10 steps to Realization

There are many paths to self-realization. Some people find a path easier than the rest based on their Gunas. An aspirant has to experiment a little and find out what works best for him at his point of evolution. Bhakti Yoga works well for people who can surrender themselves completely to God. The catch is that no body teaches you how to surrender. Jnana Yoga works well for those who have a contemplative nature but nobody can teach you how to contemplate. Raja Yoga is a disciplined and methodic approach. Pranayama is one of the ways by which one can attain realization. By doing Nadi Shodha Pranayama alone one can reach the highest possible states. This is a path in Raja Yoga which works only for people with self-discipline and lots of will power. One should be able to wake up every day at the same time, sleep at the same time, eat at the same time and do your practices everyday at the same time in order to succeed in this. There are 10 simple steps which are listed below. If you are confused reading different scriptures and just need some specific instructions to practice and build your experiences this article is a great find. This article is self-sufficient and is all that you need to guide you till you see the light at the end of the tunnel. But be warned, this is a long journey and will take you years and hard practice to perfect. This article forms a road map to your final destination but you have to walk the path and gain all the experiences and this requires lots of will power. So pray Almighty to help you.

Preliminaries:
Nasagra Mudra: This is the standard mudra used to alternate the flow of breath through the nostrils. Hold your right hand in front of your face with the pointing finger and middle finger resting on the eyebrow center. Close the right nostril with the thumb and left nostril with the ring finger and little finger. Resting the 2 fingers on Ajna induces brahmacharya. A variation for others is to fold the 2 unused fingers. Keep your shoulders parallel and head straight. When you practice this for longer durations, you may place your left hand under your right elbow to support it when you feel the fatigue. You can use the left hand and perform the mudra for a few seconds while your right hand rests and recovers. But slowly with practice you will be able to increase the duration for which you can hold the mudra.

Nadi shodha Pranayama
This is probably the most important pranayama and here is how it is performed. Use Nasagra mudra. Inhale through right nostril and exhale through left. Then inhale through left nostril and exhale through right. This is one round. Repeat 12 rounds. Inhale and exhale for equal duration. Visualize the path taken by the breath forming a triangle with its apex at the eyebrow center. Let the flow of breath be a steady stream like the oil flowing into the wick of the lamp. Make sure that there is no sound when you breathe. You can practice this anytime when your stomach is empty. The best time is early morning between 4:00 am and 6:00 am after you have completed some asanas.
Benefits: Helps the psychic body. This balances the ida and pingala nadis and cleans the mind and sets it ready for meditation.

Once you have started to perform this on a regular basis, you can take up this as a Sadhana and then the results are all dependent on the ratios. Here are the 10 ratios

1:1
1:2
1:1:1
1:2:2
1:3:2
1:4:2
1:1:1:1
1:2:2:2
1:3:2:2
1:4:2:2

Stage I: Just inhaling and exhaling
This stage seems to be very easy and beginners tend to be overambitious. However, proper execution of the sequence with a steady breath is more important than reaching big numbers. This step forms the foundation stone based on which your Sadhana will be built. This stage is sufficient for people who practice this pranayama for good health and fitness.

Step I (1:1): Breathe in and out for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Do not let your concentration drift or your mind to wander. Keeping track of the count is important as that trains your to reach the state of Samadhi with full consciousness. If you do not heed to this point, you may enter a sleep kind of state called laya which lacks the awareness attained in higher states of consciousness. Once you are able to complete 12 rounds without any difficulty slowly raise the duration to 6, 8 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 second. If you are older than 60 or have health problems stop at this. Others can increase their durations to 28, 32, 36, 40, 48, 52, 56, 64, 72, 80 seconds gradually. Do not hurry and increase your durations just after hitting a complete round. Practice for a few days. For higher durations repeating 4 weeks in each level is ideal. The higher steps seem to be more difficult but will facilitate you to move faster to higher levels in the advanced ratios.

Step II (1:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds. Take all the precautions mentioned in Step 1 and gradually increase the inhalation duration to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds. The exhalation duration will be double of this and is more difficult than inhalation. So proceed only when your breath is steady for all 12 rounds. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually. The ratio of 12:24 is regarded special and has a soothing effect on the heart and the mind. Try to hit this ratio if you are practicing this pranayama for general health.

