Yoga Breathing Exercises – Correct 3 Common Breathing Faults with Yoga Breathing

1. Shallow Chest Breathing

Is your breathing shallow? To check, place one hand on the chest, and the other just above the navel. If the hand on the chest moves more, then shallow breathing is your normal breathing pattern.

Shallow breathing, also called paradoxical breathing, creates tension in the shoulders, neck and thoracic spine and increases heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and metabolism.

Yoga Breathing Exercise: To correct chest breathing, practice the following exercise 10 – 20 minutes daily for several weeks until breathing from the diaphragm becomes natural and easy.
•    Lie on your back with you knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
•    Place a hard cover book or 10-15 lb sandbag on your abdomen around the area of the navel.
•    As you inhale through the nose, lift the book. As you exhale through the nose, the book lowers.

2.  Rough Breathing

Your breath is jerky. Sit comfortably with the spine lengthened. Notice your incoming and outgoing breath. Is it smooth?

Yoga Breathing Exercise: Place one hand about 4 inches away from your body. Move one finger from navel to chin as you inhale, then back down as you exhale. Practice with awareness of the breath.

3. Mouth Breathing

Mouth breathing exacerbates high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, dry cough and many other medical problems.

Yoga Breathing Exercise: Sit comfortably for 3-5 minutes and practice breathing through the nose. You can also press one nostril closed with a finger or thumb and breathe slowly through the other nostril. Then change sides.

Yoga breathing exercises must be practiced without force.

Yoga Therapy – Pranayama Breathing Exercise for Angst, Anxiety

This basic pranayama, breath awareness, helped reduce the angst and anxiety that had been my shadow companion.

Meditation had been part of my daily routine for many years. Yet angst and anxiety was my shadow companion. Sure, I was definitely peaceful. Yoga philosophy had answered many of life’s big questions for me. I could accept life’s dramas, and understand that we were all actors. The law of karma and reincarnation I got. This knowledge had brought a great deal of calm.

So how come I was still anxious? The fact that my breath was shallow would have contributed significantly to the angst. I remember once a massage therapist said to me something like, “Your breath is high up. Try to get it down here.” Her hand was resting on my belly and I couldn’t get my breath down there.

In my heart of hearts, I prayed for an answer to this anxiety, which would step out from the shadows every now and then. One day I suddenly realized my prayers had been answered. I couldn’t remember the last time I was anxious. What was it that had changed things for me?

I had begun to practice the basic pranayama breathing exercise – simple breath awareness; being aware of the breath. Breath awareness is vital in yoga therapy. My meditation practice changed and became this basic breath awareness; sitting and following the breath in and out. I don’t remember exactly how long each practice was. I know it was at least 10 minutes. And it was definitely in the morning. Meditation is also important in yoga therapy.

If you have used any no cost pranayama, breathing exercise, to cope with anxiety, or to reduce the number of times you take medication, I’d like to hear your story.  Comment below.