Shankhnaad, the divine sound of the conch, the gateway to wellness.
- in eternal aum consciousness
- Dec 17, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 6
Divine guidance:
As i visited lonavala to revamp our old house after many many years, i saw a board, on a bunglow just opposite to ours about shankh naad...
As it's said, thoughts manifest into people, things, events in life ...i have experienced this many times .. This is one of them.
Om sound:
As i explore the sound of AUM further and immerse myself into it, i was drawn to the flute and conch, both instruments that are played by using the breath. And i saw the board!
Shanknaad and pranayama:
Shanknaad or blowing the conch, has special significance due to the very long exhale, which is a preparation of bahya kumbhak. Bhaya kumbhak is the key to rejuvenation of the body, energy and mind. (In normal breathing the kumbhak or the hold is negligible, with the breathing in and out is short duration). Sanjeev, my dear friend, explained about the bahya kumbhak to me, and the scientific evidence in recent times to support the technique.
Pauranic reference
Every diety in Hinduism is symbolic and provides clues by its appearance, objects held in the hand, weapons carried, flowers, musical instruments etc. the shankh in lord Vishnus hand is symbolic. We have to see to what it is hinting it!
Shape of the shankh.
The conical shape of the shankh is similar to the pineal gland in the brain. This could just be a coincidence...
Very long shankhnaad
I came across this video of ganga arti, where a conch was played for around three minutes! Amazing. See the link here.
Guinness Book:
The long shankh naad record is 80 seconds... This is a good reference.
How to...
As i explored the internet further, i found some videos to explain how to blow a conch.
Importance of shankhnaad.
The sound from the conch is the sound of aum. It's significance is in puja rituals, it is worshipped as one of the objects in lord Vishnus hand, it was sounded at the start of the Mahabharata war. There is a deeper significance to this...
The resonance, the sound created within has to be experienced. It can not happen by just listening to the conch sound on video.
Like any other musical instrument, the experience is in the playing of the instrument, followed by listening live and then followed by listening on video and audio media, the effect diminishing at each stage by a factor of ten!
It's the subtle and complete vibrations, not just sound created by the instruments, that is the key.
Chakras
The sound of the blowing of the Shankha or conch finally stimulates the Sahasrara or crown chakra, opening the doorway for the AnandMaya kosha and getting into a blissful state. As per the musical instruments which are mapped to the chakras...
Buying The conch.
Taking time out from a wedding we are attending today, i visited the place, after taking an appointment. To get an authentic conch shell from the authentic source. (There are many duplicates in the market, which serve no propose).
They have a wonderful social media presence. By the brand oxyconch.
Oxyconch
You can contact sarika to get an authentic shankh on WhatsApp on this number.
I have personally bought many shankhs recently from her and found them to be of excellent quality.
+91 90750 97723 sarika from oxyconch.
She will arrange for shankh to be delivered to your place by courier.
They conduct regular programs online and offline. I will be doing one soon.
Shankhnaad and bandhas in yoga:
While there are specific techniques in blowing the conch, the most significant is that it empties the breath completely, much more, than exhaling through the nose! This was one of the great learnings today. When in yogic kriyas, you do bandhas, breath has to be completely out. The shankhnaad makes it possible. Easily. The bandhas are then much more effective.
As the breath exhales completely, the body regeneration process accelerates...
Beginners conch:
I was given a beginner's conch today... Something i would love to practise with. As i practise, i will seek another one at the right time... This smaller shankh can be shared with people.
Larger personal shankh:
After a month, as the practise developed further, i got another large sized shankh. The sound is deeper and better ... This shakh is exclusively for personal use.
Learning how to blow the shankh:
I was taught to how to hold the conch, how to blow, how to try, how to elongate the breath and many more insights by yogesh from oxyconch.
Kalapbhati variation in shankh:
Shankh bhati is modified version of kapalbhati done with the shankh...an amazing learning today.
It was wonderful to connect with Sarika and yogesh. We resonated on so many thoughts and insights, as we share the same engineering approach to spirituality!
Seek and learn:
Seek, experiment, learn, discuss, experience and then believe that self experience! As we come from Bharat, a land of seekers, not blind believers!
Yognidra:
Yogesh also takes sessions on yoganidra, which i am keen to learn too. In ancient times, yoga nidra was the method to heal the body energy and mind powerfully and quickly. I am so happy to see yogesh revive this ancient technique.
Active device:
Just keeping the conch at home, is not of much use, as it's a passive instrument. Blowing the conch is the key, to active l activate it.
Health benefits of the conch.
Whatever is at rest, recovers. Eg Sleep rests mind & fasting rests the digestion. Lungs are at rest while in slow exhale and holding the breath after exhale.
Lungs produce/regenerate platelets (based on medical research papers). This is the key aspect of shankhnaad.
Here is the research paper on platelets and lungs!
Diabetes, blood pressure, thyroid are the common lifestyle diseases today. Oxyconch has many many success stories of a number of patients who have benefited from blowing the conch, the right way. reach out to yogesh and Sarika to know more.
Similarity with om
Silent om (nirvana pranayama), omkar and Shakhnaad are similar in a way.
Emptying the lungs
Lungs are emptier when exhaling through the mouth than the nose.
Exhalation is enhanced when the sound of furrrr is created like a small child.
