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Textbook Breath Becomes Life Pranayama The Yoga of Breathing Rishi Eric Infanti Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Breath Becomes Life Pranayama The Yoga of Breathing Rishi Eric Infanti Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Breath Becomes Life
Pranayama: The Yoga of Breathing
eric@YogiPreneurs.biz
www.YogiPreneurs.biz
Ordering Information:
ISBN: 9781973190332
Contents
Disclaimer
An Introduction to Pranayama
Rishi’s Path to Pranayama
Connecting to Your Breath
Yoga’s Eight Limbs
A Deeper Look at Pranayama
Pranayama from Classical Yoga Text
Health & Healing with Pranayama
The Science of Pranayama
Effects on the Human Internal Systems
Pranayama for Self-healing
Mind-Body Healing
Pranayama for Stress & Anxiety
Anatomy of the Breath
Understanding Our Breath
Gross Anatomy
The Thoracic Cage
Muscles for Breathing
Breathing Mechanics & Pulmonary Function
Subtle Anatomy — The Five Pranas
The Five Sheaths
Chakra Essentials
Breath as Subtle Anatomy
Purification of The Nadis
The Practice of Pranayama and Asana
Introduction to Breathing
Costal Breathing
Diaphragmatic Breathing
The Valsalva Method
Pranayama in Asana
Vinyasa: Connecting Breath and Movement
Restorative Postures
Yin Yoga Postures
Preparing for Sitting and Breathing
The Classical Pranayama Practices
Introducing Bandhas into Practice
Introducing Mudras into Practice
The Four Functions of Pranayama
Pranayama Practices
Your Pranayama Practice
Precautions and Contraindications
Preparing Your Environment & Practice Space
Customizing Your Personal Practice
Setting Your Practice Intentions
Scheduling Practice Time
Using A Pranayama Journal
The 30 Day Pranayama Challenge
About the Author
Your Pranayama Journal
Disclaimer
Rishi Eric Infanti makes no warranty or representation whatsoever regarding the services or
products provided through or in connection with the book, website, or training. Use your
own discretion when performing any Yoga practices. Work at your own level and explore
your own limits.
The reader and viewer of the information presented here assumes all risks when using the
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affiliates disclaim any and all liability from the information provided herein. Any medical,
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If this book or website provides health-related or medical information, no such information
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diagnosis to any individual as we do not give medical advice, nor do we provide medical or
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We strongly recommend that you get professional medical advice before you perform any
techniques, poses, postures or routines presented on this book or website or before using
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“As a fire blazes brightly when the covering of
ash over it is scattered by the wind, the divine
fire within the body shines in all its majesty when
the ashes of desire are scattered
by the practice of Pranayama.”
~ B.K.S. Iyengar
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction
to Pranayama
But what I had not understood, even when I rose with the help of
my platoon members, was that there was a level of familiarity I
needed to have with the way I took in air as a human. I had been
oblivious to the fact that even though air entered my nostrils of its
own accord, I needed to learn to consciously control it. It was a kind
of energy I needed to harness and make a part of my being.
My Yoga training in India was much different from what I had
experienced as a Marine, regardless of how rigorous it had been
then. Here, it required a lot more intensity of our mental state rather
than our physical conditioning even though it was yet important to
our success in becoming a better Yogi.
“Pranayama, like the Asana limb, is one of the holiest Yoga traditions.
It relates more with my life at the Paris Island depot where every
moment spent with co mariners felt like the last and so the need to
spend it judiciously. I have buttressed earlier on the importance of
breath and its connection with the inner aspect of man's physiology. My
candid opinion with the inhaling of the toxic CS gas and its subsequent
reaction on me is that, what we ingest as humans affects our
consciousness. It is used to regulate the activities of the mind and
increase concentration. The Prana is the energy gotten from the intake
of air (life), it is the power in the universe that creates, changes and
preserves.
Figure 1
This is just to raise an insight into why you need to improve your
breathing by creating a connection during your Yoga practice.
Figure 2
Yama
This is the first limb of the eight. It focuses on the ethics of
humanity and discipline mostly, teaching you to be morally upright
and treat everyone the same way you want to be treated. Yama
helps you to develop a sort of bridle. A restraint from behaving
wrongly. This limb is split into five sub-sets that deal with different
subjects.
Niyama
While Yama deals more with our interactions with the external
environment, Niyama concerns itself with our relationship with our
self. “ni”, in Sanskrit, means ‘inside’. Niyamas are especially
important for those who are looking to self-development and being
people with better attitude. This is because our interactions with the
outside world are a co-efficient of our dealings inwardly and
observances.
Asana
The Asana requires that the individual is physically involved in Yoga.
It concerns itself with embarking on different Yoga poses that help
to develop a strict discipline of concentration in whatever Yoga
posture we may be taking up.
Pratyahara
Pratyahara means to withdraw from the senses. It is often mistaking
for an individual’s ability to remove themselves completely by being
unaware of the sensory abilities to hear, see, touch, or smell.
Instead, it is a practice that helps you to be more focused on the
inward self, by a temporary detachment from the other externalities
of the environment.
