Resourcing the Revolution

pranayama

The Rebel Yogi Guide to the 8 Limbs of Yoga: Pranayama

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This August I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Last month, we began an exploration of Asana, the physical practice of yoga; Yama, the abstentions; and Niyama, the observances. We now move on to the fourth limb of yoga: Pranayama, breathing practices. You may remember a post about breathing from earlier this year, and today I want to go deeper into this topic.

The literal translation of pranayama means control (ayama) of the life-force (prana).

If we take a look at the concept of Prana, we understand it to mean the energy that makes up the entire cosmos, the sum total of all the energy that is manifest in the universe. When we’re talking about this energy, we can reference physics for examples of our definition of energy: kinetic, radiant, potential, thermal, etc.

So, you may gather that pranayama goes a lot deeper than just breathing; it’s the regulation of the prana, which is achieved through controlling the breath, regulating our inhalations and exhalations. And, as in our asana practice, our breathing practice should be gentle, slow and fully controlled (no straining!).

Pranayama is incredibly beneficial, supercharging the blood with a fresh supply of oxygen, which then gets distributed through the entire body. It also balances the nervous system and promotes the elimination of toxins from the body. You can use pranayama to warm the body when you are cold, or to cool the body when you are overheated.

Pranayama is also an excellent way to prepare the mind for meditation. When you work on and focus your breathing, the mind begins to become calm and still; since the mind and breath are closely related, the mind can be calmed by regulating your breath.

As you may have come to expect from this series of posts, pranayama is closely tied to the other limbs of yoga. If you think back to our exploration of Yama, and more specifically Brahmacarya (the practice of moderation), it ties in with our use of prana. Prana gets wasted in many ways: moving the body and the mind unnecessarily, talking too much without any real purpose, overeating… But one of the biggest causes of wasted prana is high levels of stress. Anything you overdo causes you to waste prana. It would be like leaving your car with the engine running while you were home for lunch – why would you want to waste that fuel?

For this particular exploration, I also want to pass along some tips for how to practice pranayama:

  • Except for cooling breaths, all breathing should be done through the nose. The nose does some pretty amazing things; it warms, moisturizes and filters the air that goes into the body, which makes our breathing practice easier on the lungs. When we breathe out through the mouth, we release prana – and since our pranayama practice is about controlling the prana, it’s beneficial to breathe through the nose so we’re not losing any in the process.
  • When you’re just beginning to practice pranayama, keep the patterns of inhalation and exhalation even – three counts in, three counts out. Once your practice becomes more advanced, you can then think about starting to make the exhalations longer than the inhalations.
  • If you become dizzy, lightheaded or begin to strain, take a break from the practice, and return the breath to normal.
  • There’s no reason to rush! Building your pranayama practice takes time, and should never be done in a hurry. Because it impacts the heart, lungs and nervous system, it’s best to always be gentle in your practice and avoid any strain. (Remember our exploration of asana – steady and comfortable? That applies here, too.)

We have now worked our way through the first four limbs of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana and Pranayama. I hope that these explorations have been helpful as you begin to navigate your own yogic path. We will continue to build on the knowledge gained here as we bring yoga into our day to day lives, and begin to integrate it into our world-changing! As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments, and I’m always happy to delve deeper or have longer conversations around anything I write about here!

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. This week’s post also draws from Swami Satchidananda’s “The Breath of Life: Integral Yoga Pranayama”.

How To Overcome Stress in Only 5 Minutes Per Day

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Are you tired of being stressed and tense all the time? Well, stop what you’re doing. I’m going to give you the answer to everything, the veritable “42”.

Are you ready? You might want to sit down for this.

The answer:

Breathe.

…

And, with that, I’m out. There’s nothing else left to say. I’ve given you the secret, the key.

…

But wait! There’s more?

Truthfully (here’s where I get serious again) – there’s no better way to help your body relax than to just breathe. And by “breathe”, I’m not talking about the normal, shallow, sad excuse for a breath that we usually take. I’m talking deep, feel it all the way into your toes breathing. Just five minutes (or even less) of deep breathing can help you to relieve anxiety and bring your stress levels back under control.

The average person uses his chest muscles rather than his diaphragm when he breathes, and such breathing is usually shallow, rapid and irregular.

Though chest breathing has now become natural and involuntary for most of us, it is really a part of the fight or flight syndrome, aroused when the organism is challenged by some external stress or danger. Because of the reciprocity between the breath and mind, chest breathing, in turn, gives rise to the tension and anxiety associated with the fight or flight syndrome.”   – The Science of Breath

Yes, you read that right. Our normal style of breathing actually makes us MORE stressed, unconsciously triggering the fight or flight response. Say what?

Breathing, that thing that our body does without us even having to think about it, can either relieve stress (when utilized mindfully) or cause it. Take a second to think on that. And take a few deep breaths while you do.

Every time we take a deep breath in, we’re bringing in energy to fuel our cellular processes. The body needs food as fuel, but we also need oxygen to support healthy body function. The heart, the brain – all our systems need oxygen. We can go for up to 3 weeks without food, three or four days without water, but only for three to four minutes without oxygen. Yeah, it’s that important.

So the next time you’re feeling particularly stressed, take a minute or five to find someplace quiet (or just sit down right where you are and close your eyes) and just breathe.

Here’s how: feel the breath start deep in your abdomen, expanding through the lower ribs and into the chest, maybe even feeling like it’s going to raise the collar bones slightly. Allow the exhale to be slow and smooth, contracting the ribs as you let all that stale air out. Then, repeat as necessary.

It doesn’t get a whole lot easier than that. Breathe. Repeat. It’s as simple as being mindful of something that we automatically do over 20,000 times per day.

So what are you waiting for? I guarantee that you can spare five minutes out of your day to give this a try – five minutes a day, for the next week. Then report back. I’d love to hear what differences it makes.