Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of yoga. The first 6 of which pranayama is the 4th one, helps prepare the mind for meditation. Meditation leads to Samadhi, which when translated directly, means “steady one-pointedness.”

Samadhi however in its entirety is beyond the scope of this article.

Even though from the 8 limbs of yoga, here we will be only studying the 4th one, we still cannot move ahead without mentioning the 3rd one, which is Asana. “Asana means posture.”

We are a being made up of nadis (nerves) and in order for the life force energy, breath, prana to move freely, unrestricted we need an excellent posture.

As you learn about Pranayama and its benefits in this article, keep in mind that your sitting posture is of paramount importance when you practice it.

I have been practicing pranayama from the time I was in school. It has shown me great promise and results. The benefits which I have reaped over the years are remarkable and far-reaching.

My intention behind writing this article is to spread awareness about it which will enable a lot of people to experience similar remarkable positive effects.

So if you do find this article insightful please do not forget to share it with your friends and circle. Because in our time where personal well-being is a challenge, pranayama is an aid that will strengthen all your personal efforts.

It isn’t just about physical fitness or mental and definitely not bound by religion but it’s a spiritual practice that transcends the mind and body and reaches out to the creative life force energy within all of us.

For the sake of this post, however, we will mostly be sticking to the physical plane.

Now don’t be skeptical already, skepticism even before knowing or understanding something is one of the biggest obstacles to overall growth.

Pranayama is a holistic approach to health, it’s well balanced, and from a 5-year-old kid to a 90 years old grandma anyone can do it.

You will begin to experience its potency from the very first complete and proper session you do. Just takes about 30 mins a day, that too if you are pursuing it in a hardcore fashion, otherwise, a total of 15 mins a day is more than enough and the benefits are far-reaching.

Now let’s begin with an important question.

 

What is pranayama? 

 

Basically, pranayama is nothing but breathing exercises. It is the Hatha Yoga practice of breath control. 

It is a Sanskrit word.

“Prana” means breath and Ayama means either restraining or control.

Now I am not a scholar however according to my own observation and some connective thinking, I came to a conclusion that Ayama could also mean “dimensions.”

Pranayama therefore simply means, exercising the breath in all its dimensions by restraining or controlling it. As simple as it gets folks.

Stig Severinsen a 4x freediving world champion elaborates a little bit more on its meaning. As stated on his website breatheology and I quote,

“Originally prana refers to “the energy of life”, but also covers concepts like the breath, wind, life, vitality, energy, and strength. Ayama can be translated as regulation, expansion, or dimension. Pranayama is often directly translated as “breath control”. This is not incorrect, but the essence of pranayama is the ability to take up and manage prana mainly by using your breath.”

You should go and check out his article on pranayama on his website where he mentions details about its energy aspects and how it all ties together with soul and consciousness.

You might wonder what do I have to do with the dimensions of breath? What will really simple breathing exercises do? and most importantly how is it all actually going to help me nail my goals better?

Do not worry. All of that and how to start practicing pranayama just ahead in the article.

 

What are the benefits of doing Pranayama?

“When the breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the breath is still, the mind is still as well.” – Hatha Yoga Pradipika Share on X

The prana and the mind are interlinked. The state of one affects the other.

Prana is what creates our mental vibrations and in order to stabilize it, one needs to remove the obstructions within our nerves (nadis). Removing these obstructions is what facilitates its free movement within us. It doesn’t just stabilize our mental faculties but also revitalizes our entire nervous system.

Immediately noticeable benefits of pranayama

  1. Relieves anxiety.
  2. Relieves depression.
  3. Improves digestion.
  4. Improved energy levels.
  5. Defuses lethargy.
  6. Improved concentration and focus.
  7. Stimulates optimism and positivity.
  8. Dampens rage, anger.
  9. Promotes peace of mind.
  10. Improves eyesight.
  11. Balances all the imbalances in your system.
  12. Detoxes your body.
  13. Promotes emotional stability.
  14. Cures a multitude of diseases.
  15. Harmonizes your life energy.

Practicing Pranayama purifies all our 72000 nerves in the body. These 72000 nerves hold various kinds of emotional and physical impurities. Over time these impurities turn into the various diseases, tendencies, or mental conditions we know. By mental conditions here I am referring to states like anxiety, depression, and hypertension. Purification of these nerves holds spiritual value too. So purifying them in advance will prevent any possible disruption in your system.

Prevention is the best cure but here it isn’t simply preventing it but it’s greatly elevating your immunity to any future disturbances.

There are subtleties in our system that we cannot fully comprehend or even notice in our day-to-day lives, however, practicing pranayama ensures that we are at a balanced state always.

