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• Kapalbhati balances kapha, stimulates blood circulation, slows peristaltic movement, and improves digestion.

• Surya bhedana cures vata disorders, purifies the sinuses and blood, removes parasites, and rejuvenates cells.

• Ujjayi is said to remove the disorders of phlegm and structural elements (dhatus), increases stamina and agility, and alleviates nerve disorders, stress, and depression.

• Sitkari alleviates hunger, thirst, the need for sleep, or lassitude.

• Sitali balances pitta, relieves colic, spleen disorders, fever, tumors, and bile disorders, and neutralizes even the most dangerous of poisons.

• Bhastrika balances all three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), pierces three granthis, has the capacity to cure phlegm, bile, and gas disorders, infuses vigor, stamina, and alertness, improves memory, removes depression, and helps increase the gastric fire.16

The practice of pranayama helps to regulate our emotions and stabilize the mind, which is said to be as restless as a “drunken monkey stung by a scorpion.” Emotions and breath are known to have a deep relationship. When we get angry, we can experience that our breathing becomes rapid, and it is slower when we are cool and relaxed. Thus the slow, rhythmic, and controlled breathing in pranayama leads to the emotional control seen in dedicated yoga practitioners. Conscious, deep, and regular breathing can synchronize and reinforce inherent cardiovascular rhythms and modify baroreflex sensitivity, which may be attained by practicing ujjayi and pranava.17 The sound-based vibrational breaths (pranava and bhramari18) enable the manifestation of an inner harmony that results in the attainment of a state of mental calmness.