Ida, Pingala and Shushunna are the main nadis. These three energetic channels are used when we do pranayamas.
Pranayama is a technique to boost your energy through inhaling prana. Prana is the primordial energy, which is within everything (Please check at the bottom the article: What is prana?). Pranayamas are including in Raja Yoga (Link at the bottom), they are part of the eight limbs.
What are the benefits of practicing pranayamas?
There are several benefits that we can experiment when doing pranayamas. Please check with your doctor before practicing any type of yoga or exercises.
Some of the benefits are:
- Pranayamas bring into your system more oxygen than normal; this brings more vitality to the whole system.
- Oxygen is vital for the brain and pranayamas vitalize your neurons, which are so important to carry information to the whole brain.
- Prana calms your mind. It brings inner peace and it takes away stress. This is so vital for the nervous system and your brain too.
- These practices help you to build a steady mind.
- Theses exercises promote vitality and therefore increase your will power.
- Prana, being the primordial energy, vitalizes all the inner organs giving a boost to the whole energetic system.
BREATHING EXERCISES:
Pranayamas are basically breathing exercises. These practices are done controlling the way we breathe in a more aware way. We usually breathe in a mechanical way. We never know if we are inhaling or exhaling; we do not pay attention to that process. We must pay attention to this simple process when we are doing pranaymas. If a person does these exercises while he/she is thinking on something else then the practice cannot give the best result possible. The more we concentrate on the exercise the better it works.
TYPES OF PRANAYAMAS:
There are several types of pranayamas. Nobody needs to practice all of them; but it is good to have an idea of the different types.
Anuloma Pranayama or Nadi Shodhana Pranayama
Agni-Prasana Pranayama or Breath Fire Pranayama
Bhastrika Pranayama or Bellows Breath
Ujjayi Pranayama or Ocean Breath
Kapalabhati Pranayama or Skull Shinning Breath
And there are many more. The bottom line is to work on pranayamas to increase your energy, your will power and keep healthy. You do not need to know all the different pranayamas; stick to one or two, maybe three.
Pranayamas work with prana, the primordial energy, to vitalize all the atoms of the physical body and beyond. Pranayamas must be done daily.