Pranayama

The word

Pranayama joins prana and ayama. Prana is usually translated as breath or life force, and what prana means in the older texts has a page of its own. Ayama means extension, and some readers split the word as prana and yama, restraint. Both readings fit the practice: it is about lengthening the breath and also about bringing it under steady, gentle control. It is also a steady thread in breath-led yoga for stress and burnout.

Where it comes from

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, pranayama is the fourth of the eight limbs, placed after posture and before the turning inward of the senses. The Sutras describe it briefly, in terms of the inhale, the exhale and the pause, and their length and count. They do not list named techniques. One line in the first chapter offers the even, controlled exhale as a way to a calm mind, and it is among the yoga quotes from the classical texts gathered on this site.

The named techniques come from the later hatha yoga texts. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, usually dated to around the fifteenth century, devotes a chapter to breath and describes eight kinds of kumbhaka, or breath retention, including ujjayi, bhastrika and bhramari, and pairs retention with the bandhas, locks at the pelvic floor, abdomen and throat. It also describes a preparatory practice of breathing through alternate nostrils. The Gheranda Samhita, a later text, gives its own list. Both texts are cautious in tone: they tell the student to go slowly and warn that the breath must be approached step by step.

Common techniques today

• Ujjayi: breathing through the nose with a slight narrowing at the back of the throat, so the breath makes a soft, even sound. Widely used during vinyasa classes.
• Nadi shodhana: alternate nostril breathing, closing one nostril at a time with the fingers, while the other hand often rests in gyan mudra.
• Bhramari: a humming exhale, sometimes with the ears gently covered. The hum is felt at the throat, the place of vishuddha, the throat chakra, in the older texts.
• Lengthened exhale: breathing out for longer than you breathe in.
• Kapalabhati and bhastrika: fast, forceful breathing. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, kapalabhati is listed among the cleansing practices rather than the breathing ones. These are the techniques that most need a teacher and a careful approach.

Safety notes

Keep these simple and take them seriously.

• Stop if you feel dizzy, light-headed or anxious, and go back to normal breathing.
• If you are pregnant, skip breath retention and forceful techniques, and check with your OB or midwife before you start.
• If you have a heart or lung condition, high or low blood pressure, or a history of panic attacks, ask your doctor before trying pranayama, especially retention or fast breathing.
• Never practise breath holding in water or while driving.
• Sit or lie comfortably. Pranayama is not something to strain at.

How it shows up in a modern practice

In most studio classes, pranayama appears in small pieces: ujjayi threaded through a flowing sequence, a few rounds of alternate nostril breathing before the final rest, or a long exhale to settle at the start. A dedicated pranayama practice, sitting for ten or twenty minutes of breath work, is less common in group classes and more common in personal practice.

Learning one technique well

A one-to-one lesson, or a short session at home, leaves time to learn one technique properly instead of rushing through several. Breathing can be practised lying down, seated on a chair or on the floor, at whatever pace suits you, with the safety notes above checked first. If a technique does not feel right, drop it.

For a few simple patterns to begin with, see breathing exercises for stress.