One Ancient Breathing Technique (Pranayama) to Enter a Calm, Meditative State Instantly

What if I told you there is one pranayama that can instantly calm your mind. One pranayama which is so simple yet more powerful that can refresh your mind and bring more clarity. I always remind my students yogic practices are not like your pain relievers. They cannot offer an instant cure. One must be consistent with the practice to get benefit at a deeper level. But there is one exception. One pranayama that works like a spark creating a shift the moment you try it. Curious to know what it is? Even more curious to understand the science behind how it works. How an instant effect is possible in the mind? Then you are in the right place. Welcome to the Yogic Lens, a channel that explores the principles and philosophy of yogic practices. The goal of this video as the title states is to show you how to calm the mind instantly. We all want results instantly, right? We live in a fast-paced world where we are not just competing with fellow humans but also competing with AI, artificial intelligence, right? All the technological advancement around us have tremendously improved our ability to multitask and perform faster, smarter and more skillfully. They have boosted our productivity and physical capacity to handle multiple tasks. But have you ever noticed if your mind is actually able to handle this much load? Can it truly compartmentalize the various tasks that you do? The answer is often no. Do you have an application to calm your mind? Yes, you do and it is right within you. You don't need a gadget to access it. You don't have to pay for it. It is a pranayama and that's exactly what we are going to talk about now. Let us now first understand our mind. Let us understand in what circumstances the mind is calm and what circumstances the mind is agitated. For that, we need to study our nervous system which is operated with the help of two hands. Sympathetic nervous system, SNS, fight or flight mode. The other one is parasympathetic nervous system, PSNS, rest and digest mode. When there is a stressful situation in life, the body triggers your sympathetic nervous system, SNS, that is an active mode that increases your heart rate, raises your blood pressure and in extreme cases causes perspiration. Prolonged activation of the SNS due to constant stress can also lead to some lifestyle related diseases. On the other hand, when the parasympathetic nervous system, PSNS, I would abbreviate it, PSNS is activated, it is also called as rest and digest mode, you become calm and composed. Your heart rate slows down, your blood pressure is in control and you are able to handle tough situation in a much more clear and organized way. The PSNS has a network of nerves that helps relax the body after periods of stress. It also supports essential life sustaining functions like digestion. Hence, the name is called rest and digest response. So, we have to understand here, what triggers the PSNS? The PSNS is composed of a network of nerves as I told you, among which the most important nerve is a set of cranial nerves which acts like a major highway for activating the PSNS, essentially triggering a state of calmness in the mind. As you see in this picture, the longest cranial nerve is the vagus nerve. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, the PSNS is activated, helping the body to kind of achieve a mental calmness, support the function of internal organs, promote restful sleep and much more. The ancient yogic text Hatha Yoga Pratibhika by Swami Swatmarama talks about eight pranayama techniques and several mudras, among which there is one particular pranayama that has the ability to stimulate this vagus nerve. That is nothing but also known as humming breath or humming breath pranayama. It is called humming breath because you simulate the sound of a humming bee during exhalation, something like this. If you look at the original verse from Hatha Yoga Pratibhika, Swami Swatmarama beautifully explains how simulating the sound of a humming bee leads the yogi to a blissful state. Here is the verse 68 from chapter 2 of Hatha Yoga Pratibhika. Here the word purakam denotes inhalation. The word rechakam denotes exhalation. Bhringa natham, bhringa means bee and natham is sound. So one has to simulate the sound of the humming bee. What happens scientifically when you do that? The vagus nerve has branches near your throat, vocal cord and ears. This humming sound creates a vibration inside you that mechanically stimulates the vagus nerve. So now let us understand the process. For the mind to reach a state of calmness, the body needs to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, PNS and the PSNS is triggered by stimulation of the vagus nerve and the vagus nerve is stimulated by brahmari pranayama. But the story doesn't stop here. There is a very interesting addition to this. The Hatha Yoga Pratibhika also talks about a mudra called Shanmugi mudra, where you close all the sensory doors by placing your fingers on specific points on your face and direct your awareness inwards. Studies show that performing brahmari pranayama along with Shanmugi mudra can take one's into a complete state of meditation. Think about it. What could be the reason someone reaches such a deep state of mind just by placing the fingers on these areas? How do you think this trigger happens? I mentioned the set of cranial nerves in our body, right? Among them, the vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve. Now, look at this image. This image shows the 7th cranial nerve which runs through your face, also known as facial nerves. This nerve spreads across your face and ends at exactly the points where you place your fingers in the Shanmugi mudra. So, you are not only stimulating the vagus nerve but also stimulating the facial nerve. This dual simulation triggers the parasympathetic nervous system because this cranial nerve 7 that is the facial nerve is also an integral part of the PSNS, just like vagus nerve is also a part. So, combining brahmari pranayama with Shanmugi mudra activates the brain's relaxation mode by stimulating the cranial nerve 7, the facial nerve and the cranial nerve 10, the vagus nerve. There are several variations of brahmari pranayama taught by different schools of yoga. In this video, we are going to explore 5 of them. We will begin with the basic version of brahmari pranayama, how to perform it step by step. Then we will look at a variation that helps improve alertness. Next, we will explore the classical brahmari with Shanmugi mudra which brings deep relaxation and calmness to the mind. After that, we