7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

1/6

Having described romelmportant groupa of aranaraa Padmraranem, Sarvango-ngm, Trikonsrranam, tc., iti8 porhaps imo (though a fewmore ueefql and well knowna88n8groups are to bs dealtwith) to lrke up tha nextrtep ia Yogo, i.q.. Praanaya-mam. Patrnjrli placos t nxtto A8ana, but authors ofHathayogaovn as they foll-ow tho Elmr procedure,sug-gost rome puriticstory acttrt tho physic.l level, beforethe Kumbhoka r breath hold-ing Pranayamas 10 aken up .Six such dctg, known arShat Kriyas ro mentionsd bySvaatmaramo n Hathr YogPradeepiko. Thse !,o no tobligatory exetcises, evenaccotding ro H8thayogi8,bu tsro tugoestrd to thoss whoara obasa and phlegrnatic endno t for othsr! for whom Vga-ra. Pitha and Kapha are psr-fectly balanced.

KAPAALA BHAATIS. Ramaswami

Modht Sloshmr AdhitlhE Pury8mShtr Xlrmlni Slmarcharsth.Anyrsthu Nlecharsth arnlDorhrrnram Srmr BhDvrth!h!Thososix scts aro Ohouti.Vasti, Nti, Traatakam, Nauliand Kapaalabhati' Ot thsotho fir3t throe,wholoin use ofwatar, cloth or olhst exlErnalagencies 8re used ,l not t-

commendednor encoutagedin lhe systsm I have under-gone. Trastaka which isgood a6 an exerciss for theyos, Nsuli fo r the lower ab -domen and Kapaatabhati,primarily fo r the respitatorysystm a1ohowever frequen-tl y usod bymany abhyasis allof which do not inlroducexternel sids into th systemand ar no t displeasing, asthe firrt thto kriyas.

Of these again, Kapaalab-hati is most bneticial n pr-paringone for Pranayama opuri fy the Pranamayakoss.

Kapaalabhaatia madeupof two word! . klpa8lemoan-ino ckull and lmplying lhoontarohsd rnd bhrtl, thttwhich makeet ahine. Thucone who practiaskapalab-haati find. I rejuyonrtingfeelingn thohotd sndgrrd-ually flndr hir tlcc lttllningsom ustre. Thero cleana-ing activltios, elpone id hesystem f ell thodoshasanoPranayama iddhi, accrueswithoutundueefforl,

6hrrklrmr Nirgrlh.tthouly!K.phrdorh!md||dhlkrh.Pr!nsy!m!m Tdrh xurylthAn!!y!!!ne Sldhyrtl,Even though krpsldbhrli

i i not a Pranaysma in lhoorthodox system, it wo*sthoroughlyon thc respiratory6quipmnt. Hence just arfor Pranayama, ono shouldchooss a place free fromnoise and oth6r atmosphticpollutants as dugt, dirr, unpl-

7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

2/6

easant odour 6tc. Aft6r agood workout n asanaprac-t ico, which should be wel lplanned o includemovementof a l l partsand .iointsof thebody, made possible by ajudicibus combination ofasanas and their vinyasas,snd a l i t t le rest. one shouldsi t comfortably n.Padmaasa.n8n: or othor sitting postursgl ike Vajra,Siddha etc. l t isfound however, in pract icePadmaasanams mong thebest for Kapalabhati . Srncothe oxorcises a highlydyna-mic one, t is bettef to choosea posturewhich canbs main-tained even in a vigorousactrvi ty, nvolving he use ofabdomenalmuscles,Padma-asana, with the f i rm inter-locking of legs, providesf i fm baseand enablgs no tokop th lower xtrsmit iesundor good control , How.evar, for thoso who hav6probloms n getting nto corr.ect Padmaassnam,ny othsrsitting postute like VajraorVeerasanqmmay b9 chossnMETHODOTOGY

Si t in Padmaasanam.Keepthe palms on tho knoss.Slightly bend the head for.wArd as in Jalandharaban-dha, but the glott is is notconstticted. After a fewnormal braaihs, inhale andexhaleguickly in succassionfor about 24 t imes (or lessdopending pon ona's capa-city), The breathing is ofthe abdornenal or diaphrag-

mstic type, The abdomenalntuscles ontractquite vigor.ously and rapidly. In eachstroke heviscerae ro drawnin and pressed and thediaphragm s pushedup. Assoon as the vagorous xhala.l ion is ovsr ( l t may taksabout 1 to 2 tenths of asecond), the abdomenalmuscles elax, he abdomenavisceraecome down to theirorginalposit ion. Simultans.ously the rj iaphragm alsocomes down, creal ing apart ial vacuum in tho chsstcavitv and the external air

nter he ungsautomaticsl lyHencs the active part ofKapalabhatis the expulsiono{ a i r and the inhalat ion simperceptably assive.Thenirnmeoi6tely thereafter, fo ta secondround, he abdom-enal musclesare again con-tractd nd hewholeprocessis repeated for a number oft i rnoE. ay up to 24 or so inthe ini t ialstagos.

