KUṆḌALINĪYOGA

PRĀṆĀYĀMA

MATSYA KUNDALINI YOGA ACADEMY

Created by Clemens Biedrawa
www.yogamatsya.com
 PRĀṆĀYĀMA

Other prāṇāyāmas give specific benefits, whereas

Nāḍiśodhana gives all the benefits. As you have aith so
will the benefits be with prāṇāyāma. With devotion to the
Lord Narayana one should always eat satwic food.

Yoga-rahasya, Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
Prāṇāyāma, meaning “prāṇa-ayāma” (prāṇa, energy + ayām, expansion) or “prāṇa-
āyāmaḥ ” (āyāma, restrain, control, stopping), is the science of controlling one’s
own prāṇa, the vital energy through breathing.

Āsana is usually only practiced to ready oneself for prāṇāyāma. It is said that once
a person is ready for prāṇāyāma, all of the bene ts of āsana can be attained with
prāṇāyāma alone. Prāṇāyāma is of crucial importance for all yogic practices, but
most especially for Kundalini Yoga techni ues. ere are numerous prāṇāyāmas, all
of which favor di erent movements of prāṇa and their corresponding e ects on
body and mind. Some generate energy, others move it. Some cool energy and
some clean the channels through which this energy ows. ere are seven
di erent terms in prāṇāyāma which are important to know:

Pūraka exhalation

Recaka inhalation

An ara kumbhaka retention a er inhalation

Bāhya kumbhaka retention a er exhalation

Kevala kumbka spontaneous (meditative) breath retention

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 Sahi a kumbhaka conscious (forced) breath retention

Samavṛtti same length

Viṣamavṛtti di erent length

Prāṇāyāma is de ned by six attributes, which outline its practice. Pātañjali

describes in a few words in his sūtras what makes the essence of prāṇāyāma.

As the movement patterns of each breath -

inhalation, exhalation, retention - are observed as to
duration, number, and area of focus, breath
becomes spacious and subtle.

Pā añjalayogaśāstra, (2:50)

e rst pillar is focus. is focus is applied on out breath (bāhya), in breath

(ābhyan ara) and retention (s ambha). All prāṇāyāma starts with the exhalation, as
one needs to become empty to be a vessel of the greater energy, inhalation is the
second step and is the lling of the inner pure space with the energy of the
practice. Retention is the timeless contemplation about the energy created. Breath
is meant to be long (dīrgha) and subtle (sūkṣmaḥ), this uality of breath is both the
means and the goal to attain freedom.

Expansion in subtlety and spaciousness is attained through the framework that

mind and body creates. is framework is the place (deṣa) of focus, the number
(saṃkhyābhiḥ) of breaths, and time (kāla) of practice. e place of focus is your
internal gaze as well as your outer focus. e number (saṃkhya) is the clear and
protected framework of counts in which your breath moves in and out, it is your
rhythm, both the rhythmic pace of your speci c practice, as well as the daily
rhythm in which your practice takes place. Time is the daytime of practice and
also its length.

Keep these basic attributes of prāṇāyāma in mind when going through this
chapter.

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HOW TO PRACTICE
Prāṇāyāma is not just breathing

Attention is key to prāṇāyāma. Without attention in the practice, prāṇāyāma is

useless. is applies more strongly to prāṇāyāma than to āsana. e more the mind
is distracted while performing prāṇāyāma, the greater the concentration re uired.
Attention can be painful in the beginning, but with e ort this pain is
transformed. When the mind wanders, contemplate: One should do fully what
one is doing and nothing else. Because what is done, if you don't do do, what you
do?

So, do it fully.

No strain but surrender

Energy cannot be forced into existence, neither can consciousness. When people
apply force it is because they are impatient for the good to enter on its own. Why
do these people believe the good will not come when one is ready? Why should the
Absolute restrain his blessing when your heart is open? ere is no reason for this.
All good things are here. Either one is ready to embrace them, or one is not, but if
one strains to attain them uickly, then the way will be longer.