Emotional stability is one of the major benefits. In today’s social world, EQ is more important than IQ. Having emotional stability can keep you focused on the bigger picture and handle all the little stresses of day-to-day life with ease.

Having emotional stability means, never saying “I don’t feel like doing it.” Pranayama is a great aid in beating procrastination.

What happens when you are scared? What happens when you are anxious? do you breathe properly when you are depressed? If the answers are fast, unstable, and very shallow, then you understand it well by now, that deep breathing will rid you off from all those troubles. Why? because a steady breath equals a steady mind.

A success thought process can only stem from a stable mind.

Now you do the math and judge yourself that what will happen if you rid yourself of all the negative tendencies mentioned above and stimulate the growth of the positive ones, How far are you from doing exactly what you mean to and reaching where you intend to and when you intend to.

Isn’t removing obstructions and supercharging your well-being a definite road to success? Yes! because before anything external defeats you, the unidentified enemy within gets you first. What if you never let the enemy manifest at all.

 

The 5 Types of Pranas

 

According to the ancient Hindu texts, Pranayama works on our 5 distinct “Pranas” By which they mean that our Lifeforce, our vital energy, our breath has 5 distinct dimensions.

With 5 distinct duties to perform. Understanding these 5 Pranas is very important, in order to fully grasp the importance of doing pranayama and how it supercharges your body and mind.

 

Prana

Literally meaning the “forward moving air” It moves and governs all types of reception in our body. Food, water, air, sensory impressions, and mental experiences.

Inhalation of air is also caused by this vital force. In a way, you can say it metabolizes our entire system. Having a fast metabolism equals a skinny body, having a slow metabolism equals an overweight body, however, when our metabolism is balanced we have a balanced body. Now strengthening this prana via pranayama will ensure the balance of reception in our body.

Apana

Literally meaning the “air that moves away” downward and outward. This vital force is responsible for all types of elimination from our system and reproduction.

On a deeper level, it eliminates all the negative mental, emotional and sensory experiences from our system. This Prana is the basis of our immune system. Consider what if you purify this one?

What negative tendencies are you trying to get rid of? What experiences have changed you for the worse and now you want to discard them? So by doing pranayama regularly, you take charge of cleansing your system and make it immune to future such experiences.

Udana

Literally meaning the “Upward moving air” This prana is responsible for the qualitative and quantitative movements of your life energy. This Prana governs the growth of your body, your ability to stand, speech, enthusiasm, willpower, and effort. This Prana carries your energy upward, giving you a radiance. This is your major positive energy in life.

Samana

Literally meaning the “balancing air” The power that distributes the nourishment from food to all parts of the body.

Vyana

Literally the “outward moving air” the power that governs all the movement in your body. Circulation of your thoughts and emotions, imparting movement and providing strength.

Now that you know these 5 pranas, you understand their role in our life process.

The thing is, no matter how much effort you put in some time, no matter how much you want to do something, no matter how consistent you are, certain times either you are completely unable to do it, or see no results even after doing it consistently.

There are a lot of psychological, emotional, physical barriers that go unnoticed in our day-to-day lives. I am very much sure that until it becomes a visible disease or problem nobody can notice negatively impacting tendencies in our system.

Sure we can do medical tests and find out about them, however, do we have the liberty to do so many tests routinely? is it a plausible solution? most probably no, I mean who would want to go through a tremendous amount of tests every now and then to find system disturbances and then try to work on it.

Most doctors will suggest tons of medication in that regard after the test results come through. who wants to make our body dumping ground for medicines? Do you?

The easiest and most successful way of doing this is, take responsibility for yourself and start working on yourself, rather than depending upon external aids.

3 Pranayama’s a day, 15 minutes a day and you are good to go.

It does not simply remove negative tendencies, it strengthens our positive ones. It simply does not repair our system, it rejuvenates it entirely. It simply does not expel negative thoughts, it provokes a positive outlook on life because pranayama is based on the positive life-giving energy.

You might not know what is stopping you from taking impactful action or thinking the right thoughts or doing the right thing, however instilling good habits like pranayama in your daily schedule will give you that extra support, that extra edge you require to tackle the magnitude of things we face knowingly and unknowingly.

Don’t nudge something away before trying it and never back out of trying something new, which holds a promise of giving you more power to accomplish what you have set out to. Move out of your comfort zone.

 

 

3 Major pranayama’s, their benefits, and what is the right time to practice it

 

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Share on X

Anulom Vilom

Meaning alternate nostril breathing. Anulom vilom is a balancing pranayama and definitely one of the most powerful ones.

