Kapalabhati
A type of yoga
Kapalbhati (Sanskrit: कपालभाति, romanized: kapālabhāti, "Skull-polishing") is an important shatkarma, a purification in hatha yoga. The word kapalabhati is made up of two Sanskrit words: kapāla meaning "skull", and bhāti meaning "shining, illuminating". It is intended mainly for cleaning the sinuses but according to the Gheranda Samhita has magical curative effects.[1] There are three forms of Kapalabhati:
- Vatakrama, a practice similar to the pranayama technique of Bhastrika or "Breath of Fire", except that exhalation is active while inhalation is passive, the opposite of normal breathing.
- Vyutkrama, a practice similar to Jala neti, it involves sniffing water through the nostrils and letting it flow down into the mouth, and then spitting it out.
- Sheetkrama, essentially the reverse of Vyutkrama, in which water is taken through the mouth and expelled through the nose.
See also
- Kundalini energy
- Tummo#Practice
- Uddiyana bandha
References
- ^ Kapalbhati - Frontal Brain Purification, in Yoga Magazine, a publication of Bihar School of Yoga.
- v
- t
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Hatha yoga
- Three bodies
- Five sheaths
- Chakra
- Nadi
- Sushumna
- Prana
![Mayurasana, in the Jogapradipika, 1830](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Jogapradipika_16_Mayurasana.jpg/80px-Jogapradipika_16_Mayurasana.jpg)
(Asanas)
- Ancient meditation seats Darshana Upanishad, Pātañjalayogaśāstravivaraṇa, Goraksha Sataka
- Ancient non-meditation Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitā, Pātañjalayogaśāstravivaraṇa
- c. 7th C. Ahirbudhnya Samhita
- c. 10th C. Vimanarcanakalpa
- c. 11th C. Amritasiddhi, Hemachandra's Yogashastra
- 12th C. Amaraugha Prabodha
- 19th C. Sritattvanidhi
- Late
- 1905 Yogasopana Purvacatuska
- 1943 Hatha Yoga: The Report of A Personal Experience
- Modern yoga
- Nath
- Roots of Yoga
- Yoga
- Yoga as exercise
- Category:Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas