A post from India

Tom and Prof. Srinvas Reddy

I arrived in India a week before Ellen, to visit my good friend Prof. Srini Reddy at Nayanta University In Pune. On the day of arrival we attended a lecture. It was a sweeping historical review of various viewpoints on Free Speech in different societies over thousands of years. Unfortunately I never caught the lecturer’s name, but one point in particular stayed with me. He referenced a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of India.

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In a unanimous decision in 2014, the Supreme Court of India court ruled that a person's expression of their identity, including sexual expression, dress, customs, speech and behaviors are protected under their fundamental right to Free Speech. That Free Speech was absolute, and not contingent on the prevailing customs and beliefs of majority.

The ruling affirmed that individuals are entitled to equal citizenship and a right to privacy, which includes the freedom to express sexual orientation. Any attempt to repress such expression was declared a violation of fundamental rights. Importantly, the Court stated that a person’s right to free expression is not subject to medical or biological testing. Denying this right constitutes an assault on human dignity.

The Court prioritized “constitutional morality”, the protection of minority rights, over “societal morality,” making it clear that the views of the majority can never justify the restriction of fundamental freedoms, including those of LGBTQ+ individuals.

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This legal clarity stands in striking resonance with a deeply rooted cultural and spiritual image in India: Ardhanarishvara, a widely beloved deity understood as half Shiva and half Shakti (or Parvati). Ardhanarishvara embodies a fully realized being in whom masculine and feminine qualities are perfectly balanced, left and right, in complete harmony.

Shiva Shakti or Ardhnarishvara

Followers of Ardhanarishvara often practice alternate-nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana / Anuloma Viloma.) In yogic physiology, the left nostril is associated with Ida, the lunar, feminine, cooling current, while the right nostril corresponds to Pingala, the solar, masculine, activating current. Balancing these two currents is the heart of the practice.

"By practicing alternate nostril breathing, devotees seek to harmonize the male and female energies within themselves, mirroring the balanced, unified state of Shiva and Shakti known as Ardhanarishvara."

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For me, years of intensive Left Right Breath, everyday, many times a day practice has quite naturally awakened the awareness of this relationship of male and female. When we inspire into the Left side, it stimulates the neurons on the left side of the sinus, and then we stimulate the right side neurons, back and forth. By observation of the left and right sinuses, through out the day, brings into focus the balance or imbalance between male and female sides of our nervous system.

After many years, the practice now includes an optional recommended next step:

At the top of every hour, a small chime goes off on my phone. I stop whatever I’m doing and take two rounds of Left–Right Breath. This simple ritual has a clear purpose: to check in with the breath, set thoughts aside for a moment, and rebalance the left and right sides of the personality, while noticing which one is currently running the show.

This hourly check-in became habit-stacked with various actions such as humming into the center of the brain, “joining the vayu” and another practice that is seriously life changing: Five times a day, while exhaling during the cycle of Left Right Breath, I consciously send a “thank you,” “love, or loving-kindness” to five people. Sending love to someone at the same time everyday is important, and gives this practice of radiating love tremendous power. It is life changing, as the cliche goes. One’s character slowly day by day turns more sattvic. The mind becomes steeped in loving vibrations over and over again. It starts to become the default state of mind, rather than anxiety and fear.

This sounds like a lovely concept doesn't it?

But its real power and purpose happens when we put the lofty ideal into concrete actions steps... every hour. This is not a practice of insincerity or forced sentimentality. If you don't feel loving kindness, you can just say “thank you, thank you, thank you.” Simple. "Thank you, thank you, thank you" is my favorite English mantra and I keep repeating it every day all through the day. Each person, each event, thank you thank you. The mind becomes steeped in gratitude which is the parent of all virtues.

Doing this practice every hour is not "hard." It becomes a matter of habit.

Our minds and bodies mostly run on autopilot. The question is: do you and I program our autopilots? Do we program our autopilot to take us in the direction we really want to go, or do we leave it to chance, social media and circumstances of events? Do our daily repeated habits and actions move in the direction of our ideals and values?

Whatever we practice, gets stronger. physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically. It becomes clear that who we are is revealed in what we do. We are conditioned beings, responding in predictable ways, thinking predictable thoughts, with only the occasional moment of originality or out of the box thinking. Left–Right Breath is one of the simplest ways I know to accelerate the integration of the two sides of our biological, neurological and chemical identity.

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For the past several years, a small group of us have been actively problem-solving the pitfalls of the pranayama methods we were traditionally taught. In most pranayama classes, there is no shortage of faithful repetition of scripture and classical instruction, but far less questioning of the teaching methods themselves.

Many of those methods were shaped by the British educational system and reinforced by rigid guru-disciple hierarchies. It is encouraging to see a growing willingness to question, refine, and make changes when experimentation shows us a better way...

For example, a seated posture is often mandated for breath practice. I fully support each person discovering a sitting position that works for them, and I generally suggest symmetrical sitting poses rather than asymmetrical sitting poses. Still, the unquestioned insistence on sitting creates conditions that deserve examination.

We have found that standing up and supporting the elbows makes a 24 minute practice of Nadi Shodhana immediately accessible. Even someone new can do the practice and enjoy it, rather than just tolerate the pain. From there, one can experience meditation in the mountain pose and access the full range of the breath. A cascade of auspicious, unintended effects follows. Ask my doctors. They are dumbfounded by my recovery from 2 days of open heart surgery.

My blood chemistry is in perfect balance. My arteries have no plaque. My average BP is 112/77 with 50bpm while resting, no shortness of breath or light headedness. Even after strenuous activity, my heart beat remains slow. The whole circulatory system has become efficient, strong and stable. In my experience, breathing left and right in this way is a superior way to stay healthy, alert, creative and inquisitive. Everything Swami Kripalu and many other gurus promised long ago, is true in my experience.

It is not just ANY breath practice, but Left Right Breath that is said to be “tri-doshic” good for all people and all conditions.

What is missing for many very devoted yogis… is practice. 10 minutes twice a week is not a practice that will yield any results. The dosage is too small.

In the end, it always comes back to habit. What actions you repeat through your day, forms the trajectory of your future. What are the long-term consequences of repeating any action? Where is this action taking me?

We are now approaching the sixth anniversary of an ongoing online experiment. We practice a few warmups and then 24 minutes of Left Right practice every day from 6:00 to 6:40 a.m. EST. All are welcome, regardless of ability to pay.

