Nerve-purification breathing exercise (also known as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama in yoga)
Posted by Gopal on January 4, 2008
Nerve-purification breathing exercise (also known as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama in yoga):
Please read and follow all rules for breathing exercise practice here.
There are two techniques of nerve-purification breathing exercise:
- Basic method: It does not involve breath-retention. It should be done during the age of 8-12 years.
- Advanced method: It involves breath-retention. It should be done during the age of 13 or more years.
1. Basic method
- Sit in Sidhasana or any other sitting posture or even on a chair and make the spine and head erect in a relaxed manner.
- Place the palms on the knees and close the eyes.
- Close the right nostril with thumb of right hand.
- Inhale slowly and deeply through left nostril.
- Close the left nostril with ring and little fingers of right hand and remove the thumb from right nostril.
- Exhale completely through right nostril.
- Inhale slowly and deeply from right nostril.
- Close the right nostril with thumb of right hand and remove ring and little fingers from left nostril.
- Exhale completely through left nostril.
- Steps 3 to 9 constitute one round. One should practice many rounds continuously for at least 3-5 minutes.
Basic stage has many benefits:
- It equalizes the flow of breath in both nostrils, leading to calmness of mind, which induces thoughtless awareness.
- The whole body is nourished with an extra supply of oxygen and the carbon dioxide is more efficiently eliminated. This purifies the whole system and increases the overall health of the body, including its power to resist the disease.
- The deep, slow breathing encourages the removal of stagnant air from the lungs.
- It purifies the nervous system and makes our nerves relaxed and healthy, which in turn, saves us from various mental tensions and diseases.
- If one’s nasal is blocked due to cold, one should do jal neti kriya to unblock it so that free breathing may be done during nadi shodhana pranayama.
- Sit in Sidhasana or any other sitting posture or even on a chair, with spine, neck and head held in a straight line.
- Place the palms on the knees and close the eyes.
- Close the right nostril with thumb of right hand. Index and middle fingers rest on forehead near the region of centre of two eyebrows throughout the entire practice or alternatively, they can rest tucked inside the palm.
- Inhale slowly and deeply through left nostril.
- Close the left nostril with ring and little fingers of right hand.
- Hold the breath and while holding the breath, bend the head forward and press the chin tightly against the chest. Stay in this position as long as breath can be held comfortably. Concentrate the mind in the mid-center of two eyebrows.
- Remove the chin from chest and straighten the neck and head.
- Remove the thumb from right nostril.
- Exhale completely through right nostril.
- Inhale slowly and deeply from right nostril.
- Close the right nostril with thumb of right hand.
- Hold the breath and while holding the breath, bend the head forward and press the chin tightly against the chest. Stay in this position as long as breath can be held comfortably. Concentrate the mind in the mid-center of two eyebrows.
- Remove the chin from chest and straighten the neck and head.
- Remove ring and little fingers from left nostril.
- Exhale completely through left nostril.
- Steps 3 to 15 constitute one round. One should practice many rounds continuously for at least 3-5 minutes.
Advanced stage has many benefits:
- It has all the benefits of basic stage.
- Chin lock presses the carotid sinuses, which are located on the carotid arteries, the main arteries in the neck. These sinuses help to regulate the circulatory and respiratory systems. Normally, a decrease of oxygen and increase of carbon dioxide in the body leads to an increased heart rate and heavier breathing. This process is initiated by the carotid sinuses. By artificially exerting pressure on these sinuses, this tendency is prevented, allowing for decreased heart rate and increased breath retention.
- It produces mental relaxation, relieving stress, anxiety and anger.
- It develops introversion of mind and one-pointedness, which, in turn, helps in thoughtless awareness practice.
- The stimulus on the throat helps to balance thyroid function and regulate the metabolism.
- It gives all the benefits of breath-retention described here.
Precautions for advanced stage:
- All precautions for breath-retention given here applies to advanced stage.
