Pranaym and breathing

Pranaym is not, as many think, something about breath. Breath has very little to do with it. Breathing is a part of the exercises through which we get to the real Pranayam. Pranayam means
the control of Pran, the intangible energy of life.

As per the oldest treatise 'Yog Sutra' by Patanjali, Pranayam is the fourth stage of Yog that comes after Yam, Niyam, Asan, ie only after purifying the body and the mind and maintaining a healthy body by diet and exercise, one is trained to increase, control and direct the Pran for higher meditation.

However, as said above, it comes after mental and physical purification through Yams and Niyams of compassion, contentment, surrender to god, celibacy, truth, a virtuos life style and abstinence ie the path of a yogi with a very high energy level.

There are many types of Pranayam:
Quiet Breathing , Deep Breathing , Fast Breathing, Nadi Shuddhi Pranayam, Anulom- Vilom,Suryan Bhedan Pranayam, Ujjayi Pranayam, Bhramari Pranayam, Pranayam from Hatha Yoga- Surya Bhedan, Bhasrika, Ujjayi, Shitali, Sitkari, Bhramari,Murchha & Plavini Pranayam.

As seen above the practices of Pranyam is meant for use by Yogis for higher purposes.

However for Good health and a relaxed mind, good breathing throughout the day is absolutely necessary.

Still, looking around we do not see anybody having a visible breathing ie chest or stomach movememt except for children,  who need much more oxygen.

So, basically we are breathing just enough to survive, resulting  in low stamina, fatigue,  wet gain in long run,  frequent sickness, forgetfulness, stress, anxiety,  anger,  an internalized mind,  less awareness and so on.

However,  at higher levels of breathing one can actually find and enjoy much higher intelligence,  active mind,  externalized mind, high awareness,  high productivity, success and a healthy body, way beyond one could imagine.

Good breathing means optimized breathing. At a lower rate of intake "Hypoentilation" develops resulting fatigue, depression, low body temp amd sicknesses develop. Excess intake rate results in "Hyperventilation " resulting in dizziness. 

Both are not good for health. Therefore we need the breathing at an optimized rate at which sufficient oxygen is taken with sufficient time for absorption by the lungs.

This optimized rate for routine life has been found to be 4-2-4-2 or 6-3-6-3 for most people, while it can go beyond for advanced practitioner.
One should discover and set into a breathing rhythm that suits him best.

So, to enjoy health, happiness and success we must remind oursleves to
1. develop and adopt good breathing practices throughout the day, as much as we can.
2. Clothes, innerwear, belt, tie etc loose enough to not affect chest or diaphragm movement
3. Ventilation - esp in AC room and Car- Most AC used today use nil or negligible fresh for less load on compressor or less energy consumption.
Result -Sleepiness esp in cars.
While we should use recirculation option for a small time, a small ventilation should be available.  It changes the air quality and freshness experience altogether.
4. Snoring is bad for breathing and fatal in very long run. My post on snoring is available.
5. An early and light dinner followed by a walk or motion ensures good breathing during sleep buy allowing diaphragm movement. Also reduces risk of Asthma by reducing GERD.
6. Sleep 7-8 hrs mandatory, as body consumes much air during REM sleep for repair, recovery growth and immunity.
7. Sufficient water intake

Keep Breathing your way to Good health and Happiness!

The actual Capital: Youth

The only treasure of Life- Youth!

Our Body is the greatest of our treasures as well as the the greatest capital. Whatever be the size of your inheritance,  the value of the body is thousand time higher.

This body (including the mind) is at its peak of performance for learning, for thinking, for idea-ting, for hard work, for fighting disease and for maintaining health at the peak of Youth (15-25 years). From the peak the performance and health goes downhill till the final stop.

This is the time, which one should capitalize on for his success. Anyone who wants to achieve the pinnacle and make his own mark in life, must start early.
First the goal has to be set and path has to be chalked out, with guidance from seniors,  most of all parents beacuse no one cares more for you.

Then, every hour of every day has to be used to inch towards the goal. These few years are not only the foundation for the rest of the life they also decide how the rest of the life would be. The deeper u dig, the stronger and higher your tower would rise and vice versa.

Unfortunately,  this fact is never dwelt upon mostly by the young. In fact it can safely be said that those who ended well mostly started well at their youth. It was the investment of these years,  dedication of these years to their future, the fruits of which they harvested and benefitted other, too till the very end.

Now, the path of youth is full of distractions and deviations. Mostly it starts with friends and leads to wastage of this precious unsalvagable treasure. I have seen people deviating too far from their goal by bad choice of friends and now bound to remorse and guilt.

Remember, only you yourself can be your true friend and  the next is your parents. The rest will pass on to their destinies leaving remorse behind. Therefore the choice of friends must be thoughtful and then rather than being swayed by their temptations, one should do the duty of the true friend by leading them up the right path.

Friend, whether to seed your youth for a harvest of happiness,  prosperity and succes for all life or to throw away the seeds by the roadside for a starved life, the choice has to be made by you, but make it thoughtfully, because later on inspite of all remorse, guilts wishes and prayers, time does not roll back.

The farmer who misses the seeding season can only blame himself throught long hungry winter nights.