Mahaprana Yoga

MAHAPRANA YOGA: THE ART OF BREATHING

“Yoga is as much a practice involving breath as it is involving the body.”

Prana is commonly translated as “breath,” or “life force.” Prana is the vital energy that permeates all life and flows throughout our bodies via energetic channels, or nadis. We take in prana through our breath, exposure to sunlight, and from other life forms in the form of food and liquids. Of all these forms of nourishment, breathing is the most primary. This prana that we absorb from the environment animates and sustains the life of every cell of the body. Many people give great consideration to what they eat and drink, but think little about their breath. A person can live a month or more without food, a week or more without liquids, but deprived of breath – we die in minutes. In light of this, it is astonishing how little attention we normally pay to the importance of breathing correctly.

On average, human beings breathe 21,600 times per day. Yet, most people have forgotten how to breathe correctly. (Contrast the deep abdominal breathing of a toddler with the shallow breathing of a typical, untrained adult.) Many breathe shallowly through the mouth, using only a small portion of their lung capacity, which leaves the thoracic and diaphragmatic muscles tight and weak. Shallow breathing deprives the body of the oxygen and prana that is essential to good health. This results in a lack of vitality and a compromised immune system. Additionally, shallow breathing deprives our internal organs of the movement that is essential to proper functioning.

Fortunately, our prana/breath can be dramatically improved with proper training. By consciously training, restoring and balancing our breath, we feel full of life. Mahaprana Yoga teaches us the most effective ways to strengthen and smooth the flow of prana. This begins with the capacity to take deep, relaxed breaths through the nose. In addition to warming and filtering the air we take in, breathing through the nose also maximizes the amount of prana that is absorbed by channeling it through the olfactory organs directly to the central nervous system and brain.

Mahaprana Yoga places emphasis on the exhale as an important part of the body’s waste removal. When we exhale we release not only physical waste elements, i.e. CO2, but emotional and psychological waste as well. This reflects the integral relation between the breath and the mind. Mahaprana Yoga teaches that with every prana, or inhale, positive attributes such as brightness, kindness, love, happiness, strength, freedom and peace enter our body. Every exhale is darkness, fear, anger, stress, stiffness, pain and negativity leaving the body. This teaching sets us on the right path to achieve the primary aim of Yoga, which is liberation from sadness, stress, weakness, and other negative emotions and unnatural states.

The quality of our breath is extremely important because it reflects our mental state. Yogic philosophy has long-recognized the breath to be the intermediary between the mind and body, and the link between the inner and outer body. When the movement of the breath becomes relaxed, the movement of the mind is calmed.

Western science tells us that although the human brain makes up only 2% of the body’s weight, it consumes 20% of the oxygen that the body uses. Proper breathing enables us to bring more oxygen to the blood and thus to the brain. By increasing the concentration of oxygen in the body, the brains ability to concentrate improves.

There is an old saying from Chinese Medicine:  “Where there is pain, there is lack of movement.”

Much of the pain and stiffness that we experience in daily life is caused by blocked prana. As mentioned earlier, prana flows throughout our bodies via channels, or nadis. Breathing exercises and Asana are designed specifically to clear these channels so that our prana can flow freely. When our prana is blocked, low or imbalanced, we feel pained, overwhelmed and out of balance. We are unable to fuel and support the needs of our body, and therefore unable to use our body, mind, and intellect to their full potential. When our prana is calm, strong and flowing freely, we feel calm, strong and pain-free.

The breathing techniques of Mahaprana Yoga influence the flow of prana in the nadis, purifying, regulating and activating them, thereby increasing physical and mental stability. A more peaceful life is available but the desire to change must come from you. Mahaprana Yoga shows the way.