Yoga - Blocked nostrils, natural/body's pranayam?

Author

Blocked nostrils, natural/body's pranayam?

lallous

2005-03-19, 6:09 pm

Hello

When someone is sick, sometimes he gets blocked nostrils, is that some body
mechanism to regulate energy flow?

Can it be compared when one consciously does pranayam?

--
Elias

Don

2005-03-19, 6:09 pm

lallous wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> When someone is sick, sometimes he gets blocked nostrils, is that some body
> mechanism to regulate energy flow?
>
> Can it be compared when one consciously does pranayam?
>
> --
> Elias

Hi Elias,

I don't think it can be compared. The late Harish Johari published a lot
of information about correct breathing and keeping both nostrils open.
He believed that there was a correlation with oxygenating both
hemispheres of the brain. He said that the goal was to keep both open,
as much as possible, and gave techniques for that. For example, when one
nostril becomes stuffed up during sleeping, one should turn over onto
the other side, so that that nostril is "up." Or, better yet, lie on
stomach and turn face so that the obstructed nostril is "up." One should
not lie on the side where the obstructed nostril is, because drainage
will get into the sinuses, where infection can occur.

I have used a combination of "shower pranayama" (breathing shower steam
alternately through each nostril) and Johari's sleeping techniques to
successfully avoid sinus infection for over twenty years.

Best regards,

--Don
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yogabare

Stu

2005-03-19, 6:09 pm

On 2005-03-16 15:01:38 -0800, Don <lalladas@earthlink.net> said:

> lallous wrote:
>
> Hi Elias,
>
> I don't think it can be compared. The late Harish Johari published a lot
> of information about correct breathing and keeping both nostrils open.
> He believed that there was a correlation with oxygenating both
> hemispheres of the brain. He said that the goal was to keep both open,
> as much as possible, and gave techniques for that. For example, when one
> nostril becomes stuffed up during sleeping, one should turn over onto
> the other side, so that that nostril is "up." Or, better yet, lie on
> stomach and turn face so that the obstructed nostril is "up." One should
> not lie on the side where the obstructed nostril is, because drainage
> will get into the sinuses, where infection can occur.
>
> I have used a combination of "shower pranayama" (breathing shower steam
> alternately through each nostril) and Johari's sleeping techniques to
> successfully avoid sinus infection for over twenty years.
>
> Best regards,
>
> --Don
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yogabare

I would like to add that blocked nostrils are a sign of illness, either
bacterial, viral or allergy. An open respiratory system is a sign of
vitality, life. Pranyam is all about connecting to that vitality.

As far as I can think I don't believe the body has any "natural" yogic
autoreactions. Part of the yogic practice is bringing creative
intelligence into the body. Yoga starts with intention. Though one
can use natural indicators to guide the practice, as in noticing ease
in breath, or not forcing muscles.

But I may be wrong here and would welcome any comments on that.
--
~Stu

lallous

2005-03-19, 6:09 pm

Hello

The body is intelligent in many ways, for instance, when sick it closes
appetite so to give space for the body to rest, I guess we all agree on
that.

So that's why I assumed that when infected or in disease, a blocked nostril
strategy started by the body is just to balance the energy.
Haven't you noticed that sometimes the left nostril is blocked, then it is
opened so that the other is blocked...a certain cycle....

Yet again, I am like you just assuming.

Thanks for your feedback.

--
Elias

"Stu" <Nospam@towel.com> wrote in message
news:2005031620490750073%Nospam@towelcom...
> On 2005-03-16 15:01:38 -0800, Don <lalladas@earthlink.net> said:
>
>
> I would like to add that blocked nostrils are a sign of illness, either
> bacterial, viral or allergy. An open respiratory system is a sign of
> vitality, life. Pranyam is all about connecting to that vitality.
>
> As far as I can think I don't believe the body has any "natural" yogic
> autoreactions. Part of the yogic practice is bringing creative
> intelligence into the body. Yoga starts with intention. Though one can
> use natural indicators to guide the practice, as in noticing ease in
> breath, or not forcing muscles.
>
> But I may be wrong here and would welcome any comments on that.
> --
> ~Stu
>

Don

2005-03-19, 6:09 pm

Hi Elias,

The condition you are describing is called rhinitis. So far as I know,
it is caused by head congestion resulting from infection or allergies.
The "alternating" part seems strange (though it is a classic symptom),
but appears to have a lot to do with the position of the head. Sometimes
both nostrils will become blocked at the same time, and when that
happens I have found that slow, deep "yogic" breathing is the most
helpful, and sometimes clears it up. I also highly recommend the shower
steam that I mentioned earlier. If this is a chronic problem, it might
be a good idea to see a doctor about it. There is a possibility that you
are allergic to something, and they might be able to identify the
allergen.

