Tantra Prana Darshana:The Swerving Tantric Technique of Prana-vayu, or Life-breath

Breathing is the single most important technique in Tantra. Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta describes a technique of circular breathing called antra Prana Darshana.

In a Tantra workshop, the Tantra teacher’s first purpose of teaching his pupil the intricacies of Tantra Prana Darshana is to help him or her understand that the act of inhalation and exhalation creates a circle of breath within.

The second purpose of this tantra exercise is to help the pupil comprehend that inhalation and exhalation do not constitute two but one single breath. The breath that comes in also goes out, creating a single internal curve - the incoming breath becomes outgoing. Your Tantra teacher will place great emphasis on this fact.

For this Tantra exercise, you must sit in Padmasana (Lotus position) with your back straight. As you close your eyes, start by inhaling and exhaling effortlessly, feeling the breath entering and exiting your being. As you continue this Tantra exercise for nine cycles, you will feel the sensation of a circle of breath created within your body.

If you stop your breath for a brief moment during this Tantra exercise, you will find that your mind stops suddenly - it cannot function. Your breath is now in intricate symbiosis with your mind, and the connection between the mind and body is snapped for this moment. Read more