Hindu Medicine c8.131

c8.131

Yoga is centered in the control of breath (prāṇāyāma). Breathing exercises are instrumental in increasing health and longevity; in practising concentration by focussing on inner visions; in putting the mind to rest through absorption of thought into the object of deep meditation (samādhi); in reaching a state of trance, and various stages of introspective, subconscious experience. A proper technique of inhaling (pūraka, “filling up”), exhaling (recaka, “emptying, leaving”) and storing the breath (kumbhaka, “keeping it in the body as in a pot”), along with a system of gymnastics and postures suitable for meditation (āsana, mudrā), is the indispensable requirement for classic achievements on the spiritual plane. These breathing techniques are, on the physiological level, the foundations of the highest, time-hallowed experiences on the path to fulfilment: the mystic union with the divine and the realization of what is taught to be the transcendental Self, forming the innermost core of man’s existence.