Breathing is Natural

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.