Dharana
Dharana is coined from two other words, ‘Dha’, which means to
maintain or sustain, and ‘Ana’, which means ‘something else’. This
requires that we pick a single thing and focus all our attention on
that thing. The previous limb helps you to get rid of distractions
outside the mind, which perfectly prepares you for Dharana.
However, the idea of Dharana is to keep you undistracted from
the ripples of the mind. As a result, it is more difficult to achieve
than the Pratyahara. You have got to choose a particular object or
person and project a mental image in your mind and then focusing
all your attention on whatever object you have chosen. It particularly
deals with the strength of our concentration.
Dhyana
What we do here is meditate and continue to do so without
especially having to focus on one single object. Instead, we are
actually meditating without any prior thoughts.
Samadhi
The last limb of Yoga, Samadhi, brings the individual to a state of
bliss, as well as an enlightenment of what the world really is. It
reconciles the human with a peace that is void of bias from personal
interests and emotions.
The mind is the major tool for Yoga and cleansing it as much as
we can with our breath makes every process more efficient. Many
people embark on a Yoga program, maybe through a local studio, a
gym, an instructional video or some other form of text, only to
discover that they do not reach the depths of meditation that they
want.
What is Prana?
Prana is many things. Much of which is used as a general
representation and describes the different kinds of energy and forces
in the universe. In the context of Yoga, it is believed that Prana
exists in everything and in different forms, whether we realize it or
not. It is the life force of our sense of sight, smell, touch, and
hearing.
Prana:
Chest, life giving energy,
vitality, respiration,
circulation, sensory-motor,
temperature, feeling, &
thinking.
Samana:
Abdomen, balancing the
four other vayus,
digestion, distribution, Figure 3
nourishing, & integration.
Vyana:
Whole body (the Aura),
Diffused energy,
movement, nerves,
heartbeat, circulation,
joints, & muscles.
Apana:
Pelvis to the feet,
downward moving energy,
excretion, urination,
menstruation, ejaculation,
birthing, & muladhara.
The Five Major Pranas
Apana: the Apana Prana controls the lower area of our body.
Parts that include the kidney, navel, colon, intestines, rectum
bladder and so on.
Udana: this Prana controls the use of senses that are beyond
our five senses. It works around the upper part of the body,
especially the brain. The Udana Prana makes seemingly
impossible activities like levitating possible, although it
requires a lot of practice to control it, most of which requires
seclusion.
Figure 4
Pranayama from Classical Yoga Text
There are eight classical Pranayamas that are discussed in two major
texts that date back to hundreds of years ago. These are the Hatha
Yoga Pradipika which contains all of the eight classical Pranayamas,
and the Gheranda Samhita, which discusses six of the Pranayamas.
The Sitkari Pranayama was discussed in the second chapter of the text.
The description of Sitkari can be found in the Verse 54:
“Make a hissing sound with the mouth and exhale only through the
nostrils…”
The Sitkari is done by arching the tongue in a way that lets the tongue
touches the roof of the mouth. The individual then sucks air from the
mouth, with the teeth closed together, and making the hissing sound.
This practice helps the individual to remove stress and go longer without
eating or drinking anything. Its benefits are highlighted in two more
verses.
Verse 55: “She becomes an object of high regard amongst the circles of
Yogins: he is able to create and destroy; neither hunger, nor thirst,
somnolence or indolence can arise in him.”
Verse 56: “By this practice, strength of the body is gained, and the Lord
of Yogins, becomes surely free of afflictions of every kind on his earthly
sphere.”
Sheetali Pranayama
This is also described in the second chapter of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika,
beginning in verse 57:
“Inhale with the tongue and perform Kumbhaka as before. Then the
intelligent practitioner should slowly exhale air through his nostrils.”
Brahmari Prayanama
Some experts call this practice the Bee Breathing Technique, since the
name Bhramari, stems from an Indian bee of the same name. Still in the
same chapter, the author describes this process, as well as its benefits,
in one verse.
The Bhramari Pranayama is especially good for easing the mind of foul
emotions and moods including anger and anxiety.
Bhastrika Pranayama
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is especially elaborate in its discussion of this
practice, compared to the others discussed above. Yet in the same
chapter two. It describes the whole process in five verses, beginning
from verse 59. It encourages the individual to take breaths in and out as
fast as he can. The process is best carried out in the Asana position.
Verse 60-61: “”Having assumed Padmasana properly, with the neck and
abdomen in line, the intelligent practitioner should close the mouth and
breath out the air through the nostrils with effort, till it is felt to resound
in the heart, throat and up to the skull. Then air should be inhaled
rapidly till it touches the lotus of the heart.”
She emphasizes this process again in the two verses that follow, with a
little bit of remedy for tiredness when it comes knocking.
Verse 62-63: “Again, he should exhale in the same manner and inhale
thus again and again…keep the Prana in his body constantly by moving.
When tiredness is felt in the body, he should breath in bby the right
nostril.”
Verse 64: “After the interior of the body is quickly filled with air, the nose
should be closed tightly with the thumb, the ring finger, and the little
finger.”
The last verse offers the benefits of performing this practice in the way
that the writer had described.
Verse 65: “…This removes disorders rising from excess of wind, bile and
phlegm and increases the digestive fire in the body.”
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