Pranayam – Where do you find the time?

Student’s Question: If a student’s schedule does not allow for and hour or more at a time, what should be the ratios of time allotted to asana/pranayama and meditation? Or should it be purely be feel?

A timetable for beginners is easy enough to develop, but our suggestions should always be taken within the larger context of making sure your practice leaves you able to function effectively in life, avoids generating increases in irritability, allows you to meet all your obligations in life, and leaves you with a deeply gratifying experience of practice that always leaves you wanting to return to it.  The time spent in practice is not as important as the quality of practice and the ability to stick with the practice over a long time.  Timing for a beginner might look like 5-10 minutes of spinal breathing followed by 5-10 minutes of meditation.  If you can do this twice a day you will enhance the results significantly.   This is surely sufficient for any beginning practice.  As you feel comfortable and have time, you can add additional practices like kapabhati, anulom viloma, siddhasana posture, yoni mudra, mantra meditation, and samyama.