Pranayama Sequence

[Su Mcdowall]

Pranayama, or "breath control," is a practice in the yogic tradition of Indian philosophy that involves breathing in a specific sequence to control the breath, and subsequently, the body and mind. Pranayama is also the fourth of eight stages (or eight limbs of yoga) that are thought to lead the practitioner to samadhi, aka enlightenment.

As physical therapist and registered yoga teacher Jessica Moy, DPT, previously wrote for mindbodygreen, the word prana translates to "life force" or "breath," and yama means "to reign in or control." She adds that "the basis of starting to tune into your body is using the vehicle of breath."

When you practice pranayama, the goal is to control your breath in a way that helps to free up your attention and attain a meditative state. Long term, continued practice is part of a larger yogic lifestyle that involves discipline on the path to spiritual mastery and a purified spirit.

One of the best and most immediate effects of pranayama is its ability to decrease stress. Studies show that conscious breathing is not only an effective way to combat stress, but one 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology1 even found that participants who completed eight weeks of breathwork training had significantly lower levels of cortisol compared with those who did not receive the training.

Additional research on pranayama even suggests it can help regulate the nervous system2, likely through synchronization of neural elements, which "ultimately [cause] shifts in the autonomic balance toward parasympathetic dominance."

As any avid yogi will tell you, pranayama can do wonders for focus and mental clarity. In fact, one 2018 study published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition3 found that breath-focused yoga boosted attention span in participants.

Not to mention, according to meditation and yoga instructor Lily Silverton, RYT-500, "Deep breathing can improve oxygen levels in the prefrontal cortex (the area of our brain responsible for reasoning, logic, and acuity)."

Tying back to the idea of less stress, that's good news for your heart too. As one study on high blood pressure in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research4 notes, participants who practiced pranayama for six weeks alongside taking an antihypertensive drug saw "significant reductions" in blood pressure compared to those who were just taking the antihypertensive drug without pranayama.

As the study authors explain, "The pranayama produces a relaxed state, and in this state, parasympathetic activity overrides sympathetic activity," making it useful for helping to control high blood pressure.

According to Silverton, breathwork can help improve digestion in two ways. For one thing, by calming the stress response and lowering cortisol, the body can better use energy for digesting food. (They don't call the parasympathetic state "rest and digest" for nothing!)

We've already touched a bit on how pranayama can benefit the heart, but it can benefit the lungs too. Namely, one study published in the International Journal of Yoga6 found that 30 minutes of alternate nostril breathing a day for four weeks had a positive effect on heart and lung health, reducing pulse rate, respiratory rate, and diastolic blood pressure. The study authors also note pranayama improved lung function in the participants, especially so for those who did faster pranayama.

If you've heard of breathwork but not pranayama, you might be wondering what the difference is. As a yoga instructor myself, it's my understanding that all pranayama sequences can be considered breathwork, but not all breathwork is considered pranayama.

As aforementioned, pranayama translates to "breath control," while breathwork could include conscious breathing that doesn't involve any control. Simply noticing your breath without trying to change it could be considered breathwork but wouldn't be considered a pranayama sequence. The following pranayama sequences below, though, would all be considered breathwork. Semantics, right?

Our breath can be a powerful force when we know how to use it, and that's exactly the purpose of pranayama. This centuries-old practice has been a part of the yogic tradition for generations, and thanks to all the benefits people experience when they try it themselves, it's a practice that's managed to stand the test of time.

If you are exploring yogic breathing exercises, you might ask yourself if there is a correct order to do pranayama. Different pranayamas have different effects, and it could be worth your while putting some thought into getting the order of pranayamas right. A proper sequence assures profound and harmonious results while you can miss out on the benefits and even get adverse effects if you get it wrong. In this article, I will show you how to plan your pranayama practice so that you can get the most out of it.

Before getting to the correct order to do pranayama, there is the question of practising before or after yoga poses. Pranayamas are subtle exercises. To benefit from them thoroughly, you should practice pranayama after your yoga poses. There are several reasons for that, and to learn more I suggest you read my article about the importance of practising pranayama after asanas.

