Ashtanga Yoga. Gregor Maehle

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      Furthermore the sound of the breath can teach us almost everything we need to learn about our attitude in the posture. At times the breath may sound strained, labored, short, aggressive, flat, shallow, or fast. By bringing it back to the ideal of a smooth, pleasant sound we begin to correct any negative or unhelpful attitudes.

      To practice Ujjayi, sit in an upright but comfortable position. Start producing the Ujjayi sound steadily, with no breaks between breaths. Give the sound an even quality throughout the entire length of the breath, both inhaling and exhaling. Lengthen each breath and deepen it. Breathe evenly into the rib cage. Breathe simultaneously into the sides, the front, the back, and finally into the upper lobes of the lungs. The rib cage needs to have a gentle pulsating movement, which means the internal intercostals (the muscles between the ribs) relax on inhalation, allowing the rib cage to expand freely as we breathe.

      Our culture tends to focus only on abdominal breathing, which leads not only to a slouching posture but also to rigidity of the rib cage. This is due to the intercostal muscles lacking exercise, which in turn blocks the flow of blood and life force in the thorax and opens the way to coronary disease and cardiopulmonary weakness. The slouching appearance in this area is due to a relaxation of the rectus abdominis muscle, commonly known as “the abs.” This slouching makes the belly soft and promotes abdominal breathing.

      Furthermore this relaxation of the rectus abdominis allows the pubic bone to drop, leading to an anterior (forward) tilt of the pelvis, which produces a hyperlordotic low back, commonly referred to as a sway back. This in turn lifts the origin of the erector spinae,³ the main back extensor muscle. Thus shortened, the erector spinae loses its effectiveness in lifting the chest. The chest collapses, leading not only to a slouching appearance but also to a rigid, hard rib cage. This prevents the thoracic organs from getting massaged during breathing. The lack of massage and movement of heart and lungs lowers their resistance to disease. The compensatory pattern, leading to a sway back, an anteriorly tilted pelvis, and a collapsed chest, is one of the worst postural imbalances, and its main cause is favoring abdominal breathing and the resulting weakness of the abdominals.

      In yoga we use both the abdomen and the thorax to breathe. The intercostals are exercised through actively breathing. The air is literally pumped out of the lungs until all that remains is the respiratory rest volume, the amount of air left after a full exhalation. The aim is to breathe more deeply so as to in crease vitality. The way to achieve this is not by inhaling as much as possible but by first exhaling completely in order to create space for the new inhalation.

      There are two vital reasons for wanting to increase breath volume. First, by increasing our inhalation we increase the amount of oxygen supplied. Second, by increasing our exhalation we exhale more toxins.

      These toxins fall into several categories:

      • Mental toxins — examples include the thought of conflict toward another being or collective conflict like the wish to go to war with another nation for whatever reason.

      • Emotional toxins — fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, attachment to suffering, and the like.

      • Physical toxins — metabolic waste products that are not being excreted.

      • Environmental toxins — lead, nicotine, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, recreational drugs, and the like.

      All of these toxins have a tendency to be held and stored in the body in “stale,” “dead” areas where there is only a small amount of oxygen, often around the joints or in adipose tissue (fat). The buildup of these toxins — a literal energetic dying of certain body areas long before the death of the entire organism — can eventually lead to chronic disease. In fact the buildup of toxins and the simultaneous depletion of oxygen in certain tissues is the number-one cause of chronic disease.

      By breathing deeply, exhaling accumulated toxins and inhaling oxygen, we take the first steps toward returning the body to its original state of health. More steps are required, and these will be covered later. Briefly they are storing energy (in the section that follows on bandhas) and awakening the whole body (Part 2, Asana).

      The main reason for practicing Ujjayi pranayama is not, however, for its physical benefits, but rather in order to still the mind. Why should the mind be stilled? Yoga Sutra I.2 states, “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.” Sutra I.3 says, “Only then when the mind is still abides the seer in its true nature.”

      The mind can be likened to a lake. If thought waves (vrtti) appear, the surface of the lake is disturbed and ripples appear. Looking into the water you can see only a distorted representation of your appearance. This distortion is what we constantly see, and it is the reason we don’t know our true selves. This leads to suffering (duhkha) and ignorance (avidya).

      When the thought waves have subsided and the surface of the lake of the mind becomes still for the first time, we can see who we really are. The mind is completely clear and, as a result, we can achieve identity with the object it is directed at.⁴ The notion of stilling the fluctuations of the mind is often referred to as the arresting of the mind or mind control in yogic literature. The term “mind control” is misleading and unfortunate, however. It was rigorously criticized by sages like Ramana Maharshi, who said that if you want to control the mind you need a second mind to control the first one, and a third to control the second. Aside from this infinite regression, having separate parts of your mind struggle for control over each other can lead to schizophrenia. In less extreme cases it can lead to becoming a “control freak,” which makes for being a thoroughly unhappy person.

      Ancient yogis found a solution to this problem when they realized that thinking (vrtti) and movement of life force (prana) happen together. According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, “Both the mind and the breath are united together like milk and water and both of them are equal in their activities. The mind begins its activities where there is the breath, and the prana begins its activities where there is the mind.”⁵

      We know now that mind and breath move together. Influencing the mind directly is regarded as difficult, but through directing the breath it can be achieved much more easily. The extension of the breath through the practice of Ujjayi pranayama smooths the flow of prana.

      It is important always to breathe through the nose only. If we breathe through the mouth, heat and energy will be lost. It will also dry us out too much. According to Indian tradition, if the mouth is kept open demons will enter. Apparently demons become very jealous of the merit that a yogi accumulates. I will leave this view to individual evaluation.

      Remember the connection between breath and movement: every movement comes out of breath. Rather than moving with and following the breath, the breath should initiate the movement. Practicing this way, we will be moved by the breath like the autumn wind picking up leaves.

       Bandhas

      We have learned in the previous section about the importance of deep breathing. What is it exactly that makes yogic breathing so effective?

      To answer this we have to look again at the idea of prana. As we already know, prana can refer to the anatomical breath, but it most often denotes life force, located in the subtle body. It is important to understand that the two are not identical. However, the movements of the life force that occur in the subtle or energetic body have some correlation to the movement of breath in the gross body. The flow of prana can be influenced by directing one’s breath. It can even be accumulated and stored. Most of us have heard accounts СКАЧАТЬ