Light on prāṇāyāma
An introduction to the techniques of yogic breathing, together with a background of yoga philosophy.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
3people
2020–2024years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The article mentioned Holotropic Breathwork, which is a method Stanislav Grof came up with after no longer being able to use LSD for his research in the 1960s. I haven't taken a course in it, but it does seem similar to Wim Hof's technique, which you can follow along an intro of on his YouTube [1].
All of it is pretty similar to various pranayama techniques that have existed in the yogas for thousands of years though. Iyengar's Light on Pranayama is a good resource for the various practices [2]. While Wim Hof and Holotropic Breathwork are slightly different, the closest to them from the yogas would maybe be bhastrika pranayam (and here's a random guy on YouTube that comes up when googling it -- just skimming it and it looks basically like what I was taught [3]).
Edit: I realized I didn't answer your question regarding how pranayama/breathwork compares to meditation. It's different than meditation (dhyana or jhana), but it's complimentary and there are elements that are similar. For instance, during pranayama practice you'll often have breath holds/retentions and during that time you'll be instructed to bring your awareness to something (a point on your body, on the awareness itself, etc). This is generally what you'd do in formal meditation practice too, but in this case it's for a much shorter period of time (the length of the breath hold). So in a way it gets you used to working with your awareness, to bring it internal for short periods of time many times. Many people will practice pranayama before beginning formal seated meditation practice. I personally use nadi shodhana before meditation practice, and more vigorous pranayamas like kapalbhati and bhastrika before/during/after asana practice. They're also good to do in the middle of the day when you need a bit of a reset.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ
[2] https://archive.org/details/iyengar-bks-light-on-pranayama-o...
- Enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot - rules for C/C++ programmers - Allen I. Holub https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070296898/ref=dbs_a_def_r... - explained C++ to me in a way no others did
SQL for smarties - You like getting shit out of databases? Me too! https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Celkos-SQL-Smarties-Programming/d...
Light on Yoga/Light on Pranayama (breath control) BKS Iyengar Because you need to know your body better https://www.amazon.com/Light-Pr%C3%A3n%C3%A3y%C3%A3ma-Yogic-...
A handbook of Chinese healing herbs - Daniel Reid Why? Chinese herbalism is the root of many western drugs. Many still are untranslated to the pill: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Chinese-Healing-Herbs-Easy/d...
Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook - Kleary https://www.amazon.com/Vitality-Energy-Spirit-Sourcebook-Sha... - protect yourself, your mind.
- “Light on Pranayama” by Iyengar is a great book on yogic breathing (pranayama) for anyone interested in learning various techniques and exercises.
- Another modern (but still technical) treatment is Light on Pranayama by B.K.S. Iyengar.
- I'd also suggest practicing nadi shodhana pranayama with breath retention. There is some evidence that holding your breath in a controlled way exercises your spleen, like endurance divers train for, which injects oxygenated red blood cells into circulation. [1][2] It obviously has an effect on respiratory capacity as well. [3]
There are plenty of resources on Nadi Shodhana -- I'd suggest Iyengar's "Light on Pranayama" -- but I'd recommend starting with a 1:1:1 ratio of inhale:hold:exhale counts through alternate nostrils, then moving on to 1:2:2 and then 1:4:2.
[1] https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/enlarged-spleen-key-div...
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3694106/
[3] PDF warning: https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/EP086...
