8 Limbs of Yoga Continued

The 8 Limbs of Yoga

Pranayama

It’s been awhile since I have written on the 8 limbs of Yoga. We have covered the yamas or abstinences, the niyamas or observances, asana the postures, which leads us to the 4th limb today: Pranayama or breath control.

Prana is our life force, our energy, our breath making pranayama the guidance of our life force or breath control and it lies at the heart of everything we do in our yoga practice. Our life begins with breath and ends with breath and many of us modern humans live a lifetime of unconscious breathing. In yoga we teach you to become aware of the breath, to focus on the breath, to will it to move and manipulate it to move in a particular way, and sometimes to manipulate it with visualization.

The breath practices can:
*decrease anxiety and stress
*promote larger lung capacity and better blood oxygen levels
*release emotional and physical tension
*increases focus
*increase energy
*relax the body and mind
*help you connect to deeper states of meditation and physical practice
*aids in digestion and waste
*improves lymph circulation and immune function
*positively affects the autonomic nervous system; which controls blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and more

Most of us breath short, shallow breaths that do not give us the fuel and the brain food we need. Think of how you breath when you are upset. Yoga teaches us to breath more fully and to utilize each breath in a more conscious way, helping us to better control our emotions. With conscious breath we change our physical and mental states and better our health.

Some examples of breath practices that frequent my yoga therapy sessions:
*Longer, smoother, softer
*Dirga Pranayam -3 part breath
*Mahat Yoga Pranayam
*Resurrection Breath
*Circumferential breath- 360* breath
*Nadi Shodanah – Alternate Nostril Breathing
*Right or Left nostril breathing
*Kapalabhati- breath of fire
*Pratiloma -restriction
*Sitali- cooling breath
*Sattvic breath- 1:2 breathing -extended exhale
*Circular breathing
*Breath retention
*Bhramari -bee breath
As you can see the education of pranayam is endless. It is the link between body and mind and spirit. It is the movement of subtle energy within the body. The energy that is affected by life experience down to the very cells in our body. If there are obstructions in the flow of prana (energy) in the body we become ill, diseased, or mentally disturbed.

Take a moment to close your eyes, direct your attention inward and notice your natural breath without trying to change anything. What do you feel? Where is your breath most prominent? What is the quality? The temperature? Is the inhale, longer or slower than the exhale, or vise versa? Can you divide your attention between the breath and the physical body? What do you notice? Are there places the breath feels stuck or stagnant? Do you notice any pauses between your inhale and exhale or between your exhale and inhale? Which nostril is dominant right now? Do you sense an emotion, or a shift in emotions as you focus on the natural breath? Think of how you could simply focus on your breath and all of its qualities and begin to make positive change in your life.

Subscribe to my you tube channel for some sample breath practices: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzlgZGRcK_nhCkXadgAmWGw