SUKHA PURVAKA PRANAYAMA

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SUKHA PURVAKA

PRANAYAMA

On my recent tour

‘down under’ I was stimulated into thought by a statement of Sri Bala that

police in the USA

were using Pranayamas as part of their training to reduce adrenaline overload

during pursuits. After some further research on the topic I discovered that

they were using something called ‘combat breathing’ to help lower adrenaline

levels. During pursuit, intensity of the situation causes a surge in adrenaline

level leading to the decrease in fine and complex motor skills. Short term

memory that is part of the creative and reasoning part of the brain can be

severely hindered, leaving an officer with nothing more than long term memory

and primal, emotional instincts to operate with. I was pleasantly surprised to

see that the technique of ‘combat breathing’ that was attributed to the Chinese

martial arts tradition was actually the Sukha Purvaka Pranayama of our ancient

Yoga tradition.

Sukha Purvaka

(Poorvaka) Pranayama is one of the important Pranayamas in the Gitananda

tradition of Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga. It has been described by Swamiji as a

necessary and fundamental part of any Pranayama training. Sukha means pleasant

or comfortable and Purvaka refers to the fact that this needs to be completed prior

to other practices.

Sukha Purvaka

has three initial parts that are then brought together in the fourth part that

is the Sukha Purvaka itself. The ratio used in all the four parts is of an

equal count of 4, 6, 8 etc depending on the student / patient’s capacity. It is

important to remember that we must always start with counts that are in tune

with present capabilities of the student / patient and then gradually work up

as they improve through practice. Teachings should always be from known to the

unknown and from present to the future!

The first

part of the Sukha Purvaka quartet is known by different names. It is called Sama

Vritti or Shwasa Prashwasa or Gita Pranayama but is more commonly known by as Sukha

pranayama for it is a comfortable process of breathing in (Puraka) and out (Rechaka)

for an equal number of counts. This may be either a count of 4, 6 or 8

depending on the person’s capacity. This is usually quite easily performed by

most students / patients and helps calm down the mind and develop inner

awareness. It is a useful practice for breath observation in Prana Darshana

(reverential witnessing) techniques. The best posture for any Pranayama Sadhana

is the Vajra Asana as it allows the maximum movement of the diaphragm with the

spine at its straightest and most stable position enabling us to breathe at our

maximum capacity.

The second and

third parts are known as Visama Vritti Pranayamas and consist of the Loma and

Viloma Pranayamas. The Loma Pranayama is performed by breathing in for a 4, 6,

or 8 count, holding in the breath (Antara Kumbhaka) for an equal count and then

breathing out for the same count before repeating the whole cycle. The Viloma Pranayama

is performed by breathing in for a 4, 6, or 8 count, breathing out for the same

count and then holding out the breath (Bahira Kumbhaka or Shunyaka) for an

equal count before repeating the whole cycle. Loma pranayama is also known as

converse breathing while Viloma pranayama is called inverse breathing.

It is

important to note that the process of holding the breath (Kumbhaka) goes

against our primitive ‘billions of years old’ animal conditioning and helps us

to gain conscious control over our breathing mechanism. Animals fear the

holding hold of the breath as they are afraid of dying, but as humans we know

that we can hold our breath safely and this gesture of opening up to our higher

nature helps conscious control of respiration to occur. Technically speaking we

can never die by holding our breath! Yoga is the science of consciousness and

this is why the phase of holding the breath (Kumbhaka) has been given so much

importance in yoga literature and the Pranayamas are referred to in classical

literature as Kumbhaka.

The final

phase where the previous three parts are brought together is known as Sukha

Purvaka Pranayama. This is a four part breath where we inhale, hold in the

breath, exhale and then hold out the breath. 

As it unites all four phases of Pranayama namely, Puraka, Kumbhaka,

Rechaka and Shunyaka it is also called the Yoga Pranayama. A 4, 6, or 8 count

is used to breathe in, hold in, breathe out and hold out the breath. This

Pranayama reduces respiratory frequency from 15 - 20 respirations per minute to

3- 4 respirations per minute. This brings about a decrease in other vital

parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure and body metabolism that are intrinsically

related to respiratory frequency. The body temperature is lowered and a calm

and quiet state of mind results from decreased sympatho-adrenergic discharge.

Areas of the lungs that are normally not being used in our day-to-day ‘tidal

volume’ life are opened up creating health and well being at all levels of our

existence.

 

-- Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi BhavananiChairmanICYER and Yoganjali Natyalayam25, 2nd Cross, Iyyanar NagarPondicherry, South Indiawww.icyer.com

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