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PRANAYAMANOTESPuraka, Rechaka and Kumbhaka vary according to place,time and number. The period of Kumbhaka must be graduallyincreased. Kumbhaka gives strength. lf you want to increasethe Kumbhaka for more than three minutes the help of a yogicGuru by your side is very necessary. You can suspend thebreath for 2 or 3 minutes without the help of anybody. This isquite sufficient for a!! persons for purifying the nerves and forsteadying the mind and for purposes of health.By place is meant the inside or outside the body and theparticular length of the breath in the act. lt is calculated by Yogisthat the breath is respectively 12,16,4,8 and 0 finger-breadthslong according to the Tatfuas Prithvi, Apas, Tejas, Vayu orAkasa. Tlme is the duration of these, which is counted byMatra: 12 Matras for Puraka, 48 Matras for Kumbhaka and24Matras for Rechaka. Matra means a measure or time-unit.Some take one second as one Matra. The time taken in makingthree rounds of the knee with the palm of the hand, neitherveryslowly nor quickly and snapping the fingers once, is called aMatra. The twinkling of an eye is sometimes taken as oneMatra by some. Time taken by one normal respiration is takenas one Matra. Time taken up in pronouncing the monosyltableOM is regarded as one Matra. This is very convenient for practice.Many Pranayama practitioners adopt this time unit in theirpractice.Number refers to the number of times the Pranayama isdone. One should do by gradual practice 80 times in the moming,80 in the evening and 80 at night and 80 times at mid-night.When Prana comes under the control of the Yogi, it is calledPranajaya or conquest of Prana.When the breath flows towards the left nostril, it is calledlda or Chandra Nadi; when it flows through the right nostril it iscalled Pingala or Surya Nadi; and when it flows through bothnostrils, it is called Sushumna or Agni. Meditation is very conducivewhen Sushumna is operating. The breath flows for twohours in each nostril. This time is distributed as follows: prithviflows for 1/r; Apas Tattva 1l; Tejas 1; Vayu Tattva /t; and