THEORY OF CLASSIC PRANAYAMA

It is not difficult a task to understand that the breathing exercises are not
aimed to train the chest muscles, to strengthen the diaphragm or to create some
peculiar conditions of blood oxygenation; they are to act on the energy - Prana -
present in our psychophysical system. During such practice, one should try to
perceive the flows of energy through some subtle channels called Nadi. The
principal Nadis are Ida, which flows vertically along the left side of the spinal
column and is said to be of female nature, and Pingala - of masculine nature -
which flows parallel to the former one. Sushumna flows in the middle, beyond the
duality inherent to the two preceding Nadis. It is not difficult to imagine that
the Nadis, just like the water-conducting pipes in the houses, might be "rusty",
"dirty", "obstructed", and that this fact is linked with the decrease of vitality
in our body. The amount of "dirtiness" in the Nadis can be related to disharmony
and conflicts inside of our disposition; thus, cleaning these channels through
Pranayama techniques brings on a transformation in our personality. There are
moments of the day in which we feel more exteriorised, others in which we are more
interiorised; in a healthy person this alternation is characterized by a balance
between a life of positive relationships and a serene contact with his own depths.
Unfortunately, a lot of people lack such a harmony. The too introvert person starts
to actually lose contact with the external reality, to the point that this will
exert, as a reaction, an excessive influence that will inevitably destroy his
internal peace; the too
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extrovert person will soon provoke the coming up of all those symptoms commonly
regarded as the beginning of a neurotic state. Through the practice of Pranayama,
specifically the alternate-nostrils variety, these two opposite tendencies are, at
least temporarily, balanced. As a result, a practitioner develops a greater
emotional awareness, a more precise evaluating criteria and a wider range of
abilities to elaborate information, i.e. greater operative intelligence. A more
calibrated, intense, precise and clearer logical process will rise from a more
efficient synergy between thoughts and emotions. In this way, intuition can flow
freely in order to face the moments of life for which important decisions are
expected to be made. Of course, common sense suggests that Pranayama is not a
trick to solve automatically peoples psychological and existential problems. When
the practice is set in, all the possible inner strength must be employed to achieve
a better way of "living". Therefore, all the necessary measures should be
considered, in order to challenge the internal barriers; only in this way will
Pranayama support a stable inner renovation. When the first good effects begin to
be felt, the yogi is encouraged to keep on practicing and goes deeper and deeper
into it, looking for "something more." This "something" is the Sushumna current,
which begins to flow, creating an experience of joy, happiness, and elation. Here,
the "mystic" venture begins; the practitioner might have no idea of what this
experience means, and yet it would happen to him.
Of course, nothing that I mentioned is scientifically verifiable; as far as I
am concerned, I decided to verify all these hypotheses. Through a serious practice,
I wanted to see by myself if Pranayama was really endowed with such a strong
potentiality. I began to practice the following routine in an "absolute" way, with
a steadfast concentration, nearly as if it had been my only reason of life. I
remember with nostalgia this intensity, especially when, for some reasons, I lack
the initial spontaneity.