Photo of Yoga’s alternate nostril breathing (nadi suddhi) by Bill Geoghegan.

While Sri Patanjali and other classical Yoga sources have known this for several thousand years, recent medical research highlights the profound connection between breath, body, and mind, emphasizing breathwork as a tool for emotional regulation and stress relief. Experts explain how slower, intentional breathing—at around 5.5 to 6 breaths per minute—can shift the nervous system from a fight-or-flight state to one of rest and relaxation.

Scientific studies reveal that conscious breathing can influence neural activity in areas of the brain tied to emotion and memory, offering benefits for mental health, including reduced anxiety and improved mood. Techniques such as nasal breathing, box breathing, and the 4-7-8 method are recommended for cultivating calm and balance. Regular practice, even for as little as five minutes daily, can yield transformative effects. For optimal results, longer sessions or guidance from a breath coach may enhance the experience and ensure proper technique.

For more insights, read the full article on The Washington Post’s website here.

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The post Health Benefits of Pranayama appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Photo by Kelvin Valerio via Pexels.

The word pranayama is not a single word but rather a combination of two Sanskrit words: prana and ayama. Prana could be translated as vital energy or the cosmic energy that causes any kind of movement. Even the movement of the electrons around the nucleus within an atom is caused by the movement of prana. Wherever you see movement, even thought-movement, it is caused by prana.

Prana works in different ways. Your breathing is prana and your digestion is prana. When we talk about prana in the physical body, the different functions of that prana get different names. But, they are all one and the same current or force. The upward moving energy is called prana. When the energy goes down, it’s called apana. There are pancha (five) pranas: Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, Samana. The sum total of energy is called “Cosmic Prana.”

Ayama means: control, regulation, or mastery. Unfortunately, the moment we say “control,” people very often misunderstand this to mean retention. Pranayama doesn’t mean retention of prana; it means to direct it as you want. Pranayama has three major aspects: The inhalation (puraka); the exhalation: (rechaka); and the retention of the breath (kumbhaka). One can retain the in-breath or the out-breath or both. Retaining the breath in any form should only be done with proper instruction and after practicing pranayama for some time.

If the breath is retained inside, it’s called antara kumbhaka—inner retention. If it is retained outside, it’s called bahya kumbhaka. If the retention happens automatically without your effort, it’s called kevala kumbhaka. Our main aim in developing a consistent pranayama practice is to achieve kevala kumbhaka. The breath should just stop without any effort—an effortless suspension. To have that effortless retention, you first use your effort to retain and to regulate. And the main purpose of pranayama according to time-tested experience, as well as the scriptures, is to purify the system.

Pranayama purifies the system—the physical and the vital bodies. And another important benefit is to calm and balance the mind. For instance, whenever you are upset, tense, worried, or bothered, just take a few slow deep breaths with full attention on the movement of the breath and you will easily bring the mind into a very calm state. The  movement of the breath and the movement of the mind go together and are interdependent.

This reminds me of Thirumalar, a great saint and a Tamil Siddhar from South India. In one of his verses he said that wherever the mind goes, the prana follows and vice-versa. If you regulate the prana, you have regulated the mind. The same way, if you could regulate the mind, you have regulated the prana. To give an example, suppose you are quite seriously thinking of a problem or reading something and trying to understand a particular passage. Your mind is deeply concentrated on that. If, all of a sudden, you were to just divert your concentration to your breath you would be surprised to see that you were not breathing at all—the breath had basically stopped.

This is the very reason why we meditate: To achieve the stillness of the prana. That is why you are asked to sit quietly, steadily, without any movement of the body when you meditate. Not even the blinking of the eyelids so there is no movement of the body, no movement of the thought and with that steadiness, the prana also becomes still. Then you have physical, vital, and mental stillness. You may ask: “So what do I achieve by that?” The achievement is that there will be no wastage of prana in your body. In that stillness, a kind of static energy is built up and a heat is produced.

Have you noticed sometimes that if you sit quietly meditating for a period of time that you may begin to perspire because of the heat that builds? It is that heat that goes and works on the entire system and that kindles up the psychic forces. The major part of those forces are called kundalini. So, it’s not by violent movement you rouse it up—as you may have heard—but by stopping all the movements and building up that static heat within. To achieve that, pranayama helps.

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

The post How Pranayama Works appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Photo: Darina Belonogova via Pexels.

Over ten years ago, a yogi friend went hiking up a steep mountain. She was wearing good shoes and enjoying the challenge, as well as the stunning view upon reaching the peak. Soon after she began her descent, she slipped and badly twisted her ankle. Immediately, she stopped and focused on prana (life energy) swirling through her ankle, healing, and strengthening. Within ten minutes she was able to continue her descent with no pain and no residual discomfort.

