What is Pranayama yoga?
Prana meaning energy and
breath so the life force energy that is circulated through your body and Yama
is to regulate so you will be regulating the breath with some of with the
pranayama which means to equalize the inhale and the exhale.
In any breath when you're usually breathing
each breath will differ. It will change a little from one to the other unless
you're used to doing breathing exercises which regulate the breath
So we are going to help you breathe deeper
it's going to help you breathe longer and the advantage of that is when you
breathe deeper the lungs can have a better gaseous exchange between the
circulating blood which means you can take in more oxygen and you can release
more toxins from your body. Which leads to clearer thinking and an energized
stronger body. Before that, I'd like you to be a little careful about where
you're practicing and what you're wearing so
practice in a room which is
- well-ventilated
- clean no dust or insects
- and make sure that it's at an even temperature not too cold and not too warm
make sure you're wearing
- clothing that does not restrict the movement of your abdomen and your chest
make sure you eat
- at least four hours before you start your pranayama practice - which means that your food is still not digesting in your stomach because if that's happening and you're moving the stomach around that's not going to be very comfortable for you when you start to practice pranayama
sometimes if
you're not used to it you may feel a little dizzy or you may feel a little
disoriented a little spaced out if that happens I'd like you to stop practicing
and just take a big you shouldn't be feeling that but if it does happen stop
practicing you're planning on practice don't force the inhale and the exhale as
we practice
Let's get
started you can start in here we will be sitting for five to seven minutes when
you sit on a cushion or a rolled-up blanket which will relax your knees and
take your hips a little lower than the knees if this also does not work for you
what we are really looking for is a straight spine as you practice
So you can sit
in a chair which supports your lower back and helps your backstay straight or
sit against a wall with your legs straight consider also on your bed just make
sure you are in a place which doesn't distract you not too much noise nothing
to take your mind away from your practice
it does happen
because the mind can get distracted as you practice just gently bring your
awareness back to your practice so we're going to start out sitting hands
resting palms facing up on the thighs and just absorb the breath so if you need
to close your eyes for that close your eyes and observe how the breath is
flowing in your body so as you inhale bring your attention to your chest allow the
abdomen to expand slightly so let's take two more breaths with special
attention on the inhale, Chest expanding Stomach also expanding changing
Now I'd like you to bring your
awareness to your exhaling breath for the muscles around and below the needle
I'd like you to draw them in gently towards the spine don't grip them and do
this as you are exhaling so there's always going to be some air left in your
lungs it can't expel all the air out but what the drawing in of the navel will
do is help you to expel as much carbon dioxide as you can all the gases that
you want to get rid of so let's try that for three breaths take a nice deep
breath in the draw the navel in as you exhale and two more times at your own pace.
All right so now ringing your awareness
to the length of your inhale and your exit and let's try doing that at your own
pace so you're going to start counting, I can't do that for you, you'll have to
do that yourself as you close your eyes or keep your eyes open whatever feels
comfortable mentally count one two three or as many counts it takes you to
inhale observe that make a note of it and then do the same thing with your
exhalation.
So try that for three breaths and see whether
it varies don't try to change the count just observe the count so three breaths
counting the inhale and the exit so you would have made a note whether your
inhale is longer than your exhale and whether that changes whether it
fluctuates from one bit to the other.
