Pranayam

Pranayama

4th of the 8 Limbs of Yoga, the name Pranayama is composed of two Sanskrit words; Prana, meaning Life Force and Ayama meaning extend and/or control. This practice works the breath and life force movement in our system.

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My education so far has been mostly with Dr. Naina Marballi and Dr. Vasat Lad, along with some time during my 200hr YTT and other Healing Arts trainings.

In India, where this Yoga tradition stems from, when somebody transitions from this existence, it's said that they have expired: Respiration; Inspiration; Expiration: Breath is life.

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There are said to be 5 types of Prana in our system. Pranayama exercises, sometimes in collaboration with Mudra, Mantra, and other forms of Meditation including Asana (poses), work with different elements and aspects of our energy channels, types of Prana, and with the ways that they relate with the overall system.

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While seeming relatively simple, the approach through the breath is a wonderfully powerful therapy for body, mind, and spirit. I sincerely and highly recommend it - with a responsible practitioner:

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I have seen Pranayama can taken lightly. I have too often seen it instructed and/or prescribed in such a way. It is a serious practice with strong impacts on the body. A practice with a strong impact can be absolutely wonderful IF it is the right one for the practitioner: There are contraindications to quite a few of the most popular breath practices and I advise you to always take caution and care when taking the word of anyone about such things, even in just one Yoga class. Ask if there are contraindications if you're concerned, or even just curious. Search it online afterward. The informed answer, or lack thereof, will tell you what you need to know about that teacher and facility. Know that you do not have to follow any Pranayama instruction to remain in any class and that even simply observing your own breath is always a strong and available alternative option that gives you plenty of meditative expereince and insight:

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Some people only get 5-10 hrs of information on Pranyayama within a teacher training and not all trainings or even teachers are focused on the medical implications (I am lucky that a number of mine have been). There are other; even some with years of experience; some who spent time living in India, etc; who have only learned the energetic assertions, and were not made as aware of the physical results by virture of that style of education. This is no fault of any of these teachers: Yogas were not meant to be physical support; they are for meditative, spiritual supports; it is in the USA that we have made them daily activities and used physical meditation as an exercise routine...and so, having a practitioner that understands what ways they can be employed as a physical medicine or its opposite can be very helpful.  

Some have had access to the information and just are not concerned because their faith lies in the trancendence of spiritual achievement into the physical realm and / or an unwavering trust in their teachers. Some therefore remain unconcerned with effects when it comes to the physical manifestation of those energetic practices:

As with all things, it is your vessel, take care of yourself. People at different ages, stages, of different sexes, etc, have varying hormonal, energetic, and other states, stability, vulnerabilities, and imbalances. If your teacher isn't aware, and especially if they dismiss symptoms in your expereince, I advise you to procede with caution. As in any discipline, one could be a marvelous practioner, but that does not necessarily make one a strong or responsible teacher. In this culture, we ask different qualifications of teachers than in some that breath practices have been shared from, and so I defer to the standards for teaching within my culture when I am working with students from here.

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This tradition has been passed down for 1,000's of years because it is powerful, and it does work. I have looked at TCM and Sowa Rigpa along with Ayurveda. In all three, the lungs are known as the emotional storehouse for grief. And those with phlegm are said by some to have uncried tears. Different emotions are stored in various areas of the body and, as they each address different system ingredients in different ways, Pranayama can help to give flow to the Prana in those areas to help us to let go and release anything that could be contributing to stagnation and other incarnations of dis-ease. Emotional releases, along with mental and physical changes, are always a joy for me to witness and I recommend that you allow any releases (in the spaces you feel safe) to flow through you if they come up to be let go. - If you are in a space with me, you are free to cry, feel angry, be scared, etc; a lot of trauma patterns exist because the culture suppresses a natural resolution in the individual's nature that is then passed down in genes and keyed into for survival instead. If we let it move through is it's one more thing we don't have to experience again so we can face the present moment with that much more of ourselves available to it.

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Finally, as you learn techniques, I like to remind people of something that Dr. Lad says; nobody can see your breath; you can practice certain Pranayam very comfortably and securely in public with nobody able to see what you are doing. It can become a lovely trick to have at any time that you feel you need to restore yourself back into a sense of relative harmony.