The Perfect Breathing Technique

Sometimes the emotions within become very active and
turbulent, and passions of some sort or the other take
possession of us in such a way that psychological
treatments would not be immediately effective. For that,
Patanjali’s advice is that we take to a kind of breathing
exercise, and hold the breath in a particular way for as long a period as possible.

When we are agitated in some way or the other, there is
a heat generated in the system which is the cause of the
disturbance. This heat is cast out, exorcised by the
expulsion of the breath. So, expel the breath with as much
pressure as possible, without causing too much of
discomfort, of course; then hold the breath out for as long
as possible – it may be for a few seconds, or half a minute.

When the breath is held, the movement of the mind is checked to some extent, just as when we catch hold of the pendulum of a clock, the mechanism inside stops functioning for the time being. So, we check the movement of this pendulum, which is the movement of the prana, and then the mechanism inside, which is the mind, will not function. Then we will have a little peace of mind, though it may be for a few minutes; and if we persist in this practice, perhaps the turbulence may completely subside. If we go on holding the pendulum for days together, the mechanism may fail.

The method of breathing that Patanjali prescribes to
bring peace to the mind when it is agitated, or angry, or
emotionally upset for any reason, is to breathe out, exhale
very deeply and hold the breath in the manner of an
external kumbakha. Kumbhaka is retention of breath.
When we hold our breath and do not breathe, it is called
kumbakha. This retention of breath can be done either after

inhalation, or after exhalation. When it is done after
inhalation, it is called internal kumbakha; when it is done
after exhalation it is called external kumbakha. Here, the
sutra in this connection is: pracchardana vidhrabhvprasya (I.34). Pracchardana is expulsion – we expel the breath forcefully, as we do in bhastrika pranayama. After expelling with force, we do not breathe in; we hold the breath – breathe out, and hold the breath out. The heat that is generated inside will be thrown out by the forceful expulsion of the prana. When we are agitated in some way or the other, there is a heat generated in the system which is the cause of the disturbance. This heat is cast out, exorcised by the expulsion of the breath. So, expel the breath with as much pressure as possible, without causing too much of discomfort, of course; then hold the breath out for as long as possible – it may be for a few seconds, or half a minute.

When a sense of suffocation is felt, gradually draw in the
breath; then again expel, and hold the breath. There is no
need for retention after the inhalation, but there is a
necessity to retain the breath after expulsion. So let this
practice be done for some time – even for fifteen minutes,
twenty minutes, or half an hour. The anger will subside, or
any kind of agitated emotion will become calmer.
The breathing-out method which Patanjali prescribes is very effective. Try it today. Anger can be created for the purpose of an experiment. Let someone insult you very vehemently, and then you will get angry and do this breathing technique and see how it works