# Theological Academy: Svasti Mudra

Svasti Mudra is a high-level breathing technique.
Effect
* cleansing the svadisthana chakra
* promotes intelligence
* weight loss
* strengthening the body
* cures chronic colds
* eliminates mucus
* rejuvenation
* awakening of kundalini
* helps the process of entering samadhi
Sequence
* Sit in padmasana. Arch your lower back, straighten your back and neck.
* Place your hands on your knees, palms down, and concentrate on the space between your eyebrows.
* Take 25 slow, strong, deep breaths in and out through both nostrils.
* With your last breath out, completely exhale the air from your lungs, pushing the rest of the air in with your stomach.
* After you take your last breath out, squeeze your throat, squeeze your anus, and squeeze your stomach. Without inhaling, hold your breath for as long as you can.
* During this breath hold, watch the strength of the bandhas (clamps). Raise the energy up, imagining the highest Absolute above you as emptiness.
* When you can no longer bear it, first release the stomach lock, then release the anus lock, then the throat lock, and inhale through both nostrils.
* After taking a deep breath in, squeeze your throat, anus, and stomach in the same sequence again, and again hold your breath for as long as you can.
* During this breath hold, continue to monitor the strength of the bandhas and raise the energy upward, imagining the highest Absolute above you.
* When it becomes difficult, then release the abdominal lock, relax the anus and then the throat.
* And exhale through both nostrils with a roaring sound, as if you are experiencing nausea: bending forward, imagining how the bad vayu comes out of you.
Commentary
Svasti mudra is mastered after the basic breathing techniques and after mastering the lotus pose. To perform svasti mudra, it is especially important to sit in padmasana so that the heels press firmly on the pingala and ida channels. That is, you need to sit in deep padmasana, legs folded very tightly. In this way, the pingala channel and the ida channel are firmly clamped. If you do not tightly clamp the ida and pingala channels with your heels, then the energy will not enter the central sushumna channel. It is also important not to bend your lower back. The spine should be completely straight.
Inhalations and exhalations should be slow, deep and strong. There is chest and abdominal breathing. In this case, the inhalation should be very deep so that the air, entering through the nose, fills not only the chest, but also the entire abdomen to the sensation of a kind of pressure inside the abdomen. Breathing with an open mouth is wrong, the mouth should be closed. Those who are just starting this practice often strain their shoulders very much and in this position breathe only with the muscles of the throat. At the same time, they often strain their face. This is not right. First of all, you need to relax properly. No part of the body should be overly tense. Particular attention should be paid to not raising the shoulders. And also to the fact that during inhalations and exhalations, the breath is slow and strong, and the abdomen is properly filled with air. We inhale through the nose, but fill with air not only the nasopharynx, but also the entire abdomen. And then exhale. If the stomach does not work actively, it will be very difficult to achieve the appearance of heat. Also be careful that there are no excessive active movements of the head or active movements of the shoulders. It also happens that people make active movements of the whole body during inhalation and exhalation. This is also incorrect execution. You need to keep the body straight, the lower back arched and not move the head and body. On the contrary, the body should be significantly relaxed.
The next important point is the execution of three locks (bandhas). If these locks are not clamped very tightly, the energy will not enter the central channel. Very often, when performing, the throat or stomach are not clamped enough. A tight lock on the anus may not be easy to do, but you should also try to master this bandha. These bandhas must be performed in the correct sequence. First of all, press the chin to the neck properly, firmly inserting it into the jugular notch so that there is no gap between it and the neck. At this time, the shoulders are not tense. First, we squeeze the diaphragm of the anus, then, maintaining the compression, lift it up, into the body. All the tension is concentrated in the three bandhas: throat, anus, stomach, and the rest of the body is sufficiently relaxed, not tense. So, first we clamp the throat, then the anus, and finally the stomach. This is rechaka - holding the breath after exhalation. The bandhas must be held properly, tightly. The stomach is pulled in very deeply inward and upward. At the same time, we concentrate consciousness only in three places: the throat, anus, stomach, so as not to relax them. And we pull up their strength, directing attention upward, to the Absolute. And the rest of the body is relaxed. Refrain from any movement, swinging, body. If you perform the bandhas carefully, then the energy freely enters the central channel and freely rises to the crown of the head. If the bandhas are held very tightly, then you can notice how the skin turns slightly red, the energy actively collects in the central channel and rises in a powerful stream to the crown of the head and accumulates there.
There is an option to perform pranayama as a regular pranayama, and as a mudra. When performing svasti mudra as pranayama, holding the breath, after rechaka and after puraka, is not performed to the limit. When it becomes difficult to hold the breath to some extent, then you can move on to the next process. And when svasti is performed as a mudra, then you need to hold your breath to the limit. That is, when it becomes difficult for you, you need to hold for another 30 seconds or a minute and only then release the bandhas. This performance will have the effect of a mudra. Concentration in the forehead area and then on the Absolute gives an even greater effect.
How to exhale at the very end of svasti mudra? There are people who are embarrassed to exhale correctly, but otherwise there will be no proper effect from svasti mudra. Therefore, you need to exhale through the mouth vigorously and loudly, making a roaring sound. You need to exhale loudly and very actively, and not quietly. It is incorrect to relax the bandhas, doing this simultaneously with inhalation or exhalation. That is, it is dangerous to relax the bandhas and inhale in an arbitrary order. You need to be attentive to this point.