Barriers to Practice
/Most yogis do not recognize that there are considerable barriers to practicing Anuloma Viloma for a long period of time. It is only through long practice of alternate nostril breath that the results come, like what you find on the “Science” page on tomgillette.com.
Two years ago, I used to lead longish Anuloma Viloma practices. Most dedicated yogis, with strong asana/ujjaayee practices but no AV practice, start off with good intentions to do their best.
Here’s what has happened in the past. After about 5 minutes, two or three yogis have already, dropped their hand to their lap and are now meditating instead. By 8 minutes, more than half of them have now broken off and are now meditating. Somehow, there are a couple of hold outs who through sheer force of will, are somehow toughing it out past 10 minutes.
Before the experience is over, while they still have their eyes closed, I asked them “What was the last thing you remember before you dropped the hand?” We opened our eyes and this is a compilation of answers that many groups have given. The answers are varied and I am going to number them:
“My shoulder hurt.” “The pain in my middle deltoid and supraspinatus was on fire,” said the anatomy teacher.
“I was bored.” ”It’s like watching paint dry.” This was the second largest group.
“I don’t remember” “I don’t remember anything about why. I just did.” This was by far the largest group.
“What is the point?” “It’s meaningless. It’s just oxygen.”
“I was really angry.”
“It was like torture.” “ I hated it.”
“I already do 10 minutes of Anuloma Viloma a day. It wasn’t difficult.”
Nowadays, I do not ever lead this experience in this fashion. I have come to realize that there are considerable hurdles to getting AV going. The reason I created This Next Breath and This Next Breath II, was to successfully guide myself and absolute beginners, step by step, into the later stages of praanaayaama.
This Next Breath and This Next Breath II will take you through the barriers. It is actually fun and delightful and there is “no torture.”
86 people have signed up for the first course, so far. Anyone who has been doing it, has really liked it. It is not hard to do this course. The only way you are going to know for certain, is if you start.
