Have you ever felt the mystical stillness of nature at dawn, the serenity at twilight? These precious moments, known as sandhi kaal, are significant for a spiritual practitioner to experience greater depth in sadhana (practice).
Moment of transition
The Sanskrit word sandhi means a joining of two things. Sandhi kaal refers to the 20- to 30-minute transition between day and night. At dawn, the night has not yet gone, and the day has not yet commenced – nature is changing from a dark, black night to a golden morning. The same happens again in the evening at dusk – the day departs, and the night slowly arrives.
What happens in the macrocosmic world also happens to the microcosmic human body. When this change happens in nature, a similar change also occurs in your body. If you sit in a meditative posture during this period, with your spine erect, and do your pranayama, you can experience great depths in your practice. At this time, nature will help and assist you – the external shift will create an internal shift. It will be so easy to calm your mind at this hour.
Internal sandhi kaal
Symbolically, just as there is a sandhi kaal in nature, there is an internal sandhi kaal as well. According to Swara yoga, your system functions differently depending on which nostril the breath flows through. Most of the time, the breath flows predominantly through either the right nostril (surya swara) or the left nostril (chandra swara) at a time. You can check with your finger and notice that air flows mostly through one nostril. But approximately every 90 minutes, there is a shift in nostril dominance. For around 10-15 breaths, it will flow equally through both nostrils, called sama (equanimous) swara. At that moment, the dormant Sushumna nadi awakens, the central energy pathway in the spine. This is like an internal sandhi kaal, a golden moment for meditation.
Being in sync with nature
Apart from spiritual practice, living in alignment with nature’s rhythms is important for health. Most people today are so cut off from Mother Nature that they sleep at odd times and don’t take notice of the sun rising or setting. To get up early, it is necessary to sleep early. If you get the deepest sleep in the early morning hours and it is difficult to wake up, this shows that the earlier part of the night was spent digesting a heavy meal, tossing and turning, and dreaming. So, try to bring in that discipline and correct your lifestyle first.
It is important to be in sync with nature and not to go against it. As there is an external clock, there is an internal clock, too. Have you ever wondered what clocks the menstrual cycle in a woman’s body? The period recurs every 27 or 28 days, as this cycle is connected to the waxing and waning of the moon. The moon has a direct relation to your mind and the glandular system, whereas the sun has a direct relation to the body.
Rise and shine with the sun
As the sun rises, the initial rays touching your skin will lead the body to produce Vitamin D, essential for immunity and vitality. Hindus have worshipped the morning sun since ancient times. Many people think it is just a ritual, but it is not. It is about connecting with that life force – we are physically alive because of the sun. And the same sun is symbolically sitting in the navel area, at the manipuraka chakra. I have met a Yogi who would meditate on the sun twice daily, and he had not eaten for the last 40 years! No food, no water, nothing. He is getting everything from the sun and air. So, for your health and well-being, it is important to wake up before the sun wakes up.
Sitting for practice at sunrise and sunset
Moreover, it is most conducive to sit for meditation during sandhi kaal. It would be best to sit at both times, during sunrise and sunset, otherwise, in the morning is great. Practice at least 21 cycles of nadi shodhana pranayama or mantra japa – your body and mind will greatly benefit. You will notice the effect yourself.
In another sense of the word, sandhi also means agreement. When two fighting fractions are made to sit on a table, that agreement is also called sandhi. Now, your mind constantly fights with you, and you make it sit down: “Don’t fight with me, let’s be friends!” Therefore, make use of sandhi kaal and befriend your own mind.