When practicing prāṇāyāma, give yourself completely to the practice. Instead of

straining, x your position to show your beauty. Instead of wanting, pay proper
attention to the ow of your breath.

Furthermore, overstraining—especially in kumbhaka (retention)—can harm your

body. Prāṇāyāma is the manipulation of prāṇa. is changes the way you feel,
perceive and think. Your body and being need time to gently adapt to this. As the
old saying goes, Rome was not built in a day.

Now I shall tell you the rules of prāṇāyāma. By this

practice a man becomes like God. Four things are
necessary in practicing prāṇāyāma. First a good place;
second a sui able time, moderate food, and lastly
purification of the nāḍis. Practice of yoga should not be
attempted in a ar-off country (loss of aith), nor in the
forest (no protection), nor in a city or in the midst of a

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 crowd (exposure). If one does, so he loses success.

Gheraṇḍa-smahi a, (5:4)

Preparation and Posture

Begin by practicing āsana before starting with prāṇāyāma. Sometimes 10 minutes
of āsana is su cient. is will open the body and remove tension.

Choose a comfortable sitting āsana and x the body into it. Ensure that the body
is straight and does not bend. Avoid any unnecessary movement, such as
scratching or wi ling around or looking at others. e body is a vessel and energy
cannot accumulate during prāṇāyāma if one is not steady. Be rm, stretch your
arms and x them forcefully. e position taken should resemble strength, beauty
and ease. If pain occurs, one should move so as to subdue the pain and then return
to the position. ere is no use in su ering, as this will not help one’s attention. If
one is able to pay proper attention, then moving a painful leg will not corrupt
one’s focus.

Food and surroundings

ere are many restrictions surrounding prāṇāyāma. is may be because
prāṇāyāma can be very arousing and being polluted is not helpful when one wants
to stay in one’s center.

Prāṇāyāma should be attempted when one has rmly made the decision to
transform one’s being. If this decision is made, then a proper vegetarian diet and a
pure lifestyle should pose no problems. If one nds that these are problematic,
then one should ask oneself: What do I really want? en strongly act according to
the answer. is way the mind becomes directed. ought, speech and action are
aligned.

One should be vege arian, enjoying sweet and nutritious

food. One should not eat before prāṇāyāma. One should
rise up. One should avoid superfluous company and
enter ainmen . He who practices without moderation of
die , incurs various diseases, and ob ains no success….
Half of the stomach should be filled with food, one quarter

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 with water: and one quarter should be kept empty for
practicing prāṇāyāma

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhi ā, (5:16-22)

Place and time

prāṇāyāma should be done in the early morning before sunrise at brahmāmuhūr a.
Alternatively, it can be performed at noon or sunset. Prāṇāyāma should not be
done less than two hours before going to bed as its arousing nature can prevent
sleep.

Prāṇāyāma should be done alone and in a silent place where one can contemplate
deeply on breathing. e best environment is a clean and well-ventilated chamber.
Prāṇāyāma should not be practiced under direct sunlight, except at dawn when
the early rays of the sun are gentle.

Kumbhaka
Kumbhaka refers to the techni ues of holding one’s breath.

Since the body is a mirror of the macrocosm, day and night, sunrise and sunset
nd their proper expression in the body’s function. e process of respiration is
said to mirror nature’s movement of energy during the day. Inhalation is the rising
into the new day. Retention a er inhalation is the sunset. Exhalation is the night
and retention a er exhalation is the sunrise in the early morning. From there on,
the circle repeats again. Since the hours of sunrise and sunset are holy, so must the
time between breaths be holy. When the breath is still, not moving in nor
outward, it is referred to as the kumbhakas.

Some say that prāṇāyāma starts with proper kumbhaka. and the Haṭha-Yoga-
Pradīpikā makes no distinction between prāṇāyāma and kumbhaka, as the former
must also be the latter. is means that when the moments in between the breaths
are su ciently expanded and enjoyed, the raising of consciousness can take place.

