Swara Yoga : How to harmonise breath.

June 14, 2006

Deccan Herald » Sunday Herald » Detailed Story Swara Yoga: how to harmonise breath Lata Ramaswamy

Research has shown that air flow in the turbinates in the nose triggers neuronal responses that set up reflexes throughout the body.

When I first heard the phrase “swara yoga” I thought it was about developing music into a form of yoga. I discovered that I was both right and wrong. It is not about music as yoga, but about the ‘music of the body” – the breath. The term swara yoga refers to the “swara” of the body, the incoming and outgoing breath, and the yoga of harmonizing it.

Someone familiar with Ashtanga Yoga might ask: isn’t that called pranayama? Yes, pranayama is about the breath. So, what is different about swara yoga? Swami Satyananda explains that although both pranayama and swara yoga deal with the prana, “swara yoga emphasizes the analysis of the breath and the significance of different pranic rhythms, whereas pranayama involves techniques to redirect, store and control prana.

Swara yoga may therefore be said to involve the practices of pranayama, but in fact it is a much more extensive and precise science.” So, pranayama is like a workbook on the subject of swara yoga.

The breath

The breath is one of the subtlest aspects of the human being. Life begins with the beginning of breathing and ends when breathing stops. Since every cell of the body requires oxygen every second, breathing has an effect on all parts of the body, including subtle things like the consciousness. Swara yoga explores and defines the relationships between the breath and different activities of the body and the personality. The canvas is, therefore vast, ranging from issues of spirituality to minute details like the best time to eat in relationship to the flow of the breath.

Swara yoga postulates that although it appears that we breathe through both nostrils all the time, observation shows that in fact, the function one of the two nostrils dominates at any given time. Further, this predominance alternates at regular intervals, indicating a pattern and a rhythm.

One may ask, so, how is this supposed to matter, since the breath goes into the lungs anyway, whether through the right or the left nostril? The answer to this lies in the secrets of that important feature of the human face – the nose. The complexity of the inner structure of the nose is not obvious on the outside; however, one may get an idea from a recent snippet in a newspaper which reported that researchers estimate that the technicalities of air flow in the human nostril is more complicated than that involved in the flight of a jumbo jet.

This is due to the presence of curious convolutions inside the nose called turbinates, which alternately swell and subside. While the most obvious result of this is the alternative dominance of right and left nostrils in breathing, turbinates are said to affect the quality of the air flow in many other ways as well, which, in turn, affects bodily and mental states.

Nose structure

Then there is the strategic location of the nose itself in relation to the brain. Rudolph Ballantine, M.D., co-author of “The Science of Breath,” explains that situated as it is between the floor of the brain and the roof of the mouth, “anything going on inside of it is closely related to the brain, the nervous system, the pituitary gland, (which is located in the floor of the brain) and many other strategic structures.”

He further tells us that the documentation of nasal air flow has been done in modern times in laboratories both in the West and the East, but detailed work on it was done by ancient yogis. Specifically, the swara yogis, “who focused on the science of breath made intricate correlations between the way the breath was flowing and various psychological and physiological states.” The author adds that research has shown that air flow in the turbinates “triggers neuronal responses that set up reflexes throughout the body.”

In swara yoga there is a detailed co-relation of breath to other aspects of life -- physical, psychological and spiritual. It combines the disciplines of yoga, ayurveda and yogic astrology and vastu. Swara yoga works with the theories of the three nadis, the five pranas, koshas and tattwas, as well as the charkas of the individual. To use a word popular in medicine, it is a holistic system.

Benefits

What exactly are the benefits of practising swara yoga? Sanyasi Charanashrit of Atma Darshan Yogashram, who has made swara yoga his speciality, says that it enables us to understand the composition of our bodies in ayurvedic terms, and become aware of the subtle vibrations of our minds as well as the greater forces governing our lives. “The ancient rishis and saints were not familiar with the anatomy and physiology of the body as it is understood today, but they were worthy of being called true scientists. They were experts in manipulating the subtle forces in our body through the swara (breath),” he says.

It is interesting to hear him co-relate swara yoga theory and practice with modern knowledge. For example, he says:

“The right hemisphere, governed by the IDA nadi flowing through the left nostril, is responsible for experiences which are intangible to the external sense receptors. Thus it is responsible for psychic and extra - sensory perception, and it stimulates creative, artistic and musical abilities, as also the experience of intuition and psychic perception.

The left brain hemisphere or PINGALA nadi, governed by the flow of breath through the right nostril, is responsible for the rational, analytical, logical and mathematical intellect.

It has been suggested that left nostril dominance stimulates the Pineal gland, and findings suggest that the pineal is the psychic gland connected with Ajna Chakra.

“Therefore, nadis are closely connected with the neuro-endocrine function of the body. Once the physiological connection and the functioning of the brain with the nadis is understood, it is easy to understand that both the nadis have different effects on our body and mind.”

Although there are books, both ancient and modern, on swara yoga, the practice, as with other yogas, is best learnt with a teacher. Sanyasi Charanashrit has been busy for quite some time putting together courses for those interested in learning it. These are conducted at the ashram premises in Kumaraswamy Layout. Details can be had by calling 26664016, or through their website, www.swarayoga.org.

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"Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.