Awakening Transformative Fire: Agni Sara

Agni sara is one of the most helpful techniques I have ever learned. It can have a tremendous effect on overall energy levels and gives a wonderful boost to energy in meditation. I always make time for this, even if it’s the only thing I can do that day.

If higher energy levels sound appealing, you should absolutely consider making this part of your morning routine. While you might feel some effects immediately, please keep in mind that this practice is meant to help you develop your energy over time. Doing it every day for a month will yield much greater results than simply “overdosing” on a single day. Even if you do not consider yourself a yogi, this is a wonderful, quick practice that will benefit most people. I hope that this post will inspire you to give it a try!

What is agni sara?
Agni sara is a powerful ancient technique that is used for cultivating greater levels of energy in the body and mind. Literally translated as “fire essence,” it is an incredibly useful practice for anyone looking to achieve greater levels of healthy and vitality. Certain schools and traditions refer to this technique as “agnisar kriya” - this is the same thing. I prefer to interpret the translation as “transformative fire” because that is more descriptive of its effects.

Traditionally, this would be taught to students after they had demonstrated a commitment to their meditation practice and achieved an increase in mental/emotional stability. It is not wise for angry or anxious people to begin this practice. Ungrounded or scattered people should strengthen their focus before attempting it.

On an energetic level, agni sara stimulates and harmonizes the first three chakras. These are the energy centers responsible for physical health and vitality. When they are functioning smoothly, we feel grounded, stable, creative, alive, and enthusiastic. Both yogic and qigong texts agree that the energy centers around the navel are responsible for distributing energy throughout the body. When these centers are functioning together, we have all the fuel we need to live our best life.

On a physical level, agni sara massages and flushes the abdominal organs, helping to restore them to optimal performance. This movement of the abdomen applies beneficial pressure to the organs, increasing blood supply, stimulating the metabolism, and aiding in digestion an assimilation. This is known as the “squeeze and soak” effect. It is a natural result of the rhythmic compression and release that happens when we practice agni sara. By emptying the lungs completely and breathing deeply, we are also increasing oxygen levels throughout the body.

When should I practice it?
Agni sara should always be practiced on an empty stomach. This makes it most suited for morning practice. Since it has such a profound effect on energy levels, it is an excellent way to start the day. It can be practiced on its own but will be most effective when practiced after asanas and before savasana and meditation. For some individuals, it could also be useful before dinner (with a long gap after lunch), but doing any energizing practices later in the day can result in insomnia. If attempted after a meal, this will cause discomfort at the very least and indigestion or gastric distress would be likely. If taken to the extreme, one could actually injure their organs.

“Agni sara is a very strong practice and should always be followed with relaxation and/or meditation. ”

Agni sara is a very strong practice and should always be followed with relaxation and/or meditation.
If we look at agni sara in terms of yin/yang, it is a strong yang practice. This is one of the most energizing and fiery practices out there. On its own, it is not balanced. We need to bring some more calming elements into our practice to create balance. Savasana is an excellent and obvious choice. In addition, it is very important that we practice agni sara with a calm, positive attitude; it does not mix well with negative emotion.

How to place agni sara within a complete practice:
For a long time I played with placing agni sara at various times throughout my practice: beginning, middle, and end. I want to briefly walk you through my findings because I did find benefits to all three. Let’s start with my top recommendation: right before meditation.

The two main benefits to ending with agni sara:
1. We’ve already stirred up and awakened energy throughout our practice and now we can focus all of that into the practice of agni sara. This will amplify the effects.
2. The energy awoken directly from agni sara will be fresh and vibrant for meditation. This timing can help us experience energy more deeply during meditation.

The main benefit of starting with agni sara:
1. It can be very helpful in waking up a groggy mind and preparing one for their daily practice. Many days, I am not super keen on moving my body when I first wake up and agni sara helps energize me before I start moving. In ayurvedic terms, this helps stimulate rajas, the desire for movement and activity.

The benefit of practicing agni sara in the middle:
1. This helps students get the benefits of agni sara while still leaving time to relax before class ends. This is my top pick for studio classes that will not have much time for meditation. When the standing series is complete, we can practice agni sara for a few minutes and then move to the floor for seated asanas. The elevated energy this creates can really help transform the seated series into a meditative experience.

How do we do it?
Agni sara is very simple. That’s part of the reason it is so powerful; there are no complicated details to remember. You can really focus your attention on the practice. All you have to do is pull your abdomen inwards on the exhale and relax it on the inhale. Easy!

Okay, so there’s a bit more to it than that, but not much. Really.

First, choose one of these traditional postures:

standing

kneeling

Other postures are possible, but these are the two I use and they are the only ones I’ve seen in yogic books. The key here is that your arms are supporting part of the weight of your torso. This frees up a lot of postural muscles so that you can really let your belly expand and contract with the breath. Try to keep the arms straight and don’t allow the shoulders to tense up towards your ears.

Now, the movement:
At the start of each exhale, we pull the abdomen in and continue squeezing in throughout the entire exhale. Ideally, this happens as low in the abdomen as possible. Try to initiate the movement from the level of your pubic bone, rather than your navel. According to Swami Rama, “this is the real agni sara.” The rest of your abdomen will still pull in as well - this is good, we just want to start from as low as possible. (This is just my theory here, but I believe this helps to more greatly include the 1st and 2nd chakras, as opposed to simply pumping the navel center.)

