Pranayama Practice

This practice is based on the pranayama exercise described in Aleister Crowley's Liber E. vel Exercitiorum, sub figura IX. While the text uses the general term "pranayama", the described technique closely aligns with Nadi Shodhana Pranayama, also known as alternate nostril breathing.

I would describe the practice as: Sitting in your Asana, a stable and comfortable position, Begin by closing your right nostril with your thumb, exhaling slowly through your left nostril for 20 seconds, then inhaling through the same nostril for 10 seconds. Alternate nostrils and repeat the process. Start with a duration that feels comfortable to you, and gradually work toward an hour. Once you can practice level one comfortably for a full hour, move to the next level. Only advance a level once you have maintained comfort and control in the current level for at least an hour.

The practice area visualizes your breathing. The colored circles represent your nostrils, blue for the left and red for the right. The central bar fills with yellow during inhalation and empties during exhalation. When holding your breath, the bar turns green.

If you're new to alternate nostril breathing, begin with just 5–10 minutes per session. Gradually increase the time as your comfort and confidence grow.

Please approach this practice with ease and control. Think of it as guiding your breath, not forcing it. Strive for deep, full, and regular breathing rather than forcing longer durations or perfect timings too quickly.

Practice in a quiet, comfortable space, seated with your spine straight. It’s best to practice on an empty stomach to avoid discomfort during prolonged breathing exercises.

Listen to your body. If you experience discomfort, dizziness, or shortness of breath, stop the practice and rest.

If done improperly, especially rushed or overly intense pranayama can cause hyperventilation and may overactivate the sympathetic nervous system, leading to stress on the body. Avoid prolonged or rapid breathing without guidance.

If you are pregnant or have health conditions like high blood pressure, asthma, epilepsy, or heart problems, consult a healthcare provider before practicing.

This guide is not a substitute for professional medical advice or supervision.

Sources:

Health Impacts of Yoga and Pranayama

Pranayama and its Effects

Effects of Pranayama on Lifestyle Disorders

Effect of Nadi Shodhana Pranayama on Respiratory Parameters in School Students

Effectiveness of Nadi Shodhana Pranayama on Test Anxiety among Nursing Students

Pranayama—Regularisation of the Breathing

1. At rest. in one of your positions, close the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand and breathe out slowly and completely through the left nostril, while your watch marks 20 seconds. Breathe in through the same nostril for 10 seconds. Changing hands, repeat with the other nostril. Let this be continuous for one hour.
2. When this is quite easy to you, increase the periods to 30 and 15 seconds.
3. When this is quite easy to you, but not before, breathe out for 15 seconds, in for 15 seconds, and hold the breath for 15 seconds.
4. When you can do this with perfect ease and comfort for a whole hour, practise breathing out for 40, in for 20 seconds.
5. This being attained, practise breathing out for 20, in for 10, holding the breath for 30 seconds. When this has become perfectly easy to you, you may be admitted for examination, and should you pass, you will be instructed in more complex and difficult practices.
6. You will find that the presence of food in the stomach, even in small quantities, makes the practices very difficult.
7. Be very careful never to overstrain your powers; especially never get so short of breath that you are compelled to breathe out jerkily or rapidly.
8. Strive after depth, fulness, and regularity of breathing.
9. Various remarkable phenomena will very probably occur during these practices. They must be carefully analysed and recorded.

From: https://keepsilence.org/the-equinox/1.1/liber-exercitiorum_low.pdf

I started to develop this simple tool to help my own pranayama practice and also to practice web design/dev at the same time, following this very specific iteration of the exercise. After reaching a point where it was functional and testing it over extended periods of time, I realized its potential and that it could definitely be useful for other practitioners out there, so on a whim I decided to publish it and to make it open source, free to the public, hoping it can enhance and motivate your practice in some way or another, like it did with mine.

You can find the source code for this project on GitHub.

For inquiries or feedback, feel free to contact me.

If you find this guide helpful and wish to support, you can do so via PayPal.

To learn more about me you can check out my website/portfolio (Im still working on it, it is mainly UX/UI design right now, but it is slowly evolving toward my vision of it).

Liber ABA: Book 4, Parts I & II, by A. C.

Magick Without Tears, by A. C.

8 Lectures on Yoga, by A. C.

The Magick of Aleister Crowley, by Lon Milo DuQuette

Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda

Tantra Illuminated, by Christopher D. Wallis