Nose induced lucidity

Quest for Lucidity
1

hey guys ,

i have a good good idea,
in Tibetan dream yoga they have you breathe through your left nostril before going to bed, and when i thought about it deeply i understand why

the left nostril is very soothing to breathe through, they say it is the energy of the moon, and the right is the sun

and when i have breathed about 10 breaths or more through the left nostril, by closing off the right with my first two fingers, or however i want to,
i begin to feel very calm and soft,

however the other exercise is after about 10 - 20 breaths this way, to inhale and then hold the breath comfortable, then switch , closing off the left, and going out the right
and this continues , in through the left, holding, out through the right,

and i have this idea, that if we do a really good session of breathing this way, until the feeling of great softness and calmness exists, and then go to bed, it might help us go right into lucid dreams,

and i have this other idea, that if we the opposite, and do solar breathing, it can have us to a deeeeeep feeling of meditation where we have conscious deep sleep, while being in the body, while being awake,

for it to work we have to breathe until we really really really feel a change in how we feel, which isn’t more than 15 minutes i’d say.

then i have an idea, what if you go to bed plugging off the right nostril, and just breathe! what will happen ?

2

In Tibetan dream yoga, the left nostril is where the flow of wisdom prana comes in, and the right is where the rough prana comes in. We alternate the breathing to balance the center energy channel in the body. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the sun or moon.

Male Tibetan yogis sleep on their right side to somewhat inhibit the rough prana, allowing the wisdom prana to flow more freely, allowing you to have more soothing and useful dreams. In women, the energy channels are opposite; they sleep on their left side.

3

I’ll admit I’m skeptical about this, however; it’s not entirely implausible. Breathing slower is a way to relax yourself, and if your left nostril is harder to breath through, then this might work to slow your breathing.

I hope I’m understanding the whole theory here and all. Are you saying that plugging the right nostril makes us calmer and the plugging the left would make is more alert? I think that if this is true than you may want to plug the left nostril. One of the most important things about lucid dreaming is being mentally alert, something that makes you calm (and therefor more likely to accept odd things in your dream) might actually make it harder. I may give both methods a try at some point soon.

4

I believe it’s unhealthy to plug either nostril unless you are doing balancing exercises. Plugging the right nostril does not make you calmer, and plugging the left does not make you more alert. It simply controls the types of prana that flow through the body, and the most important thing is balance within the energy body. If you don’t believe in the energy aspect of it, then at least take comfort in the fact that breathing exercises restore balance to your breathing cycle, and allows more oxygen to flow through the body which has countless benefits.

To balance the energy body, you can do this simple pranayama exercise; Tuck your index and middle finger into your palm so that only your thumb, ring, and pinkie finger are sticking out. Completely exhale, then press your right nostril with your thumb, so that air can only come in through the left nostril.

Inhale deep, and slow through your left nostril, then press the left nostril with your ring and pinkie finger. now exhale slowly and completely through your right nostril. Now inhale through the same nostril. Press your right nostril with your thumb, and exhale completely with your left nostril.

Thats one round. Do this for about 10-15 minutes, 2 times a day. Always end by exhaling through your left nostril, and only do this exercise 2-3 hours after eating. If you had a big meal, wait at least 4 hours.

5

hm so you do not find that lunar pranayam is soothing and solar is energizing ?

it actually is,

but you feel that one should only do alternate nostril breathing, rather than working with the ida / pingala separately ?

it is good to work with sushuma too such as through kappalabati, bhastrika, or analoma veloma, (if you look at my “yoga thread” there is detailed exercises for this )

but exclusive use of solar or lunar channel can also greatly shift the consciousness into a certain type of state, the moon making one feel very soft and inclined to meditate or sleep calmly, hence the dream yoga practice of lunar breathing before bed.

6

As I said before, I don’t believe its healthy to breath through one nostril for an extended period of time, because I believe it inflates one energy channel and leaves the body unbalanced. However, I admit that I am no expert and if you can show me a reliable source or two that gives more information on the subject, I would be happy to learn.

You would also be doing me a great favor if you gave a source with a minimum of eastern esoteric terms. I cannot stand sifting through all of them to decipher the meaning behind the text. :content:

7

okay ,
left nostril ida - cooling , moon ,
right nostril pingala - sun ,
sushumma - central channel,

you are right , it shifts balance to one side, and that is the point, because it induces a change congruent with either the body, invigoration , energy, or serenity, peace

hence the reason dream yoga prescribes left nostril breathing before bed,

analoma veloma - alternate nostril breathing,
this is very good too, yes,

search “yoga thread”

i have a strong hunch that breathing through the left nostril for a period of time will make you relaxed and serene enough to easily float out of body into dreams.

you can always balance yourself for non lucidity purposes during the day through a breath of fire or alternate nostril breathing method, or both.

8

Thank you Presence of light, but I was hoping for sources without all the esoteric terms, remember? I Was on the same thread before, and told you I could not read most of the articles it because it was chock full of so many of them. Do you have any other reliable source where you learned this from?

9

hm,
yogi bhajan on his yogi tea boxes shows the single nose breathing exercises,

he was a kundalini yoga master ,

sources ? not that i know of directly, you can see this done on youtube if you look for it, i saw a yogi leading people to block off the left nostril with the ring finger, touching the forehead with the first two fingers, breathing through the right nostril, saying that it cleans the organ

what sources do you have that make you think that single nose breathing is not good ? you are right it shifts balance so i agree with you, balance is needed too.

there is a practice called swara yoga which emphasizes the two nostrils and utilizing them for various daily activities