Pranayama Techniques to Restore and Refresh Your Vitality.

My first official introduction to pranayama techniques was through reading the work of Yogi Ramacharaka. I'd studied energy work elsewhere, and so was aware of the life-force in the air and to bring it in with my breath. I found I already had the beginnings of pranayama. The beauty of it is, if you have focused on bringing energy, the universe, God, the Force, in through your breath you're already well on your way.

When we talk about pranayama, we are talking about specific breathing patterns and techniques used to get specific effects. We already know that our breath is powerful. How you breathe can impact your entire internal state. ("Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened.") So, we use the patterns to cultivate and support the state that we want.

I'm going to go a little renegade here. We're going to start with a pattern that most would say isn't part of the real pranayama techniques. But, this is one that is practiced with ease and used often and anywhere. It's called the yogic breath.

To start with the yogic breath, just find a few moments of calm and sit down. No need for any special position, but you do want to sit straight. Make sure you're not restricted as we'll be breathing deep

With this pattern, we try to draw the breath all the way down through the abdomen to the root chakra. Like filling up a glass of water, we fill up the abdomen, then the chest, then the throat. We drink deep of the beautiful life force given to us as a gift. When we can take no more, we exhale, picturing and feeling the collected energy and breath moving up the spine and out through the head. As you do, let all your worries, your anxieties, anything that keeps you from being in this moment go with it. Repeat until you decide to stop.

No need to make any noises, no need for special positions. You can do this and people will think you're just taking some steadying breaths. This has the advantage of being true.

The Classical Pranayama Techniques

The first proper technique I learned was called Anuloma Viloma. Don't worry about the name; I call it alternate nostril breathing. Don't worry, it's not as scary (or gross) as it sounds.

Most people will breathe more with one nostril than another at any given time. Usually the body will just switch which nostril actually does the breathing about every hour or so. This is fine so far as it goes. However, if something happens and you're only bringing in prana with one, that can cause problems. Mental fatigue, skewed perspective, and lack of calm are a few possible results. This, like many pranayama techniques, clears that up.

To begin with, you'll want to bring your index finger and thumb up as if to pinch your nose. Now, push one nostril closed. Doesn't matter which one. Breathe in through the open nostril, nice and deep. Now, switch nostrils. The one that was open should now be closed and vice-versa. Now, breathe out. Once you've exhaled completely, breathe in just as you are. Then, switch nostrils again and breathe out of the same nostril that you used for the first breath. You know what? Maybe I should just make a video...

Moving on from that, the another example of the pranayama techniques I wanted to share is Kapalabhati. This is commonly called the cleansing breath. This one is a lot more straightforward than the last one. If you've been practicing the deep breaths I mentioned way up at the beginning then you'll have no problems.

One quick note before we get going: It's very easy to hyperventilate with this breath. You'll probably want to space it out with normal breaths. That being said, don't be afraid to use it.

Instead of the really deep breath filling us up completely, we're going to breathe down into the abdomen and fill it up. Once we've done that, we breathe out vigorously through the nostrils. Note I said "vigorously", not "hard". It's important you don't put strain on your body. Doing so only defeats the purpose. Breathe out strongly, but not so strong as to hurt or irritate your air passages.

Keep doing this, probably mixing in regular breaths to avoid strain. As the name implies, this breath is good for cleansing purposes, especially if you're trying to clear difficulties with the breathing passages. For example: I have a touch of seasonal asthma. This technique somehow gets the air passages to go back to what they do, instead of freaking out ;-)

There are of course more pranayama techniques, but I don't want to overload you. Try them out and let me know your results!

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For further reading:

• Return from Pranayama Techniques to the main Pranayama page.
• Read more on the chakras and how they interact and operate.
• Return to the main page.