PRANAYAM BENEFITS

 Modern life is full of stress, fatigue, anxiety and a number of other issues connected to health and weight. Unhealthy habits, tons of work, irregular working hours, sleep deprivation and many other factors ruin your mental and physical health. Thousands of people neglect their wellbeing and ignore health issues because of lack of time. This is a major mistake that leads to unwanted consequences. Now let’s keep in mind that every problem such as this has a solution, and this case is certainly not an exception. Yoga and meditation, together with pranayama benefits, are keys to your overall health and energy. These practices strengthen the body, lower the levels of stress and anxiety and help one to slim down.

Quite a few people don’t realize that one of the major components of yoga and meditation is breath-work. Proper breathing guarantees 50 percent of the success. There are various breathing techniques, each one having some differences in benefits and so it is important to know about both the techniques and their benefits.

What is pranayama?

Pranayama is one of the main components of yoga. This is a breath regulation technique which promotes both mental and physical wellbeing. It can roughly be translated from Sanskrit (original language of the founders of yoga) as the “control of life energy”. Practically speaking, it is a set of breathing exercises and patterns. During this technique people control their inhalation and exhalation while following a specific sequence of breathing and holding of breath. Many people use pranayama not only as a part of yoga, but as an independent practice as well. Renewing and enhancing the connection between your mind and body is the main aim of this technique.

Pranayama benefits

Pranayama has a healing effect on your mind and body. Below you can see a quite impressive list of pranayama benefits for your health:

1. Promotes healthy and high quality sleep

Many people underestimate the importance of healthy sleep, and unfortunately this is a big mistake on their part. Necessary amounts of high quality sleep support growth and development in children and teens, as well as healthy functioning of the brain. It’s also necessary for the maintenance of your physical health. Pranayama may be quite useful for improving your quality of sleep.

According to a study, Bhramari pranayama, one of the pranayama techniques, works to slow down the heart rate and breathing within 5 minutes of practicing. This is a nice option for calming down your body before bedtime . Another research study has shown that it can improve the quality of sleep in people who suffer from a sleep disorder, known as obstructive sleep apnea . People who have this disorder repeatedly stop and start breathing during the sleep . This technique also helps to decrease sleepiness during the day and manage snoring.

2. Boosts your daily mindfulness

As a rule, people don’t pay attention to breathing, most likely because the process happens autonomously and automatically. The idea of pranayama as a yoga component, however, is to focus on the present moment. This experience of one’s mind is known as mindfulness. According to a recent study, people who practice this technique show the signs of significantly better developed mindfulness than those who don’t neglect to practice pranayama.

3. Helps to lower stress levels

As was mentioned above, there are harmful effects of stress to one’s body. According to a research study, pranayama is an efficient method for stress relief. The authors of the study suggest that such an effect is achieved due to the process of pranayama to calm down the nervous system.

4. Improves work of your body systems

Pranayama is a breathing technique and as a breathing technique, it is a nice exercise for your lungs. According to a recent study, pranayama can significantly improve the function of one’s lungs. This technique can be especially useful for those people with allergic bronchitis and asthma. It can be additionally helpful for people who need recovery therapy after such serious lung conditions as tuberculosis and pneumonia .

Pranayama is also supportive of the digestive system. The belly breathing required in this technique activates your diaphragm. This is a muscle that is located below your lungs and above your internal organs. When you practice pranayama, the movement of the diaphragm provides your digestive organs with a gentle massage. This technique offers benefits for your immune system as well. The work of your diaphragm also moves the lymph – which contains white blood cells – around your body. White blood cells are primarily working to help protect your body against for
eign invaders and diseases. By practicing pranayama on a regular basis you can strengthen your immune system and protect yourself from the development of various medical conditions.

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