by Nadia Sinclair

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How often do we truly take notice of our breath? The simple answer for most of us may just be “rarely”. Yet in the realm of yoga, breath manifests a potent bond between our minds and bodies. The technique of harnessing this bond entails learning how to breathe accurately: synchronizing your breath with your movements cultivates a deeper connection between your mind and body, thus contributing to enhanced health and wellness.

We generally have a tendency to breathe quite shallowly, holding our breath particularly in periods of tension or anxiety. The art of enhancing and deepening your breath can be substantially beneficial. Not only does it instill calmness and rejuvenate your mind, it also aids in nourishing your body and revitalizing your energy by escalating the levels of oxygen within your blood.

Engaging With Yogic Breathing Techniques

The concept of controlling the breath in yoga, known as pranayama, aims at harnessing and awakening the energy or prana that underlies all movement. Pranayama encompasses a collection of breathing exercises meant to educate you in breath control. Like yoga poses which condition your body, pranayama can fortify your nervous system, balance your mind and emotions, and enrich and energize your body.

Key Principles to Breathing in Yoga

The following are three crucial principles to consider during your yoga practice:

1. Inhale and exhale via your nose, providing warmer and purer air to your lungs, enabling you to control and moderate your breathing. However, if you are experiencing a cold or have a blocked nose, breathing through your mouth can suffice.
2. Direct your focus towards your breath. If a posture appears strained or difficult, revert your attention to your breath, observing the rhythm, and strive to balance your inhalation and exhalation such that both approximately have the same duration while breathing deeply into your diaphragm.
3. Align your breath with movement. As a broad rule, inhale while extending, lengthening, or opening your body, and exhale while folding, releasing, or deepening into a posture. Don’t stress overly about perfecting this. With persistent focus on your breath during your practice, it will ultimately become second nature.

Abdominal Breathing Technique

The following breathing exercise is a useful technique to balance your breath at the beginning of your yoga sessions. Allocate approximately five to fifteen minutes to this breathing technique in every yoga practice.

Pranayama Breathing Exercises

The following yogic breathing techniques or pranayamas are potent methods to infuse energy and calmness into your practice. Steadily increase your familiarity and practice time with each pranayama.

1. Victorious Breath (Ujjayi breath)
2. Alternate Nostril Breath (Na di Sodhana)
3. Bellows Breath (Kapalabhati breathing)

Discover a life-changing transformation with the power of yogic breathing. Learn to breathe with consciousness. For when you breathe with awareness, you breathe with life.

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