Guruji's teachings
Guruji's short teaching on bhramari, the humming bee breath, and what it does for the body, the mind and memory.
From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Post title: "Bhrāmarī Prāṇāyāma — The Hum of Inner Recalibration". Dated 5 November 2016. This post does not name the speaker. The same passage is part of a longer post on the same blog, "Siddhi: Power, Regularity, and the Discipline of the Mind" (2 November 2015), which the blog says Guruji wrote. The original also has a photo, which is not copied here. Originally published at amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com.
There is one simple pranayama which is very important and useful, especially for business people who have a lot of responsibility. This is brahmari pranayama, in which you plug your ears and shut the lips, separate the teeth, and make the sound of Om, opening the mouth. The sound becomes like the humming of a bee.
After doing brahmari pranayama ten or eleven times, you will find that you are not experiencing as much pain in the body as you felt prior to the practice. Neither will you feel as angry or as insecure as you did before. Why?
Because this little technique, inhaling deeply and then producing the sound of Om with the breath, creates vibrations inside the body which change the mental patterns of the brain. The brain has two hemispheres, and they are always generating energy which flows in particular directions. If you breathe deeply and produce the sound of Om in a certain way, then the movement of this energy changes. This affects everything happening in the body, right from the thoughts up to the secretions of the glands. If some secretions are deficient then they are increased, and if they are in excess then they are decreased. Everything is balanced.
What happens on the emotional level is that any agitation, fatigue, fear or insecurity is calmed down and the thoughts become clear. Old, long forgotten memories become fresh again — not the memories of death, violence or unpleasant things, but of those things which you would like to remember. Of course, you don't wish to be reminded of your work, of somebody who has died, or of times when you have been insulted, hurt or harmed. No, that is the wrong memory. But the pure memories come, keen and sharp.
This is one of the small siddhis, not one of the great, miraculous siddhis which you always hear about.
"Bhrāmarī Prāṇāyāma — The Hum of Inner Recalibration", as posted on Guruji's blog on 5 November 2016. The text is kept as in the original.
The longer post on the same blog opens with this note from the blog owner:
(Guruji contributed this early essay, adapted from a lecture given in Mumbai, to the October 1981 issue of Yoga Magazine, published by the Bihar School of Yoga in India.)
Source: "Siddhi: Power, Regularity, and the Discipline of the Mind" on Guruji's blog. Credit to Yoga Magazine and the Bihar School of Yoga for the first printing.
Kaula practice often works through sound. In bhramari the body is the instrument and Om is the mantra, so it is a small inner worship you can do almost anywhere.
In Indian thought, sound belongs to space, the fifth element. The hum fills the head and chest, and Guruji says agitation and fear calm down.
A few rounds before yantra worship, homam or japa can settle the mind first. In the longer essay on the blog, Guruji adds that even with simple techniques like bhramari, the big siddhis will also come.
Guruji says to plug the ears, shut the lips, separate the teeth and make the sound of Om after a deep breath. The sound becomes like the humming of a bee.
Guruji speaks of doing it ten or eleven times. After that, he says, you feel less pain, anger and insecurity than before.
Guruji says it changes the energy patterns of the brain and balances gland secretions. On the emotional level, agitation, fatigue, fear and insecurity calm down and thoughts become clear.
Guruji says old, forgotten memories become fresh again. He means pure memories you would like to keep, not painful ones.
Guruji calls the clear memory from bhramari one of the small siddhis, not the great miraculous ones people hear about. In the longer essay on the blog he says developing mental power, emotional power, or a healthy body are all siddhis.
Read the original: "Bhrāmarī Prāṇāyāma — The Hum of Inner Recalibration" on Guruji's blog.
If something in this teaching landed for you, the best next step is a short private conversation.
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