Pranic Breathing Practice and Power: An Introduction to Swara Yoga

By Ma Yoga Shakti

Breathing is the most natural act a person performs and is central to the practice of swara yoga. Everyone breathes day and night. It appears to be an ordinary and simple act, yet it has a deep significance. It is mysterious, too. Most people imagine an equal volume of air is inhaled and exhaled through b

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ma Yoga Shakti International Mission
• Release date: May 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9780965359726

Ma Yoga Shakti

Ma Yoga Shakti Saraswati is one of the modern day torch-bearers for the worldwide yoga movement. She was born in Benares on April 6th, 1927 into a wealthy family and lived there during the early days of her life. In 1959 she began teaching yoga, and shortly thereafter she had a divine-calling and entered the holy order of sannyas. She was bestowed with the titles, "Shakti Sant Shiromani," "Maha Mandaleshwar" and "Maha Acharya" by the holy spiritual order of Shri Taponidi Niranjani Akhara at Maha Kumbha Melas in 1969, 1974 and 1989. She has redefined yoga in modern terms and presents it as the heritage of the past and the culture of tomorrow. Her natural dignity, motherly nature and broad-mindedness reveal the highest spiritual quality. A yogic adept, she views with equal vision the various paths of yoga that unlock the treasures of human happiness: bhakti, gyana, karma and raja yoga. Her belief is that spiritual salvation lies by following one or more of these paths according to one's inclination and abilities. Mataji, as she is affectionately known by her disciples and devotees, lived and breathed the virtues of Yoga Shakti Missions worldwide:Truth is our Religion Service is our Worship World is our Family Knowledge is our Breath Yoga is our Way Yoga Shakti Mission Centers have been established world-wide by Ma Yoga Shakti to teach the essence of yoga, meditation and spirituality to all those who seek guidance. Mataji's teaching has produced a mass effect on humanity. She was always in the whirlwind of work, believing firmly that yoga helps people both face and bear the stress and strain of modern life .Mataji has written many authentic books on yoga and philosophy. In this book "Techniques of Meditation," she reveals the secrets of ancient yogic practices coupled with her deep personal experiences. Mataji's honesty, integrity, sincerity and purity have inspired thousands as she traveled from ashram to ashram and country to country, bringing the light of yoga to all whom she met. Visit: https://yogashakti.org/

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Pranic Breathing:

Practice and Power

An Introduction to Swara Yoga

by Ma Yoga Shakti

Copyright © 2020 by Ma Yoga Shakti

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-0-9653597-2-6

Yogashakti Publications

South Ozone Park, New York

Editor: David T. Schmit, PhD

Cover Design: Theresa Venezia

Other Books by Ma Yoga Shakti

Print:

Yoga Syzygy - A Guide to Hatha Yoga

Adhyatma Sandesh – A Spiritual Message

Chandogya Upanishad

Yoga Para La Salud Fisica y Mental

eBook:

Techniques of Meditation to Enhance Mind Power

The Invisible Seven Psychic Lotuses

Out of print but coming soon in eBooks:

Yoog Vashishtha

Himalya Gita

Satya Narayan Katha

Table of Contents

Editors Preface

Introduction

Fundamentals of Swara

Who Should Learn Swara

The Practice of Swara Yoga

Planning Actions According to the Flow of Swara

Tattva Vichar – Meditation on the Elements

The Method of Discerning the Tattwas

Predicting the Future by Swarodaya

Travel and Swara Yoga

Questions Relating to Enemies

Knowledge of Things Auspicious and Inauspicious

Swara Yoga and Rogi (Sick People)

Predicting Death

Swara Yoga in Daily Life

Requirements for Becoming a Swara Yogi

About the Author

Editor’s Preface

Her Holiness Ma Yogashakti was a veritable encyclopedia of yogic knowledge. Born of a family deeply rooted in Hindu life, Mataji – as her students affectionately called her – absorbed the age-old wisdom of the Indian sages and yogis. To this she added knowledge gained from a lifetime of practice, study and work as a master yogi, sannyasin, educator and religious leader. This booklet is a product of that exceptional knowledge and mastery.

Swara Yoga is drawn from the Shiva Swarodaya or Swarodaya Shastra. The 395 sutras of the scripture center on the study of the flow of air through the nostrils to align oneself with the body’s currents of prana with the aim of fostering self-realization, advancing knowledge of the yogic subtle body, guiding behavior, and divining the future. Yogashakti draws out the key groups of practices in the shastra, comments on them, and provides helpful organizational charts. The Swarodaya Shastra is an often-overlooked yogic scripture; all the more reason to admire this insightful rendering of it.

David T. Schmit, PhD (Dayananda)

Introduction

Idam swarodayam shaatram sarwa shaastrottamottamam,

Aaatmaghat prakaashaartha pradeep kalikopamam.

The scripture Swarodaya Shastra on the Knowledge of Nostril Flows has a high place in the world of yogic knowledge where it is known (in Sanskrit) as swarodaya or swara yoga. It is like a candle that throws light on the knowledge stored in our souls. Yoga is a practical science that is mastered only when knowledge is supplemented with practice. Yogic knowledge and practice can make life happy, worthwhile and free from anxiety.

There are many branches of yogic knowledge that can help one achieve success in daily life. Here a few types: nada yoga, mantra yoga, tantra yoga, yantra yoga, laya yoga, sankhya yoga, gyaan yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, kundalini yoga, prana yoga, tratak yoga, and sanyas yoga. Those who practice yoga are called sadhaks or students. If one thoughtfully reviews yoga, one finds that yoga looks at life from different dimensions.

Yoga means turning one’s attention to the inner world. The internal world has many planes or levels of consciousness that are in sequence with each other. The inner world is probably more complete and nearer to the Truth. The external world, on the other hand, seems to be incomplete and full of ignorance.

When consciousness is withdrawn from the outer world and directed to the inner world, the body and senses acquire a subtler form