Pranayama

Pránáyáma is expansion of Bio-Energy through respiration

Prána means bio-energy; ayáma, expansion, breadth, intensity, elevation. Pránáyáma designates techniques that are always of a respiratory nature and conduct to the intensification or expansion of prána in the body.

Prána is the general name that Yôga assigns any type of energy that is manifested biologically. In theory, prána is energy of a solar origin, but also possibly manifested after metabolization, that is, indirectly, when absorbed by air, water or food. Prána, of a generic kind, can be divided into five more specific types of prána: prána, apána, udána, samána and vyána. These can each be further divided into various subpránas.
Prána is visible. On any sunny day, execute pránáyáma and fix your eyes on the blue of the sky. Wait. When your vision adjusts itself, you will begin to see myriads of incredibly dynamic and brilliant minute points that glimmer, making their rapid circular and sinuous movements evident. When executing your respiratory exercises, mentalize that you are absorbing such image of energy.

Preemptive clarifications
The yôgi respiration should always be nasal, silent and complete, except when instructed otherwise. It should be executed with the full participation of the abdominal, intercostal and thoracic musculature, which promotes a more effective use of one’s lung capacity. When breathing must be executed through the mouth, be it inspiration or expiration, or, when it must produce some noise, this will be explicit in the description of the exercise. Therefore, from now on, it should be clear that when instructed to execute pránáyáma that is not nasal, silent or complete, they are to be treated as exceptions.

The phases of respiration have the following names:

• inspiration - púraka;
• retention of air - kúmbhaka;
• expiration - rêchaka;
• retention without air - shúnyaka.