1 : 4 : 2
१ : ४ : २
वीर Restless
In on अ, out on म, the out-breath twice as long, each counted by saying the syllable in the mind. When that is easy, a hold on उ, four times the in-breath.
With high blood pressure, a heart condition or pregnancy: no hold, no inversion, and the 1 : 4 : 2 without its hold.Every hold is optional, and comes only after the ratio has been met without it.
Why this one
Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 5.47 to 55: sagarbha is done with the bīja. In through the left nostril on a, sixteen; held on u, sixty four; out through the right on m, thirty two; and then the other way. Sixteen, sixty four and thirty two is his middle measure, twelve, forty eight and twenty four his lowest. Whatever the measure, it is one to four to two.
His count is not a clock. It is the syllable said again and again in the mind. The page keeps it at about one a second and begins well below his lowest measure. The ratio is the practice.
It is offered first without the hold, in and out at one to two. The hold comes only when that has been met without strain, and it is always yours to end: a touch lets the breath go. Gheraṇḍa adds uḍḍīyāna before the hold. It is left out here.
It is the breath for restlessness. Energy that wants to act is given a measure to meet and a left and right to keep, and that is something to act on.
Where it comes from: Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 5.47 to 55, sahita kumbhaka (tr. Srisa Chandra Vasu, 1914). 5.47: sagarbha is done with the bīja, nigarbha without it. 5.48 to 51: seated facing east or north, in through the left nostril on a, sixteen; uḍḍīyāna before the hold; held on u, sixty four; out through the right on m, thirty two; then the nostrils alternate (5.52 to 53). 5.55: 16, 64, 32 is the middle measure; 12, 48, 24 the lowest; 20, 80, 40 the highest. One to four to two throughout.
How long
In seconds. Take the one that is easy today; the longer ones are not better.
The hold
Only when the breath without it has been easy. A touch always lets it go.
How many
Breaths, the nostrils taking turns.