Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut says that what brought her excitement and laughter back is also her brother’s birthday gift. South film personalities like actor-director Suhasini Mani Ratnam and actor Tamannaah Bhatia swear by it. This year, a leading fitness app added this wellness technique to its bouquet of solutions for people with chronic fatigue syndrome. They all point to the spiritual yogic practice of Shambhavi Mahamudra, also known as the method of ‘eyebrow center gazing’.
Kriya is a 21-minute practice that combines deep breathing with meditative techniques focusing on engaging dams, or muscle locks, in the abdomen and pelvic floor for 15 minutes and ends with a five-minute open-monitoring meditation. Research conducted in 2017 by Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts showed that participants who practiced kriyas daily for six weeks reported lower levels of stress and higher levels of general well-being.
Acharya Shanmukha Chandra, a yoga and meditation teacher in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, claims to have spent over a year exploring various breathing techniques ranging from Shambhavi to Anapana Sati (a Buddhist breathing concept) and Ujjayi Pranayama. “While each technique has unique benefits, Shambhavi Kriya has the added edge of spirituality. Many of my disciples, who are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, work 18-hour days, travel across time zones, and suffer frequent jetlags. There are
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I teach them Shambhavi to be at their best despite five hours of sleep.” Major Aruni Kant Sinha, a former Indian Army officer who now lives in Mumbai, says, “Even on my worst days, all I have to do is drag myself across the yoga mat. By the end of the 21 minutes of Shambhavi, my energy levels skyrocket, and I flow through the day with ease,” he says. The kriya is a ‘knock on the spiritual door’ and calls the upadesh to the vast spiritual universe. Helps to open up, the doctors say in unison.
Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya
● Sit in a meditative posture in a quiet place
● Straighten your spine and keep the hands on the knees in Gyan Mudra (forefinger touching the thumb).
● Close your eyes and relax. Slowly open the eyes and fix them on one point. Without moving your head, look up and inward, fixing your gaze on the center of your eyebrows. Your eyebrows should curve to form a ‘V’ shape.
● Avoid blinking while watching. If your eyes get tired or watery, stop and start again.
● Close your eyes and chant your favorite mantra
● Once you have mastered these eye movements, you can coordinate your breath with Shambhavi Mudra
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