By Claudia Cummins
The elegant shapes and impressive contortions of the asanas may be the mosteye-catching element of hatha yoga, but yoga masters will tell you they'rehardly the point of practice. According to yoga philosophy, the postures aremerely preludes to deeper states of meditation that lead us towardenlightenment, where our minds grow perfectly still and our lives growinfinitely big. But just how do we make the leap from Downward Dog tosamadhi? Ancient yoga texts give us a clear answer: Breathe like a yogi.
Pranayama, the formal practice of controlling the breath, lies at the heartof yoga. It has a mysterious power to soothe and revitalize a tired body, aflagging spirit, or a wild mind. The ancient sages taught that prana, thevital force circulating through us, can be cultivated and channeled througha panoply of breathing exercises. In the process, the mind is calmed,rejuvenated, and uplifted. Pranayama serves as an important bridge betweenthe outward, active practices of yoga--like asana--and the internal,surrendering practices that lead us into deeper states of meditation.
"My first American yoga teacher, a guy named Brad Ramsey, used to say thatdoing an asana practice without a pranayama practice developed what hecalled the Baby Huey syndrome," says Ashtanga teacher Tim Miller. "Baby Hueywas this big cartoon duck who was very strong but kind of stupid.
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