Pranayam - The Control over Forces of Life

Prayanam is a word composed of two Sanskrit words “Prana” and “ayam”. Prana means life forces mainly breathe and ayam means to control or to give a rhythm or a definite flow. Pranayam is basically control over life forces by controlling the breath. The techniques of Pranayam regulate fresh air to various parts of our body. The air is inhaled, retained inside and then exhaled. Breathing the process on which human life depends. The normal breathing and the breathing in Pranayam are different. The former breathing has nothing to do with the mind but the later technique includes control and that is done by mind. For example while we are involved in a day to day task we don’t even know about the duration of inhale and exhale. But during pranayam we know that air is going in, retained and then exhaled. The result of this controlled inhalation and exhalation, both in respect of speed and time has a mere beneficial effect on the mind and the body than that of the natural process.