Hacking The Nervous System
Remember every movie in the 90’s had that one nerdy character that after a few harried moments of clacking away on the computer keyboard would announce- “I’m in! I’ve hacked the system!”?
That’s us!
While we may not have the necessary computer skills to break into the inter web we all have the tools to hack into the matrix of our own physiology, mind and Nervous System. Some hilarious people might even say those tools are right under our nose.
Groan. It’s our breath. Let’s get to hacking!
The wise Yogis of the past observed that it was possible to “hack” the system through techniques that would stimulate a certain nostril dominance which would bring about an immediately more desirable energetic (and NS) state.
Before we go any deeper I need you to know something.
It’s pretty big news and I want to make sure you're ready for it.
Seriously, you might want to sit down.
Are you ready?
You have erectile tissue in your nose.
Just like every other erectile tissue that you might be thinking of, when it gets engorged with blood, it swells. One nostril swells making the other nostril more dominant every one to four hours. Some anatomy books even get more precise and say it happens every 88 or so minutes which just so happens to be a glorious synchronicity with what some of our older Yoga wisdom states. Though the magic of your Nervous System when your Parasympathetic is predominate your left nostril is dominate and in yoga terms your Ida Nadi is dominant. When your Sympathetic is dominant your right nostril and Pingala Nadi is dominant. Now this is in a perfectly balanced body and world. Deviated septums, stuffed up noses and changes to our internal and external environment will of course affect the system.
By doing a breathing technique called Chandra Bhedana (breathing in through the left nostril and out through the right nostril repeatedly) we can make the left lunar nostril, and thusly the Parasympathetic NS, temporarily dominant. Conversely Surya Bhedana (breathing in through the right nostril and out through the left nostril repeatedly) makes the right solar nostril and thusly the Sympathetic NS temporarily dominant. The technique of Nadi Shodhana, otherwise known as alternate nostril breath (inhaling through the left nostril and out through the right nostril and then inhaling through the right nostril and out through the left nostril repeatedly), can help to balance the flow of breath through both nostrils as well as the flow of energy through both of the Nadis. This balance has been shown to be beneficial to the Autonomic Nervous System, bringing about what you might call Autonomic flexibility. This is explained as both balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, as well as returning us into a more equanimous pendulum swing between the two. This happens to us naturally as we switch back and forth between Sympathetic and Parasympathetic dominance during our day but is sometimes triggered during orgasm, meditation and laughing.
The Yogis also noticed that we have another secret access point into this system under our own arms- the axillary ganglia. You might have even seen old picture of yogis carrying or leaning on a staff (danda) as a tool to put pressure on these special points. In the sixth intercostal space under our armpits we have a little cluster of Autonomic Nerves that when compressed dilate the opposite nostril through ANS stimulation and your ability to get nose erections. Meaning, if you take your right hand under your left armpit and leave it there for a couple of minutes you will find that the right nostril will become dominant. Left hand under your right armpit will make the left nostril dominant. We even have a technique called Padadhirsasana where we criss cross our arms across our chest and place both hands under both armpits. Just like Nadi Shodhana this will help to balance the Nadis and the flow of breath through both nostrils. This is also one of the reasons why we might choose to roll over to our right side and rest for a couple of minutes after Shavasana before our meditation practice. The pressure we place with our body weight on our right axillary point will make the left nostril more dominant which might help to keep the mind quieter during our meditation.