In the yogic tradition we have the amazingly wonderful breathing exercises known as pranayama. The Sanskrit word literally means to lengthen, control or direct the prana. Prana is our enduring life force. And we want to keep it healthy and strong!

Different types of pranayama are used to rev up the body or calm it down, heat it or cool it. This hot weather calls for a cooling pranayama known as Shitali (shee-tah-lee), or cooling breath. This exercise will cool the body in hot weather, cool the mind, and is also said to chase away hunger and thirst. 

Practice this pranayama every day for several minutes so you can learn it, then you can recall it easily when you need it when the days and nights are so hot.

Find a place where you won’t be disturbed and sit up tall on your sitting bones. Relax your hands onto your lap. Lower your eyes or close them so you can concentrate. Curl your tongue into a tube if you can and stick it out between your lips. If you can’t curl your tongue, make a circular shape with your lips. (Fun fact: this is called a “crow’s beak”) Sip breath into the mouth like you’re sucking on a straw. At the end of the inhalation, retain the breath in your lungs for several beats. While retaining the breath, close your mouth and gently place your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind the teeth. Breathe out through your nose. Practice 10-20 times, or about 1-2 minutes. 

FAQs
How long should I retain the breath? As long as it feels comfortable. You should not get dizzy or anxious when you practice. 

Why should I put the tongue on the roof of the mouth? The upper palate is a powerful energy point that links directly to the brain. This is why the exercise calms your mood.

Why can’t I curl my tongue?! No one really knows why. Depending on the country, 65-81% of the population can roll their tongue while the rest cannot. It’s more common among women than men. It could possibly be something that is learned in childhood. Contrary to popular belief, however, recent research suggests it is probably not genetic. 

​In the last post we offered lots of ideas for supporting the immune system with Yoga and Ayurveda. In this post we add a fun breath practice that can be helpful this time of year. 

Sit in a chair so that your feet are on the floor and you can sit tall on your sitting bones. Rest your hands on your thighs, close your eyes and feel your feet making contact with the earth, your seat making contact with the chair. Breathe in and out through the nose for about a minute of centering. 

Make fists with your hands and begin to make gentle percussion beats on your chest, then around the front and sides of your ribcage. Breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the nose or mouth. Do this for two minutes. If you have a friend nearby, they can gently percuss your upper back as well. 

When you’re done, sit quietly in the chair as you did at the beginning. What feels new or different in your breath, body or mind?

​Spring blooms and spring winds can kick up spring allergies. This affects our breathing this time of year. It’s a good idea to use a neti pot in the morning or evening to irrigate the nasal passages. This practice will wash away allergens so they don’t sit in the nose and irritate you for hours. This is also a good time of year to establish a regular breathing routine that can help the body tackle seasonal allergies.

There are many types of pranayama (yogic breathing practices) taught in yoga classes, but there are two specific types that are most helpful in the spring. 

The first type is made up of stimulating, warming and energizing breath practices used to counteract the heavy, stuck, dull qualities of kapha dosha (check out the last post for more on the qualities of the season). Three good choices are right nostril breathing (breathing in and out only through the right nostril), bellows breathing and skull shining breath. The last two are best learned from a qualified yoga teacher. Here’s a modified bellows breath:

Sit on the edge of a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Sit up tall with a long spine. Place your hands on your knees. First, establish a calm and regular breathing pattern for about a minute. To breathe like a bellows, breathe in as you open your chest and roll your shoulders back. Breathe out as you round your back, tuck your chin and draw your shoulders forward. Make the breaths long and full. Practice for a minute. Rest for a minute. Practice for another minute. At the end your body will feel warmer and your mind will be more alert.

The second type of pranayama for the spring reduces congestion in the head—ears, nose, sinuses, throat—and relieves seasonal allergies. The most accessible options are humming and chanting OM. And it’s so easy to do: Take a deep breath in, then heartily hum or chant OM on the exhale. Practice in the car, in the shower, or outside while you’re enjoying the seasonal blooms. 

Healthy breathing = Happy spring!

As a new year begins, we often think about letting go of the past year and embracing a new year. It’s a process as old as time and one that is deeply engrained in our physiology too:

When we breathe out, we release; when we breathe in, we fill up again. 

Here is an effective yogic breathing sequence you can do to activate both the physical and psychological benefits of this releasing/re-filling cycle.

Pranayama is best practiced in a seated position, on the floor or in a chair. Let the pelvis tilt slightly forward so you’re sitting at the front of your sitting bones. This brings the spine into a long position and creates space for breath to move.

Bellows, or bhastrika, is a warming breath, perfect for cooler winter days. Place your hands on your thighs with elbows open to the sides. Remember to relax your shoulders and neck. As you exhale, begin to round your spine, bow your head, and let your elbows swing slightly forward. As you inhale, slowly straighten your spine, lift your head, and bring your elbows back to the starting point. Practice for a minute at a pace that is comfortable for your body and breath. Rest at the end. If you have the time and inclination, practice for another minute.

Downward-releasing, or apana, breath is grounding and settling, perfect for the fast-moving energies that want us to go, go, go at the beginning of a new year. Rest the backs of your hands on your thighs with elbows slightly bent. Remember to relax your arms, shoulders and neck. Begin by breathing naturally and feeling your body connect to the earth through your feet or your seat. Inhale, feel the breath enter through the nose and flow into the lungs; exhale, imagine the breath could continue down through the feet or seat and into the earth. Continue to breathe like this for a minute or two, gradually increasing to 5, 10 even 20 minutes. 

As you rise from your seat, experience balance and ease, feeling confident and settled. Take this into the rest of your day, and the rest of the year!

Check out the previous two posts about letting go. It’s just as essential for our mind as it is for our body.