Therefore every session could begin with this pranayama, as firstly it opens up both your nostrils for proper breathing, balances our Chandra and Surya Nadi, which means Moon and Sun nerve respectively.

Our left nostril represents the moon, while our right one represents the sun. Moon represents calm, peace, coolness, and emotions. The sun represents our willpower, enthusiasm, focus, and discipline.

This is very energizing pranayama and has tons of amazing benefits. Learn how to do it and do it for 5 mins nonstop every day and sit with your eyes closed for another 2 mins after you are done and then try telling me you did not feel amazing.

Benefits of doing Anulom Vilom
  1. Nervous system purification. Cleanses your entire brain of all the unwanted stuff that’s not beneficial to you and boosts your self-confidence.
  2. Improves eyesight. Those with specs should definitely do it, I am not preaching bro-science here but I would like to share something, my mom had a cataract and even has specs however when she does this one regularly for at least a week or so, she notices immediate improvement in her eyesight and can even read without her glasses. I personally after doing it for 5 mins straight, feel so relaxed and confident, the tone for my day is set right at the very beginning of it.
  3. Relives anxiety, depression, tension, hypertension, anger, worry, and lack of sleep. You will be able to sleep better, trust me good sleep is important for optimal functioning.
  4. Increases will power. This one is a no-brainer, if you want to take on the world, you need this.
  5. Laser-sharp focus. Unwavering focus.

 

Bhastrika

Meaning “bellows”, in ancient days a pump-like fan was used to give wind to the fire, to light it up. This Pranayama lights up the fire in your body to remove and burn all negativities and toxins.

Benefits of Bhastrika
  1. If you are one of those people that never gets hungry, then this pranayama will give you a good appetite. Eating good and healthy is always essential in our life, after all, it’s our fuel. To drive in the direction of our goals we need proper consumption and absorption of our fuel.
  2. Improves your immune system. Common now you need to be a strong horse in the long run, work on that immune system now.
  3. Purifies our blood and removes all forms of toxins from it.

 

Kapalbhati

“Kapal” means forehead and “Bhatti” means shining or glowing. Eventually, the practitioner of kapalbhati should get a radiance of wisdom on their face haha.

However, indeed this will bring a glow to your face. This one’s my top favorite and the most powerful pranayama ever.

I am always looking forward to doing it in my routine, however, that does not mean I half *as the former two. All three deserve equal importance.

It’s a complete package, not a standalone measure.

Benefits of doing Kapalbhati
  1. Greatly oxygenates your body and strengthens your respiratory system. Making you feel lively throughout the day.
  2. Strengthens your core muscles and very useful for people who want to lose or gain weight. This effectively modulates our metabolism and regulates it in creating a balance.
  3. It gives a boost to create new cells in the body and vitalizes the present ones.
  4. I know everyone will like this one, it makes you look more amazing, cause of the radiance it adds to your face. Now, who does not like a radiant personality?
  5. Improves your energy levels throughout the day.

 

Good time to practice pranayama

Early morning on an empty stomach is an ideal time to practice it. However, if it does not fit in your schedule you can do them anytime after 4 hours of eating something.

Each Pranayama for 5 minutes, every day, equals just a total of 15 minutes a day.

 

Conclusion

 

My articles always focus on giving you everyday tools or bringing useful things to your notice that you can start applying in your life immediately.

This article is one in a series that I intend to do, which brings to your notice new and productive efficient methods of doing things that will supercharge your life in a positive way.

In our modern times, we have so many issues to deal with, most of the things we don’t even know they exist, which are hindering our progress, however always adding small effective multiple methods of improving yourself will greatly benefit you in the long run.

Pranayama is one of those things that I deeply wanted to share with you, as it has helped me in a lot of ways and has an amazing power to heal yourself on all levels. I genuinely enjoy doing them.

Every day at the end of my gym routine I practice pranayama for 15 minutes as a cool-down session. It’s a perfect wrap and an amazing start for the day. By supercharging those 5 pranas via pranayama,

You can develop your willpower, your memory, and your focus, get physically fit, and attain peace of mind. Aren’t those really impressive feats to achieve and don’t you think that will improve your life 10 folds?

Let me know your opinions on this one and share with me if you intend to start doing them now.

Apart from that I highly encourage you to check out the series I did on nutrition. Building on pranayama, nutrition is one of the fundamental things that you should pay attention to if you want to live a healthy and powerful life.

The two sources that I put all my trust in, in terms of pranayama and yoga, who can deliver you the true essence of this are Patanjali Ayurved and Art of living these two are my most trusted sources and I am very confident, you will benefit a lot from them if you start exploring. You can even check out their content on YouTube.