The 9 bottled wind pranayam...

[Flolfolil]

Hahah I can sit in full lotus for hours in a row, but I can't do the butterfly pose

i have a similar issue. i can do half lotus for a bit, but any amount of butterfly destroys my knees due to gravity, even with my hips elevated above my knees

[de_paradise]

I do a variation of this, vajra breathing, part of a warm up set in a primordial yoga from a Tibetan Dakini lineage. We don't hold the breath, but the inhales are very long, and theres a few more steps, and that makes it more smoothy-chi than a holding the breath kind. Its become my favorite thing because it works very well for calming the mind and generating bliss. It is said that balancing the left and right channels has the effect of balancing the central channel, thus making the mind more stable and in tune with the non-duality. I just stick it in my compilation yoga routine after some standing poses. I've known about 9 bottled for so long, but never really adapted the practice until a month ago, and now I know I was crazy not to have done it earlier. Its good to do outside in the fresh morning air.

[mantis]

at 1min per every inhalation now for a total of 9 min practice time. short term goal is 2min ea, i can hold that for a single inhalation but wouldn't be able to hold that for the rest.

[Eric23]

i have a similar issue. i can do half lotus for a bit, but any amount of butterfly destroys my knees due to gravity, even with my hips elevated above my knees

 

Find a Yin Yoga or good restorative yoga teacher. They should show you how to use props for support and how to prevent injury. I found that a foam block under each knee was sufficient in preventing knee pain. In Yin Yoga we hold the asana for 3 - 5 minutes, that allows time for pranayama during the asana. I use a very basic four square breathing pattern.

[de_paradise]

"the ... aim ...is to capture the karmic prana within the central channel. What does this mean? Breathing in a distracted manner through the solar and lunar channels is the way we transmigrate. Through distraction all actions arise and karma is produced. That is why normal breathing is called karmic. When a living being is born, it already has its own character produced by a specific karma tied to the prana and the breath. If we want to become masters of ourselves and our minds without further distraction, first of all we should be able to control the karmic breath. The main method to do this is called "capturing the karmic prana in the central channel" through the practice of kumbhaka, which consists of inhaling the air through the two channels and forcing the prana energy into the central channel. In this way the air flowing in the two karmic channels is exhausted and integrated within the central channel." Chogyal Namkhai Norbu