Another yogi had missed a step while in the dark and tore a ligament in his ankle. He too practiced visualizing the flow of prana through the affected joint. He also practiced several times each day a heart purification meditation and then mentally directed prana to the ankle. He was back to full time work in two days. This same yogi, who has been practicing pranayama diligently for over 50 years, was extremely sick during the pandemic with great difficulty breathing. The doctors thought he would die but he recovered and then rejuvenated himself to an even greater vitality than before, all at the age of 80 years-old.

During my bereavement counseling tenure, I met with many bereaved who were inconsolable over the loss of their loved one and often saying, “She went through so much—so many surgeries, treatments for this and that— and she always came through. Why didn’t she come through this time?” I would have to ask each one of them, “Each time she came back did she have the same vitality as before?” With no exception, everyone “came back” not quite the same as before. I explained to them that disease and treatments can take prana from us in order to survive. With each subsequent disease and treatment, more and more energy is depleted until they no longer have any reserves.

The yogi who survived Covid was able to because his body dipped into his energy reserves to keep him alive. While very sick he also used visualizations until he was again able to breathe a little bit better and then he added back his pranayama practice which rebuilt his energy reserves and revitalized his entire body and mind. These types of healings are not for the special few. Pranayama is a practice that anyone can do and slowly build to benefit from its full effects.

As pranayama works with the breath, it also works with the energy that maintains our life and level of vitality. The breath is our external focus to regulate the energy that rides with the breath. The prana then flows throughout our body via energy channels called nadis. This prana is the true revitalizing factor for our health of body and mind. In Yoga, we learn that we don’t have just one body, but we have five bodies or sheaths that are more and more subtle:

       Annamaya Kosha – Physical body fed by food (that provides prana)

            Pranamaya Kosha – Breath/Energy body fed by prana/breathing

            Manomaya Kosha – Mind body, fed by prana in the form of thoughts

Vignanamaya Kosha – Intellect body, part of the mind that can be rational, see a bigger picture

Anandamaya Kosha – Bliss body, most subtle body that can easily resonate with our True Self

The koshas explain why pranayama has a strong effect on our body and on our mind. The Pranamaya Kosha is sandwiched between the physical and the lower mind and, hence, can easily affect both. The physical and the lower mind can also easily affect the flow of prana. We know this intuitively to be true. When we are angry our breathing changes to a strong huffing and puffing. Our face changes, our chest moves stronger, etc. When we are frightened our breathing can halt. When we consciously take a deep breath  (usually more than just one), we start to calm down. The body’s muscles relax. Not easily recognized, the cancer of the mother I mentioned earlier, pulled energy from her “pranic bank account” too many times with no prior breathing practice to build it nor any practice to replace it.

I heard someone give testimony about his daughter who was in a horrific car accident and in the hospital with body parts in casts and not able to get out of bed at all. The one thing she could do was breathe and breathe she did! Whatever pranayama she could do, she did, and with visualizations (another tool that is extremely helpful). The doctors were so surprised that she was able to leave the hospital so much faster than they could have expected.

Margabandhu (director of the Integral Yoga Institute of New Jersey, master Yoga teacher and therapist) has many stories of healing through pranayama. He has been offering pranayama classes for many years now, directing students to not only use pranayama but to also add mudras, bandhas, and visualizations to direct energy to help heal the body. By doing so, they also find they become more content and able to flow with the ups and downs of life.

On  the mental level, our lower minds are so often caught up in thoughts that trigger emotions, that trigger more thoughts and then more emotions—an emotional roller coaster of shoulda, coulda, wouldas and then being sorry we are thinking like this, being even more unhappy because we are unhappy! Whew! Fortunately for us, since the pranamaya kosha level butts up against the manomaya kosha, we can use pranayama to directly affect our minds. When we are angry and our breath changes to a huffing and puffing, we can change our breathing and whirlwind of emotions clear out! Dr. Amrita McLanahan has often shared a story of being on a beach with someone with whom she got into a serious argument. She was so angry! She remembered her pranayama and immediately sat down and started doing Nadi Suddhi, huffing and puffing along with it. Over the course of 15 minutes, her breath slowly calmed down to the point that she could calmly engage and help correct the situation.

I remember clearly the first time I used pranayama for my mental composure. It was early morning and I had this situation that involved feeling that I need to confront someone about their behavior. But, I also wanted to be clearheaded to handle myself properly. After 20 minutes of my regular pranayama practice, I couldn’t remember what the problem was!

