Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut says what brought back her exuberance and laughter is also her brother's birthday gift to her. South film celebrities like actor-director Suhasini Maniratnam and actor Tamannah Bhatia swear by it. This year, a leading fitness app added this wellness technique to its bouquet of solutions for those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. They all are alluding to Shambavi Mahamudra’s spiritual yogic practice, also called the ‘eyebrow centre gazing’ method.
The kriya is a 21-minute practice that blends deep breathing with meditation techniques, focusing on engaging bandhas, or muscular locks, in the abdomen and pelvic floor for 15 minutes and concludes with five minutes of open-monitoring meditation. Research conducted by the Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Massachusetts in 2017 revealed that participants who practised the kriya every day 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 breathwork techniques ranging from Shambhavi to Anapana Sati (a Buddhist breathing concept) and Ujjayi Pranayama. “While every technique has unique benefits, Shambhavi kriya has the extra edge of spirituality. Several of my disciples, who are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, work 18-hour days, travel across time zones, and suffer from frequent jetlag.
I teach them Shambhavi to stay at their best despite five hours of sleep,” he says. Major Aaruni Kant Sinha, a former Indian Army officer who’s now based in Mumbai, says, “Even on my bad days, all I need to do is to drag myself to the yoga mat. By the end of 21 minutes of Shambhavi, my energy levels skyrocket, and I smoothly flow into the day,” he says. The kriya is a ‘knocking on one’s spiritual door’ and helps the precept open up to the vast spiritual universe, the practitioners say in unison.
Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya
● Sit in a meditative pose in a quiet place
● Straighten your spine and pose in gyan mudra (index finger touching thumb) with hands placed on kneecaps.
● Close your eyes and relax. Open eyes gradually and transfix them at a point. Without moving your head, look up and inwards, fixing the gaze at the centre of your brows. Your eyebrows should curve to form a ‘V’ shape.
● Avoid blinking while gazing. If your eyes get tired or watery, discontinue and restart.
● With your eyes closed, chant your favourite mantra
● Once you master these eye movements, you can coordinate your breath to Shambhavi mudra