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breathe in through the right nostril. After 4 or 5 cycles, shut the right nostril and breathe in through the left. During this process, try to recognize which side your breathing feels more natural to you and which side, a little forced. (The side that is easier is the one that is active at the time. With a few days of practice, you will become adept at recognizing your breath.)
Conception and Breathing Process
When a soul enters the womb, an immediate change or excitement is experienced by the mother's body. This is bound to alter her breathing. For instance, if she was breathing in the lunar breath, then the solar breath will become active the moment the soul arrives in her womb. Now it is crucial that she continues breathing in the solar breath. This will allow the entrant soul to accept its new environment with ease and comfort.
This first alteration in her breath is necessary and needs to be continued for a while because the baby has started its breath in this voice. Another change of breath at this stage can cause changes in the mother's temperature and other bodily
processes. If she now shifts to the lunar breath, then the baby simultaneously experiences a movement from pitta to kapha. This can unsettle the baby. It sometimes experiences extreme pain and misery because of sudden shift in the mother's breath. Hence it is important for the mother to watch her breath and continue breathing in the voice in which the baby came into the womb. She can close the other breath by pressing upon the nostril with her finger tip or by placing cotton wool inside the nostril.
The question arises - If the mother is breathing in both the voices at the moment of conception, then what should she do? In such a situation, she must identify which side the breathing is more natural and less forced. To do so, she can chant the mantra - 'siddha siddhi mama disantu. After chanting for two minutes, she must examine her breath. While chanting, the breathing will either shift into the solar breath or lunar breath. Whichever voice becomes active, she must continue with it. Sometimes, the shift may take a while. It is important to observe the shift in breath and allow it to continue.