That brings me to pranayama’s effect on the higher koshas: the higher mind and the bliss body. In the above story, in 20 minutes the thoughts of “my situation” were gone completely.  In The Yoga Sutras of  Patanjali, Book II, sutra 52, we read: “As its results, the veil over the inner Light is destroyed.” In this commentary, Swami Satchidananda (Gurudev) shares, “The mind is a veil woven of thoughts. It has no substance by itself. If we pull the thoughts out one after the other, when they have all been removed, there is no mind left.”

The Inner Light can never be destroyed; it is our True Self. Gurudev continues saying, “Our basis is the Self. As long as we identify with the body or mind, we feel we are mortal. Pranayama indirectly helps us to understand our Oneness, the never-changing One, because it removes the veil. And it is an easy practice. Not many people come to meditation class, but hundreds and thousands come for asanas and pranayama.” As our practice deepens and the thoughts are released, we can pierce through the last two koshas and go beyond the mind and experience the True Self, which then informs  how we live our life from then on.

There are precautions though. As we develop and refine our pranayama practice our diet also has to be refined. Heavy foods will disrupt digestion and make it difficult to practice pranayama. Margabandhu practiced for 8 months, four sittings a day of pranayama. Then he overindulged in rich foods and got so sick. Preferring the positive effects of pranayama he adjusted his diet and he adjusted his pranayama practice so that he could serve more.

Our mental status can be destabilized if we push too hard to develop our pranayama practice to the point that the nadis are compromised and the flow of prana is disrupted, possibly making the mind feel very confused, disoriented, scared, etc. Keeping the precautions in mind, as Yoga teachers, developing our own regular pranayama practice can help heal both our bodies and minds, as well as to further inspire our students.

About the Author:

Rev. Premajyothi Devi, IYM, E-RYT-500 is a certified Integral Yoga teacher and minister. She has a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and was a Bereavement Counselor for a large NJ hospice for a number of years. Premajyothi has been acting as Assistant to the Director of the NJ IYI since 2010 and a regular Hatha Instructor since May 1999. As a certified Basic Yoga Teacher Trainer, she loves offering the great teachings of Integral Yoga to the next generation of Yoga teachers. More info about her here.

Medical Disclaimer: Integral Yoga Magazine offers only information and this or any other article should not be taken as medical advice or diagnostic. You should consult your health practitioner before starting any new health regime or changing your current regimen. This is particularly important if you are overweight, pregnant, nursing, regularly taking medications, or have any existing medical conditions. Beginning a new practice (or increasing the frequency/length of a current practice) may not be recommended. Consult a certified Yoga teacher or therapist first. This website may not be tailored to your current physical and mental health. We accept no liability whatsoever for any damages arising from the use of this website.

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We will explore pranayama theory and techniques, and learn how to deepen and develop an ongoing practice. More information and program registration here.

The post The Dynamic Power of Breath – Online Workshop appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Join Swami Karunananda to explore pranayama theory and techniques, and learn how to deepen and develop an ongoing practice.

Topics include:

• Pranayama and health
• Pranic healing visualization
• Prana (energy) and the mind
• Pranayama and meditation
• Prana and the subtle body
• Pranayama and spiritual awakening

These ancient, classical teachings enhance our physical and mental wellbeing, equip us to skillfully deal with life’s challenges, and enable us to realize our highest potential. Immerse yourself for a weekend and emerge with a practice that will sustain you for years to come.

Live sessions with Swami Karunananda on Saturday and Sunday at 11 am–1 pm and 3–5 pm ET.

Swami Karunananda, is a senior disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda. In 1975, she was ordained as a monk into the Holy Order of Sannyas. She has been teaching all aspects of Yoga since 1971, and specializes now in workshops, retreats, and teacher training programs that focus on the science of meditation, the philosophy of Yoga, personal transformation, and Yoga breathing techniques for better health and wellbeing. In 1989, she developed and subsequently taught, the Integral Yoga® Teacher Training programs in Raja Yoga and in Meditation. Swami Karunananda served as president of Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville in Virginia and in California, as well…
Learn more about Swami Karunananda, E-RYT 500

You will have access to the video recordings for 8 weeks after the program ends, until December 26.

In addition, you will have access to the Ashram’s Live Hatha Yoga classes at 5 pm ET, recorded Ashram meditations, and inspiring talks with Sri Swami Satchidananda. You will also have access to an online social community to connect and communicate with other participants about this course. More info and registration here.

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Yoga lifeline

Yoga then becomes a lifeline, a buoy to save us from drowning in social isolation. Here, then, are a few of the ways in which you might use asana, pranayama and meditation to practice patient endurance.

First of all, earmark 30 minutes in your day to have no communications, no intrusions. In a lifestyle of virtual communications, it is important to have no interruptions in order to give your full undivided attention to your Yoga practice. Research has shown that subjects were much more distracted when their phone is present in the room. So switch off notifications and mute your phone. Or even put your phone out of the room.

Start with an affirmation to set the intention of your practice. Sitting upright in Sukasana (crossed legs), bring palms to namaste (praying hands) at the heart centre. Gently close the eyes. Breathe in deeply and sigh out three times. Draw your attention and will to the brow centre and affirm: “I am calm. I will patiently endure all (of life’s) changes with strength and calmness.”

Yoga practices were designed to discharge physical, emotional and mental restlessness or “static,” lubricating our physical and energetic systems with oxygen and prana (life force energy) to be better disposed to sit quietly for a restorative meditation. If we do not have mental and physical calmness at the beginning of a Yoga practice, it quickly reinstates and rights us to calm within a few asanas. Calmness is the ultimate result of Yoga.

The truth is that the restless mind is no more restless than it was, but when the eyes are closed and the attention is temporarily divested of the entertainments of the external world, it can seem to be more restless. Even if you do not think that you could close your eyes and give full attention within, attempting meditation after asana and pranayama, it is remarkable what you can achieve.

Take the analogy of a glass of muddy water: if you allow the water to become still, the sediment settles to the bottom of the glass. But if you mentally stir up the contents with restless thoughts, the water remains muddy. Imagine that you are watching the mental silt settle to the bottom of the glass. Just observe the thoughts: if you don’t engage with them, they just sink to the bottom. Use each breath to mentally “ride the inhale” and “ride the exhale” without disturbing the water in the glass. This is titiksha (calm endurance).

Titiksha strength

In the inevitable times in life when we are struggling with trials, titiksha lends us great strength. When I was child, I was beset with asthma. This was in the sixties before doctors took asthma seriously. Without medication, I was bed-bound sometimes for a week at a time. Just getting the next breath in became my focus. I had to learn calm endurance. There was no room for alarm or anxiety which would only exacerbate the lack of breath. I used a mental affirmation in each breath: “This too shall pass.” Experience told me that I just needed to ride this episode and it would pass. I found a great mental strength in this which in later life I applied in childbirth, overcoming chronic fatigue syndrome, or any trial that came along: this too shall pass.

I think that each one of us will have already endured pain, loss and extreme periods of difficulty and traveled through many tunnels into the sunlight at the end. It’s just that while we are in a tunnel, this can seem overwhelmingly difficult, but we can’t let the monkey mind run away on thoughts of negativity or alarm. Just keep calmly breathing and say aloud or mentally: this too shall pass.

Yoga helps us to develop that strength of will to apply patience to determinedly plod one foot in front of the other towards the light at the end of the tunnel, even when that end isn’t in sight. Cling steadfastly to the raft of your daily practice for with it comes a strength: “I may not be able to do much about what is happening but I can do this.”

Just 30 wonderful, transformational minutes a day is all it takes to lift the mind, hone the body and prepare the consciousness to inner calm.

Patience is required to allow your practice to work its magic over a few weeks and months, and to certain extent within the 30 minutes assigned to your individual daily practice. It doesn’t really matter which asanas you choose. Physical movement that is partnered with concentrated attention in tandem with a synchronized breath, will be enough to change your state of being. Although, do try to have mixture of standing, kneeling, inverted postures, twists, balances and prone postures to have a balanced practice over a period of a week.Those with a restless butterfly mind will benefit from a physically vigorous asana practice, such as Surya Namaskar (sun salutation).

Focused attention

The most important factor to apply is attention. The attention must be in the asana, present in the observation of the breath and alert and awake in the meditation, irrespective of whether these are long or short timescales.

Just be in your asana practice, trusting that while you are engrossing your concentration in the movement, the practice is working its magic: stripping the body and mind of restless static, replacing it with a prana-calmed exhilaration, which further invites your attention to show up in the present moment.

Five or 10 minutes of Nadi Shodhanam (alternate nostril breath) will clear wisps of residual static and charge the cells of the body with revitalizing life force. Nadis are the energy pathways of the energetic (astral body), which like the nerves of the physical body leading back to the physical spine and brain, the 72,000 nadis of the energetic body criss-cross the string of chakras on the astral spine leading to Sahasrara (the astral brain). Shodhanam means cleansing. It’s a bit of a miracle how five or 10 minutes of Nadi Shodhanam practice has such a profound effect on anxiety and mental restlessness in a short space of time.

Last of all in your daily practice comes meditation: the pinnacle of your practice. Those who are new to meditation often find that they are besieged with a restless mind and even assume that meditation makes the mind more restless!

