The word “pranayama” is a Sanskrit compound, consisting of “ prana ” meaning “breath; life force” and “ayama”, “control” or “ayāma”, “extend, draw out” (linguists are still debating the latter part of the compound).is thus alternately translated as “breath control” or “extension of life force”. Both meanings are present in the technique of this, which is a way to balance your life force or energy through your breath. The earliest mentions of Pranayama can be found in the Baghavad Gita (written somewhere between 500 and 200 BCE).

For more thorough descriptions of the practice itself, Patanjali’s collection of aphorisms Yoga Sutra (compiled prior to 400 CE) and Svami Svatmarama’s yoga manual Hatha Yoga Pradipika (fifteenth-century CE) are the oldest Hindu sources. In Yoga Sutra, Pranayama is identified as the fourth limb of Patanjali’s eightfold path towards enlightenment. In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, different techniques of Pranayama are defined and described. This later source is the one that mostly influenced the modern yoga practice of yoga breathing exercises.

Breath exercises for body, mind and energy

Ujjayi pranayama, Bhramari, Kaphalabati Pranayama - Breath of fire or Skull shining breath, Anuloma Viloma - Nadi shodana, Chandra Bhedana, Sitali the cooling cooling breath, Brahma mudra, Jivha bandha, Uddiyana bandha, Simha Mudra - Lions breath, Agni Sara



Most yoga schools today use Pranayama as part of their practice. Though most use it merely as an addition to their regular routine of postures and very few, understand its full complexity. In modern yoga, we give much more attention to physical postures, but in pre-modern yoga in India, it was prāṇāyāma that was given the highest importance. Hatha yoga uses the body as a tool for energetic and psychological transformation sometimes through yoga poses, but the most profound and effective way of doing that is through the breath and the techniques of pranayama.



Some old texts see pranayama breathing as preparation for deep meditation while others see it as a way to go to full liberation on its own. There are several different types of yoga. Initially, we practice pranayama more of the calming ones that bring our nervous system into a state of health and balance. We must develop a strong foundation before we start working with more stimulating pranayamas and beginning the process of energetic transformation.

At Yogateket, we offer Pranayama as a separate practice in which you can go deeply into it. It’s also a part of our Meditation, Hot 26, Ashtanga Vinyasa, Hatha yoga, and Vinyasa flow classes. (sometimes in savasana).