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Breathing is one of the most basic, yet one of the most vital bodily functions. Without breathing, we would not survive beyond a few moments. Yet, breathing, like life itself, does not allow itself to be extinguished easily. No wonder, breathing is equated with life in Yoga. Yoga breathing is known as ‘Pranayama’. The word ‘Pranayama’ is derived from two Sanskrit words, ‘prana’ and ‘yama’. ‘Prana’ stands for ‘life force’ while ‘yama’ means ‘control’ or ‘discipline’. The term ‘ayama’, also present in the word ‘Pranayama’ implies ‘expansion’ or ‘non-restraint’. Pranayama is the art and science of proper, unrestrained breathing techniques. However, it is not limited to just proper breathing, it is also intended to be a pathway to spiritual meditation.

The importance of Pranayama in Yoga and meditation is indisputable. When done in conjunction with Yoga asanas, it helps keep the mind under control, so that the practitioner can focus completely on holding his Yoga asana. When done in conjunction with Yoga meditation, it helps keep thoughts, feelings, emotions, stress, concerns and worries away from the mind, so that it can contemplate on the spiritual oneness of the universe. Both Yoga and meditation would be incomplete without the practice of Pranayama to support them.

But, even by itself, Yoga breathing can do you a world of good. We do not realize it, but we do not breathe as naturally as we should. When we are even a little stressed out, we tend to breathe in a quick, shallow fashion. As you can imagine, in today’s hectic, fast-paced life, we are always under the shadow of stress and hence, mostly breathing quickly and shallowly. When this happens, our blood does not get fully oxygenated. All the organs in our body need oxygen to survive and they get this from the blood. However, if the blood is not fully oxygenated, our organs get deprived of the oxygen they need. If this continues for a long period of time, cells in the organ may also begin to die. Lack of oxygen in our body is the most common reason for tiredness, fatigue, headaches, body aches, etc.

On the other hand, when we breathe quickly and lightly, we also exhale in a similar fashion. Ideally, with every exhalation of breath, all the carbon dioxide in our lungs along with all other gaseous toxic material is removed from the body. When we exhale lightly and shallowly, large quantities of these toxic wastes remain captured in our body, where they can cause us a lot of harm.

Yoga breathing teaches us to breathe properly and efficiently. Yoga breathing ensures that your blood gets oxygenated to the highest degree possible and at the same time, all the toxic waste in the body is efficiently removed. The result of this is that all your internal organs will remain healthy and useful for a long period of time, ensuring continuing health for you. You will also feel revitalized, refreshed and energized. It will also help you become more mentally alert and attentive.