N.B. Contraindications for alternate nostril breath are those with breathing disorders such as asthma and those with high blood pressure, nasal obstructions or heart issues who should not retain the breath after the inhale but just stick with an easily manageable inhale and exhale. If for any reason holding Vishnu mudra (the hand position) or restricting air flow is not comfortable, then just visualize breathing in through one nostril and out through the other alternately.

About the Author:

Jenny Light is an author, psychologist, Yoga meditation teacher, podcaster and blogger from Scotland who became kundalini awakened at age 6. (Reprinted from Om Yoga & Lifestyle magazine).

The post Yoga for Calm Endurance: Titiksha appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

The quality of the environment we inhabit, as well as our habits, the psychological and physical “food” we take in, airborne pollutants and harsh climatic conditions, all have an effect on our lungs. As Gabor Maté reflects and explains clearly in his book When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, persistent emotions also disturb our internal balance.

Emotional Impact

The emotion of grief is associated with the element of metal and the organ of the lungs. And, when pushed away and unprocessed, it will subconsciously permeate our sense of identity and shape our personality. So strongly, in fact, that with time it will cloud our connection to whatever becomes significant to us in our next stage of life, invariably leaving us feeling distanced, inert and cut off. This block makes us unaware of the golden nuggets hidden in the ever-flowing stream of life’s opportunities.

We form strong attachments as we move through life; attachments that are important and nourishing to us. They can be in relation to our parents, children, friends and partners. It can also be to our beloved pet or possession, a religious belief or certain other beliefs and ideas. This is our innate capacity to find value in our interactions and experiences. This ability to draw in inspiration and let go of what we no longer need is of paramount health importance to our lungs.

The lungs are our receiver of qi from the heavens and with each breath we open up to our ability to be a vessel for the fresh and new. When our lung capacity in drawing in heavenly qi or prana is deficient, our lungs’ ability to exercise its emotional functions at optimum is also impaired. Stagnant prana, or life force energy, remains. On an emotional level, we may feel as if something is lacking from our lives, but we are unable to put our finger on it. We feel this way because in fact, we haven’t lost anything at all and this longing is a direct reflection of our low capacity to draw in fresh new nourishment and value from our experiences.

Vital life

With each breath, vital life fulfills and enriches us — but if we lack capacity to take in divine inspiration, we may end up feeling as if we are empty inside. Here is the thing, we relate with the world in terms of how it might satisfy us. From the goods at the store and the strong desire to own them or in contrast, from a scene in nature, a painting, listening to music, or by being given a compliment by someone we trust and feel lifted in our spirit. Can you take in the sincere compliment without feeling giddy about it? Have you experienced finding yourself in a shopping frenzy which only temporarily fills an inner void?

The healthier the lung qi and our ability to take in prana, the easier it is to feel inspired and feel vital about life, less prone to satiate the void with material possessions and less susceptible to disease. So it’s fair to say that good, conscious breathing roots in us our ability to feel animated, alive, connected, increase our lung capacity to draw in fresh new prana while strengthening us against possible invasion of external pathogens.

Breathing exercises

Let’s talk about practical ways of strengthening the potential of this wonderful organ via the breath:

Pranayama in Yoga is a series of techniques and exercises with the means of regulating the breath, toning lung qi and balancing the amount of both O2 and CO2 in order for the body to achieve homeostasis and function in a fair state of internal equilibrium. It has a profoundly positive effect on the human mind and body!

Breathing consciously is a form of meditation that can be done for extremely long periods and has an exquisitely quick, calming effect. Entering a particular rhythm with the breath means that you are slowly depressurising the activity of the mind and deepening your connection to the physical body and of feeling present within it. Deep breathing also has a hugely beneficial effect on the heart. If you are experiencing fear, anxiety or stress, your heart rate will increase and deep breathing will regulate the heartbeat by slowing it down.

Different techniques are available to self-regulate via the breath and they all teach us to learn to absorb the intensity of the moment. Helping us to respond to life in a way that propels us to the highest version of ourselves.

With a deep inhale we embrace new knowledge, absorb and acknowledge the value of new experiences and as we exhale we let go of what is no longer needed. Our breath, in its circular movement, beckons us higher into consciousness and deeper into our unconscious agenda whilst unburdening and blowing clean our relationship in and out of us.

About the Author:

Viviane Maia has a background in Five Element Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine and teaches Meridian-based, Kundalini Yoga and pranayama to children, teens and adults in mental health hospitals across London. (This article was reprinted from Om Magazine)

The post How Our Lungs Affect Our Emotions appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

The post Pranayama & Meditation to the Rescue! appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

In our modern world, many of us are wondering how to protect ourselves against illness. We can, it turns out, strengthen our lungs so that they stand a chance against a nasty virus. Read on to find out how ancient breathing practices could be the armour you need this winter. Could breathing techniques help you overcome respiratory challenges? 

Experts are now proposing screenings for respiratory muscle impairment for individuals at higher risk from a viral infection. They suggest using breathing exercises for respiratory support before, during, and after a respiratory infection. Logically, if breathing muscles are weak, the intensity of any respiratory condition will increase.

In an April 2020 study published in the American Journal of Medicine, it concluded that “Diminished respiratory muscle performance may contribute to the overwhelming burden imposed on health care systems due to viral pandemics. What is more concerning is that the frequency of viral pandemics and the prevalence of the global population in poor health associated with impaired respiratory muscle performance are potentially both at the tipping point. In nations with high economic development, poor baseline health is now, unfortunately, the norm; obesity alone is present in 42.4 percent of the adult population in the United States and continues to increase.”

Ayurveda recommends hundreds of different pranayama breathing exercises, each with their own subtle yet profound benefits. Modern hospitals employ respiratory muscle training techniques to strengthen breathing muscles.  

Strengthen Your Respiratory Muscles

Breathing exercises called inspiratory muscle training (IMT) help strengthen the diaphragm, increase respiratory muscle strength, increase uniform diaphragmatic thickness and function, and help open the airways—making breathing easier. Studies suggest early diaphragmatic fatigue is quite common. In one study with elite athletes, 50 percent had early diaphragmatic fatigue. The diaphragm never rests; on average, it contracts about 26,000 times a day. 

In Ayurveda, almost all pranayama techniques will help strengthen respiratory muscles, but only a handful focus on strengthening specifically inspiratory muscles. The diaphragm is the body’s major and most important muscle of inspiration. It is also one of the body’s major lymphatic pumps, primarily pumping lymphatic and undigested waste from the entire abdominal cavity.

In one study, four weeks of respiratory muscle training, where inhalation was restricted by 50 percent, has been shown to reduce hospital length of stay, mortality, and risk of intubation in patients at risk for prolonged hospitalization. In patients on ventilators, respiratory muscle training improves weaning outcomes and reduces hospital length of stay.

This study concluded that evidence regarding the beneficial effects of respiratory muscle training is strong, and the connection between impaired respiratory muscle performance, mechanical ventilation, and respiratory complications is also strong.

Three-Step Ayurvedic Pranayama Techniques to Mimic Respiratory Muscle Training

1. Bhastrikā Pranayama / Bellows Breath

Bhastrikā / bellows breath is a series of deep, forceful, maximal inhalations and exhalations, allowing breathing to mimic a bellows. The benefits of bhastrikā have been found to support the brain, mood, memory, heart, and lung health, as well as helping the body cope with stress. I have been teaching bhastrikā as part of my One–Minute Meditation for decades with profound clinical results.

Bhastrikā is both an inspiratory and exhalatory exercise for the respiratory muscles. It is rare to fully contract and relax the diaphragm in modern life, when most of our time is spent sitting, slouching, or in shallow breathing. 

Bhastrikā outperforms running in Lung Function Tests. In a study of 30 men ages 18-30, half practiced bhastrikā for 15 minutes and the other half ran for 15 minutes. They performed these activities six days a week for one month. 

The bhastrikā group saw significant improvements in numerous lung function tests compared to the running group. Forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume, peak expiratory flow, and maximum voluntary ventilation of the lungs were all higher in the bhastrikā group. Only peak expiratory flow rate and maximum voluntary ventilation improved with the running group, but not as much as in the bhastrikā group. Researchers concluded adding pranayama to athletic training could greatly enhance aerobic performance in healthy individuals and athletes.

Learn the benefits and how to perform bellows breath / bhastrikā here.

2. Kapalabhati Pranayama / Skull-Cleansing Breath

Kapalabhati is derived from two words: kapala, which means skull, and bhati, which means to illuminate. Kapalabhati is designed to accelerate breath from the lower abdominals, through the lungs, into the skull, supporting healthy drainage of toxins from the brain lymphatics (glymphatics), thoracic cavity, and abdomen.

The emphasis of kapalabhati is on exhalation, where the diaphragm is relaxing. The abdominal muscles forcefully contract against the diaphragm, creating a powerful abdominal-diaphragmatic-cardiac massage, which supports healthy diaphragm function. 

During kapalabhati pranayama, all five lung lobes are oxygenated, whereas, during normal respiration, the lower lobes of the lungs are unused and considered dead space. Oxygenating the dead space not only boosts the oxygenation potential of breathing but enhances detoxification and fat burning—this weight loss potential is found mostly in the highly vascularized lower lobes of the lungs.

Learn the benefits and how to perform kapalabhati here.

