Pranayama
Definition: The regulation and control of breath to harness vital life force for health and meditation.
Insights: Pranayama is the practice of controlling and regulating the breath to harness the vital life force (prana) for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Related Sutras
2.29
yamaniyamāsanaprāṇāyāmapratyāhāradhāraṇādhyānasamādhayo'ṣṭāvaṅgāni
Yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), āsana (posture), prāṇāyāma (breath control), pratyāhāra (sense withdrawal), dhāraṇā (concentration), dhyāna (meditation), and samādhi (absorption) are the eight limbs of Yoga.
Click to read insights...
2.49
tasminsati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativicchedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ
When that (āsana) is accomplished, prāṇāyāma is the cessation of the movements of inhalation and exhalation.
Click to read insights...
2.50
bāhyābhyantarastambhavṛttirdeśakālasaṅkhyābhiḥ paridṛṣṭo dīrghasūkṣmaḥ
Prāṇāyāma has external, internal, and restrained movements, regulated by place, time, and number, becoming long and subtle.
Click to read insights...
2.51
bāhyābhyantaraviṣayākṣepī caturthaḥ
The fourth (type of prāṇāyāma) transcends the external and internal operations.
Click to read insights...
2.52
tataḥ kṣīyate prakāśāvaraṇam
From that (prāṇāyāma), the covering of the light is dissolved.
Click to read insights...
2.53
dhāraṇāsu ca yogyatā manasaḥ
And the mind becomes fit for concentration (dhāraṇā).
Click to read insights...