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PRANAYAMA & THE BREATH

MODULE

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TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

BREATHING FUNDAMENTALS

PERSPECTIVES & CAUTIONS

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CONTENTS

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PRANAYAMA TECHNIQUES

BASIC BREATH TRAINING & YOGIC

BREATHING

Pranayama & The Breath Module

PERSPECTIVES

TEACHING BEGINNERS

Chapter Highlights

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PERSPECTIVES & CAUTIONS

A long and subtle breath establishes a calm

mind. A calm mind is the foundation for

everything great.

— Yogini Kaliji

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE

MORE CAUTIONS

CHRONIC CONDITIONS

Version 2.0

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE

• Describe multiple perspectives from which to examine the topic of

pranayama.

• How is teaching breath practices different from teaching formal

pranayama?

• Which practices are safe for beginners? Which are not?

• What aspect of the breath cycle requires particular experience and skill

to safely practice and teach?

• Describe cautions to be observed during a practice, such as the

environment, sequencing related to other class elements, advising

students, etc.

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PRANA

• Prana as life-force energy separate from

the breath, and the relationship between

Prana and breath

• Energy concepts and subtle anatomy

from yoga philosophy

BASIC BREATH TRAINING &

YOGIC BREATHING

• Basic breath training, such as awareness

of the breath

• Yogic Breathing to increase respiratory

efficiency

BREATH & BREATHING

FUNDAMENTALS

• Physical process of breathing

• Impact of breath on nervous system

• Fundamentals of natural breathing

PERSPECTIVES There are multiple angles from which to examine

the topic of pranayama and breathing.

While all are relevant and related, awareness of

the distinctions will assist you in organizing your

own study and in choosing teachings for

different situations.

We offer expert teachings in each of these areas.

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PRANAYAMA

• Pranayama as one of the 8 Limbs and a

yogic technique to access, stabilize,

refine and direct prana

• Cautions

• Techniques

This Course covers distinctions

between teaching beginners and

experienced students plus other

general teaching cautions.

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TEACHING BEGINNERS

Pranayama is attempted only when the body,

nervous system, and lungs have been

strengthened by asana practice. This usually

takes at least two years. As breath is subtle,

even more care has to be taken over it than

over the asanas.

— Silva Mehta, Yoga: The Iyengar Way

• Don't teach advanced

techniques to inexperienced

students

• Teach preparatory practices

to beginners

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Although many students may not yet be ready for most

pranayama, basic breath practices are excellent

preparation.

It is important to tell [new students] explicitly that in yoga

we are interested in how we go, not how far we go.

– Mark Stephens, Yoga Sequencing

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• Traditional wisdom teaches that pranayama requires a

still body and calm mind as developed through asana.

Some lineages adhere to this while other modern

styles teach pranayama alongside asana.

• In considering this point, bring to mind raw beginners

who exhibit bodily tension, habitual egoic aggression,

and an inability (yet) to listen to their body or observe

their mind. What tends to happen when they are asked

to sit still for an unknown period of time while

counting or extending their breath? Often we see

rounded shoulders and stiff torsos, strained faces and

tense bodies as these students heroically "fight" to

perform the task they have been given.

• For in-depth support on teaching safe breath-related

practices, see Breathing Fundamentals and Practices.

TEACHING BEGINNERS

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CHRONIC CONDITIONS

• The majority of breath

practices and pranayama

techniques are intended for

relatively healthy individuals.

• General yoga often helps

relieve temporary physical

and emotional states.

• Students with chronic

conditions, however, should

be referred to a yoga

therapist or other expert. Please note that I'm not recommending that you try to

breathe away chronic anxiety, fatigue, or depression.

None of these conditions is easily or safely self-treated.

In fact, tackling them by yourself, without professional

supervision, could make them worse. But your breath

can be a powerful ally in coping with temporary

physical and emotional states—whether you're

despondent about an argument with a close friend,

apprehensive about an upcoming job interview, or

exhausted after a tough day at work.

— Richard Rosen

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Only teach breath retention if you are

specifically qualified to do so.

Teach breath retention only to

experienced students.

• Spontaneous pauses may be part of an evolution of practice.

Pranayama practices incorporating kumbhaka, however, are known

to be powerful while also presenting serious risk.