--Don
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yogabare

lallous wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> The body is intelligent in many ways, for instance, when sick it closes
> appetite so to give space for the body to rest, I guess we all agree on
> that.
>
> So that's why I assumed that when infected or in disease, a blocked nostril
> strategy started by the body is just to balance the energy.
> Haven't you noticed that sometimes the left nostril is blocked, then it is
> opened so that the other is blocked...a certain cycle....
>
> Yet again, I am like you just assuming.
>
> Thanks for your feedback.
>
> --
> Elias
>

omjaram

2005-03-23, 5:42 pm

My understanding is that hatha yoga is a detailed and systematic
(intentional) application of what the body is designed to do naturally.
It is the science of understanding and exercising the natural functions
of the body. This would explain why yogis who do not practice hatha may
still accrue the benefits of doing so by using other yogic methods
wherein they allow the body to "naturally" marshal and express
it's innate health and considerable powers.

Here are a couple of citations which suggest there is a distinct
correlation between alternate nasal breathing which occurs naturally
and the higher functions of the brain and social function. I did a
google search on "ultradian rhythm+nasal" and found lots of stuff
to read on this subject.

Breathing, Ultradian Rhythms, and Headaches
(http://www.authentic-breathing.com/...s.htm#ultradian)
Those readers who have observed their breathing for any length of time
have probably noticed that, in general, air does not move through the
nasal passages equally at the same time. Usually when the left nostril
is more open, the right one is more congested and vice versa. This
occurs because the flow of blood shifts back and forth between the
nostrils in a rhythm that takes approximately one and a half to two
hours. This "ultradian rhythm," long observed by medical science, is
related to the functioning of the brain hemispheres and can play an
important role in healing. When the left nostril is more open, the
right hemisphere of the brain is generally more dominant; when the
right nostril is more open, the left hemisphere is generally more
dominant.

(http://www.23nlpeople.com/Rhythm.htm)
Another ultradian rhythm, and noted by Rossi, is that of nasal chamber
dilation. Like many bodily functions, nasal chamber dilation
corresponds to contralateral activity in the brain. When the left nasal
chamber is most dilated (the right chamber partially blocked) then the
right hemisphere is most active, and vice versa. During my yoga
training in India, an advanced yoga practice is the control of nasal
breathing and chamber dilation. This is said to bring about great
psychological and physiological control. There are several variations
of the exercise using the hands to alternate manually blocking of the
nasal airways. Adepts appear able to do this at will without using
their hands

(Brown, 1991; Rossi, 1991b)
One of the most intriguing areas of recent research exploring the
ultradian interface between the mind-brain level, stress,
psychosomatics and personality is the so-called nasal rhythm.

The German rhinologist, Kayser (1895) is credited with recognizing and
measuring the widely varying ultradian shifts in "nasal dominance" in
humans whereby the left and right chambers of the nose alternate in
their size and shape to change the degree of air flow through each
every few hours. Table one outlines some of the major studies in a
century of research in this still highly controversial area. The most
significant of these studies for understanding mind-body communication
are those of Debra Werntz (1981) who reported a contralateral
relationship between cerebral hemispheric activity (EEG) and the
ultradian rhythm of the nasal cycle. They found that relatively greater
integrated EEG values in the right hemisphere are positively correlated
with a predominant airflow in the left nostril and visa versa.

Table 1 A century of research on the duration of the nasal cycle.

In a wide ranging series of studies Werntz et al (1982a & b) found that
subjects could voluntary shift their nasal dominance by forced
uni-nostril breathing through the closed nostril. Further, this shift
in nasal dominance was associated with an accompanying shift in
cerebral dominance to the contralateral hemisphere and autonomic
nervous system balance throughout the body (Klein et al. 1986). The
ultradian nasal cycle is not only a marker for cerebral hemispheric
activity, but it also could be used to voluntarily change the loci of
activity in the highest centers of the brain and autonomic system that
are involved in cybrenetic loops of communication with most organ
systems, tissues and cells of the body. Some of these investigators
hypothesize that this nasal-brain-mind link may be the essential path
by which the ancient practice of breath regulation in yoga led to the
the voluntary control of many autonomic nervous system functions for
which the Eastern adeps are noted.

