Friday, May 27, 2016

The benifits of Kapalbhati Evidence based Vision

THE most important contribution of  Param Pujya Swami Ramdevji Maharaj is that he made yoga, an integral part of the life style in every household in Bharat. He also unraveled the ancient mystery of yoga and made it popular at the global level. But he laid special importance to Kapalbhati among all the yoga practices. This article describes complex mystery of Kapalbhati

Kapalbhati is the yogic respiratory technique, which has been described in the yoga related tracts. Its practice is being done with the increase in the rate of respiration, which includes active (voluntary) respiration (with the contraction of the abdominal muscles) and inactive (involuntarily), breathing (exercise of abdominal muscles). For the practice of  Kapalbhati, the practitioner should have to sit in padmasan, siddhasan or sukhasan keeping spinal cord and head straight. The practitioner should close eyes and with focus on breathing process.

In the traditional yoga tracts, special mention of the Kapalbhati practitioners is being found. In Gherand Samhita`, 3 different categories of Kapalbhati have been described..

1) Vata Krama – In the process, breathing is taken from the left nostril and released from right nostril. In second step, breath is taken from right nostril and released from the left nostril.

2) Vyut Krama – Vyut Krama Kapalbhati is being practiced with water being sucked from both the nostrils and released from the mouth, slowly. 

3) Bheet Krama – In this process, water is taken in from the mouth and released from both the nostrils.

The practice of Kapalbhati practice, mentioned in the Gherand Samhita has described various health
benefits. The body turns flexible and healthy and the `kapha` disorders are treated. The people, who
perform Kapalbhati, old-age related disorders remain at arms’ length from them. Other traditional yoga books like `Hath Yoga Pradeepika` also describes similar benefits. Keeping these benefits of yoga in the ancient books, when scientifi cresearches were made with the help of modern equipments, the scientists got the following results.

Heart related affect – This is a well-known fact that our heart beats reverberation fluctuates, according to the need. When we run fast, the heart beat also speeds-up. The reason behind is, to     fulfill the need of the muscles; heart has to send more blood in different body parts. When we rest, after fast running, heart beat turns normal. The autonomous nervous system plays an important role in amending the speed of the heart beats. With the activity of resonating nervous system, the heart beat goes up and with the activity of de-resonating nervous system, it goes down. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a standard of measuring autonomous nervous system.

The impact of Kapalbhati was studied on Heart Rate Variability, which found that after the practice of Kapalbhati (respiration rate 60 per minute) there remains no resonating activity, with no tension on the heart. According to bio-psychosocial Medicine 2011, 5:4, the result shows that the peoples, who have grown older and affected of high blood pressure or under the risk of heart related diseases, may perform Kapalbhati (respiration rate 60 per minute) without additional pressure to their heart.

Consumption of energy – Obesity is a common problem in the country. The main reason behind the obesity is the imbalance of getting the energy from the edibles and burning the energy with  ental
and physical conditions. Oxygen is a very important factor in energy expenditure, which helps in energy burning. The more is the consumption of oxygen, the more is burning of energy (taken from the food). To identify, how Kapalbhati helps in the consumption of energy, an experiment was performed on the healthy employees. According to Medicine Science Monitor Basic Research 2015 21:161-171, it was found that during Kapalbhati, the consumption of oxygen increases by 30%. The conclusion was drawn that the practice of Kapalbhati, the energy consumption increased by 42% and hence, it is beneficial in reducing he obesity.

Mental Health – For the healthy and peaceful life, a good mental health is needed. A person having
better concentration efficiency and memory is more successful in life as compared to those, who have not. With the help of equipment - which is being utilized to study the impact of Kapalbhati on
concentration or meditation – a study was performed.

Evoked potential is one of the equipments, utilized to measure the concentration level.

While using this equipment, a practitioner is asked to concentrate  on a particular voice and during the process; the activity of the brain regions is watched. The information gathered include 1) efficiency of nervous cells and 2) the concept of the amount nervous cells, which are being utilized during meditation activity. According to the Journal of Alternative And Compliments Medicine 2009,
15:281:285, it was established that those who practice Kapalbhati may increase their nervous cells
efficiency. Means, their mental efficiency increases as compared to those, who do not.

Thus, Kapalbhati is a good exercise. But those, who have epilepsy (The uneven respiration rate could
be a reason of it), abdominal surgery, heart ailments and uncontrolled high blood pressure should
practice it carefully.

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