Swara Yoga - II
After writing the previous post, I started to track my swara through the day to see how it affects my mood and states of being. My results so far have been consistent with the theory of swara yoga. My tracker is a table as below:
So far in my tracking, my swaras are mirroring the observations of the ancient swara yogi/nis as per the Shukla/Krishna Paksha days. And it also changes every 90 minutes on average, sometimes it extends to 2 hours. Additionally, at the end of my yoga practice, I notice the Swara flowing equally through both nostrils - it rarely happens and it also fades away quite quickly. One last observation so far as been the absolute focus I have when my right nostril is flowing - irrespective of the activity I am engaged in (baking, yoga, reading, writing, singing!) I have one pointed attention and my mind rarely gets distracted. We are right now in the Shukla Paskha and the day as i post this is navami - i woke up with Chandra swara dominating.
I start tracking at 6 am in the morning - ideally i should begin at 4:30 am or an hour and a half before sunrise. The exact time changes according to the seasons so it's easier to look up sunrise times in the newspapers and then subtract 1.5 hours from it to arrive at this time period we call Brahma Muhurta or the "Creator's Hour" since Brahma is credited as being the creator of the universe in Hindu Mythology. It is said the mind during this time is at it's stillest best and hence best for spritiual practices like meditation.
Do i wake up at 4:30 am which is 1.5 hours before my sunrise here in India - no. I am up at best at 6 am. I want to get into the 4:30 am rhythm and i know that it is a matter of time before I decide to put my mind to it and achieve that goal. But right now I am being a very lazy yogini - and I know that needs to change.
Hence, i start tracking my swara at 6 am in the mornings. In the table above, you will notice three elements that I have not discussed before :
- Surya Swara (Pingala)
- Ekadashi
- Shukla Paksha
Surya Swara (Pingala) / Chandra Swara (Ida)
I have spoken about surya swara briefly though. But as a recap - surya (sun) and chandra (moon) are identified as two energies or characteristics synonymous with Pingala (right) and Ida (left) respectively. When the breath is flowing from the right nostril predominantly, your Pingala nadi is active and hence you will exhibit qualities associated with the Sun. Similarly if the breath is flowing through the left nostril mostly, your Ida nadi is dominating and moon characteristics will be leading the way in your mind and body.
in the sheet above, I have noted May 16 to be when the Surya Swara or Pingala nadi to dominate, by which I mean the swara starts flowing in the morning at Brahma Muhurta through the right nostril. Post that every 1.5 hours the swara will alternate.
How do we know what Swara starts of the sequence every day of the month? The answer to that is the lunar calendar.
Lunar calendar : Shukla / Krishna Paksha
The lunar calendar, which is different from the solar calendar of day and night that the world operates in. The lunar calendar follows the rhythms of the moon. There are two phases of the moon - waxing and waning. Waxing is when the moon gains in brightness and shape and goes from a no moon to a full moon (Poornima). And waning is the opposite where the moon starts to dim and go from a full moon to an almost non existent moon to a dark night (Amavasya) again. I almost typed that as Dark Knight - Batman pangs I guess ;)
The period of waning is called Krishna Paksha in Sanskrit, krishna meaning dark and paksha is phase. And the period of waxing is called Shukla Paksha - shukla meaning bright.
According to the swara yogi/nis and the Shiva Swarodaya, here are the days when the day starts with chandra or surya swara flowing as per the lunar calendar :
Ekadashi
This is the last new concept I'm introducing. As noted in the above table, unlike the solar calendar which has 30/31 days, the lunar calendar is two halves of 15 days each for each phase of the moon. 1st -15th have Sanskrit names and Ekadashi is simply the 11th day.
So far in my tracking, my swaras are mirroring the observations of the ancient swara yogi/nis as per the Shukla/Krishna Paksha days. And it also changes every 90 minutes on average, sometimes it extends to 2 hours. Additionally, at the end of my yoga practice, I notice the Swara flowing equally through both nostrils - it rarely happens and it also fades away quite quickly. One last observation so far as been the absolute focus I have when my right nostril is flowing - irrespective of the activity I am engaged in (baking, yoga, reading, writing, singing!) I have one pointed attention and my mind rarely gets distracted. We are right now in the Shukla Paskha and the day as i post this is navami - i woke up with Chandra swara dominating.
That's my bit for this post. In the next post, I shall discuss certain key concepts that are important to understand for any yogi/ni - Chakras, Nadis, Pancha Tattva, Pancha Kosha. A very significant concept for us to understand in addition to the above is that of Vayus - commonly known as Pancha Vayus. I will not be speaking on this since in the Swara Yoga series, because I've explained it in a previous post. Do look it up if you are following us on this journey.
Namaste.
Thanks for this useful information
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