If you’re curious about breathing left and right, and about embarking on a genuine journey of self-discovery, I’ll be presenting "Pranayama Reinvented: Left Right and Centered" at the Kripalu Center, March 20–22, 2026.

Come. You’ll have a good time.

"Ten minutes" is not enough

“Without sādhanā, yoga is just a bunch of words.”
— T. K. V. Desikachar

As yoga teachers and dedicated practitioners, we know—deep in our bones—that practice is essential. Many of us have tried to build a daily sadhana, only to find that practicing every day is surprisingly hard to get going and even harder to sustain.

Starting the day without breathing well, with clogged nostrils, an achy body, and a scattered mind is also a habit. Most people don’t realize that how they start the morning is training the nervous system just as surely as any yoga practice.

If you want your daily yoga to become as natural as breathing, you have to translate the hope for practice into a concrete, repeatable ritual. After many years of broadcasting a 6:00 am breath meditation class, I’ve seen some patterns clearly—and one of them is this:

The common advice “Ten minutes is enough” almost never leads to a stable, lifelong practice.

“Ten Minutes” Is What We Want to Hear

“Ten minutes a day” sounds inviting and accessible. It’s no surprise that many teachers, websites, and even AI say some version of, “Ten minutes is good enough to start—increase it when you can.”

The intention is kind. We don’t want to scare anyone away. But this message quietly sabotages a successful mindset for long-term daily practice.

Low Expectations Create a Low-Value Habit

“Ten minutes” feels like a token gesture—something to squeeze into your To Do List. When we set the bar that low, we’re unconsciously telling ourselves this isn’t very important.

If you haven’t yet experienced how profound a daily morning practice of breathing and stretching can be, you have to take it on faith at first. But starting with the mindset, “What’s the smallest I can get away with?” devalues practice right from the beginning.

Morning practice—breathing well and feeling great before the day begins—casts a glow over everything that follows. To believe that ten minutes will reliably carry us into that transformational territory is, honestly, a bit of self-deception.

The Nervous System Needs Time

The nervous system doesn’t shift on command. It needs time.

A true morning sadhana is more than a quick boring routine; it’s a living ritual. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end—each phase doing something important.

• First, we ground and arrive. We notice “what condition our condition is in.”

• We set an intention.

• We release tight, achy areas in the body.

• We listen to the breath, and our listening is an ongoing evolution.

• We concentrate the mind to focus. We want the mind to serve us rather than sabotage us.

• In our breath-centered practice, we create a pattern of focusing left and right, similar to nadi shodhana/anuloma viloma. We just call it Left Right Breath. This has turned out to be the most important practice of all, just as Swami Kripalu promised.

Our practice also needs a spark of daily inspiration: a repeatable structure plus a touch of newness—learning something, seeing something, experimenting a little each day so we keep growing.

Even with excellent focus, the nervous system generally needs more than ten minutes to settle, expand, and shift into a different state of being.

Ten Minutes Lacks Depth—and Without Depth, Habits Don’t Last

A ten-minute practice almost always lacks depth. There simply isn’t enough time to move from scattered to spacious, from distracted to clarity, from “going through the motions” to genuine connection.

Without depth, there’s little reward.
Without reward, the habit doesn’t survive.

From years of leading this class every morning, my best guess is that there is a minimum threshold for the beginning of a tangible transformation, and it lives somewhere around 30 minutes. I have come to believe that a Left Right practice, is the most time efficient method of all.

Make 30+ minutes your mindset as a minimum. When we touch that feeling every morning, practice becomes something we want to do—not just a routine dead space that serves no purpose.

The Practice Must Bring Daily Joy

For a habit to endure, it cannot be built on discipline alone. Yes, a bit of discipline is needed at the beginning to get the habit established. But over time, the practice itself must become self-reinforcing.

A daily breath-centered practice becomes sustainable when it:

• Gently energizes the body

• Clears and organizes the mind

• Softens the heart

• Connects us to something larger than ourselves

These experiences create an inner reward system. They are the reasons we keep coming back, day after day. Make the start of each day a priority, a sacred time in your life. Go to bed a little earlier. Get up a little earlier. Notice the nighttime habits that pull you away from what you know to be true. And when you miss a day—as everyone does—practice forgiveness, let it go and begin again.

A Promise to you

You will never regret the mornings you choose to practice. You will never regret investing thirty minutes of your life each morning in the greatest adventure there is: the slow gradual awakening of your spiritual life.

On a personal note

“When I planted my pain in the field of patience, it bore the fruit of happiness.” Kahlil Gibran

I have been largely reclusive, only connecting with Ellen and my dearly beloved 6am morning students. I am sorry I have not kept up with old friendships, but all my psychic energy is going inwards and away from social engagements.

After two days of open heart surgery and anesthesia that went sideways (May 6&7, 2024) the experience of crossing over into death’s waiting room, and then coming back again, is bound to change a person. I highly recommend the experience, especially the coming back part.

The recovery was gruesome. So I applied the principles of this morning breath sadhana. Increasing lung volume and heart space, focusing into the heart spaces, tapping, humming releasing Nitric Oxide frequently many times a day along with mindfulness and mantras proved to be excellent medicine. I got off the pharmaceuticals in record time, thank god. My heart slowly healed and grew strong with all that extra blood, attention and life force focused on it. I have been practicing breath meditation, as if my life depended on it. I go to the gym everyday for a hybrid yoga cardio, breathio strechio, lifting fun and games. The key to the gym has been frequency. (And having fun.) Frequency turns into a habit and habit is the ultimate guide of our life’s trajectory. What we do is who we become.

I’ve spent a lot of time in nature. I walk my dog Rumi, twice a day. The days are full. Up at 3:30am and in bed by 8pm. Weird huh? I love the early morning when the world is asleep and everything is still and quiet. The “Brahma Mahoorta,” as the yogis called it.

2025 has been “The Big Year” for Left Right practices and the year is not over. This year, I began practicing Left Right Breath every hour, at the top of the hour, everyday. Every hour practice became the natural next stage after many years of a personal morning practice plus leading a 6am broadcast. Each class we give thanks and start focusing Left and Right, testing, experimenting, and witnessing the infinite complexity of the world inside our bodies. We discovered many things that to my knowledge have never been discussed or talked about. The not-so-secret secret to breath, mindfulness, meditation is Frequency. Put all your attention into one thing, every day, many times at day and it quickly evolves.

