Monday, April 19, 2010

yoga breathing . . .

Breathing is the key to yoga. The idea is to keep your awareness on your breath continuously as you move in and out of each posture. You can vary your breathing depending on whether you want to relax, balance, or energize. Lengthening and then holding your exhalation after all the air is expelled relaxes you, while lengthening and holding your inhalation increases your energy.

The breath ratios in the following chart (from Yoga Journal) will help you reach your goals within your yoga practice. The numbers stand for counts (count in your head as you breathe to keep the ratios). Try this out the next time you practice.

Peace always.


Inhalation Hold Exhalation Hold Effect
4 1 8 4 Relaxing
4 112 1Relaxing
6 110 1Relaxing
6 1 8 4Relaxing
8 1 8 1Balanced
6
2
6
2
Balanced
6
4
6
1Energizing
6
6
6
1Energizing

3 comments:

WendyDay said...

very good post...definitely something i am working on!

RiseNShine said...

OK...I know I am wilding out on comments but this is a great post. Always love the mish mashing of ideas on here. YOGA!

Namaste

Kapal said...

this helped me alot. does this help to flatten your stomach? tx