Pranayama, the traditional yoga breathing practices, is known to offer therapeutic, restorative, and even transformative benefits. Among these are the calming of the mind and the cultivation of concentration in preparation for meditation. 
 
This workshop will guide you through several fundamental practices of “conscious breathing,” along with their supporting techniques, as the form of pranayama practice offered during this workshop. We will begin with a series of simple, gentle yoga posture-based exercises to prepare you to fully enjoy the breathing experiences. Everyone is welcome. No prior yoga experience is necessary. 
 
Over the last 500 years, pranayama has been a central practice of traditional Hatha Yoga. Literally, pranayama means the restraint and extension (ayama) of the vial breath (prana). Much of modern-day breathing techniques for physical and emotional health promotion emerged from the original yoga practice of pranayama.

Join us to learn to modulate your breath gently, effectively, consciously to: 
- calm yourself when distraught,
- pick yourself up when weary, and
- most importantly, cultivate insights answering two central questions in traditional yoga — Who am I? What is my purpose? 

Please wear loose comfortable clothing and have at hand at least two firm blankets for you to use during this interactive workshop.

Richard Rosen began his study of yoga in 1980 and has been teaching since 1987. He has written six books on yoga, two of them specifically on pranayama, The Yoga of Breath (2002) and Pranayama: Beyond the Fundamentals (2006). 

Traditional Pranayama for Modern Times: Yoga breathing practices is part of the free Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 9 - 16 and Oct. 28 - Nov. 2, 2022.

The full Summit schedule is posted at: http://contemplation.stanford.edu/summit. All events are FREE and online.

Registration is now open here: https://stanfordcbdsummit-2022.eventbrite.com/