I started playing the piano in March and spend an hour or two every day lost in rapture. It has been a source of great joy. Bach, Beethoven, Clementi, Pachelbel and John Williams are my favorites. My piano teacher, Lisa LaRochelle has been so gracious and knowledgeable and very patient helping me learn how to read music. At 67 years mature, learning to read music is a bit overwhelming. Again, the not-so-secret secret is Frequency of practice. Jerry Garcia supposedly slept with his guitar on his belly; his fingers working the frets even at night.

Part of the Every Hour practice, at 10am, 11am, noon, 1pm, and 2pm, five times a day, we breathe and say “thank you,” and send loving kindness to 5 different people. It is a most excellent practice. Do this practice for one day and you will feel happy. Do it for a week and the practice grows stronger. Do it for a month and it becomes joyous. Do it for 10 months… The unconscious mind starts to change the deep habit patterns of our thoughts.

Our thoughts are the room that we live in, our whole life. Let’s live in a joyful loving room and become beacons of light in a world growing darker.

Again, my apologies to old friends that I have fallen out of contact with.

Raking leaves in the forest

(an embellished true story by Tom Gillette)

While I was hiking through a forest of thickly wooded oak trees, I came across a man who was raking leaves.

I thought, “Why would someone rake leaves in the middle of a forest? Today is October 7. There are literally millions of oak leaves about to fall. What kind of a crazy person is this?”

I stopped and asked, “why do you rake these leaves?”

He replied “To help Time.”

I said I didn't understand.

A long pause ensued.

I continued, “With so many leaves about to fall. Why rake now? And in the middle of the forest? To what purpose?”

“It all makes perfect sense to me,” he replied “you see, all I have is right now.”

Another long pause ensued.

He generously explained, “You misunderstand the situation. In the recent past, a man with dreams tried and failed to create something here. Other men came, and by law, tore down his vision…. They left a mess.

“I walk this path everyday, and each time I pass, I look upon the mess that was created in the past. And my thoughts become filled with those stories. I have walked this path and thought those stories so many times, and now I am done with thinking those things. So here I rake, leaves, chips and twigs, helping Time bring back the beauty of the forest. It is just a matter of Time.

“All of this will pass away in the blink of an eye. These trees, these leaves, this forest, even this planet, but for right now, I choose to put my focus on lovingly raking these leaves with patience, gratitude and forgiveness. Instead of my mind gravitating to the past, each time I walk this way, I now smile inside. I have created a soft place for my judgments to rest. All of this is all going to disappear anyway in the blink of an eye, but right now, ahhh, look how beautiful Nature is.”

As we stood in peace, amongst the glory of the trees, sunlight broke through the heavy canopy. Everything became illuminated.

Left Side Sleeping versus Right Side Sleeping

There has been much recent discussion about left versus right side sleeping with regard to Alzheimers and mental decline.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4636982/#:~:text=The%20glymphatic%20system%20is%20a,from%20the%20central%20nervous%20system.

The study of left right nostril dominance is another variable for understanding side sleeping.

The yogis recommended “Right at night, Left in the morning.”

“Right (nostril dominance) at night, Left (nostril dominance) in the morning”. Sleep on your left side at night when falling asleep. Find more with Rolf Solvik.

books.google.com/...

The way to get the body to switch to right nostril dominance when you are falling asleep is to lie on your left side. The old adage is to “warm the body to sleep,” as the right nostril dominance has a slightly warming influence and the left is cooling. Right nostril dominance is good for sleep and physical endeavors like working out, having sex or digging in the garden.

Left nostril dominance can make the thoughts race at night, making it hard to sleep. At sunrise, you want Left nostril dominance to start your day and do your concentration activities like writing and meditation.

The Mayo Clinic agrees with the yogis: Left side sleeping is the preferred position. “sleeping on the left side is best because it keeps pressure off internal organs and promotes healthy blood flow,” are their reasons.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/....

After ancedotally interviewing 40-50 yoga students about left right sleeping habits, and left right nostril dominance, the self reporting is all over the place. It seems like human variation is great. Comfort plays a bigger role in what people actually do, whether they prefer left or right side sleeping, not whether it helps them fall asleep. Of course, more research needs to be done… as always.

Left versus right side is more like tendencies rather than prescriptions. Most people are right handed, 10% are left handed. If someone did a big study, it wouldn’t be surprising to find left versus right side sleeping is more like a 60/40 preference, plus or minus 10%, and it has more to do with comfort rather than what is beneficial for a person’s blood flow or falling asleep.

Fun Facts Yoga Teachers should know

It is very frustrating for me right now, not being able to breathe fully. I can use about 70% of my lung capacity.

If you are a yoga teacher and your student population is 50+ years old, chances are a majority of people will be on at least one pharmaceutical, many will be on heart drugs. The most common pharmaceuticals designed for the heart, usually affect the breath, because heart and lungs are not isolated from each other. What affects one, most often affects the other.

Beta blockers are broncho-constrictors; they block the muscles of the rib cage from taking a deep breath. This is one of the ways beta blockers keep blood pressure suppressed. As broncho constrictors, they can be fatal for someone with asthma. Beta blockers are not fun at all, not even in the slightest, if you are into meditating on the breath and breathing practices.

89% of Americans (65+ years old) are on one or more pharmaceutical.

44% are on 5 or more drugs at the same time.

More than 50% include one of the heart medications. The numbers are soaring due to the (insane over) prescribing of statins. Here is a list of heart meds and the percentage of 65+ year olds who take them:

statins (45.0%), side effects include breathing problems.

anti-diabetic agents (23.6%), side effects include breathing problems.

beta blockers (22.3%), side effects include breathing problems.

ACE inhibitors (21.3%), side effects include breathing problems.

proton pump inhibitors (16.9%), doesn’t affect breath?

What does PPP stand for?

Persistent Postoperative Pain (PPP) which can be moderate to severe is found after 3 months in 43% of open heart surgeries. 17% experience PPP after one year.

Up to 56 million American adults (28% of the adult population) experience chronic pain (Brennan et al., 2007). The annual cost of chronic pain in the United States, including healthcare expenses, lost income, and lost productivity, is estimated to be $100 billion.

My experience is that breathing love into every thought, breathing love into every pain in my chest, is actually working. The situation is slowly getting better. Breath and awareness are free and require no prescription. There are not bad side effects. It does require daily practice and infinite patience.

