still with bhastrika & mukha

                           

using the breath to aid hard poses

When a tennis player grunts as they hit a ball, this grunt helps with the effort. In the same way, we can use mukha bhastrika to help us with a few poses. In Surya Namaskara specifically. As you go to the floor as in:

• ashtanga asana
• eight points pose
• knees chest chin to floor
• come down into chaturanga asana/low plank, whether from standing or plank
• or just lower yourself, even gently, to lying flat on the floor

it helps when go down with one mukha bhastrika. And then as you go up into mountain/downdog, do another mukha bhastrika. This is particularly effective as a method to build up strength. Again - no overkill, please!!

making downward dog easier

An alternative version is to omit mukha bhastrika with Surya Namaskara as we described above, and instead hold mountain/downdog as in Surya Namaskra A, with or without plank pose included. 

Then, in downdog, do one - five rounds of mukha bhastrika, in this way: inhale nose; exhale mouth in a bird's beak: shoo! shoo! shoo! three - six "shoos" per one inhale. 

This is wonderful for increasing daily alertness.

mouth bhastrika

There is also a mouth bhastrika whereby one does bhastrika as normal, pumping the abdomen, but with a twist: do both inhale & exhale through the mouth. Do twenty or more. Powerful for alertness and cooling inflammation, especially in the gut. 

You can also:

• do bhastrika through the nose first
• then do the same amount with the mouth, an equal number of times

Do these at the end of poses, in your pranayama section.

another lovely cleansing pranayama sequence

And another alternative, channelled by myself: inhale/nose; exhale/blow out through the mouth. This is not the mukha bhastrika that I have been describing, it's just a strong "blow", pulling in the abdomen at the same time. I recommend:

• do this fast, about twenty times
• then follow with twenty fast kapalabhatis

Very nice. Do this sequence as your cleansing breaths in your pranayama section, without adding extra types of bhastrika.

hissing breath

Another type of bhastrika that I have successfully used in therapy, and it has been so strong in waking up the brain, is a hissing breath. 

For people who cannot do poses, they can sit:

• inhale, as you drop your head
• exhale as you lift up your head, hissing the breath out loudly
• look up at the end
• inhale to lower the head

For the rest of us: do this in cobra! 

                           

As you raise head/shoulders/chest, hiss the breath out loudly. Inhale back to the floor. Do this three - five times. Not in Surya Namaskara, but as a pose on it's own. Be sure to look up as you go up. This also lifts the spirits, so is most useful, and is great for when we are feeling "down".

I have used the hissing breath, seated, as one of the ways to 'wake up' the brain for people with Dementia, and Alzheimers. The results were dramatic.

so here you have it: much pranayama advice

So, we now have several different ways to use bhastrika. Overkill is not advised. Make sure that you don't add too much to the poses. Always remember: less is more! We want people to have a good experience, not a hyped-up one. Avoid bhastrikas in the evening, for they will keep you awake.

Do one thing and teach it for a while. Try to be consistent and not chop and change. Your students will love it. If there are any queries, please post in the comments section.