Nadi Shodhan, King of Pranayama? Or Is It Vacuum Breathing?

Nadi Shodhan or its variant Anulom Vilom is often referred to as the king of pranayamas! It shows the importance that the technique has in one’s health and well-being. For any serious pranayama practitioner, Nadi Shoshan is an absolute must! Nadi Shodhan, essentially means purification of nadis! That means the single most important thing the technique does, is that it cleanses the nadis. It does a lot more, besides! However, from that one single metric – nadi cleansing – point of view, in all my years of practice I have found Vacuum breathing to be multiple times better. Vacuum breathing essentially acts like a vacuum pump of sorts and pulls out gunk, mucus, phlegm etc from different parts of the body. To be fair, in ancient times when these powerful pranayama techniques were discovered, the air was a lot cleaner, better, fresher and perhaps energizing! Over the past few centuries, the air has become extremely polluted…even in the countryside… When polluted air is inhaled, the body automatically produces more mucus to trap these pollutants and throw them out. However, simple Anulom Vilom or Nadi Shodhan are not good enough for this day and age. While regular practice of pranayama is essential, one thing that seems to have escaped the notice of most practitioners is the Pranamaya Kosha itself. According to ancient rishis, the body is estimated to have 72,000 nadis. Yet, most have a direct experience of only 2 or sometimes 3, if they have mastered their sushumna. Ancient manuscripts often map out some of these nadis. Experientially, however, I don’t think there are many that can consciously access most. In my observations, I have found 4 major channels (not to be confused with the 3 major nadis) that seem to form the skeleton or superstructure of the pranamaya kosha. Once these major channels are accessed with Hanuman Master Breath and cleansed and then widened with kriyas like Lotus Opening, then the major limbs of the pranamaya kosha become accessible. That’s when the vacuum breathing technique acts like a powerful pump that can pull out mucus and even old, thick, heavy phlegm from far reaches of the pranamaya kosha. In my understanding, all this phlegm creates blockages in the system that hinders the flow of energy and nutrients from reaching all organs and parts of the body. Naturally, illness happens! Normally, anyone overcome by illness is irritable and in a bad mood! That’s a sign their vibrations and consciousness are dropping. Physical, mental, emotional or any kind of illness interfers with our highest goals and purpose. If a human being aims to raise his consciousness so as to come closer to his ultimate and highest potential, his body, mind, emotions etc have to be healthy… Vacuum breathing helps remove these blockages, esp for more advanced practitioners… While beginners will also benefit, the results will not be evident and without evidence it’s hard to hold on to a path, a journey, a practice! Instead, beginners would benefit from simpler and easier techniques in the beginning and slowly graduate towards this superking method of cleansing – Vacuum Breathing! – rajyogi (rajesh kanoi) www.powerofbreath.in +91 7003092539 https://chat.whatsapp.com/JF3qUn4jJ7B9u68NZqTJWy