“Breath is Life. He who controls breath controls life. When the breath is controlled, the mind is controlled.”
Yogic breathing is used to maximize inhalation and exhalation. Its purpose is to:
- Gain control of the breath
- Correct poor breathing habits
- Increase oxygen intake
It may be practiced at any time. It is especially useful in situations of high stress or anger for calming the nerves. However, while its inclusion in a daily yoga program will correct and deepen natural breathing patterns, yogic breathing should not be performed continually.
Inhalation
• Sit in a meditation posture and relax the whole body.
• Inhale slowly and deeply, allowing abdomen to expand fully.
• Try to breathe so slowly that little or no sound of your breath shall be heard.
• Feel the air reaching into the bottom of the lungs.
• At the end of abdominal expansion, start to expand the chest outward and upward.
• Inhale a little more until the expansion is felt in the upper portion of the lungs around the base of the neck.
• The shoulders and collar bone should also move up slightly.
Remember that some tension will be felt in the neck muscles. The rest of the body should be relaxed. The whole process should be one continuous movement. Each phase of breathing ought to merge into the next without any obvious transition point. There should be no jerks or unnecessary strain.
Exhalation
• First relax the lower neck and upper chest and then allow the chest to contract downward and then inward.
• Then allow the diaphragm to push upward and toward the chest.
• Without straining, try to empty the lungs as much as possible by drawing or pulling the abdominal wall as near as possible to the spine.
• The entire movement should be harmonious and flowing.
• Hold the breath for a few seconds at the end of exhalation.
This completes one round of yogic breathing. Initially it is better to perform 5 to 10 rounds and slowly increase to ten minutes daily.
Yogic breathing is used in most pranayamas.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }