प्राण means the wind in the body and आयाम means restraint. प्राणायाम means restraining or suspending breath. Spread on the floor a piece of cloth, or animal-skin or कुश grass and sitting on it cross-legged, controlling all actions of the sense-organs and concentrating on one single object do प्राणायाम for the purification of the soul. There are three different kinds of प्राणायामस् namely रेचकप्राणायाम , पूरकप्राणायाम and कुम्भकप्राणायाम .

Holding the nostrils with the left hand and massaging the belly with the other hand one sends out the air within the belly. It is called रेचकप्राणायाम . Doing just the reverse and getting air inside is called पूरकप्राणायाम . Then the yogī sits, with his belly full of air. Sitting thus without either letting the air out or letting it in is called कुम्भकप्राणायाम . Here the yogī sits like a पूर्ण-कुम्भ (full jar). The body of man is a chariot, the sense organs its horses, mind the charioteer and प्राणायाम the whip. (Chapter 373, Agni Purāṇa)