Pranayama Teaching Foundations

Introduction

• Traditional yoga sources explain that pranayama is the most effective way to extend and direct life energy. (See more: Eight Limbs: Pranayama)
• Other descriptions of pranayama include “mastering,” “harnessing” or “stabilizing and refining” prana.
• Pranayama is said to balance the emotions and to bring mental clarity.
• According to B.K.S. Iyengar, pranayama begins with an exhalation and ends with an inhalation.
• Progress in pranayama tends to be relatively slow and a non-linear process, thus requiring patience.
• Experts advise that only basic breath training is safe with beginners while pranayama requires knowledge and application of bandhas.
• Particularly important is to avoid practicing kumbhaka without knowledge and application of bandhas.

Defining Prana & Pranayama

Prana: Vital Life Force

• From the yogic point of view, breath contains more than gases. It contains prana, “our life force, that substance from which all life and activity is derived.”
• We extract prana from such sources as food, light and love.
• Breathing practices are considered the most effective way to channel life force.
• Hatha Yoga is the management of prana.
• See also: Energy & The Subtle Body and 8 Limbs: Pranayama

The Philosophy Underlying Pranayama

• “A vast capacity of prana is needed to raise the energy from the physical to the spiritual realms.” (Nischala Joy Devi)
• The fourth of the Eight Limbs is pranayama, referring to breath practices designed to enhance one’s life force energy.
• Other descriptions of pranayama include “mastering, “harnessing” or “stabilizing and refining” prana.
• Sutra 2.52 explains that successful pranayama practice “reduces the obstacles that inhibit clear perception.” (T.K.V. Desikachar)
• The root words are prana (“life force”) and ayama (“enhance” or “alter”). Pranayama, therefore, refers to breath altering practices that bring about a fuller expression of our life force.
• Some sources define pranayama as “breath control or restraint” likely because they are defining “prana” and “yama.” Leslie Kaminoff refers to this here:

Hindi speaking Indians have the habit of dropping the final ‘a’ in Sanskrit words. So, it’s actually prana-ayama, meaning “unobstructing the breath” not “breath control” as it’s commonly translated. Ours is sometimes a society of restrictions, control and don’ts instead of undoing and unlearning. – Leslie Kaminoff