Pranayama - Breathing In the Vital Life Force
(Source: Wikimedia.org. URL: http://tinyurl.com/mhq4va An image by Kabir Bakie July 2004)
Prana is a Sanskrit term meaning breath. The science of breath is called Pranayama (‘Prana’ – breath and ‘Ayama’ – control or restraint). There are 5 types of Prana as per the Ayurvedic system. They are: Prana (breath and heart beat), Apana (elimination of wastes), Udana (producing vocal patterns in and for the body), Samana (metabolism and digestion) and Vyana (voluntary muscle systems)
Pranayama is a system of controlled breathing. Though each one of us has a breathing pattern, which evolves as we grow, it is significantly different from the natural rhythm we are born with. Our breathing patterns change as per our perceptions, experiences and interpretations of the world and take the form suitable to our most dominant perception or reaction. Thus a nervous person generally has a shallow breathing pattern, a depressed person has a slow rhythm, a hasty person breathes fast and shallow etc. Since these patterns are away from the equilibrium and cleansing breathing we start out with, we develop disease conditions over the years.
Bringing the balance back through the practice of controlled breathing is what Pranayama is all about. In it’s practice, one also addresses internal bodily and emotional imbalances and resolves a lot of issues that appeared as diseases. This has now been proved scientifically as well.
Pranayama oxygenates your lungs and increases VO2 max (or maximum volume of oxygen that a person can use at peak activity levels). It is also known to increase Stroke Volume (or volume of blood pumped per stroke through the heart). Pranayama has very deep-reaching and long-term benefits that can be had by practicing it regularly. There are over a dozen Pranayama each with it’s own benefits and addressing specific ends. Some of the more popular ones are:
- Bhastrika Pranayama
- Anulom-Vilom Pranayama
- Kapalbhati Pranayama
- Brahmari Pranayama
- Ujjai Pranayama
- Shaitali Pranayama
- Nadi-Shoddhan Pranayama
- Digra Pranayama
- Surya-Bheda Pranayama
- Chandra-Bheda Pranayama
- Tribanda Pranayama
Pranayama are accompanied by the right Mudras and are done in the right Asana.
The best and the safest way to learn Pranayama is under the guidance of a qualified or certified Yoga instructor or a competent Ayurved or Yogi.
Pranayamas done wrongly can prove to be very harmful with potentially serious outcomes.
The best time to do any Pranayama is either morning or evening and preferably on an empty stomach.
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