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Research on Breath
and Pranayama
Medical science has done a significant amount of research
on the effects of pranayama over the last few decades. Once translated as 'breathing exercises', pranayama is now recognized by scientists throughout the world as a means of invigorating, enhancing and accelerating the revitalizing processes in the body. Studies have been published on pranayama research undertaken in countries such as Australia, Russia, Turkey, Germany, USA, India and others. Some of the studies are summed up here to indicate modern understanding of an ancient science propounded through intuition and depth of experience.
Breathing Worldwide surveys have found that most people do not breathe correctly. The majority of the population do not breathe enough to fulfil the needs of the body and brain. Breathing affects almost all the functions of the body, including the heart. Investigations have been carried out on yogis who could stop their heart at will. It was found that when the heart stopped, the breath stopped as well, but the yogis continued to live.
In 1977, such an experiment was conducted on a 102year old yogi. He was buried underground for nine days, and after six days he was declared clinically dead. The electrodes that were recording his pulse rate indicated that
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