will see a combination of two pranayamas to lead you into a meditative state. And finally, we will end with a version of brahmari for better sleep. Let us now have a small practice session to learn how to do the basic version of the brahmari pranayama. Before we go into the practice, if you are new here to my channel, consider subscribing to my channel along with the notification so that you will receive my video as soon as I do an upload. I mainly talk about the science behind yogic practices, several pranayama techniques and also about yoga philosophy as from Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Now let us get into the practice. Sit comfortably, body in a relaxed state. If you can't sit on the floor, that's okay. Sit on a chair with the back straight without leaning backwards, without kind of slouching. If you sit straight and drop the chin slightly down, then your back remains straight. Now inhale comfortably deeply through the nose and on exhalation release the breath with the humming sound. Let's do this couple of more rounds. Inhale deeply, exhale with the humming sound. Inhale. This is the basic version. Now let us see the second variation. This variation is designed to bring more clarity to the mind, especially when it feels tired. It is something you can practice in the middle of your work day. In this version, for the inhalation part, we will be using Ujjayi breath. Ujjayi is also called the oceanic breath as you gently constrict the throat to extend the length of your inhalation, producing a subtle sound that comes from the throat. If you are new to Ujjayi breath, I have another video on how to do Ujjayi. Please watch that after this one. So you will inhale using Ujjayi and then add Antarkumbaka which is holding the breath after the inhalation. The length of the breath that you hold should be within your comfortable capacity. You can start by holding the breath for the same duration as that of your inhalation. Say for example, if you inhale for four seconds, you can hold for four seconds. There is one contraindication to be aware of like when you are doing a inhale hold, when you are doing the Antarkumbaka. If you have high blood pressure or any heart condition, avoid the inhale hold. Instead, you can simply pause briefly after the inhalation, maybe like a second or two. Let us practice this now. Inhale deeply through Ujjayi inhalation by constricting the back of the throat. Listen to the subtle sound that comes from your throat as you inhale Ujjayi. Now hold the breath 4, 3, 2, 1. Exhale with the humming sound. Let us do this couple of more times. Inhale Ujjayi, hold the breath, exhale with the hum. Once more. Inhale, hold, exhale. So, this is how this variation is done. When you are mentally tired and want to improve your alertness and clarity, this variation is the best. Now, let us see the third variation. In this variation, Brahmari is done with Shanmugi Mudra. As I told you earlier, in this Mudra, you will close all the doors for your senses and direct the awareness inwards. Let us practice this now. Place your small finger on the bottom of the lips, ring finger on top of the lips, mid finger in the sides of the nose. Place your index finger just below the eyes. Do not place it on top of the eyeballs, but place it as if you are pulling your eyelids down. Place your thumb on the ear flap. You can close that completely during the humming exhalation. This will create a kind of reverberation inside you. Just be aware, both inhalation and exhalation happens through the nose. So, you are not closing the nose completely, whereas just placing the ring finger on the sides of the nose. Let us start now. Inhale now deeply. On exhalation, close the ear flap, making the humming sound and finish the exhalation completely. Let's do this couple of more times. Inhale now. Exhale with a hum. Again inhale. Exhale. Relax. Try to do this for several rounds. You will actually feel the difference in your body. If holding the hands in the shanmugi mudra is hurting your shoulders, what I suggest is prop yourself with a couple of yoga blocks or maybe stack a couple of books on either side. Use a table in front of you and support your arms so that you will benefit out of the mudra because most of the time when you do a few rounds, immediately people would feel like kind of a pain in the arm and you will stop doing that. So, what I recommend is like there is no harm in propping yourself with a block or some couple of books or something like that so that you will be able to do several rounds to reach a state of calmness. Let's try this and let me know how you felt. Now, let us see the next variation. In this variation, we are going to use brahmari to reach a state of meditation. Earlier version, we were like you know aiming to get utmost relaxation and mental peace and calmness. Now, in this variation, one step ahead and we are trying to kind of reach a state of meditation. For this, we are combining two pranayamas. For the inhalation part, we are using sheetali pranayama and for the exhalation part, it is going to be brahmari. So, sheetali pranayama is something like you know where you inhale with a fluted tongue. You inhale like this. We are going to add a gentle neck movement to this inhalation. So, let me explain this. Sit comfortably. Let's practice this. Drop your chin down. This is a bandha called Jalandhara bandha. You are tucking your chin down towards the chest. Now, as you inhale, you are going to lift your head up and inhale sheetali something like this. A pause here. As you exhale, now brahmari. Let's repeat this couple of more times. Inhale sheetali, exhale brahmari. Let's start now. Chin drops towards the chest. Start This is very similar to the basic version but with two differences. In this variation, you are not in a seated position. You are on the lying down position. That is your sleeping position. The second difference is you are going to reduce the pitch of the humming tone. In the basic version, you would have done like this. This is the basic version. Now, for the version where you are going to try brahmari for you to induce sleep, you are going to reduce the pitch, the tone a little bit lower. Something like this. Inhale deeply. Inhale. Let's repeat couple of more times. Inhale. Relax. Hope all these variations help you make the most of this amazing pranayama. Not just for calming the mind which is its primary benefit but also for meditation, alertness and better sleep. If you like to learn more about the science behind yogic practices and the philosophy of yoga, consider subscribing to my channel. Let us meet again in our next video. Thank you.