With the advent of the Coronavirus, we are all the more reminded to appreciate the breath. I have begun to appreciate each breath that I take in too. Tavayogi once said that the breath is God. I remember how my nephew and I had cornered Tavayogi to share these techniques when he had pitched a night in my nephew's home during his visit to Malaysia in 2008. As he was used to taking a walk in the mornings around his ashram grounds, he felt caged during the days of his stay in Malaysia. Upon daybreak, he initiated to me that we take a walk around the neighborhood. As we returned to my nephew's home, I asked if he would teach us the Asanas and Pranayama techniques that he was sharing at the local chapter of his Peedham in Batu Caves. He remained quiet. On reaching home, he said that he would teach them that brought us joy and happiness. We went through the phase with him leading the way. Later for the purpose of documenting the full regime of exercises, he agreed to do it again for the sake of us. This was recorded on video and has been a guide to us in carrying out the techniques.
Wherever he practiced the technique upon waking up, be it at his ashram, our other places of residence, we could hear him bellow the air so loudly that it is heard outside the room. It made me wonder in awe at the amount of air that he takes in each breath. With regular practice, it had brought him to inhale a vast amount of air that carried more prana within, a gentle reminder for us to do it regularly. As I did it I too could feel the prana that accompanied each breath expand to the verge of exploding within. Every single cell was rejuvenated by the breath that we took and expelled again.
As Swami Akhandananda says at https://www.siddhayoga.org/2018/april/finding-stillness-in-every-breath, indeed the breath connects us to the outside world and brings both tranquility and nourishment to us. Bringing us into Yogam this instance, Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal together with our gurus and the rest of the Siddhas have initiated breathing exercises bringing us into awareness of the breath that in turn would bring tranquility and steadiness of mind. Agathiyar has asked that we adopt the techniques given by Tavayogi. Going back to Agathiyar and reporting that the mind does not settle down, he agrees that it would not and cannot be tamed, asks that I adopt a technique to clear and cleanse my internals first before engaging in the practice. He had me consume the Agathiyar Kozhumbu and turn to a drink that I needed to prepare and consume daily. If the former cleared my house that I had been cooped in, carrying all the rubbish with me for the past 60 years, in a terrifying way, the later did a fairly and pretty good job of throwing off the remaining litter that was still lodged in the nooks and corners.
After 51 days, having missed a couple of days when I had to attend to extremely important issues on hand, I stopped taking it a couple of days back. I shall await his command if there is a need to continue or otherwise. Each morning I usher in the morning air that brings with it the coolness and energy or prana rejuvenating my body, senses, and mind. This is only available in large amounts in the early hours before the dawn of the day, as there is no pollution then from the factories, the vehicles on the road and equally no dust from all the movements. The quietness that prevails helps the mind settle fast. When the whole world is fast asleep every small noise is amplified. During this period the hearing, the sight, the smell, the taste buds, the touch is all equally amplified or improved. As my eyesight improved I had to make a new pair of glasses with a prescription power of 175 on my right and 150 on my left a vast contrast from what was 525 and 475 respectively in the '80s.
Our body is the biggest miracle that is so close to us that often we miss acknowledging. We are neither grateful nor treat it with respect and gratitude. We treat it as a vehicle to ferry our soul and dump it when it doesn't serve our purpose anymore. The Siddha, on the contrary, takes special care of it bringing it with him as he leaves the physical world. The body has the ability to rejuvenate and heal itself, by taking good care of it and of course with some assistance from certain food intakes and supplements that are known to the Siddhas.
It is said that if one lives till 120 he might see new teeth grow. It is said that the cells are replaced every seven years becoming practically a new person because, in that time, every cell in our body has been replaced by a new cell. We read a quote from The New York Public Library's Science Desk Reference (Stonesong Press, 1995) in https://www.livescience.com/33179-does-human-body-replace-cells-seven-years.html.
