Читать книгу Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health - Lee Majewski - Страница 39

Many novices have a false notion before they begin pranayama as they think that slowing down the breath will limit the air they take in, and hence reduce the amount of gaseous exchange! This is, however, totally wrong as in fact we increase the efficiency of gaseous exchange by enhancing ventilation during deep breathing. The table below illustrates this concept, that shallow breathing makes us work a lot (30 breaths/minute) for very little (1500 ml volume of gas exchange) while slow, deep breathing gives us 40 percent more alveolar ventilation (5100 ml with just 6 breaths/minute). We must also remember that pranayama is concerned with much more than just alveolar ventilation; it also deals with the enhancement of subtle energies that will be proportionately enhanced by such slow and deep conscious breathing.