2 Pranayama Techniques And Some Tips To Get You Started On Your Breathwork Journey

The world can be a turbulent place sometimes, so we asked our resident yogi, Lucy Hibben, for her biggest tip to help you keep a clear head. Here she delves into why breathing is such a powerful tool and even gives you a couple of simple tricks to keep in your pocket for when you really need them.

Of all the different ways to practice yoga, pranayama (the practice of breath control) has the most instant effect on the body and the mind.  You could spend years practicing certain asanas (yoga poses) before you are able to truly realise the benefits of them, but with pranayama, you receive the benefits almost instantly. 

Breath is life. It is the heart and soul of who we are and is our constant companion throughout our lives. When we are born the very first thing we do is inhale and that, my sweet friends, signifies the beginning of it all. Despite our breath being the very source of life, most of the time, we don’t give much thought to they way we breathe. When was the last time you asked yourself, “how does it feel to breathe today”?

The original outline for breathing is often referred to as diaphragmatic breathing.  This is the breath at its natural best. Full, deep, generous and spacious. Within each inhalation there is an opportunity. An opportunity to open, to expand and to grow. With each exhalation, we have the opportunity to release, let go, soften.

The breath is a benchmark to our internal state of being. It mirrors the mind.  Whatever we feel, the breath responds accordingly.  In our fast-paced lives, tension and stress often feature regularly. The body will register these feelings as a threat and will begin to operate in fight or flight mode (the sympathetic nervous system takes over). Whether these perceived threats are caused by something physical or by mental anxieties and emotional turbulence, our breath will respond by tightening and speeding up in an attempt to supply the brain and body with extra oxygen to help us cope with these perceived dangers. If this keeps happening and becomes the norm, the danger is that we lose touch with how we return to our natural original blueprint of full and easy breaths. In other words, we find ourselves stuck in a pattern of ongoing tension and stress.

The good news is, this pattern can be changed! Just as our emotions influence how we breathe, how we breathe can influence our thought patterns and feelings. By becoming aware of the breath, and allowing it (not forcing it) to return to it’s natural depth, we can begin to reverse the fight or flight response and begin to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the place where the body can rest and digest. As the breath naturally deepens, the nervous system will rebalance and the heart rate will drop. Blood pressure will reduce and we will begin to feel calm in the mind and the body.

There are a whole host of health benefits to developing proper breathing techniques including improved blood flow, a reduction in inflammation, stimulation of the lymphatic system and improved digestion. Some of the more holistic benefits are that it balances our energy and can stabilise our mood. If you are feeling low or anxious or lacking in energy, there is usually a breathing pattern that can help you to quiet the mind and energise the body. Long-term, a regular practice can be helpful in combatting symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia. It also helps to increase our self awareness which is a key component to our emotional intelligence.

Stillness and quiet are much easier to come by when the physical movements of the body are removed. During a breathing practice, you have an opportunity to tap into the more subtle qualities of the body, enabling you to really notice and perhaps, begin to understand how you are feeling.

Here are a couple of simple breathing techniques you could try at home.  Try making time each day for stillness and conscious breathing and let me know what benefits you begin to notice! 

SIMPLE BELLY BREATHING

1. Sit or lay down in a comfortable position

2. Place your left hand over your heart centre and your right hand on your belly, just below your ribs. 

3. Keeping your lips lightly pressed together, take a deep breath in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand underneath your right hand.  Try to keep your chest still. 

4. As you exhale, purse your lips together (imagine you are whistling) and allow the belly to sink in and feel the hand on your belly move inwards as you do this. Feel your navel move in and slightly up as you get to the bottom of the exhale. 

Take your time with this.  Try to control the flow of. Breath.  Sip uni as much air as you can on the inhale and focus on getting the belly to move and not the chest.  If you have been breathing into your chest for a long period of time, this might feel quite challenging at first.  Stick with it.  It’s doing good things for you. 

4,7,8 BREATHING

This exercise is best laying down for me, but you can do it siting up if you are not able to lay down.  I find this to be an incredibly relaxing technique and one I recommend if you are ever having trouble sleeping. 

1. Place your left hand on your heart centre and your right hand on your belly. 

2. Bring The tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth and inhale through your nose for a count of four. 

3. At the top of the inhale, hold your breath for a count of seven. 

4. Exhale through your nose for a count of eight. Try to have the lungs completely empty by the time you get to eight.  

Repeat this as many times as you need to. 

I usually teach simple pranayama techniques in my FRESH. yoga class every Tuesday at 8pm so if you’d like to learn more about it, then come and join us.

With love and light,
Lucy x