The use of pranayama as a physical and spiritual exercise

 The use of pranayama as a physical and spiritual exercise

 

Self Improvement “Pranayam is the right science of breathing where deep, regulated and rhythmic breathing is done along with mental purification. Its practice plays an important role not only in cure of physical ailments, but also for moral and spiritual progress.” ? Virchand Raghavji Gandhi What is pranayam? The word pranayama is made up of two words, prana and yama. While prana roughly means breath, yama means control. So, pranayama is an exercise in which the practitioner controls and regulates the process of breathing. Is there any difference between prana and breath? Yes. There is a subtle difference between the two. What is breath? In a layman’s language breath is just a whiff of air that goes in and comes out of the human body. Breath keeps a human being alive. A person dies when he cannot breathe the air. What is prana? The existence of prana was perceived and experienced by the ancient Indian yogis and sages thousands of years back. The scattered experiences and precepts were compiled in an organized form of a treatise by Maharishi Patanjali, a renowned medical practitioner, philosopher, sage and above all the highest authority in pranayama and yoga, sometime in 200 BC. He

 is, therefore, rightly known as the Father of Yoga and Pranayam. His treatise is called “Patanjali Yoga Sutra”. A sutra is a self-contained couplet in form of an aphorism. His book consists of 195 sutras on prayanyam and yoga. It remains an ultimate authority and reference book on the subject of yoga and pranayama. According to ancient scriptures, prana is the vital life force or subtle energy that sustains human life. The operational level of prana determines the quality of life of the person. Prana is considered to be working at its highest level when a person is dynamic, full of zest and energy. A weak, dissipated and pessimistic person who is averse to performing karma is an example of prana working at low level. Instead of saying that a person has died, the Hindus often say; his prana has departed from his body. In other words the force that kept the person alive has left the body. Since prana permeates all through the human body from toes to the head, people in ancient times and sometimes even now start pinching the soles of feet, legs, thighs and upper parts of the body when they suspect a person is dying. If there is no response to a pinch, it means there is no prana. When we say that a person is about to die, it means that his prana is leaving the body gradually. It is obvious from the above that while the reach of breath covers the upper part of the body, prana goes down to the soles of the feet. Pranayam as a physical exercise The word prana is also used in conjunction with another word vayu or air which when inhaled into the body is called breath. When the air or the vayu works with prana, it is called prana vayu. It is quite evident that the prana works at optimum level when it inhales sufficient quantities of air. When we say that pranayam is the exercise in regulating or guiding the breath, it means that it

 involves the use of various techniques to guide the oxygen carrying air in the breath to various vital parts of the body especially the lungs and stomach to energize them so that they function at optimum level. To this extent, therefore, pranayama is a kind of physical exercise. Some of the important and popular techniques of pranayama include Anulom Vilom, Kapal Bhati and Bhrastrika. They can be easily practised by the common people without any special personal guidance from the pranayama experts. Their videos are freely available in You Tube and other similar media. Pranayam as a physico- spiritual exercise The ancient Indian rishis or sages raised exercises of pranayama from physical to spiritual level. They used it to energize and awaken the vital energy chakras or centres in the body to awaken the power of Kundalni and realize the potential of human spirit at its highest divine levels. Awakening Kundalni is an arduous process requiring a sustained commitment and dedication and should be undertaken preferably under a reputed spiritual guru. Three most respected and authoritative exponents of yoga and pranayama are Swami Ramdev and BKS Iyengar and Swami Sivananda You can download two authoritative books on the subject of pranayama and yoga by Swami Sivanand and the third Patanjali’s Yog Sutras for FREE by visiting my blog Peace and Happiness through Self-Empowerment