Iḍā and piṅgalā also refer to night and day, and therefore to exhalation and
inhalation. Suṣumnā, either sunrise or sunset, would also resemble kumbhaka.
Indeed, kumbhaka is used to bring the prāṇa into suṣumnā.

Of course, the highest stage is the spontaneous stopping of the breath as a result

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of realization, not as its means. prāṇa could ow freely into suṣumnā rendering
breathing itself unnecessary as the body and mind would rest in the mysterious,
and simultaneous, stage of sunrise and sunset. When joined together, inhalation
and exhalation are “yuj”. is is the goal of yoga. is is kevalakumbhaka.

When kevalakumbhaka without inhalation and

exhalation has been mastered, there is nothing in the
[inner] world that is unat ainable for the yogi. rough
this kumbhaka he can restrain the breath as long as he
likes. us he [gradually] at ains the s age of rāja yoga.
rough this kumbhaka, Kuṇḍalinī is aroused and then
the suṣumnā is free from all obs acles; but without Hatha
Yoga there can be no rāja yoga, and vice versa. Both
should be practiced until rāja yoga is perfected.

Haṭha-Yoga-Pradīpikā, (2:70–75)

Mantra in Prāṇāyāma
Prāṇāyāma is very o en used with mantra or bīja. e Yoga-rahasya calls all
prāṇāyāma conducted without mantra inferior to prāṇāyāma conducted with it.
Mantra is used to ll the gaps in the breathing process and measure the time of
breathing and retention. Filling these gaps can be useful, as it helps x the mind
onto the higher goal. Some use the gāyatrī mantra to measure the length of the in-
and outbreaths. More o en than not, Oṃ is used to measure breathing.

Initially, one can silently repeat “Om” ve times when breathing in and ve times
when breathing out. is will x the mind and even the breath.

In the same manner, “Oṃ Namah Śivaya, So-Haṃ, Oṃ Yaṃ Ma” or “Oṃ Mā” can
be used.

Prāṇāyāma is of two types, one done without mantras

and the other with mantras. One should choose the
appropriate man a for individual requirements. Sagarbha

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 is with mantra and Vigarbha is without mantra. e
smritis (texts) say that prāṇāyāma done with mantra is
commendable while the other is considered inferior.

Yogarahasya, Chapter 1

THE PRĀṆĀYMAS
Yogic Breathing
Yogic breathing is a deep and holotropic form of breathing. Each breath gently
lls the lungs to their utmost capacity. In- and outbreaths must be even in length
(samavṛtti). When the breath rushes inside one can feel the pleasure of the air
moving in, like a delicious li uid. e air so ly lls the lungs from the top down.
e belly moves gently outwards. When maximum inhalation (recaka) is reached
one must gently be aware of the space in between the breaths. is place is beyond

breath. It is energy. For a little glimpse, be aware of your retention a er

inhalation, an ara kumbhaka. You must feel it. en gently breathe out (pūraka) for
the same length. Let your belly move inward again and lengthen yourself. When
you reach maximum exhalation, gently feel bāhya kumbhaka. Here you should hold
a little, but you must feel the inner sensation of joy.

Yogic breathing may be considered easy, but it re uires a fully expanded lung and
some concentration. If you nd yourself stru ling, you must perform it more
playfully. e lung must be able to deeply open and close to its full and natural
volume. is is achieved through three preparatory stages.

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S age One
Place your hands at the side of your torso, just over your hips so that your ngers
can touch your belly. Breathe deeply. Move your belly inward during the
expiration and outward during the inspiration. Breathe to your full capacity.

S age Two
Place your hands at the side of your torso, right at your ribcage so your ngers are
underneath your breast. Breathe deeply. Move your chest inward during the
expiration — one can tuck in the chin as well. Expand your chest in the
inspiration (one can open the chin at this point). Breathe to your full capacity.

S age ree
Place your hands just behind your neck, interlace your ngers and pull gently to
the side. Breathe deeply. When breathing in, open your chest wide. When you
have reached the maximum inspiration, breathe a little more just at the very tip of
the lungs. When you exhale, contract your chest and close your elbows in front of
your face. Breathe into the high tips of the lungs.

