Shavasana
Shavasana with psychic breathing
An additional practice in shavasana is psychic breathing, which involves
becoming aware of the breathing process within the different psychic passages
of the body. In our body there are many subtle channels through which
the prana or vitality flows. We are not ordinarily aware of these movements
due to the externalized condition of our minds, but by withdrawing the
consciousness and fixing it on the breath, we can develop the ability
to perceive and comprehend the workings of these subtle forces which manifest
in us as health, activity (mental as well as physical), and life itself,
especially after Surya Namaskara.
While lying down in shavasana with the whole body totally relaxed and
still, become aware of the natural flow of the breath. Do not alter your
breathing in any way, simply transfer your awareness from the body to
the breath. Feel every breath with complete and total attention - the
expansion and relaxation of the lungs, the rise and fall of the abdomen.
Don't miss a single breath, and soon you will find that your whole mind
has become relaxed and absorbed in the breathing process.
Now you are ready to begin psychic breathing
awareness. Bring your mind to the navel and as you inhale, imagine that
the breath is moving upward through a special passage to the throat. On
exhalation, the breath descends back down the passage to the navel. You
have to imagine there is a small passageway between the navel and the
throat through which the air is moving.
Now begin counting every breath from navel
to throat, throat to navel. Start from 50 and count backwards to 0, each
complete respiration is one round. If you lose track, go back and start
again.
Alternate nostril breathing
Now leave your awareness of the psychic passage between the navel
and the throat and become aware of the breath in the nose, excluding everything
else. As you inhale, concentrate on the left nostril and feel the air
entering from the left side only. As you exhale, concentrate on the right
nostril, and feel the breath being expelled from the right side only.
On the next inhalation maintain awareness of the right nostril, then with
exhalation change to the left nostril. Now again, left in, right out,
right in, left out; left in, right out, right in, left out. Begin counting
- left in, right out, 50; right in, left out, 49; and so backwards to
0. When you have completed this, stop breath awareness and bring your
awareness back to the body. Then mentally chant om three times. Sit up
and open your eyes.
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