Pranayama & Breathwork

Pranayama

‘Prana’ means ‘vital energy’ or ‘life force’. It is the force which is present in all things both animate and inanimate. Our existing view of pranayama can be limited to the idea of breath and air, whereas in fact it has a much wider meaning and hence the practice of it has far deeper implications than the bodily benefits, which are actually a wonderful side-effect of the practice.

WHat is the pranic body?

Yogic science, as well as modern science, both concur as to the existence of an ‘energy body’. In Yoga, this is known as the ‘pranic layer’ and is sometimes called the ‘etheric body’. Prana flows in the pranic body in certain pathways, known as nadis in Yoga. Known in other cultures as Sen lines or Meridian lines. When these channels become blocked, we become afflicted with dis-ease of various kinds; physically, mentally or spiritually.

Why practice pranayama?

Pranayama practices can appear simply as breath control, however their full power is far greater than this. As mentioned, ‘prana’ means ‘life force’ and the rest of the term, ‘ayama’, translates as ‘extension or expansion’.

This definition clarifies that the practices therein are intended to expand our energy bodies through using the breath to influence the nadis or energy channels, thereby activating and regulating the life force, potentially opening the pranic pathways. Thus gaining better health and allowing the practitioner to go beyond normal boundaries attaining a higher state of vibratory energy and awareness.

My own teacher, Keshavaji, coins pranayama as “immunity, health and peace right under your nose”.