PRANAYAMA

“‘Prana’ means breath, respiration, life, vitality, energy or strength. ‘Ayama’ means stretch, extension, expansion, length, breadth, regulation, prolongation, restraint or control.‘Pranayama’ thus means the prolongation of breath and its restraint.”

— BKS - Iyengar

Pranayama is the 4th of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. As taught by Srivatsa Ramaswami, Prana means life force or vital energy. Yama means self-control, as well as intentional expansion and the ‘a’ in front of Yama, means complete control. Therefore pranayama is to completely bring the breath under control. Then If we understand that prana is our life force and vitality and we are extending and controlling our breath, we are extending and bringing our life force under control. We understand then that the quality of our breath has a direct effect on the quality of our life.

Yoga moves us from distraction to direction. To become a practitioner of this theory, one must learn to bring one’s breath under control and learn to focus one’s internal energy and mind. If you have ever desired to meditate and cannot, if you suffer from depression and anxiety on a regular basis, if you cannot catch a vision or inspiration for your life, a missing key could be pranayama, or as it’s referred to in modern times, breathwork.

In Hinduism, one place that Yoga stems from, breath and spirit are considered the same thing. So we are not only creating respiration for our lungs and bodies, we are RE SPIRITING our beings. As BKS Iyengar says, “It is as difficult to explain Prana as it is to explain God”. As with all yogic lineages, it is 10% philosophy and 90% practice. The proof is in the pudding, as we say. You must experience the spiritual science to know its truth.

In my culture, the Great Eagle represents connection to Great Spirit and Keen Sight and Vision. When we breathe Spirit into our being, we become like the great Eagle and begin to observe the landscape of this human experience from another vantage point.

In the week to come, we will explore a few ways pranayama can support your life through anxiety and depression, morning practice, connection to creation, your sacred centre, catching a vision, and working with grief. And we will bring all these elements together in the Sunday practice.

Let us be like the Great Eagle friends. I look forward to steeping in the Sacred Breath and ReSpiriting with you.

Warmly,

Malina