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Hatha Yoga: The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being1814
being extracted from the food, and the greater portion of the food-prana
being absorbed from its atoms. The mastication breaks up the food into
small particles, allowing the fluids of the saliva to interpenetrate it, the
digestive juices of the saliva performing their necessary work, and the other
juices (mentioned above) acting upon the atoms of food in such a way as
to liberate the food-prana, thus allowing it to be taken up by the nervous
system. The motion imparted to the food by the action of the jaws, tongue
and cheeks in the act of mastication, causes it to present new atoms to the
nerves ready to extract the food-prana. The Yogis hold the food in the mouth,
masticating it slowly and thoroughly, and allowing it to be slowly swallowed
by the involuntary process above alluded to, and they experience to the
full the enjoyment attendant upon the extraction of Prana. You may get an
idea of this by taking into the mouth some particle of food (when you have
plenty of time for the experiment), and then slowly masticating it, allowing
it to gradually melt away in the mouth, as you would a lump of sugar. You
will be surprised to find how thoroughly this work of involuntary swallowing
is performed—the food gradually yields up its food-prana and then melts
slowly away and reaches the stomach. Take a crust of bread, for example,
and masticate it thoroughly, with the idea of seeing how long it will last
without being “swallowed.” You will find that it will never be “swallowed”
in the usual way, but will gradually disappear in the manner we have just
mentioned, after being reduced to a pasty, creamy mass by degrees. And
that little mouthful of bread will have yielded you about twice as much
nourishment as a piece of equal size, eaten in the ordinary way, and about
three times the amount of food-prana.
Another interesting example is had in the case of milk. Milk is a fluid and,
of course, needs no “breaking-up,” as does solid food. Yet the fact remains
(and is well established by careful experiments) that a quart of milk simply
allowed to flow down the throat yields not over half the nourishment or
food-prana that is derived from the same quantity of milk sipped slowly,
and allowed to remain in the mouth a moment until it “melts away,” the