BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA (Bellows Breath)

 BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA (Bellows Breath)

Placing both soles of the feet on top of the thighs is padmasana which destroys all sins (bad karma). Sitting properly in padmasana, keeping neck and abdomen in alignment, exhale prana through the nose. And again the air should be quickly inhaled up to the heart lotus. Accordingly, the resounding is felt from the heart and throat up to the cranium. In that way it (the breath) is inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, with the samemotion as a pair of bellows being pumped (59-62). 

Bhastrika pranayama imitates the action of the bhastra or ‘bellows’ and fans the internal fire, heating the physical and subtle bodies. This pranayama is similar to vatakrama kapalbhati, but in bhastrika, inhalation and exhalation are equal and are the result of systematic and equal lung movements. The breath has to besucked in and pushed out with a little force.

Technique 1

Stage 1: Sit comfortably in your meditative pose, relax and prepare yourself for pranayama. Keep the head and spine straight.

Place the right hand in nasikagra mudra and close the right nostril.

Inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril and then breathe in/out as described in the preparation, counting twenty breaths.

After completing the last exhalation, breathe in slowly and deeply, close both nostrils and bend the head forward into jalandhara bandha, but do not raise the shoulders. Hold for as long as comfortable.

Raise the head and exhale slowly through the right nostril. Take a deep inhalation through the right nostril and practice in the same way as you did through the left nostril, counting twenty breaths.

After the last exhalation, inhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril.

When inhalation is complete, close both the nostrils and practice jalandhara, hold, and release as before. Complete one round by practicing on both sides. Perform three rounds.

Stage 2: Practice as in stage 1, but after practicing through the right nostril, practice through both nostrils together counting up to forty breaths. Practice three rounds.

Stage 3: Practice as in stage 2, but during retention add moola bandha after jalandhara.

On completion of retention, release moola bandha then jalandhara. Practice three to five rounds.

Stage 4: Practice five rounds of stage 3 and increase by ten respirations every week until you are breathing in the ratio of 50:50:100 in each round.

Technique 2 

Practice Technique 1 stage 4, but omit breathing through alternate nostrils, only breathe through both, one hundred times.

Instead of performing antar kumbhaka (internal retention), practice bahir kumbhaka (external retention). That means, after the last exhalation of bhastrika, inhale slowly and deeply, and exhale rapidly through the mouth. Perform jalandhara and moola bandha. Release in the same way as described previously. Practice five rounds

After a week or so of practice add uddiyana bandha after jalandhara, so that you now perform maha bandha with external kumbhaka. Release moola bandha, then uddiyana, then jalandhara. Between eachround concentrate on the natural breath or mid-eyebrow center. Practice five rounds of up to a hundred breaths unless your guru asksyou to practice more.

Benefits

The most important physiological effect of bhastrika is on the brain and heart. It stimulates the circulation of cerebral fluid and increases the compression and decompression upon the brain, creating arhythmic massage. The rhythmic pumping of the diaphragm and lungs stimulates the heart and blood circulation. Accelerated blood circulation and rate of gas exchange in each cell produces heat and ‘washes out’ waste gases. Bhastrika improves digestion and stimulates a sluggish system. It increases the appetite, accelerates the metabolic rate and strengthens the nervous system. Bhastrika also helps in cases of tuberculosis, constipation, sciatica, spondylitis, arthritis, rheumatic problems, cancer and physical arid mental tension.