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Part of my yoga practice deals specifically with breathing. It’s called Pranayama and is only one of several ways a person can ‘yoke’ the body, mind, and spirit through yoga.
Each time I sit, before a physical yoga practice or when I’m preparing to meditate, I pause and simply breathe. Breathing is a completely involuntary reflex in a human. Most of us are completely unaware of HOW we breathe our breath.
It’s in these moments of quiet, I can recognize the unhealthy breathing patterns I’ve unconsciously fallen into.
Sometimes I’m only breathing with the upper portion of my lungs. I have asthma and exhaling can be challenging. My body compensates for this by pulling less air in with each breath. The bottom lobes of my lungs act as reservoirs for stale air and a potential contributor to dis-ease, both physical and emotional.
Other times I’m breathing with my shoulders instead of my respiratory system. Stress has caused me to clench and attach those muscles to my breath. It takes conscious effort to release them and pull the movement back down to my diaphragm and into my abdomen.
Because of my asthma, my breaths are rapid, incomplete, and anxiety-provoking. The slightly decreased oxygen supply and effort to…