Nāḍiśodhana Prāṇāyāma
Psychic Network Puri cation.

Nāḍiśodhana is the most important

prāṇāyāma of all. It is the gentlest and most
useful prāṇāyāma. e Yogarahasya of
Nātamuni says that all of the possible
bene ts of prāṇāyāma arise from this one
alone. Moreover, the Yoga-yājñavalkya
dedicates a whole chapter solely to this
prāṇāyāma. It is the prāṇāyāma that puri es
the channels of the subtle body and
therefore turns it into a worthy vessel for
consciousness to enter. Sit straight and
relax your body. Stretch out one arm over
your knee in chinmudrā with the palm facing upward. e other hand should be
brought up in front of your face. Put two ngers on your forehead, gently
massaging the third eye while the thumb and ring nger are at both sides of the
nose so as to regulate air ow. Make the air ow into your le nostril and observe
this gentle stream of life. Hold the air for just a little while. en exhale the air
through the other side. When the air has le your body, and you have reached the
utmost exhalation, perform a very gentle bāhya kumbhaka and keep the air outside.

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 en breathe in again through the same nostril, hold and breathe out of the le
side again. is is one round.

Perform kumbaka in a gentle manner at each turning of the breath. It does not
matter how long each breath takes, but it must be an e ual length. Nor does it
matter for how long you perform kumbaka but, again, it must have an e ual length
in an ara and bāhya as well. Perform mūlabandha at each kumbaka. Your success in
this prāṇāyāma is irrespective of how much you strain or on the complexities of
your in- and outbreath ratio. It depends on your attention and love for your
practice alone. Be excited about it. Do it with your heart!

Having inhaled the air through the le nostril filling up

[the chest and abdomen], then medi ating on the fire in the
belly with its flame in the Dehamadhya and medi ating
on the seed letter of fire Raṃ, which is es ablished in the
region of fire, he must exhale slowly through the right
nostril. en one who is determined and wise, inhaling the
air through the right nostril, must again exhale slowly
through the le nostril. One should practice this in
solitude six times every day at the three sandhis (in the
morning, a ernoon and evening) for three to four months
or three to four years.

Yoga-Yājñavalkya (5:17-20)

Kapālabhāti
e Shining scull.

Kapālabhāti is a satkarma (one of the six puri cation exercises) as well as a

prāṇāyāma. It movesthe prāṇas and puri es them when they mix with the re at
the navel. kapālabhāti is performed from the kanda, the navel point. Kanda It is
commonly misunderstood as maṇipūra chakra, which is actually something else. In
some yogic schools, the nāḍis all originate from there. It has the form of a golden
e , is situated underneath the navel and is the center of bodily pranic force. From

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there, the prāṇas expand upwards. e great sun makes them rise.

Sit straight and feel your face open and the sun rise on your forehead. Pull
mūlabandha very gently. Push the air out and move your navel inwards. When the
breath relaxes, you breathe in naturally, not actively. Pulse your navel in and out.
Feel the pulse massaging your lower belly. e rest of your body should be relaxed.
Your face stays open and released. One can accelerate the pace until a comfortable
rhythm is reached. Imagine this little golden e moving upwards when the breath
goes out and imagine it moving downwards when the breath relaxes. Imagine a
stream of golden light rising to the sky.

Inhale and exhale like the bellows of a blacksmith. is is

kapālabhāti and removes all ailments due to kapha.

Haṭha-Yoga-Pradīpikā (2:35)

Śī alī Prāṇāyāma
Cooling breathing.

Śī alī is like a friend, gentle and comfortable, that you invite in your house to
provide relaxation. is friend will talk to you decently, calmly and lovingly. ey
will make you drink delicious waters, nourish your mind and body, and leave you
more whole, calmer and as clear as crystal.

Sit straight and tuck you chin in gently.