3. Pratiloma Pranayama / Ayurvedic Inspiratory Muscle Training

Pratiloma pranayama / Ayurvedic inspiratory muscle training is a technique that restricts air going through the nostrils during maximal inhalation. Partially closed nostrils force the diaphragm to work extra hard, exercising the muscles of inspiration. 

Numerous studies have been done on the benefits of pratiloma but under a different name. In Western medicine, this technique is called inspiratory muscle training (IMT) and has been found to be an effective treatment for numerous health concerns, including breathing afflictions, heart health concerns, and digestive issues (such as GERD and reflux), along with significantly enhancing athletic performance.

IMT has been effectively used in physical therapy to support healthy breathing for patients with compromised breathing. In hospitals around the world, devices are used to increase resistance during inhalation to strengthen inspiratory muscles, primarily the diaphragm. These IMT devices typically restrict inhalation airways by 30-50 percent. Pratiloma can do the same by simply taking a full, deep, and maximal inhale with the nostrils partially closed. 

Learn the benefits and how to perform pratiloma here.

Three-Step Pranayama Practice for Optimal Lung Health:

1. Bhastrikā: 10 breaths 
2. Kapalabhati: 10 breaths 
3. Pratiloma: 10 breaths 

This is my favorite sequence for building lung strength. Practice 3-5 rounds 2x/day. 

Note from the author: As with any breathing practice, check with your medical doctor before starting a practice. Never practice breathing techniques near or in water or while driving. Pranayama techniques are designed to be comfortable. If you experience any discomfort or dizziness, contact your primary care provider.

About the Author:

Dr. John Douillard, DC, CAP is a globally recognized leader in the fields of natural health, Ayurveda, and sports medicine. He is the creator of LifeSpa.com, the leading Ayurvedic health and wellness resource. LifeSpa is evolving the way Ayurveda is understood around the world with over 1,000 articles and videos proving ancient wisdom backed by modern science. Dr. John is the former Director of Player Development and nutrition advisor for the New Jersey Nets NBA team, author of seven health books, including Perfect Health for Kids, a repeat guest on the Dr. Oz show, and featured in USA Today, LA Times, and dozens of other national publications. He has been in practice for over 30 years and has seen over 100,000 patients. (This article was reprinted from Elephant Journal)

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Pranayama

Sri Swami Sivananda says: “Pranayama or the control of prana, is that means by which the yogi tries to realize in this little body the whole of cosmic life and tries to attain perfection by getting all the powers in this universe. His various exercises and trainings are for this one end.”

In the manifest world, there are two aspects to everything: prana and akasha. Akasha is the substance of being, and prana is the energy or life force. Pranayama is most accurately described as the restraint, or management of that vital energy. We readily note prana in the blowing of the wind, in the light and heat of the sun and in spectacular displays of lighting. We have come to recognize this vital energy in the forces of gravity and magnetism and in the tremendous power that is contained within each atom.

When asked, “Are you breathing now?” most people reply, “Yes.” Yet, we are really being breathed. In other words, we are usually not actively, consciously participating in the breathing process. More often than not, the universe simply breathes our bodies— with no attention at all, the breath flows in and out. This is yet another manifestation of prana. We may more easily become aware of this during Yoga Nidra, when we have consciously surrendered control of the breath. Sri Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev) would often point this out by reminding us to give thanks to God for the breath going in and out of these bodies, he noted that, as long as God is breathing our bodies, there is still something for us to be doing in this lifetime. He would tell us to just try and stop breathing. If we are very good at holding the breath, we might eventually pass out, and then the universe will again take over and begin to breathe our bodies for us.

While it is difficult for us to manipulate gravity, or the sun, or lightning, or the wind, we are able to quite easily manage the flow of breath through the body. We can slow it down or speed it up, make it shallow or deep. We can pause it, play with it and shape the pattern in myriad ways. Because we can so easily take hold of the breath and begin to direct it willfully, the breathing practices give us a handle on the life force itself. So here is the way for us to manage the prana—pranayama. Note, however, that the breath is not itself the prana; it is merely the handle by which we can manage the prana.

The breathing practices of pranayama are wonderful. Each has its own special benefits and effects upon our energy and mental planes, as well as the ability to help on the physical level. It is common, especially when first beginning to work with prana, to put our focus on the physical level—using the breath to purify the nerves or the blood. While these are good benefits to be sure, if our focus remains on the physical, we miss the fuller potential that is available to us when we expand our focus to the energetic field. The danger lies in becoming too interested and involved in the benefits of the breathing practices that we lose touch with the principal purpose, which is to manage the prana.

