Solar (Right) and Lunar (Left) Breath – 3

Now look at the picture of Lord Shiva as the Supreme Yogi depicting to be holding a staff as a support to his left hand. Not just Shiva any yogi doing meditation or not would always have his staff supporting his left hand and not right hand. Can you answer why?

[Lord Shiva in a meditative pose with a supporting staff in the left hand]

Let’s see the answer for this question. When you want to breathe for long and healthy life you should breathe through your right nostril. The easiest way to breathe through your right nostril is to close the left nostril or more easily press the left side of the body slightly. This can be done by leaning to the left even while sitting in a chair or by pressing the left hand on to a staff. This is what is depicted in the image of Shiva.

Any yogi would be leaning to his left or supporting his left hand with a staff or standing on his left leg highlights that he is doing effective breath management to live longer.This staff used by the yogis is called as “Vaasi Dhand”, Vaa+si means a combination of Air and Fire which is our breath. This staff is pressed against specific points in hand or armpits.

[Cuddapah Swami Sachidananda Yogeeswar]

• The quickest way to change the breathing from one right to left nostril is to sit like the Swamiji as shown above. If you want to switch from left to right then change the pose to left side with the left hand pressed on the ground.
• If you or your kids have a blockage of any nostril say right nostril is blocked, please turn to your left and sleep and you would notice that the blockage is cleared within seconds. There is no need for medication like saline and nasal drops.

Simple Do’s and Dont’s

• If you are diseased (even headaches, running low on energy) you may want to note that you may be breathing through your left nostril and not right. Try switching the breath over for a doctor-less, self-administered relief. Please note that this is not cure since the root cause is not addressed for a disease.
• Right side breathing increases the overall heat in the body and hence requires some bodily thermodynamics. It’s very important that you take the advice of a qualified yoga guru / Siddha doctor.

Reference

Know thy Nature by Raguram Gopalan, http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com