In the Sama Vritti pranamayama practice, the breath is controlled in order to make the inhalation and the exhalation exactly the same length.
Before you start practicing Sama Vriti Pranayama, you should first practice Anapana Sati (mindfulness of breathing). Once you can stay perfectly still for 10 minutes, watching the breath with full awareness, you are ready to move on.
Technique:
Sit quietly and comfortably with your eyes closed, and start by just watching your breath for a few minutes. Notice if the inhalation is longer than the exhalation,
or vice versa or if your breath is perfectly balanced, with inhalation and exhalation exactly the same length.
When you are ready to start, if you inhalation is longer than the exhalation, slow down the flow of the exhalation to make it as long as the inhalation, and if you exhalation is longer than the inhalation, slow down the flow of the inhalation to make it as long as the exhalation. In both cases, you lengthen the breath AND make the inhalation and the exhalation exactly the same length.
Once this first stage of the practice is easy and comfortable, or if you started with inhalation and exhalation exactly the same length, you can move to the second stage of the practice, where you lengthen both inhalation and exhalation while keeping them the same length.
Do not overstrech the breath, it should always remain smooth and comfortable.
Practice for a few minutes every day until you can comfortably double the length of your natural breath. You can then move on to Visama Vritti Pranayama.
