In this meditation, the breath, the prana, is controlled by the rhythmic eight strokes and is projected out as sound. It expands your energy, projects your aura, and gives you your excellence. It is said that this meditation gives one the ability to rise above time and space. Anything which deals with prana is related to the Pranpathi, the one who gives you the prana, which sustains your life. It needs to be done with reverence and devotion.
The Practice
Posture: Sit in Easy Pose with your spine straight, chin in and chest lifted. Place your hands in the mudra.
Mudra: Rest your elbows alongside your rib cage. Place your hands in front of your chest, palms facing upward, with the two Mercury (pinkie) fingers touching and the outside part of the base of the palms touching. Keep the Sun (ring) fingers and the Jupiter (index) fingers straight and the thumbs pulled back. Touch the tips of the Saturn (middle) fingers so that they form a triangle. The mudra is held before the heart center in a comfortable, prayerful position, but it does not touch the chest.
Breath: Inhale through the nose in eight strokes (break the inhalation into eight equal segments with a slight pause separating each part so that there is a distinct beginning and end to each segment. In other words, you are inhaling in eight separate “sniffs.” Each stroke is about one “nose length.” You can feel the breath travel the length of the nose from the nostrils to the eyebrows. Each count of a stroke is about one second, so the eight stroke inhalation takes about eight seconds). Exhale completely and totally with a whistle through the puckered lips.
Continue for 11 minutes.
Comments:
It is necessary to have sufficient practice of this kriya before attempting to do it for more than 11 minutes. The progression is very specific. After one week of practice, you can add one minute to your practice. Each week thereafter, you may add one more minute, up to 31 minutes.
This meditation can be found in Praana, Praanee, Praanayam.