Rechaka

The term "Rechaka" originates from Sanskrit, derived from the root rec, meaning "to pour out" or "to emit." It signifies the act of expelling breath, contrasting with the intake (Puraka) and holding (Kumbhaka) of breath in yogic practice.

A practice in Hatha Yoga, during the performance of Pranfiyaraa or the regulation of breath: namely, that of opening one nostril and emitting breath therefrom, and keeping the other closed : one of the three operations respectively called Puraka, Kumbliaka and Rechaka — operations very pernicious to health. Red Colour. This has always been associated with male characteristics especially by the Etruscans and Hindoos. In Hebrew it is Adam, the same as "the word for "earth" and "the first man". It seems that nearly all myths represent the first perfect man as white. The same word without, the initial A is Dam or Dem, which means Blood, also of red colour, [w.w.w.] The colour of the fourth Principle in man— /iV/;/i«, the seat of desires is represented red. Reincarnation. The doctrine of rebirth, belived in by Jesus and the Ai)ostles, as by all men in those days, but denied now by the Christians. All the Egyptian converts to Christianity, Church Fathers and others, believed in this doctrine, as shown by the writings of several. In the still existing symbols, the human-headed bird flying towards a mummy, a body, or "the soul uniting itself with its sahou (glorified body of the Ego, and also the kdnialokic shell) proves this belief. "The song of the Resurrection" chanted ])y Isis to recall her dead husband to life, might 1)6 translated "Song of Rebirth", as Osiris is collective Humanity. "Oh! Osiris [here follows the name of the Osirified mummy, or the departed] . ri.se again in holy earth (matter), august mummy in the coffin, under thy corporeal substances", was the funeral prayer of the priest over the deceased. "Resurrection" with the Egyptians never meant the resurrection of the mutilated mummy, but of the Soul that informed it. the Ego in a new body. The i)utting on of flesh ])eriodically oy the Soul or the Ego, was a universal belief; nor can anything be more consonant with justice and Karmic law. (See "Pre-existence".)

Blavatsky's definition, while perhaps tinged with the era's speculative associations of color and gender, points to a core yogic practice whose significance transcends the purely physiological. Rechaka, the exhalation, is the outward flow, the emptying that makes space for the new. In the intricate dance of Pranayama, it is the sigh of release, the letting go that is as vital as the intake. Mircea Eliade, in his profound explorations of yoga, understood these breath techniques not just as exercises but as pathways to altered states of consciousness, instruments for mastering the body to transcend its limitations. The controlled expulsion of air can be seen as a metaphor for relinquishing attachment, for expelling the stale thoughts and anxieties that cloud the mind. It is an active process of purification, a conscious unburdening. The association with red, while intriguing and perhaps historically rooted in certain esoteric color symbolism, underscores the energetic nature of this practice. Red often signifies vitality, passion, and the raw energy of life, and its connection here might suggest the potent force unleashed and directed through the breath. This outward movement, this controlled emptying, prepares the practitioner for the subsequent retention and inhalation, creating a cyclical rhythm that mirrors the ebb and flow of existence itself. It is in this deliberate act of release that one begins to cultivate a profound sense of presence, clearing the internal landscape for deeper awareness. The breath, in its simplest form, becomes a powerful tool for self-mastery, a silent dialogue with the self.