Pranayama in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga new practitioners have lot of times the question: “Can a beginner practice pranayama?” 

What lot of people call pranayama is just breath practices and breath practices is essential to practice everyone from the beginning of Ashtanga Vinyasa practice. So the answer for breath practices is, yes. But traditionaly when we speak about Pranayama we speak about: Inhalation, Puraka - Holding the breath, Kumbhaka - Exhalation, Rechaka. Holding the breath for long periods is dangerous before mastering the asanas. 

Yoga Sutra of Patanjali

2.49 Once that perfected posture has been achieved, the slowing or braking of the force behind, and of unregulated movement of inhalation and exhalation is called breath control and expansion of prana (pranayama), which leads to the absence of the awareness of both, and is the fourth of the eight rungs.

2.50 That pranayama has three aspects of external or outward flow (exhalation), internal or inward flow (inhalation), and the third, which is the absence of both during the transition between them, and is known as fixedness, retention, or suspension. These are regulated by place, time, and number, with breath becoming slow and subtle.

2.51 The fourth pranayama is that continuous prana which surpasses, is beyond, or behind those others that operate in the exterior and interior realms or fields.

2.52 Through that pranayama the veil of karmasheya (2.12) that covers the inner illumination or light is thinned, diminishes and vanishes.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

“Thus being established in asana and having control (of the body), taking a balanced diet; pranayama should be practiced according to the instructions of the guru.”

Only when the body is regulated by asana and moderate diet should a sadhaka begin the next stage of hatha yoga, i.e. pranayama. It should not be started until the guru indicates the appropriate pranayama to be practiced. Pranayama is more than simple breathing exercises and it must be practiced systematically and under proper guidance.

Yoga Mala – Shri K. Pattabhi Jois 

(A small part from the MAIN book of Ashtanga Yoga, about Pranayama.)

Nayam atma balahinena labhyah, Na medhaya na bahunashrutena.

[The Self cannot be attained by the weak, by the intellect, or by much learning.] —Mundaka Upanishad

So say the Vedas. Here the word bala means strength, both physical and mental. The body must be free from diseases of any kind, which divert the mind elsewhere. Physical strength, mental strength, and the strength of the sense organs—all these are very important. Without them, one cannot attain spiritual strength. But intellectual power and a knowledge of the scriptures alone do not lead to Self-realization; the analysis of commentaries and their various explanations do not lead to Sel-fattainment. Indeed, it is not even enough to study Vedanta at length under the guidance of a Guru. Practice alone is the path to atma labhah [gaining the Self]. The aspirant who follows the precepts and instructions of a Guru with a subdued mind unshackled from the external and internal sense organs, will realize the authentic form of the Universal Self. This is the true nature of yoga.

Body and mind are inseparably related, one to the other. If pleasure and pain are experienced by either the physical body or the sense organs, the mind will experience them as well. This is known to all. If the mind is in pain, the body loses weight, becomes weak and lusterless; if the mind is happy and at peace, the body thrives and develops a strength and luster beyond compare. Hence, the body and sense organs are linked to, and depend upon, the strength of the mind. It is for this reason that the method for concentrating the mind should be known. To learn how to achieve such concentration, the body first must be purified, and then mental strength developed. The method for purifying and strengthening the body is called asana. When the body is purified, the breath also becomes purified, and the diseases of the body are eliminated.

Once the asanas have been learned well enough to be practiced with ease, the next limb to be practiced is that of bringing the breath under control. It is this that is known as pranayama. Yet simply sitting, taking in the breath, and letting it out through the nostrils is not pranayama. Pranayama means taking in the subtle power of the vital wind through rechaka [exhalation], puraka [inhalation], and kumbhaka [breath retention]. 

Light on Yoga – B.K.S. Iyengar

“Just as a post-graduate training depends upon the ability and discipline acquired in mastering the subject in which one graduated, so pranayama training demands mastery of asanas and the strength and discipline arising therefore.”