Stick out your tongue and roll her so that it
forms a little tube. If this is hard for you,
try to pull out your tongue a little and roll
the sides up as much as you can. en, with
your upper lip, press a little against your
tongue below so that the sides of the tongue
are xed with your mouth and they roll in
naturally. is way you should succeed.

en breathe in, raise your chin a little and

imagine yourself sucking in the air as if it
were a delicious drink from the sky. e air
is as cooling and white as milk. It drops

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down from the moon above you. Drink this air and enjoy it. When you reach
maximum inhalation, retain the air inside for the briefest of moments. Pull in
your tongue, lower your chin and breathe out deeply through your nose. Keep in-
and outbreaths at the same duration. is is one round.

e wise inhales through the toungue, then follows

kumbhaka and exhalation through the nose. is
kumbhaka, called śī alī, removes illnesses of the spleen,
fever, gall bladder trouble, hunger, thirs , and the effects
of poison, like snake bites.

Haṭha-Yoga-Pradīpikā (2:36-57)

Bhrāmarī Prāṇāyāma
Bee breathing

Bhrāmarī is said to bring about an unsurpassed joy in the practitioner. It should be

a wedding with one’s self. It is the great joy being expressed in the sound that
resides in heart, that is like a timeless rushing river. Bhrāmarī is a way of being,
therefore it is a body. When one practices bhrāmarī, one should imagine being a
body made of nothing but this sound, and yet it is not about the audible sound in
one’s ear. It refers to the subtle sound that one cannot hear. Whenever you make
that humming sound, listen to that sound behind it, the inner sound of the pure
pleasure of pure being.

e great nāda (primal sound) is everywhere in the body, but some parts are closer
to it than others. Nāda appears in the central channel of suṣumnā, or sárasvatī nadī́,
that is said to have “sound in her womb.” e heart is the said to be the seat of

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 through the le nostril. is removes phlegm in the throat
and enhances the digestive power of the body. is is
ujjāyī and can be practiced walking or sitting, it keeps
diseases away from the individual organs and the Nāḍis,
especially diseases that are due to kapha.

Haṭha-Yoga-Pradīpikā, (2:51-52)

Bhastrikā Prāṇāyāma
Bellows breathing.

is breath is a very strong prāṇāyāma that is in many ways a yogic secret.

Bhastrikā awakens Śakti – Kuṇḍalinī and is purifying and strengthening like no
other breath. Bhastrikā can lead to mastery and completely expand ones being.
Bhastrikā is re, re is light, re is suṣumnā, re is consciousness. It drives the
house and warms the kitchen. It sheds light on the altar, guides the ritual and
makes the deity visible. But the gross re can also burn the temple to ashes and
make one crazy. Fire is a force, and any force must be guarded with consciousness.

Bhastrikā is an advanced prāṇāyāma. My teacher Sanjeev Pandey Ji taught me four

variations of bhastrikā, that I will expound here shortly. It still must be said that it
is hardly possible to achieve profound insight into bhastrikā when it is not
practiced with an experienced teacher´s guidance. e teacher may show you the

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secrets and transmit energy with his presence that you would hardly discover
alone. is is something that I had to experience
myself too.

Bhastrikā is the bellows that blows in the re. It

is an e ually strong inhalation as exhalation.
Bhastrikā is o en mistaken with kapālabhāti, as it
has a similar appearance. e crucial di erence
is, the previously mentioned e ual strength of
exhalation and inhalation. Bhastrikā fans the re:
Bastrika is rst practiced in this threefold form.
One side a er the other.

Iḍā bhastrikā – Sit up straight, elevate your head

and venerate your solar plexus, imagine the sun rising in front of you, be proud,
be thankful. Close your right Nostril and perform bhastrikā 30 times through your
le nostril, in the end inhale, exhale. Take yourself time to relax then continue.

Piṅgalā bhastrikā – Perform the same process, by closing the le nostril on the
right side.

Madhya bhastrikā – en perform madhya bhastrikā (central bellows breath) one

last time in the center through both nostrils. Keep straight. In the end perform
Sūryabheda kumbhaka.

