Pranayama Saturday session

These are my notes from the pranayama session I attended today.
Prana = Life force, Energy
Yama = Control, restraint

In addition to today's workshop, I found much background information about pranayama on this Web site. When practicing pranayama on your own, it is best to pick one form and practice it for several months instead of several techniques at once. When teaching pranayama to people, talk them through every step, including counting pauses between breaths (a count of 3 or 4). But remind students that they can pause longer or shorter as they feel is necessary in their practice.

Practicing pranayama may be easiest to do when sitting in lotus or laying in savasana. Especially for a beginner, practicing pranayama in poses is more difficult, requiring more focus on breath and pauses as they may not be even. For instance, in handstand, I found my breath easy to exhale, harder to inhale. In triangle, lungs had less capacity for movement, and even less so in reverse triangle. In reverse triangle, I could only inhale and exhale about half to three quarters the amount, and I had to breathe normally once in a while.

It is important to remember that as with all yoga, nothing should be forced. Pranayama should not be practiced if your nasal passages are blocked and it is not recommended for pregnant women as the developing fetus needs as much fresh oxygen as possible and holding your breath reduces oxygen flow in the blood.

As we have already learned in practicing yoga, we inhale and exhale ujjayi breath through the nose. This is important for keeping the breath hot. Heated breath heats the body, including muscles for greater endurance and flexibility, and the circulatory and nervous systems to purify from toxins whether they be mental or physical. Anytime we breathe through the mouth, it begins to cool the breath and the body. Inhale through nose, exhale through mouth--or even a backwards breath such as inhale through mouth and exhale through nose (this is rare, awkward...purposefully done in swimming or done as one "bites their tongue"). Breathing through the mouth only is "panting" as dogs do to cool off. More about cooling breath is found at the bottom of this post.

Puraka Kumbhaka Rechaka Kumbhaka
This basic pranayama technique focuses on the four stages of breathing: Inhale, Pause, Exhale, Pause. During this breathing, the three bandhas are locked during the pause. So, the technique is Inhale, Lock Bandhas, Pause, Release Bandhas, Exhale, Lock Bandhas, Pause, Release Bandhas.

Many "how to" yoga pages explain that pranayama techniques should be done with a 2:8:4:8 ratio, but we discussed that pranayama can be altered to one's needs. Any and all secdtions can be altered. A long inhale, short pause, long exhale. A short inhale, short pause, long exhale. Etc.

Viloma Pranayama
Also known as "three-lobed" pranayama, it is done by inhaling and exhaling in thirds, with a pause between each third of the breath. The ways of practicing this pranayama are:

1. Inhale in thirds, exhale normally
2. Inhale normally, exhale in thirds
3. Inhale in thirds, exhale in thirds

Generally, people may find it easier to practice the inhale, but can ease themselves into practicing all three forms. Someone pointed out that the lung has three lobes.

Assisted Ujjayi Breathing
In a seated lotus pose, we took turns using two people to assist our ujjayi breathing. Sitting on opposite sides of our body, the assistants held our abdomen and/or chest and back in three ways:

1. In the first posture the assistants both held the front of our abdomen, low between the pelvic "scoop" and the lower back slightly above our coccyx. They squeezed in to support the breath.
2. In the second posture one assistant continued as in the first posture, the other assistant held two or three fingers (the thumb and pointer or thumb and pointer with middle) from one hand on the upper chest, just under the collar bone, and the other hand's two/three fingers were on the upper back symmetric with the front hand. When the person inhaled, the top two hands were lifted to assist the chest in rising, and the lower hands were squeezed.
3. In the third posture, one assistant continued the two/three finger upper assistance as in the second posture, but the lower/ab assistant changed posture. The lower hands were placed on the left and right sides of the pelvic scoop with thumb in the front and other fingers in back. This assistant has to move to the front of the breather to get the right posture.
   

Bhastrika Pranayama
Also known as "bellows breath", like the tool used in fanning a fire with air. It is a forced inhale and exhale. It is a long, full breath, working the breath. Some who practice this type of pranayama find the eyes tingle, a light-headed sensation (but do not do this form of pranayama to "pass out") and they may feel the upper lip and cheeks tingle or go numb.

Kapalabhati Pranayama
This form of pranayama is also known as "skull-shining" or cleansing breath and the effect gives the practitioner a clean energy rising to the skull. It is done by inhaling to full, and "punching" the exhale out. When I tried this, I felt a small inhale naturally with each exhale punch. I thought this was incorrect so I focused on not letting any air back in on the exhale. I found I could not exhale very long, a few seconds maybe. Later, I discussed this with other student and they explained that there is some inhale, which allows one to exhale for several minutes.

Nadi Shodana(Anuloma Viloma)
Alternate nostril breathing seems to have a few names and various ways of practicing it. As nadi shodana, it is called nerve or energy purification. To practice this technique, fold the middle and pointer fingers of your right hand. Use your right thumb to close the right nostril and inhale through the left nostril. Immediately close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger, and at the same time remove your thumb from the right nostril. Exhale through the right nostril. This completes a half round. With the ring and little fingers still on the left nostril, inhale through the right nostril. Close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril. This completes one full round.

It is believed in Ayurvedic medicine, which is closely followed by many ancient yogis, that we don't breathe equally with both nostrils. One nostril is dominant at certain times of the day than the other--following a natural, circadian rhythm that alternates approximately every two hours in people in good health. It is also believed that this nasal cycle corresponds with brain function. As we have learned in anatomy class, the right side of the brain controls creative activity, while the left side controls logical, verbal activity. We also know from anatomy that the physical sides of our body (ie right and left) correspond to the opposite brain lobe. Therefore, when the left nostril is dominant, the right side of the brain is predominant. Similarly, when the right nostril is dominant, the left side of the brain is predominant. Yogis also believe that the clear right nostril indicates a more aware mental state, and the clear left side signifies a more relaxed mental state.

Testing this theory, I found that during this exercise, my left nostril was blocked although many attempts to clear it were futile. That being said, I noticed that I was very alert and ready to learn. Later, I came home and felt a yawn, I wanted to relax. I tested my nostrils and sure enough, the left one was miraculously cleared, and the right side was blocked.

There are more facets to the Ayurvedic theories behind left- or right-side dominant nostrils which we did not get into. Such as breathing in through the left, out through right can help calm you down and conversely, in through right and out through left can help you increase your energy level. But the summary of this is that by practicing alternate nostril breathing, one can rebalance a disturbed nasal cycle.

Buzzing of the bees
Kathy mentioned that exhaling of the "M" of "OM" is a form of pranayama called the buzzing of the bees.

Cooling breath techniques
We practiced sithali, a cooling pranayama technique where the tongue is curled and you inhale and exhale through the mouth. It is called "teeth-hissing" for the sound you make while inhaling. Some resources mention that you exhale through the nose, but I think it depends on how fast you want to "cool" whether you exhale through the nose or mouth. We tried two techniques: curling the tongue back so the tip is flat back and inhaling through the left and right sides of the tongue and then curling the tongue sides up like a tube and sipping the air in through the tip like a straw. In both techniques, I could feel the air cool my mouth. The first technique I felt it more in the molars and cheeks and the second technique the cooling air went to the back of my throat.