Prana (Pranayama)

Researchers have documented the benefits of a regular practice of simple, deep breathing, which include reduced anxiety and depression, lower/stabilized blood pressure, increased energy levels, improved immunity, decreased feelings of stress and overwhelm, and reduction in PTSD symptoms.

Breathing practices in Pranayama include:

• Pūraka (inhalation);
• Recaka (exhalation);
• Antah kumbhaka (internal retention of breath); and
• Bahih kumbhaka (external retention of breath).

Simple breathing exercises such as slow and controlled breathing are known to calm the mind and are clinically used to reduce excessive arousal. However, the understanding of the relationship between mind and breath is still incomplete.  According to the Ancient Yoga Tradition, the breath and the mind are closely interconnected and their influence is bidirectional. Modern science has just started to confirm and analyze this fact in more detail. Yogic breathing exercises are known as Pranayamas and are considered a form of meditation in itself, as well as a preparation for deep meditation. They promote physical well-being and self-awareness, improve lung and cognitive capacities, reduce blood pressure, anxiety, and other psychosomatic patterns, probably by increasing the parasympathetic tone. A critical study showed that nasal breathing generates phase-locked oscillations in the local field potential activity of the piriform cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus of humans. Interestingly, breathing through the mouth does not induce the same pattern of synchronization and is correlated with sleep disturbances and attention deficit hyperactive disorder.  Some studies also suggested that asymmetry in nasal airflow – in which most of the flow occurs through one of the nasal passages – may be associated with asymmetry in brain activity. Of note, increases in respiration rate are synchronized to amygdala activation during states of anxiety or fear and have a modulatory role in neuronal activity of the neocortex, directly linking breathing to cognitive processes.  In addition, one recent study highlighted that conscious breathing might promote top-down emotional regulation through the prefrontal cortex network with the limbic system.

The three sorts of motion of Pranayama are, one by which we draw the breath in, another by which we throw it out, and the third action in which the breath is held in the lungs, or stopped from entering the lungs. These, again, are varied by place and time. By place is meant that the prana is held to some particular part of the body. By time is meant how long the prana should be confined to a certain place, and so we are told how many seconds to keep one motion, and how many seconds to keep another. The results of this Pranayama is Udgata, awakening the Kundalini.

Pranayama is an art and has techniques to make the respiratory organs to move and expand internally, rhythmically and intensively. It consists of long, sustained flow of inhalation (puraka), exhalation (rechaka), and retention of breath (kumbhaka). Puraka stimulates the system; rechaka throws out vitiated air and toxins; kumbhaka distributes the energy throughout the body…. This disciplined breathing helps the mind to concentrate and enables the sadhaka to attain robust health and longevity.

Agnisara is a unique Pranayama whose description is as follows (5) : “The student site with crossed legs and inhales deeply. Then with a forced exhalation he empties the lungs as much as possible. After the exhalation, he keeps the breath out for a few moments without inhaling. In this condition, his diaphragm is raised naturally to the thoracic cavity and he can manipulate the abdominal muscles. Again, as long as his diaphragm is in the raised position, he pumps the abdominal muscles inward and outward in a quick succession. In each round, when he empties his lungs, he pumps fifteen to twenty times without inhaling. This is one round. A student can practice ten rounds daily.

The most interesting work in this area is related to changes in the electrical activity o the brain hemispheres due to both natural alterations in nostril breathing and during forced unilateral nostril breathing, this latter being similar to Pranayamic breathing. It has been observed that the total EEG amplitude is higher in the contra lateral hemisphere than the ipsilateral hemisphere. In other words, if a person is breathing predominately with the left nostril, that person’s right hemisphere of the brain will be more active, putting out a greater electrical signal than the left hemisphere (8). Even during forced nostril breathing, such hemispheric responses have been found. Figure 1 shows a typical frequency response plot of an individual during forced nostril breathing conditions taken with Lexicor 23 channel brain mapping system at our laboratory. Both the top and bottom panels of the figure show one epoch each, representing two seconds of EEG data. The panels show the frequency spectra at 19 locations on the scalp. The frequency band covered in this plot is between 0 and 32 Hz. The plots have the front of the head represented on the top of each panel and the back at the bottom. The top panel is with the subject breathing with the dominant (left) nostril with the right nostril closed, while the bottom panel is taken when the right or the non dominant nostril is utilized for breathing with the left nostril closed. In each case, the breathing is achieved by closing one nostril with a nasal plug. It is seen clearly that in the top panel, the right brain hemisphere is more active than the left, while in the bottom panel the opposite seems to be the case.