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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Kapalabhati ( Cleansing Breath )









Position : Dandasana

Practice :

  • Sit in any comfortable meditative posture.
  • Keep the head, spine and neck straight and hands resting on the knees.
  • Close the eyes and relax the whole body.
  • Inhale deeply through both nostrils,expanding the abdomen and exhale with forceful contraction of the abdominal muscles. 
  • Focus on forceful exhalation, inhale passively by relaxing the abdominal muscle at the end of each exhalation.
  • Repeat the forceful exhalation 20-40 strokes or more strokes if you can do effortlessly per minute and at the end of the one minute stop the practice.
  • Rapid breathing used in this technique should be from the abdomen, not from the chest.
  • When you stop the practice, observe an automatic suspension of breath.
  • Experience and feel the state of deep rest and freshness.  

Note :
  • Keep the head, neck and spine straight throughout the practice.
  • After the rapid exhalation relax the abdomen muscles so that passive inhalation will happen automatically.
  • Regular practice can increase the rapid exhalation speed to 40-120 strokes per minute. 

Benefits :
  • Purifies the frontal region of the brain.
  • Good preparatory technique for pranayama and meditation.
  • Balances and strengthens he nervous system and tone the digestive organ.
  • Recommended for asthma, diabetes, weight reduction, digestive disorders and tuberculosis.

Contra-indications :
  • People with vertigo, high blood pressure, epilepsy, hernia, slip disc and spondylosis should avoid this practice.
  • Women during menstruation and pregnancy should avoid this practice.

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