question from someone in our group “I have been taking Zoom classes with the Sivananda ashram. I am wondering why they do pranayama first, before movement, instead of the other way around.”
My answer:
it’s kinda a funny story actually. According to my gurus at the ashram, Swami ji (Swami Vishnudevananda) who Mastered hatha yoga, used to teach the pranayama at the end of asana. But then he noticed people would leave class after the asana and skip pranayama and relaxation.
since he felt pranayama was so incredibly important, he moved it to be first. This was simply to make sure people would practice it. It’s been that way ever since. 😂