Second part of a video interview at YogaLite France in April 2018. Discussed topics: pranayama and asana practice. Read the original post in French.
Neda: The second best known practice of yoga is certainly Pranayam, so what is the place of Pranayam in traditional yoga ?
Sudhir: See, Pranayam again is a very very important practice it has you know, just to simplify it, because to go into detail with it will take a lot of time. Yogis, thousands of years ago, they realized that the body and mind are not two separate entities. The body depends on the mind and the mind depends on the body, meaning they are interrelated, they’re interconnected. For example, if someone is sick physically, it has an impact on the mind. One starts to become morose, sometimes people start to become slightly depressed. That’s the effect of the body on the mind. Now, sometimes people may have some issues with the mind, it could be anxiety, it could be depression, it could be something else that has an impact on the body, so there is an interconnection between the body and the mind.
But yogis believed that the effect of the mind over the body is much greater than the body on the mind. For example, you may have a person with a perfectly strong body, but a hint of fear will affect that body negatively. You may have a person who may have been compromised from a physical point of view, but with the sheer will, with the sheer strength of the willpower we have seen people conquering the Everest. So the bodies may not be perfect, but with the strength of the mind they have, you know, so yoga says that most of mind has to be taken care of. Now even modern science now is believing that most of the psychosomatic diseases start here. So mind’s effect can be felt at a physical level of course and in a mental.
Now there is no direct way of controlling the mind. If there’s no direct way of calming the mind, if I said “calm down mind, calm down mind calm down”, it’ll become more unrest, so yogis discovered that there is no direct way of calming and controlling the mind down, but you can calm your mind down through the breath, and you can see fully, you know, you can relate it to your everyday life instances. Watch your breath when you’re anxious or angry, you will notice the breath is fast, uneven, in some cases fast and shallow. Watch your breath when you are calm, the breath is calm, systematic, you know, with a rhythm, so yogis said yes, by training the breath we can calm the mind down, and the calm mind is the basis for everything, and hence the practice of Pranayam, because in Pranayam you are doing nothing but calming your breathing down.
Now again fortunately in the age that we are living in, in Kaivalyadham and other institutes, there’s so much research being done on pranayama as a breathing practice and their seeming effects – reduced level of stress, reduced hypertension, ability to concentrate, ability to stay calm. You know, they’re modern parameters that are being used to increase level of GABA you know, and activation of parasympathetic nervous system, so on and so forth, so now there’s a direct link found between the breathing and a calm functioning of the mind, and that’s where the Pranayam comes in.
Please remember, we should not confuse pranayama with deep breathing. The principles of pranayama and deep breathing are totally different. Pranayamic breathing is a specific protocol to be followed. Deep breathing is totally different, so this has to be kept in mind and hence it’s very important to learn Pranayam from a qualified Pranayam teacher.
Neda: Are there any dangers involved with the asana – pranayama practice ?
Sudhir: See, let’s take them one by one. If we talk about asanas, if asanas are done as per the definition and the technique given method, and here we are talking about people with average health, you know, when it comes to people with prior existing sicknesses, disorders like high blood pressure, so on and so forth, then of course you have to consult your doctor and consult you know, but when it comes to people of average health, if you do asanas as per Patanjali’s protocol, there’s no danger in doing asanas because again one of the basic principles of yoga is yathāśakti, as per capacity, listening to your body, not pushing yourself too hard, not forcing yourself. Force and yoga don’t go together, physical force. So from that perspective I would say there’s no danger. Yes of course in everyday life even when you walk we exercise caution, so you have to exercise caution no matter what you do, but you have to … if you do asanas as per Patanjali’s protocol there should be no danger. However for people with pre-existing conditions, obviously you want to talk to your instructor, you want to talk to your doctor, that’s a valid point.
Now when it comes to Pranayam, you know Pranayam has different cycles, there are different kinds of pranayams, and first thing about pranayam is it has to be done under the guidance of a teacher. It’s not like you’re watching TV or reading a book and try to do Pranayam because you’re dealing with your breath. That’s number one.
Now if Pranayam practices are done incorrectly, yes there are some side effects, but I don’t call them risks of doing Pranayam. As I said, even when we walk, we walk cautiously, even when we eat you don’t want to overeat, you eat cautiously. In life caution is an important thing, so is you know when you do Pranayamic practices, caution needs to be exercised. However I would not say they’re dangerous if done under the guidance because Pranayam has to be learned from person who knows. If you do anything just by watching TV or on your own or add things on your own, of course, and in everything there’s inherent, you know, an inherent risk, but as I said one has to exercise caution.
Pranayam practice when it comes to inhaling and exhaling or only, please remember again for those of you who might not know, Pranayam is started by training your inhales and exhales first. Then there’s a third step of pranayam which is a pause. You need to train the pause between the breathing. So when it comes to inhalation and exhalation only there’s no risk, no danger. Now in an advanced state of pranayama, when pause is included then it has to be done under the guidance of the teacher. So that’s something that we need to keep in mind.