Somatic breathwork has become fashionable, and latterday gurus are bringing breath-mind practices people who want to challenge their limits. Yoga breathing exercises – pranayama – are tried and tested over generations. Starting gently, conscious breath greatly benefits health and wellbeing. A chief benefit is to calm the mind and so counteract stress.
Breathing is an autonomic function. In other words our system takes care of it without us having to think about it. Yogis, in their quest to master mind and body, developed conscious ways to engage with the breath.
The Conscious breath
Notice your breath at the moment. I imagine you are sitting reading and so it’s likely to be light and shallow, a clavicular breath, so called because it’s at the level of the collarbones. Maybe now you are thinking about it, it might go a bit longer and deeper – try that. It takes a bit of concentration and, at a simple level, it’s this conscious awareness of the breath that calms. With the awareness on the breath, you’ll be thinking about other things, or worrying, less.
The quality of the breath and the state of mind are linked. Someone angry has a short, hard breath. Someone grieving often sighs. When concentrating hard, the breath can almost be imperceptible; when distressed, chaotic. A long and slow breath accompanies a slowed and relaxed mind. A basic and fundamental conscious breath is the yogic, or diaphragmatic/belly breath. I’ll upload a link to a mini-tutorial here (watch this space).
Toning the vagus nerve
Conscious breathing not only calms you in the moment but regular practice tones the vagus nerve. This goes ‘brain to bum’ and is responsible for a lot of the subconscious management of our body, including the rest and repair responses. Toning the vagal response means we can shift from emotional fight or flight reactions to genuinely feeling more peaceful. Good vagal tone is also linked to a healthy immune system.
Resilience in the nervous system
Added to the obvious benefits of better oxygenation and gas exchange across the lung surface, practice of the conscious breath works on deep levels in your body-mind system. One primary classic aim of all yoga exercises (both breathwork and yoga postures) is to build resilience to the nervous system. Originally yogis wanted the mental stamina to sit in meditation. A stronger nervous system also meant they were able to attain higher experience, and embrace it.
Prana-yama
Let’s break down the word pranayama. Prana is the vital force, our life force or energy. Sometimes people equate prana to the breath itself, which is inaccurate. But, on the other hand, if you were to stop breathing, you would die and obviously lose life force! So breath and life-force are clearly linked. Yama classically means control, so we have breath or life force control. I prefer to use the terms management or development. When we do the pranayama exercises we develop our energy.
Raised energy
For yogis the main aim was/is not to have more energy necessarily (though you will have this side benefit) but to refine the energy. Yogis aim to raise the inner vibration to better have the experience of meeting with God. You may or may not be on a spiritual path exactly, but pranayama is a valuable tool for anyone exploring.
At Viveka Gardens all classes include pranayama and breath awareness in holding postures. Since Covid we practise fewer specific breathing exercises in class, unless it’s full summer and we have full ventilation. Online workshops are great for learning the extra techniques. Little and often, as in a weekly class, perhaps with some home practice, is the best way to go, gently training your system to hold longer breath.
It has become fashionable to do extreme techniques that bring strong sensations, even though Wim Hof and the Grofs emphasise steady training. You do not want to jump in at the deep end because it can be damaging. Truth is, generally people can only go forward at the safe rate they are able to. No need to force.
Conter-indications to pranayama
- certain exercises may trigger asthma proceed with caution
- certain clinical mental health conditions as always, build with slow steady practice
- an excessively meat-based diet a vegetarian, non-egg diet is the classic yogic diet (basic exercises fine for all)
- a full stomach, or a big meal the night before just hinders the movement of the diaphragm and you need all your blood for the pulmonary-vascular, rather than around the stomach for digestion
- pregnancy no holding the breath
Ways to explore and develop pranayama:
One to ones and small bespoke groups
Pranayama Workshop Online