The Perfect Segue
I was taught Pranayama eight years ago by my first teacher Jeff. I felt honoured that he considered me a serious enough asana practitioner for him to offer this amazing learning opportunity. We would get together very early in the mornings before Mysore class which started at 6:00 am. He taught us different types of pranayama and we practiced them for several days.
He then added specific pranayama practices to my daily practice. These were determined by Jeff based partially on my Dosha (1) and the available time I was willing to commit to it daily. I did this for about a year or so and I would normally do pranayama after my asana practice. For me it made more sense as it was a slowing down or a still practice after asana practice.
Pranayama is the forth limb of Ashtanga Yoga. Prana or life force and Yama meaning restraint or control. Breath is life and is both consciously and unconsciously controlled. Pranayama is the conscious control of breath. For me it is a still meditation versus Asana which is a moving meditation. It compliments my Asana practice with a more focused approach on breath.
I asked Tim Miller when he thought Pranayama should happen. Before or after Asana practice and he said it did not matter but he preferred to do it before.
My pranayama practice consists of a couple of preps before which are: Uddhiyana Bandha Kriya (flying upward lock) and Kapalabhati (skull shining). Then Pranayama consists of Nadi Shodhana (nerve cleansing – Alternate Nostril Breathing), Ujjayi Pranayama (victorious breath – breath with sound), and Bhramari Pranayama (humming bee sound).
I did pranayama on a regular basis for at least a year and then it became more of a if I have enough time kinda thing. Then it dropped off altogether.
Over the last while I started bringing it back after my asana practice and I try to do it most days even if I don’t do asana practice. If I’m not feeling good enough for asana I’ll still do Pranayama. Occasionally I’ve felt crappy and just started with pranayama and then felt good enough for Asana practice. Maybe Tim’s way is best…
Uddhiyana Bandha is also a prep for Nauli which is weird looking if you’ve never seen it before. Or even if you have seen it before. It’s kinda like a wave going across your stomach in an East West direction. When we were kids my brother could make his stomach do a wave in a North South direction. I can do neither.
However I have found that Pranayama, now more than ever, is a perfect segue to or from asana practice.
Take care
Google says:
(1) “In Ayurveda, each of us has a unique mind-body type, known as a dosha. Think of a dosha as your individual blueprint that describes your unique personality, tendencies, and physical nature. Understanding your dosha reveals how to keep yourself in balance to stay happy, healthy and disease free”.
“The ancient Indian medical system, also known as Ayurveda, is based on ancient writings that rely on a “natural” and holistic approach to physical and mental health. Ayurvedic medicine is one of the world’s oldest medical systems and remains one of India’s traditional health care systems”.