Sūryabheda kumbhaka.– In the end breathe out le slowly. Breathe in le slowly,

breathe out right slowly, breathe in right slowly, hold in an ara kumbhaka – this is
the sun. Repeat the whole pattern of alternate nostril breathing with right sided
retention for 2-4 more times and then relax.

One can increase the number of breaths from 30 to 50 to 100 every two weeks.
When this st stage of bhastrikā has been practiced for 42 days daily with
increased number of breaths, and one has slowly achieved the strength to
comfortably practice 100 breaths at all sides, then the next stage can be started.
Anuloma Viloma Bhastrikā.

S age two – Don't practice this stage if you did not practice bhastrikā for 42 days
before. Sit up straight and clear, put both of your two ngers (pointing and
middle) on your forehead like in nāḍiśodhana. Because there is no prāṇāyāma
without retention, here bhastrikā uses sūryabheda retention in the end.

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Use the same breathing pattern like in nāḍiśodhana, but do it with the bellows of
the blacksmith. Fan the re fearlessly and joyfully, this is massaging your central
nāḍi, who is insight into the true nature of existence and who is governed by the
element of re. You are that re. Start slowly till your body understands the
movement, then choose a strong pace and enjoy.

Move strongly and forcefully 15 rounds in the beginning. You can gradually
increase up to 100 rounds.

Sūryabheda kumbhaka - In the end of your bhastrikā practice breathe out from the
le nostril slowly. Breathe in le slowly, breathe out right slowly, breathe in right
slowly, hold in an ara kumbhaka – this is the sun. Repeat the whole pattern with
internal retention 2-4 more times and then relax. e number of retentions can
gradually be increased every two weeks from 5 to 10 to 20. To perform Sūryabheda
kumbhaka a er bhastrikā is necessary to control the powers which are awakened by
this powerful prāṇāyāma. Ajgari however has the same e ect.

Udara Śakti Vikāsaka -Ajgari

e Panther exercise

Ajgari is a way to unite with ones own energy. Full of force, it centers the prāṇa,
carrying a great silence. Like the panther.

Ajgrai can be performed in almost all positions

which makes it a great aid in centering the
energy during a yoga class. However, it should be
avoided in balancing āsanas. Ajgari is usually
preceded by bhastrikā, but it can be combined
with almost any activating modi cation of
breath like kapālabhāti. Ajari centers, and
whenever this is desired or necessary, it can be
done.

But of all prāṇāyāmas bhastrikā needs either

sūryabheda kumbhaka or ajgari so to bring the
energy back into the central channel. Dissipated
yogic energy can make one nervous and angry
and destroy the practitioner. Ajgari protects the
practitioner from these dangers.

A er an activating prāṇāyāma inhale deeply and

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slowly expand your belly and ll yourself with air. Hold this air till you feel the
energy settling in silence. Hold about 5-20 seconds.

en exhale deeply, contract all your muscles, fell the tension and pull your belly
inwards. Take yourself time to pull the belly in and move the diaphragm upwards
against the spine. Perform a gentle, false inhalation and move the diaphragm even
deeper, explore this internal space. is is uḍḍīyānabandha. Hold another 5-20
seconds. en inhale deeply, erect your body and relax, contemplate the center,
silence.

Seated in the vajrāsana posture firmly hold the feet near

the ankles and be against the kanda. In the posture of
vajrāsana the yogi should induce the kundalini to move.
en he should do bhāstrikā-kumbhaka. us the
kundalini will be quickly awakened. en he should
contract the "sun" [through uḍḍiyāna bandha] and thus
induce kundalini to rise. Even though he may be in the
jaws of death, the yogi has nothing to fear. When one
moves kundalini fearlessly for about an hour and a hal ,
she is drawn upward a little through the suṣumnā. In this
way she naturally leaves the opening of the suṣumnā free
and is carried upward by the prana curren , in this way
one should daily move the kundaini...

Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā, (3:121-122)

Pranayama 19