What is pranayama?
Etymologically
the word pranayama means control of prana or life-force.
How is it
done?
Wait;
first understand what prana means. Swami Vivekananda has, in his Raja
Yoga, elaborately explained what prana is. According to him all
energy, whether in the external world or the internal, is prana. In the
context of an individual it is psychic prana, and according to Swamiji
one can control the cosmic prana by controlling the psychic prana.
Another meaning of prana is life force. When a person dies, we say he
has left the prana; or that the prana has left his physical body.
And, since the grossest manifestation of life in a person is his breath, prana
also means breathing, and pranayama, breath control.
What is pranamaya-kosha?
Is it related in any way to prana?
According
to Vedanta, every individual soul, which is pure consciousness, has various coverings—five
in number in human beings and higher animals. Pranamaya kosha is the
second one, the first being annamaya kosha and third, manomaya kosha.
All this
appears Greek and Latin to us. Can you explain a little?
You
know, you have a physical body. You can see it; and it is nourished by anna—food.
Hence it is called annamaya—made of food. If you fast, the physical body
will wither and die.
OK; what is pranamaya kosha?
This
physical body is not inert; it moves and acts. It grows, changes, and decays.
The heart beats, the lungs expand and relax; the food we take is digested and
excreted. The brain is active, so are the kidneys, liver, spleen, intestines.
These activities of the body and its organs are caused by prana. In
other words, prana pervades every part of the body upto the tip of the
toes. If prana were to leave any part of the body, it will become inert.
This pervasive prana is called pranamaya kosha.
That is clear. What is manomaya kosha? Is it
related to prana as the physical body is?
The
manomaya kosha is the subtler sheath formed of thoughts. We think,
cogitate, have emotions. All these form a sheath, as it were, which covers the
soul. It is obvious that mental activity is also an activity and this must be
activated by prana. It has also been observed that when we are agitated,
our pulse rate becomes fast, and the respiration becomes irregular. That means,
pranamaya kosha is affected by manomaya kosha. Besides, if the
physical body is unhealthy, or if we have to suffer physical strain or
exertion, our heart rate becomes fast and the rate of respiration also
increases.
Although you haven’t explained yet, I presume pranayama has
something to do with control of breath. How is that useful in concentration of
mind, and why has pranayama been incorporated as one of the parts of the
yoga system of Patanjali?
Just
as annamaya kosha and manomaya kosha (mental activity) affect the
pranamaya kosha, similarly pranamaya kosha also influences the
other two. If our breathing is regulated and the physical body is at rest, the
mind too will be quiet. If the body is restless and prana or breathing
irregular, mind too will be agitated. Hence pranayama is considered very
important for control of the mind.
According
to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (II.52) pranayama reduces the obstacles which
stand in the way of acquiring knowledge, like the coverings over light.
Dullness, laziness, sleep and similar manifestations of tamoguna are
destroyed and sattvaguna is manifested.
Due
to ignorance we consider ourselves physical bodies and identify ourselves with
it and the senses. The deep rooted samskaras of such an ignorance are
reduced by pranayama.
How?
Pranayama reduces the activity
of the body and mind and thus helps in dis-identification of the body with the atman.
Prana-restraint gives rise
to slackened effort in worldly activities. Mental functions like pride of
learning, etc., also become less. It is said in one of the upanishads (Amritanadopanishad)
that, ‘As by smelting impurities are removed from mountain-ore, even so,
through control of prana, all the evils concerned with the senses are
destroyed.’
If pranayama
is so useful, can we not control the mind by pranayama only?
Patanjali
has recommended a technique of control of mind based solely on control of prana.
According to Sutra I.34, by exhalation and stopping the breath at the end of
it, one can control the mind. However, such a technique must be learnt from an
expert.
Apart
from this, however, pranayama is considered preliminary and makes the
practitioner fit for dharana, the sixth step of yoga (II.53). Besides,
even while doing pranayama, one must either keep the mind vacant, a
state which must be continued even after pranayama, or must concentrate
on the breathing itself. In other words, some mental effort must be made.
