Breath of Fire (read part 1 and 2 as introduction to Breath of Fire - Part 3)

11-26-2004, 09:05 PM

http://www.kundalini-matashakti.com/...breathing.html

Just a note, Breath of Fire is not bastrika. It is also not kapalabati.
Hopefully, the descriptions here below and in the weblink above will help bring
some understanding to the proper practice of these pranayamas, so that all may
have the maximum benefit of their use by themselves or in combination with
Kundalini Yoga postures and movements.

It's important to note that Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan is not at
all like other yogas or even Kundalini Yoga involving the transmission of energy
of a yogi. When one begins the Kundalini Yoga Sadhana as taught by Yogi Bhajan,
a relentless process begin that takes you inexorably through all the stages to
abide in your True Identity (Sat Nam).

Bastrika in hatha yoga and raja yoga practice is primarily meant to establish a
rhythm to the breath with the purpose to make the mind subtle and steady. The
diaphragm moves evenly, smoothly, lightly, and in rapid rhythm in and out. In
the process, the tendency towards erratic moods and changing thought patterns is
subdued.

there are a number of ways to come into Breath of Fire. If one has practiced
bastrika correctly then it should not be difficult to shift from Bastrika to
Breath of Fire: If you're doing bastrika the right way, as described here
above, then it is easy to shift gears, so to speak and come into Breath of Fire
simply by taking a slightly deeper breath and pumping with that, evenly, but
with slightly more force from the Navel and solar plexus. As you ratchet up the
power of the breath from Bastrika to Breath of Fire, at each stage, watch
through the body that the muscles of the shoulders and neck are relaxed, that
the chest and rib cage muscles are relaxed, that the sides, lower back and
abdominals are relaxed. Feel the flow and come mentally in connection with the
expanding electricity/voltage. Once you feel at ease in the motion and power
level of the rhythmic movement of the diaphragm and the expansion / contraction
of the navel and solar plexus, then take the volume of the breath to be pumped
up another notch by taking a slightly deeper breath and pumping the navel and
solar plexus with that.

In Bastrika, like Breath of Fire, you should have the feeling of the air or
prana down to the navel, through the solar plexus and all the way up behind the
sternum and chest cavity without using the muscles of the ribcage or shoulders
at all.

Many people think that by contracting and expanding the navel that no air should
come into the chest cavity, while practicing Breath of Fire, but this is a
mistake.

When one comes into the Breath of Fire with full power, after a while it will
seem that the whole room, not just the body, is filling with lightning bolts,
and yet within yourself you will feel at ease. Within 5 minutes the entire
blood stream will be purified and alkali. You will feel a sense of alertness and
electric clarity spreading through the body evenly and smoothly. And in the
process tensions that bind and grip the mind will simply dissolve. The neck and
throat areas will open. The center of the head will open and you will have the
feeling that you're on the top of a mountain viewing the panorama with a crystal
blue sky above you. (A clear day in Espaniola)

Then you inhale and hold the breath. With this flow of energy swirling through
the body, it's important that you know how to hold the breath at the end of a
session of Breath of Fire, whether sitting in easy pose or from a posture or
movement. In easy pose, you expand the lungs from the very bottom, feeling the
downward pressure through the navel to the solar plexus, then continuing to
breath downward, with your hands on your knees, you pull and expand the ribcage
forward and press down with the hands against the knees to cause the upper part
of the ribs to lift. This will enable you to fill the lungs entirely from the
bottom, to the top and every area between. Then you pull the shoulders back,
chest forwards, pull the root lock, press the lower spine forwards (the spine
remains straight) and you will feel a sensation of the breath suspending, as the
energy flow presses from the spine through all the frontal chakras through the
heart, throat, forehead and crown. Then exhale and squeeze the breath out until
the sides compress and the area below and between the navel and 4th vertebra
contracts upwards creating an electromagnetic sensation in the Kundal. Repeat
this (inhale hold/suspend, exhale contract suspend) a few times, then relax the
breath. You may feel a swirling sensation in the area just below the navel, a
sensation of a flow of electricity from this area (Kandal) to the 4th vertebra
and an electric sensation from the base of the spine through the crown. Then
just wait! Wait a few minutes for the glands to secrete and support the electric
flow, so that the electric flow deepens. This results in the conversion of
bindu to ojas, where you develop a ground of basic voltage and with each
Kundalini Yoga exercise, kriya, mantra and meditation the ground of energy
consciousness deepens and expands.

