Sahaj Marg Clarifies: Yawning during or after meditation

Clarifications from a conversation between Chariji Maharaj and Sanskrit Kannan (SRCM Preceptor), narrated by Sanskrit Kannan.

I asked Rev. Chariji Maharaj once in 1985" is Prana and mind inter-related? " He asked me, " why are you asking me this?"I told Him that even Patañjali refers to this. The texts on HATHA YOGA are replete with such reference. " Chariji said, " You see, in deep meditation the breathing automatically slows down. So this is a natural Pranayama in our Sahaj Marg practice.  The deeper the sitting,  the slower is the flow of air. To compensate for this slowness in breath resulting in lack of oxygen, sometimes you can see some people yawn after a meditation session. You might have seen me yawning after some sittings.  That means the sitting was deep."

One more incident related to this topic is as follows:

In 1985,  when Rev. Chariji Maharaj was in Europe,  after a Sunday morning Satsangh one Prefect chided an abhyasi for yawning after the sitting and said that it was wrong and it reflected grossness. That abhyasi naturally was upset and hurt. I consoled him by repeating what Rev. Chariji Maharaj had told us.  He was happy, but the Prefect did not accept what I said. So, I sent a letter to Rev. Chariji Maharaj narrating this incident, asking for clarification. Chariji Maharaj replied," yawning, during or after meditation is not wrong. "

However, I may add in lighter vein that this is not applicable to those who sleep during the sitting.