By Bella Brinkerhoff
“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”
Life can be tough, and at times, it can feel like too much to handle without healthy coping strategies. One of my personal go-to methods is simply pausing to take a breath. A deep, slow inhale and a long, heavy exhale always helps me take a step back and reconnect with my body. Breathing is invaluable for improving our well-being, especially when combined with practices like mindfulness, gratitude, savoring, self-compassion, and yoga.
In the realm of yoga, this practice of breath control is referred to as pranayama. Also known as yogic breathing, it serves to deepen the connection between body and mind, furthering yoga's goal of unity. Various pranayama techniques focus on regulating the speed, depth, placement, and even sound of the breath, each offering unique benefits and effects on both the body and mind. I will be covering eight of the most common pranayamas and explaining how each one works to improve individual well-being.
Kapalabhati consists of active exhales with normal, or passive, inhales at a high frequency rate (Saoji et al., 2019). This technique has been shown to not only improve abdominal muscle, but also increases blood circulation, cleanses the blood, increases oxygen taken to tissues (Ansari, 2016). It also leads to acid-base balance, psychological balance, and improved concentration (Ansari, 2016).
Next is Bhastrika, also known as Bellows Breath, a technique involving rapid and powerful inhales and exhales through the nose (Soaji et al., 2019). During the practice of bhastrika, cerebral blood flow is reduced and heart rate and blood pressure are increased (Campanelli et al., 2020). Though this may not seem like an obvious benefit, this practice also increases lung capacity, enhances heart health, and reduces anxiety (Budhi et al., 2019; Chetry et al., 2023; Novaes et al., 2020). Findings on both of these first two practices demonstrate the benefits of increasing the sympathetic nervous system activity for short periods of time in improving cardiovascular health.
The next four techniques all fall in the category of “nostril breathing,” with each of these techniques involving the manipulation of when and through which nostril the breath flows. Nadishodhana or Nadishuddhi is known as alternate nostril breathing and consists of breathing in through one nostril while blocking the other one with a finger and then breathing out through the other nostril (Soaji et al., 2019). This is then repeated on the other side. Suryanoluma Viloma, known as right uninostril breathing, is exactly as it sounds; breathing in and out through the right nostril alone (Soaji et al., 2019). Chandranuloma Viloma is the opposite, known as left uninostril breathing. Suryabhedana, right nostril initiated breathing, is similar to Nashidhana but does not switch sides, meaning that one always breathes in through the right nostril and out through the left (Soaji et al., 2019). Immediately following these practices of nostril breathing, Deepeshwar & Budhi (2022) found that accuracy and reaction were improved on memory tasks. Suryabhedana specifically was found to improve language in aphasia patients, suggesting a possible correlation between nostril inhalation and the opposite brain hemisphere, as language is primarily controlled in the left brain hemisphere and this technique limits inhales entirely to the right nostril.
Another form of yogic breathing is called Ujjayi, also known as Psychic Breath (Soaji et al., 2019). My own yoga instructor described this technique as constricting the throat like how you might when fogging up a window with your breath, but while keeping the mouth closed. It results in an almost snoring sound in the back of the throat during the inhales and exhales. This technique in combination with Bhastrika and long exhales on “om” make up a pranayama called Sudarshan Kriya which has been shown effective in treating stress, anxiety, PTSD, depression, stress-related medical illness, and substance abuse (Zope & Zope, 2013).
The final pranayama is called Bhramari or Humming Bee Breath, as it produces the humming sound of a female honeybee (Soaji et al., 2019). For this technique, the index fingers go in the ears and every exhale is hummed, creating vibrations in the skull and mimicking the sound of a bee. This has been shown to effectively activate the parasympathetic system, leading to mental relaxation and the reduction of stress (Kuppusamy et al., 2017). It also works as a meditative technique, enabling an individual to focus only on the humming sound and shut out those sounds of the world around them.
Even more benefits of yogic breathing include enhanced mood, improved regulation of anxiety and stress symptoms, reduced fatigue, pain management, and improved physical health (Jayawardena et al., 2020; Saoji et al., 2019; Yildiz et al., 2022). Incorporating moments of deep breathing into daily routines offers a universally beneficial practice for rejuvenating both the body and mind. The pranayamas of yoga present an accessible approach for enhancing overall well-being amidst the demands of life.
If you would like to try some of the breathing techniques discussed, here is a video demonstrating the Nadishodhana, Ujjayi, and Bhramari pranayamas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=395ZloN4Rr8&ab_channel=VENTUNOYOGA
“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life”
References
Ansari, R. M. (2016). Kapalabhati pranayama: An answer to modern day polycystic ovarian syndrome and coexisting metabolic syndrome? International Journal of Yoga, 9(2) https://journals-lww-com.byu.idm.oclc.org/ijoy/fulltext/2016/09020/kapalabhati_pranayama__an_answer_to_modern_day.9.aspx
Budhi, R. B., Payghan, S., & Deepeshwar, S. (2019). Changes in lung function measures following bhastrika pranayama (bellows breath) and running in healthy individuals. International Journal of Yoga, 12(3), 233-239. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_43_18
Campanelli, S., Tort, A. B. L., & Lobão-Soares, B. (2020). Pranayamas and their neurophysiological effects. International Journal of Yoga, 13(3), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_91_19
Chetry, D., Chhetri, A., & Yadav, K. (2023). Effects of bhastrika pranayama (yoga bellows-type breathing) on pulmonary, cardiovascular, and psychological variables: A systematic review. Yoga Mimamsa, 55(1) https://journals-lww-com.byu.idm.oclc.org/yomi/fulltext/2023/55010/effects_of_bhastrika_pranayama__yoga_bellows_type.9.aspx
Deepeshwar, S., & Budhi, R. B. (2022). Slow yoga breathing improves mental load in working memory performance and cardiac activity among yoga practitioners. Frontiers in Psychology, 13 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.968858
Jayawardena, R., Ranasinghe, P., Ranawaka, H., Gamage, N., Dissanayake, D., & Misra, A. (2020). Exploring the therapeutic benefits of pranayama (yogic breathing): A systematic review. International Journal of Yoga, 13(2), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_37_19
Kuppusamy, M., Kamaldeen, D., Pitani, R., Amaldas, J., & Shanmugam, P. (2017). Effects of bhramari pranayama on health - A systematic review. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 8(1), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.02.003
Novaes, M. M., Palhano-Fontes, F., Onias, H., Andrade, K. C., Lobão-Soares, B., Arruda-Sanchez, T., Kozasa, E. H., Santaella, D. F., & de Araujo, D. B. (2020). Effects of yoga respiratory practice (bhastrika pranayama) on anxiety, affect, and brain functional connectivity and activity: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00467
Saoji, A. A., Raghavendra, B. R., & Manjunath, N. K. (2019). Effects of yogic breath regulation: A narrative review of scientific evidence. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 10(1), 50-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaim.2017.07.008
Yildiz, S., Grinstead, J., Hildebrand, A., Oshinski, J., Rooney, W. D., Lim, M. M., & Oken, B. (2022). Immediate impact of yogic breathing on pulsatile cerebrospinal fluid dynamics. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 10894. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15034-8
Zope, S. A., & Zope, R. A. (2013). Sudarshan kriya yoga: Breathing for health. International Journal of Yoga, 6(1), 4-10. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.105935