Kapalabhaalis primarilyanexercise f the visceraeandthe disphragm. l t may benoted in pract ice that even

7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

3/6

though thi I is a breathingexercise, he movement o{the chest wal l is negl igible.The intercostalmuscles, nf act,arekept mi ldly contr ac-ted al l through and he sl ightinhslat ion is made possiblecnly by the mobi l i ty of rhediaphragm. l t could beeasi lyveri f ied n pract ice ndin fact could be used as acheck o see i f on6 is doingit correcl ly. l t is clear here-fore that inspirat ion Puraka)is done si lent ly withouteffort , as dist inct f rom anydeep breathing exercise n-volving del iberate xpansionof lhe chest requir ing hestretching of intercostalmuscles. And the expirat iontRechaka) s done with con-siderable effort at contrac-r ing and indrawing theabdomenalmuscles. Neces-sari ly herefore,vhen the airis torced out through thenostr i ls, noise is producedresembling that of usingbel lows. Svaatmalamahim-self ndicates t.

Bhastraaval LohakaarasyaRechapuram Sasambhramo.

Kapaalabhsti . ikhyaataKaphadosha Viseshini.

Halhayogapradeepika

"Pract ice Exhalat ion andinhalat ion apidly RepeatedlyI ' r

7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

4/6

necessary to deliberatelyptactico Mulabandham tofacilitateexPulsion,bu t someIind it useful to make use otcontractionof rectalmuscles'For the majority,useof Pelvicdiaphragm nd tectum beco'mes almostautomatic. Thereare a few. Peoplg hereforewho prefer Mahabandha.(Refer lndian ReviewMarch1978) for doing kapalabhaati8s ths gluteal muscles aIeraised and tho rectum ispressedby the hsel faci l i ta-t ing a moroconscious nvol-venrent f these rnuscles.

Thus he intensitY, apidi tyand the frequency fo r Iround of kapalabhaatis tobe determined y tho Pract i 't ionerand irnproved gtadua-l ly. There should be noviolent erking of the chest 'the shouldets and the head.Thero s a tendency or a fewto constr ict the nostr i ls oproduce the nasal soundwhich hcwever s unwarran-ted. Iho air expel led isal lowed to escape {reel,through he glottrs no cons-tr ict ion there, please) andsinootf ' ly asses through he

nasalpassage) o ths end ofthe nostrils. when even thonostrils are not constricted.they themselves open ou t abit in faci l i tat ing passage fexpel led air. Hence t is notn6cessarv, no r desirable otry to control sither of thenostr i lsnor indulge in facialcontort ions to regulate heair passage. Anyone who'nrakes faces' whi le doingkaoalabhati s not doing agood job of i t . The airshould be permit led to havea very smooth passage andit wi l l have, f only al lowed

