There are many different types of yoga, all with their own slight differences. However, the basics of yoga have remained the same for thousands of years. There are asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), mudra (hand gestures), and bandha (locks), all of which are meant to help you attain more balance in your body, mind, and spirit.
In yoga, there is a basic concept called a “pranayama”. It is a control of your breath that leads to a deeper state of relaxation and meditation. It is an exhalation and inhalation that are held at the same time. The basic technique is to inhale and exhale through the nose. The idea is that the inhale and exhale become a unit. After following that breathing technique for a while, you can begin to experience a certain calmness as you keep breathing in and out. The truth is, you are exhaling and inhaling all the time. The difference is that these breaths are shallow. This means they are often interrupted. When we begin to practice yoga, we start to breathe through the nose
In this post, I want to talk about a technique that is compatible with the traditional asana (posture) practice of yoga, but can be used to make the experience more mindful. This is the breath, and while you have probably heard of the yoga breath, you may not have realized that there is a lot of confusion surrounding this fundamental practice. In this article, I want to clear up some of that. In many yoga classes, poses are linked to breathing, and teachers often tell you to breathe in or out before or during the movement in and out of the pose.
There are many reasons why yoga students want to understand why and when to inhale instead of exhale; maybe you’re a curious yogi who wants to know the science, or your practice would benefit from more breathing, or your teacher has stopped giving verbal instructions and you need to hold your breath yourself.
Yoga postures attempt to adapt the inhalation or exhalation to the anatomical changes that occur during breathing.
Table of Contents
Inhalation
Warning: Sit in a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Look. To feel. What’s happening to your body? The air fills your lungs, fills your belly, you sit up a little higher, your chest expands, your chest swells, and so on.
Anatomical : Some of these changes are mainly due to one muscle (diaphragm) and one group of muscles (intercostal).
The diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle at the base of the lungs and chest wall, contracts and stretches downward, expanding the lungs and allowing air to flow in. The intercostal muscles between the ribs also contract and pull the chest outward, increasing the volume of the lungs.
Asana: Which postures go well with the anatomical changes that occur during breathing? Poses where you expand your chest, sit higher and extend your arms upward, such as B. Urdhwa Hastasana, the lift in Warrior I or the high landing in Seated Spine Twist.
Exit
Warning: Sit in a comfortable position and exhale deeply. Look. To feel. What the hell is going on here? The volume of the lungs decreases as the chest moves inward, the shoulders can drop, the back and spine relax, etc.
Anatomical : The diaphragm relaxes, forming a tight hollow dome that pushes the lungs up and forces air up and out. The intercostal muscles relax, causing the chest to contract, which also pushes air out and reduces the volume of the lungs.
Asana: What postures go well with the anatomical changes that occur when you exhale?
Consider postures that do what your body naturally does when you exhale. Positions in which you bend and twist inward, such as B. Uttanasana with the dog down, or any other posture in which you deepen the twist (chair twist, lanyard twist).
Supplementary opinion
When in doubt, try to remember that in general, the inhalation is for length and openness, while the exhalation is for depth and pucker.
And if you find yourself losing synchronicity between breathing in and out, it’s important to remember that you’re already aware of your breathing – don’t worry, it will come back. Ever since the explosion of yoga in the United States in the last decade, there has been a huge increase in the amount of information, both good and bad, about yoga. There is so much content, in fact, that it can be hard for beginners to know what information to trust, what is conflicting, and what is only wishful thinking. This is where Yogishopee comes in. This blog is here to help you navigate the confusion that can occur when you first start going to classes.