Pranayama Breathing Basics

Do you struggle with anxiety, fatigue, asthma, allergies or other respiratory problems? Pranayama breathing is a tool that can help alleviate many of these issues through a consistent practice. This is a breathing series you can do in the comfort of your home or in the company of fellow yogis in a Bikram yoga class. The following health benefits and tips are for everyone, whether you’re an avid Bikram yogi or someone who wants to simply try this at home.

Every Bikram yoga class begins with pranayama breathing. In the 90 minute class, you spend more time doing this opening breathing series than any other posture. It’s that important.

Think of pranayama as cleaning out your body

With each inhale and exhale you are cleaning your body by bringing fresh oxygen into your blood stream. Each exhale is an opportunity to detox harmful chemicals that may be in your body from the products we use everyday and air pollution.  Think of your breath coming in and reaching every corner of your body sweeping away all that junk as you exhale.

Fill your body with oxygen = an easier class

When you have enough oxygen in your body and muscles, you have more energy to work them. By working hard in the opening breathing series, you are “paying it forward” for the rest of your practice. When I was watching the figure skaters in last winter’s Olympics, they took breaks in the middle of their routines to “fill their lungs and legs with oxygen” as one of the announcers put it. Filling your muscles with oxygen helps give you stamina in challenging postures like Triangle.

Rid your brain of distracting thoughts & gives you energy

One of the biggest ways I use pranayama breathing is to rid my brain of negative or distracting thoughts. It’s the beginning of class and I’m usually still spinning from work, the drive to class and life in general. I think of eliminating all of those thoughts each time I exhale. You can even visualize your thoughts leaving your mouth. Another perk, if you’re feeling groggy or unmotivated, take a moment to do three breaths and you’ll instantly feel a hit of energy!

Pranayama warms up your body, making it easier to deal with heat

When you do the pranayama breathing, you’ll naturally feel your body start to warm. If it’s the middle of the winter and you just can’t seem to warm up – this breathing exercise does wonders to create heat in your body, especially if you constrict your throat as you inhale to create a slight buzzing sound.

I find this to be an essential part of the breath work. Be sure that the “buzzing” sound on the inhale isn’t coming from your vocal chords, but rather a byproduct of bringing air through a constricted throat. When you create heat through the breathing, your body starts to sweat, the body’s natural way of cooling itself. If you struggle with the heat, work hard in pranayama breathing.

You can have the best of both worlds, if you’re in a hot studio the pranayama will help cool you down and if you’re in a cold house it will warm you up!

Opens shoulders, wrists, hands, neck & ribcage

When you first start practicing this breathing, it can be hard to coordinate the arms and head. Fret not – with a regular practice you’ll get the hang of it. This exercise is great for opening up your shoulders, wrists, neck and ribcage. If you feel some soreness or fatigue in your shoulders – this is a good thing – you are building up muscles and opening your joints at the same time. This combination of flexibility and strength is what will help you prevent injuries and reduce pain.

Cultivates patience & discipline

This breathing series used to drive me bonkers. It made me feel frustrated, annoyed, short-tempered. By listening to the words of the dialogue, you can bring yourself into the present and learn to react simply to the words, without casting judgement on the teacher delivering them. Also, doing two sets of ten breaths takes a long time, this will help cultivate discipline and patience that will serve you both on and off your mat.

Tones abdomen & thighs

When done properly, this breathing exercise helps tone your legs and abs. Think of pulling in your stomach and lower abs on both the inhale and exhale. This will feel strange at first since we don’t usually pull in our stomachs while we’re inhaling; if you keep a straight spine (as shown in the first video below) and stay lifted towards the ceiling, this will make engaging your abs while inhaling easier. For extra core strength, at the end of each exhale contract the abs even more pushing out the last bit of breath. It’s easy to relax your legs on the exhale of this posture, but try to keep them firm.

Creates balance

The simple task of keeping your feet together is harder than it looks; we’re used to standing with our feet apart and so it’s common to feel wobbly when you’re standing with your feet touching each other. This breathing exercise helps build muscles in your feet that help maintain your balance. If you practice Bikram yoga, this will help you during the Standing Series.

Reduces asthma & other respiratory problems

This breathing exercise not only clears our lungs and bodies of toxic chemicals, it also can help reduce or prevent asthma. When you practice this breathing on a regular basis, you can build the capacity of your lungs tremendously making more room for oxygen to fill your lungs. We typically use a small portion of our lungs to breath, so my intentionally filling each corner of your lungs with air, you are stretching and building the health of your lungs.

Boosts immune system

By tilting your head back and forth during this exercise, you compress and extend many of the lymph nodes on your throat and the back of your neck. Some believe this is a good way to boost your immune system and start moving the lymph around your body.

How to do Pranayama Breathing

For those of you who are new to this breathing exercise, here are two great videos to show you how to do it properly. It takes a little time to get the hang of it, so don’t get frustrated. With a little practice you’ll be able to reap tremendous health benefits.

Based on the Bikram yoga series, I suggest doing two sets of ten breaths, twenty in total. Take a 30 second break between sets (no longer), relaxing your arms to your side and keeping your feet together during the break. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below and I’ll be sure to respond as best I can.

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Disclaimer: I am not a trained physician and this educational content is not intended to diagnose or treat a specific illness.

(Photo credit: yofotografista – Flickr CC)