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

[Guest guest]

http://www.kundalini-matashakti.com/basickundaliniyogabreathing.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

 

 

 

 

[vintner 0]

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 0]

Hi all,

 

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

 

Adam.

[AdamWest 0]

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

 

Adam.

[AdamWest 0]

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 0]

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 0]

 

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 0]

 

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 0]

 

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 0]

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 0]

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