Lift up from the bottom of the heart!

The recovery from open heart surgery continues to go well. 5 weeks later and my whole rib cage is, not in acute pain, but it is very sore. My lungs are sore. My heart is sore. This is normal.

Fortunately, I have been a yoga practitioner most of this lifetime. I know how to get out of the avoidable pains that are added on top of the usual suffering. The most important alignment for this operation is “Lift up from the bottom of the heart,” the center of the diaphragm. Relax the shoulders.

This allows me to breathe easily, with less rib pain. This lift makes space inside for the healing heart. It brightens my disposition.

If I allow my heart to sink inside, my chest to slump or collapse, sharp pains arise in the chest. My mind sinks and my mood plummets. All of these alignments are ordinary mind body teachings, and yet in order to practice this, it is an all day long awareness.

Lift up from the bottom of the heart!

I continue on a beta blocker and blood thinner. My resting BP is 96/63, pulse 60, which is beautiful.

I have returned to broadcasting everyday, but only part of the broadcast is live. Because my ribs are so sore, I do an introduction and closing, and use one of the “greatest hits” of which I have many hundreds of recordings.

I will go back to full live classes, but Now is not the time. Love to you all!

Acupuncture to the Rescue!

Open heart surgery usually is very emotional for patients. The heart has been touched, lifted out of the body and manipulated in big ways. My body, mind and emotions endured a great struggle. My main symptom for 2 weeks was crushing pressure in my head, especially when I lie down. My Western doctors did not seem concerned because all the expensive tests, xray and MRI scans showed no evidence of stroke. They said I was good.

The pressure in my head was unbearable. I was fortunate to get an appointment with an older retired Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist. She came out of retirement, because, well… she is my other sister who lives in St Paul, MN.

In the first session, she did pulse and tongue diagnosis, then used only 15 or 16 needles on the usual major points, and then some specific ones for my condition. It was not an excessive amount of needles, nor was it too few. After the needles, she did manual therapy and a smoothing technique on the needle points for maybe 15 extra minutes! I have never had an acupuncturist do that extra step. She gave me herbs for my belly pains, and “Star of Bethlehem” flower essence for my mood.

She said my issue was not a blood problem, but a lymph problem. She said I mainly have low kidney chi, but my heart was strong and there was no apparent toxicity from the pharmaceuticals on my liver. That kind of information was invaluable. After one treatment, I felt immediate relief of head pain, and could do walking exercise twice as far. After a second treatment the next day, she completely eliminated the head pains and lymph problem. End of story. I felt significantly changed.

If you have problems your western doctor can’t help you with, an acupuncturist might help. If can find a good one, you might heal faster, suffer less and get better results. I am not always impressed by acupuncturists, but the extra 15 minutes of smoothing technique and massaging and connecting the points was superior. She was very soft, fluid, and in no rush. It felt like all the needle points were integrated and put back together.

In 1998, there was a reported total of 10,623 licensed acupuncturists in the US. By 2024, it swelled to 38,000 licensed US acupuncturists coming from 62 active, and accredited Acupuncture schools.

Acupuncture has followed a similar trajectory as the yoga boom. With 62 schools of Acupuncture in the US, graduating hundreds of new practitioners each year, a surfeit of acupuncturists with varying degrees of experience, different kinds of theories and training are beginning their practice all the time.

There is Japanese acupuncture, Korean acupuncture and 7 or 8 different Chinese schools that have been brought to America. Like taking a random yoga class from any yoga teacher, having an acupuncture treatment varies widely depending on where you go.

Always seek out the most experienced person you can find.

Rebuilding the prana body

Recap:

I came out of surgery and then more surgery, and multiple hospital and pharmaceutical problems with an amazing new physical heart. It pumps blood really well, almost too well. I am eternally grateful to be alive. Every moment from here, as we go into overtime, is precious.

I came out of the hospital unable to meditate, do breathing or asana practices. For a week, I was in a swirl of pharmaceutical drugs that were at dosage levels that were much too high for my sensitive system.

The recommended dosages that doctors start with, are averages of “normal people,” with American diets, too much extra weight, lots of plaque in their arteries, and people who probably never exercise. For example, a resting pulse rate of 90, is still considered “normal.” My resting pulse has been 55-62, for years.

There is 60 years of research on Amiodarone. Doctors around the world, consider 200mg to be a “low dose.” To my tender, life long yogi body, 200 mg is a severe attack on my mind and body that threaten to blow apart my plaque-less blood vessels. With the heart racing at 80-85 bpm while lying in bed at night, it felt like my head would explode and I might stroke out.

My yogi body, especially a pranayama body, is very efficient in delivering oxygen to the cells. In the multiple research studies, this question of dosing Amiodarone has been around for 60 years! One study found that 100mg was the best long term dosage in England for 60% of the patients prescribed. It has become standard in Europe. There were other studies. At 100 mg, Amiodarone stabilized the heart rhythm with out the drastic side effects, liver toxicity, thyroid problems and more.

I called my nurse practitioner on the case, and said she said I could lower the dose at my next meeting with the doctor… 3 weeks away. I thought I might die.

I had to step in, and take my agency back. I don’t recommend anyone do this. Always do whatever the doctors and nurses say. Don’t follow what I say, or follow whatever your body is telling you. Always trust authority.

I realized this body of mine might not make it 3 weeks. After considerable research, after millions of people had experiences with this particular drug, lowering the dosage turns out to not be a dangerous thing, but could actually be a beneficial thing, because the side effects mostly go away.

I felt like I had only one real choice and go “very-low dose” at 100mg. Low and behold, almost all the horrible side effects went away. My heart continues to stay in perfect rhythm, perfect ECGs, never varying in blood pressure or pulse by more than 10 points, up or down. Kinda miraculous really, and what a new heart needs.

I left the hospital after 13 days, twice as long as expected, and landed in my meditation room, a sanctuary of peaceful and loving vibrations. In previous posts, I mention those stories.

If felt like my pieces of my prana body were missing. All over. My heart is so different now is doesn’t feel like it belongs to “me.” When I would meditate on Shiva’s Cave, the soft palate, and the top of the head, it felt like they were not there anymore. My “prana” head was blown off, perhaps from excessive pressure for way too long.

I realized that my nervous system had undergone tremendous trauma. I could not feel into many parts of the prana body. Over the decades, these meditation fields had become reliable points of stabilization, insight and realization.

