What are the techniques to unite prana and apana?
In the rich yogic literature extending over at least one thousand years two techniques for uniting prana and apana stand out. These are the vase breath and the bandha traya or three bandhas. These two will be briefly described below. A few things are important to note first. These descriptions are only detailed enough so that the techniques can be unambiguously identified. They are not instructions for practice. As will be discussed later there are inherent dangers in awakening the kundalini and there are also dangers in mis-practicing techniques which aim at awakening kundalini. Anyone who wishes to awaken kundalini should find a qualified teacher. The descriptions below are only to give the seeker a little orientation as to the nature of the path. The vase breath (Sanskrit: kumbhaka, Tibetan: rlung bumpa can) is a technique in which the the apana wind is first drawn up from the perineum region to a point about two inches below the navel. The apana wind is drawn up using a technique c
