A calm and controlled breathing has for centuries been the basis of Yoga practices and meditation techniques that seek a state of quietness of the mind and nervous system. Even in the clinical field, these techniques are now widely used in therapies against panic attacks and stress related disorders.

Under normal conditions, breathing is essentially an automatic act, that is, controlled mainly by the autonomic nervous system.  In pranayama, this automatism is deliberately subverted and the practitioner becomes intentionally aware of this continuous movement: inspiration (Puraka), pause at the end of inspiration (antara kumbaka), exhalation (Rechaka), pause at the end of exhalation (bahia kumbaka). And it is precisely in this subversion of the ordinary act of breathing that lies the uniqueness and peculiarity of this technique. Our experience as practitioners of pranayama, in direct connection, allows us to assert heuristically that the possibility of de-automating the respiratory act gives us access to our "mental state". B.K.S. Iyengar would say that breathing is what connects us to the city. A slow and controlled exhalation, induces a state of relaxation of the nervous system that we perceive as a condition of greater muscle release and slowing of the usual 'inner dialogue'. A deep breathing leads to greater focus acumen and concentration ability.

The relationship between breath and higher brain functions has long been the subject of study by researchers and the scientific community and witnessed by numerous studies on the effects of meditation, which widely uses breathing control. However, until now it was not clear what were the centers and the neuronal mechanisms that govern the relationships between breath and brain.

Recently, a group of researchers at Stanford University, with an article published in "Science" and taken from The Sciences, found that a small group of neurons controlling breathing communicates directly with a brain structure involved in stress responses.

This group of neurons identified by Stanford researchers are located in the so-called pre-Bötzinger complex, whose activity participates in the initiation of respiratory movements. Neurons in this subpopulation send messages directly to an area of the brain, the locus coeruleus, which plays a central role in the general state of vigilance, focus of attention, and stress responses.
The researchers hope that this will lead to the production of new drugs against stress and alleviate phenomena related to it such as panic attacks or inability to concentrate. We hope otherwise that this discovery, in addition to indicating the physiological basis of the calming effects of pranayama and Yoga, is also a stimulus to make known and suggest the daily practice of these techniques.