Pranayama for Calm and Clarity of Mind

“If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” — It’s one of my favorite excuse-busting comebacks to those who think yoga is for super-fit, crazy-calm and ultra-flexible people with hours of free time.   My friend Lisa of ChildLight Yoga uses it to promote her program for children, but I think it’s perfect for naysayers of all ages!

In the past year, this site has attracted many different readers.  Some of you are interested in healthy recipes your kids will actually eat, while others are inspired by fitness discussions.  Yoga is a primary interest among many of you, while others could take it or leave it.  The common thread between all of us is that we are mostly mothers, interested in leading a healthy and fulfilling life, and hope our children will do the same.

Whether or not you’re a “PranaMama” yourself, there is one aspect of the ancient practice we all could use — pranayama.   Here on this first anniversary week of The PranaMama, I wanted to share with you all how easy and beneficial, a quick session of focused breathing can be.

According to Yoga philosophy, Prana is defined as the breath, vitality, or life-force energy.  Prana enters the body through the air we breathe, the food we eat and the environment in which we live.

For mothers, this energy is essential.    Raising children and managing a household is a wonderful responsibility, but it can be stressful and exhausting to meet everyone else’s needs day in and day out.

One day this week, I was feeling that stress.  Five minutes is all it took for me to leave the chaos behind through conscious breathing.  I did this with the help of a new iPhone/iPod Touch application from Saagara.

The application, Pranayama, I believe, is the first of its kind.  Because pranayama’s greatest benefits come from a longer exhale than inhale, this app. offers the user a visual dial and audible tone by which to measure each.  There are various settings for Beginners, Intermediate, and so on.  The user can set how many breaths per minute, as well as the ratios on inhales, exhales and pauses in between.  I encourage beginners to start with five minutes of 1:2 ratio.  That is, for five minutes, exhale for twice as long as you inhale.  Repeat until the duration of your session is complete.

I practiced with this app in silence, sitting in an easy sitting pose, as I would during meditation.  At first, I kept my eye on the dial, and I was surprised at how quickly I ran out of air during the first two rounds of breath.  But once I got the hang of it, I inhaled deeply and quickly, then let out a very long, slow exhale, ending at the exact point the app. required.  I closed my eyes, having fallen into a rhythmic breath pattern, listening to the music of the app, which rose and fall with my breath.

Not only did this practice calm my nerves, I felt like my head floated high above my body like a balloon on a string.  Deep breathing required me to use my diaphragm, as opposed to my normal shallow chest breathing.  My mind slowed down, things became clearer and I enjoyed a calm moment in the midst of my day.

One does not need the Saagara app. to practice pranayama. But it was a terrific tool for me to use to get started, in the absence of a yoga instructor, DVD or CD.   Thanks to Saagara for providing me with a promotional code with which to try out the app, and for creating such a cool program which offers tremendous health benefits.

The quickest and easiest way to practice pranayama is to practice awareness of breath, especially when your blood pressure is rising and your patience is wearing thin.  For even ten seconds, just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let it out very slowly.  Repeat as often as is required for stress relief and relaxation.

Sometimes this yoga stuff seems like a whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo.  But I know that ALL of you can breathe.  And therefore, you are ALL PranaMamas!

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