Kapalabhati

Kapalabhati (Sanskrit: कपालभाति, romanized: kapālabhāti, "Skull-polishing") is an important shatkarma, a purification in hatha yoga. The word kapalabhati is made up of two Sanskrit words: kapāla meaning "skull", and bhāti meaning "shining, illuminating". It is intended mainly for cleaning the sinuses but according to the Gheranda Samhita has magical curative effects.^[1]

In the Jivamukti Yoga of David Life and Sharon Gannon, three forms of Kapalabhati are practised, derived from the Gheranda Samhita 1:54:^[2][3]

• Vatakrama, a practice similar to the pranayama technique of Bhastrika or "Breath of Fire", except that exhalation is active while inhalation is passive, the opposite of normal breathing.
• Vyutkrama, a practice similar to Jala neti, it involves sniffing water through the nostrils and letting it flow down into the mouth, and then spitting it out.
• Shītkrama, essentially the reverse of Vyutkrama, in which water is taken through the mouth and expelled through the nose.

See also

• Kundalini energy
• Tummo#Practice
• Uddiyana bandha