The Equinox (Volume I, Number III)

THE EQUINOX How to awake the Kundalini is therefore our next task. We have seen how this can partially be done by the various Mudra exercises, but it will be remembered that the Shakti Chalana mentioned the practice of Kumbhaka or the retention of breath. Such an exercise therefore partially falls under the heading of Pranayama. It is a well-known physiological fact that the respiratory system, more so than any other, controls the motions of the body. Without food or drink we can subsist many days, but stop a man’s breathing but for a few minutes and life becomes extinct.* The air oxydises the blood, and it is the clean red blood which supports in health the tissues, nerves, and brain. When we are agitated our breath comes and goes in gasps, when we are at rest it becomes regular and rhythmical. In the “ Hatha Yoga Pradipika” we read: He who suspends (restrains) the breath, restrains also the working of the mind. He who has controlled the mind, has also controlled the breath. If one is suspended, the other also iis suspended. If one acts, the other also does the same. If they are not stopped, all the Indriyas (the senses) keep actively engaged in their respective work. If the mind and Prana are stopped, the state of emancipation is attained.t There are three kinds of Pranayama: Rechaka Pranayama (exhaling the breath), Puraka Pranayama (inhaling the breath) and Kumbhaka Pranaydma (restraining the breath). The first kind consists in performing Rechaka first; the second in doing Puraka first; and the third in suddenly stopping the breath without Puraka and Rechaka.t * Malay pearl divers can remain from three to five minutes under water. + “Hatha Yoga Pradipika,” p. 79. t Also see “The Yogasara-Sangraha,” p. 54. 100