Secret in Breathing - Nadis

Nad's means movement. In the Rig Veda, it means stream. In Yoga, nadis are the channels of Kundalini energy. The Nadis thus are channels, but not only nerves (snayu). The subtle channels or Nadis are the channels of mind and the channels of chitta, the feeling self or being. The gross channels of subtle energy are visible as cords, vessels or tubes, including acupuncture meridians, nerves, muscles, arteries, veins, lymph,... When an aspirant of Kundalini Yoga starts activating the Kundalini energy through various kinds of pranayamas, the nadi system is vitalized. This is not only very good for health, it also very much promotes spiritual growth and understanding.

Ayurveda mentions 72.000 different Nadis. Tantra Yoga identifies 14 principal nadis of which the following three are the most important :

Sushumna: Passes through the spinal column, originating in the Muladhara Chakra and terminating in the Sahasrara Chakra, diving in an anterior and posterior branch before reaching the Ajna Chakra. The Sushumna generally remains dormant when the other Nadis flow strongly and is activated only when the breath comes through both nostrils simultaneously. It can also

be activated through pranayama and Swar Yoga and operates automatically at dawn and dusk, calming down the system and making meditation easy.

Ida: The Ida Nadi starts and ends to the left of the Sushumna, but is also connected with the left testicle in males. It terminates in the left nostril, stimulating the right side of the brain. It is feminine in energy, carries pranic energy and is one of the most important mental nadis. As it nourishes and purifies the body and the mind, it is also called Ganga in Tantric scriptures. When Sushumna is not working, activating the Ida Nadi is the best way to facilitate meditation.

Pingala: The Pingala Nadi starts and ends to the right of Sushumna. It is the carrier of solar, male energy, adding vitality, physical strength and efficiency. It is also purifying like Ida Nadi, but cleansing like fire. It is activated by the breath in the right nostril where it stimulates the left side of the brain. Bhedana pranayama is used to activate this nadi and is recommended for physical activities, debates and, indeed, duels.

The remaining of the 14 principal nadis are Gandhari, Hastajihva, Yashasvini, Pusha, Alambusha, Kuhu, Shankini, Sarasvati, Payasvini, Varuni, Vishvodara.

The Kuhu Nadi for example causes ejaculation together with the Chitrini Nadi. The mastering of this nadi is the main objective of the Vajrauli exercise, allowing the male aspirant to raise the seminal fluid from the second chakra to the Soma Chakra within the Sahasrara Chakra, along with the vaginal fluid from his female counterpart. It is this practice which is often known as Tantric Sex, which created a lot of attraction to Tantra in the West.

Secret Of Breathing - Subtle body

The subtle body complex extends into several dimensions of reality. It is composed of a series of energetic forms that may be analyzed for a variety of imbalances.

The Astral Form: This body resides within the second dimension. It is the form that we reside within for more than one third of our lives. It is the dream vessel. The health and well being of this form is crucial for the health and well being of the physical body. It is responsible for the health of the emotional and nervous systems of the physical body.

The Etheric Form: This body moves freely within the spaces between the second, third, and fourth dimensions of reality. It is responsible for sustaining the integrity of the physical form. It acts as a conduit for the distribution of life force from the higher mental body and the light body form.

The Mental Body: This body exists in two energy states, the higher mental body and the lower mental body. It is responsible for the stable flow of mental energy from the higher mind to the lower mind. As such, the structure, function, and variety of our thoughts is heavily dependent upon the sound functioning of this body.

The Subtle-Light Body: This body is largely dormant on the physical level in most people. It is however extremely important in our evolutionary growth potential. It contains more than 95% of our genetic, physical, emotional, and mental energy. The other bodies use the remaining 5% of that energy. As this bodies becomes active on the physical level, all areas of our health and well being tend to improve significantly.

These are the four main areas of the subtle body. In our complete, state of the art analysis of the health of your subtle body, we perform also perform a full analysis of the following energetic structures:

Major and minor chakras: The chakras control the flow of energy from the subtle-light body into the lower bodies.

The Nadis: The nadis control the flow of energy from one energy body to the next

Prana: simply put, prana is life force. We have five different types of prana and each type is responsible for a separte function within the body. The five types of life force are, apana, prana, samana, upana, and vyana.

Tattwas: the tattwas are the elements that make up the body, earth, air, fire, water, and ether. A proper balance between these elements is necessary for the health of the body.

The Ether: The Ether is an important aspect of the makeup of the body. Ether is a precursor to the elemental energy that makes up the body. There are as such several different types of ether: gaseous ether, liquid ether, solid ether, and etheric ether. Weakness or imbalance in any of these areas of the subtle tends to lead to illness.

Secret in Breathing

There are basically two breathing techniques. Natural breathing. A relaxing technique that utilizes and maximizes the oxygen that we take in. The important thing to look for is a bulging of the belly when you breathe in, especially about six centimeters below the belly button. Unnatural breathing. Here, you use your lungs to take deep, powerful breaths. In line with the yin-yang balance, this hard type of breathing balances out the soft natural breathing. It is used to detoxify the body. This cleansing technique can be used only during daylight.

‘The body measures 96 fingers (about 1 metre 80 cm). When exhaling, the stream of air roundly measures 12 fingers (20 cm from nose to hand). When singing, its length increases to 16 fingers; when walking, to 24 fingers; when sleeping, to 30 fingers; during sexual intercourse, to 36 fingers. During strenuous exercises, to even more. By gradually shortening the natural length of exhalation, we increase our vitality, whereas lengthening the exhalation reduces vitality.’

All our body’s cells require oxygen for proper function. A lack of oxygen is particularly harmful to the cells of the heart and brain. Also, lower oxygen levels causes the right side of the heart to work much harder to pump blood through the lungs. Deficiency of oxygen at the cellular level will eventually allow disease to jump in. Is it any wonder people are thinking of oxygen therapy to offset internal oxygen deficiencies.

A key to longevity is high up in the nasal pharynx. It is a rich source of nitric oxide and the flow of air through the nose allows it to get into the body. Because this causes dilation of the arteries the blood flows more freely. Good circulation is essential for young looking skin and a lack of nitric oxide causes premature aging. It is interesting to note that a Dr Charles Farr, a strong supporter of the intravenous use of oxygen therapy has shown that hydrogen peroxide can also dilate arteries and increase blood flow by stimulating certain enzyme systems in the body.

Inside every human being there is a network of nerves and sensory organs that interprets the outside physical world.
At the same time, within us resides a subtle system of channels (nadis) and centers of energy (chakras) which look after our physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual being.

Each of the seven chakras has several spiritual qualities. These qualities are intact within us, and even though they might not always be manifest, they can never be destroyed.

When the Kundalini is awakened, these qualities start manifesting spontaneously and express themselves in our life.

Thus, through regular meditation, we become automatically very dynamic, creative, confident and at the same time very humble, loving and compassionate. It is a process which starts to develop by itself when the Kundalini rises and starts to nourish our chakras.