Pranayama

“That (Asanas) having been perfected, suspension of the flow of inhalation and exhalation is Pranayama.”

Before I begin, let’s do a small exercise. Get your back straight, body relaxed, and mind clear. Follow my lead:

• Breathe in…
• Breathe out…
• Breathe in…
• Breathe out…

Now, follow the count below:

• Breathe in for…1 mississippi…2 mississippi…3 mississippi…
• Breathe out…1 mississippi…2 mississippi…3 mississippi…
• Breathe in…1…2…3…aaand breathe out…1…2…3…
• Continue for another couple of rounds.

My fellow yogis, this exercise is called equal breathing, and it must be mastered, along with other breathing exercises before you move onto more serious practise of Pranayama. 

Pranayama (/prɑːɳɑːjɑːmə/) comes from the word ‘prana’, meaning life force, or bio-energy that runs through your body and keeps you alive and active. So, Pranayama is a regulation of that prana, at will, using your breath. When you take your breath in, there is an amount of time you hold it in for before you exhale it. Similarly, after you exhale, there is a brief moment when you suspend your breath before inhalation. That retention and suspension of breath is called Pranayama. It is that stoppage that you control during a Pranayama. It does not mean that any stoppage of breath is Pranayama, it is only when it is done with the intention of quietening the mind.

You not only regulate your breath, but also your life force, and by extension, your mind through your breath when you perform a Pranayama. It is thus very important to not take it lightly as a practise and perform it responsibly and mindfully. When done properly, it is good for your nervous system, coordination, mind and body steadiness, concentration, memory, it gives clarity of thought, makes you less impulsive, increases your energy levels, it has so many good benefits. If done wrongly, or overdone, it can have ill-effects on the mind, the lungs and cause psychosomatic problems that may not be easily detected. Pranayama strengthens the state of mind you are in, when you perform it. So, it should always be performed with a steady mind, and never in agitation or under the influence of a negative emotion.

Your lungs must be trained with the exercise I just made you do above, to make your breathing muscles strong enough for prolonged retention and suspension of the breath. After all, you don’t immediately start lifting 100 kilos without training your body first. You don’t want to end up in the hospital!

The training starts with always being mindful. The idea here is to increase awareness of yourself, your body and, most importantly, your breath. Observe your breathing – when you’re relaxed, when you’re angry, when you’re tired, when you’re physically active – see how your breath behaves, understand it. Does it get faster? Slower? Deeper? Shallow? Does your tummy come out when you inhale, or does it go in? What is longer – your inhalation or your exhalation? Do you breathe often through your nose, or you’re like me, who sleeps with her mouth wide open for a free flow of oxygen and nasty mosquitoes?

Start here, and even such small measures will make a difference in your life. Start small, and gradually increase your counts as you progress. If you’re dedicated and committed to it, it’s as easy as breathing.