Eight Limbs Of Yoga- 4 Pranayama

Pranayama is a bridging point in the eight limbs. From here we move deeper into the subtle realms.

Most places will tell you pranayama means breath control, but prana is energy and ayama means creation, distribution and maintenace. Pranayama then is the subtle science of yogic creation, maintenance and distribution of vital energy. The source of vital energy in this case is the air we breath.

In asana practice as we have said we are opening the body to the flow of prana in the nadis (see limb three). How we breath when practising asanas will have direct effect on how much flows, while the asana directs where.

There are great masters in India who say that no one today fully understands the art

and science of pranayama. Let us bare this in mind as an indication of the great depth of yogic science and our own humility in the face of it.

We do know this much. There is direct relationship between the breath, flow of prana and consciousness. So on one dimension pranayama is a powerful participant in the purification process as the nadis are opened to the increasing flow of vital force. Simultaneously the subconscious is cleared of past conditionings of feeling, emotion and belief. As a result the light of pure consciousness shines brighter. Sounds good doesn’t it? As long as we confine ourselves here to the philosophy it even sounds straight forward.

Let us remind ourselves again then at this point of the third niyama, tapas (see limb two). The increasing flow of energy creates the fire of tapas and the purification process is a ‘burning’. Obviously this is not a literal burning. Though there can be times when it really feels like it, and there can be physical fevers. Burning is the process of transformation, the return of what is, to it’s most fundamental elements. It is often no easy thing to heal and release the past in this way, especially when it is pasts we didn’t even know we had, and still don’t remember even as the temperature rises.

Different techniques of pranayama have different purposes and effects. Some can be cooling and calming, bringing a soothing lightness and peace. Nothing however exists in isolation and just as the breath itself is a wave in motion in the body, the waves of transformation continually rise and fall, ebb and flow. Yoga we can say then, is the science of learning to surf in the spiritual ocean of life.

Controlling the breath – as a concept of pranayama, is like a wife or husband believing they must control their spouse. The very idea of control is the foundation of our ego centred structure. I prefer to think in terms of dancing and it is no fun to dance with someone who is trying to control you!

Eight Limbs of Yoga 5 Pratyhara

Eight Limbs of Yoga 3 Asana

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