Pranayama support

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

What is best pranayama for elongating the breath and getting rid of jerkiness in body from prana blockages?

The jerks do not necessarily correlate to heart rate or in-breath/out-breath. They do however correlate to thoughts of jerking and anxiety that I will jerk because I thought of jerking :slight_smile:

I am beginning to lose weight and get into shape but I also intend to exercise breathing by itself. Just wanted to know what has worked for the forum out there in terms of being able to breath deeper, quieter, less jerky, and limited pauses. I would like to be able to have a natural breathing experience of at least 3 breath per minute without forcing myself or having to count to insure that I do not breath short of my goal. This is very difficult to do and requires a lot of training, but what training would you suggest is most effective?

Thank you in advance!

#2

I would also like to know about breath retention practices. Right now I am purging and holding for as long as is comfortable like David Blaine explains in his TED talk. He used this technique to train for holding his breath for 17 minutes under water.

#3

Pranayama should only be learned from and under the supervision of a competent and qualified teacher. You would not consider re-wiring your house using a book from the library and pranayama is no different. Use a professional.

The jerking you experience would suggest you are trying to run before you can walk and need to do more calming practices (for the subtle body) like Nadi Shodhana and Ajapa Japa. Also, if you expect it to happen , it will and if you try to prevent it, will make it worse - in my experience. Maybe you could learn to accept it???

As for prolonged breath retention: may I suggest finding a forum for free-divers.

#4

A teacher would be wonderful – if there were a pranayama teacher near me. I will listen to your advice and be accepting and careful however.

I have quite a good concept of what I am doing from a medical point of view. I may not follow the guidelines of a yogi but some of the guidelines are based on material that has no reliable and valid proof. Within the bounds of science I will travel with small goals and love for the craft looking at my predecessors with respect and reverence.

I certainly learn a lot from pranayama knowledge but only do what has been approved by doctors that I go to and seems useful from my perspective as a psychologist and hopefully neuroscientist soon!

Thank you for the reply

#5

Has prana been [I]scientifically[/I] proven?

#6

The answer is no. It has not been scientifically proven, however, we understand that energy is a vital component to living. Energy is studied in its material functions like in physiological activity in the body and emotion( energy in motion).

The best conclusion that science has come up with is that mind is a construct of the brain and that any potentially helpful idea – whether a fantasy or a fact – is in essence beneficial for your life. If you believe in prana continue to do so, so long as it does not hinder you in any way.

Prana is an idea in the mind about mind stuff – as it is noted in sutra – and the mind just cant be proven scientifically because it is intangible. We know we have a mind but cant prove it other than subjective experiences. We can show we have a brain and some have tried to say that the brain is responsible for thoughts, giving thoughts electrical current, but that is also not true; thought do not have an electrical signal so far as we know.

So what is prana? If it is vital life force it is in essence all things that are vital for the human body. This force would then be all emotion and physiology that goes on in the body that is HELPFUL otherwise it would not be vital. So in order to improve prana, one must be optimistic, follow their belief system and practice what they believe will work, and take care of their health.

I hope this was at best an interesting post!

#7

I asked because in another post you classified yourself as “… a thinking man and a skeptic.” and yet here you are inquiring about pranayama. Ergo I was wondering how the unproven is sitting with you in such a way that you could pursue it so.

#8

Although prana has not been proven, the benefits of breathing practices have been proven! Like I stated earlier as well: The fact that prana is still considered a fantasy to a scientist does not illegitimate the belief in it. The real truth is that all beliefs are biased and none are full proof. Also, our brains are wired to believe in things that require faith in not knowing that they are not entirely true. So do I believe in prana? No not yet; I have not felt an experience that is for certain – to me – a feeling or sensation of prana. Is there any proof of it existing? Well…no. But that wont stop me from believing in it if I decide to and convince myself with the sensual evidence through self inspection. I crave to believe!

Being skeptical is a state of mind endorsed by neuroscientists now as the healthy way to be as long as you are still optimistic.

#9

Good. Then onward to answer your original question.

Access to the breath, to pranayama (defined as control of the breath) comes from opening around the breathing apparatus, the breath “container” if you will. Ergo in asana it is backbends which access, effect and open the rib cage, intercostals, diaphragm, collarbones et al.

When the breath is not smooth (what you term “jerky”) that is often an indicator of overdoing physically, mentally or both. In fact the breath and its smoothness serve as a barometer for the beginning student to moderate their effort.

Effective training for pranayama, backbends aside, is to align the body (as prana moves in vectors and should move only into nadis and not into the organic body), begin with gentle pranayama practice (one’s that do not agitate the nerves or their system), gradually increase the duration of the practice, then continue said practice for about a decade before determining if additional pranayama practices are wanted/needed.

Hope this answers your initial questions and provides some help.

gordon

#10

Thank you very much. That was very insightful.

#11

I’m glad I could be of help.

gordon

#12

Scientifically proven; the result of trial and error observation, nothing to do with a theory or belief.

#13

[QUOTE=ray_killeen;86802]Scientifically proven; the result of trial and error observation, nothing to do with a theory or belief.[/QUOTE]

Lets just say that it is a validated science in other cultures and not in mainstream science. Leading scientists do not support a system of belief, which is always a theory – none can be anything but a theory because all are biased – that can not be quantifiably measures. So Prana itself is a substance that is not agreed upon along with yoga psychology, but that benefits of yoga practice and lifestyle is well noted.

#14

Uh it was a rhetorical question on my part to illustrate a point about the OP. Though if it productively takes the thread somewhere profound I’m on board.

#15

Direct experience from applied comprehensive methodologies and skillful techniques of yogic pranayama seem to benefit this human apparatus; otherwise it?s an immeasurable coincidence.

#16

Pranayama is more effective when combined with visualization, as in Kriya yoga techniques.

Two excellent books:

Kundalini Tantra, by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Dharana Darshan, by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

#17

I also crave to believe- but accept that my subjectivity is biased. I have benefitted immensely from professional help and agree with Gordon on that matter. The ‘placebo effect’, Kriya yoga, and visualization have varied forms and have proven their worth to me in the past.

YG