“Prana” means life and “yama” means discipline in Sanskrit. Air is the primary source of life, and this discipline of yoga breathing or breath control will help cleanse the body and mind. In other words, this discipline is important in increasing the benefits of life.

       Pranayama is inseparable from yoga asanas (postures) or meditation. When most Westerners think about yoga, they think it only consists of yoga postures that bear a semblance to stretching. The truth is you cannot really meditate or execute any of the yoga posture without breathing properly in correspondence with your body movements or without concentrating.

Some of the breathing techniques are as follows:

1. Basic Pranayama

   Beginners of yoga can practice this breathing technique to correctly execute yoga poses. You also can practice pranayama while driving a car or walking in the street without having to sit in the right pose or closing your eyes. (Don’t close your eyes while driving a car!) Or, if you find a right place, you can stand up and practice breath control for about five minutes. The right place means a place which has fresh air, not polluted, and which has a serene environment with less disturbances or distractions. You can do this or any of breathing method whenever you feel like or whenever you are stressed out.

   Take a deep breath. Inhale slowly, and try to fill up your lungs with as much air as you can. Hold your breath for about 5-10 seconds, and then slowly release the air till you think your lung doesn’t have any air left. Repeat the cycle slowly for about 10-20 times.

   
   

2. Ujjayi

   Ujjayi is a breathing technique that involves constricting the back of the throat during your breathing to create an “ah” sound. So this is also referred as “sounding breath”.

   Steps to do Ujjayi:
   

   • Sit or stand comfortably, or stay in a comfortable yoga posture. Take long, deep breaths through your nostrils.
     
   • Breathe as gently and relaxed as you can. Constrict the back of your throat a little bit to produce a hissing sound when you inhale and exhale. Do not force your throat too much for contraction. (Now, you might be wondering how on Earth you will manage to contract your throat. Imagine you are trying to fog a mirror. Hold up your hand in front of your mouth, and exhale to fog this imagined mirror. Inhale the same way. You will notice how the back of the throate contracted. The only difference in Ujjayi is that you close your mouth and try to create this effect through the nostrils.
     
   • Don’t inhale and exhale rapidly. Try to lengthen the time of inhalation and exhalation as much as you can. Also important is the sound of the breath should be continuous.
     

   
   

3. Dirgha Pranayama

   Dirgha pranayama refers to a three-part breath that requires the practitioner to fill the three chambers of the lungs: the lower lungs, the thoracic region and the clavicular region.

   Steps to do Dirgha Pranayama:
   

   • Stay comfortably. The recommended positions are sitting or standing with your spine erect, or lie down on your back (cadaver pose).
     
   • Take long and deep breaths slowly through your nostrils.
     
   • When you inhale, allow your belly to expand by taking air deep into the lower lungs. On the other hand, during exhalation, try to deflate your belly by releasing the air from the deeper part of your lower lungs.
     
   • Repeat this process many times. Don’t try to strain yourself by puffing your stomach to more than its limit. Yoga is supposed to be relaxing, and straining yourself is antithetical to yoga philosophy.
     
   • Inhale and expand your belly. Now expand your chest when you inhale the air. Do this as slowly as you can. Exhale and allow your chest to come to normal position. Don’t exhale fast. Try to pace yourself by prolonging the time.
     
   • Repeat this process over and over again.
     
   • Now, try to expand your belly and chest both when you inhale. Continue breathing in in order to fill the top region of your lung. Try to do the reverse when you exhale.
   • Repeat all these steps into one continuous breathing flow 2-5 times.
     

   
   

4. Nadi Shodhana

   Nadi Shodhana is also referred as the sweet breath. It is a breathing method in which you breathe through alternate nostrils. In Sanskrit, “nadi” means the energy pathways through which the vital forces of life flows.

   Steps to do Nadi Shodhana:
   

   • Raise your right hand (or left hand) up, and put your thumb next to right nostril (or left nostril). Place your ring finger and pinky of the same hand next to left (or right) nostril.
     
   • Gently close the left (or right) nostril with your ring finger and pinky, and breathe in through the other nostril. Slowly open this nostril by relaxing your ring finger and pinky, and use the thumb to close the other nostril. Slowly exhale fully, thus emptying your lungs.
     
   • Now, take the air in through the left (or right) nostril, and exhale air through the other nostril.
     
   • Repeat this cycle. Right nostril: Inhale; Left nostril: Exhale; Left nostril: inhale, Right nostril: exhale.
     

           The recommended number of cycles is 10-15, but if you feel like executing more rounds, that is welcome.

           One advantage of nadi shodhana is that it balances your right and left hemispheres because, as you know, the right hemisphere controls the left part of your body, and the left hemisphere the right part of your body. Therefore, by alternating nostrils, it can stimulate both hemispheres.

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