Sat Naaraa-in

Hi Adam,

Thank you for your question. Happy to hear from you!

In Kundalini, you can find different ratios depending on the pranayama that has been chosen and the effects you'd like to create. Emphasizing the inhaling for example is boosting the heart rate, blood pressure, alertness; it's stimulating. Emphasizing the exhale slows the heartbeat, relaxes the circulation, nerves, digestive system and promotes elimination; it relaxes.

What we did is called "Nadi cleansing". It is a powerful classical technique. It is said to create a balance between prana and apana in the system and encourages the flow of kundalini into the central channel of the spine, the sushumna. This is Kundalini yoga but you can find this technique in Hatha yoga too, like Sivananda under the term "Anuloma Viloma" (1-4-2). This is part of their core practice.

Now... This is theory and it doesn't really answer your question "any reason why 1-4-2"? To me these ancient techniques come from teachers that have been experienced meditators, closely seeing what was beneficial in their experience, how the breath influenced their subtle body, and so they taught according to their advanced realizations. What is really interesting then is to walk their path, try what they offered and see for oneself. Make it one's own experience. And maybe you notice that a different ratio would be more beneficial for you for what you look for and I guess that's perfectly fine!

I hope that helps.

Much love

Sar Santokh Kaur