WHY?
Oxygen–Increases oxygen uptake throughout the day and decreases systemic waste products in the body. A powerful blood-tonic and purifier. This increases our circulation and energy.
Mind – Stills the mind, stilling the body. Allows the thinker feeler brain to take control of the automatic bodily functions run by the primitive or small brain. Improves relaxation. Augments our mental power.
Spine – Supplies a large quantity of blood to the roots of spinal nerves. Centralizes the blood in the spinal column and nourishes it beautifully, Keeps the spine quite elastic increasing spine youthfulness.
Nervous system – Tones the nerves and awakens the nervous system. Rejuvenates those who have lost their potency.
Disease – A cure-all, a sovereign specific for all diseases. Removes all sorts of diseases of the intestines and stomach. Resets cellular vibrations.
HOW?
Lay on your back with your arms and legs relaxed and palms turned up.
It is best to lie in a warm comfortable spot. Develop a space where you will practice on a regular basis. It is good to practice in the same space so your mind will begin to develop habits of relaxation just by being in the space.
Activate your breathing muscles
- Find your pelvic wall. (Muscles at the bottom of your pelvis around your butthole). Lightly contract these muscles; visualize pulling them to your feet. (This will take some practice).
- Lightly depress your pelvis bones together and to the ground. This activates our transverse abdominal muscles. It is important to lightly depress the muscles just between the pelvis bones to the ground as they fire the large muscle that surrounds our midsection. This muscle forces the diaphragm to automatically contract to create a vacuum to pull air into the lungs.
Nose breathing only
Slowly and deeply inhale through your nose filling the chest up with as much oxygen as you can. As you fill the lungs up with air the muscles between the ribs will fire and move the ribcage toward the chin. The last muscle that fires is the scalenes located at the sides of your neck. These muscles lift up the first ribs filling the lungs as much as possible.
Count your breath to control your mind
As you slowly breathe through the nose count your breath in your mind. Most people will begin with a breath count that is lower than 10 seconds. Our goal is to increase the amount of oxygen we bring into the lungs increasing the amount of oxygen flow to the muscles and all cells. The in-breath is work; like training our muscles in the gym.
Actively relax your body to the ground
As you breathe out scan your body with your mind to find any areas that you are unconsciously holding off the ground. Tell your muscles to relax in that part of the body. Most of us will still hold our bodies off the ground even though we are lying down.
Practice for a few minutes each day. Your body will learn a new state of relaxation and incorporate that into your daily patterns. Your breathing pattern will become slower and deeper.
Air governs movement and sustains the harmony of the cycles which attune all vibration in the body with the one source. Air rules the beat of the heart, the lungs, respiration, and peristalsis throughout the body. The thoracic cavity, home of the fundamental life rhythm of breath, is the center of the air harmonic in the body. (p.13 “Light on Pranayama” BKS Iyengar.)
