Proper breathing in yoga is essential.

In yoga breathing exercises are called "pranayama". They affect the whole human body, including both physiological and emotional components. Prana is cosmic energy that floats freely in the air. Passing through the nerve centers, prana is transformed into the vital energy of a person. Yoga practice teaches how to breathe so that prana accumulates in the nerve centers for use by the body if necessary. Pranayama is a fundamental condition for meditation and concentration. The purpose of pranayama is not only the technique of correct breathing, but also the ability to control vital energy (prana).

In accordance with the authoritative treatises of hatha yoga, one can proceed to the study of the technique of pranayama only after successfully mastering the basic asanas. The process of performing pranayama, especially at first, must be carried out by the teacher's guidance. As the teaching of yoga began to spread from East to West, elements of pranayama, rather simplified from their original version, appeared. Therefore, it became possible to master pranayama on your own.

Yoga and proper breathing

Yoga recommends breathing only through the nose. Through the mouth, you can inhale only in those exceptional cases when the nose is stuffy. Most people nowadays do not breathe properly. There are 3 types of breathing in total:

• The clavicular is superior.
• Intercostal - middle.
• Diaphragmatic - lower.

In a person with clavicular breathing, when inhaling, the shoulders of the clavicle and the upper part of the lungs rise. With clavicular breathing, a person spends quite a lot of energy, gaining insignificant efficiency. Such breathing occurs in people with sedentary life. They are much more likely to have constipation, cystitis and diseases of the digestive organs.

With intercostal breathing, air fills the middle section of the lungs, when you inhale, the ribs diverge, and when you exhale, they go down. Many sedentary people have this kind of breathing.

With diaphragmatic breathing, the muscular septum, which separates the abdomen and the chest, tenses, while inhaling it becomes denser, while bulging the abdomen outward, displacing the abdominal organs downward. When you exhale, it returns to the I.P. In this case, only the middle and lower lungs are filled with air.

Types of exercises for training correct breathing

Breathing exercises in yoga practice are divided into two groups:

• Complete breathing cycle.
• Special exercises for training correct breathing.

According to the opinion of reputable gurus, the most beneficial is the complete breathing cycle. Therefore, we will consider just full breathing. With the help of proper breathing, ventilation of the lungs occurs, the flow of oxygen into the blood increases, the functioning of the liver, internal organs and stomach is stimulated, which contributes to the removal of toxins from the body.

Full Breath Technique

Complete breathing combines all 3 types of breathing: clavicular, intercostal, and diaphragmatic.

Correct breathing technique:

• I. P. - left hand move to the stomach, the right one to the ribs, focus on the area of ​​the lungs.
• Exhale fully and then inhale slowly using your belly. At the same time, the abdomen should protrude so that air enters the lower part of the lungs, while continuing to inhale, straighten the chest, ribs to fill the middle part of the lungs. At the end of inhalation, slightly raise your shoulders and collarbones to fill the upper lungs.
• Exhale gently as you slowly draw in your belly, the ribs are clenched and the stoves are lowered.
• Avoid intermittent breaths, take full breaths smoothly, resembling waves.

At the beginning, perform only three complete breaths, over time, the number of repetitions is brought to 10.

The ability to breathe naturally and the importance of this aspect for gaining the physical and spiritual health of a person. The breath of yogis and the powerful healing power of yogic breathing practices, the concept of "prana". Varieties of yoga breathing: full, fire breathing, breathing for weight loss, therapeutic effect. The influence of breathing practices on human life in general.

For all peoples inhabiting Earth the relationship is equally clear healthy body and the ability to breathe correctly. You don't need to learn to breathe correctly - this gift, along with the gift to live, is given to us by nature itself. But today, not every person has retained the natural ability to breathe correctly. Experts say that just one generation of people who breathes correctly could revive human race... The savage and the child breathe correctly, but for a civilized person things are not so simple. Modern man walks, stands and sits in such a way that the possibility of natural and correct breathing is minimized. To restore lost opportunities to a person, comes to our aid breathing exercises yogis. western culture It is known that the air contains the components necessary for life, without which the body cannot exist. But that is not all. Indian yogis know that a stream enters a person with air vitality which is called prana. Thanks to the rhythmic breathing process, you can connect with the harmonious vibrations of nature and develop hidden dormant possibilities in yourself.

