Pranayama in the Yoga Tradition: Texts, Meaning and Context

The word and its meaning

Pranayama is a Sanskrit compound. One nursing review glosses prana as "life force, vital energy, vitality" and yama as "control." [1] The Wikipedia summary notes that the compound "is defined variously by different authors": one dictionary sense is "restrain, control, stopping," while other listed senses of the second part are "length" and "stretching." [2] So the word is not a simple label for "deep breathing." Its meaning shifts with the text and the teacher.

This page covers the tradition on its own terms. For the main practice overview see pranayama, and for the wider setting see what is yoga.

Texts and periods

We cannot give dates for the earlier texts because the sources we read did not state them. Wikipedia notes that Patanjali does not fully explain the nature of prana, and that the theory and practice of pranayama seem to have grown considerably after him. [2]

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is described as a classic 15th-century Sanskrit manual written by Svatmarama, and as a compilation of earlier hatha yoga texts. [4] Historians such as James Mallinson have identified early works that may have fed into it. [4]

In the edition we read, the second chapter begins by saying a yogin who has mastered the postures should practice pranayama according to the instructions of his teacher. [5] It then gives the tradition's own reasons: the breath and the mind move together, so when the breath wanders the mind is unsteady, and when it is still the mind is still. [5] It also says that when the nadis are full of impurities the breath does not enter the central channel, so purifying them comes first. [5] These are traditional frameworks. They describe how practitioners understood the practice, not measured physiology.

The text lists eight kumbhaka practices, and treats Kapalabhati as one of six purification acts rather than as pranayama proper. [5] Most of these practices are paired with holding the breath, sometimes for long. We do not repeat those instructions here; see kumbhaka and breath retention for why.

Other traditions

The Pali canon is said to describe the Buddha forcibly restraining his breath before his awakening and finding it painful and unhelpful, while the Anapanasati Sutta uses gentle awareness of breath length as preparation for concentration. [2] Buddhist traditions have breath practices of their own; see yoga and its roots in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions.

How modern practice differs

Andrea Jain is reported as saying that before the 20th century pranayama was marginal in the most widely cited sources, and that older descriptions were quite unlike modern ones. [2] Swami Kuvalayananda began the experimental study of pranayama in 1924. [2] Studies today test individual techniques, and a comparison of 73 studies of three practices found that the details used in research differ from the traditional texts in several ways. [6]

What research can and cannot say

Research tests specific techniques in specific groups, not the tradition. NCCIH notes that yoga studies use many styles, which makes them hard to compare. [7] For what trials found, see pranayama evidence by outcome. Nothing in a traditional text counts as clinical evidence, and a trial does not confirm a traditional explanation.

Learning respectfully

Ask any teacher what lineage or training they draw on, and be wary of anyone who claims to speak for the whole tradition. NCCIH advises learning yoga from a qualified instructor. [7] We do not list teachers or claim a lineage for this site.