Rapid Breaths or Slow Breaths

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

According to Kundalini Yoga, they emphasize rapid breathing (breath of fire) during their asanas (also called kriyas). They state:
“According to the Kundalini Research Institute, breath of fire oxygenates and detoxifies your blood. Regular practice can build your lung capacity, clear your respiratory system, balance your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, heat your body to increase energy, boost your immune system, build concentration, reduce addictive impulses and improve your sense of well-being. Think of breath of fire as a tune-up for your system so all parts work harmoniously together.”

So, it is puzzling.

One school of thought (Desikachar) is that during asana only practice slow, calm breaths.

Another school states (Kundalini), practice rapid quick breaths during asana.

#2

breathe faster and waste more Parana,
jogging is better than running and walking than jogging
and asanas with slow breathing still better, with savasana after every asana
but the best is pranayam
the kumbhaks
more the time the better

#3

Senin,

It is puzzling because one may be thinking that there is only one proper way to do things. The yogic sciences are just various different skillful means and approaches towards the same phenomenon - the transformation of consciousness and awakening to one’s true nature.

“One school of thought (Desikachar) is that during asana only practice slow, calm breaths.”

I do not know what this school is, but if that is what they have said then they are just blinded by the attachment to their own tradition.

#4

I find that during my Kundalini yoga class, we do do the breath of fire during one posture, but for most of the class there’s a much bigger emphasis on deep breathing.

Might be because it’s a beginner class and breath of fire makes people feel like they might pass out? That’s my take on it anyways, haha.

#5

While I’m not an expert on Desikachar I not aware of a position within that lineage that states “ONLY do slow breathing”. Now perhaps that’s a semantic point however we are heavily reliant on the words which convey in the transmission of yoga especially when there are no or few contact hours between teacher and pupil.

Some things in yoga are transmitted based on enormous amounts of personal study, personal practice, working with students, trial and error (if you will), a lineage dating back several generations (if not more) while other transmissions are based on someone’s contrived ideas often based on their ego. The challenge thus is to discern what is what and that can be very tough AND it can vary from person to person.

Contradiction is necessary, however it is most profound when those things which are contradictory are also complementary. :slight_smile:

#6

Rapid breathing is generally used to stimulate, while slow breathing is used to calm. However, I have at times experienced incredibly deep states of calm after doing rapid breathing, and was energized after doing deep, slow breathing.

So check it out for yourself. Start light with the pranayama you would like to learn and progress slowly, watching how your body responds.

#7

Rapid breathing will destabilize Ida and Pingala.

#8

Comparing just ‘rapid’ and ‘slow/deep’ breathing will be misleading. The breathing method is an integral part of an overall methodology. The objective will justify the approach and in yoga alone, many seemingly divergent views are equally respected.

The implied question here is, whether a particular methodology is right or deficient. Since yoga involves our own body, mind and natural processes like breathing it is quite tempting for the enterprising minds to innovate. It is very difficult to distinguish the innovations by true masters from those by business people. Thinking and debating about it superficially is useless and trying to do little bit of this with little bit of that is pointless.

Before judging any method one should first try it sincerely and for a fair amount of time. The litmus test is - a real, genuine experience of our own subtle self. When there is no such experience and instead the promoters of a method want you to ‘believe’ in something, that is certainly not yoga. Similarly, forcing some change to happen is typically a tantrik approach and though there is nothing right or wrong about it, it is certainly not mainstream yoga.

#9

Very good posts.

But, some practices are inherently helpful or harmful to a body. For example, smoking, drinking, heavy practice on an injury, etc.

#10

Perhaps yoga is to be felt (intuitive) as much as it is to be understood (intellectual) therefore as a technique not a belief why not take advantage of breath consciousness. Examine the link breath has between mind and body i.e. there is conscious breath (take a deep breath) as well as subconscious breath (fall asleep and the body continues to breathe). Experiment breathing as a device to calm the body, mind and both, out of this stillness surrender to spontaneous awareness, breathing than becomes irrelevant. Much like the ocean waves rolling in and out, undisrupted breath that flows deep and full seems to assist more in obtaining dynamic meditation than static meditation. Try applying this method of breathing in yoga asana, bike riding, running etc. simply as a mechanism to create an environment conducive for intrinsic awareness of the moment. Hopefully absolute awareness becomes permanent in all moments thus allowing one to experience surroundings as there are, not as we believe them to be. If this harmless technique benefits or hinders it?s simply time to move on.