All yoga is meant to include breath control, also known as pratyahara, as it is the fifth limb of yoga's eight limb system. You can control your breath any time you like, including during your yoga poses, to reap its myriad benefits. The overall goal of breath control is to take your focus away from the outside world and delve deeper into your inner self.
Mind Control
Controlled breathing does more than just control your inhalations and exhalations, St. Mary's Health System reports. The breath controls your prana, or life force, which in turn controls your entire body, including your state of mind. If your breathing is steady and relaxed, your mind will be equally quiet and relaxed. If your breathing is jagged, disrupted and uneven, your mind is going to behave in much the same way.
Soothing
Breath control soothes and revitalizes, Yoga Journal and St. Mary's explain. The same way the controlled, steady breathing makes for a steady mind, it can soothe the rest of your body as well as your spirit. The prana touches on an entire nerve network made up of 72,000 different nerves. These nerves become wholly soothed and revitalized as your calm, steady breath caresses them. When your nerves are soothed, your entire body and spirit is often soothed.
Detachment
Breath control in yoga detaches you from the hurly-burly chaos of the outside world, Yoga Journal notes. As you focus on your breath, your other senses begin to wane, cutting off the distractions from sound, taste and even sight. Yoga Journal notes the detachment you get from breath control is often likened to a turtle's complete detachment from the outside world when it pulls its head and legs into its shell.
Preparation
As the fifth limb of yoga's eight-limbed system, breath control prepares you for what's next in limbs six and seven, Yoga Journal and St. Mary's say. Your ultimate goal is union with the divine, and limbs six and seven are right on the brink of it. Limb six is dharana, or concentration, and limb seven is dhyana, or mediation. You can better achieve and reap the benefits of both if you first practice breath control.
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