Written by Melanie Ashley, Optimising
Melanie helps overworked and exhausted professionals navigate through draining life changes. She helps them find mental clarity.
What most people do not know is that the way we breath relates the type of energy we bring into the mind body soul. It can increase alertness when feeling subdued, but you need to present your best self. It can also bring about a state of calmness when over excited and you need to be completely present.
This article will present the 5 different types of energy which can be cultivated from choosing the correct breathing techniques. It is based on the yogic breath of Pranayama.
What is pranayama
Prana – is the Sanskrit word for Life-force energy. Yama – is the Sanskrit work meaning – to extend.
Pranayama means to extend the living life-force energy within the body.
It can be activated by how well you focus your mind whilst consciously breathing!
Humans are the only mammals that can choose how to consciously regulate their breathing as it is also an automatic nervous system.
This means our breathing automatically activates when feeling threated – such as when navigating in an environment which seems volatile, unpredictable, uncontrollable and ambiguous (VUCA). Yet, we can consciously control our automatic reactions by consciously managing how we breathe.
“Manage Your Breath then you Manage Your Mind” – Shri K Pattabhi Jois (often cited as the father of most modern schools of yoga)
What are the benefits of managing my breathing?
As mentioned, it calms the automatic nervous system which also means:
you can creates space to think clearly to make better decisions
lower blood pressure as it helps set a healthy rhythm for the heart, lungs
it can re-stabilise digestive problems as the diaphragm gently massages the whole abdomen
it can assist in building core stability, particularly if the root energy lock is engaged
increases oxygenation to support the functionality of vital organs – including the brain
How to know you are doing it right
When practiced well, it is often experienced as wave-like motion flowing through the body with a sense of lightness. This means that the endocrine and nervous system are balanced.
It creates a beautiful sense of peacefulness. Some people describe it as feeling as if their body has dissolved into the space around them and rationalise it as
“… their body being the same temperature as the environment they are sitting in.” – Prof Simon Knox Phd
My personal experience it that it feels like an expansion of warm air filling my body – then expanding into the space around me. And when doing energy treatments, I feel it as the rise and fall of opposing forces pivoting around a single point.
What are the 5 secret sources of energy
Apana governs the exhalation and letting go/releasing unwanted thoughts which enter the mind. Physically, this relates to all elimination. It is a downward force of energy which can also bring about a state of calmness.
Prana governed by the force and expansion of the inhalation and how we enjoy the life around us. This prana relates to the heart, lungs, and a state of confidence. It is activated by retention of the inhalation. It is an upward moving energy which can create a feeling of expansion and moving forward.
Samana governs our digestion, circulation and how we process our experience of the world. It is activated by use of the primary respiratory muscles. Certain breathing techniques which focus on the abdomen can help heighten awareness, assimilation, and consolidation of
Udana governs the organs of the throat, eyes, nose, ears, and the brain and how we perceive the world. It is activated by using the throat to suspend respiration and assists in growth, speech, expression.
Vyana governs our posture, movement, coordination, and circulation. Physically this relates to our muscles, joints, our experiences within the body and our stance within the world.
How to use in your journey along your pathway to peacefulness?
The “ 4 Steps to Reduce overwhelm” explains the journey to deep inner peacefulness.
Step 1 would be a practice that stabilises the breath before activation of Apana Prana. A guide to the practice to stabilise the breath can be found in the article: How To Cope When Life Throws You A Curve Ball .¹ And you can look for deeper incites within the article How To Recover From Burnout.
Step 2 would be to activate Samana Prana to build the energy as explained in the article The Secret To Transcend Chronic Stress? ²
Step 3 would activate Pranic Prana as this step is about building presence as explained in the article Why Resilience Can Help You Fly Towards Possibilities with Passion and Purpose ³
Step 4 would activate Udana Prana followed by Vyuna Prana to help explore open channels of communication between the subtle world to find your purpose with passion. This is explored in the article How To Connect with Abundance to Embrace the Future ⁴
And there are more breathing techniques which can take your further along the journey into communion with the creative life force of light and life.
Pranayama helps to position your state of mind
Using breathing techniques as just one of the 6 layers of being human, woven together to transcend from chronic stress to a life filled with purpose with passion. It helps to create a feeling of calmness and depth; whilst it can also build a sense of alertness when needed.
For this, there are 5 ways to manipulate the breath to create the appropriate sustainable energy needed.
Such is the practice of Pranayama – Positioning Your State of Mind and the secret behind choosing the right way to breath.
Enjoy your practice and evolving inner harmony.
Melanie Ashley, Optimising
Melanie helps overworked and exhausted professionals navigate through draining life changes. She helps them find mental clarity, physical strength and emotional balance by them to reconnect with their personal truths, purpose and motivations. Melanie does this by uncovering hidden gifts, building energetic practices and opening the realm of possibilities to create a unique practice for each person.
Reference:
How To Cope When Life Throws You A Curve Ball
The Secret To Transcend Chronic Stress?
Why Resilience Can Help You Fly Towards Possibilities with Passion and Purpose
How To Connect with Abundance to Embrace the Future
Further Reading:
Download FREE PDF e-book Balance Your Breath, Transform Your Life https://www.clarity.yoga/lm-ebook1
Available on Amazon
Learn More About The Pathway to peacefulness Programme https://www.clarity.yoga/pathway-to-peacefulness
