Pranayama: controlling and training your breath
- Svetlana Cary
- Dec 25, 2024
- 13 min read
This post is not finished, but I am migrating to Substack and want to make sure that the content is not lost, am publishing as is.
Table of contents
Introduction
Breathing center is strongly connected to centers controlling the balance of parasympathetic and sympathetic systems. In particular, they are connected to amygdala and other parts related to the stress response. That is why controlling breath is related to controlling your mind and can be used as a path and method of meditation.
In order to understand the principles, I suggest to read my post on effects of hyper and hypo ventilation at https://www.blogofchanges.com/post/effects-from-modulating-breath. You should understand that hyperventilation practices lead to decreased amounts of CO2 in your body, while hypo ventilation (including breath retention) leads to increase of CO2 and, at a certain level, to decrease of O2 in your body.
These notes originate from a class from Andrey Tkachenko on Pranayama: https://tkachenkoyoga.com/inhale. I highly recommend his classes on breathing and meditation (you should speak Russian, though).
Some of examples of neck exercises come Karuna: https://atmarama.yoga/.
Before you start working on the practices described in this post, I suggest to study the effects of manipulating breat: https://www.blogofchanges.com/post/effects-from-modulating-breath.
Prana-vyayama: training sets for pranayama
Origin of the term
Prana (Sanskrit): breath, life force; Vyayama (Sanskrit): effort, exercise.
Prana-vyayama are exercises which can be done before proper Pranayama or separately. Prana-Vyayama affects mostly the content of CO2 in the body and as such affects the tone of blood vessels and, hence, the heart load (volume and rate). The term itself exists only in the Russian-speaking yoga circles and was introduced by Michael Baranov.
Purposes of Prana-Vyayama
Training and massage of the vegeto-vascular system
Increasing mobility of bones and ligaments of the breathing system
Increasing strength and elasticity of muscles participating in breathing
Increasing stamina of the whole body
Manipulating of nervous system (switching between parasympathetic and sympathetic regulation)
Increasing tolerance of the breathing center to higher levels of CO2.
Main types: suksma, sthula and ujjayi vyayamas. One starts with suksma and follows by sthula. Ujjayi vyayamas can be used in between all sets and as a separate exercise.
Additional information
https://www.patanjali.jp/post/sukshma-vyayama-the-7-minute-relaxation-exercise-activating-the-joints-1 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGoDgK3xg2M.
Suksma vyayama
Suksma: light or subtle. Warming up (joint) exercises, useful before the practice. One can do this using free breathing or synchronize it with movements. Examples follow and many elements from typical joint exercises of yoga can be used.
Flipping forearms
Standing, firm arms, firm palms, energetic exhale while bending arms (flipping forearms up) towards the shoulders, hit the shoulders, inhale straightening, fast as clapping. Repeat on inhale retention. Very firm fast movements.
Leg raises
Exhale in regular standing pose (tadasana), on inhale raise both arms and one leg, the standing leg can be tippy-toe or one can also jump on it.
Side twists
Start with legs wide apart, arms up (inhale); on exhale twist to one side, dipping one knee and bending another, twist the body. Repeat on inhale retention.
Kapalabhati with volleys
Feet wider than shoulders, knees slightly bent. Do kapalabhati synchronized with movements of palms imitating reflecting a ball in volleyball. Rotate body horizontally and also in a big circle around your head. You should feel that your abdominal muscles are working.
More examples from Andrey Tkachenko
Sthula vyayama
Sthula means heavy or thick. The essence is combination of hyperventilating forceful breathing combined (full bhastrika) with synchronized movement, followed by the same movement while holding breath on inhale and added mula bandha. Examples of the traditional elements are:
Utkurdan(a) (jumping)
Hrid Gati (locomotive)
Rekha Gati (line walking): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04-YaRUa_O8 (not relevant for this class, but is Sthula)
Urdhva Gati (upward motion/climbing)
Sarvanga Pushti (all body).
In our practices we some elements from the above as well as some non-traditional elements (like skier, pump and jumping jacks), described below.
"All body"
A good demonstration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU6AhdFxIdA
Jumping
A good demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHKO7_ufl44
Locomotive
A good demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi-jlNcqE6I
Climbing
A good demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/arRWqJ-p1Mg
One can also move legs to touch the buttocks:
Jumping jacks
Start with your legs separated wide than your shoulder, arms up connected. On the exhalation jump in and lower the arms, on inhalation resume the beginning position.
