Pranayam
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Bindu Dhyân and Prânayâm
Shri Shri Anandamurti, Sep 13, 2019: The Times of India
The process of controlling vayu, energy flow in the body, is known as pranayama, by which the movement of vital energy is controlled by a spiritual aspirant. But pranayama should always be associated with bindu dhyana, that is, meditation on a particular point. If not, it will affect self-restraint and pranayama will make the mind restless. Similarly, pratyahara yoga – here the actual English term is “withdrawal” – should always be associated with dharana.
The difference between dhyana, meditation and dharana, concentration is that dhyana is something stationary; that is, the object is a stationary one. In the case of dharana, the mind moves along with the object; there is a dynamic force behind dharana. And dhyana, although sentient, has no movement in it. In the arena of spiritual practice, pratyahara has much importance, because in the primordial phase of sadhana, one will have to withdraw one’s mind from the physicalities of the universe.
Now in pratyahara yoga, what do you do after withdrawing all your propensities from the objective world, from the physicalities of the world? To where are these mental propensities to be directed? If the mental propensities are withdrawn, but are not guided to some other point, what will happen? Those withdrawn mental propensities will create internal disturbance in your mind, subconscious and unconscious strata. It is dangerous. Sometimes it so happened in the past, and may happen in the future, that if a spiritual aspirant, without the guidance of a strong guru, tried or tries to practise pratyahara only from reading books, there would be some danger. So whenever you are withdrawing your mental propensities from different objects, you are to guide those collected propensities into some moving object, moving within the realm of your mind.
And what is that moving object? That moving object is your chitta – your objectivated “I” feeling. The chitta is something moving. So these withdrawn propensities stop moving towards external objects, but they start moving towards the internal chitta. That is the thing.
Now this jnana atma, or aham, has also got potentiality, so the mutative principle is very prominent in it. That doer or mutative principle is also a tethering agency. So “one will have to withdraw this jnana atma, this ahamtattva, into the mahattattva.” The mahattattva is the feeling, “I exist.”
Now in this pure “I” feeling there is hardly any movement, because it is a creation of the sentient principle. But although the sentient principle cannot give any specific figure, any boundary line, still it is a sort of bondage, and because there is bondage there is fight within and without.
So the mahattattva is almost free from bondage, but there is still bondage. Suppose a very good man is harshly rebuking an immoral person for having insulted him. Is that unfair? No, it is not. It is called sentient anger. Anger is static; but sometimes it may be sattvika, it may be sentient. And that type of anger is sentient anger – sattvika krodha in Sanskrit.
Now this pure “I” feeling, “I exist” – where all your propensities, along with the chitta, and the ahamtattva, and the mahattattva, form one strong unit of movement – is also to be withdrawn and merged into that Cognitive Principle which is free from all bondage. And that is the Paramagati, that is the supreme goal of human existence.
How Pranayam Helps
June 28, 2025: The Times of India
Pranayam, regulation and control of breath, is a cornerstone of Indic yogic tradition. Modern science, too, hints at the profound impact of breath on our physiology, mood, and overall well-being, writes ANIL K RAJVANSHI
Pranayam means regulation and control of pran , breath. It is one of the major tenets of Indic yogic system. The first definition of pranayam was given by Sage Patanjali in his Yog Sutras , sutras II:49-53. He also identified pran as breath. Nevertheless, several commentators and practitioners later on defined it as a vital force, and cosmic energy.
Pran is the air we breathe and inhale which consists of particles, molecules, microbes, viruses, or any other material in the air surrounding us. And physiological interaction with our mind and body to give us energy is the real meaning of pran .
A minute portion of the air we breathe goes to the brain directly via the olfactory bulb – a section above the nose which gives us the sense of smell. This input to the brain tells us immediately about the nature of the environment. Depending upon this input, brain sends appropriate signals to the various parts of body to take necessary action. If brain senses danger, then auto-immune system is activated and if not then the system does not do anything, and the body is relaxed and helps, sometimes, in producing serotonin, happiness molecule, giving us a sense of well-being. The rest of air goes to our lungs and produces energy by interacting with molecules of the food we eat. The waste product of this interaction is carbon dioxide which must be expelled. Both these functions; inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide are done by the lungs. This is like an internal combustion engine which takes in oxygen; interacts with fuel and throws out carbon dioxide. In the process of this exchange, it also produces power. Thus, this gas exchange in our lungs also produces energy which is the source of power through our muscles. Probably this could be the basis of pran as life force. When we inhale pure air then the conversion efficiency in our lungs is high. It reduces when we inhale polluted air. Thus, inhaling air from good and happy surroundings gives us a sense of well-being. We get this feeling when the environment is pristine and without any pollutants and also when we smell pleasant and fresh air. Thus, the air we breathe changes our mood and subsequently our body and this probably gave rise to the meaning of pran or life force. All life forms have evolved so that signals from surroundings are first sensed by the brain either by olfactory lobe or by specialised receptors like forked tongues in reptiles. After their receipt, the brain then sends appropriate messages to different parts of the body.
Often practitioners of pranayam claim that it helps them calm their nerves and gives them a sense of well-being. The reason is that the act of pranayam allows us to easily focus on breathing and this focus on anything for considerable time is meditation. Patanjali also states that pranayam helps in concentration. Besides different pranayam exercises also help the lungs, nasal cavities and general well-being. A minute quantity of what we breathe in goes directly to the brain via the olfactory lobe by breaching the blood/brain barrier (BBB). These particles, microbes, viruses somehow change the communication among neurons which allows the brain to send appropriate signals via the vagus nerve alerting rest of the body. Exact mechanism of how this happens is not known.
Such signals in the long run, therefore, condition the body. Thus, people who live in a pristine environment and breathe fresh air have healthy mind and body make up. People who live in polluted environments and breathe unhealthy air have problems with their mind and body. This was probably the reason why yogis in ancient times preferred pristine atmosphere of the Himalayas.
