Etymology:
Prana + yama/ayama; In other words,
the restraint and expansion of Prana
If
you’re new to Yoga, then the term ‘Prana’ has probably left you
a little bewildered, and we understand. Prana is the subtle
life energy flowing through all things,
and without which the entire cosmos would have remained insentient.
As we journey through life and stray from a more natural way of
living, we diminish the wellspring of prana we were once endowed
with. Consuming Tamasic* and Rajasic* stimuli congests
and blocks the Nadis*.
If
you’ve been feeling emotionally off-kilter, foggy, piling on weight
without reason, it’s a sign that something is fundamentally amiss
and you may want to incorporate Pranayama into your lifestyle.
Swami
Sivananda says in his book ‘The Science of Pranayama’, when the
Nadis are purified there is a “lightness of the body, brilliancy in
complexion, increase of the gastric fire, leanness of the body, and
the absence of restlessness”.
That was the ‘What’. Now let’s talk about the ‘Why’.
Let's
begin with some homework, and it's alright if you don't want to. No
pressure. Over the next few days, observe your breath as you go
through different emotions. Jot it down if you want to. Write down
adjectives to describe your breathing while you were Angry, Happy,
Calm, Excited, Sad, and so forth.
Did
you notice a pattern?
The
calmer we are, the more graceful our respiration is. And as we drift
away from this serenity our breath becomes more and more distinctly
irregular and rapid. Scientifically referred to as a shift from the
parasympathetic to the sympathetic nervous system, a stress response
if you may.
Ever
noticed how babies breathe? Deep, restful, relaxed abdominal breaths.
The
breath is a wonderful signifier of what's going on internally-
physically, emotionally and spiritually. Stunningly, while our breath
wonderfully enacts the story going on inside, it also functions as a
lever to shift gears within. Proper breath control can easily retrain
and reset our biorhythm. That is the importance of Breath/Prana
Control or Pranayama.
Lastly, How?
Just
like you’d never be asked to run a marathon on the first day of
training or take exams on the first day of school, it won’t be
right to jump into advanced forms of Pranayama without first
practicing with training wheels on. Let’s get down to the basics.
A complete cycle of respiration can be segmented into 4 sections.
Inhalation(Puraka).Retention(Kumbhaka).Exhalation(Rechaka).Suspension(Shunyaka).
Our
intention would be to gradually extend the time we spend in the 4
phases but for the first couple of days, we won’t be spending time
in the Retention and Suspension phase as that puts a lot of pressure on the Nadis. We
are to ensure that the exhalation phase is always longer than the
inhalation phase as it’s directly tied to the parasympathetic
nervous system or in other words, the relaxation response.
I
will now leave you with a simple Pranayama exercise that you can
practice a couple of times each day.
Step
1- Inhale to the count of 4.
There’s
no hurry. Be at ease. Take a deeep breath. 1.2..3...4....
Step
2- Hold the breath to the count of 2.
Relaaax.
It’s all good. 1.2..
Step
3- Exhale to the count of 6.
Everything
is where it’s meant to be. You’re doing fine. 1.2..3...4....5.....6......
Step
4- Pause to the count of 2.
That’s
it. It’s almost over. You’re awesome. 1.2..
There
you go. That was one round. Gradually build up to 9-10 rounds of this
pranayama at a time.
*The
entire creation is a manifestation of just three elements
Sattva
(goodness,
constructive, harmonious),
Rajas
(passion,
active, confused),
Tamas
(darkness,
destructive, chaotic)
*Nadi
is a subtle pathway for the flow of
Prana. There are 72,000 nadis in the human body
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