Sri Patanjali, listing pranayama as one of the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, tells us that, by managing the inhalations and exhalations, the veil over the inner light will be removed. I often tell my students that, if all I taught them was to truly fall in love with the deep breathing, so that they practiced regularly and with full attention, I would be satisfied as a Yoga instructor. So much takes place when we attend to and consciously direct the breath: Awareness is drawn inward and the mind becomes focused rather than scattered. In this focused state, the mind is much more powerful and its impact can be felt wherever we direct our attention. If you’ve been frustrated with efforts you’ve made to bring about change in your life, try this. Things begin to happen. This is pranayama.

Because the seemingly simple breathing practices of pranayama truly enable us to work with the life force itself, it is important to proceed with some care. If we consider only the air that is moving in and out of the body, there is little cause for concern. When working with the unlimited source of power that is prana, however, prudence is advised. When done without proper preparation and guidance, the pranayama practices can result in physical pain, emotional anxiety and other difficulties. Furthermore, we should be extra attentive when adding kumbhaka, or retention of the breath, to our practice as it functions like an amplifier. Build up slowly, remembering to keep the entire practice comfortable. Sri Gurudev taught us to practice in a very patient and gentle fashion, focusing on removing the veil and realizing our true Self—and not on reaching for powers and abilities (siddhis). When we practice with this intent, we avoid getting sidetracked onto these more risky avenues.

Once we are aware of the prana itself, whole new realms of possibility blossom open. We can build up a good supply and use it to resolve physical, emotional and circumstantial life issues for ourselves and others. To do this you need a focused mind, clear intent, a full charge of pranic energy and a heartfelt connection with the other person. The same is true when doing pranic healing for yourself. The basic pranayama practices that we use in our Integral Yoga classes, deergha swaasam (deep yogic breathing), kapalabhati (the “skull shining breath” or rapid diaphragmatic breathing series) and nadi suddhi (the nerve purification or alternate nostril breathing) provide tremendous benefits resulting in a full supply of prana, clearing of toxins, stimulation of all of the endocrine glands, development of a clear mind and opening of the channels so that each of the chakras (energy centers) will function in full capacity.

Sometimes people feel that they should skip the yogic breathing practices when the air quality is questionable, but that is not necessary. We certainly notice and benefit when the atmosphere is clear and charged with positive spiritual energies, and of course, it is easier to stay focused and enjoy the practice when we find the air, the temperature and the environment clean, comfortable and pleasant. Our body systems, however, have a wonderful capacity to serve as pranic generators. Most of the prana is actually generated by our management of the flow of breath, rather than from the air.

Here are some things to try when practicing pranayama: Once you have established a basic breathing pattern, shift your attention from the breath itself to observe what is happening energetically. Don’t worry about doing it as well as you imagine someone else might do it, or about trying to keep up with someone else’s pattern. Avoiding such comparisons is one of the reasons that Master Sivananda encourages us to do pranayama by ourselves. When we practice alone, we can more easily find what is most comfortable for us. Interestingly, when we approach our practice very comfortably, the breathing pattern naturally slows down and deepens. Our attention moves inward and the practice becomes a real delight, allowing us to spend more time with it safely.

A wonderful, subtle pranayama practice that can bring you into very clear contact with the pranic flow is doing nadi suddhi without using the hand in Vishnu mudra to seal the nostrils in an alternating pattern. Instead, keep your principle focus on moving the prana through the two channels—ida, associated with the left nostril, and pingala, associated with the right nostril. In this practice, though you should try to emphasize or accent the flow of air in the nostril upon which you’re focusing, don’t be concerned if there’s air moving through both nostrils. Be careful not to scrunch the face up in an effort to close off one nostril or the other. People tend to do this when their attention is on the flow of air, but the focus should be kept on the energy itself.

So give this a try: Exhale through both nostrils and bring the attention now to the left nostril—the ida channel—and inhale, gently, subtly, feeling the energy flow in through the left nostril. Now shift the attention to the right nostril and direct the air—but mostly the energy—to flow out through the right nostril and side, pingala. Bring it in through the right side now, and then move the attention to the left nostril and, again, direct the air and energy to flow out through the left side. Continue with this. You will find that your attention is drawn deep within and that your awareness clearly recognizes the energy layer of your being. As you observe the energy moving through the nadis, ida and pingala, eventually, you’ll note that they become clear and balanced and then you’ll become familiar with the energy flowing more richly through the central channel, sushumna. Live in fullness. Enjoy.

About the Author:

Jayadeva Mandelkorn began teaching Yoga in 1969 and was blessed with the opportunity to have studied and lived with Sri Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral Yoga, at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville. Jayadeva went on to serve as the manager of the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City and its director of Integral Yoga Teacher Training. He brought Integral Yoga to the Princeton, New Jersey area 20 years ago and serves as the director of Integral Yoga Princeton/Princeton Yoga Community Center.

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