Stage II: With Antar Kumbhaka
Here we introduce inner breath retention called Antar Kumbhaka. Once you have fully inhaled, close both the nostrils with your fingers and then exhale completely. Hitting the exhalation duration to maintain the correct ratio is important. The retention should not be opened with a gasp at any point and it should not be too difficult. If you do not heed to this advice you may run into severe health problems. Kumbhaka is a rocket to lift up your consciousness very fast but it should be in the right direction. You may have to consult an experienced yoga instructor and get suggestions to change your diet and lifestyles if you run into problems. Do not hurry and do not proceed before you have solved your problems or you will be just hurting yourself.

Step III (1:1:1): Breathe in, retain and breathe out for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually.

Step IV (1:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds but retain the breath inside for 8 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28 and 32 seconds gradually. Heed to your inner guidance which may suggest some changes to aid your practice. You can perform Jalandhara Bandha and Moola Bandha during the Kumbhaka

Step V (1:3:2): This is only for advanced practitioners. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 12 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 seconds gradually. You will start having different experience at this point. You may find your head light or dizzy at first but slowly the flow of prana will become evident. Different siddis may manifest at this point but do not be tempted to use them and get deviated from the path of reaching your final goal. Before releasing the Antar Kumbhaka, you can breathe in a bit and start exhaling. This releases the lock and will make the exhalation smooth.

Step VI (1:4:2): This is only for advanced practitioners and is the last step in this Stage. Breathe in and out for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 16 seconds. Breathe out in 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24 seconds gradually. You can lie down in Shavasana at the end of the practice or if you feel tired and decide to abandon your session in the middle. Three ratios are important according to the scriptures. Breathing in for 12, 16 and 20 seconds in this step are called Adhama, Madyama and Uttama Kumbhaka Pranayamas and should be perfected. Once the durations of the sessions increases beyond one hour, it will become difficult to practice this regularly and in one sitting. But this discipline has to be maintained for success. Do not get disheartened and abandon the Sadhana.

Stage III: With Bahya Kumbhaka
Here we introduce outer breath retention called Bahya Kumbhaka along with Antar Kumbhaka. Once you have fully exhaled, close both the nostrils with your fingers. Hitting the exhalation duration to maintain the correct ratio is most difficult and most important. The retention should not be opened with a gasp at any point and it should not be too difficult. Start this Stage only after you have practiced Nadi Shodha for a reasonably long time and your breathing is steady. The effects of your pranayama will now be felt and your breathing pattern in normal life will be different. By the time your reach this step, your inhalation duration will be less than your exhalation.

Step VII (1:1:1:1): Breathe in, retain, breathe out and retain for 4 seconds. This should be effortless and steady. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 seconds gradually. You can perform Jalandhara Bandha and Moola Bandha during the Antar Kumbhaka and add Udhyana Bandha during Bahya Kumbhaka.
The duration for the complete session will start increasing a lot at this point and one has to be extremely patient in completing this. It is a good idea to track the number of times that you have completed a ratio completely for 12 rounds in a note book and track your progress. Remember that you have to practice a ratio successfully for 4 weeks before moving over to the next level in the advanced ratios. Chances are that the remaining steps are revealed to you intuitively by the time your reach this step and you may never need to read the remaining of the article.

Step VIII (1:2:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 8 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Advanced practitioners can increase their inhalation for 24, 28 and 32 seconds gradually. With Bhaya kumbhakas, you will start having different set of experiences and mind gets drawn into a state of blankness. But remember to keep up your counting and only after completing 12 rounds mark your session a success. Before releasing the Bahya Kumbhaka, you can breathe out a bit and start inhaling. This releases the lock and will facilitate smooth inhalation.


Step IX (1:3:2:2): Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 12 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Practicing Bahya Kumbhaka will enable you to continue your ratios in higher elevations. If you do not practice this sufficiently and move to the Himalayas, you will soon find out that you have to step backwards and take up much lower ratios than in the plains. Higher levels can be reached only with the help of God and sincere and dedicated practice. Different kinds of experiences manifest as you go through each of these levels.

Step X (1:4:2:2): This is only for advanced practitioners and is the last step in this Stage. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Retain the breath inside for 16 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Retain the breath outside for 8 seconds. Increase the inhalation to 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 seconds gradually. Once you reach 20 seconds slowly raise your repetitions to 108 times. You will know all that you need to know before you reach the end of this step.

Good Luck!!
-AtmaAnanda