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| Pranayama Best Practices |
Pranayama Best Practices - YOGA guide
Pranayama is a controlled deep breathing exercise
where our brain controls the rate of breathing, so it does not simply mean
inhaling and exhaling air, but it is a technique for establishing control by
holding the breath after the inhalation and exhalation also.
To focus on the breath, our
mind must be free of thoughts, it must be calm, the place must be free from
distortion, the environment must be pleasant, and the place where you can take
in the fresh air.
In Pranayama,
when you take a deep and repetitive breath, your internal body organs are
vibrating and therefore it is important to take care of a lot of conditions
like your health conditions, the time of pranayama, your mental conditions
including stress, your stomach as full or empty, your medications, existing
illnesses, surgical conditions, pregnancy, menstruation, etc.
By considering above all points, following are the best
practices for effective pranayama.
Best Practices for effective Pranayama
The environment, time, state
of health, state of stomach, type of pranayama, purpose of pranayama, etc. are
important considerations for practicing effective pranayama and utilizing its
maximum benefits.
1. Selection of place/ environment for Pranayama
The place should be clean,
pleasant, away from noise or any kind of distortion i.e. peaceful so that your
mind can focus on breathing, forgetting all your worries, stress and
controlling your thoughts.
Choose a place where there
should not be much pollution, it is difficult to get such an environment in the
city, so you can go out of the crowded area, in a park or garden, near a river
or a lake. If nothing is available in your area, use your balcony or bedroom.
You can make your room environment pleasant by lighting a lamp with purified
butter or by using a natural room freshener.
If you want to perform
pranayama inside the room, you can open the windows to get fresh air and for
better ventilation. Do not perform pranayama under the fan or in front of the
air conditioner.
Try to keep your mind calm,
relax, let go of all the worries, close your eyes for a while and feel the
pleasant environment before you start pranayama.
2. Selection of timing for Pranayama
Always prefer the time early
in the morning after the end of your usual morning functions such as brushing
teeth, bathing, emptying the intestines, etc. An empty stomach is perfect for
practicing Pranayama. Plus, this is the time when there is less pollution,
noise, distortion, and you can have fresh air.
If it is not convenient, you
can take a bath after the Pranayama, but always keep in mind that there should
be a gap of about half an hour between the Pranayama and the
bath. This is very demanding because during the practice of pranayama your body
is filled with energy, increased body temperature due to heat. Therefore, you
need to cool down your body and bring it back to a normal level.
Due to your lifestyle and
other routine activities, if you cannot practice Pranayama in the
morning, you can do it in the evening, but keep in mind that your stomach must
be empty. You can perform after four or five hours of food intake.
Pranayama can be performed
after your other physical exercise / training or Yogsana.
3. Sitting position for Pranayama
While performing Pranayama,
you must feel comfort as it is very important to support your concentration.
There shouldn't be any additional stress on any part of your body. You may
prefer any of the Asanas such as Padmasana, Sidhasana or Vajrasana. Upper body
should be straight and erect after sitting down, align your head, neck and back
as you look straight ahead, don't strain your shoulders and abs, be relaxed.
Keep your hand on your knees and close your eyes.
By performing Pranayama,
you activate your Chakras, you will produce more energy, this energy must be
maintained in your body to get the maximum benefit from pranayama, so you must
sit on a non-conductive mat. You can use a yoga mat / sheet or a cotton or wool
cloth.
Even between the practice of
pranayama, always ensure that none of your organs such as mouth, eyes, nose,
face, shoulders, legs, etc. does not feel any stress. Try to keep all the
organs/ body part in normal condition. Adjust your body posture from time to
time to make sure your body is in an erect position, the spine
and neck in straight and hand relaxing on your knees to get
maximum benefits of Pranayama.
4. How to start Pranayama - warmup
It is always advisable to
warm up your body with a simple stretching exercise before sitting down for
pranayama. You can start with neck flexion (left-right-up-down-clockwise and
counter-clockwise rotation), shoulder stretch, shoulder rotation, waist twist,
trunk twist, movement knee, Ardha-Chakrasana, then sit on a non-conductive mat.
Begin Pranayama with prayer
or just close your eyes and focus your mind to clear unnecessary thoughts,
relax, take a deep breath, and start your first pranayama.
5. How to breath
As usual, we think that we
always breathe through the nose, but we observe that some people breathe
through the mouth for a while without knowing it. So, try to get into the habit
of breathing only through your nose. Our nose is a fantastic filter for sealing
off dust and other infectious particles or microorganisms.
In pranayama, always breathe
only through the nose and not through the mouth because nasal breathing
maintains the temperature evenly in all Nadis.
Except some pranayama, there
are four stages of deep breathing
1. Inhalation - Taking air into the
lungs (in Sanskrit, this is called "Puraka")
2. Retaining of inhaled air inside
the lungs (in Sanskrit it is called "Kumbhak")
3. Exhalation - expel unwanted gas from
the lungs (in Sanskrit it is called “Recak”)
4. Hold the breath after exhaling and
before starting another cycle.
While doing these four
rhythmic breathing stages, we must focus on the breathing, control our
thoughts, cool our mind, ignore all other painful and unpleasant experiences of
the body and mind. You have to maintain the mental balance and focus of mind.
Do not stress yourself while retaining the breathed air inside
or keeping the air out after exhaling.
6. Selection of Pranayama types
The selection of the types of
pranayama depends only on the individual health condition. Some Pranayama are
used to both prevent and cure disease, while some are dedicated to cure
disease. Also, it may depend on the seasons, your stress level, and other metal
conditions.
Some Pranayama help to keep
the temperature at the normal level while some Pranayama increase or decrease
the body temperature. There are around seven pranayama which are practiced to
treat different illnesses and around eight pranayama are practiced to keep the
body healthy, stress free and eliminate depression by improving the respiratory
system, circulation system and boosting intelligence. Some pranayama are used
to awaken the chakras and serve as a prerequisite for meditation and samadhi.
7. Duration: how much time practice the pranayama?
If you are a beginner, you
can practice pranayama for 10 to 15 minutes and then gradually increase the
time to around half an hour or an hour, but the important thing is that you
keep the breathing cycle evenly in a number, specific and do not vary. It is
always advisable to set the routine time and maintain a specific rhythm. In the
beginning you can count the number of breaths, this will help you maintain the
breathing cycle and your mind will at least focus on the breath and free itself
from several thoughts.
Maintaining comfort is very
important to focus your mind as well as your breathing and therefore when you
experience fatigue during Pranayama, rest for a while, relax, take 2-3 deep
breaths and start over.
8. Precautions: When not to do pranayama?
Do not practice pranayama for
at least six months after major surgery such as heart, stomach, kidney, lung
surgery, etc.
Pregnant women and women in
the period of menstrual cycle discharge should not practice pranayama.
If you are too hungry and
cannot concentrate properly, avoid doing pranayama.
People who are sick and have
fever should not fully practice Pranayama. But they can do light pranayama. If
you have a high fever and complete discomfort, don't perform pranayama.
Summary
Pranayama should be practiced early in the morning
after completing your usual morning functions or if this is not possible in the
morning then it can be performed in the evening, but your stomach should be
empty. The place for pranayama should be quiet, free from all
kinds of noise and distortion, free from pollution, must be pleasant,
ventilated, etc. Sitting position can be preferred based on
your comfort, strain less, body posture must be straight aligned with your
neck, head, and straight spine, hand must be rest on knees and relax.
If you feel fatigue, tired
while performing pranayama, take a 2-3 minute rest, take a deep
breath, relax, and start again. If you are ill, post major surgery and are not
feeling well, do not perform pranayama.
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