Gāyatrī
गायत्री
शान्त Numb
ॐ भूः ॐ भुवः ॐ स्वः
ॐ महः ॐ जनः ॐ तपः ॐ सत्यम् ।
ॐ तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् ।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ।
ॐ आपो ज्योती रसोऽमृतं
ब्रह्म भूर्भुवः स्वरोम् ॥
The Gāyatrī with ॐ, the seven worlds and its closing line, one line on each out-breath, the whole of it three times. In sandhyā that is one prāṇāyāma.
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
Viṣṇusmṛti 55.9 and Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra 25.13 define it: the Gāyatrī with the vyāhṛtis and with ॐ, together with its head, said three times with the breath restrained, is called a prāṇāyāma. The mantra is from the Mahānārāyaṇa, in the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.
Said three times on one held breath it is a feat, and this site does not ask for feats. Here it is one line to a breath, as everywhere on the site. If you take the hold, the line moves into it: breathe in, hold, say the line in the mind, and breathe out in silence. A touch lets the breath go whenever it wants to go.
It is the breath for numbness, and on that path it is the word as well. When nothing is felt the mind has stopped, and this verse asks for one thing, that it be set moving.
Where it comes from: The sandhyā prāṇāyāma: the Gāyatrī with the vyāhṛtis, ॐ before each, and its śiras, said three times on one restrained breath. Defined in Viṣṇusmṛti 55.9 and Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra 25.13 (savyāhṛtikāṃ sapraṇavāṃ gāyatrīṃ śirasā saha, triḥ paṭhed āyataprāṇaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ sa ucyate); the mantra itself is from the Mahānārāyaṇa, the tenth prapāṭhaka of the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.
The hold
Only when the breath without it has been easy. A touch always lets it go.
How many
Prāṇāyāma, each the whole verse three times.