Practice Tip- Breathing

In many yoga classes there is talk about the breath.  It can be as simple as teachers just repeating the word “breathe” over and over.  Or it can be as complex as a teacher teaching you specifically how to breathe.  Whatever the method, the breath is one of the most important pieces of a yoga practice.  This focus helps the mind clear so you can have a few moments of moving meditation.  This breath also heats the body from the inside out.  This breath also helps flood the body with fresh oxygen-rich blood.  This breathing in yoga is called Ujjayi Pranayama, meaning victorious breath.

In our classes at Greenville Yoga, we teach the breath first with an open mouth, making a “ha”sound as you breathe in and out.  The purpose is to get you used to making an audible sound with the breath.  The second is so you can inspire your neighbors with the sound of your breath.  As a students gets adepts at open mouth breathing (Ocean Breath), we teach him or her to close the mouth on the exhale and make the same sound, then add the inhale with closed mouth.  This is the next stage of practice- closing the mouth and breathing ujjayi breath through the whole practice.  The sound is the same, only air rushing over the tongue making a soothing sound like the ocean.

Here is the practice tip– When you can breathe consistently through class with the mouth open, it is time to move to closed mouth breathing.  (Do not do this if you are overheated or pregnant as this will warm you up even faster.)  Gently seal the lips and allow the air to flow over the tongue.  Do not create tension in the throat.  Let the tip of the tongue touch the roof of the mouth– not the teeth.  First, if you press the tongue against the front teeth you will eventually need a retainer.  Second, there is a direct connection with this spot on the roof of the mouth to the brain that calms the nervous system.  Notice your breath with the mouth closed and see if you can feel a sense of calm here.  If not, feel free to return to open mouth breathing at any time.

In my practice, I have to vary between the two styles of breathing.  Some days I can breathe with ease through the nose, others I need to open my mouth and breathe.  Either way suits as long as you are inhaling and exhaling with a sense of mindfulness and peace.

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The Importance of Breathing in Yoga

This wonderful post was not originally written as a post, but as a make-up assignment from teacher training.  Thank you Beth Dicks for sharing this with us and allowing us to share it with others.  Enjoy~

breathe

My first experience at North Main Yoga was in a Karma Yoga class with Brian in 2008.  As instructed, I took my place in tadasana and closed my eyes.  As Brian began instruction on what to do next, I noticed the loud sound of what seemed to be a very large engine running right outside the studio.  I asked myself, “Has a mac truck really parked just outside the studio?  How long will it stay there?”  After a few minutes, I slowly looked around the room to see if anyone else was bothered by this distraction.  Then, I realized that the continuous large engine sound was actually the sound of the class breathing!  In an instant, an irritating distraction turned into a soothing, warm sense of comfort; the ocean sounding breath.  Never before had I experienced breathing of this quality in a yoga class, or anywhere for that matter.

Why is this ocean sounding breath an important aspect of the yoga practice?  My students asked me this question many times.  Before studying Max Strom’s philosophy, my response was:  the breath helps you focus and stay in the present moment, it builds internal heat, and it calms the nervous system.  I have learned from North Main Yoga, another powerful meaning and purpose for deep breathing.   We breathe to heal ourselves and our emotions.  Stress, anxiety, fear, doubt, jealousy and other negative emotions are carried and kept in our bodies in a very physical way.  Tight chest and upper back, tense face and rounded shoulders are evidence of the physical stress.  We keep these emotions close and tight, like a shield we use to guard our hearts.  We all want to appear happy.  We do not want others to know the truth of how our lives are not perfect.  So, we carry a heavy shield and wear a happy mask, we live a lie and are not able to take a complete breath.  Here lies the importance of teaching breath.

When we learn to breathe correctly- deep, full and complete, the healing process can begin.  With a full inhale, the lungs fill completely causing the ribs to expand and the chest to open.  On the exhale, the ribs are drawn together, the core engages as the lungs empty completely.  As the chest opens more and more with every in-breath, we begin to soften and let our guard down.  We soften and open our hearts and breathe with these emotions in a safe place.  With each breath, we may find a little more comfort in the midst of our true emotions.  We practice this breath enough so that we allow forgiveness for ourselves and others.  We come to terms with our faults, put down our shield and our mask.  We are able to acknowledge that life is not perfect, but we can take a deep breath.  Once we find ourselves in this open space, we can breathe freely and know we can come back here by focusing on the breath.  Deep breath allows the entire body to relax itself by getting everything to synchronize.  When movement and breath are combined, this connects the mind and body, which is why the breath is so important in the yoga practice.

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Breathe In, Breathe Out

Each class Brian, Kelly, Craig or I teach, we begin with the breath. This may seem mundane to those of you who have been through this series of standing chi gung movements over and over again. This practice at the beginning of class helps establish a rhythm of the breath that will continue throughout class, however, there is a greater purpose behind it all.

Pranayama is one part of yoga that includes systems of breathing. Prana is what flows inside us and keeps us alive. According to Desikachar (a highly revered teacher in India), when someone is troubled, restless or ill, there is more prana outside the body… too little prana can make people feel sick or depressed. The practice of Pranayama can lead to transformation and change, harnessing Prana and bringing it into the body.

The breath we practice during yoga class is called Ujjayi Pranayama. This breath creates a sound like the waves of the ocean as you inhale and exhale. This is done by letting the air flow over the tongue creating a sound like you are fogging up a mirror. Beginning breathers will constrict the throat and create tension there. This makes the same sound and is a great place to begin a breathing practice. As practioners begin to refine the breath, there is less struggle and more ease. The sound comes from the breath flowing over the tongue. The tension in the throat softens. As you breathe, you draw the breath into the lungs and help them expand like bellows. On the inhale the lungs and ribs spread wide apart, on the exhale the lungs and rib cage contract.

Why is this important? This is important for so many reasons. First, let’s look at the physical impact. The practice of Ujjayi breathing calms the nervous system by slowing down the body’s natural rhythms, increases lung capacity, relieves asthma, stimulates the immune system, and brings oxygen rich blood throughout the body. On a physiological level, Ujjayi breathing heats the body from the inside out, opens the body, increases attention span and focus, and it can help detoxify the body. On a spiritual level, Ujjayi breathing brings prana (or life force) into the body to heal the body from the inside out. It opens the heart, increases awareness and brings us to a state of balance. On an emotional level, the lungs store grief and inspiration and practicing Ujjayi can help you release old grief, as well as cultivate inspiration.

Here is what makes the breath important to me as a yoga practitioner. Breathing Ujjayi gives me a chance to focus on one thing– my breath. This one-pointed focus allows me to go deeper into myself and notice when I begin to react in the poses. When my breath becomes shallow or too rigid, I know I have gone too far. Breathing also helps me feel complete and at ease within. After a rough day, the first thing I will do as I get in my car is spend a few minutes breathing Ujjayi. Somehow it softens everything.

If you practice yoga and do not practice Ujjayi in your asana classes, why not? Have you been to a class where a teacher tells you to breathe, yet never tells you how? What does the breath do for you as a student of hatha yoga? What was your first experience like in a class where people were Ujjayi breathing?

According to the Sufis, there is one virtue and one sin. The virtue- taking a breath in awareness. The sin- taking a breath in negligence. And so we end with a quote from Hazrat Inayat Khan, “May we be a breath of life to the body of human kindness.”

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