Pránáyáma
Pránáyáma: Learning to Breathe Amidst the Noise
We live amidst a constant accumulation of stimuli, responsibilities, noise… stress.
We spend our days in a state of acceleration and, often, when a moment of pause finally arises, we look for more distraction. More information. More stimuli. More noise.
But when do we truly stop to listen to ourselves?
When do we allow ourselves to feel what is happening within us?
In any healthy relationship, communication is essential. In a friendship, a romantic or family relationship, we need time and attention to get to know the other person, understand their boundaries and build closeness. Curiously, in our relationship with ourselves, we often forget to do the same.
And the body ends up reflecting this lack of listening.
The nervous system becomes overloaded. The mind becomes more agitated. Emotions accumulate. The organism loses vitality.
When I speak of energy, I am not referring to something mystical or abstract. I am referring to our ability to function well. To the feeling of lightness, mental clarity and vitality that we all recognise when we are balanced. In the same way, we all know how to recognise those moments when we feel drained, heavy or without the inner resources to deal with the challenges of everyday life.
It is precisely here that Pránáyáma reveals itself to be so important.
Through breathing, we can directly influence our inner state. As we slow down our breathing, we also begin to slow down mentally. And the less noise there is, the more clarity emerges.
The mind often resembles a room full of people all talking at the same time. When everyone speaks simultaneously, it becomes impossible to understand the message. But when the noise subsides, we finally begin to hear.
And this ability to listen changes the way we live.
Yoga does not eliminate the challenges
Practising Yoga does not make life’s challenges disappear. They remain present because they are part of the human condition. The difference lies in the way we learn to relate to them.
Throughout our lives, we train the body to perform certain tasks, but we rarely train the mind with the same dedication. For years, we become accustomed to living in automatic reaction, in constant acceleration and often dominated by external circumstances.
Yoga proposes a different path.
A path of gradual, conscious and continuous training.
Just as a dog needs patience, repetition and consistency to learn to walk calmly beside us, the mind also needs training to stop constantly pulling us in every direction.
Practice thus becomes a true laboratory for life.
In a controlled environment, we are confronted with challenges, limitations, discomfort and frustration. At the same time, we learn tools that allow us to respond in a more balanced and conscious way.
It is not necessarily life that becomes easier.
It is we who become better prepared to live it.
1. What is Pránáyáma?
Within the fourteen Technical Disciplines of Yoga, Pránáyáma is considered one of the most important.
Traditionally, it can be defined as:
Pránáyáma – Breathing exercises with Pránika / energetic, emotional and neurovegetative influence.
“Pránika / energetic influence” — first of all, let us understand where the word “Pránika” comes from. To do so, we need to analyse the word “Pránáyáma”.
The word is composed of two elements:
Prána – the Unique Usable Energy, from which all usable energies of the Universe originate.
Yáma – mastery.
Thus, Pránáyáma is the mastery of Prána.
Therefore, the word Pránika comes from Prána.
Throughout the centuries, different traditions have sought to explain this concept from different perspectives. Regardless of the language used, what is important to understand is that breathing constitutes a powerful tool for influencing our physical, emotional and mental state.
1.1. Breathing: a bridge between the automatic and the conscious
Now let us understand another part of the definition of Pránáyáma. Let us understand why they are “breathing exercises with neurovegetative influence”.
A large part of the body’s functions occurs automatically.
The heart beats without us having to think about it. Digestion takes place without conscious intervention. Body temperature is constantly regulated without the need for voluntary control.
Breathing is different.
Although it functions automatically throughout the day and during sleep, it can also be consciously modified.
We can alter its rhythm, depth and duration, or introduce pauses between breaths.
This characteristic makes breathing one of the few physiological functions that establishes a direct bridge between the body’s automatic processes and our consciousness. In other words, breathing is both automatic and voluntary.
It is precisely this bridge that makes Pránáyáma so valuable.
By consciously influencing the breath, we simultaneously influence several systems within the organism.
1.2. Why do we feel more energetic when we breathe better?
Let us return to the part of the definition that tells us that breathing is “Pránika / energetic”.
One of the functions of breathing is to supply oxygen to the organism.
This oxygen is transported by red blood cells through haemoglobin, a protein containing iron. This is precisely why people with anaemia or iron deficiency may experience greater fatigue, weakness or dizziness: their capacity to transport oxygen is reduced.
However, breathing better does not simply mean breathing more.
The real benefit lies in respiratory efficiency. When we breathe superficially, rapidly or in a state of constant tension, we expend more energy than necessary. The organism remains in a state of alertness, the muscles remain more contracted and the nervous system remains more activated.
A broader, conscious and calm breath supports more effective use of the diaphragm — the main respiratory muscle — and helps the body function in a more balanced way.
In Yoga, we consciously work with the use of the different respiratory zones, nasal breathing and the various phases of the breathing cycle.
Over time, many people discover something curious: they finish their practice with more energy than they had when they began.
Not because they have magically created energy, but because they have stopped wasting so much energy in constant states of tension, agitation and overload.
Relaxing is also something we can learn.
Breathing is also something we can learn.
1.3. Breathing, emotions and the nervous system
Now let us explore the only part of the definition of Pránáyáma that remains: “breathing exercises with emotional influence”.
In Yoga, breathing is predominantly through the nose.
And this is not by chance — indeed, nothing in Yoga is by chance!
When we breathe through the nose, the air is filtered, warmed and humidified before reaching the lungs. At the same time, it passes through the olfactory receptors, stimulating neural pathways associated with the sense of smell.
The sense of smell has a particularly close connection with brain regions involved in memory and emotions, often grouped under the designation of the limbic system.
Perhaps this is why certain aromas can instantly transport us to a distant memory or awaken specific emotions.
But there is something even more interesting. The relationship between breathing and emotions works in both directions.
When we are anxious, tense or emotionally overwhelmed, our breathing naturally changes.
On the other hand, by consciously modifying our breathing, we can influence the way we feel.
Breathing thus becomes a mirror of our inner state.
If we learn to observe it, it can reveal a great deal about the way we are living, reacting and feeling.
When stress continues for too long, the organism maintains elevated levels of substances such as cortisol and adrenaline. Although these hormones are essential in specific situations requiring adaptation, their constant presence can contribute to physical and emotional exhaustion.
This is where conscious breathing once again assumes a fundamental role.
By slowing down and regulating the rhythm of our breathing, we favour physiological states associated with relaxation, recovery and balance.
In this way, we help the organism respond more healthily to life’s challenges.
Learning to stop again
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of modern life is precisely this: learning to stop again.
Because strength is not found only in action. It is also found in the pause.
Stopping means listening, observing, feeling, understanding.
Creating space so that the next action can arise with greater clarity and awareness.
Breathing offers us this possibility in every moment.
It accompanies us from the very first moment of life until the last.
It is always present.
Perhaps that is why we so often forget its importance.
Breathing consciously will not eliminate all of life’s challenges.
But it can profoundly transform the way we move through them.
Because often it is not the outside world that wears us down the most.
It is the inner noise.
And perhaps one of the most beautiful lessons of Pránáyáma is precisely this:
amidst all the noise, to learn to listen again.
I am grateful to my Sat Guru Jí and Paramá Guru for all the teachings.
OM Namah Paramá Guru
OM Sat Gurave Namah