Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A grounding discovery

Anuloma Pranayama: with the grain; in the natural order.

In doing a little research on Ayurveda I came across Anuloma Pranayama, and had to look it up. (It's recommended as a way to ground people with an imbalance of vata). Anyway, here's a (semi) brief description of how it works...

The right hand is in Vishnu Mudra, the index and middle finger folded in towards the palm (same mudra that's used in Nadi Shodhana).
When exhaling one nostril will be completely closed and the other side will be partially closed, to slow down the exhale.

Here's how it goes:

Inhale through both nostrils.
Hold the breath in with bandhas on.
Close the left nostril with ring finger, and use the thumb to partially close the right nostril.
Exhale through the partially closed right nostril.
Completely empty the lungs, then lower the hand.
Inhale through both nostrils.
Hold the breath in with the bandhas on.
Close the right nostril with the thumb, and use the ring finger to partially close the left nostril.
Exhale through the partially closed left nostril.

That's one complete round.
Repeat.