Skier
Inhale and raise both straight arms up, exhale throwing them down, bending knees and leaning forward.
Repeat holding breath. Start with several stomach bhastrikas, inhale, do skier motion holding breath, 10-15 times. Forceful exhale.
Pump
Start with straight arms down, inhale and move arms backwards until they are all up, hold breath, move them forward down, raise elbows and push arms down like a pump with exhale.
Repeat holding breath. Start with several stomach bhastrikas, inhale, do pump motion holding breath, 10-15 times. Forceful exhale.
Post Isometric Relaxation (PIR) and exercises for the breathing system
Isometric means that the work is done without visible movement (lengthening or changing length). Example include using external objects (like pushing a wall, pressing a yoga block between thighs) or working using counter balances in your own body.
A note: it is nice to do a cleansing vibrating set before PIRs.
PIRs for neck
Hold left collar bone with right hand, left hand to the left side of the face and move head diagonally:
Interlace the fingers of both hands and assume the position shown below. Gentrly stretch the scaling muscles:
Balance this practice by pushing the palm against the side of your hide, the head should be resisting the hand:
Put your hands behind your head and push your head into your hands, resisting:
Place your hands in front of your forehead and resist here:
Finally, place your fists under your chin and resist in this direction:
PIRs for breathing system
Increasing the volume of breath by moving beyond usual limits
This exercise also helps to deal with holding breath. Start with kaki bhastrika (10-15 times), inhale to a maximum, keep your lips pursed and keep inhaling using the intercostal and neck muscles, keep inhaling and keep the muscles fully toned. Exhale to the maximum, hold the breath and push the ribs inside as much as you can. These last two stages are shown here:
Stretching diaphragm
Full bhastrika (5), hands on the floor, hold maximal Uddiyana and move side to side and back and forward, move/rotate the butt as well:
Finish with udara bandha: inhale with kaki and push the stomach forward as strong and as long as possible:
To compensate: Uddiyana and Uddiyana with the massage under the ribs
Finish with the staged Uddiyana.
Also see Ajagari in the glossary.
Set for mobility of chest and functional capability of the breathing muscles
This is not strictly PIRs but they serve the same purpose. The set is shown in the pictures below.
Vibrational sequences
Not done
All these techniques are performed after hyperventilation (like bhastrika or kaki mudra)
Coughing
Patting
Singing
Stomping
Lions breath
Bramari
Cyclical breathing
Samavritti
Vi-Samavritty
Viloma
Anuloma Viloma and Nadi Shodhana
Breathing sequences
Principles
Practice of 12 circles
My typical practice
Glossary
Kapalabhati
Means "skull shining". Forceful fast exhalation through the nose with natural slightly slower or equal inhalation. The stomach get thrown inside around the navel. It involves a series of forceful exhalations followed by passive inhalations, primarily focusing on rapid, active contractions of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles.Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3kNuxe1Np8.
Ujjayi
Means "victorious breath". Breath through the constricted vocal chords. Sounds like whisper or ocean in a shell. Can be practiced during yoga asanas as well. All cyclic pranayama could be done using Ujjayi. There are many demos online, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQA_VQcJLv4. Stay away from the ones which show very loud breath (mostly just you should hear it).
Ujjayi can be in any position. Note that on the exhale, due to the restriction, one increase the pressure in the lungs, and on the exhale the pressure is lower compared to the regular breathing.
Bhastrika
Means "bellows". Forceful powerful inhales and exhales through the nose with the same length. There are stomach bhastrika (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zsFEsmDFOg), rib bhastrika, upper chest and full (or Purna) bhastrika (chest and stomach, similar to full yogic breath but powerful). Chest bhastrika combines lower and upper chest or can be done isolating these areas.
Bhastrika is often combined with arms movements. Examples:
One can bhastrika sitting or standing.
Kaki mudra
Means "crow's beak." It is forceful inhalation and exhalation through lips pursed into a tube. Can be accompanied with closing nostrils while inhalation and raising head like you drinking bird. Rolling tongue into a tube adds cooling effect. To use this as a training too: make the opening tighter when it is hard to to move air (at the end of the inhale and exhale).
Kaki mudra can be in any position. Note that on the exhale, due to the restriction, one increase the pressure in the lungs, and on the exhale the pressure is lower compared to the regular breathing.
