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Prāṇāyāma · Advanced
Advanced Pranayama
प्राणायाम · प्रगत
Retention, ratio and the locks. The classical prāṇāyāmas as the Haṭha Pradīpikā sets them out, taught under close supervision because at this level the practice is genuinely powerful.
"When the breath is still, the mind is still. This is not a metaphor."
The Course
Where this begins
Beyond the foundational practices, prāṇāyāma becomes a precise discipline: measured ratios, sustained retention, and the bandhas applied to direct what the retention gathers. Done well it is the most direct lever the tradition offers on the mind. Done carelessly it causes real harm.
For that reason this course is small, closely supervised, and progresses on the teacher's judgement rather than a timetable. You will work with the classical eight, learn to hold ratio without strain, and study what the texts say about the effects — including their warnings.
This Is For You If
- You have practised prāṇāyāma daily for a year or more
- Nāḍī śodhana and ujjāyī are effortless
- You can sit upright and still for forty minutes
- You want supervision, not a book and good intentions
What You Practise
Six things, learned properly
Kumbhaka
Retention after inhalation and exhalation, built gradually and measured honestly.
Ratio work
Progressive ratios toward the classical 1:4:2, arrived at over months rather than weeks.
The bandhas
Mūla, Uḍḍīyāna and Jālandhara applied within retention, which is their proper context.
Heating practices
Bhastrikā, Kapālabhāti and Sūrya Bhedana, and how to tell vigour from strain.
Cooling practices
Śītalī and Śītkārī, and the seasonal and constitutional logic of when to use them.
Text and effect
The Haṭha Pradīpikā on the eight prāṇāyāmas — the claimed effects, and its cautions.
A Session
How the time is spent
Sessions follow the same shape each week, so that attention goes to the practice rather than to wondering what comes next.
15 min
Āsana and seated preparation
15 min
Foundational breathing, reviewed
35 min
Retention, ratio and bandha
20 min
Meditation on the settled breath
15 min
Text study and individual review
What is expected
Before your first session
- A year or more of daily prāṇāyāma practice
- A settled seated posture for forty minutes
- A practice log, reviewed at every session
- A sattvic, light diet during the course
- Not suitable during pregnancy, or with uncontrolled hypertension, heart disease, glaucoma, epilepsy or recent abdominal surgery
- Progress is set by your teacher, not by you
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Why is this course capped so small?
Because retention needs to be watched. A teacher has to see your face, your ribs and the steadiness of your ratio to judge whether to advance you, and that is not possible in a large hall.
Can I learn kumbhaka from a book or video?
You can learn what it looks like. What a book cannot do is notice that you are straining, or that today is a day to stop at four rounds. The tradition insists on a teacher for this material, and we agree with it.
What are the warning signs I should stop?
Dizziness, headache, ringing ears, a racing heart, irritability that outlasts the session, or disturbed sleep. Any of these means come back to normal breathing and tell your teacher before the next round.
Want the full picture before you begin?
This course assumes the groundwork from a beginner class is already steady. See what to expect in a pranayama class, from first breath to kumbhaka for how beginner and advanced practice connect.
Going further
Begin where you are
Prāṇāyāma at this level deepens fastest in residence, where the day is built around practice rather than fitted into it.