In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, the eightfold path is called Ashtanga, which literally means "eight limbs".

Laur Bee and Sri Vijay Anand will guide you through eight sessions where you can delve deeper into yogic philosophy and learn how to incorporate Patanjali's teachings into our modern lives.

Session 4. PRANAYAMA

Breathing techniques.

The word Prana refers to ‘energy’ or ‘life source’. It can be used to describe the very essence that keeps us alive, as well as the energy in the universe around us. Prana also often describes the breath, and by working with the way we breathe, we affect the mind in a very real way.

Pranayama can be understood as either ‘prana-yama’ which would mean ‘breath – control’ or ‘breath restraint’, or it could be understood as ‘prana-ayama’ which would translate as ‘freedom of breath’, ‘breath expansion’ or ‘breath liberation’.

The physical act of working with different breathing techniques alters the mind in a myriad of ways – we can choose calming practices like Chandra Bhadana (moon piercing breath) or more stimulating techniques such as Kapalabhati (shining skull cleansing breath).

During the two hour workshop there will be a 45 minute asana practice based around PRANAYAMA and throughout the session we will discuss what Patanjali meant by PRANAYAMA and how we can use these practices in our modern lives.

*There will be eight sessions on each of the Eight Limbs, please feel free to join any that attract you, and a discount is offered when booking all eight.