The yogis’ secret is in the tongue

In the 15th century an Indian yogi named Svatmarama wrote the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, one of the best-known manuals of yoga. About most techniques he speaks openly. About a few he writes that they must be kept hidden, like a box of jewels. One of them, in its simple form, needs no mat and no time. It is where you keep your tongue. The book’s most closely guarded treasure is already in your mouth.

Where is your tongue right now? Probably low, resting against your teeth, clenched along with your jaw.

The idea

What follows is the tradition’s map, not anatomy.

For the yogis the body is a small world, with its own moon and its own sun. The moon sits high in the head. It is cool, and it drips a fine drop, constantly: amrita, “the deathless”. The sun burns in the belly, at the level of the navel. It is the fire that digests your food.

The problem is gravity. The nectar falls, drop by drop, and the fire burns it. That, the tradition says, is how you wear out, lose your vitality and age. You are an hourglass running empty.

The tongue is the stopper.

The yogi learns to turn the tongue back, above the soft palate, and “drink” the drop before it reaches the fire. The technique is called khechari mudra, “the one that moves in the sky”, and the texts promise a lot: whoever masters it is troubled by neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep. Along the way the taste in the mouth changes. First salty and astringent, then like milk, like butter, like honey. As in the myth of the churning of the ocean, where poison came up before the nectar of immortality.

First bitter. Then honey. The order never changes.

Now the earthly part, which takes no faith at all. Myofunctional therapists and many orthodontists say the correct resting position of the tongue is exactly the one the yogis give beginners: the whole tongue raised against the palate, the tip just behind the upper front teeth, lips closed, breathing through the nose. A tongue that hangs low usually comes with a half-open mouth and mouth breathing.

The yogis called it a secret. Orthodontists call it an instruction. Your tongue hasn’t heard it from anyone.

The tradition closes with a story. A musk deer roams the whole forest looking for the source of a scent that drives it mad. It never finds it. The scent comes from its own body.

Whatever you’re looking for in the fridge, on your phone and in other people is already dripping from inside you.

The practices

1. The spot. Rest the tip of your tongue on the palate, just behind the upper front teeth, and let the whole tongue settle up against it. No pressure. Lips closed, teeth slightly apart. Keep it there as long as you can: at work, in the car, in line.
2. The check. Three reminders on your phone a day, for two weeks. When one goes off, just notice where your tongue is. If it’s low, lift it.
3. The map. Once, with your mouth closed, slowly run the tip of your tongue from your teeth backwards: first the hard palate, then where it turns soft. One minute. Just notice.
4. Tongue and breath. Ten minutes a day, sitting, tongue on the palate, breathing only through the nose. Notice whether your mind settles faster.
5. The taste. People who keep the tongue on the palate for long stretches say that at some point they notice a taste in the mouth. If it happens to you, write it down. Don’t chase it.

Today’s politically correct disclaimerFull khechari is learned only with a teacher and is never forced. The simple version, tongue on the palate, is safe for everyone. If your jaw hurts, ask a dentist.