Yoga Therapy 101: Prāṇāyāma
In this series we will explore the main tools of yoga, as they relate to yoga therapy.
When many people think about yoga, physical poses, or āsana (AH-sana), is what first comes to mind. But, yoga has many other facets including breathing exercises, or prāṇāyāma (prah-nah-YAH-ma), meditation and chanting. Our breath is an incredibly powerful tool that we can access at any time, and because of this is a vital component of yoga therapy.
Prāṇāyāma is:
Connecting to your breath in an intentional way
Developing a pattern or rhythm in your breath that is smooth and steady
Using various breath techniques such as simple breath awareness to counting your breath length or breathing in and out of each nostril alternately
We may not always notice, or listen, but our breath tells us a lot about how we are feeling. When we are calm and relaxed our breath is usually slow and steady. When we are stressed, anxious or in pain our breath may be choppy and ragged, we may hold our breath (in or out) for long periods of time and then need to take a few big recovery breaths.
Prāṇāyāma can be used to
Quiet your mind
Decrease pain
Connect to yourself
Increase comfort with your breath
Increase your breath capacity
Prāṇāyāma, and breathing in general, is amazing because it can essentially hack the nervous system. When we breathe in the slow and steady pattern that our breath has when we are relaxed, our nervous system takes note and says, “hey! maybe things are ok and I don't need to be on the lookout for threats.” As a result, our body becomes more at ease, it is easier to focus, and we may even feel less pain.
All this happens because our breath gives us an access point into our autonomic nervous system (ANS), or the part of the nervous system that regulates all of our vital functioning. The ANS is also where our fight or flight and rest and digest responses come from-- the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, respectively. Things like stress and pain can activate our sympathetic nervous system. This is not a bad thing when we need this flight or flight response to respond to an acute situation. After the threat is dissipated, we are able to access the rest and digest functions of our nervous system again, and everything balances out. When we experience chronic stress or chronic pain the sympathetic nervous system stays activated which compromises the ability of our rest and digest functioning; this can lead to things like insomnia and poor digestion as well as all over reduction in health. To be at our best, there needs to be a balance, and an ability to move between these two responses as appropriate.
In a yoga therapy session, expect to:
Connect to your breath in a way that feels safe
Gradually smooth out and lengthen your breath
Use your breath as a tool to change your state