Like many people right now, I’ve been reading so many different messages and bits of information floating around about the Coronavirus. One fact that struck me was that for the virus to survive, the pH value of the blood must be between 5.5 and 8.5. Normal blood is slightly alkaline and generally has a pH of 7.35 to 7.45. A pH of 7 is considered neutral and anything below that is dangerous and can lead to excess acid (called acidosis).
This stood out to me because it brought to mind pranayama—the ancient practice of controlling your breathing in order to control the movement of the life force. Through this exercise, for a very short period, you can create a spike in the alkaline level of the blood, raising it to over 8.5. In this physiology, the virus cannot survive.
I’m going to suggest that we do this pranayama three times a day for five minutes each, so that we temporarily raise the level of alkalinity in the blood. At the very least, it will make our bodies less hospitable to the virus. Some points to note: many medical experts agree that a rise in pH is not dangerous, but it could lead to some negative side-effects in the body. It could, over the long run, lead to a build-up of calcium and magnesium carbonate in our blood vessels. T For this reason, it is not advisable to have alkaline water all the time.
There are two kinds of changes we can bring about in the body: a chemical-operant change and a breath-operant change. When we take sodium bicarbonate to alkalize our body, which many of us do first thing in the morning, we are introducing a chemical into our system. The action of this chemical is to make the blood alkaline. This is a chemical-operant change. Many people use harmful drugs to experience different states of consciousness. This is a chemical-operant change. All chemical-operant changes have side-effects and some can be dangerous and also addictive in the long run.
The aim of the practice of pranayama as well as the Refining Exercises is to bring about chemical and electrical changes in the blood and nerves by using different forms of breathing. All eighty-four pranayamas were created by the rishis for this purpose. The beauty of a breath-operant change is that it does not have negative side-effects—it is not addictive and is in our control. Because at present the world is caught up in the outbreak of the virus, I thought I would introduce the Chandrabhedan pranayama. We use the 3-Step Rhythmic Breathing music at 36 cycles. We block the right nostril with our fingers and breathe in 1-2-3 from the left nostril. We then block the left nostril and breathe out 5-6 from the right nostril. We repeat this cycle. We do not breathe in from the right nostril. We do this for five minutes, three times a day. This will increase the pH of the blood to above 8.5 three times a day, potentially giving us immunity from the virus. It will also increase the power of our parasympathetic nervous system which will allow us to remain at peace, and in balance and harmony with ourselves and others.
Science today advocates that every morning when we get up, we should first drink lemon water to alkalize the body. Every morning, we can wake up and do this pranayama with the 3-Step Rhythmic Breathing music at 36 cycles for nine minutes to alkalize our blood and protect us from disease. They say cancer needs an acidic environment to multiply. With this pranayama, we are developing immunity not just against the coronavirus but against other diseases as well. Stay Safe and Healthy.