Reference: Inner Engineering (Content)
This paper presents the summary of Part two, chapter 2.5.1 from the book, INNER ENGINEERING By Sadhguru. The contents are from the first edition (2016) of this book published in the United States by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
The summary of the original material (in black) is accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.
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Sadhana
“Sit in any comfortable posture, with your spine erect, and if necessary, supported. Remain still. Allow your attention to slowly grow still as well. Do this for five to seven minutes a day. You will notice that your breath will slow down.
“What is the significance of slowing down the human breath? Is it just some respiratory yogic acrobatics? No, it is not. A human being breathes twelve to fifteen times per minute, normally. If your breath settles down to twelve, you will know the ways of the earth’s atmosphere (i.e., you will become meteorologically sensitive). If it reduces to nine, you will know the language of the other creatures on this planet. If it reduces to six, you will know the very language of the earth. If it reduces to three, you will know the language of the source of creation. This is not about increasing your aerobic capacity. Nor is it about forcefully depriving yourself of breath. A combination of hatha yoga and an advanced yogic practice called the kriya, will gradually increase your lung capacity, but above all, will help you achieve a certain alignment, a certain ease, so that your system evolves to a state of stability where there is no static, no crackle; it just perceives everything.”
This the ancient Pranayama that Patanjali talks about. Prana means breath, ayama is lengthening or widening through control. When breathing is controlled so as to retain the breath, it is pranayama. The ultimate aim of pranayama is to be able to retain the breath. Thus, if we breathe normally fourteen times per minute, in pranayama we breathe only once or twice per minute.
DRILL: As you breathe, do japa: “I am breathing in; I am breathing out.”
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