Prana calendar
Prana Calendar for 2012
The PRANA CALENDAR is a unique tool for synchronizing the breath with planetary rhythms. It does this by providing explanation of the workings of the breath with the hemispheres of the brain.
A main component of InnerTuning® methods, this synchronization is achieved by becoming better aware of the link between nostril breath to the functions of either the left or right brain at a given moment in time. Having awareness and influence over this link, in relation to the dominance of one side of the brain versus the other, has profound affect on our well-being on a daily basis.
The right brain, for example, is known to guide the operation of non-verbal communication, intuitive thinking, emotions, creativity, spatial perception, associative thinking, sensitivity to music and harmony, and our memory of shapes and forms. The left brain, alternately, is known to control the operation of speech, sequential thought, rational analysis, rhythm, attention to detail, and mathematical reasoning. With the awareness of the capacity of the nostril breath to affect these activities, the student of InnerTuning® can increase their ability to harmonize mental, emotional and physical activities.
The Prana Calendar is a year-long schedule of the correct nostril alignment, sunrise and sunset times and alerts for important dates throughout the year. It functions as the primary practical guide for following the InnerTuning® system. It contains essays and charts that further explain the relationship of the breath to brain hemispheres and discusses how mantras aid this aspect of psycho-spiritual growth.
When used regularly, Calendar synchronization of your breath with the correct brain hemisphere provides lasting beneficial effects throughout the day and profound positive changes over an extended period of time.
Modern scientific research has shown that nostrils tend to switch dominance roughly every ninety (90) minutes throughout the day and that nostril dominance is closely linked with cerebral (brain) dominance
.
Switching nostril dominance at will thus becomes a convenient way of controlling brain dominance and altering states of awareness and body states with the rhythms of the Cosmos* interestingly, the relationship between dominance of the brain hemispheres and nostril dominance has been noted by practitioners of Svar Yoga for centuries – long before recent laboratory confirmation of this phenomenon.
The Science of Breath (Svar Yoga)
According to the ancient science of Svar Yoga (Breath Yoga), the human body is an autonomous, self-synchronous organism, which experiences life fully in the world of names and forms. The body has precise mechanisms for synchronization with rhythmic cycles of the planet and cosmos.
The most important, easily regulated and effective of these mechanisms is the nostrils. Knowledge of the play of breath in the nostrils forms the basis of this ancient teaching. Svar Yoga, even in its native India, has been amongst closely guarded secrets of teachings. In the last few decades, however, it has become more known.
Several scientists have verified some basic findings including David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa who published an artcile entitled, “Unilateral Forced Nostril Breathing:Basic Science, Clinical Trials, and Selected Advanced Techniques” in Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine Journal. Summary of this article states:
“This article reviews the published basic science and clinical studies on unilateral forced nostril breathing (UFNB), a subject of yogic breathing (pranayam) techniques that were discovered/devised over 5,000 years ago. The relationship of UFNS to the ultradian psychological phenomenon called the nasal cycle, a marker of mind-body states is also reviewed. Basic science studies show how UFNB can affect the autonomic nervous system (including cognition), and general metabolic activities.”
THE PRANA CALENDAR™
The Prana Calendar is based upon the fact that the left nostril sends vital energy (prana) to the lunar right cerebral hemisphere and the right nostril sends prana to the solar left cerebral hemisphere. In a healthy individual, the dominant nostril is related to the waxing and the waning of the moon. Three lunar days before the Full Moon, left nostril breathing is dominant. When the amount of lunar energy reaches its zenith on the Full Moon, a shift in breathing occurs, the right nostril becomes dominant and prana is sent to the solar left hemisphere. A reverse phenomenon occurs at the time of the New Moon.
The reason for the shifts in nostril dominance is as follows: At the time of the Full Moon, lunar energy has reached an extremely high level and individuals have become dangerously emotional. Their rational faculties are weak. Nature automatically corrects this imbalance by shifting inhalation to the right nostril and activating the left hemisphere at the following dawn. When the capacity for feeling becomes too weak, energy shifts back again to the left nostril.
This cyclical activity is natural for people who are living close to nature: rising before dawn and retiring shortly after sunset. The invention of the electric light bulb has shattered that natural lifestyle for most people. Using the Prana Calendar is a crucial means of compensating for this divorce from natural rhythm.
The moment of sunrise is the time to check the breath to determine which nostril is dominant. For each day of the year, the Prana Calendar tells the time of sunrise and the nostril which should be dominant. The calendar describes methods for shifting nostril dominance, if necessary.
When the correct nostril is dominant and we are in tune with the lunar rhythm of the planet, we feel the benefits for the whole day. If we maintain this synchronization regularly over an extended period of time, we experience profound and lasting changes of a positive nature.
THE SCIENCE OF BREATH
Ancient Indian wisdom teaches that all human beings possess two nonmaterial bodies in addition to the physical body. A subtle body, containing seven chakras, pervades the physical body. It is the source of our feelings. A causal body pervades both the subtle and physical bodies. It is the source of our thoughts. Breath and prana pervade all three bodies. The subtle manner through which this occurs was studied by the ancient science of Svar Yoga (Breath Yoga).
Knowledge of the play of breath in the nostrils forms the basis Svar Yoga. It was taught only to initiates and was never widely known, even in its native India. However, in the last few decades, several scientists have verified some of its basic findings. In a review of this
2
literature, Shannahoff-Khalsa stated:
This article reviews the published basic science and clinical studies on unilateral forced nostril breathing (UFNB), a subset of yogic breathing (pranayam) techniques that were discovered/devised more than 5000 years ago. The relationship of UFNB to the ultradian physiological phenomenon called the nasal cycle, a marker of mind body states is also reviewed. Basic science studies show how UFNB can affect the autonomic nervous system, central nervous system (including cognition), and general metabolic activities. - Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine,
2001, Volume 12, Number 2.
BREATH AND THE LUNAR CYCLE
The Sun rules the day and is electrical and warm in nature. The Moon rules the night and is magnetic and cool. Of the two forms of energy governing the planet, the Sun is the more constant, going through an energy cycle once every 365 ¼ days and never altogether absent during the day. Such is not the
case with the Moon, however. Sometimes full and bright in the night sky, at other times not visible at all, the Moon waxes and wanes regularly in a 28 ½ day cycle and governs the tides of the oceans.
Similarly, the Moon affects that 70 percent of the human body weight which is salt water. Just as the tides reach their zenith on the night of the Full Moon, so too there is a high tide in the emotional lives of people. When the tides reach their lowest ebb with the coming of the Darkest Night, human emotional power is at its weakest.
The human organism is continually seeking to draw from the environment what it needs to maintain an ideal condition of balance or homeostasis. Thus a person’s need for lunar energy increases as the moon wanes and decreases as the moon waxes. The greater need for lunar energy is satisfied by breathing predominantly through the left (lunar) nostril and the diminished need by breathing predominantly through the right (solar) nostril. The cycle of the nostrils begins anew each fortnight with the coming of the Full or Dark Moon nights.
BREATH AND THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES
DAILY USE OF THE PRANA CALENDAR™ OFFERS A MEANS OF VOLUNTARILY CONTROLLING ENERGY (PRANA) IN A SPECIFIC HEMISPHERE OF THE BRAIN FOR ONE HOUR BEGINNING FROM THE SUN RISE. ITS POSITIVE EFFECT MAY LAST THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
The cerebrum is divided into two distinct halves: the left and right hemispheres. Only on very rare occasions is energy equally distributed in both halves of the brain. Under normal conditions, electrical activity as manifested in the form of brainwaves is concentrated more in one hemisphere than the other. Recent observations by brain researchers show that each hemisphere is
3
associated with uniquely characteristic forms of behavior and that these behaviors are normally present only when electrical activity centers in that hemisphere.
When energy concentrates in the left hemisphere, one becomes more active, verbal, intellectual, extroverted, creative, acidic and “solar”. Conversely, right hemisphere dominance is characterized by passivity, orientation to sight and sound, feeling, introversion, alkalinity and “lunar energy.”
Perceptions, actions and even “involuntary bodily responses” vary according to the dominance of one hemisphere over the other.
Only in rare moments is energy distributed equally. At these times awareness undergoes major changes, and one either becomes tranquil or agitated and disturbed.
Switching nostril dominance at will is a convenient way of controlling hemispheric dominance and thereby of altering our states of awareness and bodily states in a profound manner and with relatively little effort. It also offers us a means whereby we can synchronize our states of awareness and our bodily states with the rhythms of the cosmos. Interestingly, the relationship between the dominance of the brain hemispheres and nostril dominance has been noted by practitioners of Svar Yoga for centuries before the recent laboratory confirmation of this phenomenon.
The nose, with its two nostrils, is the only bodily organ in continuous interplay with the external environment. The sleeping person, the unaware person, neither hears, touches, sees, tastes, nor smells
—but does breathe.
Through the two nostrils the human organism draws in air along with vital energy (prana), in their grossest and most subtle forms. Breath keeps people in continuous contact with the world.
The importance of breath in maintaining life cannot be denied. What is less well understood is the role of the nostrils themselves as other than conduits for the passage of air into the lungs. (Cf. Brain Mind Bulletin, Volume 3, Number 3, January 3, 1983).
On careful observation, one will notice that the breath does not come through both nostrils in equal volume, except for very brief periods and during moments of severe emotional disturbance.
Normally, one breathes either through one or the other nostril dominantly. Careful, sustained observation over time will reveal further that the breath alternates between the nostrils according to a regular pattern in a balanced person.
And one who makes observation of the breath a personal science will soon notice that the nature of awareness changes according to the dominance of one nostril over the other.
To recapitulate, the movement of energy from one hemisphere to the other occurs simultaneously with the change of breath from one nostril to the other. When the right nostril dominates, the left hemisphere dominates; when the left nostril dominates, so does the right hemisphere. When both nostrils operate equally, both hemispheres operate simultaneously.
4
The simple act of changing the breath from one nostril to the other reverses brain hemisphere dominance, altering chemical reactions throughout the organism. Since various emotional states are the product of body chemistry, changing body chemistry effects a change in feelings. Disease states are
also the product of body chemistry. Changing the breath pattern by changing body chemistry thus prevents disease if done at the onset of symptoms.
For well over four decades, Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar has used breath synchronization with persons suffering from physical and mental disturbances, as well as with normal persons desiring to improve the quality of their lives. He has amassed a large body of clinical evidence suggesting that synchronization of the nasal cycles with the calendar is helpful for many conditions. Among other results, he has noted a consistent improvement in the clinical condition of schizophrenic patients with the systematic regulation of their nasal cycles at the time of sunrise. He recommends this as a therapeutic intervention in the treatment of schizophrenia along with other modalities, particularly purifications.
Knowledge and practice of the principles of Svar Yoga, as exemplified in the Prana Calendar™, thus enable one to change hemispheric dominance at will and alter behavior. In the long run this may prevent disease.
MONITORING NOSTRIL DOMINANCE
Rise at least 20 minutes before sunrise. Time of sunrise is indicated on the left; time of sunset is indicated on the right. L is the left nostril; R is the right.
After defecating and cleansing, sit quietly (or meditate) from 7 to 10 minutes before sunrise until one minute after sunrise. Check for correct nostril operation by holding thumb under nose to determine dominant breath flow.
If nostril is not correct, lie on left side to open right nostril, or on right side to open left nostril. Place a pillow under the ribcage/armpit, and lean on the elbow. When changing nostrils, keep head raised, higher than body. If nostril still does not shift (sometimes change is less easy for those with a deviated septum) use cotton plug to close open nostril or just force breath through the less dominant nostril.
Mark calendar with:
P for initially correct nostril
x for initially incorrect nostril
xP if able to change to correct nostril
xx if unable to change.
5
SUMMARY AND FURTHER INFORMATION
1 One does not breathe through both nostrils simultaneously (except for very brief periods during the day and night).
2 Usually, when one nostril is dominant, the other is recessive.
3 Breath may be changed from one nostril to the other by lying down on the side of the dominant nostril with a pillow placed under the rib cage. This drains the mucous out of the sinus and opens the desired nostril. Change, in healthy people, occurs within one to ten minutes.
4 If change does not occur readily, lying on side, block open nostril from below (under opening) and breathe rapidly and with force. If there is still no change, block open nostril with a small cotton plug while simultaneously distending closed nostril.
5 When right nostril dominates, body chemistry is predominantly acidic (the stomach produces more gastric acid during right nostril operation) and more inner heat is produced. It is best to avoid drinking liquids (except alcohol) or urinating when the right nostril is dominant. To engage in these activities, switch nostril dominance when needed.
6 When the left nostril operates, body chemistry is predominantly alkaline. This nostril cools the system. It is best to avoid eating, bathing, or defecating while the left nostril is dominant. To engage in these activities, switch nostril dominance when needed.
7 When both nostrils operate equally, body chemistry reaches equilibrium (stasis)—a state best suited only for meditation. This state occurs normally at the exact moments of sunrise, sunset, the appearance of the Full Moon or New Moon, solstices, equinoxes and eclipses. It also occurs briefly during breath transition from one nostril to the other (which occurs every hour and one half in most people).
8 The cycle of the breath is directly related to the ascending and descending cycles of the
Moon.
9 When one nostril has operated for a full hour from dawn on three successive mornings, the breath of the well balanced, healthy person will switch to the other nostril for the next three mornings, subject to variances in the 28 ½ day lunar cycle. This produces the common pattern of alternation in which three Right dominant days are followed by three Left dominant days, or vice versa. Such an alternating pattern is usually present during the fortnight between the New Moon and the Full Moon or the Full Moon and the New Moon.
10 On the morning following the Darkest Night (New Moon) of the Lunar cycle, the left nostril of a well balanced, healthy person begins operating at the moment of sunrise and continues dominant for one hour following sunrise.
11 On the three consecutive mornings following Full Moon Night, the right nostril begins operating at sunrise, continuing for an hour.
12 When there is a disturbance in the natural cycle and the proper nostril does not open, body chemistry becomes disturbed and physiological and psychological imbalances become more likely.
13 A quick response to an imbalance can avert ill effects. Simply change the breath by the method outlined above, resorting to a cotton ball “plug” if there is no change over.
14 Changing the breath at the first sign of any mental or physical discomfort prevents worsening of symptoms and promotes rapid recovery. For example, the pain of a headache may be diminished by this method.
6
HOW THE PRANA CALENDAR™ IS CALCULATED
Lunar energy peaks on Full Moon night. The organism, having been exposed to this abundance of lunar energy, compensates by dominant right (solar) nostril breathing for the next three days during the hour following sunrise. Lunar energy reaches its minimum on the Dark Moon night and the organism compensates for this insufficiency with left (lunar) nostril dominance for the next three days during the hour following sunrise.
These two celestial events mark the extremes of energy present on the planet.
In the descending (waning) cycle of the moon, a healthy person will breathe 9 days of solar (right nostril) breath at sunrise and 6 days of lunar (left nostril) breath. Conversely, in the ascending (waxing) cycle, there will be 9 lunar (left nostril) breathing periods at sunrise and six periods of solar (right nostril) breathing at sunrise.
When there is not exactly 15 days between new and full moon, the breath adjusts naturally. Calculation of the Prana Calendar cannot be completely mechanical and the yogi has to use intuition where there is a discrepancy between any mechanical indicator and the felt presence of the moon.
ABOUT SRI SHYAMJI BHATNAGAR
Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar, Master of NAADA (the yoga of sound) met his spiritual teacher at the age of twelve in his native India. After migrating to the United States he developed a unique psychospiritual theory of microchakras, which profoundly enriches the classical understanding of the chakras. His method of InnerTuning® combines the microchakra theory with his exceptional gift for producing sounds that enhance the flow of energy to the microchakras. InnerTuning® provides important tools for those who strive to combine their psychological and spiritual energies. For over four decades professionals and students in India, Europe and America, have enriched their lives through Shyamji’s methods.
INNERTUNING® FOR PSYCHOSPIRITUAL WORK
InnerTuning® offers a unique method for psychospiritual growth through sound, breath, alignment of the physical body with subtle energies, meditation and reflection.
When physical, subtle and causal bodies are tuned to harmonize, the twin brain hemispheres respond with synchronization. Like a well tuned instrument such a human being brings forth creative, life- enhancing thoughts and actions.
All our thinking, feeling and behavior are influenced by the symphonic dance of 147 microchakras. Founder Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar explains that there are 21 microchakras in each of the seven chakras. His microchakra theory is an in depth study of the possible openings and blocks of all microchakras; it
7
explains the psychological and behavioral consequences as well as practices that prevent microchakras from becoming blocked in early childhood.
InnerTuning® Sounds create superb silence, the perfect ambiance for meditation and reflection. Sri Shyamji teaches InnerTuning® sounds to his students for the opening of blocked microchakras. After some practice they learn to produce Soorya Aakaasha (golden ether that pierces the blocks). InnerTuning® emphasizes the proper preparation for meditation. It is better to have a bowel movement and shower before the morning meditation. Negligence regarding these prerequisites eventually leads
to imbalances among the three bodies, such as ungroundedness and unrealistic self image.
While biological rhythms have received full recognition in the last decades, the underlying rhythms of the subtle body, through which the chakras influence the rhythms of the physical body, are largely unexplained.
The perfect time to clean the colon is when energy naturally centers in the first chakra, which influences the region of the coccyx. In the InnerTuning®
Chakra Energy Chart (see below) we see that energy concentrates twice every 24 hours in the first chakra.
The chakra rhythms are primarily tied to the rising and setting of the sun and moon in your local area. Those who travel a lot have difficulty in maintaining the natural chakra rhythms. Use of the prana calendar can help to mitigate this difficulty.
The first chakra mind intuits the rising of the sun well before the event. This intuitive period is 120 minutes at the equator and progressively shortens as the poles are approached. During this period, a healthy system experiences peristalsis. This peristalsis aims to expel toxic gases (apana) from the bowel during the first chakra hour. The body tosses and turns as it attempts to prevent the rise of apana—and then it awakens.
A similar urge occurs during the first chakra period of the post meridian hours. Hence, optimally, defecation is controlled by the rhythm of the chakras rather than by other factors such as eating habits and social practices.
The observations of some physiologists regarding anabolic and catabolic rhythms are complimentary to the description of chakra rhythms given here. For example, the production of melatonin during the
night and serotonin during the day by the light sensitive pineal gland is correlated with the activity of the sixth chakra.
For millennia yogis have emphasized the enormous importance of various forms of detoxification of the body in the first chakra hour: defecation, then exercise, bathing, self massage, yoga postures and breathing exercises. With the indiscriminate use of electrical light this wisdom has disappeared, to our detriment. The chakras that suffer the greatest consequences are the first chakra, the “root support,” and the sixth chakra, the “governor,” which influences the region of the “third eye”.
Delay of the process of elimination due to late rising, is one of the major reasons
for disease in general and first chakra ailments in particular, such as constipation and colon cancer.
8
When we sleep through the sunrise often in a darkened room the pineal gland gets deceived. Even though it senses the dawn, it is not nourished by the gentle gradual increase in shades of light.
At sunset when the melatonin cycle ought to begin we deceive the gland by the use of electrical light, often till deep in the night. This is how the pineal gland weakens. Decline in pineal gland activity is known to influence the deep sleep cycle and contributes to overall decrease in health. Since in the deep sleep cycle HGH (human growth hormone) is released, aging is accelerated by a weakened pineal
gland.
The Prana Calendar™ is used at sunrise to help balance the solar and lunar currents of the sixth chakra, thereby the twin hemispheres harmonize and the pineal gland is nourished.
TRY A TECHNIQUE
FOR GREATER ENERGY (Wear Color of the Day)
| Monday | Light Blue, Silver | Moon |
| Tuesday | Orange, Pink, Red | Mars |
| Wednesday | Green | Mercury |
| Thursday | Yellow | Jupiter |
| Friday | White, Multi Colors | Venus |
| Saturday | Black, Navy Blue | Saturn |
| Sunday | Gold | Sun |
PURIFICATIONS
InnerTuning® holds regular purifications for the three bodies (physical, subtle and causal) in the United States and in Europe. These five day retreats are of an intense nature providing a healthy way of cleansing through fasting, yoga, microchakra theory, sound, mantra and meditation. They are the most effective method for bringing apana down.
CEREBRAL DOMINANCE AND EVERYDAY TASKS
Energy in the subtle body flows through three main channels: The left channel contains lunar energy and feeds the right hemisphere of the brain. The right channel contains solar energy and feeds the left hemisphere of the brain. The central channel is filled with the element of fire. The central channel supports parapsychological functioning and meditation. It is the left and right channels that provide the energy for everyday tasks.
9
Solar Tasks
In most people, the right nostril is open more frequently than the left. Consequently, the left hemisphere is the most active hemisphere. Tasks which require warm solar energy are then most readily performed. These include strenuous exercise, hatha yoga, bathing, defecating, aggressive jobs, eating (and digesting) and playing the drums.
The left hemisphere is also important in processing sequences of information. These tasks include:
studying, debating, and reasoning.
Lunar Tasks
Lunar tasks are governed by the right hemisphere and fueled by the left channel and left nostril breathing. Physical tasks include: urinating, drinking liquids, cooling (decreasing body heat), painting and other forms of artwork,
The right hemisphere plays a key role in processing patterns of information: playing and listening to music (excusive of rhythm), singing, chanting, spatial perception, holistic perception (global feeling) and memory for forms and shapes.
Neutral Tasks
Neutral tasks are those which occur when breathing is through both nostrils evenly. This permits a dramatic drop in the rate of breathing to four breaths per minute or fewer—a state that is most appropriate for true meditation. This state is not easily attained. Most meditation is proximate meditation when breathing rate is more rapid and may be through either nostril.
If lunar or solar tasks are attempted while breathing is through both nostrils, mistakes may easily result since focusing is more difficult. For example, a pilot may have a rough landing or a surgeon may leave an instrument in the patient. This is not a time for focusing the senses outward but, instead, for withdrawing them inward.