need for medication like saline and nasal drops.

Simple Do’s and Dont’s

• If you are diseased (even headaches, running low on energy) you may want to note that you may be breathing through your left nostril and not right. Try switching the breath over for a doctor-less, self-administered relief. Please note that this is not cure since the root cause is not addressed for a disease.
• Right side breathing increases the overall heat in the body and hence requires some bodily thermodynamics. It’s very important that you take the advice of a qualified yoga guru / Siddha doctor.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com

We will now see the explanation for 12 and 16 angulas concept based on Raguram’s understanding which of course seems to be more logical.

• The overall human height is measured as 9 talas. Tala is the fundamental measure of time and space. We will see more in details about this later.

Human form – Adi Tala, Nava Tala [Courtesy: Dr. Ganapathi Sthapati]

• If the height of a human is 9 Talas (Navatala) then the torso which is neck to start of thigh is 3 talas. From neck to navel is 2 Talas and naval to start of the thigh is 1 Tala. Each Tala is 6 Angulas and hence neck to navel is 12 Angulas.
• The solar breath starts at navel / nabhi chakra and hence 12 angulas. 
• The lunar breath starts much below at Mooladhara chakra and hence 4 angulas below the nabhi chakra and hence 16 angulas. We also need to notice the distinction between nadi and breath. The Pingala nadi may still start at Mooladara but the solar breath is from the nabhi chakra. It is always better to go with what your guru says and that’s what we do.
• Some schools tell us that 16 and 12 angulas are the length of the breath from the nose when we exhale, which may not be true. One angula is 11/8th of an inch. This would not be applicable for the exhaling length of the breath outside us.

Nadis and Chakras [Book Yoga Nidra, by NC Panda]

• We would notice that the flow crisscross between our nose and brain and this is one of the reasons why our sides of the body are controlled by the opposite sides of our brain.
• The more we breathe through the right nostril the wastage is low and we would lead a long and healthy life. Alternatively when we breathe through your left nostril the breath wastage is more and they noted that it hampers long life and good health. We will see more on this tomorrow.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com