Breath is life. It is fundamental to every action and holds within it divine potential and divine essence. Breathing is Rechaka and Puraka, meaning inhalation and exhalation. Every inhalation is our inspiration from God, and every exhalation is our surrender to God. Life begins with an inhale, and life ends with an exhale. Within the breath, there is the potential for everything. Our breathing has such a significant impact on our lives. Just look at the symbolic influence of it on our language:
We have a sigh of relief when we hear we passed an important exam.
We hold our breath when we are at the edge of our seats watching a scary movie.
Our breath gets taken away when we suddenly bump into the person we secretly have a crush on.
Our reactions to situations in life influence our breathing unconsciously, that is for sure. But what if, vice versa, we were able to use the breath to influence the quality of our lives? It has a great impact on healthy and mindful living. Correct breathing techniques can improve a person’s quality of living and overall health. All breathing should be done through the nose (unless otherwise specified) as breathing through the mouth weakens the heart. The breath should be deep, smooth, and consistent. Both the inhale and exhale should be even, meaning the length and intensity should be the same. Breathing play vital role among all type of yoga and you can learn these breathing technique in many yoga course. Breathing in this manner purifies and stabilizes the body, mind, and nervous system.
Importance Of Breathing In Ashtanga Yoga
Yoga is a breathing practice, and breath function in the Ashtanga yoga system plays an essential role. In the words of Sri K. Patthabi Jois, if you are not breathing, you are just bending, not doing yoga. Our breath is the momentum behind our movement and our stability within the posture. Correct breath allows for every movement and posture to be gentle, precise, powerful, and steady. In Ashtanga yoga, we practice Ujjayi Pranayama, meaning, Victorious Breath. Every inhalation and exhalation is manipulated with the help of Ujjayi breathing. By slightly contracting your glottis, you make a hissing sound, which allows you to breathe more evenly. Ujjayi breath maintains balance and homeostasis within the body during practice, cultivates and expands prana, circulates the blood, builds the internal heat of purification, and is the vehicle by which you can overcome obstacles and control your mind and body. It also calms down your nervous system, heats up your body, and helps you to stay focused on your breathing properly.
Tattvaa Yogashala’s Student Says: Breath In & Breath Out
Among cow’s soiled spoors, a smell of magic. It penetrated me since my first inhalations and exhalations on the land of Rishikesh. Way before the contractions of the sun salutations. I have been breathing differently here – taking in the dust, the sweat, the taste of the mat inside my lungs. Breathing in, breathing out, learning again how to embrace the air – in, out, in, out at yoga school in Rishikesh. Letting out the fire of the physical effort and the waves of relief through the pranayama practice. The very movement of filling my chest after the intensity of this month of yoga has been a new act of self-awareness in itself and, to be honest, the bittersweet realization of how much my mind has been polluting my respiration for so long. In fact, I realize I am probably learning my biggest and most humble lesson here: relearning how to breathe, and starting all over again, every single second. Life-changing Mother Ganga was sliding her body throughout the entire city of Rishikesh, and I sometimes observed my mind desperately trying to fill in any space. I close my eyes and try to practice focus, listening to the rhythm of my breathing; after all, that is what yoga is all about. And sometimes – just the time of a heartbeat – I feel the calm, the empty space. I absorb the light of the present, the eternal, and the Truth. I bathe in the serenity of knowing there is nowhere to go, nothing to be, and I already am.
To Conclude
By getting more in touch with our way of breathing, we can become more aware of its influence on our mind and body and even start using our breath to improve the quality and longevity of our lives. The breath then becomes a vehicle to turn our awareness inwards, where we can notice and give space to the ripples on the surface of our being. Both Astanga Yoga and Pranayama can make a big difference in becoming attentive to this fact of healthy breathing techniques. You can also join a 200 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh and get a golden chance to learn various breathing techniques and Pranayama that will help you see your inner-self to improve your overall living. if you want to learn yoga teacher training in Rishikesh.