1. Inhale means to take a breath-in.
Exhale means leaving out the breath.
Inhaling means breathing-in throughout the movement.
Exhaling means breathing-out throughout the movement.
2. Inhaling should be silent, smooth and without jerks.
3. Always inhale when energy is required, e.g., raising arms from chest level above shoulders, lifting weights etc. Always exhale when less energy is required for the performance of the action.
4. Duration of each pranayama or asana is indicated by the total number of rounds; each round is made of one inhalation and one exhalation. In the case of pranayama, the time duration depends on your skill. For example 10 rounds of ordinary breathing is about one minute. In a pranayama like Nadishodhan, the same 10 rounds may take 3 to 5 minutes or more depending on how well you can slow down the operation.
5. Vajrasana (The basic posture for pranayama)
“It is widely taught that Vajrasana promotes good digestion. In terms of meridian theory, the medial and lateral areas of the leg below the knee touch the floors and thus gets stimulated. The meridians which traverse these areas are the very ones that control the digestive functions; the stomach and gall bladder meridians in the lateral area and the spleen and liver meridians in the medial areas. The pressure on the area in contact with the ground promotes peristaltic movement and gastric secretion. The toes get bent / compressed bringing pressure of “Sei” points and “gen” points.
In the ‘Sei’ points ‘Ki’ energy enters and leaves meridians and ‘gen’ points at wrist and ankle, help in overcoming rheumatism and neuralgia. It aso stimulates the mooladhara chakra. The upper half of the body in Vajrasana exerts weight on urinary bladder and kidney meridians, running on the back of the leg and inside.”
Abdominal or Diaphragm Breathing
You can sit in any comfortable cross-legged posture. Sitting on a mat is preferable. It is called sukha asana.
The sketch has been shown with the person sitting in vajrasana, i.e., legs below hips. Here the abdomen and diaphragm move in a complementary way. The movement of the abdomen in and out is given below.
During inhalation, the diaphragm which is shaped like an inverted cup contracts downwards and abdomen expands. During exhalation the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen contracts. The movement of diaphragm is shown in sketches below. Note the arrows.
During inhalation the diaphragm contracts downwards, abdomen expands.
During exhalation the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen contracts.
The whole procedure is called abdominal breathing or diaphragm breathing. It is recommended that one breathes this way all the time. One can see the infants doing this breathing with their stomachs going up and down.
To inhale, just expand your abdomen; air rushes in through the nostrils smoothly without any effort on your part. Similarly to exhale, contract the abdomen as far as possible; air rushes out.
Mudra or Finger Positions
Here we need three mudras dealing with positioning of the fingers, namely:
a.Chin mudra: the index finger touches the thumb, others are separate and open.
b.Chin-maya mudra: Same as chin mudra with the fingers pressing the palm.
c. Adi mudra: the thumb enclosed in the fist.
d. Jnana mudra: Curl the index finger as shown in the sketch for meditation.
The tip of each finger radiates a unique type of energy. By the touch of the thumb and the fore-finger, a pathway is made for that type of energy. In adi mudra the energy of the thumb is shielded by the other fingers and palm.