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10-day Pranayama and Meditation Intensive

Pranayama (breathing techniques) and meditation are two of the key ingredients of an integrated yoga routine. Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, has given us these 8 "tools", called the eight limbs of yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) to achieve stillness of the mind - yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. Many of the yoga practitioners tend to limit their practice to only the 3rd limb, asana, the physical postures. There is no doubt that the practice of asana will make the body more flexible and stronger. However, by practicing only asanas we are limiting ourselves to a small subset of the benefits that yoga can provide. If we want to achieve the full complement of benefits of yoga, we need to avail of all the "tools" that are given to us.

In an effort to encourage the students to include pranayama and meditation as part of their daily yoga routine, I will be offering a 10-day pranayama/meditation intensive. In this program, I will be covering both the theoretical background as well as practical techniques for pranayama and meditation. Some of the pranayama techniques that I will cover include Kapalabhati (breath of fire), bhastrika (bellows breath), rapid breathing, Ujjayi breathing, deep yogic breathing, alternate nostril breathing, breath retention (kumbhaka), bandhas (energy locks), cooling breaths, sectional deep breathing etc. As for meditation, I will take the students through a few guided meditation sessions and also provide guidelines on how to develop their own meditation routine.

Program Information

Time: 6:00 - 7:30 AM

Schedule: (these times are approximate)

  • Light stretching and Sun Salutation (15 minutes)
  • Pranayama (30 min)
  • Relaxation (10 min)
  • Yoga philosophy (10 min)
  • Meditation (25 min).

Commitment: For the program to be successful I strongly urge you to make a firm commitment to follow this schedule and attend every day

Fee: $50

Please contact me for location and dates.

Strongly recommended

In addition to committing to the routine as outlined above, I also recommend that you commit to the following for the duration of the program (not mandatory but strongly recommended):

What is Pranayama?

Pranayama is a compound word in Sanskrit composed of 'prana' + 'ayama'. Prana is the cosmic/universal life force which is responsible for keeping us 'alive'. The word 'ayama' has two possible meanings - to stretch/elongate/expand and to control/restrain. Breath is a gross manifestation of this prana. So, the word pranayama means the ability to expand or stretch our life force (prana) by controlling the breath. Pranayama techniques involve controlling the breath in a variety of ways. According to Sage Patanjali (sutra 2.50), "Modifications of the breath are either internal, external or stopped; they are to be regulated by space, time and number and are either long or short". In this context space represents either a specific point of focus within the body (e.g. lower spine) or the left/right nostril; time means the duration of the breath; and number means the number of inhalations and exhalations or retentions. Following these guidelines, a large number of breathing techniques have been documented in the Hatha Yoga Pradeepika, the ancient text on Hatha Yoga. Over the years, many new techniques as well as different variations on the classical techniques have emerged and are widely practiced.

Why Pranayama?

Pranayama is the fourth of the eight limbs of yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) as defined by Sage Patanjali. It provides a vital bridge between the body and the mind. By controlling the breath, one can control the mind. When a person is angry or agitated, his breath is fast, disturbed and shallow. When a person is calm, his breath is soft and undisturbed. We often hear the phrase, "take a deep breath!" whenever we are upset over something. What yoga teaches us is that not only our emotions control the quality of our breath, but we can control the mind and our emotions by controlling the breath.

Benefits of Pranayama

Benefits of Meditation

A huge amount of research is being carried out at various agencies to study the effects of meditation. Some of the commonly mentioned benefits are given here: