After meditation and health/life extension, the function of the apana vayu as a motor for Kundalini-rousing is the third major area where the vayus are discussed.
- The main vayus, with the exception of apana, either travel upwards (prana vayu, udana vayu) or are directionless (samana and vyana vayus).
- The apana vayu, with its powerful downward flow, is primarily responsible for life force depletion and keeping us bound to our animal nature.
- Apana has a significant effect on vocabulary, resulting in an overuse of faeces and sexual phrases.
- If we turn up our apana, we may leave our animalistic side behind and embrace the Divine, according to yoga.
The mixing of prana and apana in kumbhaka at the Manipura Chakra causes the Kundalini to rise.
In ancient writings, this is a common topic. By using Mula Bandha in Siddhasana, Sage Yajnavalkya taught to his wife, Gargi, how to send apana on an upward trajectory.
- The fire must be fanned after it reaches the Manipura Chakra (the fire chakra) by pulling prana vayu down.
- The snake Kundalini's tail will be bummed by the fire, and the serpent will ascend through the chakras, propelled by the twin forces of apana vayu and fire. Kundalini is said to be awakened by apana with fire and moves up like a snake, according to Sage Vasishta.
- Raghuvira goes into more depth in his Kumbhaka Paddhati/4, which is dedicated exclusively on pranayama.
Mastery of apana (apana jaya), he claims, would lead to mastery of mula bandha (root lock), mudras (energy seals), dharana (concentration), agni (fire), Kundalini rising, and an increase in sattva guna (intelligence).
Here are a few explanations:
- Apana (vital down current) and mula bandha (root lock) are almost interchangeable.
- The mastery of one will lead to mastery of the other.
- The stoking of agni will follow mastery of apana (fire).
- Toxins will be absorbed by a powerful agni, which will improve health. Kundalini is roused by a powerful agni and a tilted apana.
When a diligent practitioner raises Kundalini, the yogi will be able to practice dharana (concentration) and then the other higher limbs.
It's important to note that in more contemporary texts (i.e. those from the Kali Yuga), the word Kundalini refers to what Patanjali meant by dharana.
- Humanity was more intellectually and philosophically oriented during Patanjali's era (Dvapara Yuga).
- Patanjali's concept of dharana, which was generally recognized at the time, was the capacity to tie the mind to one location for three hours.
- People in our present era, the Kali Yuga, are much more physically oriented, therefore yogis searched for a physical meaning of the word dharana.
- Dharana, or tying the mind to a sattvic (holy) meditation object for three hours, was only feasible when the prana was elevated to the upper chakras, according to yogis.
- If prana is restricted to the lower chakras, one will express themselves in terms of survival (Muladhara Chakra), sexual identity (Svadhishthana Chakra), or absorption of money, food, and things (Svadhishthana Chakra) (Manipura Chakra).
Kundalini is the term given to Prana as it rises.
- The Kali Yuga's physically oriented yogis sought for methods to elevate Kundalini in order to strengthen dharana.
- The route of air and the path of fire, or the usage of both at the same time, are two of the most common methods to raise Kundalini.
- 'Path of fire' refers to cleansing and stoking agni (fire).
- The term "path of air" refers to raising the apana vayu and utilizing it as a motor to raise Kundalini.
- Remember that apana is the only vayu current that firmly points down.
- If it is turned upwards, all of the vayus will suck up Kundalini like a big vacuum cleaner, and this is what the route of air refers to.
- According to the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad, Mula bandha is used to elevate apana, which usually flows downward.
- According to the Upanishad, apana ascending up will mingle with agni, and the two will rise together to the Manipura Chakra.
- They will join with prana vayu (vital up stream) here, and Kundalini will ascend up via the sushumna, sucked up by the vayus and lit by agni (notice that the English term ignite is derived from the Sanskrit agni = fire).
In a nutshell, this is how the more contemporary yoga shastras explain how to attain dharana (scriptures).
However, it just repackages old ideas in a more contemporary language.
The word sushumna, which refers to the core energy conduit and the route for Kundalini ascension, was first used in the Chandogya Upanishad/9, which predates the Yoga Sutras by centuries.
I've gone into great length to demonstrate that there isn't a yoga of the Vedic seers, a yoga of the ancient Upanishads, a classical yoga of Patanjali, and a more contemporary yoga of the Hatha Yoga, as some Western academics claim.
This isn't the case at all. There has been a continuous, consistent history of sages and siddhas who have experienced the same mystical experience for thousands of years.
What changed was the audience's ability to comprehend the lessons.
As a result, the same mystical experience was clothed in various languages and modified using diverse techniques to reach an audience whose makeup had changed throughout the millennia.
You may also want to read more about Pranayama and Holistic Healing here.
