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→More on Breath and Pranayama
[This statement is made by a disciple on the traditional way of doing prayanama]
<ref>https://incarnateword.in/agenda/03/february-24-1962#p29,p31,p33</ref>
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You can achieve excellent control of the heart. But I never practiced it violently, never strained myself. I think holding for 16 is too long. I used to do it simply like this:
breathe in very slowly to the count of 4, then hold for 4 ... lifting the diaphragm and lowering the head.., closing everything and exerting pressure (this is an almost instantaneous cure for hiccups—it's handy!). Then while I held the air, I would make it circulate with the force (because it contained force, you see) and with the peace as well; and I would concentrate it wherever there was a physical disorder (a pain or something wrong somewhere). It's very effective. The way I did it was: inhale, hold, exhale and empty—you are completely empty. It's very useful; very handy for underwater swimmers, for instance!
I had trouble breathing in slowly enough—that's a bit hard. I began with 4 and eventually managed to do 12. I did 12-12-12-12...To breathe in very slowly and hold all that air isn't easy.<ref>https://incarnateword.in/agenda/03/february-24-1962#p36,p37</ref><center>~</center>But instead of doing equal amounts of time, it might be better to do less for inhaling and more for holding the breath. The holding part is extremely interesting! When the air is inside, let's say you have a headache or a sore throat or a pain in your arm, anything—then you take the air….and direct it to the unwell part... very, very helpful and pleasant and interesting. You see the force go to the spot, settle in and stay there, all sorts of things.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/agenda/03/february-24-1962#p58</ref>
==Calling in Pranic Energy==
You can write to him that it is not safe to do Pranayam except under the directions of a guru who is siddha in either Rajayoga or Hathayoga. Gasping is obviously a sign of something wrong—for the breathing in Pranayam must be perfectly unimpeded and regular. It is better either to stop the Pranayam or to find out somebody who is practised in the method and take instructions from him what to do. <ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29/sankhya-and-yoga#p20</ref>
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Pranayam is a very powerful thing, but if done haphazardly it may lead to the raising of obstructions and even in extreme cases illness in the body. <ref>https://incarnateword.in/sabcl/23/sadhana-through-meditation-iii#p8</ref>
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Pranayam is safe only if one knows how to do it and is on guard against its possible dangers: (1) danger to health by mistakes in the method, (2) rising of the vital forces, especially lust, egoism and wrongly directed strength and force, (3) the awakening of concealed sanskaras of the physical nature or latent karma from past lives. <ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29/sankhya-and-yoga#p18</ref>
=More on Breath and Pranayama=
Pranayama and other physical practices like asana do not necessarily root out sexual desire—sometimes by increasing enormously the vital force in the body they can even exaggerate in a rather startling way the force too of the sexual tendency, which, being at the base of the physical life, is always difficult to conquer. The one thing to do is to separate oneself from these movements, to find one's inner self and live in it; these movements will not then any longer appear as belonging to oneself but as surface impositions of the outer Prakriti upon the inner self or Purusha. They can then be more easily discarded or brought to nothing.
<ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/sex#p92</ref>
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<center>... it's simply a question of attitude—the attitude of going beyond... beyond this mental prison humanity has locked itself in, and of... breathing up above.
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/agenda/11/march-14-1970#p35</ref></center>
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My breath runs in a subtle rhythmic stream;