Some Kinds of Yoga Breathing

Full yoga breathing

The full breath of yogis is like the alphabet for beginners, it starts the whole respiratory system, not a single point is left unattended. Exercise should be started carefully, without overstraining yourself.

When performing this exercise, it is necessary that the air on inhalation-exhalation enters and exits smoothly. There should be no abrupt transitions, breaks, delays from one movement to another.

If you experiment by doing the exercise in front of a mirror, which is suitable for beginners, then from the side, the full breathing of the yogis is a single undulating line.

First, in order for beginners to start mastering the exercise "Full breathing of yogis", you need to make a full exhalation.

The full breathing technique is performed while lying in Shavasana. They inhale, inflating the stomach, this stage is called lower breathing. Further, the stomach, as it were, stops and transmits upward movement, the solar plexus area turns on and the edges of the ribs expand slightly. This element is like the middle breath. At the third stage, that is, with upper breathing, the air moves up and the entire chest expands. On the last stage performing the technique when inhaling, the collarbones are slightly raised. You need to exhale in the same way: first, the air is released, blowing off the stomach, from the lower part of the lungs, then from chest and then from the top. For the information of beginners, you can add that the described stages of the exercise are conditional, this is a single technique, divided only for clarity. This breathing practice is considered the basis and is the most effective, accompanied by a powerful therapeutic effect on the body.

Fire breath

There is one great exercise related to. This breathing practice is called fire breathing. If you feel that your body is too tense and you want to be liberated, having broken free, then in this case it is suggested to familiarize yourself with the fiery breath. The fear of the new, the unknown does not let us out of our world of life, and you so want to escape. What to do with fear, which becomes an insurmountable obstacle for us? Fire breathing is shallow, rapid breathing through the nose. Here it is important to breathe with a relaxed diaphragm, and make sure that the time interval of inhalation and exhalation coincides. The duration of the breath of fire is 5-10 minutes. But try to focus on your own sense of comfort and well-being. Beginners need to choose a breath of fire for 1-2 minutes. The breath of fire not only removes fears and relaxes the body, it improves metabolic processes, strengthens protective forces organism.

Breath for weight loss

To one of the most effective ways losing weight refers to the breath of yogis. The path to weight loss, in terms of yoga, starts with correct execution inhalation and exhalation, and diet and exercise are already connected to this. For beginners looking to lose weight, you need to master the complete yoga breath.

People who practice yoga exercises claim that this practice can be learned in a few weeks, but it can be improved for a lifetime. Therefore, beginners should not worry if they fail at something from the first attempts, because there is still a lot of time ahead.

What triggers the process of losing weight? enrich your blood with oxygen, which speeds up metabolic processes, fat is burned, so you lose weight. The respiratory organs are healed, they become stronger, the volume of the lungs increases. Bounces back blood pressure, the work of the cardiovascular system improves, the general resistance of the body increases. Thanks to yoga pranayamas, metabolic processes return to normal, there is a release from toxins. The general state of health, mood improves, you feel in good shape, in shape. There is a theory that overweight appears when a person needs protection, therefore gaining overweight, enhancing your own safety. With the help of such practices, you can harmonize the overall emotional state, lower the anxiety threshold, which will also help you lose weight. I would like to immediately tell beginners that you should not tune yourself into the fact that you can lose weight very quickly. Overweight will go away gradually, but with regular breathing exercises and a healthy approach to nutrition, you will definitely lose weight.

The best way training are video views

For beginners, it is best to learn yoga breathing exercises through video. By watching the video that contains the teaching techniques, you can better visualize this process. Choose for yourself the video that you like, in which the breathing process will be presented in an easy and accessible way. The advantage of watching the video is the fact that you will be doing the exercises with the instructor of your choice. And I also want to give one recommendation to beginners. By studying the video on this issue, choose such a person for training, the video with whom you will enjoy, and you will feel his positive influence on yourself.

Conclusion

The benefit a practitioner receives is difficult to overestimate. A person who controls prana is able to control many life processes. Correct air circulation in the body, accompanied by the flow of prana, brings with it more than just healing physical body, but also improves the quality of life, enhances mental activity, insight, self-control, moral firmness, in a word - strengthens the spiritual strength of a person.
Go for it, try it, play the video, learn to absorb healing power entering you along with prana, be healthy!

