What is pranayama?

Pranayama is a hugely important part of our yoga practice. It is our connection with life force or vitality, and we can access it most easily through our breath. For this reason it is sometimes translated as “breathwork”, or “breath control”, but this is not quite correct - it’s a little more than that.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (one of the most important yogic texts), says that pranayama is the process by which the internal pranic store is increased - in other words, the way that we increase our amount of life force, or vital energy. We use our inhales, our exhales, and especially our retention (or holding) of breath to increase this prana within us. 

Our prana, or breath, and our mind are inextricably linked. When the breathing process is affected and unsteady, so will our mind be. For example, if I’m startled by something and begin to breath more quickly and shallowly, my mind is also moving erratically. However, if I’m breathing slowly and deeply, my mind will be stiller and calmer.

If you’d like to create a pranayama practice, book in via our Bookings page. We’ll find a practice that works for you.