By Neerja Singh
NEWSCOPE
RESEARCH
ISSUES
WELL-BEING
TRENDS
THEME
PERSONA
How to Breathe?
I
agree everybody knows how to breathe, even a newborn child. Still, these days most of us need a breathing program that can help us in dealing with our day-to-day desk work, driving, tension, anxiety and even depression. It is well known that deep breathing exercises can help overcome these stresses in life, so it is necessary for all of us to understand the science of breathing i.e. Pranayama. “When the breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, But when the breath is still, so is the mind still.� Hatha Yoga Pradipika
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Volume 3 | Issue 3 | July-September 2018
Pranayama is a part of yoga system that teaches us the art of extending and controlling our breath in many ways. It teaches us to change the depth, rate and pattern of breathing.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRANAYAMA AND BREATHING
Pranayama is the conscious awareness of breath. The term is derived from Sanskrit, Prana means breath, respiration, vitality or energy. Ayama means expansion or stretching. Thus, Pranayama connotes extension and control of breath. Proper rhythmic, slow and deep breathing, strengthens the respiratory system, soothes the nervous system and increases
concentration. According to Yoga, the breath connects the Body, Mind and Spirit.
The rate of breathing changes with circumstances such as it increases due to emotional or physical disturbances whereas, it automatically slows down when one is calm and peaceful. Like, when we get tired while climbing stairs, we get breathless. Try the following to regulate your breathing and feel less exhausted. Climb keeping shoulders straight and take a deep breath in for two stairs (inhale), and exhale for two steps, with a rhythm of two in and two out. Like this, we expel more carbondioxide and take in great supply of oxygen, thus we