Why is Kapalbhati both a Pranayama and Shatkarma Technique?

“Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion.

It is the most valuable inheritance of the present.

It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow.”

                                                                                                                                     -Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Why is Kapalbhati both a Pranayama and Shatkarma Technique?

Kalpalbhati practice in yoga during modern times occupies a prominent place in the choice of the Yoga practitioners’ mostly when the subject relates to the awakening of digestive fire, increasing breathing capacity, cleansing the sinus, and balancing Kapha dosha of the body. We will discuss here Kapalbhati in terms of the practice of Vatakram Kapalbhati only to contrast the practice in similarities to the practice of Pranayama. The practice of Kapalbhati as we know it today is more popular in the form of Pranamaya, called Kapalbhati Pranayama. But an ancient Compendium Gherand Samhita firmly states the practice being the part of Shatkarma.

Shatkarma means the six purification or cleansing techniques mentioned in the Yoga texts, and in modern times this technique is being used widely by Yoga enthusiasts. Now, let’s explore the meaning of Kapalbhati and its types.

According to Textbook Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandh (APMB) by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kapalbhati is described as “The Sanskrit word KAPAL means CRANIUM or FOREHEAD and BHATI means LIGHT or Splendour and also PERCEPTION or KNOWLEDGE. Hence, kapalbhati is the practice that brings a state of light or clarity to the frontal region of the brain. Another name for this practice is KAPALSODHANA, the word SODHANA meaning PURIFY.

-Page 413, Section Pranayama, APMB

On the other hand, the ancient compendium Gherand Samhita states that Kapalbhati is also known as BHALBHATI where KAPALA means SKULL and BAL means FOREHEAD and the literal meaning of BHATI is BELLOWS.

-Page 150, Section 1 Shatkarma, Swami Niranjananda Saraswati, G.S

Both the texts agree on the fact that there are three different types of Kapalbhati and are under the Shatkarma division of Yoga. The three different types of Kapalbhati are:

• Vatakram Kapalbhati: Sage Gheranda’s practice of Vatakram Kapalbhati is as follows. But here it is also mentioned that one should practice three easy variations before adopting to sage Gherand’s Technique.
• Sit in a meditative asana with awareness of the natural breath. Start the first round.
• Inhale with an abdominal breath through the left nostril. Breathe comfortably and as fully as possible.
• Then contracting the abdominal muscles, breathe out forcefully through the right nostril.
• Take a deep breath in through the right nostril, exhale forcefully through the left nostril emptying the lungs completely.

(Note: when the air is exhaled forcefully out contacting the abdominal muscles, the inhales itself becomes passive, natural, or automatic)

• This makes one cycle. If tiredness or strain are experienced, wait until the breath retains to normal
• One can also fix the mind at chidakasha, the dark empty space inside the forehead with closed eyes during the practice.
• The practice of 20 breath cycles makes a round.

This way one can start with 1/2 rounds and increase per week. It is recommended to practice this technique just before meditation and is also not to be practiced during the night as otherwise, this may create difficulty sleeping. Also one should be cautious to practice it during extremely hot weather, should not practice it when dehydrated or when feeling irritability or anger. Also, this practice should not be undertaken by people suffering from high blood pressure, heart problems, ulcers, fever, constipation, hernia, anger, or excessive restlessness.

• Vyutkrama Kapalbhati- Is the sinus cleansing technique with water
• Sheetkrama Kapalbhati- This is the mucus cleansing technique with water

(Note: Here, in both practices of Vyutkrama and Sheetkrama, water is used for the cleansing or purification process. When we examine both these processes carefully, the expelling process of the action gives resemblance to that of BELLOW.)

Now, Let’s take into account why Vatakrama kapalbhati can be also called pranayama:

In Hatha Yoga, Pranayama is the process of lengthening of the pranas or the awakening of prana and expansion of it. It is believed that when the breathing process is brought under control through the medium of pranayama, inhalation, and exhalation, are helpful in calming and purifying the brain. The medium AIR or VATA used in this Shatkarma technique:

• Helps fresh air to reach the lower peripheries of the lungs.
• The respiratory system is activated and the gaseous exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide increases.
• Helps benefit in conditions like chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, severe asthma, and chronic lungs diseases.

In the normal breathing process, the muscles of respiration (the diaphragm and intercostal muscles) actively contract during inhalation and generally relax passively during exhalation. In this process, one has to make an effort to breathe in, whereas no effort is required for exhalation.

Here, Vatkrama Kapalbhati reverses this process, where exhalation requires effort and inhalation is passive, resulting in the brain’s different neuronal pathways to fire awakening the brain centers.

And as the technique of Sage Gheranda applies the practice of Kapalbhati utilizing both nostrils, the practice helps in the purification of the right and left nadis and channelizes the flow of prana into the Sushumna nadi. In other words, in kundalini and Swara Yoga it is mentioned that the flow of breath in the nostrils, Swara changes every 45 minutes, thus these practices help prana flow freely to both nadis and also Sushumna. Therefore, at the gross level, it brings improvement in the respiratory system, and at a subtle level, Prana Shakti flows to the brain pacifying the mind and making it more receptive.

Pranayama is more authentic terms refers to the technique of retention of breath, whereas in Kapalbhati, Sage Gheranda also amplifies this technique only in the method of Shatkarma because of its uniqueness as the cleansing technique only as in the part of pranayama also it is recommended that purification or cleansing of Naadis should be done before starting the actual practice of Pranayama.