Pranayama & its benifits

What does Pranayama Mean? 
The word Pranayama is a combination of two Sanskrit words: 
Prana’ meaning life force Ayama’ meaning to restrain or to draw out, 
The combined form – Pranayama – is roughly translated as breath control.
It is a practice in yoga that involves the regulation of your breathing through specific techniques and exercise. The purpose is to relax the mind and body through a combination of inhaling, exhaling, and retaining of breath.Pranayama is the method of breath control. Proper breathing and awareness of the breath is very important. Swami Yogananda says, "Breath is the cord that ties the soul to the body". Your breathing directly affects the mental states. Breathing exercises help to control bodily functions. A regular, deep breath enables one to feel calm and an irregular breath can make you feel anxious. Yoga Breathing helps to re- charge the cells in the body and re- energizes the brain cells; thus, the body is rejuvenated.

Pranayama is known as a Hatha Yoga practice to control and expand the vital energy (prana). In traditional texts such as Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Gherand Samhita, there are many different types of pranayama and their benefits are immense. Each technique of pranayama is used specifically to bring about a specific change and benefits in the body-mind complex.

Practicing Pranayama is beneficial for a number of reasons:

1. Focusing on your breathing helps in managing stress.
2. Improves blood circulation, 
3. Helps with a number of medical ailments such as anxiety, depression, hypertension, headaches, and gastric problems.
4. Some research suggests that it can help with improved cardiovascular function.
5. Provides deep relaxation for the mind and body.
6. Increases respiratory function

Things to keep in mind before practicing Pranayama: 

Though most forms of yoga are safe to practice across the board, it is advised that people who want to practice different Pranayamas should at least have some prior experience doing yoga. And it is best if Pranayama is practiced under the supervision of a guru.

Certain breathing exercises are not advised for the following people; 

1. Those who suffer from hypertension or low blood pressure.
2. Those recovering from a recent heart attack, 
3. Those with chronic heart conditions,
4. Pregnant women,Women who are menstruating, 
5. Those with bronchitis or severe breathing issues

Broadly speaking all the different pranayama techniques are categorized under four different categories-