Music & science of breathing

According to Indian philosophy our life span is fixed and measured not in minutes, days and months/ years but in the total number of breaths. After birth the first thing that regulates all bodily activity is breath, the expansion of lungs and opening of the nostrils. The lungs begin to operate with the first cry of the baby. This is the starting point of the individual life and of the nasal cycle.

As the body requires food for nutrition it requires oxygen for energy. This oxygen is of prime importance because if it is not supplied to the brain for more than three minutes, the brain stops functioning. When the air enters the nose it is filtered and moistened before it enters the lungs. Here the heart sends the impure blood. The blood in the capillaries of the lungs absorbs oxygen from the inhaled air and release impurities like carbon dioxide, hydrogen etc. which are exhaled out. The purified blood is sent back to the heart from where it is pumped into the body and thus oxygen is supplied to all the organs. The capacity of the lungs should be fully developed so that it can purify the blood and free it from all toxins. This can be done with breathing exercises. The more the air we breathe in and retain the better it is for vitality and this will help us to increase our ling activity. The nose is the only bodily organ in continuous inter play with the external environment. The rate of our breathing quickly responds to changes in our physical or mental condition. In anger for example breathing becomes fast and during meditation it becomes slow. Average human organism breaths come inhale and exhale thirteen to fifteen times a minute. As one reduces the rate of breathing one automatically reduces the length of the breath and simultaneously the breath rate one life span increases. Nostrils by means of the process of respiration are connected with neuromotor responses and thus with the automatic nervous system. These neuromotor responses influence the hemispheres of the brain and the primary activity of the brain, which is chemical. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemical messengers; they influence all body functions, including temperature, blood pressure, hormone levels and regular circadian rhythm. Each nostril when it operates independently influences the body chemistry in a different way. The right nostril being solar or hating in character increases acidic secretions, which is masculine and connected with the left hemisphere and is called pingala breath, which is connected with pingala nadi. The left nostril being lunar or cooling increases alkaline secretions. It is feminine and connected with the right hemisphere and is called Ida breath, which is connected with Ida nadi. When air flows in both nostrils equally the sushumna nadi becomes active. This nadi usually works at down and dusk automatically and also for short intervals when the transition from one nostril to the other nostril takes place. Vocal music is the powerful breathing exercise because long exhalation with notes and deep inhalation reduces the rate of breathing. It is better for vitality and increases longetivity. It also helps to develop the capacity of the lungs. Particular music helps to start desired nostril for particular effect in the body.