This first group of practices are simple breathing exercises done lying on the back. They are not part of the traditional pranayamas but are nevertheless perfect for loosening up tensions in the breath.

These practices are suitable as a prelude to sitting pranayama or even as initial practice before your asanas. The spontaneous breath can also be a good way to end a pranayama session. However, the two other practices are not useful neither at the end nor in the middle of a pranayama session.

Now we are in the territory of pranayama described in ancient Sanskrit texts. The techniques in this group involve forceful breathing followed by kumbhaka, breath retention while at the same time performing energy seals, bandhas.

The initial fast and forceful breathing makes it a lot easier to hold your breath afterwards. The reason is that you lower the level of carbon dioxide in the blood. The carbon dioxide level is the trigger for discomfort as you hold your breath, not the oxygen level. Hence, you can calmly hold your breath considerably longer and thus induce more calm.

These two pranayamas are excellent as the first exercise in a pranayama sitting. They will make all the pranayamas done afterwards easier. However, in my opinion, they are not suitable as a stand-alone practice or as final pranayama. Always follow up with more subtle pranayama to harmonise and integrate the benefits of these two.

In the next category of pranayama, there are exercises you can use to explore how far you can go with your breath retention. There is no initial forceful breath, so instead, you need to be in a calm state of mind as you start. It is best to practice attentively and without effort. That does not mean avoiding resistance, on the contrary. You meet resistance and discomfort with acceptance, and in that way, you can dissolve it.

As with the pranayamas in the previous group, these two liberate nervous tension and the energy held by those tensions. Therefore they are best practised in the middle of a pranayama programme. That way, you can do some calming and harmonising practices afterwards to help to integrate the effects.

These are pranayamas that you should do without any effort. They remove stress and anxiety and help to calm down your nervous system. You can do these pranayamas as a stand-alone practice for therapeutic reasons.

When these practices are done together with other pranayamas, they can be placed both in the beginning, middle and end of a pranayama session. But the ideal place would be between pranayamas from the previous groups and Nadi Shodhana pranayama. With such an order, you first get the benefit of pushing the limits of your breath. Then of guiding your nervous system into a calm state.

Nadi Shodana pranayama is an excellent pranayama, and it is subtle. This breathing exercise is about breathing slowly through one nostril at a time. With time and patience, you can slow your breath down incredibly. When you practice at the limit of your capacity, Nadi Shodhana pranayama demands your full attention and becomes a powerful meditation.

You can do Nadi Shodhana as an independent pranayama. But to go far in your practice, it is essential to warm up with other exercises. I recommend you to do all other pranayamas, except Ujjayi, before Nadi Shodhana.

In my practice and teaching, I consider Nadi Shodhana the main pranayama, and I always plan my pranayama sessions so that all other methods support it. The right placement of Nadi Shodhana pranayama is crucial. If you have tried my online sessions here on Forceful Tranquility, you might have noticed that this breath has a prominent place.

Ujjayi pranayama is another meditative practice. You do it by producing a soft, whispering sound as you breathe. In my tradition and other old school yoga systems, Ujjayi is a method to go deep in meditation. We use it to get in touch with prana and consciously move it in the major pranic vessels.

Ujjayi pranayama raises your energy level. We use a host of meditations based on this breath, ranging from simple and accessible to advanced practices that you can only benefit from under particular conditions.

The ideal rhythm for Ujjayi is 90 breaths per hour. That is 40 seconds per breath. You will need quite a bit of practice to be able to breathe that slowly without effort. Preparing with other pranayamas is, therefore, good help. Preparation will help you to make your breath more fluid and relaxed and enjoyable.

Ujjayi can be a stand-alone pranayama. But when you use it together with other pranayamas, I recommend you place Ujjayi at the end. Thus, you can benefit from the light, and concentrated state pranayama gives you to charge yourself with energy.

Pranayama, particularly Ujjayi and Nadi Shodhana, put you in a slightly altered state of consciousness. Therefore, the time after pranayama is ideal for meditation, yoga nidra, tratak or other such practices.

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