Pranayam: Control Your Life-force, Prolong Your Life
From a yogic perspective, the breath (prana) is your life force. Yama translates to control. So controlling your breath is the true meaning of pranayam. So why would you want to control your breath? Isn’t it something that we do unconsciously to survive?
The breath is such an important part of Kundalini Yoga that it even has a mantra - Pavan, Pavan. The words describe the breath as a great teacher or guru. Observing the breath can give us insights to our state of mind in the moment. Are you taking short, shallow breaths? Do you catch yourself holding your breath in when scared? When we breath consciously, we take long deep breaths.
Benefits of Pranayam
The breath can be an amazing, zero-cost tool to support your well-being. Benefits include:
Calms the mind;
Reduces anxiety;
Boosts the immune system;
Increases focus
Research has also demonstrated that pranayam can be useful for individuals with cardiovascular disease, including asthma and moderate to severe COPD. The balanced breath was even used to help 9/11 survivors suffering from the painful condition known as ground-glass lungs improve their lung function.
Learning to control your breath, not only supports you to live your daily life with greater ease, it may also help you live longer. According to separate studies conducted by Harvard University, University of Buffalo and the Congressionally-funded Framingham Study, lung capacity was determined to be the most significant indicator of your life span.
Unless you have been exposed to pranayam techniques, our default tends to be shallow breathing. I will share a few different techniques and encourage you to explore them for yourself. Each can be applied to support you in different situations. Focusing on our breath not only brings you back to the present moment, it is also a great way to connect more deeply with ourselves. It forces us to check in and sense our emotional and physical state. We can then apply a particular breathing technique to bring us back to balance and greater ease.
Breathwork
Is pranayam the same as breathwork? You may have heard the term breathwork. It has become a popular and important wellness topic. Pranayam is one of 3 types of breathwork. The other two types are holotropic and rebirthing.
In contrast to pranayam, holotropic breathwork is a type of hyperventilation that is said to provide an altered state of consciousness used to support healing. Rebirthing is an applied rapid breath that is used to release childhood trauma. They are not techniques that you apply in your daily life. They are recommended to be used with a trained practitioner.
Basic Pranayam
There are many pranayam techniques. In Kundalini Yoga, we also combine these breathing techniques with postures, mantras and/or mudras to target specific meridians. To start, learning a few simple breathing techniques can help you be more balanced in any situation.
Balanced Breath
Feeling an unbalanced high or low?
As a yogi, I have personally experienced the benefits of pranayam. That said, it is interesting to also learn about the research that has been done that underscores the wellness benefit of controlled breathing. According to James Nestor’s New York Times best seller Breath, researchers have found that a balanced breath (5-6 second inhale through nose and same length exhale through mouth), built lung capacity, increased blood flow to the brain, and interestingly coordinated the circulatory and nervous systems to ideal efficiency.
It is so simple, yet so effective. I often apply it when I am driving. It benefits not only me but the other drivers on the road! Sit up nice and tall. Exhale completely with slight contraction of abdominals. Then begin your first inhale, counting from 1 to 5 allow the belly to pooch slightly (a challenge for many of us as we are so self-conscience of our bellies), then sense the expansion of your diaphragm and then your lungs and ribcage all the way up to your collarbones. Shoulders are relaxed. Then simply control the exhale through the mouth as you count down from 5 to 1. A good tip is to sense that the breath is like a wave rolling to the shore. It is a slow and peaceful sensation. It ends with a slight contraction of the abdominal muscles. Take your next breath and continue for 5-10 minutes.
Want to also drop more deeply into your heart? Apply the breath while placing your hands in the center of your chest, one on top of the other.
So regardless of imbalance - lack or excess energy, the balanced breath brings your back to equilibrium. Start with 5 minutes/day and work your way up to 10 minutes/day.
Breath of Fire
Need to get your motor started? Need an afternoon pick me up?
Breath of fire engages the navel point, or point of chi. Think of your energetic body in terms of a hub and spoke system. The hub is your navel point/third chakra. The spokes radiate throughout your body. When you have a strong hub, or engine, you increase your overall vibrancy as energy moves throughout the body. In Kundalini Yoga, we apply the breath with different postures depending on which meridians we want to support. If you have practiced stretch pose, which facilitates the movement of the energy throughout the body or ego eradicator, which focuses on the heart meridians, you are aware of the different effects of applying the same breath but with different postures and mudras.
The easiest way to apply this energizing breath is to start panting like a dog, focus on your navel. Then close your mouth, focus on exhale as you experience contraction of navel. Note that you inhale and exhale through the nose. Apply it at your pace so that you can continue for 3 minutes. This pranayam stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. Lucas Rockwood, yogi and TEDxSpeaker calls it your “Coffee breath”. Use it in morning. Try it at 3pm when you need a boost of energy.
Alt nostril breathing
Need to get your emotions out of your decision making? Having trouble falling asleep?
Left nostril breathing associated with parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). It is connected with lowering blood pressure and reduces anxiety. It also shifts blood flow to the right side of prefrontal cortex, which is critical for decision making.
Sit up nice and straight. If you are in your office chair, be sure that both feet are planted firmly on the ground. Rest your left hand on your left leg or knee. Exhale completely. Using your right thumb, close your right nostril and inhale long and deeply through your left nostril. Then cover the left nostril with bent right pointer finger and exhale long and deeply. Continue inhaling through left nostril and exhaling through the right for 3 minutes. Cooling energy comes in through the left nostril (and warming energy through the right). This technique emphasizes only cooling energy coming into the body. Focusing on your breath also makes you more present. It’s an easy and effective technique to clear the mind and support a good night’s sleep.
Pranayam Testimonials
Curious to know what others experience when applying these breathing techniques? Check out below what people have shared. Try each for yourself and share your experience!
After practicing balanced breath:
- My anxiety instantly went away.
After practicing breath of fire:
This really helped me to express my anger instead of yelling at someone.
After practicing alternative nostril breathing:
- I’ve been dealing with anxiety for as long as I can remember. This works soooo well for me because it requires more concentration. I feel so calm and relaxed.
Teambuilding Activities
How much healthier and productive would your team be if they were comfortable applying pranayam regularly? Consider including a pranayam session into your next wellness or team building event. Contact me to customize a session that supports your organizational goals.
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