Pranayama is breathing practices in yoga. Pranayama literally translates as "breathing control" or "breathing arrest". More precisely, "control of prana", vital energy. Practicing conscious breath control through specific exercises.

Pranayama has a variety of effects, both physiological and mental. Here are the main mechanisms of its effect:

1. Respiratory muscle training. A number of exercises are aimed at training the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, chest and neck. These techniques make breathing more efficient.
2. Increased ventilation and blood flow in the lungs, prevention of respiratory diseases.
3. Massage and increased blood circulation of internal organs... Active abdominal breathing massages internal organs and activates the outflow of venous blood and lymph, improving nutrition, immune processes and elimination of toxins.
4. ... Rapid breathing exercises activate the sympathetic nervous system and have a tonic and stimulating effect. Techniques with reduced breathing, on the other hand, stimulate parasympathetic, that is, calm and relax.
5. Effects on the cardiovascular system... Slowing down breathing dilates blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and trains the heart. By contrast, increased respiration constricts blood vessels and increases blood pressure.
6. Change in blood gas composition... The slowdown in breathing causes a decrease in the amount of oxygen and an increase in carbon dioxide times in the blood. This increases the body's adaptive resource and stress resistance (for more details see "Exercises with a decrease in breathing intensity").

Breathing techniques can be classified in various ways. Here is one of the classifications:

1. Exercises to decrease the intensity of breathing (hypoventilation).
2. Exercises with increased breathing intensity (hyperventilation).
3. Exercise without changing the intensity of breathing.

Breathing exercises with decreasing breathing intensity

Patanjali defines pranayama in the Yoga Sutras as “stopping the movement of inhaled and exhaled [air],” 1 that is, as a cessation of breathing. Therefore, pranayama is primarily understood as techniques with slowing down and holding the breath.

Reducing the intensity of breathing is called hypoventilation and the called effect is hypoxia, that is, a decrease in the amount of oxygen.

Bodily-Mental Effects of Hypoventilation

In fact, short-term hypoxia is eustress, that is, "positive" stress that trains the body. Hypoxic training has wide range effects on both the body and the psyche. Many sanatoriums and sports centers are located in the mountains. The thin mountain air helps with a number of diseases, especially the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It also increases endurance and performance, which is important not only for athletes. Physiological effects of hypoxia:

• increased stress resistance, stimulation of the body's hidden reserves;
• increased efficiency, reduced fatigue;
• increasing the body's resistance to an unfavorable climate, radiation and radiation;
• reduction and stabilization of intracranial and systemic blood pressure;
• increased synthesis of hormones;
• production of antioxidants, increasing immune and antitumor protection;
• improvement of cerebral circulation and reduction of venous stasis;
• facilitating the work of the heart;
• activation of peripheral circulation;
• stimulation of the formation of hemoglobin and erythrocytes;
• an increase in the number of capillaries in the heart, brain, lungs and liver;
• an increase in the working area of ​​the lungs;
• an increase in the number of mitochondria ("power plants" of cells) 2;
• acceleration physical recovery;
• decrease in body fat;
• rejuvenation of the body 3.

Mental effects make pranayama a preparatory stage for meditation practices, positively affecting attention and mental performance and calming the mind. The same effects are relevant for people of mental work:

• increased mental performance, decreased fatigue;
• increasing stability and concentration of attention;
• alignment of the activities of the right and left hemispheres of the brain;
• relaxation and tranquility of the psyche;
• release of repressed emotions;
• the rise mental stability;
• reduced sleep duration and faster recovery.

Most of the breathing techniques in yoga belong to this group. Some exercises involve forced slowing of breathing (voluntary breathing for 10, 16 or more counts, holding the breath). Others slow down breathing due to its external restriction (blocking one nostril in nadi shoddhane or surya bhedane pinching the throat in ujjayi). The second option is softer and suitable for beginners, since the body itself adapts to the conditions, and the risk side effects minimal.

Side effects of pranayama

I mentioned some of the side effects in the previous article. I will repeat and add:

1 vegetative disorders... The depth and frequency of breathing is a powerful regulatory mechanism that affects chemical composition blood, the level of hormones, the work of the heart and blood vessels, the activity of the psyche and the autonomic nervous system. By interfering with it arbitrarily, homeostasis can be disrupted, provoking pressure and temperature surges, sleep disorders, vegetative-vascular dystonia, hormonal disorders, etc.