Kapalabati is a special type of pranayama that is also not Breath of Fire,
although one often sees Breath of Fire described in yoga books as being
kapalabati. In kapalabati, the air in the lungs is entirely expelled and
squeezed / out by contracting the diaphragm inwards together with the navel and
solar plexus in a way that you feel the area between the navel and 4th vertebra
contracting upward, as though you are effecting a root lock, but without
actually pulling the anus and sex organs. The basic practice of this pranayama
can be done sitting cross-legged in easy pose or sitting on the heels in rock
pose. When you exhale you also press the hands down on the knees to effect a
complete contraction of the diaphragm. There is no inhalation involved, only
exhalation with a force that in the process of squeezing the air out, the
abdomen and sides between the hips and ribs are compressed inwards and the ribs
are compressed inwards. Thus, when you release the internal contraction, the
abdomen and ribs spring back to a relaxed state and the air naturally is drawn
back into the lungs without effort.

Kapalabati is performed with a rhythmic breath, forceful on the exhalation and
contraction, no force on the inward flow of air. The effect is to completely
squeeze the impurities from the blood steam, as the lungs are compressed to the
deepest part where most of the blood sacks are located. At the same time the
entire bronchial system is purified. All the tensions in the abdominal and
chest areas are also wringed out of the body.

A typical set of kapalabati in Kundalini Yoga practice might be as follows:
You begin by inhaling and exhaling, breathing in deeply and completely, then
exhaling squeezing the breath out completely, 5 breaths. Then begin kapalabati
for 3 to 5 minutes, followed again with 5 more breaths, then one more round of
kapalabati, followed by 5 more breaths. At the end of the last breath inhale
deeply, pull the root lock, press the lower vertebra forward, press the
shoulders back and down, bring the chin in slightly, and project the flow of
energy up through the spine and through the passage through the crown and
through the third eye (forehead). Then exhale and pull all the locks
(Mahabhanda) holding the breath out. Inhale relax.

A milder version of kapalabati is used in kriyas and mantras and meditations
where you chant "har" repeatedly, while exhaling and compressing the navel
inwards, the diaphragm upwards. Another example is the mantra:

"Eh Ong Kar-ah, Sata Nam-ah, Siri Wha-ah, He Guru" where on each "ah" sound you
contract inward, as though doing kapalabati, releasing to allow the air to flow
inwards.

After kapalabati, one might also do a set of Sat Kriya, because, when you make
the sound "Sat," pulling the root lock and compressing the navel inward, the
diaphragm goes inward and upwards together with the shoulders and arms as the
palms are pressed together, bringing the flow of energy up to nourish the glands
in the brain, which in turn opens the tenth gate in the crown. Again to effect
the greatest benefit of Sat Kriya, you will find that after Kapalabati, when you
squeeze with the sound "Sat" the diaphragm is compressed similar to kapalabati.
so that when you release air flows in allowing you to chant the sound "Nam" and
then continue with "Sat." In a Sat Kriya series following a set of kapalabati,
the nadi system including the circulatory system, nervous system and meridians
will be so energized and free flowing with prana, that the sound of the mantra -
Sat Nam - will begin to vibrate powerfully throughout and around the body, even
generating a kind of subtle blissful energy that will have the effect that you
will want to continue on with Sat Kriya for some time.

Hopefully, from the above descriptions of Bastrika and Kapalabati in relation to
Breath of Fire, as well as the weblink, these three types of pranayamas will be
well understood, as well that Breath of Fire is neither of the other 2.

Proper understanding and practice of the different pranayamas, in particular
Long Deep Breathing and Breath of Fire, leads to gaining the maximum benefit in
the shortest time with the least problems in Kundalini Yoga Sadhana - the
Radiant Road to Reality, through which all the knots (granthis) that seem to
bind one's idea of identity to the reflected consciousness if the mind in the
Sacred Centers of the Kandal, the Sahasrara and 10th Gate, and the One Star
(Hrdayam) - are sundered.

Pieter

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

vintner · 02-20-2007, 04:48 PM

There is an interesting drift of terminology in the usage of the various masters of Kundalini Yoga. The expression "breath of fire" seems to denote the tantric yoga kriya Candali (gTum-Mo in Tibetan) which is fundamental to the Six Yogas of Padmasambhava.

But Teresa's account is of a technique closer to what Sw. Gitananda Giri taught as bastrika, a preparatory kriya. Pieter then describes a set of Kundalini Yoga kriyas known to me, again, by a different name - rather similar to the Bengali Laya Yoga kriyas taught by Sw. Gitananda and imparted to him by Sw. Kanakananda Brighu.

Different yet again is Sw. Rama's description of Laya Yoga. He outlines a kind of Nada Anusadhana more akin to Shabda procedures with their Anahata sounds than to Laya Yoga in either its vaidika or tantrika form, which both require vivid visualization and highly developed mastery of pranayama.

