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PRANAYAMA & THE BREATH
MODULE
1
TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS
BREATHING FUNDAMENTALS
PERSPECTIVES & CAUTIONS
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CONTENTS
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PRANAYAMA TECHNIQUES
BASIC BREATH TRAINING & YOGIC
BREATHING
Pranayama & The Breath Module
HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW
YOU FEEL
CONSTRICTED BREATHING
PATTERNS
NATURAL BREATHING
Chapter Highlights
BREATHING FUNDAMENTALS
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BREATH AND
EMOTIONS, CONSTRICTED BREATHING
PATTERNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF
NATURAL BREATHING
Breathing affects your respiratory,
cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal,
muscular, and psychic systems and also has a
general effect on your sleep, your memory,
your energy level, and your concentration.
Everything you do, the pace you keep, the
feelings you have, and the choices you make
are influenced by the rhythmic metronome of
your breath.
— Donna Farhi, The Breathing Book
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE• What is unique about the breath as part of the autonomic nervous system?
• Why is the breath a vital component of a person's overall wellness?
• Describe the research that shows the two-way connection between breath
and emotions.
• In what ways may a student's breath be inhibited?
• What are the characteristics of natural breathing?
• When entering deep states of concentration, how might the breath be
affected?
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• Breathing affects every system in our body.
• Research shows the direct connection between
breathing patterns and emotions.
• Although part of the autonomic nervous
system, breathing can be controlled at will.
• Focusing on the breath is a fundamental tool
for beginning to settle the mind and feel the
body.
• A vital teaching for all levels of students is to
maintain awareness of their breath.BREATHING AND EMOTIONS
KEY POINTS
STRESS
YOGIC BREATHING’S EFFECT ON STRESS & PAIN
HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW YOU FEEL
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STUDY RESULTS: HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW YOU FEEL
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Your body's breathing center is actually in the brainstem, where
many of your autonomic functions are controlled, such as your
heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, and digestive
process. Breathing is the only autonomic function that you can
control at will, kind of like a manual override. Research indicates
that when you manually take control of your breathing, you are
given a little bit of control over your other autonomic functions
as well... Probably the two most important benefits of yoga
breathing are its effectiveness in stress reduction and pain
management... The most phenomenal aspect of yoga breathing is
that you are in control. You can send health-enhancing yoga
breathing messages to your body anytime, anywhere.
– Larry Payne, Yoga RX © 2002 p 34
The two-way connection between how you breathe and how you
feel was elegantly demonstrated in a study that observed how the
breath naturally changes during joy, anger, sadness, and fear...
The researchers induced these four emotions in participants and
measured the changes in breathing... They found that there were
characteristic changes for each emotion. In a second study, the
researchers turned the observations for each emotion into
breathing instructions. They had participants change their
breathing according to those instructions, with no hint that the
breathing patterns were connected to specific emotions. The
study found that the breathing patterns reliably created the
emotions they were associated with, without any other emotion
cue or trigger.
– Kelly McGonigal, PhD, Yoga for Pain Relief
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BREATHING & RELEASE OF
EMOTIONS
From a session of breath-initiated movement, it's likely that
congested emotions will come up and be released from the body. I
must emphasize that this work does not create grief, the grief already
exists and is stored in the body. Breath-initiated movement is what
liberates you from your past. When the grief comes out, something
else comes out with it, and this is the most important of all: answers
come out with it. New understanding of your past, resolution,
reconciliation...these are the things that emerge from your breath
work.
– Max Strom
CONGESTED EMOTIONS MAY COME UP TO BE RELEASED
NATURAL VS. CONSTRICTED BREATHING
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‘I just realized that I don't really know how to breathe.' I hear this often after
students encounter their constricted breath during their first experience of
yoga. Even with clear instructions, it takes many weeks of practice before
some students can actually breathe fully all the way to the bottom of their
lungs, and even longer for some to be able to rapidly pump their bellies
toward their spines in an energizing exercise like Kapalabhati.
– Amy Weintraub, Yoga for Depression
Before attempting to manipulate the breath
with pranayama, it makes sense that we and
our students would have a felt sense of what
unhindered, natural breathing feels like.
Experts tell us that often people's
unconscious breathing is not free but rather
is restricted and incomplete.
REVERSE BREATHING CHEST BREATHINGUNCONSCIOUS
STRESS BREATHING
CONSTRICTED BREATHING PATTERNS
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PRIMARY VS. ACCESSORY
BREATHING MUSCLES
REVERSE BREATHING
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• Some people are "reverse" breathers which means the belly doesn't
swell on the inhale but rather contracts. And on the exhale, it puffs out
(although not likely in a fully relaxed way).
• This type of breathing is associated with chronic tension, digestive
issues, insomnia, and elevated blood pressure.
• The cause may be related to tight clothing, disease or repeated feelings
of fear.
• Mukunda Stiles makes the amazing statement that "about half the
population" breathes in reverse. (Structural Yoga Therapy)
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PRIMARY VS. ACCESSORY
BREATHING MUSCLES
CHEST BREATHING
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• In this case, the person chronically holds the abdomen in, inhibiting
the diaphragm from moving fully. This forces the breath to be
experienced only up in the chest.
• This typically results in chronic tension, digestive issues & anxiety.
• The cause can be stress or holding the stomach in to appear thinner.
