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Spinal BreathingPranayama–Journey to Inner SpaceYoganiFrom The AYP Enlightenment Series

Copyright 2006 by YoganiAll rights reserved.AYP PublishingFor ordering information go to:www.advancedyogapractices.comLibrary of Congress Control Number: 2006923697Published simultaneously in:Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.andLondon, England, U.K.This title is also available in eBook format – ISBN 0-9764655-7-4(For Adobe Reader)ISBN 0-9764655-6-6 (Paperback)ii– Spinal Breathing Pranayama

“All the while my breath is in me,and the spirit of God is in my nostrils ”Job 27:3Journey to Inner Space – iii

iv – Spinal Breathing Pranayama

IntroductionSpinal Breathing Pranayama is one of the mostimportant practices in all of yoga. It can have apositive impact on our health and well-being, and infacilitating more effective functioning in every aspectof our daily life. But more than that, spinal breathingpranayama purifies and opens us to our ecstatic innerrealms. To engage in this simple practice on a dailybasis is to be on an exciting journey to inner space.For thousands of years, methods of spinalbreathing have been utilized by spiritual practitioners,and are mentioned in the ancient scriptures. Yet, thedetails of this practice have always been kept secretfrom the vast majority of the population. Now, inthese rapidly changing times, there is a great need formany to have access to the means that have long beenreserved for the few. No one owns this knowledge. Itoriginates inside each of us, within our very ownnervous system. We only need a few simpleinstructions, and the natural evolutionary processespresent within us will take over, yielding marvelousresults.The Advanced Yoga Practices EnlightenmentSeries is an endeavor to present the most effectivemethods of yoga in a series of easy-to-read books thatanyone can use to gain practical results immediatelyand over the long term. Since the AYP writings firstbegan in 2003, we have been engaged in a fascinatingJourney to Inner Space –v

experiment to see just how much can be conveyed,with much more detail included on practices than inthe spiritual writings of the past. Can books provideus the specific means necessary to tread the path toenlightenment, or do we have to surrender at the feetof a guru to find our salvation? Well, clearly we mustsurrender to something, even if it is to our own innatepotential to live a freer and happier life. If we are ableto do that, and maintain a daily practice, then bookslike this one can come alive and instruct us in theways of human spiritual transformation. If the readeris ready and the book is worthy, amazing things canhappen.While one person’s name is given as the author ofthis book, it is actually a distillation of the efforts ofthousands of practitioners over thousands of years.This is one person’s attempt to simplify and makepractical the spiritual methods that many haveutilized throughout history. All who have gone beforehave my deepest gratitude, as do the many I amprivileged to be in touch with in the present whocontinue to practice with dedication and good results.I hope you will find this book to be a usefulresource as you travel along your chosen path.Practice wisely, and enjoy!vi – Spinal Breathing Pranayama

Table of ContentsChapter 1 – Breath and the Life Force . 1Chapter 2 – Spinal Breathing Pranayama . 9How to do Spinal Breathing. 10When and Where to do Spinal Breathing. 12Initial Questions on Practice . 14Enhancing the Effectiveness of Spinal Breathing. 20The Possibilities . 32Chapter 3 – Journey to Inner Space. 35Managing Our Purification and Opening. 36Energy Experiences and Visions. 63The Evolution of Ecstatic Conductivity. 86Chapter 4 – The Cosmic You . 93The Marriage of Opposites . 94Ecstatic Bliss. 96The Infinite Self and Divine Love . 98Further Reading and Support . 103Journey to Inner Space – vii

Chapter 1 – Breath and the Life ForceBreath is life. It sustains us and it is an expressionof the life force within us. The fact that we arebreathing is an affirmation of life. It means we wantto be here. It means we want to be doing somethinghere. But what?So much of life is instinct. We breathe, we eat, wesleep, we become active, we procreate Within all of that, we are making choices aboutwhat to do with our life, going about our business –getting an education, pursuing a career, makingmoney, raising a family, working for the things thatmatter to us, and so on.All the while, something is wondering inside:“What is all this for? Why am I here? Is theresomething more?” We have an instinct to be askingthese questions. Like breath itself, the questions arespurred through the impulse of life stirring deepwithin us. Indeed, the questions are an essentialconstituent of our life force, as essential as breathingitself.What is this life force that sustains and animatesevery aspect of our existence, and spurs us on to findanswers? We know that all of material existence ismade up of energy. Physics tells us that all matter isempty space made to behave as solid by the polaritiesof energy whirling inside. All of this whirling in thevacuum of infinite space, making the appearance ofJourney to Inner Space –1

