As you sit looking at this screen, just allow your spine to uncurl slightly, drop your shoulders down, tuck your sitting bone in towards the pelvis, draw your tummy back to your spine, but without tensing. Relax your belly. Now breathe in deeply and smoothly and let out the breath slowly for a count of 5. Do this 4 more times and just see how you feel.

What Is It?
Pranayama is a Sanskrit word which literally translates as ‘extending life force energy’. This increase in life-force (also known as chi or Qi), which is allowed to travel around the body without blockage or obstacle, is achieved through breathing techniques which help to regulate and even-out the breath, as well as re-train the respiratory system. This results in an increase in your subtle energies, boosting your immune system and general well-being, leading to a body which is lighter and more expansive.

It also promotes stillness of mind, and could be said to be the most direct method of doing this, as consciously slowing and smoothing the breath, and focussing the attention on it, has an immediate effect of slowing down and smoothing out the erratic and constant mind thoughts which can lead to emotional overload and stress. The mind and body will automatically attune to the particular state of mind associated with that breathing pattern.

History

Pranayama is “the conscious, deliberate regulation of the breath”  Yoga Sutras  (YS)2.49

This description is taken from the Yoga Sutras, the first written text on Yoga, which was set down by Patanjali approximately 2000 years ago. Patanjali wrote at length on the purpose of pranayama. He states that asana (the physical poses) must first be mastered, but it is pranayama which allows the breath to “transcend the level of consciousness” YS 2:51 , leading to a reduction in the “obstacles which inhibit clear perception”  YS 2:52 and allowing the student to master the senses and the direction of the mind.

The goal of yoga is to bring the body, mind and spirit into union and pranayama is central in achieving this. The Yoga Sutras outline the obstacles to achieving clarity of mind. These include fatigue, self-doubt and mental stagnation which can lead to symptoms of negativity, lack of ease and a “difficulty in controlling one’s breath” YS 1:31. He suggests that these symptoms of discontentment and lack of worth can be alleviated or prevented by working to steady the mind through asana practice and pranayama. He also suggests the lengthening of the out-breath as a useful tool towards bringing about this stillness of mind.

How is it relevant today?
2000 years on we can enquire again what the purpose of pranayama is and it is clear that we have even more distractions in the modern world to confuse us about who we are and where we are in the world. People have little time to relax and, worse, tend to feel a sense of self-indulgence and guilt if time is taken for oneself. Patanjali’s belief that this lack of clarity affects our breath, leaving it shallow and ineffective, and thereby increasing the obstacles even more, is still very true today. Most of us breathe using only a fraction of the available lung capacity, resulting in an inhibited sense of well-being.

A tool for healing and improving your well-being
“…pranayama is the conscious regulation of the breath. When you practice it, you deliberately change your normal pattern of breathing which, in turn, changes your state of mind. This reduces mental disturbance, and minimises the impurities in your system. As a result, you become clearer and your understanding is enhanced. The ultimate aim of pranayama, then, is to focus the mind.” Yoga for Body, Breath & Mind, Mohan

Learning to focus the mind in such a way helps enormously as a healing tool. Physical illness tends to agitate the mind and we then have a tendency, quite naturally, to concentrate, and be dominated by, our senses – how we feel, what hurts, what aches etc. The practice of pranayama can lessen this dominance and thereby enhance health. It also helps to redirect energy to the central nervous system by balancing the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). It can be seen therefore to work in a very physical way, as well as on an emotional level.

What is also going on is a change in the chemical balance of the body as pranayama trains the respiratory system so that it becomes more efficient, allowing a greater take-up of oxygen in the cells.

In addition, shallow, rapid breathing which is a common state for many of us, causes too little carbon dioxide to be in the body, affecting the fine oxygen/carbon dioxide balance in the blood. This in turn triggers our stress responses, leading to ….more stress and more shallow breathing! Deep, smooth breathing in contrast, balances the levels and triggers our system to calm down, with the heart rate automatically slowing.

Conversely, there are also certain practices which can increase our ability to tolerate lesser levels of carbon dioxide. This can be useful for people with respiratory problems, but even in other cases the temporary changes in the chemical balance, helps to flush the respiratory system and maximises the potential of the lung capacity.

Pranayama practice serves to control and lengthen the breath, helps clear the nadi (auric or subtle energy) channels, facilitates an ability to concentrate, promotes well-being and ultimately sets one on a journey of self-discovery. “It is the consciousness of life which becomes the breath of life and gives life to a body. The breath of life is the consciousness of life and the consciousness of life is the breath of life.” Kausitaki Upanishad

So, why the breath to bring about a change in life force energy? Is the breath and life-force the same thing?
No, but it is believed that through breathing, we can influence the flow of energy through our body. Prana doesn’t simply flow into the body, in the way that oxygen does, but it does enter the body when there is a positive change in the state of mind, brought about by controlled breathing.

Controlled and conscious breathing (pranayama) not only alters the chemical balance in the body for good, it helps to purify the auric channels at the body’s energetic levels, bringing about physical and mental harmony, and giving us a sense of space and openness in the body, and lightness of being.

In brief, pranayama can be seen to be:-
• A physical exercise which boosts the respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems through conscious breathing which enhances the take-up of oxygen by the body’s cells.
• A mental exercise to improve concentration and still the mind.
• A purifier of the mind and body by enhancing the movement of prana through the body
• A way of raising Kundalini and achieving union of the shakti and shiva (male and female principles)
• A bridge between the conscious and the unconscious – unifying the individual soul with the universal soul and becoming one with Source

The Gheranda Samhita , one of the ancient texts in Yoga, paraphrases it well. “ By pranayama diseases are cured, by pranayama the Shakti (universal energy) is awakened, by pranayama is obtained the calmness of mind and exaltation of mental powers; by this, mind becomes full of bliss; verily the practitioner of pranayama is happy”

If you are interested in increasing your breath awareness, most yoga teachers include this in their classes, but always check with them first. So, seek out a guide and enjoy the journey!

Julie is a Yoga Instructor and Reiki II practitioner who has been interested in bodywork and health since her teens, studying at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, and then going on to qualify as a Fitness Instructor in 1990. It was via the breath, and the fact of having respiratory disease in the family, that she was first introduced to Yoga in 1999 having discovered the health benefits of Yoga breathing for people with asthma and other breathing disorders. She soon became a convert and this led her on a transformational journey through the wisdom of the ancient Yogic teachings which included qualifying with the BWY in 2005 as a Yoga Instructor. Her aim is to share the benefits of deep and conscious breathing for improved health and well-being, as well as stillness of mind. Julie teaches Yoga and breathwork privately in Southbourne, and contributes bodywork to her husband’s energy-based spiritual development workshops and groups. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Useful Reading
Desikachar, TKV, (1995) The Heart of Yoga, Inner Traditions
Mascaro, J (1965), The Upanishads, Penguin Classics
Rieker, Hans-Ulrich (1972) The Yoga of Light, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Dawn Horse Press
Rixon, M. N (2000), Patanjali Poetically Paraphrased, BWY
Swami Muktibodhananda (1993), Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Yoga Publications Trust, Bihar