Low volume vs loud shanknaad
Slow volume, prolonged Shankhnaad rests the lungs. The indicator of long prolonged steady exhale is the sound of the shankh! Loud sound is for announcements like in the temple. Focus on duration, not on volume.
Try to prolong the exhalation as much as possible. World record is 80 seconds!
Best time for shanknaad
Best time for shankhnaad is at sunrise. “Sunrise in mumbai” (name of city) gives exact time on google when searched. Do Shankhnaad daily & teach others too. See the difference!
Easily to implement consistently.
Being small in size, easily doable anywhere, it's an ideal instrument to activate the inner healing within.
Shanknaad level 1: normal
Blow the shankh the normal way. No mudras or bandhas. Just hold it in one hand and blow it in normal volume. Don't try to prolong the breath.
Shankhnaad level 2: prolonged
Try to blow the shankh at lower volume and prolong the breath.
The last punch:
When exhaling, there is a last punch to be given to the breath to empty the l
Precautions:
Level 3 onwards are advanced practises to be done under someone's guidance and never to exceed ones limit.
Shankhnaad level 3: added mudras.
Hold the shankh in kaleshwar or atmabodhi mudra.
Kaleshwar mudra:
kaleshwar mudra transcends time. Keep this mudra same in the whole process. This is suitable for a small shankh. Here the middle fingers are joined togethe...pl note. This is a bit difficult to do.
Uttarabodhi mudra:
uttarabodhi mudra is good for a large shankh. Most preferred. Here index fingers are joined together. Uttarabodhi mudra is the mudra for enlightenment. This opens all chakras together. Hold the shankh in this mudra.
There are 4 stages of breathing.
A. Purak or inhale.
B. Antar kumbhak or hold breath in.
C. Rechak or exhale.
D. Bahya kumbhak or hold breath out.
When you do this without any shankh, bandh, mudras etc, it is also called box breathing.
You can do this with anulom vilom pranayama to strengthen your system, before you start advanced practises.
For each stage abcd, the rows, as they go below, indicate higher levels of practise.
All the breathing to be done with relaxed abdominal breathing. Not with lungs, forcefully.
If any time, you experience pain in the lungs, stop the practise
Inhale purak:
Sit in sukhasana.
Normal inhale.
Elongate the inhale
Hold the shankh in a mudra.
Hold the shankh at the chest, with the blowing Hole touching the centre if the chest. This is the place of the heart chakra.
Chant a mantra during inhale.
Make a ujjayi sound while inhale.
Listen to inner om sound
Place the tongue in khechari mudra. This silences the mind. the tongue to touch the upper palette, in khechari mudra.
No bandh in this stage.
Sit in Siddhasan with both heels or vajrasan as given in gita sixth chapter, which is very difficult.
Do the Vedic aum. See yourself as the aum. The feet are akara stomach the ukara and face the makara. In the third eye. Inhale slowly. Feel the breath going to the mooladhar chakra from the back of the spine.
Antar kumbhak: inner breath hole.
Normal hold
Elongate the hold duration.
Hold the shankh in a mudra.
Hold the shankh at the chest, with the blowing Hole touching the centre if the chest. This is the place of the heart chakra.
Chant a mantra during hold.
Listen to the inner om.
Place the tongue in khechari mudra.
Put Jalandhar bandha.
Exhale or rechak. This is the stage where shankh produces the sound.
Leave Jalandhar bandh if you have put it. Raise your neck upwards.
Blow the shankh the normal way
Now blow the shankh slowly.
Put moolbandh first
Start blowing the shankh.
Listen to the inner om, while blowing the shankh.
When you blow the shankh with khechari mudra, the sound is slightly different.
Applying bandhas. As you blow the conch and abdomen goes inside, automatically uddiyan bandh starts happening.
Feel the energy moving up from the mooladhara in perfect aum sound upwards chakra by chakra to the ajna chakra which is aum. This completes the om chakra cycles similar to what is given in kriya yoga practice.
As the blowing stops, in the last breath, lock the uddiyan bandh as the conch makes the last loud sound.
D. Bahya kumbhak exhale and Hold.
Your lungs are empty now.
put jaladhar bandh.
You are in tribandh state now. With mooladhara and uddiyan bandh already put in place.
place shankh back to the centre of the chest.
In this state. Chant your mantra, do your manifestation.. Here the breath, means time, is still. So the results accelerate faster and faster. My personal choice of mantra is "om kleem Krishnaya namah". The link is given here in another blog.
Focus on the heart chakra where the upper 3 and lower 3 chakras meet. This is the centre of balance and unity. This is the seat of manifestation Or You can do shambhavi mudra by focusing on the third eye. This is the seat of intellect and knowledge
You can also add vajroli mudra at this stage.
End of cycle:
Leave the bandhas in the following sequence.. Jalandhar bandh. Uddiyan bandh and mool bandh. If you are in khechari mudra, you can retain that.
Inhale, when you can't hold any more.
Don't exceed your limits. Slowly increase the durations of exhale during shanknaad and hold after exhale.
Anything above 30 secs of shankhnaad and 5 seconds of hold is a good milestone. But it depends on person to person.
Have a few cycles of normal breathing and then do the four stages again. The intensity of the practise depends on how much in depth you are into the process.
Blessing
May you benefit from shankhnaad and the blessing of lord Vishnu be with you always to take you into aum and merge with it.
Fantastic