Aerobics. Taking a few breaths and counting to 10 when you’re feeling stressed and angry. Besides being vital for our body to function, oxygen and the simple act of breathing are more than passive acts. We’re controlling and altering our breath every time we exercise or pay attention to breathing techniques we’ve learned from self-help books. And at one time or another, most of us have experimented with changing our breathing.

In yoga, breath is “prana” - our life energy. “Yama” is exercise or control. So “Pranayama” is exercise of the breath, which alters and stimulates our life energy. Pranayama is breathing exercises, many very simple, designed to balance us, revitalize us, calm us, purge toxins, boost metabolism, teach us to control our emotions, and more.

You can do Pranayama sitting down at your desk during lunch break. You can do Pranayama before a yoga practice. You can do it on the train commuting to work. You can do it in bed at night. It can be that simple, yet its effects are so profound.

Try this simple Pranayama to feel its immediate effects:

1. Sit comfortably. Back straight, mind focused on your breath and releasing stressful thoughts, body conscious of your environment while not allowing it to distract you.

2. Raise your right hand and look at your palm. Fold down your index and middle fingers, leaving your thumb, ring finger, and pinky finger straight. Don’t worry if it isn’t pretty, it can be hard to stretch your fingers this way. It’s about function, not form.

3. Close your eyes. Raise your right hand to your face. Block your left nostril (pressing down on the side of your nose) with the side of your ring finger and breathe through your right nostril. Relax. Go slowly. Get used to the feeling.

4. Release your ring finger while holding your breath. Block your right nostril (pressing on the side of your nose) and exhale through the left nostril.

5. To continue, breathe in through the left nostril, then release the right nostril. Block the left nostril with your ring finger while holding your breath. Exhale through your right nostril. Inhale through your right nostril and release your left nostril while holding your breath. Block the right nostril with your thumb, exhale through your left nostril, inhale through your left nostril and continue in kind, always blocking the right nostril with your thumb while you breathe through the left, and your left nostril with your ring finger while you breathe through the right.

Keep your eyes closed. Be at peace. If you find it helps, count while you breathe - count the same number for inhalation and exhalation so that both are even. If you want to take it up a notch, count the same number for the pause while you’re holding your breath and switching fingers. You may want to begin with counting slowly to 3 for each stage, and increase the intervals as you relax and strengthen. Do this exercise for a few minutes, or as long as you feel comfortable. You should never strain, force your breath, or feel respiratory distress. If you do, stop! If you are nasally congested this exercise may be difficult or impossible - don’t strain yourself trying.

This exercise brings your body into balance, as the left and right channels of energy within you are aligned. You may feel simultaneously peaceful and invigorated when you’re done. Practice often and you are sure to fall in love with the art of Pranayama and its vital effects.