8/6/2023 0 Comments Pranayama cardiac coherence![]() That science has become more difficult for nonspecialists to understand is a truth universally acknowledged. Typically, it is bloated, dense and so dry that no amount of chewing can make it tasty. The following is what some scientists have said about the scientific literature: The writing is predominantly in the passive voice, very dense and is typified by the overuse of ‘science-ese’ like “‘moreover,’ ‘therefore,’ ‘distinct’ and ‘underlying’”. For example, you no longer read scientific papers today that are easy to understand. It’s also a reflection of the kind of language scientists have been trained to, and are encouraged to, use. This is simply a reflection of the scientist’s isolation from society’s broader goals, in the West as much as in the modern East. On the other hand, calling it ‘pranayama’ – by way of its storied relationship with yoga – keeps it within the commons. That doesn’t make it wrong, even though claiming it is something novel would be misguided, but that does remove the technique from the commons and away from the people, using language that isn’t very accessible, and making it sound more alien than it actually is. ‘Cardiac coherence breathing’, as the article characterises pranayama, is the language of a specialist within science. One example that comes immediately to mind is the role of science in society, as opposed to science’s relation to society, as if it were a separate entity somehow. However, Scientific American‘s article and the reaction it has prompted offer more than an opportunity to just outrage they offer a chance to reflect on and unpack a lot of things going on here. ![]() ![]() There was a similar incident with banana leaves last year and with turmeric latte before that. Western scientists have frequently been guilty of (re)discovering something that’s been around for many centuries, attempting to package it as something new, and in the process depriving it of its cultural heritage in the name of sanitising it for scientific examination. Of course, given the track record of the West, the outrage is perfectly understandable. The outrage on display seems prompted by Scientific American‘s tweet, rather than the article itself, which makes multiple flattering references to pranayama, yoga and the knowledge of the East. scientific language as "cardiac coherence breathing"! It's taking the West a few millennia to learn what our ancients taught us millennia ago, but hey, you're welcome… A recent article in Scientific American on the benefits of “proper breathing” for overall health has ignited anger across social media, with many in India accusing the magazine of rebranding or even appropriating the ancient Indian breathing technique of ‘pranayama’.ĭetailed description of the benefits of the 2500-year-old Indian technique of pranayama, dressed up in 21st c.
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