Many of you have heard the word ‘pranayama.’ However, you may not know what pranayama is. Most people just that pranayama is breathing exercises, and they are not wrong, but there is much more to pranayama than that.
In Sanskrit, pranayama consists of two different words: ‘Prana‘ and ‘Ayama.’ Prana means life force energy, and Ayama means to control or to increase. So the translation means to channel life force energy.
Prana
Prana should not be confused with the breath itself or oxygen. While oxygen is necessary for survival, infinite oxygen does not mean a never-ending life. For example, if a dying man is using an oxygen tube, that man will not live forever. Hence, oxygen is not everything. On the other hand, prana is essential, and the more you learn to control it, the longer you can live.
Just as purified butter is in milk, prana is the essence of the breath, so to control prana, it is necessary to control your breath. The butter is not visible until you process the milk, so you must ‘process’ your breath to extract prana.
There are five main pranas:
- Prāna
- Apāna
- Samāna
- Udāna
- Vyāna
These pranas play different roles throughout the body to maintain and take care of it. Overall, the pranas are the same thing but are known differently in various areas of the body.
There are also five secondary pranas:
- Nāga
- Kurma
- Krikala
- Devadatta
- Dhananjaya
More prana in the body brings more strength, ingenuity, and competence.
The Basics of Pranayama
Here’s a quote about pranayama:
Chale vate chalam chittam
nischale nischalam bhavet.
When either inhaling or exhaling is happening, the mind is restless. However, retention of the breath keeps the mind at peace. So, this means that when you control your prana, you can easily control and direct your mind. A focused and concentrated mind increases the performance of it.
In Ashtanga Yoga, Sage Patanjali described the eight steps of self-realization:
- Yama
- Niyama
- Āsana
- Prānāyāma
- Pratyāhāra
- Dhāranā
- Dhyāna
- Samādhi
To get to the fourth step, you have to first refine your social and personal behavior before learning yoga asanas, and only then should you do pranayama frequently. If the first three steps are missed, the full benefit of pranayama cannot be obtained.
Different Types of Pranayamas
There are many, many breathing techniques, but the most important ones are:
- Bhastrikā
- Kapalbhāti
- Bāhya
- Ujayī
- Anulona Viloma
- Bhrāhmari
- Agnisāra Kriyā
- Surya Bhedi
- Chandra Bhedi
- Sheetali/Shitkāri
- Nādi Shodhana
Each of these methods are scientifically proven to have their unique healing effects on physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as spiritual upliftment, which will be further detailed in upcoming articles.