2.Disorders of the heart. Slowing down the breathing and holding it back — especially on inspiration — put more stress on the heart. Incorrect practice can cause tachycardia, arrhythmias, angina pectoris and other disorders.

3. Disruption of the respiratory center. The breathing process occurs automatically due to the work of the respiratory center. When you breathe freely, its work is suppressed. This can cause a disruption in the work of the respiratory center, up to a complete stop of breathing automatism. In this case, the person stops breathing involuntarily. This is a serious pathology that is not always subject to recovery. I know of 2 deaths due to such a stop and a number of less hard examples... In some cases, breathing was restored spontaneously, in others - with the help of running training, and in one case, resuscitation and mechanical ventilation were required.

4. Oxygen starvation. If the strength or duration of hypoxia exceeds the capabilities of the organism, organ or tissue, irreversible changes develop in them. The most sensitive to oxygen starvation are the brain, heart, kidneys and liver, as well as any weakened and diseased organs. For a weakened organism, hypoxia is too severe stress, which causes not adaptation, but destruction.

Pranayama safety

To avoid the above side effects when practicing pranayama, it is important to follow the rules:

1. Beginners should not practice prolonged breath holding, especially on inhalation. Inhalation holding should be practiced with an "open throat", ie. without clamping the glottis. Air should be held in by the muscles of the abdomen and chest, not by constriction of the throat. Otherwise, excessive pressure is created in the chest and increased stress on the heart.

2. Beginners should not practice pranayama in combination with strength training. since this increases hypoxia. Master breathing exercises only at rest, in a comfortable posture with a straight back.

3. Avoid artificial respiration proportions(eg 1: 4: 2, etc.) First use techniques where breathing remains natural. And look for your own breathing ratio. For effective pranayama, the overall duration of the breathing cycle is important, and not how much of this time you inhale, how much you exhale or hold your breath.

4. Increased and increased heart rate, muscle contractions, uncontrolled spasms of the respiratory muscles, difficulty breathing and the appearance of shortness of breath, shortening the duration of the respiratory cycle - all this indicates an overload in practice... Reduce breathing and holding times. With the correct practice of pranayama, a person feels comfortable and relaxed, the heart beats more calmly, and breathing spontaneously stretches towards the end of the lesson.

5. It is necessary to practice pranayama especially carefully for diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys and central nervous system. But also any others chronic diseases as well as general weakness require careful handling.

6. Pain in the heart, tachycardia, arrhythmia (interruptions in the work of the heart), apnea (spontaneous cessation of breathing) are dangerous symptoms. It is necessary to immediately stop practicing and consult a doctor, delay is deadly!

7. From the side of the psyche, such symptoms are panic attacks, hallucinations, uncontrolled emotional outbursts high strength, persistent sleep disturbance, constant anxiety. Stop practicing and see a doctor!

Breathing exercises with increasing breathing intensity

Such exercises are called hyperventilating, and the effect they cause is hypocapnia, that is, a decrease in concentration carbon dioxide in blood. Oxygen during these practices does not increase (after all, its concentration is determined by the capacity of erythrocytes), and carbon dioxide is flushed out of the blood with active ventilation of the lungs. Hypocapnia manifests itself in the form of dizziness, in the worst case ending in loss of consciousness.

There are practically no hyperventilation techniques in yoga. Widely known only kapalabhati and bhastrika... But in kapalabhati breathing, although frequent, is very shallow, therefore hypocapnia does not occur. In bhastrika, breathing is really deep and fast, but short. Holding the breath is usually practiced after each cycle of bhastrika to even out the gas composition of the blood.

Why is hyperventilation not usually practiced in yoga, and what are its effects?

The concentration of carbon dioxide affects the tone of small arteries: when it is high, the vessels dilate, and vice versa, when it is low, they narrow. Therefore, with hypocapnia, arterioles narrow and blood pressure rises.

At extremely low concentrations, the vessels are compressed so much that it can cause cerebrovascular accident, as well as heart attacks. The brain is an extremely fragile and sensitive organ. Violation of blood circulation leads to loss of consciousness and death of nerve cells.

With hypocapnia, the pH of the blood also changes, develops alkalosis(acidification). With alkalosis, the blood supply to the brain and heart decreases, nervous irritability develops, muscle spasms and convulsions, the activity of the respiratory center decreases.

However, on the border with fainting, altered states of consciousness appear, which formed the basis of holotropic breathing.

