Ashtanga Breathing

Dvd and book coming this spring 2012!

Last spring, David and Joy set out to film a dvd on breath and Ashtanga. The dvd is being edited and David is working on completing the book. They are both expected to be finished in the spring of 2012. Below you will find both written and video excerpts.

"Pranayama is foremost about the art of breath partly because by way of breath you find mental strength, mental agility and mental accuracy. Due to the precision and subtly that is involved, pranayama is perfectly suited to helping you concentrate your mind and to shed light on your inner mental world. There is no technique equal to observing, tuning in, digging and playing with breath. And in presenting this DVD I'm hoping you'll elect to become connoisseurs who come to know their own breath, one's who refine their palates by tasting, sipping and savoring the ultimate ambrosial beverage, the infinitely sublime, nuanced and flavorful prana, life breath."

Photos and Stills

Excerpts from the book

From the chapter on the diaphragm

Following your diaphragms actions can lead you to discover and activate bandha's. For example, the elusive and challenging practice of mula bandha can be accessed with more ease and more logic when you approach it through observing the movement of the diaphragm. As you watch the rising and falling and expansion and contraction of the diaphragm see how the pelvic floor mimics the diaphragm by lowering and widening as you inhale and then rising and 'bunching' together as you exhale. When you tune into the diaphramatic and pelvic floor actions particularly during exhalation, you can better understand how to effectively 'seal' the pelvic floor in order to 'pull up' and redirect apana vayu. Both the pelvic floor and the diaphragm are horizontal, sheet like surfaces within the torso, one large (diaphragm) and one small (the pelvic floor). These two areas share a synergy, they act symphonically, and tuning into the larger, grosser one helps you tune in to the smaller, more subtle one.

Mula bandha is often defined as 'forcibly pulling up apana vayu' and causing the otherwise downward apanic energy to flow upwards. The upward movement of the diaphragm during exhalation provides you with the means of finding this redirection, the 'against the grain' energetic upward direction that characterizes mula bandha. You can achieve mula bandha by causing your perineum to ride on the coattails of the diaphragm as it ascends the torso when you exhale thoroughly, and there by seal your prana at the root. Following the grosser rhythm of the diaphragm and then the more subtle rhythm of the pelvic floor is what trains you to 'master' your senses, by moving mentally inwards towards center and gaining the ability to discern more and more subtle plays of opposing energetic, skeletal and muscular patterns.

From the glossary

Part of the purpose for the book is to help the practitioner use the language of the sacred texts on hatha yoga to understand how to practice pranayama. Therefore, David has included a glossary in the book to aid the student in learning the language of these texts.

Uddhyana Bandha

Uddhyana: to 'fly up' (referring to sucking up of the abdomen)

Bandha: to lift, to close, re direct

Uddhyana bandha kriya is one of 6 'kriya's' or devotional, cleansing actions that are part of classical hatha yoga and is one of the 3 major, sacred internal locks that are used to re direct prana so that the animating principle, Shakti, the one who illuminates the interior, can flow along the central axis known as sushumna, most glorious. In order to perform this kriya (see exercises below), you swiftly empty out your lungs, then retain the breath and suck up the entire abdomen from pubic bone to diaphragm causing your 'navel to touch your backbone'.

To avoid confusion it is helpful to know that Uddhyana bandha is the name given to two parallel but different techniques, one is the kriya described above, and the other is a less exaggerated, less hollow bellied version of uddhyana bandha that is to be used throughout your ashtanga asana practice and during the exercises on this DVD. It is done without a retention of the breath and instead is a more subtle lifting back and up of the area just below the navel meant to support and strength mula bandha. I think of it as making a 'gesture' of uddhyana bandha kriya without as much lifting action, as though you are cultivating the image of the kriya or capturing its energetic upward essence while breathing.

When working with the exercises on this DVD it is important to work with the basic uddhyana bandha (not the full kriya) in the gaps when you've suspended the breath during either the kumbhaka or viloma exercises. Uddhyana and mula bandha can be synchronized, creating a dual lift from your base that provides you with extra buoyancy, power and stamina during kumbhaka so that you can seal in apana and help direct its downward flow.

Learning the full uddhyana bandha kriya could be the single most important practice for experiencing your breath as a dynamic, central force that shows you the internal dimensions of your posture, your movement and even your consciousness. This is true especially if you are a little timid, shy, or have difficulty producing a clear sound when you work with ujjayi breathing.