matter, is according to natural laws. That is, thenature of matter is predictable, at least as far as wehave been able to determine with our scientificinvestigations over the centuries. Likewise, whenmatter takes the form of living things – plants,animals and human beings – much can be predictedabout the physicality of life. But there is somethingmore manifesting in living things. The whirlingenergies are still there creating the appearance ofmatter. Yet, something more is operating to bring thematter together into an intelligent expression – anintelligent and evolving system. This something elsewe can call the “life force.”In the ancient teachings of yoga from India, thelife force is given another name – prana, whichmeans “first unit” or “first manifestation.” Yogaregards the manifestation of all matter as amanifestation of prana, and therefore “intelligent.”Indeed, all that exists, all that is born of energy is anexpression of prana. The rocks and earth areexpressions of prana. The seas are an expression ofprana. The air is an expression of prana. And all ofanimate life is an expression of prana. In the Easternway of thinking about it, the entire material existenceis an expression of prana – the life force. And it is allimbued with an innate intelligence.Where does prana come from? Whether we go tothe spiritual teachings of the world, or to modernquantum physics, we will find a similar answer –2– Spinal Breathing Pranayama

stillness is the source of prana, the life force thatenergizes the universe we experience. The stillnesswe speak of is of a special kind – a stillness that isfilled with possibilities. It is an awareness that doesnot move. Yet, all that we see springs from it and isit. In the AYP writings we call it inner silence, orpure bliss consciousness. It has many names in manytraditions. Whatever we call it, it is underlying all theactivities of the life force, and everything we do inlife.The cultivation of inner silence in the humanbeing is the subject of the first book in the AYPEnlightenment Series: Deep Meditation – Pathway toPersonal Freedom. Now we are going to the nextstep, which is the cultivation of prana, the life force,in the human being in ways that promote theexpansion of our inner potential, our inner silence.To this end, yoga has a branch of practice calledpranayama, which means “restraint of prana,” the lifeforce manifested as breath. So pranayama is aboutbreathing techniques.There are many methods of pranayama, manybreathing techniques. But one stands out above all therest. It is called spinal breathing pranayama. Thereason it stands out is because of its effectiveness instimulating and regulating prana within us in a waythat covers the three primary objectives of allpranayama:Journey to Inner Space –3

1. Culturing the nervous system to become asteadily improving vehicle for inner silence risingfrom deep meditation.2. Awakening the nervous system to a condition ofpermanent ecstatic conductivity.3. Increasing and balancing the flow of inner energy(prana) over the long term to facilitate aprogressive and safe unfoldment of the individualtoward enlightenment.The internal dynamics of implementing thesethree objectives are complex. Fortunately, thepractice of spinal breathing is very simple. It is likethis in the successful application of any complextechnology in our society. The means of control areoptimized and simplified to a level where nearlyanyone can efficiently take advantage of complexprinciples found in nature.For example, consider a car. We hardly give it asecond thought when we climb into a car and driveoff to an appointment. Even as we are driving, wewill be thinking about our appointment rather than thecomplex technology that is operating smoothly underthe hood of the car, whisking us off to our chosendestination. All we have to do is press on the gaspedal and hold the steering wheel, and away we go.Simple, yes? No, not simple at all, but it has been4– Spinal Breathing Pranayama

made simple by virtue of the simplified controls thatenable us to effortlessly transform a volatilesubstance, gasoline, into a speedy and safe ride to ourappointment.Pranayama is like that. In fact, all effectivespiritual practice is like that. We can take complexprinciples of transformation found in the humannervous system and, with a series of simpleprocedures, apply these for great spiritual benefit.In the case of spinal breathing pranayama, we aresimultaneously capitalizing on numerous complexprinciples that are operating within our neurobiology,and we are enhancing these in a broad-based way.As the name implies, spinal breathing involvesdoing something in the spine. From physiology andneurology we know that the spinal cord is the mainhighway of our functioning. From yoga, we knowthat the spinal cord is the main highway of the lifeforce in our body. Yoga also recognizes that as wepurify and open the nerves in the body, innerexperiential openings occur. This is the centralprinciple in deep meditation, where we systematicallygo from thinking to inner silence and come out intothe body/mind with great purifying effects. This kindof process is also central in the application of spinalbreathing pranayama, on the level of the breath andthe body, where we are going in and cultivating thenerves in a specific and purifying way. In doing so,we are improving the ability of the subtleJourney to Inner Space –5