Effect of Pranayama

If the various exercises of Pranayama are practiced regularly, the tidal volume is increasing and the respiratory will be longer and finer. Sometimes it comes to natural behaviour of the respiratory system. From a physical point of view it is at such a fine, very slow breathing to a nearly non-turbulent, laminar air flow in the respiratory tract and bronchi, which optimizes the biochemical processes of pulmonary gas exchange. Several medical studies have shown: the regular, slow pranayama breathing leads to positive effects evaluated, such as reduced oxygen demand, lower heart rate and blood pressure, and effects on the skin conductance increased, amplitudes of theta waves in the EEG, increased parasympathetic activity, coupled with a feeling of alertness and energize.

Patanjali has already explained in his Yoga Sutras to that distractions of the mind are connected with troubled breathing and breath control that could bring the mind to concentration. Exhalation, inhalation and breathing pauses are placed in Pranayama in a certain ratio to each other. This leads to a change in the execution of sensitive activities of the mind and can lead to a regular practice, a more profound transformation of consciousness and a heightened sensitivity to subtle life activities.

Hathapradipika impact

Since the Hathapradipika was translated very early into English, it is after the Yogasutra the most famous classic yoga book, and therefore overestimated in its importance and often - not entirely correctly - called the "masterpiece" of Hatha Yoga.

The Hathapradipika was also well known in India and exerted strong influence on later works of yoga, such as the Gherandasamhita or Shivasamhita. The most famous commentary on the Hathapradipika Jyotsna of Brahmananda, in the second half of the 19th Century was written.