Pranayama


Pranayama is the yogic practice of controlling the breath in Hinduism. It is described in Hindu texts such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, it is one of the eight limbs of yoga. In classical yoga, the breath is associated with the life energy or prana. Later, in Hatha yoga texts, it meant the complete suspension of breathing. The pranayama practices in modern yoga as exercise differ from those of the Hatha yoga tradition, often using the breath in synchrony with movements.

Etymology

Prāṇāyāma is a Sanskrit compound. It is defined variously by different authors.
Macdonell gives the etymology as prana, breath, + āyāma and defines it as the suspension of breath.
File:Kumbhaka terminology.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Monier-Williams defined Pranayama in terms of the elements of Kumbhaka, breath retention.
Monier-Williams defines the compound ' as "of the three 'breath-exercises' performed during , ', and '. There are other processes of prāṇāyāma besides this three-step model.
V. S. Apte's definition of ' derives it from ' + ' and provides several variant meanings for it when used in compounds. The first three meanings have to do with "length", "expansion, extension", and "stretching, extending", but in the specific case of use in the compound ' he defines ' as meaning "restrain, control, stopping".
Ramamurti Mishra gives the definition:

Hinduism

''Bhagavad Gītā''

Pranayama is mentioned in verse 4.29 of the Bhagavad Gītā, which states "Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice."

''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali''

Pranayama is the fourth "limb" of the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in verse 2.29 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali, a Rishi, discusses his specific approach to pranayama in verses 2.49 through 2.51, and devotes verses 2.52 and 2.53 to explaining the benefits of the practice. Patanjali does not fully elucidate the nature of prana, and the theory and practice of pranayama seem to have undergone significant development after him.
In verse 1.34, pranayama is introduced as a method aimed at stabilizing the mind. The practice involves two primary techniques: exhalation, known as pracchardana, which entails expelling air from the stomach through the nostrils, and retention, known as vidharana, which focuses on the controlled restraint of breath. Pranayama supports advanced practitioners in gaining control over the mind and complements meditation, aiding in achieving a light body and steady mind by regulating breath.
Yoga teachers including B. K. S. Iyengar have advised that pranayama should be part of an overall practice that includes the other limbs of Patanjali's Raja Yoga teachings, especially Yama, Niyama, and Asana.

Hatha yoga

The Indian tradition of Hatha yoga makes use of various pranayama techniques. The 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a key text of this tradition and includes various forms of pranayama such as Kumbhaka breath retention and various body locks. Other forms of pranayama breathing include:
B. K. S. Iyengar cautions that pranayama should only be undertaken when one has a firmly established yoga practice and then only under the guidance of an experienced Guru.
According to Theos Bernard, the ultimate aim of pranayama is the suspension of breathing, "causing the mind to swoon". Paramahansa Yogananda concurs, writing, "The real meaning of Pranayama, according to Patanjali, the founder of Yoga philosophy, is the gradual cessation of breathing, the discontinuance of inhalation and exhalation".

Yoga as exercise

The yoga scholar Andrea Jain states that pranayama was "marginal to the most widely cited sources" before the 20th century, and that the breathing practices were "dramatically" unlike the modern ones. She writes that while pranayama in modern yoga as exercise consists of synchronising the breath with movements, in texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, pranayama meant "complete cessation of breathing", for which she cites Bronkhorst 2007.
The yoga guru Swami Kuvalayananda began the experimental study of pranayama in 1924. The anthropologist Joseph Alter describes the attempt to apply science to the practices of yoga as an "accidental confusion in meaning" of domains that explore different "ways of knowing". Given Kuvalayananda's interest in prana, from 1929 he experimented on the effect of pranayama on the respiratory system. He sought to show that pranayama developed the nadi channels of the subtle body, rather than simply exchanging the gases oxygen and carbon dioxide, but the way he did this was to measure the rate of removal of carbon dioxide and later of oxygen consumption. Many further studies, by Kuvalayananda and many others, followed. Among the examples given by Alter was the 1979 study by Kesari, Vaishawanar, and Deshkar, which sought to discover the effect of asana and pranayama practice on the clearance of the waste products urea and creatinine from the body. Alter writes that the many experiments almost all studied "anatomical, physiological, or biochemical variables" and gathered empirical data. For instance, a 1956 study by Kuvalayananda and Karambelkar sought to find out what happened to the acidity of the urine following prolonged bhastrika pranayama. Alter adds that although the work had "empirical form", it was driven by "an ontological question about the nature of nature", as Kuvalayananda and his colleagues at Kaivalyadhama saw the biological variables as epiphenomena to the "meta-material power inherent in Yoga."
Physiological studies of pranayama have continued into the 21st century. For example, a 2018 systematic review by Andrea Zaccaro and colleagues examined 2,461 research articles on the effects of pranayama and breath control more generally on the cardio-respiratory system and the central nervous system. Only 15 articles met their eligibility criteria, that included voluntary control of breathing and specific focus on pranayama. They found "interesting albeit limited evidence of a relationship between physiological parameters and psychological/behavioral outcomes in healthy subjects undergoing slow breathing techniques."

Buddhism

According to the Pali Buddhist Canon, the Buddha, prior to his enlightenment, practiced a meditative technique involving pressing the palate with the tongue and forcibly restraining the breath. This is described as both extremely painful and not conducive to enlightenment. In some Buddhist teachings or metaphors, breathing is said to stop with the fourth jhana, though this is a side effect of the technique and does not result from purposeful effort.
The Buddha did incorporate moderate modulation of the length of breath as part of the preliminary tetrad in the Anapanasati Sutta. Its use there is preparation for concentration. According to commentarial literature, this is appropriate for beginners.

Indo-Tibetan tradition

Later Indo-Tibetan developments in Buddhist pranayama which are similar to Hindu forms can be seen as early as the 11th century, in the Buddhist text titled the Amṛtasiddhi, which teaches three bandhas in connection with yogic breathing.
Tibetan Buddhist breathing exercises such as the "nine breathings of purification" or the "Ninefold Expulsion of Stale Vital Energy", a form of alternate nostril breathing, commonly include visualizations. In the Nyingma tradition of Dzogchen these practices are collected in the textual cycle known as "The Oral Transmission of Vairotsana".