After practicing the Mudras, do the three stages of pranayam. First, the hands rest on the hips. For example, for six seconds you inhale, for six seconds you hold and then for twelve seconds exhale and after the air has come out have a gap of two seconds before inhaling again. After this, you bring the hands up to the chest with hands open and palms facing down with the thumbs touching the sides of the ribs and the index finger touching the front of the chest. Continue with the same count of breathing for a few rounds. After this take the hands up with the upper arms directly upwards and the elbows bent with the hands close to the back of the neck. So these are three stages of pranayam. You can repeat the breath pattern twelve rounds for each of the three stages. After this you can do the Mahabhastrika. In Mahabhastrika you lift the arms up on an inhale and then swiftly move the arms down as we exhale. Here, the attention is ONLY on breathing out. Do this fifty times and repeat for four rounds.
Ratio of internal Kumbak and external Kumbak
There are two types of Kumbak. External kumbak and internal kumbak. With the external kumbak the breath ratio is 1:2:4. If you are breathing in for six seconds from one nostril, then you hold for twelve seconds and then breathe out for 24 seconds from the other nostril. If you cannot breath out for twenty four seconds, then do not breathe in for six seconds. You could reduce inhalation to five seconds, holding for ten seconds and breathing out for twenty seconds. If you can do that comfortably, do that. Otherwise do 4, 8, 16. After some time your lungs become healthier. If you can do six, then from six you increase it to seven seconds. So 7 in, 14 hold, and 28 out. Once you have exhaled, then from that same nostril, you breathe in. Then hold and breathe out from the other nostril. When we inhale it’s called Purak, when we hold it’s Kumbak and when we release it’s Reychak. With the internal kumbak, the ratio is 1:4:2. Let’s say we breathe in for seven seconds, then we hold it for twenty eight seconds and then we exhale for fourteen seconds. That’s the internal kumbak. Important: in both kumbaks, you should not increase the count suddenly. The breath should be smooth without jerks. There should be balance. Only breathe in for seven seconds if you can breathe out for twenty eight seconds. If we can do that comfortably only then we can increase the inhale to eight.
Give a Reply