Holotropic Breathwork- a method of psychotherapy, which consists in hyperventilating the lungs. As a result, the inhibition of the cerebral cortex begins, the subcortex is activated, which causes a feeling of euphoria, hallucinations, an altered state of consciousness and the release of repressed emotions. This method was developed by American psychologist Stanislav Grof as a replacement for the illicit LSD he experimented with earlier.

Grof believed that Holotropic Breathwork has a psychotherapeutic effect, releasing difficult emotions and allowing a person to process traumatic experiences, including those from the birth process. However, the technique is very controversial due to the danger to brain cells, as well as uncontrolled emotional emissions. Also, the link to real-life birth experiences appears to be highly controversial.

Therefore, hyperventilation should be avoided, especially in the following pathologies:

• heavy chronic diseases, primarily cardiovascular;
• psychotic conditions;
• epilepsy;
• glaucoma;
• pregnancy;
• osteoporosis;
• recent surgeries and fractures;
• sharp infectious diseases 4 .

In yoga, with some exercises ( kapalabhati, bhastrika, thoracic, abdominal and full yoga breath) a state of hyperventilation may occur. It feels like dizziness. In this case, you should stop performing the exercise and breathe calmly until the sensation passes. In the future, you need to do the exercise less diligently, not so deeply and / or for a long time.

Exercise without changing the intensity of breathing

This group includes a number of different exercises, where there is no voluntary increase or decrease in breathing, but its pattern changes somehow. These exercises can have various effects:

1. Respiratory muscle training and breathing deepening(b ruffled, chest, clavicular, full yogic breathing).
2. Improving pulmonary gas exchange, yoga therapy and relaxation (ujjayi, sheetali, shitakri, bhramari and etc.).
3. Influence on vegetative and central nervous system (nadi shoddhana, surya bhedana, chandra bhedana and etc.)

Most of these exercises cause mild hypoxia. If they are practiced in simple form(that is, without holding or deliberately slowing down the breathing), they are fairly simple and safe and suitable for beginners. Although all the rules and safety measures described in the section "Breathing exercises with a decrease in breathing intensity" are relevant for them.

Exercises from item 1 (abdominal, chest and clavicular) were described by me in. Today I will give the technique of complete yoga breathing. And the most famous and effective exercise from pp. I will explain 2 and 3 in the next article.

Full yoga breathing

This is a basic breathing technique in yoga that is used with other exercises. As the name implies, complete breathing includes all parts of the lungs. It combines lower, middle and upper breathing.

If you have practiced these three breathing patterns as described, full breathing should not be difficult for you. If not, do these exercises for at least a few days until you feel confident. In the literature, the technique of full breathing in yoga is described in different ways. As for the inhalation, all authors are unanimous: it is performed from the bottom up, i.e. first the abdomen extends, then the chest expands, and at the end the collarbones rise. Exhalation is described in different ways. Most - from top to bottom (the collarbones go down - the chest is compressed - the abdomen is tightened), but some - from the bottom up (belly - chest - collarbones), and someone does not distinguish individual phases in exhalation at all. I recommend performing several breathing cycles in each of the described modes and choosing the most convenient one.

I will describe the most famous and, from my point of view, natural way. Avoid hyperventilating as described above, breathe calmly and not too deeply. Try to keep your breathing rhythm natural and spontaneous. Finish the exercise and relax if you feel uncomfortable.

1. Sit in a comfortable posture with your back straight. If you're sitting cross-legged, place a pillow under your pelvis. You can sit on a chair or lie on your back if the sitting is uncomfortable. Exhale the air completely.

2. Place your palms on your stomach and inhale, pushing the abdominal wall forward. Move your palms to your ribs and continue to inhale, expanding your ribcage. Move your palms to your collarbones and continue inhaling while lifting your collarbones.

3. Begin exhaling by lowering your collarbones. Then move your palms to your ribs and continue to exhale, squeezing your ribcage. Place your palms on your stomach and end the exhalation by drawing in your abdominal wall.

4. Perform 5 breaths, as described in paragraphs 3 and 4. Try to keep the breathing rhythm natural, do not breathe very deeply and often. Do not pause between phases, you should have the feeling of a smooth wave, which moves from bottom to top on inhalation, and from top to bottom on exhalation.

