Problems after doing pranayama

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I have been doing pranayama for the past 2 and half months in the order of the DVD bh Baba Ram Dev. after a month or so I experienced high BP and with that I stopped doing Kapalbhathi. Later for the past two weeks or so I have been experiencing a buzz in my head after doing the Anulom vilom and Bhramari and Ujjai. I have problems like sinus which will not let me breath properly (but now I am able to breath ok) and body pains and joint pains and a bit of High Blood Pressure and Borderline Sugar.
The benefits that I have got in these 2.5 months are breathing better, my body pains are disappearing as well I am also active mentally. with these improvements I really dont want to give up pranayama. Please can anyone suggest me a solution for my problem of buzz in my head which will last the whole day on and off.
Vijayaa

#2

Because of high blood pressure I have to be very careful with pranayama. You may want to check with your doctor.

#3

Hai

#4

Be cautious with pranayama.
Not all of them might be good for you.

#5

Vijay,

There are a number of subtleties involved in pranayama which have to be observed and adjusted by an experienced teacher, IN YOUR PRESENCE, in order for them to be learned and practiced properly, and there is a graduated approach to doing so, taking place over a number of weeks and months. For example, are you practicing kapalabhati with retention? Have you learned what retention is, or have you assumed you know? It’s not just holding your breath. Also, most importantly, pranayama should only be practiced in conjunction with a comprehensive hatha practice: in balance with and appropriate to the condition of your body.

There are a plethora of warnings out there about doing pranayama improperly, which I won’t repeat here. Head them. It’s obvious that the moderate benefit you experience is nothing compared to the downside of doing it improperly. Baba Ram Dev knows this too, but he also wants to sell you something.

Find a teacher.

best,
siva

#6

Vijayya,

Prana is life-force. Prana is common to us all, but its vehicles (our bodies) are varied. We inherit bodies in different states, with different strengths and weaknesses. That needs to be recognized. So, if you are trying to imitate someone who has perfected pranayama technique through years of practice, you may hurt yourself.

Pranayama is not an athletic feat. The volume of air breathed in and out, force with which one inhales or exhales, number of repetitions etc are not “more the merrier” achievements. If you don’t have a teacher, learn to listen to your body intently. Anything that hurts is to be done more easily or stopped altogether. Especially retention of air (inside or outside) is bad for BP. Retention is not needed either.

Start moderately, progress cautiously and do only that which helps. Eventually you can reach where you want to. Afterall, there is nothing physical about pranayama, which means ‘control of prana’. Successful meditation may give better control over prana than kapalbhati if it doesn’t go well with you.

#7

I’d suggest you to start with a gentle nadi shodhana, on 1:2:2 proportion, adjusted to your lung capacity, without bandhas.

#8

Thank You All for your valuable suggesgions and advices. In fact I don’t know much about pranayama except that I attended one Sidha Samadhi Yoga programme may be 10 years ago. And now I did not retain the air while doing pranayama still I had my BP rising inspite of taking my regular BP drops. I am still experiencing that buzz and sensitivity at the center and top of my head. I became too sensitive to souind that it started interfering with my routine. Now I am too scared to do it on my own seeing that DVD, that I wanted to learn in front of a guru when I go to my city.

it takes two months for me to go to my city. Until then can I do any preliminary kind of breathing???

Tnx once again!!
Vijayaa

#9

I am on blood pressure meds, and some pranayama makes mine rise. I don’t take chances. Blood pressure is nothing to play with.

#10

Yoga does not want you to play with BP either. That’s why certain asanas and most of pranayama needs to be taken very seriously. Just because asanas look like mere body ‘postures’ and pranayama looks like just ‘breathing’ differently, doesn’t mean they can be done any which way or one can improvise.

All trained teachers will tell you that retention after breathing in or holding air out after exhaling is NOT to be practiced by BP patients. Other precautions are:

  1. not to aspire for breathing large volume of air mass in and out with force; pranayama is not a gymnastic activity
  2. never stop a busy time where mind and body is tressed to do pranayama ‘quickly’ to get back into the stress
  3. never overdo; that last all-out push in weight-lifting mode doesn’t work here and may even hurt
  4. while practicing pranayama one needs also to watch oneself; and do it at a comfortable pace and expand only when needed. Pranayama is not a panacea pill.
  5. Finally, pranayama may begin with breathing; however, it is not about air, but prana. Eventually, one should witness prana inside the body and then work on it. If this doesn’t happen, one is yet not doing real pranayama.
#11

You should never do kapalbhati as a beginner. just do anulom vilom thats enough to start with and for the first 1-2 weeks you should not do any breath retention at all. Also you should never feel you need to take an extra breath, then it means you over did it. Go slow. Many teachers will teach you advanced pranayama but to benefit from pranyama you must go slow , starting from the beginning as there are no shortcuts.

So do anulom vilom with no breathretention at all for at least 2 weeks. From there you might add a very small gap between breathing in and breathing out, and take you BP regularly and see how it works. and listen to your body pranayama should never be exhausting.

#12

Namaste vijayaa

studying pranaYam in detail right now…
can tell you that not all breathing exercises are pranayama…
pranayama is more about energy than about the breath…
there are a lot of preliminary practices to be completed before pranayam practice…:frowning: and most of us skipping the preliminary practices… hence all kind of wired problems can arise …unfortunately…
the body must be purified first…
and no kidding with pranayama…it is very powerful practice and can heal or kill…

#13

Pranayama is an ancient system of breathing exercises that purifies the body, rejuvenates the mind and strengthens the spine. It can be practiced by anyone at any age, regardless of their health status.

It's a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve your overall well-being.

Pranayama challenges are many. Here are some common challenges you may face after doing pranayama:

  1. You might feel dizzy or light-headed during your practice. If this happens, stop and wait for about 10 seconds before continuing with your practice.

  2. You might feel faint or weak after doing pranayama for a long time. This is normal as your body gets used to the new way of breathing. If you experience these symptoms, stop practicing and drink plenty of water until they go away.

  3. You might have trouble sleeping after doing pranayama for a long time because it creates too much tension in the body when done for too long at a stretch!