Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

your pranic, bioenergetic system, it will always be available to you. There are hundreds of pranayama techniques. The most important are
ujjayi, kapalabhati, bhastrika, alternate bhastrika, anuloma viloma
, and
sitali
. It is possible to learn a lot on your own and with good books, but it is best to learn these practices, and pranayama in general, directly from a competent teacher.
    There are five different levels or stages in pranayama practice.
Learning subtle control and mastery of the lungs and respiratory system. From our first breath at birth, breathing is our constant companion. It is rare to receive any breath instruction, unless as a singer, martial artist, or musician. Control and mastery implies learning to breathe both correctly and incorrectly, getting control over the diaphragm, being able to fill the lungs completely from the bottom up or from the top down, being able to fill the lungs laterally and even individually, and being able to inhale and exhale very slowly, and very evenly.
Strengthening and recharging. The second stage involves learning to increase your breathing capacity and the strength of the respiratory system. The breath can be used to balance and recharge the psychophysical system. Yogis point out that the lungs are the inner sanctum of our bodies. There is but a thin membrane separating our bloodstream from the outside air, so it’s a foundational principle of health and wellness to keep our lungs toned and strong.
Changing the mental-emotional state. Pranayama can be used to relax, release tension, build energy, release fear or anxiety, and charge emotional batteries.
Healing. We can learn to direct healing energy within ourselves and to others.
Altered states. Advanced breathing practices can lead to altered, mystical, and visionary states of consciousness. Like any powerful tool, advanced practices require care, attention, and proper guidance.
    In the early days of yoga in America, it was hard to interest people in asana practice. Jogging and other fitness regimes seemed more engaging. But, as people discovered, yoga practice can have far more depth and can be much more interesting and engaging than other fitness regimes. Working with the breath is similar. At first, it can seem boring or passive, but it actually has great depth. Many yogi elders have told me that over the years they found breath work as important, and even more important, than the practice of postures.
    The breath is an entire information feedback system that lives on the interface of the conscious and unconscious, of control and surrender, the physical and nonphysical, fullness and emptiness, birth and death. When you learn to listen to and watch your breath, it is like listening to the waves of the sea. Like hearing the sound of a coming train or waves breaking, you begin to understand the subtle differences in modulation, frequency, and tone. These sounds convey information about what the waves are doing, their strength, how the water is spreading across the sands, and the breakdown of the wave as it crashes on the shore. You can discover and sense the messages and teachings in the sounds and qualities of the breath—the life force ebbing and flowing within us. The breath can be one of our greatest teachers.

Using Locks, or Bandhas
    Several types of muscular contractions, called
bandhas
(pronounced buhn duh, and meaning to lock) are used in Hatha yoga, both in pranayama breathing and asana practice. The most important are: the root lock, or
Mula Bandha
(moo luh, meaning root); the chin lock, or
Jalandhara Bandha
(juh luhn dah ruh, meaning water pipe); and the stomach lock, or
Uddiyana Bandha
(oo dee ah nuh, meaning upward).
    Mula Bandha is done by contracting and holding the anal sphincter muscles while creating a lifting sensation that slightly firms the lower abdominals. It is important also to contract the pubococcygeus muscles at the same time. These so-called PC muscles are easy to identify and control because they are the muscle sets we use to stop the flow of urine. They normally contract in tandem with the anal sphincters. Simply contracting and firmly holding the root sphincters should call all the necessary muscles into play.
    Some Hatha yoga lineages advise holding Mula Bandha during the practice of asanas, and of course there are varying opinions. I have experimented and found many benefits to holding this lock during many postures or movements. It strengthens the abdominal muscles, tones the