The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — Cleansing

Kapalabhati — the shining skull

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.35

अथ कपालभातिः भस्त्रावल्लोहकारस्य रेचपूरौ ससम्भ्रमौ। कपालभातिर्विख्याता कफदोषविशोषणी ॥

Meaning · English

Let the out-breath and the in-breath move quickly and hurriedly, like a blacksmith's bellows. This is the famed kapalabhati, which dries up the faults of phlegm.

The name comes apart in two. Kapala is the skull, the bowl of the head. Bhati means to shine or be bright. So the name reads 'skull-shining', and the picture is of a clear, bright head. The Pradipika gives the method through one comparison. A bhastra is a bellows, and a lohakara is a blacksmith, who works his bellows hard and fast at the fire. The out-breath (rechaka) and the in-breath (puraka) are to move like that: quick, hurried, close upon each other. Both breaths are named, not just one. Then comes the claim. This is the famed kapalabhati, and it dries up the faults of kapha. Kapha is the tradition's name for the cool, wet, heavy element in the body, loosely what we call phlegm. A fault of kapha is that element grown excessive. The commentary reads the quickness as 'not slow'. It adds a reason of its own: it counts twenty kinds of kapha fault, taken from a medical text, and says this breath destroys them. The text teaches it as one of the six cleansings, the shatkarma, the practices that clear the body before the breath work proper. Of the practitioner it asks only a brisk, even pace of breathing. The verse names no seat, no count and no length of time.

1. Sit on a folded blanket with your back upright and your legs crossed. Rest your hands on your knees. 2. Breathe quickly out and in through the nose, like a blacksmith's bellows, with the belly moving and the chest still. 3. Attend to the rhythm of the belly and the sound of the breath. When the mind wanders, bring it back to the pace. 4. Stop after a short round on an out-breath, and breathe slowly and naturally until the breath settles. 5. Rest with your eyes closed. Repeat only if you feel steady, and stop at once at any lightheadedness. 6. To come out, open your eyes slowly and sit still for a moment before you stand.

The Pradipika gives only the pace and the bellows image. The seat, the rounds and the way the belly moves below are modern teaching, added so that a beginner can do it safely. 1. Sit on a folded blanket with your legs crossed comfortably. Lengthen your spine and let your shoulders drop. Rest your hands on your knees. 2. Close your eyes or let them rest softly on the floor ahead of you. Breathe in and out slowly, two or three times, to settle. 3. Now breathe out and in quickly through the nose, like a blacksmith's bellows. Let the belly do the work: it draws in a little as the breath goes out, and softens back as the breath comes in. 4. Keep the pace brisk but even, one breath following the next. Do not let it turn ragged. 5. After a short round, end on an out-breath. Breathe in slowly and let the breath settle. 6. Rest with your eyes closed and breathe naturally for a few breaths before you begin another round or get up. Start with a few short rounds and rest between them. Fine points: the face, the shoulders and the chest stay still, and the movement is in the belly. The pace is quick, never strained, so slow down at the first lightheadedness and stop if it stays. Never push for speed or length.

The body: the quick breath is worked by the muscles of the belly and the diaphragm, the sheet of muscle under the lungs. Each out-breath is a short push from the belly, and the in-breath follows almost by itself as the muscles let go. The spine stays upright and still, and the chest, neck and shoulders hold quiet. The belly muscles grow tired and warm, as any muscle does when it repeats a small movement. The breath: fast, repeated breathing moves air in and out far faster than quiet breathing does. That is why it can leave a person lightheaded or tingling if it runs on too long. The pause afterwards, when breathing is allowed to settle, is often where the effect is felt most. The mind: a rapid, regular rhythm leaves little room for wandering. Attention narrows onto the movement of the belly and the sound of the breath. When it stops, the quiet that follows is often noticed. The tradition's own account is different. The Pradipika says this breath dries the faults of kapha, and the commentary says it destroys twenty kinds. That is the tradition's explanation, not a physiological one.

The Pradipika makes one claim: that kapalabhati dries up the faults of kapha, the heavy, wet element of the body's make-up in the tradition's account. The commentary adds that kapha has twenty kinds of fault, drawn from a medical text, and that this breath destroys them. The name itself points to the claimed result, a shining, clear skull. The text gives no other benefit and promises nothing beyond this.

A grandmother in a village kitchen bends and blows through a metal pipe at a smouldering stove, short hard puffs, until the flame catches. That is the bellows the text had in mind: quick, forceful breath aimed at a fire. Today's mainstream understanding agrees on the plain facts. Rapid, repeated breathing works the belly muscles and diaphragm, and it is a known breathing exercise. Over-breathing can lower the carbon dioxide in the blood, which is why lightheadedness, tingling or faintness can come on. That is a good reason for short rounds and for stopping when it starts. There is no good evidence that it dries kapha. Kapha has no exact modern match: it overlaps loosely with mucus and with feelings of heaviness and cold, but it is a different way of dividing the body. Nothing well established supports the claim of twenty kinds of fault being destroyed. What can be said fairly is that the breath is vigorous, tires the belly, and gives a short, focused sit.

This is not medical advice. A page cannot correct your breathing or your posture, so a teacher is the better guide. Stop at any pain, dizziness or discomfort. Kapalabhati is practised from the page with care, but taken literally, 'quick and hurried' with no limit can leave a person faint, so keep rounds short and rest between them. Leave it out, or ask a teacher first, in pregnancy, with high blood pressure or a heart condition, after recent surgery on the belly, with a hernia, or with eye problems or a history of fainting. A cold, blocked nose or a sore chest also calls for waiting. Never force the speed or the length, and never keep going through lightheadedness. The cleansings with cloth, water or thread, and nauli, are left to a teacher: they work inside the body, and a mistake cannot be seen from a page.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Nauli, the Churned Belly · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.33
• Next: Breath Alone Is Enough · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.37
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