Swara Yoga is yoga of the breath. The Swara app collects data about your nasal airflow patterns and records the area of a misting pattern when breathing out through your nose onto the screen of your smartphone. By gathering regular airflow data, you can explore your own nasal patency cycle. The nasal cycle or “Swara” is a phenomenon where airflow in each nostril changes sides on a regular basis due to alterations in the input of the autonomic nervous system to each side of your nose. Literature describes alternating nasal airflow rhythms regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain and connected to internal and external cycles.
The aim of the Swara app is to record your Swara patterns to see what influences your own cycles. The Swara app can be used to explore how your Swara cycle changes over time and in response to different yoga practices such as: asana, pranayama, meditation etc., and lets you test various yoga techniques that may influence your Swara cycle.
Throughout the day the Swara alternates on average between left and right nostrils every 2 - 3 hours (Keuning, 1968). This basic ultradian rhythm continues throughout the day, is mirrored in sleep cycles in the night, and was given the name “Basic Rest Activity Cycle” by Kleitman in 1963. Certain yoga techniques such as Nadi Shodhan Pranayama help to balance the flow of air through both nostrils, and evidence suggests that alternate nasal flow activates different brain hemispheres and parts of the nervous system. By balancing your nasal airflow you can also affect the balance of your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Anyone can use this app to collect data and explore their own nasal cycle patterns. Over time you will be able to design your own experiments to explore the effects of lifestyle factors on your nasal cycle rhythms, and gain some insight into the workings of your nervous system. The first large-scale study on yoga in Australia (Penman et al. 2012), explored yoga practice in general, this app lets you focus on Swara Yoga as part of a holistic yogic-lifestyle.
The Swara app version 1.0 is based on a unique and powerful algorithm developed by Aress Software. Any feedback and especially any ideas for improvements to future versions are most welcome. The Swara app has no advertising and no in-app purchases are required to unlock any features as all current features are fully available. Newer features and updates will be released after a while to allow feedback and input from users. We already have some interesting features already planned for v2.0, what ideas do you have? Enjoy…