This is the third post on yoga’s relationship with our respiratory system. The first two covered breathing to energize the body/mind and breathing to calm the body/mind. Now we turn to breathing that brings and maintains balance.
 
Balance, when intentionally cultivated, leads to focus, clarity and equanimity. These are exactly the qualities we need if we are having a crucial conversation, working on a project or sitting quietly in contemplation or meditation. Here are two Yoga practices that can lead the way:
 
Alternate nostril breathing: The two nostrils are aligned with our nervous system and have the special effect of being able to bring balance to the nervous system. Through the nerves, each nostril has influence over the opposite side of the brain. The right nostril influences the left brain which is logical, practical and detail-oriented. The left nostril influences the right brain which is creative, intuitive and fixed on the big picture. Depending on what we’re doing during the day, one nostril is more open and its companion side of the brain is more active. This means we do not have the full benefit of both perspectives most of the time.
 
What more could we see and understand if we brought balance to the right and left sides of the brain?
 
For this practice, it helps to use the fingers to close one nostril at a time. Over time it is possible to learn how to do this using the mind only! Sit still and close the eyes all the way or halfway. Close the right nostril and breathe in through the left nostril, then open the right side and close the left side to breathe out through the right nostril. Without changing the finger position, breathe in through the right nostril, then switch fingers and breathe out through the left nostril. This is one round. Practice for four more rounds.
 
Cross body movement: Yoga poses that ask us to move opposite sides of the body also bring balance to the brain and nervous system. Two examples are Cat/Cow/Birddog and Locust pose. Birddog begins in hands and knees. Inhale to lift the opposite arm and leg, exhale to return to hands and knees. Switch to the other arm and leg. Keep going for 10 repetitions.
 
Locust pose begins on the belly with arms and legs extending on the floor. Inhale to lift and reach opposite arm and leg, exhale to return to the starting position. Switch to the other arm and leg. Keep going for 10 repetitions.
 
Try one of these balancing exercises the next time you are working on a project, must have a difficult conversation, or are sitting in meditation. You’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish with enhanced clarity and focus.

We are continuing our series on “Your Body on Yoga.” Today we embark on a three-part journey into the Respiratory system. The respiratory system begins in the nose and travels into the lungs and into the left chamber of the heart which receives oxygenated blood. According to Yoga, it’s the most important system of the body because it carries Prāna which is “life force energy.” 

All of this is to say that when your yoga teacher tells you to breathe in yoga class, please pay attention!!

In yoga class breathing assists us in several different ways—it increases our energy, it calms and quiets our energy, or it balances our energy. This post is part one on increasing energy through yoga. Stay tuned for parts two and three.

Lack of energy is a real problem for many people. It may be experienced as not sleeping well, waking up tired, not feeling like doing simple exercises, seeking out caffeine and sugar, and even getting sick often. I know this well! How about you?

Yoga teaches that breath is the vehicle upon which Prāna rides. Breathing well leads to a better relationship with our own energy.

The next time you are tempted to reach for food or drink to boost your energy, try one or both of these yoga exercises to increase your energy:

Move and breathe: Those of us who spend a lot of time sitting at the desk or computer have often been told to take a stretch break every hour. To make it more effective, pair movement with yogic breathing. Stand up to make more space for the lungs to move. Inhale as you lift your arms up and exhale as you lower your arms down. Inhale to lift your arms up, exhale to fold forward from the hips, inhale to stand back up and repeat several times. Inhale to reach the right arm up, exhale to lean the body to the left side. Inhale to reach the left arm up, exhale to lean the body to the right side.

How does this increase energy? All of the structures inside the body are attached to each other with connective tissue. Reaching the arms up allows more air to move into the lungs. And breathing deeply into the lungs stretches the spine and massages the heart and abdominal organs.

Practice Bellows Breath: Sit with a straight spine (in a chair or on the floor) and place the hands on the knees. The movement of the body is similar to Cat/Cow pose: Breathe in as you move your chest forward (spine is in a backbend) and exhale as you move your chest back (spine is rounding). Breathe in and breathe out strongly through the nose, as if you’re sucking in air and blowing it out through a bellows. Practice 10 breaths, take a rest and practice another 10 breaths.

How does this increase energy? Bellows breathing warms the body, stretches the spine, and increases the amount of oxygen flowing into the body. Just what you need to feel more alert, think more clearly, and move into the rest of your day with joy.

Today I want to share with you Natural Breath. Isn’t this a funny concept? We breathe every day, many thousands of times every day, so breathing is a “natural” thing for us to do, right?

In yoga, we put a unique spin on every activity, and breathing is no different. Natural Breath exercise posits these questions:

What would happen if I brought my full attention to my breathing? What might I discover there?

Natural Breath can be practiced anytime during the day for a quick check-in or right before bed to relax the body. It’s also a good thing to do right before practicing any yoga pranayama exercise to establish home base.

Practice in an upright seated position or lie down comfortably on the floor. It’s important to be comfortable so you are not distracted by pain in the body.

Start by breathing naturally. Do not try to interfere with your breathing by making the breath longer or deeper or directing it into any place in the body.

To observe the natural breath, begin with the nostrils and progressively make your way through your whole body, observing how the breath feels
In your nostrils,
In your throat,
In your lungs,
In your chest and upper back,
In your belly and lower back,
In your pelvic floor,
In your arms, and
In your legs.

Feel the whole body breathing as if you are breathing through every pore. Linger here or at any point along the way.

To finish, you can either transition into a yoga pranayama or slowly come out of your position and gently move into your day.

If you like, you can make a few notes about where your breath felt tight and restricted or open and free. Did you see colors? Did you feel sensations? Did particular thoughts or emotions arise?

Ahhh, this is the beginning of a meditation practice, and a deepening of your relationship with your own body.