Pranayama: Yoga Breathing Exercises

Pranayama is the breathing practice of hatha yoga: you shape the length of the inhale, the exhale and the pauses between them to settle down or to wake yourself up. This section offers eight techniques, seven of them beginner level.

For each one you'll find the steps, the rhythm in seconds, the duration and the contraindications. Most people begin with Full Yogic Breath, the base for every other technique. To calm down, reach for coherent breathing, which has no holds; to sharpen focus, box breathing.

Kapalabhati is energizing but comes with many contraindications, so it's learned after the basics. Practice sitting upright, somewhere quiet, and not straight after a meal. If a technique includes holds and pregnancy or hypertension applies to you, check its contraindications: often it's enough to remove the pauses. General breathing guidelines are gathered in the article Breath in Practice.

Shatkarmas