Swara yoga is the ancient science of pranic body rhythms which explains how the movement of prana can be controlled by manipulation of the breath.
Swara means ‘the sound of one’s own breath’. Yoga means ‘union’. Therefore, swara yoga enables the state of union to be reached by means of one’s breath. Through the practice of swara yoga, one can realize the breath as being the medium of the cosmic life force. Swara yoga, however, should not be confused with pranayama, which involves a different aspect of the breath. Although both deal with prana, swara yoga emphasizes the analysis of the breath and the significance of different pranic rhythms, whereas pranayama involves techniques to redirect, store and control prana. Swara yoga may therefore be said to involve the practices of pranayama, but in fact it is a much more extensive and precise science.
Swara yoga involves many aspects of the breathing process. You have to know about the movement of prana in the body and its relationship with the mind. Prana manifests in different ways and has particular effects on each organ and part of the system. There are many techniques for controlling the swara so that during the day the left nostril remains active and prana moves in a particular direction. Or by making the prana flow through the right nostril during the night you can create another type of energy movement and stimulus, so that you can have a good sleep without tranquillizers, work the whole day without becoming fatigued, or you can digest food without taking appetisers or digestives. These are all different aspects of swara yoga.
Breathing continues twenty-four hours a day, whether one is aware of it or not. The breath is man’s most valuable treasure because without it he cannot exist for more than three minutes. There is a saying that man is born alone and dies alone, but this is incorrect. Man is born with his breath, and with his subtle prana, which is the essence of the breath, he departs. Breath is man’s ‘soul’ companion.
The alternating breath:
It appears that respiration occurs through both nostrils simultaneously, but this is not so. When you observe the breath, you will find that one nostril usually remains open for a certain duration of time and the breath comes in and goes out through that nostril, only. After certain time, this nostril closes and the alternate nostril opens. Physiologically, it has a particular effect on the nervous system, producing a certain type of stimulus. Furthermore, it has a specific influence on the brain which requires very systematic regulation.
The flow of the swara changes at regular intervals. Every hour or every hour and twenty minutes the active nostril changes. This rhythm regulates all the psychological and physiological processes. If the swara is irregular, it is a clear indication that something is not functioning properly in the body. There are three swaras. We breathe alternately is very significant in swara yoga because it allows different swaras to flow at different times. One swara flows through the left nostril, another flows through the right, and the third flows through both nostrils nostrils together. The different swaras influence us in various ways by stimulating different energy centres and aspects of the nervous system. In fact, it is not just by chance that the swara flows sometimes through the right nostril and at other times through the left. The rhythm of the body is based on the biorhythms, the energy rhythms of the body, and it also relates to the two hemispheres of the brain. In the human body.
The three swaras correspond to the three major systems, Mind is one aspect, Life force is another and Spirit or Soul is the third. Mind, life force and spirit combined constitute the human being. In swara yoga, mind is known as chitta, life force as prana and spirit as atma. Chitta controls the sensory nerves: the eyes, nose, tongue, ears and skin. Prana controls the five organs of action: speech, hands, feet, reproductive and urinary/excretory organs. Atma is the overall witness or controller. When the left nostril flows, it indicates that the mental energy, chitta, is predominant, and the pranic energy is weak. When the right nostril flows, the pranic forces are stronger and the mental aspect is weak. When both nostrils operate together, it indicates that the spiritual energy, the force of the atma, is in power.
Action in relation to swara:
Swara yoga enables us to understand the nature of the breath and its influence on the body because the different swaras lead to different types of action, mental, physical and spiritual. When you are meditating, praying or contemplating the truth, it is spiritual action. When you are walking, talking, urinating or eating, it is physical action. When digestion is going on and the enzymes are flowing in the body, it is physical action. But when you are worried or have many thoughts on your mind, or when you are memorizing a poem or song, or planning something, it is mental action. Whether you have compassion in your mind or you are angry with somebody, it is all mental action. These are just a few examples of the three categories of action. All of our actions can be classified into three main categories, and each type of action is presided over by a specific flow of the swara. The left swara presides over mental actions, the right swara over physical actions, and both swaras together preside over spiritual actions. We can harmonizing the mind and body by practicing right techniques of swara yoga.
Ida, Pingala and Sushumna:
We have been talking about the flow of the breath, which creates a flow of energy in the body. The word for flow in yoga is nadi. In the nostrils three different flows of energy are created. These are known as ida, pingala and sushumna. The left nostril is connected to the ida network of nadis, the right nostril to pingala, and when both nostrils function together, the main channel or sushumna network is stimulated.
When the left nostril is flowing, ida stimulates the mental faculties, the right swara over physical actions During the time when the swara is alternating, both nostrils become active simultaneously. Then sushumna nadi is said to stimulate the atma or spiritual potential. But this usually occurs only during the period of changeover for a couple of minutes. Sushumna nadi is the cause of spiritual actions and it is the purpose of every yogic and tantric system to activate it. Sushumna runs straight up the centre of the spine and merges with ida and pingala a little above the nasal root at ajna chakra, the point behind the eyebrow centre. It is through sushumna that the kundalini shakti, the high- powered spiritual force, has to be channelled. When both nostrils are active, it is an indication that the sushumna passage is open. Therefore, equalizing the breath is important for opening of sushumna nadi. When sushumna flows, the mental and physical energy patterns become even and rhythmic, the thoughts are stilled and the mind is calm. Therefore, it is also known as the shoonya swara. Shoonya means void. For the yogi this is the most significant type of swara because it aids in the practice of dhyana or meditation. The aim of swara yoga is therefore to develop the shoonya swara by reducing the activities of the alternating breath.
Breathing not only maintains the physical body, it is a direct medium for the evolution of consciousness. As far as medical science is concerned, it is connected with the purely organic function of the respiratory system. That is correct, but swara yoga offers a deeper insight than this, because man’s existence does not begin and end with the physical body. Beyond the physical body exists energy; beyond energy, mind; beyond mind, consciousness; beyond consciousness, superconsciousness. Swara yoga, therefore, studies the flow of energy in order to enable us to come closer to realizing the depth and immensity of the mind, consciousness and cosmos.