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    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness
    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness
    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness
    Ebook100 pages1 hour

    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness

    By Harish Johari

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    About this ebook

    Modern scientists are just now beginning to understand what yogis have known for centuries--that the life force animating our physical bodies is regulated by breath, and that the breath energy is controlled by the mind. The esoteric and practical science of Swar Yoga--presented in this book for the first time in English--teaches conscious observation and control of breathing patterns to maximize energy and vitality.

    Tantric Scholar and author of Tools for Tantra, Chakras, and The Healing Power of Gemstones, Harish Johari brings an in-depth knowledge of ancient Hindu sciences to this discussion of breath and the yoga of balanced living. His is the first guidebook for Westerners to offer a comprehensive treatment of the subject, providing information from Sanskrit texts otherwise unavailable in the English Language. He explains the sensory network of the nose and its effect on the subtle channels of energy throughout the body, showing the direct link between the practice of conscious breathing and the electrochemical balance of the brain and nervous system. He also shows how the breath, alternating between left and right nostrils, is influenced by solar and lunar forces and how one can attune to these natural rhythms and universal laws for greater health and well-being.

    Johari's mastery of Swar Yoga techniques is apparent in the broad scope of Breath, Mind and Consciousness: included are a discussion of the phases of the five elements in the breathing cycle, exercises for physical and psychic healing, the means for determining which nostril is active, and instructions for conceiving a son or a daughter.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInner Traditions/Bear & Company
    Release dateNov 1, 1989
    ISBN9781620550816
    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness
    Author

    Harish Johari

    Harish Johari (1934-1999) was a distinguished North Indian author, Tantric scholar, poet, musician, composer, artist, and gemologist who held degrees in philosophy and literature and made it his life's work to introduce the culture of his homeland to the West. Here is a hot link to a web site dedicated to Harish Johari's work that was set up by his students. http://www.sanatansociety.com/artists_authors/aa_harish_johari.htm

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    Reviews for Breath, Mind, and Consciousness

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Good book to start something if you want to believe
    • 5/5
      Amazing book ! Such information should not be missed by any human.
    • 1/5
      Seems like pseudoscience to me and I am very open minded.......

    Book preview

    Breath, Mind, and Consciousness - Harish Johari

    INTRODUCTION

    BREATH IS the physical counterpart of the mind. The mind uses the cerebral cortex of the brain, the twin hemispheres, as its tool. These two hemispheres coordinate with the entire organism through neuromotor responses. All neuromotor activities, all sensory and motor functions of the body, are performed with the help of the breath. So breath is mind in action! Breath provides the pranic force to the organism. This pranic force, working as the Air element, creates movement, pulsation, vibration, and life. The word spirit comes from the Latin word spiritus, which literally means breath.

    Mind and consciousness are abstract terms—whereas breath is a physiological reality. The study of consciousness begins with the study of the true science of breathing. Breath induces movement. Breathing itself is a neuromotor activity. The science of controlling prana is known as pranayama, a branch of Hatha Yoga. The term Yoga, which literally means union, refers to a discipline, a way of evolving the higher faculties of mind. There are many paths in Yoga, but in essence they all have one goal—the union of the self with God. On the physical level, this means the union of the lower brain with the upper brain. Man’s faculties of abstract thinking and his aspirations for the higher ideals of life (seated in the cerebral cortex) often conflict with his instinctive, animal nature (seated in the lower brain). Through Yoga, man can learn to master his lower brain and pursue higher ideals, to act in accord with the law of universal good. While his animalistic nature makes man hedonistic and selfish, yogic training makes him selfless.

    All yogic disciplines clearly state that a direct relationship exists between prana and mind and that by controlling or mastering prana one can master the mind. According to Yoga Kundalyupanishad, the breathing process creates images in the mind; by controlling the breathing process through pranayama, the breath becomes calm, images do not disturb the mind, and the internal dialogue stops. According to Dr. David Shannahoff-Khalsa of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, The nose is an instrument for altering cortical activity (See Figure 1.) Stop the prana and mental modifications will stop, and the yogi will be able to establish himself in bliss (samadhi). Prana refers not only to the flow of oxygen into the organism but to all components of life force. Prana is the vital life force that sustains all living organisms. Pranic energy is available in negative ions, oxygen, ozone, and solar radiation, but for human beings its main source is the breath.

    Swara Yoga is the science of nasal breath. It has rightly been called the ancient technology of mind.¹ Not a part of Hatha Yoga or other yogas, the science of Swara Yoga deals with the relationship between the nasal breath and the subtle nerves of the body, on the one hand, and the cycles of the Moon and the elements, on the other. It studies the nasal cycles—the nature of the breath flowing with the right and left nostrils. The teachings of Swara Yoga allow us to synchronize our breath, our life, with the universal rhythm of the Moon. This alignment removes the effort and strain from our daily activities and brings good fortune.

    FIGURE 1.  Posterior view of the hemispheres of the brain and their relationship to the respiratory system. Breath coming in through the right nostril cools the right hemisphere of the brain, causing the left hemisphere to become active. Breath coming in through the left nostril has the opposite

    The founders of Swara Yoga were not familiar with the cerebral hemispheres, but they did work with the principle of bipolarity: the right side of the body being the masculine, solar principle, or Shiva, and the left being the feminine, lunar principle, or Shakti. Reaching into the depths of human behavior, they were able to ascertain which activities were best suited for right nasal dominance, and which for left. By observing the direct effect of the moon on the breath, they discovered the sacred science of right living. This book offers methods for determining right/left nostril dominance and for synchronizing the dominant nostril with specific activities of everyday life.

    The implication of this technology is that we are not helpless victims of a given emotional state. ‘If you want to alter an unwanted state,’ says Dr. Shannahoff-Khalsa, ‘just breathe through the more congested nostril.’² By altering the flow of nasal breath, the body chemistry gradually changes, and unwanted emotional and physiological states slowly disappear.

    Swara Yoga can teach human beings the precise way of living peacefully, as masters of their own mind and body; it can enable them to become true instruments of Consciousness. This book gives the reader a key for self-tuning the body/mind with the body/mind itself as the tuning instrument.³

    CHAPTER 1

    The Science of Swara Yoga

    OUR HUMAN ORGANISM works through a specialized network of channels known to physical science as nerves, veins, and arteries. Those conduits that enable us to act and react to our environment are known as nerves. We will use the term nodi to refer to the subtle nerves of the body. The autonomic nervous system runs the inner machinery of the organism via the sympathic and parasympathetic branches. All nerves and nadis form a network around each cell, fiber, tissue, bone, etc., to keep the organism conscious of its environment and itself. As long as the flow of energy in each nadi and nerve is working in proper rhythmic order in a particular area, life exists. When the nadis are blocked, the organ connected

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