Pranayama - 4th Limb Of Yoga (4/8)

In the last talk, we covered Asanas which are physical yoga postures. After starting a Yoga asana practice, you may now find you can sit for longer periods of meditation without aches and pains. However, your mind and emotions may still run rampant. This is where the 4th limb of yoga comes in - Pranayama. This is the practice of regulating your Prana (breath/life-force energy). This talk will cover common Pranayama practices and goes in-depth on the 3 main energy channels (nadis).

Transcript

Now our next limb is pranayama.

Before we learned about asana,

Which is the poses that we take on so we're able to better sit for meditation and the asanas previously we learned were aimed to soothe and calm our bodies down so we can now sit for meditation.

But now the problem is that if we have a lot of conflicting thoughts and ruminations in our mind known as vrittis,

This can can affect our meditation practice.

So one method of doing that is through pranayama.

And the root,

The Sanskrit word prana,

Is related to our life force,

Our vital energy.

It's also known as our breath energy as well.

And ayama,

The second part,

Is all about expansion and stretching.

So if you combine the two it can be loosely translated to breath control or expanding your life force energy.

And the breath is linked with our mind.

So you'll find that when you're really angry you have really shallow breaths and likewise when you're really calm you have deep and full breaths and relaxed breaths.

So this is often why we often say,

Hey,

Just take a couple of deep breaths to a person that's very angry because they understand the power of breathing and how that affects your mind.

And by doing different pranayama exercises,

We can circulate our prana,

Our energy,

Freely throughout our bodies.

So prana is conducted and channeled by what is known as nadis.

So you can think of nadis as tubes or channels which circulate prana through our body.

They tend to get stuck at certain different places.

And there are,

It's speculated that there are thousands or hundred thousands of different nadis surrounding our bodies or in their bodies rather.

But the main nadis you should really focus on,

The three main ones,

Are the sushumna which is the middle column which is,

Starts basically at the base of your spine,

The muladhara,

The first chakra area,

Then goes all the way up to your brain,

Your crown chakra.

And then surrounding those,

The main column,

You have what is known as ida which is left side of the energy which kind of loops around the main column,

Kind of like a snake.

And then you also have the pingala which is on the other side,

Which is on the right side,

And that also kind of intertwines the main column.

So you can kind of think of it like you have a middle column and then you have two different sides of energy which kind of coil around like a snake.

So I also think of kundalini energy as well,

Like it's related to a serpent energy.

But anyways,

The ida is associated with lunar energy,

Feminine energy,

And also associated with the right side of the brain.

And the pingala,

Which is on the right side,

The right column,

Is associated with solar energy,

Masculine energy,

And also associated with the left side of the brain.

So it's kind of the opposite.

And those intertwine and by performing different pranayama or breathing exercises,

You can effectively work on all of those channels.

They're both the left side,

The middle,

And the right side,

And bring about balance.

You might find that at different times of the day,

One side is more active than the other,

And you can also purify and clear any stuck energy.

So there are a couple of different breathing exercises that the yogis have taught over the many years.

One is ujjayi,

Which is translated to ocean breath,

And that is when you kind of breathe as if you're constricting your throat,

The back of your throat,

Or fogging up a mirror.

So you'd breathe in like this.

So it kind of sounds like an ocean almost.

And then you have kapalabhati,

Which is the skull's shining breath,

Or breath of fire,

And this is where you rapidly exhale.

So it goes like something like this.

So it goes like something like this.

So you notice I'm just forced exhaling,

And that also clears up any of that stuck energy.

And my personal favorite is nadi shodhana,

Or alternate nostril breathing.

And this balances,

Like I mentioned,

Both the left side of the ita and also the right side of the pingala.

So it brings about balance in both your main nadi channels.

And the way to perform that is to close one nostril,

And then you breathe in through that nostril,

Then you hold your breath,

So you close both nostrils,

You hold your breath for a bit,

And then you exhale through the other nostril,

And then you inhale from that same nostril,

Close both nostrils,

And then breathe out from the other nostril.

And I also have another talk on that,

So you can check out my video on nadi shodhana,

Where I actually explain it more in depth.

So that's my favorite because it balances it out.

And you will typically notice that after performing pranayama,

You feel very relaxed.

It also triggers a parasympathetic nervous system,

And you just feel really good,

And your mind isn't wandering as much as it did before.

And that's the whole point,

Because now that you've done the yoga poses,

Your body is very steady.

And now,

Since you've done pranayama,

Or the breathing techniques,

Now your mind is steady as well.

And this provides a perfect opportunity for you now to begin the more inner practices of yoga.