All of these techniques are valid and valuable. It is the variety of names they have acquired that I find so remarkable.

Namaskara

AdamWest · 10-16-2007, 07:16 PM

Hi all,

I am new here. I am very interested in Yoga, meditation and enlightenment.

Adam.

AdamWest · 10-16-2007, 07:18 PM

This post is profoundly interesting! Where can I learn more about kundalini yoga?

Adam.

AdamWest · 10-16-2007, 07:23 PM

Vintner,

I have been attempting to learn the Bengali Laya Yoga kriyas taught by Sw. Gitananda and imparted to him by Sw. Kanakananda Brighu for a very long time. However, I cannot find anywhere or anyone from whom I can do so; do you have any advice on this? Perhaps you would detail them yourself, or point out how they differ from the kundalini kriyas described by Pieter?

Adam.

AdamWest · 10-16-2007, 07:26 PM

Vintner and others,

I am also very interested in learning Sw. Rama's description of Laya Yoga. that he outlines as a kind of Nada Anusadhana more akin to Shabda procedures with their Anahata sounds than to Laya Yoga in either its vaidika or tantrika form, which both require vivid visualization and highly developed mastery of pranayama. And also vaidika and tantrika forms of laya yoga, where might I learn these?

docroshan · 04-16-2008, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWest

Vintner,

I have been attempting to learn the Bengali Laya Yoga kriyas taught by Sw. Gitananda and imparted to him by Sw. Kanakananda Brighu for a very long time. However, I cannot find anywhere or anyone from whom I can do so; do you have any advice on this? Perhaps you would detail them yourself, or point out how they differ from the kundalini kriyas described by Pieter?

Adam.

Namaste,
I had the exact query and interest to learn the same.
If you have found the answer please let me know.

docroshan · 04-16-2008, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vintner

There is an interesting drift of terminology in the usage of the various masters of Kundalini Yoga. The expression "breath of fire" seems to denote the tantric yoga kriya Candali (gTum-Mo in Tibetan) which is fundamental to the Six Yogas of Padmasambhava.

But Teresa's account is of a technique closer to what Sw. Gitananda Giri taught as bastrika, a preparatory kriya. Pieter then describes a set of Kundalini Yoga kriyas known to me, again, by a different name - rather similar to the Bengali Laya Yoga kriyas taught by Sw. Gitananda and imparted to him by Sw. Kanakananda Brighu.

Different yet again is Sw. Rama's description of Laya Yoga. He outlines a kind of Nada Anusadhana more akin to Shabda procedures with their Anahata sounds than to Laya Yoga in either its vaidika or tantrika form, which both require vivid visualization and highly developed mastery of pranayama.

All of these techniques are valid and valuable. It is the variety of names they have acquired that I find so remarkable.

Namaskara

Namaste,
I would like to practice the 6 laya yoga kriyas enumerated by dr.Gitananda.Can you kindly help me out.

docroshan · 04-16-2008, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vintner

There is an interesting drift of terminology in the usage of the various masters of Kundalini Yoga. The expression "breath of fire" seems to denote the tantric yoga kriya Candali (gTum-Mo in Tibetan) which is fundamental to the Six Yogas of Padmasambhava.

But Teresa's account is of a technique closer to what Sw. Gitananda Giri taught as bastrika, a preparatory kriya. Pieter then describes a set of Kundalini Yoga kriyas known to me, again, by a different name - rather similar to the Bengali Laya Yoga kriyas taught by Sw. Gitananda and imparted to him by Sw. Kanakananda Brighu.

Different yet again is Sw. Rama's description of Laya Yoga. He outlines a kind of Nada Anusadhana more akin to Shabda procedures with their Anahata sounds than to Laya Yoga in either its vaidika or tantrika form, which both require vivid visualization and highly developed mastery of pranayama.

All of these techniques are valid and valuable. It is the variety of names they have acquired that I find so remarkable.

Namaskara

namaste,
kindly let me know the 6bengali kriyas which i would want to practice.

Taipan · 04-24-2008, 11:24 PM

It's important to note that Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan is not at
all like other yogas or even Kundalini Yoga involving the transmission of energy
of a yogi. When one begins the Kundalini Yoga Sadhana as taught by Yogi Bhajan,
a relentless process begin that takes you inexorably through all the stages to
abide in your True Identity (Sat Nam).

So True..

x2x · 10-05-2008, 05:46 AM

unfortunately the first link that was posted in this thread is not working anymore

was that the whole text, or could you perhaps post it here?
thanks