I made an assumption that the prana body could be recreated. If the structures existed before, they can exist again. It was all a matter of reconnecting to it.

The image of a 3D printer came to mind.

I began doing a feeble Brahmari pranayama, swirling my attention around and around my skull. Bumble bee humming, even a pathetic one, actually started to change the patterning of sensations. Many times a day, I visualized the 3D printer arm going around and around my skull, recreating the field. It sorta worked a little bit, not much, but a little. It was all I had. So I put my sustained efforts throughout the following days, swirling around my head space, many times a day, directing the life force into hundreds of meditation points.

Many days into this 3D printing exercise…. Shiva’s Cave is now enclosed and has a roof, but it is not exactly the same. All the skull points are slowly getting stimulated and coming back. Who would have ever guessed that it was all a matter of practice?

The heart space still remains very elusive. I focus left. I focus right. I focus up and down and put it all together like just like 6am practice, every morning. Little by little, everyday, I am coming into relationship with this strange new reality living inside my chest. Some patients go into a downward spiral, disturbed that their precious human heart is now made with cow parts. Some patients obsess about how their heart no longer belongs to “them.” “This is not MY heart,” they claim. I say that line of thinking is total bullshit. A person will wind up with a bad results thinking that way. No good will come of it.

Work with the body you have, be grateful and overjoyed to be alive.

When I was waking up in the ICU, I could not speak. But I started “mooing,” a joke for all the nurses. Only Ellen laughed because she knew I was busting balls and having fun now that I am part cow. Under all the anesthesia, looking like I was on death’s doorstep, she knew “I” was still there as I “mooed” away.

My practice this morning was ragged and pathetic, but I persevere. I persevere everyday this way, even though it is thick. When I meditate, It is like I am waste deep in sludge. I know for certain the “Slight Edge” has the power to overcome obstacles like these. Little by little, baby steps, everyday. I have a long way to go, but that doesn’t matter. I am moving in the right direction. I am on the upward trajectory. My voice is coming back, I hope.

How many more weeks do I need before returning to classes?

I may be on Amiodarone for many more weeks. Can I teach breath classes while taking a low dose this drug? The answer remains to be seen. I take the Amiodarone at 9 am; 21 hours later is the 6 am class. The tight control of the drug over my blood pressure and respiration rate is not as extreme as it was 14 days ago.

I want to be a positive contribution to other people’s practice. I don’t want to come back unless my own practice is strong. My voice needs to be strong. The healer needs to be healed. Completely healed is not necessary, but healed enough.

We wil have a meeting on Fri. June 7, 6:30am for anyone who would like to jump on and say “Hi.” I sincerely hope that all the regular breath practitioners can make it. I am hoping that you have discovered new things in your practice and you are full of prana and joy, during this interim while I am checked out. Love to you all!

A 3D printer makes a brain

May 30 update

Good News: Grateful to be alive.

Grateful for great friends and Ellen especially.

I am feeling better, walking farther everyday.

Getting back strength is a slow process.

Unfortunate News: still in the Pharmaceutical Pranayama phase and this may go for many more weeks.

These pills have saved my life, for which I am grateful and they come with side effects. One pill pushes down. One pill pushes blood pressure and pulse rate up, with the result that blood pressure and pulse never vary much and stay within a narrow range. Steadiness and consistency is what a repaired heart needs.

How does this affect practice? Let’s say I extend the exhale…. or do a lovely, long hum…..Usually this experience is delightful and this simple technique is backbone of many breath practices. The heart rate goes down and blood pressure goes down and a feeling a relaxation all over the body ensues.

What happens on these heart drugs is that a long exhale conversely speeds up the heart. It is confusing and unpleasant. The breath goes erratic and heart doesn’t feel good.

I can exert very little influence over the drugs at this point. However this will change, my doctors say. Eventually, the heart will find its own rhythm and the effect of the drugs will be less, less and less.

When I go to practice in the morning, sometimes I cry. I stand back and flip the script, “this learning is exactly what I need now.” This experience certainly is eye opening and a world that I have never experienced before. It will help me understand my students and friends who may be on heart medications and having problems with breath practices.

Will I be able to teach even if the doctors keep me on the medications for a long time?

Maybe, once the intensity of their impact is diminished. Right now, I feel completely unable to teach in any way I feel good with. I don’t want to come back depleted, with a frail voice, after 37 hours of intubation, just in order to show up. I want to teach and be able to grow the practices that have a evolved over these years. I need at least 50% Mojo to begin teaching again.

My best guess, this morning, is that it may take another month to get there.

These tiny pills are surprisingly powerful

A brighter day

May 26

My body is healing really quickly. For the first time I was able to hug Ellen without a pillow. I am able to lie on either side without pain. I was able for the first time to concentrate enough to do online bill pay and a number of mundane tasks.

My lungs felt better today and I could breathe more deeply. All this good news must be balanced with the fact that I got out of the operating room 18 days ago. I am still in a tender place.

Good Cough / Bad Cough

There are times when coughing can help bring up phlegm out of the lungs. It helps with clearing passageways.

Then there are the times when coughing is dangerous, for example, after open heart surgery. The chest has been cut into two pieces and is now trying to refuse the breastbone back together. A cataclysmic cough or sneeze can injure and greatly delay the healing, besides being extremely painful. This is when you must practice and try this yogi thing.

It had worked 40 for 40 so far.

Amiodarone is the boss.

May 25, Everyday steady progress

My hormones are way off. During the operation and recovery, my hormonal cycles of life were temporarily, if grossly interrupted. I am finding my way back, beginning again. Let’s start with “Dinacharya,” getting into a daily habit routine. Let’s use the power of habit to find my way back.

This frustrating experience is humbling.

The doctors are prescribing me the infamous Amiodarone. It is a heavy duty experience. Amiodarone is commonly used for a variety of arrhythmias and, in some parts of the world, is the only available antiarrhythmic drug. Amiodarone is known to have a wide range of potential side effects, many of which are dose- and duration-dependent.

Today I again found Left Right Breath frustrating/impossible because the drug is controlling everything. I pressed on and will continue testing. If I do more than 6 rounds in a row, everything becomes very unpleasant and goes out of sync with my breath. I felt that it was more disruptive to do 6 rounds than 2 rounds. So I pulled back.

I can do 2 rounds safely, and then let go to mindfulness only. I made many attempts, but found I could not influence the drug at all. All the yogi breath practices and tricks are rendered useless on this drug.

