Benefits of Kapalbhati Pranayam
Kapalbhati has a cleansing effect on the lungs and is a good practice for respiratory disorders. It balances and strengthens the nervous system and tones the digestive organs.
Who should not do Kapalbhati Pranayam?
Kapalbhati should not be practised by those suffering from heart disease, high blood pressure, vertigo, epilepsy, stroke, hernia or gastric ulcer. It is not recommended during pregnancy.
When to practice Kapalbhati Pranayam?
Kapalbhati should be performed on an empty stomach, 3 to 4 hours after meals.
0:01
Kapal is the frontal lobe of the brain, so kapal bhati: bhati is shining, so through this practice we're going to remove toxins not just from the lungs but also from the frontal lobe of the brain.
This increases the clarity of your mind, okay again, please don't do it if you have high bp or if you are menstruating.
I'm going to show it to you. We're going to start with single nostril Kapal bhati, if you tend to have a blocked nose you may want to keep some tissues handy. Okay so you're going to close the right nostril, I'm just going to show it to you, you're going to inhale through the left and exhale forcefully out of the left, draw the abdomen in like you want the navel to hit the spine, if you're not able to isolate these muscles you can place one palm over the belly, it'll give you a better awareness of these muscles.
1:00
All right, so we'll do 20 strokes on the left nostril and then we'll do 20 strokes on the right nostril. Do as much as you can. Let's take a deep inhalation all together, exhale out completely, close the right nostril and let's begin. (15 strokes..)Last five, and slowly release the practice.
Take a few breaths again, normalize the breath, only when your breath is completely normalized, let's start on the right nostril. So close the left nostril again, you can place your palm on the lower belly, keep that awareness at that area just underneath the navel and let's begin, once you're done with 20 slowly release return to normal breathing.
2:57
One side may have been blocked, that's completely okay, and now we'll do kapalabhati with both the nostrils. We'll do three rounds, we'll do 45 pumps, take a break, 45 pumps and then the last round can be 60 or 75. Again do as per your capacity, we'll do two rounds together and then the third round you can do by yourself. Let's start with 45 strokes, take a deep inhalation in, exhale completely. Draw the navel in and take a half inhalation in and let's begin….last 15, and slowly release the practice, return to your normal breath.
4:40
If you feel a headache coming over, it means you've tried too hard, scale back on the practice but feeling light-headed having tingling sensations in the fingers and toes is normal. Now let's prepare for round two, 45 strokes again take a deep inhalation in, exhale completely, moving that awareness just below the navel take a half inhalation in and begin…last five, and slowly release the practice, return to your normal breath. If you're feeling light-headed, palms down lean forward, a few deep inhalations and exhalations.
6:34
Try to keep the pace of the pumps of the strokes normal, equal, try to keep the volume of the breath equal, so you're not varying the pace too rapidly and slowly return and come back for the last round. If you're okay, join me for the last round and try to go up to 60 or 75 or as per your capacity, let's take a deep inhalation in again, exhale out half inhalation and begin, we have completed 60 strokes, if you can continue for 15 more.
Slowly releasing the practice and returning to your normal breath, really feeling that heat. Maybe feeling that energy that is generated, maybe you're feeling a little hot now, feeling a little warm. Slowly normalizing the breath.