Full kaki mudra
Close your nostrils with one hand, inhale through pursed lips, assume Jalanhara and Mula bandhas, and push the air into cheeks and ears. You might feel some crackling sounds inside.
Kaki mudra for heart massage
Full bhastrika. Inhale regular kaki mouth, use fingers to close the nostrils, fill up your cheeks fully. Hold breath until you feel head expansion. Let all go and exhale through the nose slowly. Bhastrika with strong attention for the nose: to get rid of gunk there.
Kaki mudra inhalation with the nostrils closed, hold breath, blow up cheeks, feeling the pressure in the head, add jalanhara and mula bandhas. Hands in fists and throw the shoulders up and down, while keeping arms straight. Nose exhalation.
Sectional and full yogic breath
Abdominal breath: keep all spine and chest flat and blow up/down the stomach during inhale/exhale.
Chest breath: work the rib area all around the spine, the whole cylinder, not just in front.
Clavicular breath: work with the collar bone area.
Full yogic breath: start with the stomach and move up on the inhale, deflate in the opposite direction. Expansion should be 360 degrees around the spine. One could progress to doing all three simultaneously. Some teachers prefer the beginning of expansion starting in the center of the body (solar plexus).
A good reference: https://srisrischoolofyoga.org/na/blog/full-yogic-breath/.
Agnisara dhauiti
Means "fire essence". Fully exhale, hold breath, contract and suck in the lower, middle and upper part of the stomach and relax: all in fast motion. This is like shaking your stomach. A good reference:https://yogainternational.com/article/view/guide-to-agni-sara/.
One can do this practice sitting and standing.
Nauili
Means "moving a boat". This is a rather difficult stomach manipulation and I would recommend to look for good videos and instructions (for example https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/8122/nauli-kriya). In a nutshell: Uddiyana, Mula and Jalandhara bandhes, separating the two internal stomach bands and rotating them in clock and counter-clock wise. Can be done in a standing position (similar to Agnisara shown above) as well as sitting.
Bandha
Means "lock", "binding". The idea is to connect several parts of the body into one and distribute the impact or effort among them. But bandha can effect our reflexes and nervuos system; move blood inside the body and change pressure in different parts of the body. If you connect the physical feeling with pranayama and visualization, there can be an interesting feedback loop.
Mula bandha
Means "root lock". Activating and contracting all pelvic floor muscles (think: genitals and sphincter).
Uddiyana bandha
Means "upward flying lock". It is drawing your stomach around the navel in and up after on exhalation. This whole process creates a vacuum in your chest that allows a better circulation of blood to all the abdominal volume. One can do this after exhalation or gradually during exhalation. Staged Uddiyana: full exhale, Uddiyana, relaxation, tiny inhale, and repeat until cannot do Uddiyana anymore.
Setu bandha
Reversed throat lock. Eyes directed up and towards the bridge of the nose, head back but not sharply. One of the effects is narrowing the two back arteries going to the brain. (Note that traditionally Setu means bridge pose, need more information!).
Udara bandha
It is performed on holding breath after inhale (with mula and jalanhara bandhas): push the stomach forward and down as much as possible.
Ajagari
It is a sequence of Uddiyana bandha followed by Udara bandha.
Jalandhara bandha
Means "throat lock". Bending the head forward, pressing the chin against the throat, lifting the sternum up. Closes the coratid artery to some extend.
Maha bandha
Mula, Uddiyana and Jalandhara at the same time. Engaging from the bottom and releasing from the top.
Sequence 1 (sitting): chest bhastrika, retention on exhale, mula, jala and uddiyana, contracting fists, feet, moving head, trying to notice the movement of the blood (from periphery to body center); finishing exhale (need to explain), relaxation breath, retention on inhale with setu, mula and arching body from the stomach all the way to head, finishing inhale and relax.
Sequence 2 (sitting): bhastrika, retention on exhale, mula, jala and uddiyana, release mula and mula but keep uddiyana, and contracting fists, feet, moving head; finishing exhale (need to explain), relaxation breath, retention on inhale with setu bandha, mula and arching body from the stomach all the way to head, finishing inhale and relax.
One could add add maha vedha to the last retention (penetrating stomach around the belly button by pushing both palms or a fist).
The idea: during exhale retention, we create lower pressure in the chest and stomach, which attracts a lot of blood; during inhale retention, we oxygenate this blood; maha vedha creates extra pressure and pushes the oxygenated blood to the periphery.