It is a bit like you are on a non-stop, 24 hour a day, roller coaster. You can’t get off. One of the differences is that, I actually like roller coasters for a 10 minute ride.

The ‘Loss of Practice”, as I knew it, made me cry. I was counting on breath practices somehow saving me until the end. My thoughts briefly traveled through hopelessness, devastation and darkness. A sense of being out of control, really out of control, is my breath heart reality right now.

All right, time to get over that devastation and darkness talk, because it doesn’t lead to a beneficial future. If we want to experience the sweet fruits in the future, we cannot plant bitter seeds now. Once I could acknowledge “the loss of practice,” and the way it is now, I felt some movement. I am still working on it.

My formal morning practice today consisted of mudraas and mantraas, devotion, stillness and 2 rounds of Left Right Breath. I made three attempts with long breaks of breath awareness in between. When I tried 6 in a row, it was awful and more disruptive than helpful.

When I would engage traditional Buddhist Mindfulness breath awareness, it increased my anxiety. My heart and breath are racing so fast with so much blood pressure from a heart that pumps really well.

When the doctors and nurses look at my numbers they are ecstatic. The drug is working perfectly according to general guidelines of human dosing. While sitting my systolic diastolic pressures are holding steady at 108/72, 99/66….. 75 beats per minute.

The problem is the 75 beats per minute. This new heart pumps four times (?) the amount of blood than the old heart. My old heart would have these same lovely blood pressures…. but at 48-55 beats per minute, with a heart that barely pumps blood at all.

Subjectively, it feels like blood pressure is spiking and it is not. It is the high number of beats per minute with a much more powerful heart, that is making me feel like I have high blood pressure.

Everything has changed in side. The meditation points are not where I left them. This may take a couple of months to claw my way back.

Pharmaceutical Pranayama

On May 7, Tom’s body had triple heart valve surgery. It was supposed to be a long operation lasting 4 hours with a 7 day stay in the hospital. What happened was a 34 hours of surgery, 37 hours of intubation and 13 days in the hospital. As someone predicted, there was just too much sunshine in his heart. The doctors couldn’t operate because of excessive blood.

Much much later….. Update

May 23, Day 5 at home: Had a good night finally and slept 6 hours in a row. Incredible.

I am in the stage of Pharmaceutical Pranayama. This is a yogi nightmare.

Struggling isn’t exactly the word. I have practiced everyday, but everything is messed up. My focus is wonky. My heart rate, blood pressure is controlled by pharmaceuticals. “Can’t use your breath at all, yogi boy? Now what are you going to do?”

In the yoga tradition, what is left?

Puja and devotion. That works especially well when the spirit is exhausted and there are no options left. It has been really helpful to have years of the puja habit, because the actions came back naturally. As puja came back, I noticed my mental tone improved. I enjoyed the comfort of sitting with familiar deities.

Tratak - candle gazing was surprisingly still available and especially effective because my visual and meditative focus was wonky. I loved the stillness of the candle, then the flickering of the candle. Center oneself visually and it brings order. Just have to find the doorway back in and then maybe all else will follow. Tratak was a helpful door back into everything else.

Mantraa - decades of mantra works, yet I am embarrassed by the sound after 37 hours of intubation. My voice is different. Resonances are different. They don’t vibrate in the same places, which is strange. Everything inside is changed and different. This inner prana body I thought I knew so well, seems to be missing areas.

Mudra works, only because I have worked it daily for so many years. Mudra will never work unless you dedicate some serious time over a few months at least.

I notice that I need to join left and right sides of the body, as the connection has been broken. Hakini mudra brought integration and relief to the two cerebral hemispheres. Rings and Folds Mudras are working well on all the meridians. It is a way to exercise my body, while my body is limited in movement. Mudra, all by itself, holds the promise of rebuilding the house.

I start investigating how to bring back the energy body that has been torn apart. How do I restore the prana body after damage on annamayakosha and manomayakosha?

Not only is this possible, it is my path right now.

Meditative focus is not working well at all, but I am certain it is just a matter of time.

Procedure: Intuitively, I am drawn to go over the old pathways and connect the dots.

Lets begin: tip of nose. root of nose. between the eyebrows. Humming is weird, off. An earthquake happened in Shiva’s Cave. There is no roof on the right side. Shiva left the cave. Not much pranic structure above the cave. Left and right horns of the hemispheres are off. Of all the places, “Taalu chakra” the soft palate meditation, point has suffered badly. Like the pelvic floor of a mother who has just given birth. But I know I can get it back in a few weeks.

Meditating on the brain stem is not really possible today. Top of the head, not a good situation, it doesn’t seem to exist at all. Belly meditation is necessary but full of nauseating pharmaceuticals..

Meditation on the Heart: Not happening today. The heart sounds completely different. it used to have a heart murmur from birth and was full of distilled sweetness. This heart I now have, I have no choice but to love. Love it fully, for any perceived imperfections or faults. Loving the heart you have, is the only thing to do. Any other course of action is insanity, because this is the way it is. I love my new heart. Sounds weird, but It sure does pump well. I haven’t really had a working heart in years, so it is time to say goodbye to any sentimentality about the way it was. Hooray for the present moment.

I will be in the stage of Pharmaceutical Pranayama for another month.

Ordinary people, like you and me, can become adept with the breath

With Left Right Yoga, you don't need to be a special person and you don't need a guru. It is okay if you have a guru, but this practice doesn't require it. A few good friends to practice with in the morning, will suffice. 

An ordinary person, like you and me, over time can become very adept at the breath. The breath becomes very subtle and refined, but you are going to have to practice. The pattern of our breath changes by small degrees everyday. There are now over 20 people on the broadcasts who have become very adept with their breath. Many have passed the 1000th day of uninterrupted practice. 

We make practice interesting. The breath class is a cornucopia of fun: Left Right Yoga postures, mudras and dharanas come alive. We grow the practice together as an online community; it is easier that way to stay focused. By grace, we have become amazing good friends over the internet during the last few years. It is open to all.

What does it mean, to become adept with the breath? With enough Left Right Breath, the breath becomes pliable, equanimous and contented, pretty much all the time. The mind becomes "sattvic" by the sheer enormity of constant re-patterning. We alternately stimulate and "massage" left and right cerebral hemispheres. Body, mind and emotions become very balanced. The breath starts to slow down. Your body no longer needs to breathe so fast. The breath slows down to a tortoise's pace. At one to three natural breaths per minute, your body and mind will find rest in the meditative zone. This becomes a real possibility for every one, in a natural way, not a controlling way.

