FAQs

The website version of Pranayama can be used on your PC's browser, and it is accessed by signing up for our website membership. The iPhone version of Pranayama is a separate application that must be purchased through Apple's iTunes store. Saagara is hard at work developing our Community and Health Hub, which will allow you to sync your app usage between the iPhone and the Website.

What is the difference between the Lite and Full version of Pranayama on the iPhone?
The full version of Pranayama for the iPhone is offers the entire structured course of breathing patterns. It allows you to progress through the entire course of Pranayama, including all of the advanced breathing patterns. The Lite version of the iPhone app has ONLY the beginner ratios, so that you can try out the course and see if it appeals to you.

The Full version also has a custom option that lets you choose your own breathing patterns. By choosing your preferred breathing pattern and altering the count, you can customize the breaths per minute. The custom section also allows you to string together several breathing patterns in a single session. This means you can fully customize your Pranayama exercise based on your preferences; if you'd like to start off with an easier ratio and move on to a more difficult setting, you can do so automatically in the custom section.

Why can't I choose my own music in Pranayama?
Our primary goal with the Pranayama application was to make the health benefits of slow breathing easily accessible to the general population by using music to help train and condition people. Thus the music is structured by:

1. Different Musical Clips/Notes for each stage of breathing (inhale/retain/exhale/retain), so you can tell which stage of breathing you are in purely by sound. As you inhale, our music will expand perfectly in sync with your lungs, increasing in energy and volume as you inhale. As you exhale, the music lowers in energy and volume. With time, your body gets conditioned to the music, and you automatically stay in sync to the breathing pattern without conscious effort.
2. The Musical Clips/Notes have timing cues built into them, so you can tell when a breathing stage is about to end without looking at the screen. Currently we have to prerecord all the musical clips/notes for each timing, hence we must limit the available counts or the app would be too large. We have been working on creating all the musical clips/notes programatically inside the app, so any length can be specified. This feature will be available in the next forthcoming update but limited to the newer, more powerful devices (iPhone 3GS and later).

Allowing custom music to be played may impair the functioning of points 1 and 2 above, but we understand the desire for people to want to play their own music. We are still trying to explore a method to efficiently allow this, such as having a metronome/chimes to help separate inhale/retain/exhale/retain stages on top of any custom music. We are still have not reached a consensus on this benefits/desire for customization vs. the Loss of Functionality/Usefulness of our training program. Read more here.

I don't understand the Breathing Ratios. What do they mean?
The breathing ratios (or patterns) indicate the relative length of inhaling vs. exhaling. A ratio of 1:2 means you exhale twice as long as you inhale. The counts indicate how long each phase lasts. A count of 2 for a 1:2 ratio means you inhale for two counts, and exhale for four counts.

The more advanced ratios add a period of holding your breath to the breathing exercise. So the 1:1:2 at a count of 2 would mean you inhale for 2 counts, hold your breath for two counts, and then exhale for 4 counts. For the four stage ratios, there is simply another retention (holding your breath) added after the exhale. So for 1:3:2:1 at a count of 2 you'd inhale for 2, hold for 6, exhale for 4, and hold again for 2.

What is a count? It's not accurate! It doesn't equal one second! What's going on?
Our Pranayama application does not use seconds for the exercise. We use "counts", where 1 count = 1.25 seconds, reflecting the natural duration of a heartbeat. Also, there is a 0.5 second pause between each phase, making the transition from inhalation to exhalation easier, as an abrupt switch was deemed unnatural during testing.

How do I customize the breaths per minute? You claim in your app description that you can customize everything, but I don't see this option anywhere!
It is very important in your practice of Pranayama that you follow a structured, progressive course, and do not overextend your body at any point. Our structured course of breathing patterns is ideally suited for this purpose, but we understand that some people would like a little flexibility, and therefore we introduced the custom option, available in the full version of Pranayama.

The custom button is located in the top right corner of the exercise screen. On the custom screen, you can choose your own breathing patterns. By choosing your preferred breathing pattern and then altering the count, you can customize the resulting breaths per minute. The custom section also allows you to string together several breathing patterns into a single session. This means you can fully customize your Pranayama exercise based on your preferences; if you'd like to start off with an easier ratio and move on to a more difficult setting, you can do so automatically in the custom section.

What is the right breathing technique? I learned in Kriya Yoga to breath in and out through the nose, but your instructions say that breathing out should be done through the mouth, so what is right?
We designed an approach based on Visamavrtti Pranayama; the object being to train people to prolong and regulate their breathing in simple way. In this way we obtain both physiological benefits as well as clarity of thought.

It is very important when we are taking deep prolonged breaths that we do this in a natural way that does not put any stress on the body.

For Inhalation - Breathing in through the nose is natural and beneficial, the nose filters, warms and moistens the air, thus protecting your lungs.

For Exhalation- As we are trying to build up lung capacity to take deeper and prolonged breaths, we want to be able exhale fully with minimal effort and strain, and this is most easily accomplished exhaling through the mouth, as there is no resistance to airflow in the mouth as there is in the nose. Therefore exhaling through the mouth is the most widely suitable method and adapts well to everyday life.

Different forms of Yoga have different purposes and different breathing techniques. Therefore in some forms you do exhale through the nose during the yoga training, but not through out the normal day. Our purpose was to train people in a method that would be suitable for most people, easy to understand and structured; which would teach behavior and techniques most suited for everyday life.

If you have any other enquiries, please send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it