> Does Pranayam involve high-resistance inspiratory breathing?
Yes, Pranayama is vast. So many different exercises for different purposes. But keep in mind that I'm a German and my knowledge is from books and some videos only. I'm no expert ...
One thing all sources I've read or seen are very clear about is that those exercises are advanced exercise. Also, Pranayama does very precisely assign exercises to specific conditions.
One thing we "western" guys can improve on is patience. I see it with myself every second of my life :-).
I'd say patience. And non-attachement.