Pranayama & New modern science

Pranayama, the art of breathing correctly, is an ancient yogic exercise that practitioners believe can relieve Stress, enhance creativity, combat insomnia, reduce aggression, lift depression and much more.

New modern science is confirming many of these claims.

The average set of lungs is about the size of two footballs, but most people use only a third of that capacity, and in doing so, they lose what many experts say, is one of the greatest stress tension tools at their disposal.

“Slowing breath down and breathing to the bottom of our lungs begins to reverse the cascade of stress hormones and lower heart rate and blood pressure” says James S. Gordon, MD, founder and director of the Washington D. C . based Centre for Mind, Body Medicine.

Richard P. Brown, MD, an Associate Professor of clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, who claim Pranayama “can do in 20 hrs what I cannot do in 10 years with people” summed up results of breathing studies in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.