Purifying the Lungs
- 12-32 minutes
- 2 exercises
- Medium activity level
This kriya works on the gallbladder, spleen, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and the glandular system. It is intended to clean the respiratory system and increase lung capacity. Greater lung capacity optimizes the intake of oxygen, which helps clean the blood, and strengthens our immune response to infection.
This is to be done on a completely empty stomach.
Posture: Sit in Easy Pose with your hands resting on your knees, palms down. Keep your spine straight, lift your ribcage, and expand your ribcage all around, making your chest area as expanded as you comfortably can.
This expansion gives the lungs "room to breathe." With the chest lifted, the chin can automatically rest in the hollow at the base of the neck (chin lock). You will feel that the rib cage and shoulder area have a feeling of separation from the lower body. The posture is very meditative when correctly done.
Eyes: The eyes are nine-tenths closed.
Breath: Inhale deeply through the nose and hold your breath in as long as you comfortably can. Exhale completely through the mouth, holding the breath out for an equal amount of time. Continue, establishing your own breath rhythm, making sure that you hold your breath in for the same amount of time that you hold your breath out.
Your own lung capacity will guide your rhythm, and once you have established it, you must maintain it. (When this meditation was taught, the inhalation was about 3 seconds, the hold in about 7 seconds, the exhalation about 3 seconds and the hold out about 7 seconds.)
The lift and spread of the rib cage must be maintained, both on the inhalation and on the exhalation. If you use your navel point to guide the exhalation, it will balance the tendency of the chest to collapse as the breath leaves the lungs. Keep the rib cage from falling on the exhalation; this will give the lungs a powerful reaction which can purify material which is stuck. It is a procedure to clean the lungs.
Continue for 15 minutes.
Posture: Hold the same position as Part One.
Breath: inhale (2 seconds), exhale (2 seconds), inhale (2 seconds), exhale (2 seconds). Maintain the lifted and expanded position of the ribcage and begin Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire massages the organs and the glands.
Continue for 3 minutes. Then relax.
Comments:
Our body is based on prana, and prana enters the body through the breath of life. While prana is more subtle than air, air is the medium for prana; and because of this graceful medium, we live.
Consider that God has given you this life as a gift. Yogi Bhajan would say that according to pranic law, there is ‘x’ amount of pranic energy which the body has for use. You can use up this pranic energy in one day and die tomorrow, or you can use it in 50-60 years. It depends upon the breath of life. As long as the pranas are given to you, live, enjoy, and relax.
© 3HO. This kriya is courtesy of YB Teachings, LLC.
This exercise can be found in Praana, Praanee, Praanayam.