5. Place your palms on your hips or on the floor. Continue to breathe in full breath for another 3-5 minutes. Try to feel the process from the inside. It's okay if some of the phases are not working out well yet. Try to keep your breathing light, fluid and natural, albeit not technically perfect. An indicator of a correctly performed exercise is a feeling of calming and relaxation of the psyche, as well as a slowdown in breathing at the end of the practice.

6. Finish the exercise and relax in savasana for 5-10 minutes.

1 Classical yoga. Per. and comm. Ostrovskaya E., Rudoy V.

2 Gainetdinov A. et al. Application of dosed normobaric hypoxic therapy in medical rehabilitation of patients with neurological and somatic profile.

3 Kulinenkov S. Pharmacology of sports.

4 Emelianenko V. Theoretical provisions of holotropic breathing.

"Breathing is life,
and if you breathe right,
you will live long on earth. "
Ramacharaka, The Science of Breathing

We breathe deeply when we feel good. We feel stiffness in the solar plexus in moments of pain, anger, or fear. And we hold our breath in the most significant moments of our life. Emotional condition certainly affects the way we breathe. At the same time, in the east, for several thousand years they have known the opposite: breathing in yoga is a powerful tool for controlling the psyche, capable not only of regulating emotions, but also opening up qualitatively new levels of perception to us.

A special section of yoga, pranayama, teaches the correct control of breathing. However, before seriously studying pranayama, for those who are just starting to immerse themselves in the practice, it is important to master basic principles NSgood breathing in yoga for beginners: without this foundation, all our efforts in the classroom will not bring the desired result.

Yoga Breathing Principles for Beginners

1. Turn on the diaphragm

The diaphragm is a muscle that separates the pectoral and abdominal cavity... When inhaling, descending, it expands the volume of the lungs, and with exhalation it returns to starting position... For most people, chest breathing is habitual, in which the diaphragm shifts slightly, and the air fills mainly upper part lungs. Such breathing cannot provide the body with oxygen in full and, over time, leads to malfunctions in its work.

In yoga classes for beginners, we ": inhaling, we inflate the stomach, leaving the chest motionless, with exhalation we draw it in again. Thus, we provide a more amplitude movement of the diaphragm and expand the working area of ​​the lungs, allowing air to penetrate into their lower sections.

Such breathing is natural for a person: it is not difficult to notice that this is how children breathe. However, due to the eternal running and not the most correct way of life, our belly becomes more and more tense, breathing becomes more and more shallow. A society where a flat stomach is considered aesthetic also plays a role in this.

Not everyone gets diaphragmatic breathing the first time. A simple exercise can help here. Lying on your back, bend your knees and place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest. Breathe in so that the hand on your chest remains motionless, and the hand on your stomach rises with inhalation and falls with exhalation. Only after you have masteredcorrect breathing in yoga for beginners, you can go on to full yoga breathing - consistently fill the lower, middle and upper lungs.

By relaxing the abdomen and diaphragm, we get the opportunity to gradually get rid of the accumulated tension in this zone and more effectively respond to new stresses. The great yogi B.K.S. Iyengar in his book "Conversations on Yoga" writes: "If the diaphragm is extended, it can withstand any load."

2. We breathe slowly and deeply

"Pranayama" in translation from Sanskrit literally means "control of prana" or "expansion of prana." Prana - Vital energy, which we receive from various sources, including through breathing. The better and fuller we breathe, the more energy we accumulate in the body.- this breathing is slow and deep. It allows not only, but also contributes to the maximum gain of energy.

3. Maintain the rhythm

The transition from one asana to another is accompanied by a certain rhythm of breathing. The main rule: movements directed upward (raise arms, straighten the spine, bend) are performed on inhalation, and movements directed downward (bend over, round the back) - on exhalation. Dynamic complexes are especially subordinate to the rhythm, for example "Salutation to the sun".

But also when performing static asanas breathing in yoga shouldn't stop. Each exhale should be used to relax a little more and go deeper into the position.

Sometimes we involuntarily tense up and hold our breath. Yoga instructor and expert site Vasily Kondratkov recommends to novice students: “It is necessary to track such delays, start over and over againcorrect breathing in yoga... Overload may be the reason for the delay. In this case, it is worth reducing it, that is, simplifying the asana. No difficult posture is helpful if you can't breathe deeply. ”

Even more asanas for strengthening the body and calming the mind in the yoga course from Anna Lunegova. here.