- People suffering from cervical spondylosis, high intracranial pressure, vertigo, high pressure or heart disease should not practice it.
- Don’t inhale or exhale until the chin has been released and the head is fully upright.
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[...] to house (taking another 3-4 min). c.6 min (1 min Ardha titali asana + 5 min sarvangasana) d.5 min Nadi Shodhana Advanced e.30 min Thoughtless Awareness (start with 5 round Shoonya Pranayam – described at the end of [...]
positiveness said
positive thinking…
Nerve-purification breathing exercise (also known as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama in yoga) « The making of a Sarvodaya Sannyasin…
Yoga said
Yoga…
Nerve-purification breathing exercise (also known as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama in yoga) « The making of a Sarvodaya Sannyasin…
Gaurav said
Dear Sir,
# what is ment by jalneti krya.Please paste an link on it {i couldn’t find it}
# will it be ok to practice pranayam & jalneti krya without any training or guid.
# geting up at 5 am. what sequence of yogasan & pranayam one should follow so that they will be scintifically perfect.
# it is said that at perticular move breath should be at perticular stage{in or out} where from will i get it exact{please give link}.
# asper my info. U had not compleatet ur 12 years brahmacharya duratiom then how can u be so sure that it can give some spiritual power/experiance/enlightment. U had given experiances of grate people as expressed by there words but usually writers change words asper them{not u but frm wherever u had taken it}{plz dont take me -vely}.
# do u have any experiance of present people who had made there life almost frm zero by practicing celibacy.
# can celibacy & yoga solve some critical helth proalem eg-my best friend has ASTHAMA & some knee prob.by taking somany treatments it wasn’t cured totaly.
I rade about u sir. Inspit of having quit successful life u work for society that should really be saluted. Usually after success people forget there society.
Hope u will ans. my prob.{please do it sir.}.
Thankyou. .
Venkatesh Kommana said
Dear gaurav ji… accept my pranams. I’m not gopal bhai.. but i think i could answer as gopal bhai is preparing for civils..:)
i wonder why u couldn’t find about the jala neti kriya on internet…u can get it on internet.
i think it is better if u go through ramdev baba doing pranayama, those videos in u tube .Then u may do them. without a guide…
As far as my knowledge is concerned, I think Yogasan should be done first bcoz once u do yogasanas ur body is stretched and fit…but u’ll be breathing rapidly..next the pranayam technique calms down the rapid breaths,for slow and long deep breaths are associated with peaceful mind and rapid breath patterns are associated with agitated mind.So, do yogasanas first.
While breathing in,.ur stomach should go out( as the lungs should expand) and while breathing out ur stomach should go inside(lungs will contract)… this the perfect way of breathing.
@ ur remark on Gopal Bhai: There’s a saying(i think by swami sivananda):” u try to achieve something believing it and u’ll end up with achieving what u believed!” Everything in this universe is a matter of faith… to achieve something, u have to believe in it first… great things are achieved by great men bcoz they had that sort of faith,unshakable. so, start with faith….and u’ll achieve what u believed
i have a friend who has started from 0 level and now he observes absolute chastity..and he says now it is not difficult for him as it used to be initially! Even i’m trying my best for Akhanda brahmacharya…:)
yeah…. celibacy and yoga act as a shield protecting u from all sorts of diseases…Gandhi ji says half of the world’s doctors would have lost their jobs had it been that men and women were celibates…he says all diseases, mostly, are due to lack of celibacy..(I may not have quoted exactly) .A celibate has great immune power..to diseases and temptations too..
jai gurudev!
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Vishwajeet said
Hi Gopal Bhaiya!
Thanks a lot for this! “Laziness is our biggest enemy”—said our chacha Nehru. And this is the answer to that enemy. This technique is a LOT better than taking 20 minute naps!
Ex Back said
I read your blog for quite a long time and should tell that your articles are always valuable to readers.
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