what we are going to try and do is make
them equal and try and keep that regulated. Alright so you choose a ratio
which works for you some people it might be three counts for other four five
six or even longer seven or eight counts so we're going to have equal inhale
equal exhale and we're going to do that five bits so you take your hands four
finger and the thumb touching where in chin mudra and let's get started at your
own pace equal inhale equal exit
and relax for a moment so
checking whether that felt good or did it feel difficult to equalize your
in-breath and your outlet and what was your ideal ratio remembering that
keeping it in mind and knowing that it may change from one day to another
So as you observe the in and the
out-breath you may have noticed or you may have not noticed that there usually
is a small pause at the end of the inhale when it reaches the maximum and a small
cause towards the end of the exhale so we're going to try and pause for maybe
just a second dip alright so you will inhale pause exhale and pause let's try
that for three breaths
once again four fingers and
thumbs touching relaxed shoulders straight back and make sure that you allow
your stomach and your chest to expand as you inhale and gently allow them to
relax as you exhale. Try that for three breaths all at the end of inhaling and
then begin the exhale
pause for a moment repeat and
relax a breath alright so you may have noticed when you pause that the mind tends
to slow down and the thoughts become relaxed or they may become very slow or in
some cases you may notice that there aren't any thoughts at all so let's bring
our awareness of this action of the breath which is retention to hold the
breath in the lungs we are going to do that very slowly just for five seconds
so bringing your hands chin mudra again four fingers and thumbs touching we are
going to inhale a nice deep inhale
Just a regular inhale no need to
count it and we will retain the breath for five seconds you can count four you
can count five slow counts in your mind one two three four and five and once
that's done slowly exhale with control let's try that together take a nice deep
breath in retain the breath one relaxed exhale see how you feel again this time
Let's try the retention with the
eyes closed inhale deeply or the breath in your lungs for five seconds and say
what your mind is doing if you had your eyes closed perhaps you're able to
observe carefully as to what was going on with your mind and if you had your
eyes open it doesn't matter.
You still can observe what
happens and what is the connection between the breath and the mind so as a
breath slows down the mind slows down and vice versa so we are going to try
this one more time we will have equal Indian equal a exhale and retention for
the same number of counts as well equal inhale retention exhale so you decide
and you would have made a note of how many counts it took you to inhale the last
time we did this so take those number of counts to inhale hold your breath for
the same number of counts and exhale using the same number of counts Anjali
mudra let's try that once
So for me, it's four counts so I
take four counts two inhale hold my breath for four counts in the lungs and
exhale taking four counts
and relax so you want to allow
your stomach and chest to expand but you don't want to take in so much oxygen
so much air that you feel uncomfortable in your chest you should feel relaxed
during the retention, you shouldn't feel uncomfortable at any point if there is
discomfort release the breath immediately we are going to try this for six
rounds five to six rounds so equal inhale equal retention equal exhalation
straighten up your spine hands engine mudra and begin when you're ready.
if you feel like you can also
lie down and allow your body to rest completely or practice the pranayama in a
prone position lying down on a mat or a bed and always practice in this order
the way we did it first just observe your breath see how the inhale and the
exhale are flowing then we try to regulate and equalize the in-breath and the
out-breath so we do that for maybe five breaths of equal
inhalation equal exhalation
Pause relax then try the next
stage so do your inhale and exhale equalized with a little pause at the end
five to ten breaths this way and rest again and at the very end you can try it
with equal inhale equally retain and equal exhale so when you practicing you may
observe that we paused with the breath retain as well as with the breath
exhaled from the lungs.
We're not going to that long a
pause with the breath exhale from the lungs because it can be a little
difficult so the loop of the breath would be inhaled retain exhale inhale retain
exhale we're not causing after the exhale you can always do this lying down in
the beginning when you're practicing postures
You feel your muscle working and
over a period of days, you feel the difference in your body but with pranayama
practice with the breathwork you need to be a little more patient and go by
faith that yes it is benefiting me because you may not see the changes
immediately but after a few weeks after a month you will observe that the
breath changes you're able to regulate it.
It brings your conscious awareness
to the breath and that one breath can make such a huge difference when you're
about to yell at someone when you're really exhausted when you reach the end of
your patience just that one breath can make such a huge difference to the way
you're thinking of the way of feeling and that control and ability to calm the
breath and the mind through it there is no substitute for it.
So that's it. I hope you liked the article, If yes, please extend your support and Like and share the article with your loved ones and bring about the changes into there lives.
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