You will discover "breath is life's greatest pleasure." Your mind will have moments of extraordinary clarity and your heart will be as bright as the sun. Anxiety leaves, and contentment becomes your default mind state.

Contraindications?

It is impossible to talk about breath practices without addressing what you find in Mr. Iyengar's books, on pranayama’s "contraindications."  It is true that there have been aneurysms and a few recorded deaths when people were taught the Classical Way: "Control the Breath." Most people have been taught willful pranayama, forceful breath holds, and the dreaded and unnecessary breath ratios. Mr. Iyengar is absolutely correct that the willful approach is full of dangers. Those traditional instructions he gives, are practices for a few special humans, who must have a guru, as he rightly cautions. 

As you may know, I have an allergy to the word "Breathwork." There have been many problems and a few deaths with modern day "Breathwork" and central neurogenic hyperventilation practices (here, here. here.) 

A basic difference between Classical Control Methods and This Next Breath is that we follow the Primordial Breath. We recognize a larger principle is involved, the inhale and exhale follow the movement of Spirit. The Breath, like the ocean, is always in charge. We listen instead.

What Iyengar warned about, those dangerous control-the-breath practices, is a very different approach to practice. Our experience has shown that control is simply unnecessary for progress.  Control is contraindicated. Without controlling, Left Right Yoga has proven with the experience of many adherents to be very safe and effective in producing a balanced, equanimous mind, lower blood pressure, greater lung volume. You will find yourself with a grateful heart and an extraordinary zest for life. Everything in this approach is easy, "tri-doshic" and useful for all. 

Rule #1: Love your Practice

If you haven't started a loving, grateful breath practice in the morning, begin now, before you are out of time.

24 minutes is the crucial teaching, not ratios, not controlling the breath

The crucial teaching on Nadi Shodhana (Left Right Breath) is:

It takes an established Hatha Yogi a minimum of 24 minutes of Left Right Breath everyday for 6 months to a year for the initial effects begin to work. Yes, it may take you a couple of months to work your way up to 24 minutes, and then another year, but so what? You are headed in the right direction. This 24 minutes of alternate stimulation of the hemispheres of the brain will become the most valuable and worthwhile adventure you have taken. But no one knows this, or values this, ahead of time!

Getting to 24 minutes is the reason for This Next Breath online courses and classes. It is designed to help an average person get to 24 minutes easily, joyfully, and start each day in a curious and inspired way. As we practice, we experiment, we focus and refocus in different postures, just like other yoga classes. We learn about the hands and the meridians, then pratyahara, the mind moving inside naturally comes alive, Mindfulness becomes super focused and we discover all the internal dharana practices.  The learning never stops once you get established in a daily 24 minute practice.

If a doctor tells you to take 24 mg of antibiotic with each meal, but you decide to cut the dose in half and only take it a three times a week, when you feel like it, you cannot expect the antibiotic to work. This is what yoga teachers have been teaching and practicing for the last few decades. Too little practice and then everyone, including the yoga teachers, miss out on the profound physical, mental, emotional and spiritual revolution that comes with significant pranayama practice.

Praana + Yama = “Control the Breath” 


or is it:


Praana + Ayama = “Free up, Liberate, the non-control of Breath”

This is a common discussion amongst the yogis.

The difference between these 2 broadly touted conceptions is clear. Many yoga teachers are focused on control, the mind controlling the Breath. Most Breath apps on your phone are about mind controlling the breath.

We are instructed to breathe in certain ratios in order to produce certain effects. Indeed, there is something to be learned by these practices. Willfully driven exercises can be useful for beginners, and are useful to illustrate a point. Ultimately they do us a disservice.

We were taught to practice for 3 rounds, 5 rounds, 5 -10 minutes, and after a while you work way up to controlling the breath according to a ratio. Classically, the Yogi Gold Standard is to inhale for 4, hold for 16 counts, exhale for 8 count. With our arm, neck and shoulder rigidly frozen and we soon discover this is a miserable practice. Almost no-one continues with this approach to pranayama for very long. Most people drop pranayama at this point, because it is a pain in the neck, or they get bored with the lack of love, the monotony and mind numbing drudgery.

Then we are instructed to willfully hold the breath.  In the advanced pranayama practice, we are told that the breath ultimately stops.  Again, stopping the breath is often taught as the ego mind stopping the breath. Indeed, there are many things to be learned with controlling practices. There are many physiological benefits that will occur when controlling practices are sustained over long periods of time, but controlling is so gruesome that most yogis fail miserably with this approach.

The question remains: “Who is doing the controlling?”  Is your personality in control with all of its wants and desires? The Ego mind, or worse still… is the Spiritual Ego Mind is in control?

There is a Better Way

Many yogis have pointed out, that the control approach, is a classical misinterpretation of the practice.

The other interpretation of praanaayaama is to, free up, liberate the breath and not-control the breath. But what does that mean? (read other blog posts.)

We surrender to the breath. We become curious about the Breath, perhaps even have fun with the breath. Let us listen to the breath, rather than be its master. Let’s listen to what is, listen to the breath revealing the moment, the “Spirit” unfolding.

But the crucial teaching is to everyday get to 24 minutes of alternate stimulation of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, preferably upon rising early in the morning.

Of all the remarkable insights and discoveries of the yogis, the most significant discovery of the yogis has always been right in front of our noses. Alternating the breath through one side of the body and then the other side. Simple. Too simple. Almost every beginner yogi is taught this practice. Back and forth, sun and moon, male and female metaphors abounding, the inhale is directed through one sinus and then the next.

Getting to 24 minutes joyfully with a deep sense of reverence and gratitude is why This Next Breath Practices were created. Anyone can do this. You don’t have to be a special person. And you will be so glad you took this path….  a few months from now. 

Relax with the Breath. Ahh, easy. 

“To practice or not to practice?” That’s NOT the question!

Practice is not a daily decision to decide upon.

“Do I wanna do practice this morning or not? Ugggg. I have no energy. I am sniffly. I am this… and I am that. I think I will go back to sleep in my nice warm bed. Its cold outside. And dark. I am going to do self-care today. That is my yoga.” We human beings have an infinite capacity to fool ourselves.