• Holding the breath is only recommended for experienced students

with qualified teachers.

• Most recommend kumbhaka only with awareness of bandhas.

BREATH RETENTION

One should be very careful about retention… It

should be practiced properly under personal

guidance, without going beyond what a teacher

tells us. The prana is very powerful energy. We

shouldn’t play with cobras without a proper

cobra trainer nearby.

– Sri Swami Satchidananda

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Simple breathing exercises such as diaphragmatic

breathing can be healthy and helpful. But in order

to really practice pranayama the knowledge and

application of the bandhas is important. Without

the application of the bandhas, pranayama

practices can be injurious to one's health. A

comprehensive knowledge of both the theory and

practice of the bandhas is essential.

– Swami Rama, Path of Fire and Light, Vol. 1

PRANAYAMA & BANDHAS

While many breathing exercises

are safe for all healthy

students, formal pranayama

requires knowledge of

bandhas.

Serious pranayama should not be practiced

without prior knowledge of the bandhas... The

Yoga Rahasya states that pranayama without

application of the three bandhas does not confer

benefits and that without the bandhas, pranayama

is useless and may give rise to disease. Contrarily,

if done with all three bandhas, pranayama will

destroy the causes of all diseases.

– Gregor Maehle, Pranayama The Breath of Yoga

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NOT EVERYONE EXPERIENCES PRACTICES THE SAME WAY

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“My beloved long-time teacher Donald Moyer... was personally trained by B.K.S. Iyengar. He told

me that the type of classic pranayama that Iyengar taught made him… nervous or anxious or

something like that. That’s why Donald came up with his own way of practicing and teaching

pranayama that involved bringing awareness to certain parts of your body and focusing on

breathing into those areas. And many of his students loved the way he taught pranayama.

But I didn’t—and trust me I gave his type of pranayama many tries over the years. While his

style of breath work didn’t make me anxious, it made me feel “bad,” not calm and relaxed. How

to describe it? Sort of heavy and mildly depressed. So I talked with him about it. He told me

about his experiences… and I told him about both my positive and negative experiences…

And Donald’s advice to me was that I should either do a different breath practice (such as

extending my exhalation—which works well for me) or none at all… I should just go ahead and

do whatever worked for me… So really the bottom line for pranayama is if it’s not working for

you, it’s not working for you. And that means no matter what the official story is about a

practice—especially if something makes you anxious—you shouldn’t do it.”

— Nina Zolotow, Yoga for Healthy Aging, Breath Practices

• Although breath practices

and pranayama may provide

a generally common set of

results, not everyone

experiences them the same

way.

• Warn students to report

experiences of anxiety or

other indications a practice

may not be working for

them.

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NEVER FORCE OR OVERDUE ANY

EXERCISE

PRACTICE CAUTIONS

AVOID STRENUOUS ASANA JUST

BEFORE OR AFTERENSURE THE SPINE IS ALIGNED IN

SEATED OR SUPINE POSTURE

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The most widespread caution is that

one must never force or "overdo"

any breathing exercise. Creating

discomfort of any sort is an immediate

cue to release the effort, return to

natural breathing and only begin

again if it can be done with ease.

— Richard Rosen, The Yoga of Breath

It is not advisable to do pranayama

immediately before or after strenuous

asanas, as these disturb the breath

and the lungs. It may be practiced

after a quieting asana session

consisting of supported inverted

poses.

— Silva Mehta, Yoga: The Iyengar Way

The deep roots of wisdom that

brought pranayama to the world are

clear about the crucial role of the

spine in practice. Preparing with asana

for some months or years is

particularly important in Westernized

locales, where poor posture and

muscle tone inhibits the ability to sit

with alignment and comfort. In the

Iyengar tradition, breathing practices

are first practiced in Savasana with the

back supported in order to train the

lungs without causing strain.

MORE PRACTICE CAUTIONS

DO NOT FORCEBE MINDFUL OF

POSTURE

AVOID PRACTICING

BEFORE OR AFTER

STRENUOUS ASANA

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ENSURE THAT FRESH AIR

IS CIRCULATING

AVOID PRACTICING

RIGHT AFTER EATING

BE AWARE OF PARTICULAR

PRACTICE CAUTIONS

END PERSPECTIVES & CAUTIONS