What is Pranayama?

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We regulate and channel prana, the primordial life force, through various breathing techniques. Pranayama is the life-force associated to our breath. It plays a pivotal role in connecting our mind and body, and facilitating the experience of silent awareness.

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The word pranayama is a compound of two separate Sanskrit terms, prana and yama. Some of the earliest Vedic texts translate prana, as the “life force” or “vital energy”. The complementary term yama is often translated as “restraint” or “control”. Other early text on Indian medicine state that prana is “the fundamental basis of whatever is, was, and will be". 

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Pranayama then, is typically defined as a set of practices designed to control prana within the human body by means of various breathing techniques, meditative visualizations and kumbhaka, the practice of breath retention in yoga.

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Why practice Pranayama?