The movement should be smooth and mindful. This is not a jerky or snappy movement such as bhastrika (bellows) or kapalbhati (breath of fire.) Pressure should be smooth and continuous throughout the exhale. Allow your breath to flow at a comfortable pace. Exhale completely and then release the contraction as you begin to inhale. Try to be as relaxed as possible during the inhale - let your abdomen expand!!

Since we are attempting to stoke our inner fire, we should make sure to inhale and exhale deeply and completely; flames feed on oxygen! Quality of breath and awareness is just as important as the abdominal contraction.

How many reps should I do?
Of course, this answer depends, but a good starting point would be 36 reps per day for a month. This would best be accomplished as 3 sets of 12. Come out of the posture, rest your arms, and return to natural breathing for a bit between rounds. It is important that we don’t allow the body to become tired or fatigued; the practice is strong enough and we should try to infuse it with as much ease and calmness as possible.

Do not attack this exercise with a fitness mindset. It is not about getting pumped or maxing out your efforts. The results you get will be equal to the quality of your attention, the quality of your breath, and the consistency of your practice. How many reps you can smash into one set is irrelevant.

Now, I don’t mean to insult any athletes who may be reading this, I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I’m just warning against this type of attitude because I have fallen into that trap too many times myself. Everything we hope to gain from spiritual practice is the result of quality. If you really want bonus points, see how many days you can string together in a row.

Over time, you can increase to 3 sets of 36 per day. Better yet, just set a timer for 1-5 minutes and focus completely on the practice. It’s certainly possible to go beyond this but it then becomes quite a lengthy practice. One of the greatest benefits of agni sara is how efficient it can be. Anything beyond 5 minutes and I’d have serious doubts about the design of your practice. There are many things we can add that complement agni sara very well and will lead to more balanced growth.

Are there any cautions or contraindications?
Since there have been very few scientific explorations into these ancient practices, we often have nothing more to go on than ancient teachings, modern interpretations, and personal experience/intuition.

This is generally considered to be a safe practice for healthy individuals. We really are just accentuating the natural movement of the abdomen while we breathe. Obviously, no practice is perfect for everybody so please begin gently and slowly. You should not feel any tension or fatigue during this practice.

Due to the nature of this practice, several cautions must be observed. The following list of contraindications is taken from the book, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. You can learn more about his teaching and lineage at the Bihar school of yoga.

“Contraindications: People suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, acute duodenal or peptic ulcers, overactive thyroid gland or chronic diarrhea should not perform this kriya.”

I would also imagine that this is contraindicated for anyone with acid reflux, heartburn, or leaky gut syndrome, but I have no evidence for this. It just makes sense. Anyone suffering from headaches or migraine would be wise to exercise extreme caution and seek medical advice.

What happens if I overdo it?
There are a number of things that can happen as a result of practicing too much or with excessive force. In my experience, these symptoms will usually manifest many hours later, making it difficult to recognize the connection to your practice. This will vary with the individual but there are a few general things to look out for:

Irritability: practicing excessively can create too much internal pressure, putting us “on edge.” Things may bother you for no reason and you might experience a general feeling of uneasiness. This often happens many hours later, after energy levels have subsided. Coming down from an agni sara practice AND a caffeine high can definitely turn you into a monster. You know when you’re lying in bed and your body wants to change positions but you decide not to? That’s the feeling I’m talking about; “it just ain’t right.”

It may be that you did too many reps, squeezed the abdomen with too much force, or did not balance the practice with sufficient time in relaxation and meditation. The greater your calm in daily life, the more gracefully you can handle higher energy levels.

Headaches: this is a clear sign that you have done too much or applied too much effort. It won’t be immediate, so you may think there are other causes. Obviously, there could be, but either way, if you are regularly experiencing headaches, this is not a good practice for you, at this time. If you practiced agni sara AFTER your morning coffee, that can definitely contribute to a headache later in the day. A gentler approach is needed.

If you have decided that it is appropriate to continue with your practice, try pulling the abdomen in with 50% of the effort used previously and cut the amount of reps or time in half. Once you have established a daily practice with no ill effects, you can systematically build up your practice if you choose.

Scatterbrain: any practice that increases energy can potentially unground us and cause us to feel scattered or unfocused. Think about young children eating candy and bouncing off the walls. Sure, they are having a great time, but it is generally not helpful for us to feel or act that way. If you don’t already have a meditation or other present-moment awareness practice, agni sara can cause you to lose a bit of control. Increased energy is only beneficial when we have the capacity to harness and direct it. You would be well advised to dedicate yourself to daily meditation before beginning the practice.

Take some time to think about everything you are doing in your life on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You need to construct your routines in such a way that they help balance each other. Too many high-octane, high-energy practices or activities is not the wisest formula. Seek the middle way.

Final thoughts: Agni sara is a wonderful practice that can really accomplish incredible results in a relatively short time. For best results, practice every day for several minutes. If you have time for nothing else, stick with agni sara! Try it every day for a month and see what happens…

Disclaimer: I am a certified yoga/qigong teacher and not a medical doctor. This is not a personal consultation and in no way is this blog meant to serve as a professional recommendation for your individual practice. The information presented here is purely to share my experience and for informational/educational purposes only. As always, check with a medical doctor before making any health/exercise/lifestyle changes. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any activities or ideas from this site.