Pranayama - What is This?

 Pranayama - What is This Really?

A common misconception is that pranayama means control or extension of the breath, and whilst this is true on one level, and indeed your breathing will improve through exercises, there is a layer which relates to the underlying energy or vibration of the Universe itself....the juicy stuff.

What is Prana?

You will probably have come across this word used in many yoga classes and often we refer to our own energy here, but prana is so much more. Prana is the energy of the universe. It is everywhere and all pervading, it is the expression of the I-ness of unchanging infinite consciousness in matter, space, air, thought, action and movement.

You were born with prana, your very birth was prana, your skin is prana, the food you eat is prana as is the table you eat it from. 

However the quantity and quality of the pranic energy you have changes and flows continuously as you go through your day, with every breath you make, and as you proceed through life. What is amazing is that the ancient sages found techniques to manipulate or store or enhance this energy, through yogic practices. 

So we come to the breath. Do you remember the last time you were at the sea breathing in huge gulps of that beautiful exhilarating air, or on top of a mountain? This is partly because such places have a higher level of pranic energy, which correlates to the higher level of negative ions in such places. Compare that with a neon lit windowless room in the centre of a city say. So we can say that the breath is one manifestation of prana, that your breath and your prana are linked. 

The vast majority of people in modern life do not breathe correctly. You would think it was the most natural thing but this is what happens. When you observe a baby or small child sleeping they have a little round tummy and perfect natural diaphragmatic breathing, their belly rises and falls with the breath because they use the diaphragmatic muscle to breathe.

 In our culture we lose this as we pick up the message that we hold our tummies in, added to that we respond to stressful situations, experience anxiety and trauma and this incorrect breathing becomes the norm. We then start to breathe paradoxically exactly the opposite way to how we naturally breathed as babies, this sets up a vicious cycle, stressors cause us to breathe incorrectly and breathing incorrectly stresses us. This can lead to all sorts of health issues such as increasing a strain on the heart, high blood pressure, chest pain, shoulder and neck tension, illness and all of the health issues caused by chronic stress, let alone the emotional impact. 

Fortunately it is easy to reverse this and re-learn to breathe with a natural breath. The following recording takes you through a relaxing and easy exercise to become re-acquainted with your beautiful breath! 

The Natural Breath on Soundcloud