Pranayama is an ancient breath technique that originates from yogic practices in India. It involves controlling your breath in different styles and lengths. The practice of pranayama involves breathing exercises and patterns, where you purposely inhale, exhale, and hold your breath in a specific sequence. The goal of pranayama is to connect your body and mind, supply your body with oxygen while removing toxins, and provide healing physiological benefits. Here are some benefits of pranayama:

Physical Benefits:

• Improves lung function and capacity, which includes helping you hold your breath longer and increasing strength in your respiratory muscles. Pranayama has the potential to help with all sorts of lung issues, such as asthma, allergic bronchitis, and recovery from pneumonia and tuberculosis.
• Helps improve hypertension symptoms by normalizing heart rate and high blood pressure.
• Can aid with healthy eating habits and weight loss by helping to keep cravings at bay.
• Strengthens the respiratory system by improving lung health and capacity.

Emotional and Mental Benefits:

• Can significantly lower anxiety levels and any negative feelings associated with it. Regular pranayama practice can help with anxiety.
• Increases mindfulness, which can aid your ability to live in the present moment.
• Improves concentration and mental focus as it clears out blocked energy channels in the body.
• Lowers stress and aggression among students taking particularly stressful exams.

Pranayama involves different breathing techniques, such as alternate nostril breathing (nadishodhana), victorious breath (ujjayi), and female honeybee humming breath (bhramari). Different types of pranayama exercises are meant to calm the nervous system down while some are meant to energize the nervous system.