Prana Yama… Breath Control !
Controlling our breath….can lead to a health life…. !!!
When we are under stress…. we tend to breathe from our chest in shallow, rapid breaths.
By simply focusing on our breath… our breathing becomes deeper and more relaxed.
This is a fundamental part of the bio-feedback breathing exercise system…
Yes….Controlling our breath….can lead to a health life….
Let us see what the Hindu scriptures have to say on this….
"Prana is a subtle invisible force. It is the life-force that pervades the body. It is the factor that connects the body and the mind, because it is connected on one side with the body and on the other side with the mind. It is the connecting link between the body and the mind. The body and the mind have no direct connection. They are connected through Prana only and this Prana is different from the breathing you have in your physical body."
– Swami Chidananda Saraswati
"Yoga works primarily with the energy in the body, through the science of pranayama, or energy-control. Prana means also ‘breath.’ Yoga teaches how, through breath-control, to still the mind and attain higher states of awareness. The higher teachings of yoga take one beyond techniques, and show the yogi, or yoga practitioner, how to direct his concentration in such a way as not only to harmonize human with divine consciousness, but to merge his consciousness in the Infinite."
– Paramahansa Yogananda
This is how wikipedia defines Pranayama :
Pranayama (Sanskrit: prāṇāyāma) is a Sanskrit word meaning "lengthening of the prana or breath". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prāna, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "āyāma", to suspend or restrain. It is often translated as control of the life force (prana). When used as a technical term in yoga, it is often translated more specifically as "breath control".
So…if you are a believer of Indian Yogic methodology… or a follower of western (more documented) exercise regimes...the fact remains that a controlled breathing is the answer for fighting the stresses and strains of modern living !!!
