Alternate Breathing for Balancing Nervous System & Reducing Stress

Alternate Nostril Breathing is perhaps the premiere technique for awakening the third-eye and stimulating activity of the pineal gland.  It works by balancing the two major ‘nadis’ (energy channels or meridians) that run the length of the spine and govern the yin and yang aspects of the mind/body/spirit, primarily at an energetic level.  These nadis, correspondingly called Ida and Pingala in Sanskrit, are each connected to eithier the left or right nostril.  Throughout the day, corresponding to the varied lunar/solar cycles and energies, either Ida or Pingala is dominant and hence either the Yin/receptive/female or Yang/outward/male energies will be expressed.  However, through the use of the Alternate Nostril Breathing technique, traditionally known as Nadi Shodhana, one can bring these energies back into balance at will.  Typically this results in greater mental, physical and spiritual harmony as it has the effect of balancing the hemispheres of the brain, lowering the heart rate, and harmonizing the nervous system.

Nadi Shodhana is a powerful practice and it is suggested to start slowly and work your way up to a longer practice.  It is also importance to clear, balance and energize the other 6 primary chakras as well when working with Nadi Shodhana, as practicing this technique in isolation can lead to energetic imbalances.

In a recent six-year study conducted on over 2800 men from Copenhagen, Denmark, scientists discovered that the resting heart rate has a whole lot to do with the length of our lives. Ancient yogis knew this too, when they pointed to elephants and other large mammals with slow breathing rates and slow-beating hearts that lived to be over 100. Conversely, animals like dogs and squirrels live short lives because their hearts beat faster and their resting heart rates are often higher.

Our resting heart rate is an indication of many important vital functions in the body, including our ability to regulate important endocrine secretions to balance hormones, and also to ensure the health of the autonomic nervous system.

The typical resting heart rate (RHR) is around 60-100 beats per minute, and while exercise has shown to lower the RHR over time, the new study from Denmark is showing that despite our attempts to stay young by racking up the miles on a tread mill, a high resting heart rate can kill us sooner rather than later. According to Thorsten Jensen, a cardiologist who worked with colleagues in a study at Copenhagen University Hospital, people with an RHR of 80 beats per minute die up to five years earlier than those with, say, a resting pulse of 60 beats per minute.

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