Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11, Chapter 14, Text 32-33

Text 32-33

SB 11.14.32-33

sri-bhagavan uvaca
sama asana asinah
 sama-kayo yatha-sukham
hastav utsanga adhaya
 sva-nasagra-krteksanah
 
pranasya sodhayen margam
 pura-kumbhaka-recakaih
viparyayenapi sanair
 abhyasen nirjitendriyah
 
Translation: 
 
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Sitting on a level seat that is not too high or too low, keeping the body straight and erect yet comfortable, placing the two hands on one’s lap and focusing the eyes on the tip of one’s nose, one should purify the pathways of breathing by practicing the mechanical exercises of puraka, kumbhaka and recaka, and then one should reverse the procedure (recaka, kumbhaka, puraka). Having fully controlled the senses, one may thus practice pranayama step by step.
 
Purport: 
 
According to this procedure, the hands are to be placed palms upward, one on top of the other. Thus, one may practice pranayama through mechanical breath control in order to achieve steadiness of the mind. As stated in the yoga-sastra, antar-laksyo bahir-drstih sthira-cittah susangatah: “The eyes, which generally see externally, must be turned inward, and thus the mind is steadied and fully controlled.”
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11, Chapter 14, Text 31
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11, Chapter 14, Text 34