7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

5/6

without estr ict ions.t does t ion.Tho6o hohavs earntof cours roducosom fri- somsPranayamaiks Uttayiction st the lowrendsof or Nadisodhan,otc,, maytho nostrilg,but it doesnot practicot aftr Kapalabhaaticrateany problem3. lt i3 but moreof it in lster ssues.not so, f one i3 carofulnotto constrictheupp6tportion Kapalabhaati hould beof thono3o, o thst th6re s attempted ftereomeguida-no friction in tho delicste nce from a teacher,Thoseplrtg of thgmucus membra' suffering rom herniE, cutenee lnlng tfto intoriorpatts rhinitia, ain n the ear' needof lhc nore. Persong uffer' not attcrnpt this practica.ingfrom acutorhlniti! etc., Asihmaticrshoulddo themnoed not do kapalsbhati t only'undergupervision'heyth! tlmc of acut. nesalbloc. will obeervehat coughdov.king|, but if regulrrly dono lops owatds he end of oschnomally nagal block ltself round. Tho expcctorationwill be preventod n the first shouldbe spat out. In mostinlirnce. ca68 he ooughsubsides,but even f it cohtinuos, ftorThc normql peedofdging a few days'ptscticot sub-krprfebhatl ' i r lbout 2 pd sider. l t isssidthatpasrsgoro!o{rd. However one m8y of air over ho muousmsmb-atin,rt lbout 'hrlf tho psce raneof tho alr passagesEctg.lhJti bcgtnoi{E{' {t!**40 .{ 6n Inhtbitorv stitnulu..to 120 pc' tnlflutc |1:qulld lilKbpalatJhdtti thr ra{io-off|ilatrctory. Thenumberof fime for xplration o inspir-,tfi$ttt per round maybe dlpn'is about1 to 3' sincellffJiol tfw hundtod, but it d,uringnhalation he sympa-rii#.ltTrf:r'to,bc doaldedby thoticlsstimulatod which intb|,'i#dror,'with th. h.lp of turn ir bdneficial, t couldbe'r:iirclra; of considetable ge to andf torntri tf tfunc pcr ssthmatic' Further becauserfoing t A'roundof Kapah' ot vigotou3 xpulslon.dueoi*"rri t, to bc followodJv tho upwatdmovement f thef.nayamrl 'but mara on^ oispnrsgm' lne oxcosslvo;s,.-;iffil rio- iit'i.tioi '-.,':*tf':is th'own-out'n.tnutc s6ti". ror themere 1!"..-1t:n^*,.oflY:,"tiontlptlati"" ol' Kapqlabhaatr mphysomo' lt nlp8 vo'yrhii nry bc done for a T'*-11-lh:^j::l:Ttiono'inrinuto oi co and then the th lungsro filfflI'iilxt round mry bo ststtod''l t will be good c do obout'3 Thecongeetionn tho bto'rounds ei sitting, ntersper- nchiandbronchioless decr'aed with a few roundeof eaaed reduallyn successivelong nh.lrtion and exhata' 6t89e6, Themucus s blss'

ted out from the bronchialwalls and coughed out.AfterSome.timehere houldbe very ittlemucu8o oxciteand theroby pfscipitataspasm, Furtherthepowerfulexpiiatory blasts of ai rthrough h6 ntire espiratorypagsage ctsas 8 powelfulinhibitory3timulus o thocoughcentres.Hdnce oughand heassociatedpasme fth bronchidiminish. Evenfor generalizedcough, itcouldbe very useful. Sincelf imptoves lood circulationto the hoad and face, onegetB healthiertook.Perhapsqually mpottaht,is rhe act lht theabdome-nalotgans lao et horoughlYmseaaged. he lver,spleen,pa'ncrers,idney andadren.ale, the etomach 6nd theinta.tinor gat rvoll m.sssgodand henct hlve improved

varcularity,Whencombined.in a groupwith luch asEns!as Sarvangssanam,archi.mottanrm tc., t helps reEtlyalter he shapeof the bellYfrom t8 unsmly al f S'toecaphoid. Thorc sufferingfrom nitable olon., onstip.ation crtain typeg of earlystbgediEbto3duc to slug'gish'pancreaa, f latulance,dyepepeia ill.find t benefi'cial. Ptegnantwomon andthosesuffetingfrom manor:rhagia r ftbroid n uterus toadvisednot to plactico. *thelpsstrengthen bdomnrlmuscleg and may.Pleventherneation.Thoee having

7/29/2019 Ramaswami_17_Kapaala_Bhaati.pdf

6/6

acute pulmonSry8nd or car-diac condition ars adviEsd oba extremely cautious inattmpting kapalabhqati. Fo rthogo who are interested ntho esotoricaspscts of HathaYoga, t is said o rousekun-dal ini Sakthi . The forciblemovementsof the abdominalmuscles,when done properly8nd intensivoly press thevisce'ae ths variougplexusesof the autonomic nervous

system and stimulato themto activity, and hence onecould conjecture tho rousingof kllndalini sakthi,

Apart lrom th respiratorysystom, ths digestive andother pslvic organs and thheart also c ouldget massa-ged. The pericardium issttached o the upper surfaceof the diaphragm. Thereforewith each orcible expiration,

rhe bour by the di$frtagtlfcould massage ho heart.Needleer' to say, it isabsolutelyesscntial hat it bepractised n an Ompty stom.ach. Though t involves asimple technique, t has salutory effect on tho overallcirculation of th body. Thevibrationsct by Kapalabhaatifeverberate through all thcells of the body,

xxxXX