Pranayama practices

Pranayama - the regulation of inhalation, exhalation, and suspension of breath by modulating their lengths and holding for a time, while directing the mind consciously into the project.

 

Pranayama is emphasized in yoga because it allows us to feel the cosmic energy of prana -- the life force. To clear a common misperception, our breath is not the same as our prana; however, our prana rides on the breath and we can get in touch with it through our breathing. David and Sharon tell us to think of prana like electricity. This power source is running throughout our bodies and the aim of a yogi is to harness this tremendous power and direct it towards enlightenment. We do this by learning how to channel this electricity into our wires ( nadis) and then directing it towards a specific direction. The nadis are the energy channels which conduct our energy source, our prana. All of this occurs in the subtle body of the human being.

On a surface level, pranayama benefits the gross body by oxiginating the blood and energizing the body. But a yogi always looks deeper, and when we examine the affects of pranayama on the subtle body, we see that it works to cleanse the nadis, which have been clogged up by avidhya, or mis-knowing. So, in other words, pranayama practices work like Draino - they help you unclogg your pipes in order to get the flow moving swifly again.

In order for breathing practices to be pranayama, they must have the following components (which are commonly missed), according to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika:

• establishing a "seat" that is one of these four asanas: padmasana, siddhasana, vajrasana, or virasana
• use of bandhas (mula bandha, uddiyana bandha, jalandhara bandha)
• breath retention (kumbaka)

Because the first two requirements (seat and bandhas) are advanced practices in and of themselves, pure pranayama is usually not introduced to the yogi until a later stage when these have been mastered. The seat ( padmasana, siddhasana, vajrasana, or virasana) must be steady and joyful, meaning the yogi must be comfortable, well-connected to the Earth, and able to stay in this position for about 20 minutes. That is hard! These four options are not easy asanas to hold, or even get into! Likewise, the yogi must have mastered the usage of bandhas in order to then incorporate them into their proper placements during the exercises. Lastly, breath retention, kumbaka, should only be attempted once the yogi has perfected "equal breathing" or equalizing the inhale and exhale smoothly throughout the entire vinyasa. Not as easy as it seems.......

 

So, basically, David told us it could take a yogi years to perfect himself to the point of becoming ready for pure pranayama practices. In the meantime, however, the yogi should focus on breath awareness, equal breathing throughout practice, and ujjayi breathing. Ujjayi breathing is a great way to start learning how to restrict the breath and prepares the yogi for future breath retention practices. That is enough in and of itself to focus on, isn't it!??!