Few things are more painful than ending a relationship with someone you love, whether it is through divorce, separation, or a breakup. A friend of mine recently went through an especially painful breakup when her fiancé called off their engagement. Her whole world seemed turned upside down by this unexpected event. I took this opportunity to teach my friend how to use Pranayama to help her heal through this difficult time. It is my firm belief that utilizing Pranayama techniques, especially those explained in my book, Yoga & Love, are powerful enough to aid in emotional healing after a painful event such as a breakup.
What is Pranayama? Prana means life force energy, or energy of the universe. It is the energy of magnetism. Whatever energy you set, is what you get. Pranayama is regulation of this life force. How can we use it to heal? Pranayama was discovered by ancient Yogis thousands of years ago. All Pranayama techniques certain breathing techniques that profoundly influence our state of being. This is one of the greatest discoveries of Yogi Scientists. If we breathe and get the body into balance we can overcome stress and achieve amazing outer and inner feats. This is how individuals who practice the yoga asanas are able to bring their bodies into poses that seem to defy gravity or even the realm of what we may think is physically possible. Another wonderful thing breath can do is balance our emotions.
All the circuits in the brain are highly integrated. Pranayama works from a physiological perspective it increases oxygen in our bloodstream. It evens out circulation. Science proves we take 37% more oxygen into our bloodstream just through pranayama breathing. When we improve cardio health, it improves emotion. It regulates blood pressure, increases vagal tone, into our parasympathetic system, sometimes referred to as the “rest and digest” system. If we let our sympathetic system dominate we are commonly stressed. Through Pranayama we can reduce the predominance of sympathetic system, and be less stressed. Quality of Prana is responsible for the quality of our emotions. When you don’t have enough you tend to carry negative tendencies. Through increasing Prana, an intelligent healing energy, you can heal past trauma. It will rewire your brain and support new neuronal paths that can restore and sustain emotional balance.
How do you use Pranayama? What techniques should the person practice? One technique is the alternate breathing technique. You practice this technique 5 minutes at day and night. This Pranayama technique can blast through blocks within our emotional and spiritual selves. This technique is explained in depth in my book, Yoga & Love.
What happens when you start to feel better? Should a person continue to practice these techniques even after they feel they have healed emotionally? Yes absolutely. Just like when an individual reaches a weight loss or gain goal they have to maintain that new body and they will lose all that hard work over time if they return to old habits. It is just like eating healthy food and working out. It’s maintenance even after reaching goals. It’s a never-ending maintenance, keep practicing every day, for 5 minutes day and night. After a certain amount of time it will become a natural habit, maybe even a welcome part of your daily routine. If you have any questions you may feel free to Email me with them and I will be happy to answer them.
Here is a summary of the Yoga & Love wisdom:
- Prana means Life Force Energy and is an intelligent energy.
- Pranayama is the regulation of Prana.
- Pranayama was discovered thousands of years ago by ancient yogis.
- All Pranayama techniques involve relaxing breathing techniques.
- Breathing can get the body into balance and can help us balance our emotions.
- There are many benefits to a twice daily practice of Pranayama.
- Pranayama can help us gain control over stress.
- Practice the Alternate Breathing technique in the book, Yoga & Love.
- Continue to practice Pranayama even after emotional healing as maintenance.
In regards to the friend I spoke of in the beginning of this post, she has been practicing the Pranayama techniques discussed in Yoga & Love for a few months now. She reports that not only is she feeling considerably better, but she feels less stress in situations that would normally stress her out, and feels “happier than she has ever felt before.” Often we are lead to believe that we overcomplicate emotional healing. But once we learn the right techniques, it can be as easy as just breathing.
"It is about learning to love from the inside out. Yes a big part of the book is about Yoga, but the core message of it , is learning to and how to love yourself on the inside. It emphasizes so much on focusing on yourself, that is such a refreshing perspective on relationships.” Paulina D, San Diego, CA
"The core message of the book is before you unite with someone try to unite with yourself. It is learning about yourself, finding yourself and then if you choose to you can find love on the outside . The book gives ways to do just that in simple step by step way.” 
"Yoga is a life long process and the goal of life is self exploration. The book inspires me to make myself whole, integrated, to feel complete unto myself. Once I do that , I will attract a holistic, integrated person who is a totality of himself, which is how a relationship is supposed to be.” 
"Yoga is love, love is Yoga. It is not a relationship book, it is not just a love book, it is a lifestyle book. It is educational, informative, a message that everybody can apply. It teaches you how to be a better person, so that you don’t just find the love of your life but learn to have better relationships with everyone.” 