PRANAYAMA - (FROM HATHA YOGA AND ASHTANGA YOGA)

"Pranayama is control of Breath". "Prana" is Breath or vital energy in the body. On subtle levels prana represents the pranic energy responsible for life or life force, and "ayama" means control. So Pranayama is "Control of Breath".
Five types of prana are responsible for various pranic activities in the body, they are Prana, Apana, Vyan, Udana & Samana. Out of these Prana and Apana are most important. Prana is upward flowing and Apana is downward flowing. Practice of Pranayama achieves the balance in the activities of these pranas, which results in healthy body and mind.

TYPES OF PRANAYAMA.

Natural Breathing
Basic Abdominal breathing
Thoracic breathing
Clavicular breathing
Yogic breathing
Deep breathing with ratios
Fast breathing
Viloma – Interrupted Breathing
AnulomVilom – Alternate Nostril Breathing
Cooling Breath - Sheetali, Sitkari, Kaki mudra
Ujjayi – Victorious Breath
Bhramari – Humming Bee Breath
Bhastrika – Bellow’s Breath
Surya Bhedan – Right Nostril Breathing

PRANAVA MUDRA FOR PRANAYAMA (BODY GESTURES & MENTAL ATTITUDES)

The first two fingers of the right hand palm are to be curved and last two fingers are to be kept straight and to be held together. Now straighten the thumb and bending the right hand in the elbow, place the curved fingers in such a way that they come near the lips. Keep the hand from shoulder to elbow glued to the chest. Keep the right hand thumb on the right side of the nose and last two fingers on the left side of the nose. Now by pressing the thumb, the nasal cavity on the right side can be closed and by pressing the last two fingers left side cavity can be closed. The pressure should be light and on just below the nasal bone, where the fleshy part begins. With this arrangement of the fingers, one can close any of the two nasal cavities. Here only the movement of thumb and the last two fingers is expected.

Movement of other parts should be avoided. The face should be kept quite gay and relaxed in order to practice breathing more effectively. Further, in order to practice the cycle of inhaling and exhaling, six supplementary types are given. In all these types, the speed of breathing is more. These are actually the types of quick breathing. While practicing these types one should first sit in one of the following Asanas: Padmasana, Vajrasana or Swastikasana. Then, the left hand should be kept in Dhyana Mudra and the right hand in Pranava Mudra. The eyes should be closed and the whole attention should be concentrated on breathing so that it will be possible to acquire it.