What is the
technique of pranayama?
While
defining pranayama, Patanjali has said: ‘Stopping the motion of
inhalation and exhalation.’ According to this definition, there are two types
of pranayama: not to exhale after inhalation; and not to inhale after
exhalation (II.49).
But generally each pranayama consists of
three parts: inhalation, retention and exhalation, isn’t it?
Yes,
in the next sutra (II.50), Patanjali mentions the three aspects or parts of pranayama:
external, internal and stoppage. According to him breath can be stopped
internally, externally or in the middle while breathing.
This is all quite confusing and one wonders how one
can begin.
There
is no cause for despair. Begin with ‘Nadi Shuddhi’ as described by Swami
Vivekananda.
What
is Nadi Shuddhi?
Close
the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand and breath in with the left
nostril counting one to eight mentally. Then without stopping the breath, close
the left nostril by pressing the little finger and ring finger of the right
hand against the left nostril, open the right nostril, and exhale from the
right nostril with the same speed counting one to eight. Next, breath in with
the right nostril and breath out by the left nostril with the same speed and same
time.
What is the advantage of this procedure?
Normally
our expiration and inspiration are irregular. By this process they will become
gradually regular. Do this procedure 8 times morning and evening, and if you do
it regularly for six months you will fell remarkable wellbeing, lightness and
freshness.
But is
there no stoppage of breath, which is the essential part of pranayama, in this?
True.
It should be added after the practise of Nadi Shuddhi for a few months.
If you gradually make your expirations and inspirations prolonged, by making it
finer and finer as it were, much can be achieved by way of control of breath.
It seems you are not in favour of stopping of
breath or kumbhaka.
Yes;
that is true. Kumbhaka done without the guidance of an expert might
prove dangerous. We have known people whose lungs and heart were permanently
damaged due to sustained, prolonged kumbhaka. Besides, as Swami Vivekananda
has said, for success in pranayama, a strictly regulated life and
continence are essential. In modern times these conditions are difficult to be
fulfilled.
But
why are you in such a hurry? Why don’t you practise Nadi Shuddhi for a
few months, with gradual and systematic prolongation of inspiration and
expiration and see for yourself? The fact is that only a rare few truly
continue even this simple but useful technique for long. Most of the people are
only curious. They don’t have the patience for prolonged practise.
I agree to your objection. Is there no safe kumbhaka?
Yes;
stopping the breath outside, i.e., after exhalation, is safe. There is no
danger of heart or lung damage in it. Secondly, kumbhaka, even external,
must be done gradually, i.e., starting with kumbhaka for 4 counts and
gradually increasing the count.
Should the eyes be closed during pranayama?
Yes;
let the control of the senses be combined with the control of prana.
Even mental control must be added. See to it that the mind is concentrated on
the breath, or on the word OM or at the tip of the nose. Without the associated
mental counterpart, pranayama would get reduced to a mere mechanical
exercise.
What is the
best time to do pranayama?
Do
it just before meditation, twice a day.
Can one do pranayama
if there is stomach upset?
Minor
physical ailments like stomach upset need not be given importance. But it is
better not to do pranayama for a few days if there is a major physical
illness. It must be done on empty stomach after ablutions.
Which books
should we read for more information on pranayama?
You must read Swami Vivekananda’s Raja
Yoga. He has discussed the philosophy of prana and its control in
detail and has also given some hints for its practise. This you will also find
in his Six Lessons on Raja Yoga. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are of course
the basic sources.
In Svetasvatara Upanishad (2.9) you will get reference to pranayama which has been explained in detail in Jeevanmukti Viveka in the chapter on the destruction or control of the mind. Another useful book for pranayama and meditation is Meditation, by monks of the Ramakrishna Order, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. Patanjal-Yoga-Pradipa by Omananda Tirtha and published by Gita Press, Gorakhpur (in Hindi) describes a number of types of pranayama.
