Kundalini.Tantra.by.Satyananda.Saraswati

The balanced view
Most of us fluctuate from one side of our brain to the other in well documented 90
minute cycles of rest (ida) and activity (pingala). A study by Raymond Klein and
Roseanne Armitage of the Department of Psychology at Dalhousie University in Nova
Scotia found that performance of tasks involving left and right brain activity comes in 90
to 100 minute cycles. (4) For 90 minutes, subjects could do well on right brain tasks and
then switch over to doing well in left brain related tasks. This also corresponds with the
90 minute fluctuation in nostril dominance and points to agreement with the yogic theory
that there is an intimate relationship between the breath and the brain and their cyclical
activity.
If we are unhealthy then our brain cycles may become abnormal in rhythm, duration,
quality of function, or in some other way. Our whole life is disturbed and this situation
actually occurs much more than any of us, even medical science, has previously realized.
Yogis diagnosed dysfunction of brain rhythm by examining the flow of air in the nostrils.
Yogis have repeatedly asserted that there is a strong link between not just the nostrils
and the brain but between the eyes and ears and all body organs. Of course, today we
know from our anatomy and physiology that this is so, however, yogis were saying the
same thing thousands of years ago. In meditative experience they could feel the flows of
energy in the nerves moving into and out of the brain and the rest of the body. They were
able to perceive even more subtle levels of their being because they invented techniques
which developed a great deal of sensitivity and strength. These techniques also allowed
them to assert control over the nadis, the brain and all body processes.
Shambhavi mudra and trataka are two of the most powerful techniques of kundalini
yoga, designed to awaken ajna chakra by balancing ida and pingala. If this is so, and if
the nadis described by yogis are in the brain, then it means that yogic techniques can
balance the brain hemispheres. Research from split brains is revealing that this is so. We
know that in normal people, pictures appearing on the left side of our viewing field and
sound in the left ear, both transmitted to the right brain, are less agreeable than when they
are presented to the other side, according to Kinsbourne. Other research shows us that
when we are gloomy we tend to gaze to the left, affecting the right hemisphere, whereas
happiness causes the opposite to occur. (5)
This research indicates a definite relationship between eye position and hemispheric
dominance. It also indicates that shambhavi mudra and trataka balance brain hemisphere
activity because the eyes are held steady at the center of the forehead, crossed in
shambhavi and straight ahead in trataka. Even when we practise these techniques we may
feel a very powerful stimulation and pressure within the center of the head, ajna chakra
activation, and the subjective experience is that of simultaneous extroversion and
introversion. Shambhavi is the more powerful technique and induces an almost
immediate effect. Centralized focusing of awareness appears to affect both nadis
simultaneously.