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Technique
Assume any comfortable posture. Close the eyes and relax the whole body. Become totally aware of the breathing process. Feel as though nothing else exists except the breath. Mentally direct the breath in and out of the left nostril. Feel the breath flowing in and out of the left nostril only. The use of imagination may be necessary in the beginning. Continue breathing through the left nostril mentally for one or two minutes. Repeat the same procedure with the right nostril. Feel that the whole flow of breath is moving in and out of the right nostril only. Continue breathing through the right nostril mentally for one or two minutes. Be aware of each breath throughout the practice. Now mentally direct the breath in and out of the alternate nostrils. Mentally inhale through the left nostril and exhale through the right. Then, mentally inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the left. This is one round of anuloma viloma (mental alternate nostril breathing). Practise 27 rounds, or as required.
Variation: Prana Shuddhi
Assume any comfortable posture. Close the eyes and relax the whole body. Become aware of the breathing process. Now imagine the flow of breath moving up and down the sides of the nostrils in an inverted V-shape pathway. At the end of inhalation the two flows of breath converge at the eyebrow centre. During exhalation the two breaths diverge from the eyebrow centre and flow down the sides of the V-shaped pathway.
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