• See Diaphragmatic Contraction Bulges Belly But Can Also Expand Rib
Cage for Leslie Kaminoff's important clarification that an expanding
rib cage does not necessarily mean a person is not fully using their
diaphragm.
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UNCONSCIOUS STRESS
BREATHING
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• Most practitioners come to find a direct
relationship between mental state and breath. This
translates to certain patterns during stress: holding
the breath, irregular breathing, short breaths and
quick, short exhalations.
• Perhaps the most profound shift we could make in
ourselves and the world is to—upon noticing that
we feel agitated, anxious, depressed or angry—
bring awareness to the breath. It's quite likely we'll
find the unconscious stress breathing patterns. We
can then begin to bring ease to the breath, taking
a gentle breath in and a relaxing breath out,
without hesitation or strain.
• When we engage in such practices, we're working
with the monumental fact that breath is the link
between body and mind. Thoughts and emotions
affect the breath. And the breath affects thoughts
and emotions.
ALLOW RIBS AND
TORSO TO MOVE
ALLOW BREATH TO BE
EFFORTLESSKNOW WHEN TO LET
DEEP BREATHING GO
NATURAL BREATHING
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BREATHE THROUGH
THE NOSE
ALLOW BELLY TO
SWELL
Also known as free breathing, belly breathing, yogic breathing,
diaphragmatic breathing and essential breathing.
BREATHE THROUGH THE NOSE
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• Unless one has a respiratory illness, deviated
septum or other reason, the yogic practice is to
breathe through the nose rather than the mouth.
• Sinuses and nostrils filter, warm and moisturize
air going into the lungs.
• Nose breathing creates more resistance than
mouth breathing, providing the lungs with an
appropriate time for oxygen extraction and
enabling a balanced oxygen-carbon dioxide
exchange.
• There are times, however, when breathing
through the mouth is beneficial. Breath moves
more quickly to the lungs and with greater ease
and quantity through the mouth.
• See also: Respiratory Anatomy
ALLOW BELLY TO SWELL
• Upon inhale, the diaphragm moves down, pressing on the abdominal cavity, causing
the belly to swell.
• Holding any muscles in chronic contraction—including abdominal muscles—weakens
them. To function properly, muscles must relax between contractions. While a strong
abdomen supports the back, chronically contracted abdominal muscles will increase
tension and stiffness, and ultimately weaken. (An example for students is how a bicep
curl involves contraction & release. If we hold a dumbbell in an endless curl, the bicep
will weaken.)
• This is a very important teaching for students who—for a variety of cultural &
personal reasons—have tightness or tension in their belly. With new students and
those under stress, this teaching is fundamental and critical.
• However, this should not be confused with practices for more advanced yogis. The
practice of keeping a slight tone in the belly between the navel and pubic bone is a
practice that has many benefits. With growing awareness, students may learn to keep
low belly tone while allowing the upper belly to expand, thereby still allowing the
diaphragm to move through its full range.
• See Yogic Breathing for distinctions related to beginners and advanced practitioners.
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I'd say that without that relationship
[between the diaphragm and the breath in
yoga class] it's not actually a yoga class. It
may be stretching or calisthenics, but what
makes it yoga is the conscious integration
of movement, mind and breath.
– Leslie Kaminoff, YogaAnatomy.net
ALLOW RIBS AND TORSO TO
MOVE
• Allow the height, width and depth of the whole torso to move out
and move in with the breath. Envision not just the front ribs but the
whole 360° rib cage.
• While beginners are unlikely to expand the rib cage fully, asana
practice (along with awareness and breathing practices) can help to
develop this mobility.
• Feel the breath in the low belly, upper chest and back body.
• Keep the throat soft.
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The inhalation starts with the gentle
swelling forward of the abdomen and then
moves upward to expand the rib cage fully.
The breastbone rises and swells forward as
the shoulder blades slide down your back.
These actions increase the distance between
the top of the thighs and the bottom of the
ribs—the area of your waist— and it is this
increased space that gives the diaphragm
freedom to move.
As you exhale, allow the ribs to relax and
come back to center without losing the
spinal length you achieved with the
inhalation, and then gently pull the
abdomen inward. Breathe like this in all the
poses throughout the practice.
– Erich Schiffman, Yoga: The Spirit and
Practice of Moving into Stillness
ALLOW BREATH TO BE EFFORTLESS
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• Rather than pulling the breath inside with outer muscles of the body,
let yourself be breathed.
• Let the breath expand in all directions, radiating outward.
• Let the breath feel calm & smooth.
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KNOW WHEN TO LET DEEP BREATHING GO
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• For many students, teaching them
to maintain a long, full, deep
breath is critical to enable them to
shift restricted breathing patterns
and release the effects of stress.
• For those students (and teachers)
who enter into deep states of
concentration, natural pauses in
the breath and a softer breath
may occur naturally. In these
cases, it is not necessary to
deepen the breath. Mukunda
Stiles explains in the quote to the
right.
• See also: Yogic Breathing
Provided your concentration is
genuine, do not encourage yourself
to breathe deeply during yoga
asana practice. Only if you are
exhibiting holding your breath
should you be encouraged to
breathe fully. Watching carefully
for this distinction can permit you
to move into a deeper connection
with the process of Classical Yoga.
It is often a missing link, a hidden
secret, that practitioners disregard
in learning how to transition from
physical Hatha Yoga to mindful
Raja Yoga practice.
– Mukunda Stiles, Structural Yoga
Therapy
ENDBREATHING FUNDAMENTALS
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