These relationships inspired a recent Ph.D dissertation by Darlene
Osowiec (1991) who assessed hypothesized associations between the nasal
ultradian rhythm, anxiety, symptoms of stress and the personality
process of self-actualization. She found that: "(1) there is a
significant positive correlation between self-actualizing individuals
having low trait anxiety and stress related symptoms and a regular
nasal cycle... and (2) non-self-actualizing individuals with high
levels of trait anxiety and stress-related symptoms exhibit
significantly greater irregularity in the nasal cycle..." These results
are reminiscent of the ancient texts that emphasize that an irregular
nasal cycle, particularly one in which the person remains dominant in
one nostril or the other for an excessively long period of time are
associated with illness and mental disorder (Rama, Ballentine and
Ajaya, 1976)

Osowiec's findings with the ultradian nasal rhythm are similar to the
types of associations that are found between stress, symptoms,
personality and responsiveness to therapeutic hypnosis. Since hypnosis,
like chronobiology, was a historically significant turning point in the
study of these cybrenetic pathways of mind-body communication and
healing, it will be used here as a paradigm of how psychology and
biology may find a common denominator in ultradian time, rhythm and
information transduction (Rapp, 1987)
( http://ernestrossi.com/wave_nature_of_being.htm)

Namaste

Stu

2005-03-23, 5:42 pm

On 2005-03-19 19:18:30 -0800, "omjaram" <omjaroo@yahoo.com> said:

> My understanding is that hatha yoga is a detailed and systematic
> (intentional) application of what the body is designed to do naturally.
> It is the science of understanding and exercising the natural functions
> of the body. This would explain why yogis who do not practice hatha may
> still accrue the benefits of doing so by using other yogic methods
> wherein they allow the body to "naturally" marshal and express
> it's innate health and considerable powers.

I respectfully must disagree with you.

I think the problem is in the definition of "natural". Left to its own
natural devices the body withers and dies. We are "naturally"
attracted to sugar and fat. We are "naturally" lazy. With time our
posture suffers as our shoulders naturally roll forward, our necks move
forward, until we walk slumped in a permanent state of looking at our
feet.

Yoga (asana) is about awaking the bodies innate intelligence. The
body's intelligence is "natural" as well, but somehow it takes a form
of artifice (as in something man made) in the form of yoga to resist
the natural tendencies of the body (withering and dying).

That is why yoga is referred to as both a science and an art. It is
not "natural".
--
~Stu

omjaram

2005-03-23, 5:42 pm

> I respectfully must disagree with you.

No problem :-) Perhaps an interesting topic for another discussion.

In this case though I am interested to know if you agree that the
ultradian nasal rhythm represents the body's "natural" balancing
of the nadis (ida, pingala), which is the design of Nadi Sodhana
(Alternate Nostril Breathing)?

Namaste

Stu

2005-03-23, 5:42 pm

On 2005-03-20 19:53:38 -0800, "omjaram" <omjaroo@yahoo.com> said:

>
> No problem :-) Perhaps an interesting topic for another discussion.
>
> In this case though I am interested to know if you agree that the
> ultradian nasal rhythm represents the body's "natural" balancing
> of the nadis (ida, pingala), which is the design of Nadi Sodhana
> (Alternate Nostril Breathing)?
> Namaste

My yoga teacher calls Nadi Sodhana, digital breathing. I think she
likes the "hi tech" sound of it even though she is referring to the use
of the fingers in the practice. She teaches it in a very concise way
that makes the practice extremely effective.

My experience with Nadi Sodhana goes back to learning it when I was 10
years old. It is an interesting practice, because by merely doing it,
the breath naturally slows and becomes an ojai breath. The activity is
just difficult enough to practice to fully engage the mind. A
wonderful way to train the mind. An excellent practice as a
preparation to meditation.

Are you asking me if you think it "naturally" balances the nadis?
Because my answer would be that the nadis have naturally become
imbalanced left on their own (prolly due to life's little stresses).
Nadi Sodhana is a way to direct a balanced rhythm to the respiratory
system, sort of an applied intelligent orchestration.

The question then goes: Is this intelligent orchestration natural?

Its really semantics. And how we define "nature".

I think we agree on the important issue - that the practice is good for
you. And it is within our natures to better ourselves.
--
~Stu

Stu

2005-03-29, 7:22 pm