the breath of life {pranyama } and rythmic breathing

all our lives we have  been lead to believe  the way we breathe is the correct way
for example when we breathe  in we pull our belly in ,
when we breathe out we pull our belly out . but in yoga it is the complete opposite .

when  I first came to yoga  I was breathing this way  and was only using  half my diaphragm with yoga  you breathe with all your diaphragm  this is hard to do at first  but with practice it comes automatically . once you have  learnt  the yoga breathing {pranayama}  you then apply it to your yoga workouts  and everyday life , I still trip up every now and then it is hard to break something you have been doing naturally since you were born .  here is how  to do yoga breathing {pranayama }

always breathe  through the  nose {never in and out through the mouth }

your nose is a filter system  for  your lungs  where your mouth is not .

yoga breathing {pranayama } goes this way

when breathing in your belly will rise  as it fills gradually filling up your diaphragm  to the top of your lungs  hold your breath then expel your breath  your breath starting from the top of your lungs slowly  continue  to expel your breath till your belly is emptied and looks like a deflated balloon.

to begin {pranayama  do this breathing exercise 10 times after or before each time you do a yoga workout  gradually increase the  number of times you use this technique  until it becomes a habit .

the next step is rhythmic breathing  which is  in the same way as yoga breathing {pranayama } except you breathe in slowly for the  count of 6 hold your breath for the count of 9 and breathe out  for the count of 6 at first  you might find you can do only 3 or 4  rounds of this exercise  before you become dizzy  but with practice it will go away  and become easier when you get used to  this number of breaths  you increase the amount of times  you hold and breathe in and out for  example breathe in for 9 hold for 18 breathe out for 9 and so on but always go at your own pace  yoga  along with yoga  breath {pranayama }  is not about  winning a race always go slowly  go with what is comfortable with you and you will get there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Namaste.