Pranayama 101
Breath Basics:
In an article written by Dr. John Douillard on pranayama/breathwork, he provides a wonderful breakdown of breath basics and shares findings from his study that I felt are important to know. I summarize some key points as well as some nuggets of wisdom from Ayurvedic/yogic science.
Simply put the body has two opposing nervous systems that act to either speed up or slow down various functions of the body. This is our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system at work. How you breathe determines which nervous system is activated.
Startled by a bear, you would likely take a mouth wide open, gasping breath. When under stress, we cry, scream, yell or gasp, and run to save our lives. As described by Dr. John Douillard, “This gasping rush of air through the mouth fills the upper lobes of the lungs where there is a predominance of fight-or-flight emergency stress receptors that activate the sympathetic nervous system”.
He goes on to say “think of a baby nursing. Their mouths are closed and they gently breathe through their nose. Nose breathing drives inspired air through the turbinates in the nose that drive the air deeper and more slowly into the lower lobes of the lungs, where calming and restorative parasympathetic receptors are predominant.”
Nose breathing calms the system, while mouth breathing stimulates the system. This ancient wisdom was found to be true in the study he published on nose versus mouth breathing in The International Journal of Neuroscience. ***see below.
In his study, “nose breathing during exercise was found to boost brain wave coherence, meditative brain alpha waves, slower breath and heart rates, lower blood pressure, decreased sympathetic tone, increased parasympathetic tone, better endurance, and significantly less discomfort during exercise.”
Why Practice Pranayama? The Ayurvedic/Yogic perspective:
Pranayama is a powerful limb of the eight limbs of classical Ashtanga Yoga. When practiced appropriately,it increases vitality, clarity and a sense of internal peace. There are many physiological benefits as noted.
Pranayama is designed to manage the five vayus, which will calm vata dosha. Regular practice over a long period of time brings calm and focus to the mind, eventually opening the path to samadhi.
The practice of kumbhaka is breath retention. This challenges the mind and body to stay calm while broadening the perspective. This is the most powerful aspect of the pranayama practices.
Like all pranayama practices, kumbhaka must be practiced in a deliberate and consistent manner to be effective. If practiced improperly it can be harmful to the body and mind.
Learn only from a competent teacher who can give guidance and support on an ongoing basis. Practice daily as the effect is cumulative.
as I’ve learned from my own experience and guidance from experienced teachers practicing 20 minutes twice a week is not so effective as five minutes every day. Irregular practice is confusing to the body and mind and will imbalance vata dosha.
There are basic breathing exercises that can be used for recovering from trauma and illness which I share below. Some are a precursor to the pranayama practices such as nadi shodhana or ujjayi, which are extremely useful in bringing balance to the doshas and cultivating sattva in the mind.
Yoga and Ayurveda have used breathing techniques (pranayama) for thousands of years to maintain, restore and balance mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Transcending the neurological benefits of breathing mentioned above, pranayama techniques were geared more toward moving the body’s subtle energy.
The Koshas and Breath Work
The body’s subtle energy is divided up into sheaths called koshas.
The bliss sheath or Anandamaya kosha is the most central and represents the bliss or joy inside all of us.
The Vijnanamaya kosha, also known as the wisdom sheath, supports discernment to help us filter out the good and bad energy, mindsets and emotions.
This next sheath, as we move outward and less subtle, is the mental sheath or the Manomaya kosha. Here, the mind controls our thoughts and emotions.
This sheath is followed by the Pranamaya kosha or the breath sheath, which regulates breathing patterns and is in charge of moving prana or the body’s life force.
Next, and the least subtle of the body sheaths, is the Annamaya kosha which governs all of the bodily functions.
Notice that the breathing sheath (Pranamaya kosha) is between the mental sheath (Manomaya kosha) and the body sheath (Annamaya kosha). The breath controls the state of mind—as seen with the production of alpha waves during nose breathing and dramatic changes in bodily functions like heart rate and blood pressure.
From the Yogic and Ayurvedic perspective, when we breathe, the prana (life force carried through the breath) moves both into the body sheath and the mind sheath, as the prana breath sheath sits between the two. Breathing is, therefore, the mind-body connector on a gross level, but it also functions at a more subtle level.
The movement of the prana activates an energy system in the body called the nadis, which are perhaps most akin to the energy meridians of acupuncture. While science recognizes the existence of meridians and subtle energy, it has yet to be able to measure them.
According to Ayurveda, if we do not move the prana, we will not activate the nadi system. It is the subtle activation of the nadi system that will restore health and balance of the body in the body sheath, and free the mind of limiting and negative thoughts and behavioural patterns in the mental sheath.
Activating the Nadi System
One of the main ways to help direct the prana (breath) through the density of the body and activate the nadi system is through individually prescribed yoga postures coordinated with deep and slow nasal breathing.
Specific breathing practices are said to bring a heightened level of mental awareness to the mind in order to elicit mental, emotional and spiritual change or transformation.
By specifically moving the breath, the physical body restores balance, and the mind becomes less cluttered and more aware, allowing the bliss in the Anandamaya kosha to permeate all the outer koshas.
The goal is to release conscious awareness (love and truth) into every kosha or aspect of the body, from the most subtle to the grossest.
The following ten breathing (pranayama) techniques shared in the link below are designed to specifically move the breath, either to balance aspects of the body or deliver heightened awareness to the mind.
Resources:
10 Breathing Exercises To Restore Mind-Body Balance
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8734567
https://halepule.com/blogs/blog/how-pranayama-changed-my-breath-and-my-life
https://kripalu.org/resources/breathe-stay-balanced-ayurvedic-pranayama-enhance-your-energy
If you’d like support and are new to pranayama I offer a free 15 min consult! Look forward to connecting with you.
