by I-mon on Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:35 am
In the yoga I practice the breath is divided into 4 basic stages: inhalation, retention, exhalation, suspension. the first stage to practice is exhalation, learning to make exhalation long and smooth and very slow with a constant speed, eliminating any sense of pressure or tension and without being so long as to disrupt the smoothness of the following inhalation. inhalation is allowed to remain relatively free and natural at first, since it is relatively easy to inhale a lot using force but this can build up tension in the neck and shoulders and also tends to excite the mind rather than calm it down. not necessarily a bad thing, but for yoga practice aimed at reducing mental fluctuations it is not what we want. active inhalation is trained once the slow controlled exhalation is comfortable, increasing the length and depth of inhalation while again eliminating any sense of pressure or tension from the inhalation, exhalation, and the transitions in between, and keeping exhalation significantly longer than inhalation due to the calming effect of exhalation compared to the exciting effect of inhalation. the basic time ratio of inhalation to exhalation is 1:2. the next thing trained is suspension after exhalation, since this stage can only be prolonged by keeping the mind calm and still. the long super slow exhalation causes the lower abdominal and pelvic floor muscles to slowly contract, eventually contracting everything from the belly button down to hui yin, holding this contraction while the breath is suspended after exhalation is the beginning of what is known as "mula bandha" the "root lock". as well as greatly strengthening the muscles of this crucial area this practice also has a powerful introverting effect on the mind, during the exhalation the mind sinks deep into the lower abdomen and pelvis along with the abdominal contraction, during the suspension phase the mind rests in huiyin, there is no movement of the breath and no movement of the mind, as soon as thought arises there will be a sensation of pressure or effort and one will need to take a breath in. increasing the length of the exhalation and suspension after exhalation while eliminating any sensations of extra effort or pressure or tension is an amazing way of bringing about mental relaxation and steadiness, as well as strengthening the lower abdomen, lower back, pelvis, and all of the internal organs they contain.
the very last stage to be trained is the retention of the breath after inhalation, because it is the easiest to hold by force (whereas the suspension after exhalation can only be held through relaxation and a calm mind), the easiest to build up tension in the neck, shoulders, back, face and eyes, and also has a very strong exciting effect on the heart rate and the mind, so it needs to be balanced by the other phases of long slow exhalation and relaxed suspension, in order to keep the mind steady and bring about deeper states of internal awareness.
this is the basic order of training for pranayama and asana in the yoga taught by T. Krishnamacharya for normal, healthy people. each phase is to be trained and controlled so as not to disrupt the feeling of smoothness and ease in all of the other phases. if one phase is forced even slightly it will inevitably disrupt the following phase, ie if inhalation or retention is too long then the following exhalation will need to come out more rapidly like a sigh, if exhalation or suspension is too long then there will be a need to take in a lot of air more quickly on the following inhalation, and the smooth slow flow of the breath will be disrupted causing the mind to jump, heartrate to increase, and sensitivity levels to drop back from the subtle internal changes to the larger, stronger sensations and fast movements.
FWIW.