Breathing as a tool of awareness

Proper breathing while doing yoganot only allows you to receive desired effect from performing asanas, but also introduces into a special meditative state. In classical sources, breathing is described as a "bridge from the physical to the spiritual", a way to go beyond the usual boundaries of perception. By concentrating on inhaling and exhaling, we are aware of what is happening here and now, we are fully present in own body... That's what it is .

You can control your attention with the help of breathing more precisely. Taking an unusual posture for the body, sometimes we experience tension and even pain. Of course, severe pain should not be tolerated, but some discomfort yet inevitable when ours. In such cases, you can hear the cryptic words from yoga teachers: "Breathe into your pain." What does it mean? The best way to relax hard areas of your body, such as opening your pelvis or stretching your hamstrings, is to pretend that this is where your body is "breathing in" and "breathing out." You will notice that after a few breaths, the tension will begin to subside.

Practicing mindful breathing in yoga , you can gradually get rid of old blocks and clamps that hold down our body and impede the movement of energy, causing feeling unwell and emotional imbalance.

Correct breathing in everyday life

Practice correct breathing while doing yoganot limited to the rug. The habit of constant diaphragmatic breathing will helpand more effectively overcome stress. Start small: Breathe in your belly for a few minutes when you're worried. You will see - calmness will return much faster!

Breathing is an important part of yoga practice, and it’s not an understatement to say that without proper breathing, yoga practice almost doubles its effectiveness (if not more). Although traditionally pranayama or yoga breathing exercises follow asanas (yoga postures), it is nevertheless important to learn how to breathe correctly at the very beginning of the practice. Not here yet in question about complex breathing techniques, no, the point is to be able to use your lungs to the maximum in the process.

Due to the predominance of a sedentary lifestyle, we often breathe in the upper part of the lungs, sometimes in the middle. However, it is very important to involve the lower, largest in volume, part of the lungs (also called the abdominal). Therefore, breathing in yoga for beginners focuses on "training and liberation" of the lower, abdominal chest.

Breathing in yoga has three main parts:

- Inhale (puraka)

- Exhale (rechaka)

- Holding the breath (kumbhaka).

Kumbhaka is of two types: abhyantara-kumbhaka (retention after inhalation) and bahir-kumbhaka (retention after exhalation). Alternatively, the delays may be called antar- and bahya-kumbhaka, respectively. Okay, enough terms for now, now more practice.

Although I will tell you how to learn how to fill your lungs to the end on the steps, you need to understand that such a "stepwise" training is essentially just a training, and when you get used to breathing deeply (more likely, a full belly :)), you will need to gradually leave from grading, and just breathe with full lungs.

There are different yoga poses for beginners in which you can practice breathing exercises, such as the Turkish Pose (Sukhasana), Heel Pose (Virasana), etc. It doesn't matter here, the main thing is to start breathing correctly.

Sit in a comfortable position, relax. Start inhaling slowly with your stomach; inflate your belly to feel the air fill your lower lungs. In the future, there will be no particular need to protrude the stomach, but now it is necessary to learn how to feel your lungs. So, count to 4, inflating your stomach as you inhale. Then exhale, again counting to 4. Repeat 3 times.

Now the middle section of the lungs. Try to inhale for 2-3 counts only with your chest, i.e. the middle part of the lungs. Exhale also for 2-3 counts.

And finally, the upper section. Inhale in one or two counts while lifting your collarbones. As you exhale, lower your collarbones by 1-2 counts.

These split exercises will help you learn to feel the different parts of your chest and lungs by “training” them. The next task is to combine them into a single inhalation and exhalation.

Begin to inhale in 4 counts, filling the lower part of the lungs, then continue to count 5-6 ..., filling the middle compartment, then 7-8 ... - the upper part (lifting the collarbone). When you have fully inhaled, hold for 3-5 seconds and begin to exhale. This can be done in the same order (bottom-middle-top), or in reverse, keeping the total count to 8. This is called complete yogic breathing. You can practice it daily for 5-10 minutes, usually after a beginner yoga class. Sometimes breathing can be practiced before or after the warm-up, but it should not be done immediately before the asanas, because yoga poses can be more difficult to do.

These breathing exercises are only preliminary, but if you master them, your pranayama practice will go up much better; and the full breath itself will bring a lot of benefits to your body and mind.