Sit erect in habituated posture with your waist and neck in
one straight line. Inhale as much as you can by the right nostril slowly and
fill the breath in the neck, heart and stomach completely so as to feel that
from head to toe the whole body is full of breath. When you begin to feel
uneasy, close the right nostril and exhale with the left one. Note that while
inhaling, there is a soft and continuous sound and while exhaling, there is
similar flow. On this pranayama, the inhaling is done by the right and the
exhaling by the left nostril repeatedly. Start with three pranayamas and
increase by one or two in a day till you reach twenty-one or even thirty one
according to your physical capacity. This practice must be done in winter but
those who are of wind and phlegm humour can do it even on summer on hills.
Benefits:
This Pranayama increases bile and destroys phlegm and wind.
It promotes digestion and purges the body of all impurities by causing
perspiration. The Gherand Samhita says,
“ The Surya Bhedi Kumbhaka delays death and old age. It awakens Kundalini and
increases digestion.”
Chandra Bhedana Pranayama
“Chandra” in “Moon”
and Chandra Bhedana Pranayama is a cooling pranayama. The moon corresponds to
the introspective, passive and artistic aspects of an individual’s
personality..Keep the spinal cord erect and sit in habitual posture. With the
thumbs of the right hand, press the right nostril and through the left nostril
(Chandranadi) inhale while making sound. Retain the breath contained in throat,
lungs and stomach. After as much retention as possible, exhale through right
nostril slowly and repeat it for as
many times as you like. This pranayama is also known as left nostril
breathing because while doing this pranayama, the breathing is done through the
left nostril.
Benefits:
When the inhalation is done through the left nostril, your
body gets cooled. It reduces the bile and removes the excess heat of the body.
You do not feel tired and belching is stopped. The benefits of this pranayama
are quite opposite to those of Suryabhedi. Therefore, a person of the nature of
bile should practice it in summer. If the left nostril due to cold or catarrh be closed, then lie on
your right side and make the left
nostril work and then start practice. You will learn how to know whether the
right or left nostril is working.