Introduction to Pranayama
by Megan
Pranayama - the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In yogic traditions “Prana” or life-force is associated with the breath and represents one of the eight limbs of yoga.
A daily pranayama practice can have several benefits, including increasing mindfulness, promoting relaxation, and improving the function of the respiratory muscles and organs.
Megan does belly breathing in Goudies lane, KW
Why breath matters
The average person takes 12-15 breaths a minute, which is over 20,000 breaths a day. Most of these happen while being blissfully unaware we're even breathing.
Typically when impacted by stress, our breath is short and shallow, failing to properly engage our lungs and the muscles of respiration. Depending on the intensity of the signal, this short and shallow breathing communicates a state of alert or alarm to the nervous system . Over time, and with repetition, the body will adapt to these new breathing patterns and reinforce them by changing muscle, organ function, and nervous system stimuli. Inefficient breathing can lead to structural and physiological trouble.
Breathing affects the nervous system; just as short and shallow breathing can alert our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), the opposite can be true as well. We can increase our relaxation response and decrease our fight or flight stimuli by simply returning to our breathing and intentionally slowing it down (known as “down regulating”).
Megan does a breathwork practice with some help from her furry friend Leia
Pranayama Practices
Below, we share a non-exhaustive list of a few downregulating and relaxation promoting breathing practices. These are my favourite starting practices for breathwork because they are so simple yet so impactful.
Belly Breathing
Belly breathing is a simple way to help focus on deepening and elongating the breath into the bottom of our lungs. This is often seen in babies and young children (especially sleeping) and is a sign or a state of relaxation. As adults, we often lose this unconscious practice, and as we respond to the demands of daily life we may find our breath becoming short and shallow.
A guided belly breathing practice
This is a breathwork practice that helps to support relaxation and counter the effects of stress. Some benefits of this exercise include:
- engages the parasympathetic nervous system
- supports immune function
- improves oxygen circulation
- supports cardiovascular health
- improves healing and recovery
- helps to engage proper muscles of respiration
Three-part Yogic Breathing
This practice helps us feel the full use of all our respiratory muscles. By separating the breathing into three physical zones, we can help bring awareness to the breath and strengthen the mind, body, and breath connection.
A mini 3 part yogic breath practice
In the videos, you will be cued to bring your body through three different physical areas: upper, middle, and lower lungs which correlate respectively to the upper shoulders, chest, and belly.
A longer 3 part yogic breath practice
Similar to the belly breathing exercise, the focus on bringing the breath into the lower belly has a down regulating effect on the nervous system. In other words, it promotes a state of relaxation and engages the “rest & digest” response (parasympathetic nervous system).
Benefits of three part yogic breath include:
Increases state of relaxation
Combats physical experience of stress & anxiety
Improves sleep quality
Properly engages muscles of respiration, reducing postural strain
Supports the cardiovascular and immune systems
Give these a try and see what comes up for you!
Love these practices? Want to learn more about Pranayama? Check out our free Pranayama YouTube playlist and stay tuned for more blogs highlighting pranayama practices!
