Breathing Exercises – Pranayama

Pranayamas are breathing exercises developed by the ancient yogis. They are used to purify the Pranic nadis in the Pranamaya Kosha by controlling, regulating, and channelizing the Prana in the body. Prana is taken in through the air we breathe, and since the breathing exercises increase the amount of air we take in, they also increase our intake of Prana.
In Sanskrit Prana means energy or vital force and yama means control. So, in English this would translate into control of the vital breath. However, there’s much more to Pranayama than just control of the vital force. Pranayama essentially involves three things: regulating the breath, controlling the vital force and chanalizing the Pranas in the right directions.
The principle of in Yoga is that, order to alter a situation we must make changes in the energy that governs it. To bring about positive changes in body and mind we must understand and work upon the energies through which they work. This is done through a set of exercises that entail synchronized breathing. In Yoga the right or solar nadi is considered masculine or solar in nature. The left is feminine or lunar in nature. It is Pitta or fire predominant and increases energy on the right side. The left or the lunar nadi, is Kapha or water predominant, and increases energy on the left side of the body. To maintain harmony in our Pranic or Subtle body, we should have an equal number of breaths from both nostrils. Since this is not always possible through normal breathing, Pranayama helps chanelize them.
It is also for precisely this reason that Yoga also prescribes a sattvic diet, rich in Prana i.e., foods full of the life-force and a mind rooted in moral and ethical values like truth and non-violence. An impure or toxic body and mind cannot remain healthy for long.
But, before we proceed further, there is something else we must understand. You might have noticed the use of the word Pranas in the last line of the first paragraph. Essentially, and little known to the general public, the Prana consists of 5 different Pranas, viz Prana, Apana, Samana, Vyana and Udana, each performing a different function.
They are all contained in a sheath called the Pranamaya Kosha consisting of roughly 3,64,000 nadis or subtle nerve channels that are connected to out other gross and subtle bodies and sheaths. Thus, the one primary Prana is divided into five, basis their movement, direction and function. Further, they can be classified as energies and processes occurring on different levels in our system.