It is said that if one lives till 120 he might see new teeth grow. It is said that the cells are replaced every seven years becoming practically a new person because, in that time, every cell in our body has been replaced by a new cell. We read a quote from The New York Public Library's Science Desk Reference (Stonesong Press, 1995) in https://www.livescience.com/33179-does-human-body-replace-cells-seven-years.html.
There are between 50 and 75 trillion cells in the body.... Each type of cell has its own life span, and when a human dies it may take hours or day before all the cells in the body die." (Forensic investigators take advantage of this vaguely morbid fact when determining the cause and time of death of homicide victims.)
Red blood cells live for about four months, while white blood cells live on average more than a year. Skin cells live about two or three weeks. Colon cells have it rough: They die off after about four days. Sperm cells have a life span of only about three days, while brain cells typically last an entire lifetime (neurons in the cerebral cortex, for example, are not replaced when they die).
But another site https://curiosity.com/topics/does-your-body-really-replace-itself-every-7-years-curiosity/ while agreeing to some facts refutes the others.
... the cells that line your stomach can renew as fast as every two days, since they're often in contact with digestive acid. Cells that make up your skin are replaced every two to three weeks. Red blood cells, meanwhile, last for about four months. White blood cells, the main players in fighting infections, can last from a few days to a little over a week. In contrast, your fat cells live a fairly long time — an average age of 10 years. The bones in your body also regenerate about every 10 years. Other parts of your body are just as old as you are. For example, brain cells don't regenerate as you age, although recent studies say that cells in your hippocampus, the part responsible for memory, can regrow. Your tooth enamel is never replaced, and the lenses of your eyes are also with you for life.
When an 80-year-old came and complained to Yogi Ramsuratkumar that he was losing his sight, the Yogi advocated that he take Nelli or Amla or Indian Gooseberry. The man regained perfect eyesight. Anything is possible as far as the Siddhas are concerned. Their acts defy the laws of nature and common law. These then we regard as miracles. Just as the body is the greatest miracle it is also a great mystery.
As it is said that when the breath is steady, the mind naturally flows, Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal have begun us on observing the breath first. The mind shall settle on its own accord or eventually its thought waves dissolve. "This yogic discipline culminates in a state of fully absorbed meditation", we learn at https://www.siddhayoga.org/2018/april/finding-stillness-in-every-breath. The tool used here is pranayama. From active and conscious inhalation and exhalation as taught by Tavayogi, with the breath reaching a fair distance before us, we then settled down to take long and sustained breaths that quieten down and settle between the eyebrows, traveling within now. Bringing the breath to move silently, it travels a minute distance before it is brought to anchor at the Agnai. The breath is used to assist in bringing the soul to merge with the spirit. The breath does not leave the spot we are told as in the case of the Siddhas. This is samadhi or summa eruppathu or just being, we are told.
Tavayogi did not teach us to retain the breath in Kumbhaka. Only recently did Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal spell this out to us, a momentary retention of the breath. We are not to take a full breath and hold it physically struggling to retain it, but on the contrary, we are to retain it within between the eyebrows, only a teeny weeny breath that does not cause any discomfort or harm to us. In this moment of retention, we are to recite silently the first Diksa mantra given to us, invoking our guru. As Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar expounds the Siddhas shall move our breath henceforth without our attempt or effort. This is a safe means to a practice that can otherwise bring unimaginable troubles.
Tavayogi did not teach us to retain the breath in Kumbhaka. Only recently did Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal spell this out to us, a momentary retention of the breath. We are not to take a full breath and hold it physically struggling to retain it, but on the contrary, we are to retain it within between the eyebrows, only a teeny weeny breath that does not cause any discomfort or harm to us. In this moment of retention, we are to recite silently the first Diksa mantra given to us, invoking our guru. As Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar expounds the Siddhas shall move our breath henceforth without our attempt or effort. This is a safe means to a practice that can otherwise bring unimaginable troubles.