The Four Purifications

Hypothetical: You've been practicing yoga a while now, maybe a year, and you've committed to going a couple times a week. Your practice improved quickly at first, it was a steep learning curve, and then you hit a plateau. You want more but really can't commit more time. What to do?

Well, remember, the asanas we do in class are only one part of the equation. There are 8 limbs to be practiced, and the first 4 are very attainable. The yamas and niyamas are our ethical principles off the mat. They include tenets like nonviolence, honesty, purity, and belief in a higher power. There are many ways to incorporate them into our daily lives to enhance our yoga practice (which is really a Life Practice).  Asanas are the physical part of yoga, we use our bodies to access the mind and heart.  What comes next, or goes along with it, is pranayama.

Pranayama are breathing exercisies. Prana, the life force that coarses through our bodies, is what we really want to investigate and have a connection with. Maybe our prana runs freely, maybe it is abundant, or maybe it is sluggish or uncontained.  By controlling our breath, we increase and harness our prana=energy.  There are probably hundreds of different pranayama techniques. The four I show in this video are accessible to anyone, particularly the first one, nadi shodhana.  The other 3 just take practice. I show you the method and introduce more background in the video below. I copied the script below the video for your reference.

Four Purifications Transcript

Prana, the life force or energy that is concentrated in the central channel of the nervous system of the body, tends to get dilute and scattered.  Pranayama aids in the concentration, organization and distribution of that energy.  Pranayama can be thought of as breathing exercises, but in reality prana is not breath.  Instead, breath can helps move prana from the central nervous system through energy channels called nadis to be absorbed in other parts of the body, like in the mind and heart.  In most people, the nadis are clogged due physical and emotional experiences that create fear, aversions, and tension, which all block pranic flow. 

In order to prepare the gross body for the work that a yoga practice offers the subtle body and mind, it is helpful to take pranayama before your asana practice.  The subtle body is made up primarily of the chakras (energy valves or centers), the pranic currents called vayus, and the network that transfers prana – the nadis.  When the subtle body is left unattended, it can grow dormant, as does the pranic flow.  That is why yoga and pranayama make us feel so energized!  Because they get the prana flowing again.

In this video, I will show you a practice called the four purifications, which are safe for all levels.  This method includes four separate techniques (type on screen): Nadishodhana, Kapala bhati, Agnisara dhauti and Ashvini mudra.

First, nadi shodana, which translates as purification of the nadis, but you might know it as alternate nostril breathing.

Tuck your pointer and middle finger into your palm of your right hand.  Bend your elbow and bring your hand to your face, with the elbow lifted away from the heart.  Place your thumb of your right hand over the right nostril and take an inhale in through the left.  Always start with an inhale thru the left.  Then close the left nostril with the ring and pinky finger and exhale through the right nostril.  Without changing the hand, inhale through the right nostril, then close the right with the thumb again and exhale through the left.  That is one round.  A round always ends with an exhale through the right side.   Take 10-15 rounds of nadi shodana.

This practice harmonizes the solar and lunar sides of our subtle body, our masculine and feminine energies. Our feminine side is the left nostril (which connects to the right brain), and it offers creativity, relaxation, compassion, and cooling temperatures.  The right, masculine side (connected to the left brain) builds our confidence, rational thought, and motivation.  It warms us internally.  With careful attention, you can feel the heating and cooling temperature in the wind that passes through the nostrils.  It’s also interesting to notice if and when one or the other nostril is clogged.  This indicates imbalance between the masculine and feminine energies in your body.  This pranayama truly creates a calm and relaxed, focused energy and can be done at any time if we feel off center, anxious, or lethargic.

Kapalabhati or breath of fire is the second of the purifications.  In this practice, the diaphragm acts as a bellows that fans the internal fire that burns within all of us.  Our diaphragm is located right under the front of the ribcage.  It is a pranayama used specifically to burn up the vrittis or vacillations of the mind, to calm our busy thoughts.

The practice is done by taking a full inhale breath, exhaling slightly to ¾ full and then taking short forceful exhales while allowing the pump of the diaphragm to create involuntary, quickened inhales.  This is all done through the nose, not the mouth.  It is difficult for most people to understand the non-active inhale, and so often the forceful exhales will cause you to lose your breath entirely.  You can try to put your hands on your diaphragm to get the feeling of the pumping.  On the forceful exhale the diaphragm puffs out and to get the inhale to come in, relax or bring the diaphragm back in.  Start slow with maybe only 10 forced exhales before letting the rest of the breath out, work up to 30, but more than 60 might be overdoing it.  Take 3-5 full rounds of kapalabhati.

The heat that this practice is similar to that created by ujayi pranayama, it is used for purification.  In chemistry, reactions and movement of molecules occur with heat.  In the same sense, the chemicals in our body need heat to get moving, either to be absorbed where needed or simply flushed out through elimination or sweat.  Just like prana moving through the nadis, it’s important that our glands and organs have the ability to complete their natural cleansing processes and are not left cold and dormant.

Another way to get the organs into action for the purpose of digestion is with agni sara dhauti, the third of the purifications.  Agni is that internal fire.  Sara is cascade or washing and dhauti is cleansing.  In this practice, we learn to let go of tension held in the abdomen, and to create movement and action in the belly. It is performed on the retention of the exhale breath.  Again, we use that heat created with the breath to purify. 

Take in a full inhale, opening the mouth, stick the tongue out and exhale all the breath out forcefully.  Round the spine and lean forward.  At the base of the exhale hold the breath out.  Start to pump the belly gently at first and as slow as you need.  When you need to take your inhale do so, but work up to 20-30 belly pumps.  Take 3-5 full rounds of agni sara dhauti.

This practice can be done sitting down, but it might be easier to try standing up, bending the knees slightly and bringing the hands to the knees on the exhale, leaving them there to pump the belly.

The last of the purifications is ashvini mudhra, translated as gesture of the horse.  We won’t get into the details of why a horse, but instead let’s get into the description of the practice, and maybe you’ll guess on your own!  This practice is performed on the retention at the top of an inhale.  You will take in the breath and at the top, drop the head back slightly, opening the throat.  With the tip of your chin draw an arch down to the chest.  Try to grab a tiny bit of flesh with the chin and pull up to seal jalandara bhanda, the throat lock.  Holding this, you will begin to contract and release the anal sphincter.  There should be no movement in the body and this might be hard to feel at first.  Try to count the times you contract and release and increase this with practice to around 30.  Take 3-5 full rounds of this last purification method.

By holding jalandara bandha, the Amrita (the nectar of immortality formed in Sahasrara chakra) is kept from dripping down and being consumed by the fire in the navel region.  By contracting the anal sphincter we are able to seal in the area where prana likes to leak out – at the base of the spine near manipura chakra.  This helps develop mula bandha which is extremely beneficial in the ashtanga practice.

This practice can also be performed by taking three full rounds of all four (5 rounds of nadi shodana, 1 round each of the others).  I’ve seen it taught both ways.  Remember, that when we commit to any spiritual practice such as a pranayama practice like this, we will see the best results if we are consistent with it and do it for a long time.  I suggest starting any practice on a new moon, and trying to take it daily for the entire cycle of the moon.  Feel free to email me with questions, concerns, or success stories.  Namaste.