Without having doubt we are aware of numerous benefits of Pranayama practices. Although these benefits any can be absorb when done correctly. Wrong practice can lead to worse health issues. I would say first you must try to know the common mistakes to avoid during Pranayama practice and also know about the contraindication of individual Pranayama technique. Here are some precautions of Pranayama to follow so that common mistakes of Pranayama can be avoided.
Also read- Introduction of Pranayama
1. Having no faith in the practice of Pranayama
Yes you heard it right, it is very important that whatever you do you must have faith in that practice or path which results in progressive progress in it. It is certainly not possible to achieve much of the success in the process with having no faith in you practice. Similarly Pranayama also required faith and believe in its practices. As a Pranayama teacher I think this is a common mistake during Pranayama practice most people make. You should not do some Pranayama just because teacher says it or it makes your class look more holistic. Know it more and understand it deeply then you will have internal urge to do it and that will create the whole difference.
Wisdom brings the true faith, here I am not saying it to do just because it written in many different ancient text of yoga. Here I want you to understand its importance and science behind it, and then only you have the ability to use these impact full practices towards evaluation of all aspect of the life. I would say faith means, practicing something with believe in it. With faith in your goal and yourself, you will achieve it. This one of the top mistakes to avoid during Pranayama practice.
2. Having no-stability and strength
To do anything you do always require the strength and stability to sustain it. Unless body is not stable or comfortable, it is really not possible to perform anything with great concentration because that instability and discomfortability will constantly be disturbing you. Therefore it is important to build strength and should be priority also .
For doing pranayama you require a stable and comfortable position. Patanjali Yoga Sutra says that after having the stability and comfort in your body/position then you must try to regulate the movement of the breath. Even same thing mention in the texts of hatha yoga. Hath yoga emphasis certain poses such as padamasana, sidhasana, vajrasana or sukhasana for the practice of Pranayama and meditation because these postures allow you to keep your spine straight and head in line with it.
You should not be too tired before doing Pranayama. Ensure that you get good sleep in the night. In case, you want to do Pranayama in the evening after working whole day in office, take rest in shavasana before doing Pranayama.
3. Don’t follow the rule of Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya is one the most important practices. Although brahmacharya is mostly explained with narrow interpretation but brahmacharya has much broader interpretations. The literal meaning of the word brahmacharya is ‘to following the path of divine’ or it must be widely interpreted as ‘right use of energy’.
In my words brahmacharya is ‘to invest your energy not to waste’. We can make some other appropriate translation to this word for the sake of practical understanding. For example mindfulness and moderation, there practices are about learning to pay attention to how you can use your energy in daily life.
With the practice of Pranayama is applied in the same way. Any practice we do, it needs to keep in the mind that you are suppose to invest your energy in this practice or do it up to your capability. As many other text says that brahmacharya increases the enthusiasm within you and gives you the strength to be consistent in your practice.
4. Not following the appropriate diet
You must have heard that whatever we eat, not only influences our physical well being, but also our emotions and mental well being. So when you choose your food you are not just choosing some substance to eat but also you are choosing the energy which going to nourish your overall well being. Therefore this act of choosing food must be done consciously.
Ancient wisdom classifies three types of food – satvic, rajasic and tamasic. among these type of food, satvic food which makes you feel light, energetic and enthusiastic.
Various text of hath yog emphasis on first mastering the posture and moderating the consumption of food (eating satvic food). As one more from precautions of pranayama practices is, it must be started under the guidance of a teacher/guru. If diet is not followed accordingly these can be many side effects of Pranayama practices.
5. Not making it part of the life style
Lifestyle is the keyword for well-being. Lifestyle generally refers to the way in which you live your life and also it is a reflection of your values or attitude towards life. I think lifestyle is something which massively affects every aspect of our life. So whatever you achieved in your life does depend on kind of lifestyle you have developed.
Similarly when it comes to practices of Yoga (such as Asana, Pranyama or Meditation etc.), unless it is the part of your daily ritual it is not going to give much of the benefit. You must thrive to establish Pranayama practice as part of your daily routine. Any great result comes only when you have strong commitment and persistence. Even this is one of the mistakes to avoid during Pranayama practice.
Conclusion
You must understand the fact that you do not need long practice with wrong notion of knowledge because it only leads to worse consequence only when you do right practice even it is less still gives you numerous benefits. therefore first let your vision be clear about common mistakes to avoid during pranayama practices then do it correctly will give you so much benefits.
