Yoga Life: Yoga, respiration and self-actualization | Life

A few years ago, I did a yoga session on Waikiki Beach front with a number of students. We adopted our routine of physical postures, respiratory workout routines and meditation on our favorite seaside facing the blue ocean with its white waves. Following the workout routines, we decided to go to Lulus’ across the avenue for a snack to operate a chat session about what we experienced realized that working day.

As we sat down with a cup of tea, a university student asked, “Why is respiratory supplied so substantially significance in yoga?”

Because it was a superior get started for our discussion, I responded, “The regulation of respiratory (pranayama) is the 3rd important phase of the Ashtanga Yoga. Through respiratory we inhale prana — the life power. The air we breathe in is abundant with prana, a collective contribution of the earth and the planets of our photo voltaic technique as properly as all the stars of our galaxy and the universe. By respiration we are constantly forming our immediate link with all of them. Due to the fact our daily life commences and finishes with breathing, Yoga believes that as a result of its systematic regulation, we could dwell a long and wholesome lifetime by expressing the genuine self in our day-to-day existence. By shelling out specific consideration to our breathing from the still left and right nostrils, we could control the two sides of the brain, leading to best health for us.”

One more university student questioned, “Could you be sure to elaborate even further on the significance of respiration from the still left and ideal nostrils and its implication for the practitioner?”

I replied, “According to yoga, breathing from the correct nostril influences the still left-part of the brain which performs the intellectual, conceptual and analytical functions. It is where our thinking, reflection and examination get position. Nonetheless, when we breathe from the still left nostril, it affects the proper side of the brain where all linguistic and artistic features reside. To harmony the brain, Yoga delivers some basic respiration workout routines through the nostrils to fuse the two segments to dish out its maximum potential.”

A third college student questioned, “I have browse someplace that breathing from the right nostril symbolizes the electrical power of the sunshine whilst the left represents the electric power of moon. What is Yoga’s posture on it?”

To this fantastic query, I responded, “The professionals of yoga, who have mastered pranayama, think that when we breathe in as a result of the ideal nostril we harness the light, brightness and heat of the sun’s electricity which provides the brain its conceptual, logical and analytical clarity. Similarly, when we breathe in through the left nostril, it taps the softness, coolness and calmness of the moon’s vitality by elevating the brain’s linguistic, artistic and musical ability. By regulating respiration from the two nostrils, we could balance the energies of the sunlight and moon. This would be conducive to the expression of the critical self in our daily everyday living.”

A fourth scholar commented, “How superb and enlightening this dialogue is! What I am going to say could possibly be far-fetched but is appropriate in this article. In the course of my reading of some religious literature, 1 of the writers describes the indicating of the word ‘Israel’ in related phrases. By citing the Egyptian mythology, this writer retains that the phrases “Isa” and “Ra” signify the moon and the sunshine respectively. Moreover, the author argues that by blending the energies of the moon and the sunlight would in the long run lead to the realization of ‘El,’ the God.

“I comprehend now why the yoga instructors gave so a lot significance to the regulation of respiration as a result of the left and appropriate nostrils mainly because by summoning up the electricity of the moon and the sunlight would direct to actualize the concealed electrical power of the creator that resides in us. That is practically nothing less than self-actualization in motion.”

We finished our discussion by staying a little bit far more educated about the worth of respiratory and self-actualization as an integral portion of the yoga follow.

The physical exercise underneath is a suggestion only. If carried out on a typical basis, it may possibly aid

Respiratory work out (8-8-8)

Cross your legs and sit in an easy posture with again, neck and head straight up. Open your still left hand and relaxation it on your remaining knee. Place your correct-hand thumb on tiny finger. Put the middle a few fingers of the right hand flat on your forehead. Launch the minimal finger and the thumb. Close the nostril nearest to the thumb. Breathe in from the open up nostril for a rely of eight. Keep the air in the lungs for a depend of eight. Close the nostril with the small finger. Open up the other nostril by lifting the suitable thumb. Now breathe out from the open nostril for a count of 8. Repeat this exercise three instances and then resume usual respiration. For the beginners, it is suggested that you adhere to this procedure five instances at 1 sitting. Boost it to 10 occasions just after a couple weeks of apply. You can also do this work out when sitting in a chair in your workplace or a plane or a bus or a train. Other respiration workouts are variants on this simple physical exercise.

Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra has been a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is an emeritus SUNY distinguished instructing professor of philosophy and founder of the Yoga and Meditation Culture at SUNY Oneonta. His “Yoga for Relaxation” is accessible on YouTube” and his publications through Amazon and Kindle. Malhotra contributes all his royalties to the Ninash Basis that builds educational facilities for the beneath-served minority young children of India. Donations can be despatched to the Ninash Foundation (www.ninash.org) as a result of PayPal.