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Anuloma- Viloma Pranayama Method of closing the alternate nostrils

Fifth procedure: Anuloma- Viloma Pranayama; Method of closing the alternate nostrils
  • Raise your right hand and with its thumb close the right nostril (pingla nadiand while closing the left nostril use the ring finger and middle finger of the right hand. 
  • The palm of the hand should not be in front of the nose; it should instead be held away to the right side. Since ida nadi(left nostril) represents moon, lunar power, coolness and calmness, anuloma- viloma Pranayama is started from the left nostril for cleansing the nadi(energy channel). 
  • Closing the right nostril with the right hand thumb, we should gently fill the breath inside through the left nostril. 
  • When the inhalation is complete, we should close the left nostril with the ring finger and middle finger of the right hand and exhale completely through the right nostril. 
  • The rate of inhalation-exhalation should gradually be increased from medium to vigorous. Inhale vigorously with full force and then exhale. Make the rate of inhaling and exhaling slow, medium or fast according to your capacity. 
  • If you do puraka (inhaling) and recaka (exhaling) at a fast rate, there is a loud sound of breathing. After you have exhaled completely, keeping the left nostril closed, fill in complete breath through the right nostril and exhale it through the left nostril. 
  • Thus, one set is completed. 
  • You have to do this procedure non-stop, i.e. inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right nostril, and then inhaling through the right nostril and exhaling through the left nostril.
  •  One starts feeling tired by repeating this series for one minute. 
  • When you feel tired, take some rest and begin the Pranayama again when you feel better. 

Thus you can begin this Pranayama by doing for 3 minutes and go up to 10 minutes. After practising regularly for a few days the capacity of a learner starts increasing, and in about a week he can do this Pranayama nonstop up to five minutes. With the constant practice of anuloma- viloma the energy lying in the muladhara cakra (pelvic plexus) starts awakening. Vedas call it being μurdhvaretas (one with an upward movement of semen), and in the language of modern yoga it is known as kundalani jagarana (awakening of serpent energy). While doing this Pranayama one should chant and meditate upon 'OM' in his mind with each inhalation-exhalation. By doing so, the mind gets situated in the sublime state of dhyana (meditation).
The noble resolution (Siva sankalpa) during anuloma viloma
While doing this Pranayama, you should think in your mind that with the friction and churning of breath in ida and pingla nadis, susumna nadiis getting awakened. From the eight cakras right up to the sahasrara cakra (cerebral gland) a celestial light is moving upward. My whole body is aglow with a celestial light. One should meditate upon a celestial light, illumination and energy inside and outside the body, and realise 'om kham brahma'. One should think that God, the controller of universe, is suffusing him with divine energy and divine knowledge. Initiate yourself into the discipline of 'saktipata'. Guru (preceptor) is only a catalyst for attaining sakti (energy); he only connects you to divine vibrations. In fact, 'saktipata' (instilling of energy) is done by OM, the Supreme Lord, the limitless ocean of energy. Thus, by practising this anuloma-viloma Pranayama, by getting suffused with divine vibrations, one will be blessed with a lot of physical, mental and spiritual benefit. A light will stir up automatically from muladhara cakra (pelvic plexus), kundalini will awaken, you will become 'urdhvareta' (one with upward movement of semen) and will find yourself automatically suffused with divine energy.
Duration of anuloma- viloma Pranayama
  • Filling in the breath with a rhythmic flow for about 2½ seconds through the left nostril, and without holding it up, throwing the breath out gently through the right nostril in about 2½ seconds, and immediately after throwing it out through the right nostril, filling in the breath effortlessly through the right nostril in 2½ seconds, and without holding it up, throwing it out in a rhythmic flow through he left nostril in about 2½ seconds. this procedure should be done nonstop for bout 5 minutes. although it may be a bit tiresome in the beginning. 
  • Don't use too much of force and don't raise the elbow too high while doing anuloma-viloma n this will enable you gradually in 5-7 days to practise anuloma-viloma for 5 minutes at a stretch. 
  • One set of anuloma-viloma Pranayama will be performed in 10seconds, i.e., 6 times in one minute. In a sitting of 5 minutes anuloma viloma is performed about 30 times, and if a healthy person or a person suffering from light common ailments does it for the prescribed duration of 15 minutes, it will be performed about 90 times. 
  • Persons suffering from incurable diseases like cancer, leucoderma / vitiligo, psoriasis, muscular dystrophy, SLE, infertility, HIV, AIDS, kidney diseases, etc. should practise anuloma-viloma Pranayama up to 30 minutes. 
  • When the practice gets perfected anulom-viloma pranayama can be done for 15 minutes or even half an hour at a stretch.
Benefits
  • This Pranayama cleanses seventy-two crore, seventy-two lakh, ten thousand, two hundred ten nadis (energy channels). With the cleansing of all the naOE∂s the body becomes completely healthy, radiant and strong.
  • All the vata diseases like arthritis, rheumatism, gout, Parkinson's Disease, nervous debility, etc., all pitta diseases like urinary diseases, tissue diseases, spermatorrhea, emissions, hyperacidity, heart burn, skin rashes etc., all kapha diseases like colds, catarrh, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, asthma, cough, tonsils, etc., are cured. All the three dosas are pacified.
  • Blockages in the arteries of heart are removed. With the regular practice of this Pranayama, almost 30-40% blockages are removed in 3-4 months. We have tried it on a number of patients.
  • All disorders of cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, etc are removed.
  • Negative thinking is transformed into increasingly positive thinking. One starts attaining bliss, zest and fearlessness.
  • In short, this Pranayama purifies the body, the mind, the thoughts and the dispositions. All the diseases of the body are cured, and the mind is cleansed and gets absorbed in the meditation of 'omkara'.
  • By doing this Pranayama 250-500 times, the serpent power (kundalani shakti) which lies with head downward in the pelvic plexus (muladhara cakra) holds its head upward, and the process of kundalini- awakening sets in.

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  1. today i taught this anuloma viyama practice outdoors on a gorgeous sun-filled eve with my class of 10 and a 60 year old man who is brand new to yoga had a kundalini awakening that utterly scared him...i've seen them before and knew what was happening but he is either beginner or master as this is his 3rd yoga class ever in this lifetime ...!! i brought him back outdoors while the rest of the class was now inside b/c he was hyperventilating and causing distraction...i kept stepping indoors to teach but then would return to him and we worked our way thru his phases of shaking, sweating, inability to breath at times, the fear that what was happening wouldn't stop, painful body reactions to his contractions and held emotions...then he became almost giddy with tranquility...and then by the end of class he was clearly angry with me...or himself!? Perhaps b/c i witnessed his loss of control and sadly in that context of a group class there was no chance to talk about what happened to him...nor do i even know how to reach him...when i offered my phone # to take with him he refused it...so just want to say while it is great to open the channels for a kundalini experience when someone isn't equipped to have that happen it can be scary and overwhelming...it will be interesting to see if he returns to class for a 4th?!

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