Someone remarked that I must be “very disciplined” to reach 1000 broadcasts. For me, the word discipline is about effort and willfulness. Indeed, strong effort is needed to begin any practice and get it going. Usually the 90 day mark, is when a new practice can turn into a lifestyle habit. But even after 90 days, many people lose their “discipline” because they think the whole idea is to be hard on oneself. That mindset is coming from the wrong place.

Indeed there is a hump to get over. But once you get over the first few hurdles and a bump or two, showing up for yourself gets easier. Eventually, any sustained practice must find its source in love, and joy, and a zest for living.

If I keep doing what I am doing,

I am going to wind up where I am headed!

Yes indeed! We become what we do. Once you truly understand the power of this rhythmic alternation of the hemispheres of the brain, at the moment of inspiration, then you make a commitment to yourself. “This is what I am practicing!”

Once you get the vision clearly in your mind, make the commitment to yourself.

Living Commitment eliminates making a choice. I live the commitment of showing up no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it feels good, if my body is sore, or what my mind may think, I practice anyway. And some days, practice is ragged, it doesn’t look glamorous or perfect, but I live the commitment. I show up for the breath, to investigate life, every morning. That shift alone is transforming. After practice, I am always glad that I didn’t listen to the comforting squirrelly thoughts that would take me away from here and now. I want to go, where this goes, being in the here and now.

Vision

I had the advantage of the ashram years, where I was with a group of focused yogis who got up everyday and did this practice. “Community is stronger than willpower,” they say. From a few years of uninterrupted sustained practice, I realized Anuloma Viloma’s supreme importance to the yoga tradition.

Gitanand and the author arriving in Mumbai, India in 1994

In 1994, I had the good fortune of living with Gitanand Grey Ward as his roommate for just under 4 months while we studied at the Lakulish Institute in Kayavarohan, India. Gitanand, a largely unrecognized yogi of very high caliber, was a tenured MIT physicist whose yoga practice was centered on anuloma viloma (Left Right Breath.) Living with him as he practiced his daily “mahurta” (48 minutes) was deeply inspiring. It planted the seed. I still see the vision of him sitting in our room motionless as his breath rate dropped below one breath per minute. A peaceful stillness permeated the room. The practice was effortless for him. There was no struggle or discipline at all. No doubt, early in his yoga life, he had his battles with himself. But those battles were over and the place he arrived at was electric and palpable. Everyday.

In Gitanand, I saw a living example of anuloma viloma realized and he would animatedly describe how the next stages of yoga, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, open up quite naturally and fairly quickly, once the pranayama is in place. I frequently offer Gitanand, who has now passed away, my thanks and gratitude.

Anuloma viloma has the potential to make an ordinary person’s life something extraordinary. I hope to provide inspiration and be a living example of this practice and thereby help others. There is a concentrated group of us now. If you want to start this practice, you have online friends to help you along the way. If you started this practice and stopped, begin again. Begin your practice today. You don’t have to be special; you just have to keep showing up.

Seize the Day

Now is the time to develop your spiritual life, each and every day. Practice, daily practice is the way to grow.

Let's face it. One or two days of practice, now and then, sporadic breath or meditation practice, doesn't yield results because the prana and the focus never get strong enough. 

The key is to set a specific time for practice. Many people say “I meditate all the time, all day long" which is great, but a specific time for formal practice is necessary.

What is THE time for meditation? The yogis said 4-6am.

“I can’t do that,” most people say. “I won’t do that.”

Okay, great let’s begin with this:
Step One: Get up a little earlier than normal rising time, and start with a 5 minute practice of watching the breath. Make the effort to get up a little bit earlier at whatever time you get up. Do a simple 5 minute breath practice, and you have a beginning. Just that much, done every day without missing a day can be the vital shift that changes your life. (Hint: It is easier to do this if you connect with friends who are doing the same practice with you.)

Step Two: Join us at 6am online for class, experiments and inspiration. One Ghatikaa 24 minutes of Left Right Breath.

When is the world really quiet in your neighborhood? 4-6am probably. The birds sing and the air is crisp. 7-8am is breakfast time for many and by 9am, the psychic noise in your neighborhood is loud. Everyone is in work mode. If you meditate at 10am everyday you may find your head is as thick as a brick. It is possible, but why put yourself at such a disadvantage. Why not build your best life by focusing on your spiritual life?

You may find that if you practice breath meditation later in the day around 10am as your only practice time, the practice soon falls apart. Life happens and you start missing practice days because of this reason and that excuse. When you miss days, you never get enough prana going. 

Before the sun rises, is a struggle worth winning. The sages and holy people all over the world, have cherished the dead quiet of the early morning as the time to communicate, commune and get in tune. Wake up before the sun.

The group is online and waiting for you. Community is stronger than willpower. Join us.

Many of the long term practitioners of This Next Breath get up at 4-5am and do their own morning practice, a seemless exploration of poses, Left Right Breath and still meditation. After personal practice, they then get on the 6am broadcast and support others and support the group. There are daily readings, themes and inspiration to start your day. It’s a good deal. And it is by donation.

God Stuff

For a few years, i have been writing “Sayings of the Breath,” a collection of spiritual poetry. It would be fun to publish these at some point. Here is one from this morning: “God Stuff”

Memory is who "we" are

Memory is who we are. Memory is not just a part of the brain and nervous system. Memory is what our identity is made of. Without memory, intelligence is lost. Who we think we are, is lost.

Then there is the “Present Moment.” It goes by in a flash and we scarcely notice it. Maybe once in a while we briefly touch down in the here and now. Then very quickly, off the mind goes into its daydream state, into our remembered stories, dialogues, opinions, dreams, hopes, plans, weighed down by our remembered tragedies and traumas.

The human race track is in quite a predicament because it is wholly dependent on memory for its identity.

Left Right Breath invites our fingers to spontaneously dance on the tip of the breath. Over and over with greater frequency, using the contact of the fingers, we gain access to sustained awareness of the “Present Moment.” The Breath is not something we just talk about, but follow it intensely. We naturally become more present to our life. As a by product of being with the breath, because we are repeatedly here and now, memory improves. Life becomes vivid and alive.

Interestingly enough, Left Right Breath has been shown to increase neuroplasticity and the growth of new neurons. The hippocampus and the olfactory bulbs are two areas that have the greatest potential for neuroplasticity. Both areas are strongly connected to memory.