Pranayama and the Respiratory System

Your respiratory system is one of the most important parts of your body. It is connected with the whole body and supplies oxygen to every cell. The airway, which includes the nose, mouth, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles, carries air between the lungs and the body’s exterior.

Pranayama translated from Sanskrit into English means ‘Expanding Vital Force’. We are considered alive as long as we breathe and Pranayama talks about extending your life simply by breathing healthily.

Complete breathing splits into three parts:  inhalation, exhalation and holding one’s breath. With each of these three parts you can feel the work it is doing, how oxygen enters the body with inhalation, how it is used and circulates through every cell while holding and how you exhale the used rests that your body does not need. Breathing deeply is like Vacuum cleaning  your body, taking out all carbon dioxide and leaving the body with fresh and refreshing air.

There are breathing exercises that heat or cool the body, so if you have fever you can practice breathing techniques to cool your body and if you have a common cold or severe constipation use breathing techniques to heat your body. I thought this teaching was phenomenal cause we can control our body during illness and not necessarily need to rely on meds. How often do we think of breathing techniques when we are unwell? which is so important in aiding our cure.

For respiratory problems like sinus, asthma, throat infections, shortness of breath and allergies pranayama is the best as you give your lungs the ability to breathe properly and to its full capacity. Practicing daily allows your body slowly to get used to taking deep breaths even when you are not especially concentrating on it. 

Sharon Fernandez

( 4 blogs Completed)