Maha mudra
Maha bandha in one of these poses:
Maha vedha (great piercing)
It is done on holding breath on 90% inhale. Start with mula bandha, next either jalanhara or setu bandha, pressing the navel and lower part of the stomach using a fist or two palms (one can also train to press the stomach without using hands), eyes into the 3d eye center, tongue pushed to the top of the mouth. Imagine energy going along sushumna to the top of the head.
Shambhavi mahamudra
Direct your eyes between the eyebrows (so that the iris of your eye is almost invisible) and further direct your dristi as if towards a star on a horizon (through your forehead). Not so much tension. Close your eyes almost, just have lower peripheral vision. If the eyes are oscillating between open and closed, close them. Attention to your nose and feel the flow of air. Now notice the flow only through the left nostril, go up between the eyes, and return through the right nostril. Now imagine inhaling white-blue light as a line following the breath: through the nostril to the crown of your head. Next start from right nostril.
Bramari (bumblebee)
Not done
Simhasana (lion's breath)
Not done
Chakra Dharana
Needs editing
Most of systems: 7 chakras (rainbow) and certain abilities. Many many systems with varations, but there is some confluence and commonalities, and this common line is different from tradiations. Where this is coming from? Arthur Avalon wrote The Serpent Power of Kundalini and started this concepts. Next Carl Yung: archetypes.
The power of the concept: develop sensitivity and connect emotions and to body/subconsiousness. Chakras is a good instrument to work with attention and sensitivity.
Artificial synesthesia: first tactile moving feeings on the body associated with breath, then imagining these feelings and eventually having these feelings while breathing.
The step towards chakra dharana doing triangle: one imagines moving in front of the body from pelvis to the crown of the head holdinng red color, holding white at the top at the pause, exhale along the back of the body top down holding blue color. One feels control and training attention towards several factors, splitting the attention equally. This cames from the tantric tradition.
Chakras are located on the spinal chord and they have projections to the surface of the body. Such projections are called Kshetram ("area", "field", "place", "temple"). Muladhara has only one: going down. Svasthistana: secrum and genetalias; Manipura: navel and the waist; Anahata: center of the chest and the area between shoulder blades, Vishudha: throat and back of the neck, Ajna: Bhrumadhya Drishti and Medulla; Shrahasrara is in Bindu, while its Kshetram is in Bregma.
The next step will be to move attention through chakras going through their spine locations and frontal projections. Each chakra is one cycle: inhale going to the surface and exhale from the surface to the spine. Inside the head: inhale after you get to center, holding on inhale and exhale after Medulla. The movement of attention in the head is more complex and shown on a separatate image. One can simplfy the movement inside the head by avoiding returns to the center of the head. So that one starts with the center (Ajna), goes to Bindu (back of the head), the soft spot, the third eye and to the medulla. Once done with the head return to neck and inhale there moving to the back projection. etc. The tongue is attached to (Chari mudra) to the top of the mouth inside and eye up into the 3d eye.
This is a difficult practice and will work while it is relatively new. But not forever. One will need to eventually add new elements. For example, mantra or Kumbhaka (triangle).
How one adds holding breath? Mild 1:1:1 and go through the front at 1; hold on 1 and return on back on 1. This will be the full Chakra Dharana.
One can choose several chakras, not all.
One can do in Mahamudra position (with stomach pushed by folding, with one or two legs straigh) while holding breath on inhale:
One can do in any Mahas.
Typically Chakra Dharana takes about 40 min.
These Kryas are typically secret, because one can be harmed by them. It is typically given by a teacher.
The main idea is to load elements to watch. Then once you stop (return to regular life), regular attention tasks are much easier.
Applications of this method: concentration of attention (many factors to follow). Due to the amount of information, we deal with each piece for a very short periods: we loose details of everything. This practice allows to stop and increase the volume of information caught by attention. An example is also complex arythmical mantras, Om - So -Ham on 1:1 and 1:1:1 (esier); 1:1:1:1 (harder and mantra moves along the pattern). So the main idea is the cognitve load.
One can challenge yourself by using Om So Ham on each count and at the same time keep complicated (not equal proportions).
One can do Bija Mantras for chakras:
Muladhara: Lam
Svadhisthana: Vam
Manipura: Ram
Anahata: Yam
Vishuddha: Ham
Ajna: Om
Sahasrara: Silent Om.
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