Pranayama - Breathing
If you are at all familiar with yoga you are probably at least somewhat aware of the role breathing plays in the practice. Breathing is one of the first things we focus on as beginners. It remains a consistent focus throughout the entirety of our practice.
Why?
Why does something as simple as breathing consume so much of our focus in yoga?
The short answer is deep, rhythmic breathing can help us relax. Even little kids know that. Upset? Take a deep breath and count to ten. It's simple and effective.
A lot of people think it's silly to focus on something as automatic as breathing but not me. I love learning about the breath. Even before I learned yoga I was fixated on breath control. As a cross country and track runner I would always try to keep my breathing as relaxed and quiet as possible because I didn't want my competitors to think I was tired. It always bewildered me how heavy some people would be breathing, especially early in the race!
Competing in cross country and track field taught me the importance of breath control for performance. By keeping my breathing relaxed during training and racing I was able to obtain peak performance here and there.
After college, when I began learning yoga was when I learned the importance of breath control for relaxation and stress reduction. Breathing does the two primary things we are looking for; peak performance and stress reduction.
Now when I say I go deep with this breathing stuff you might be wondering what exactly that means. How much can one really know about something as simple as breathing? It's a fair question, and a question I am ten years into exploring and feel as though I am just scratching the surface.
In additional to my own breath control and breathing exercises in my personal practice, I have read several, yes several books on breathing. Yes...there are entire books on breathing.
One of my particular favorites is this one:
Why?
Why does something as simple as breathing consume so much of our focus in yoga?
The short answer is deep, rhythmic breathing can help us relax. Even little kids know that. Upset? Take a deep breath and count to ten. It's simple and effective.
A lot of people think it's silly to focus on something as automatic as breathing but not me. I love learning about the breath. Even before I learned yoga I was fixated on breath control. As a cross country and track runner I would always try to keep my breathing as relaxed and quiet as possible because I didn't want my competitors to think I was tired. It always bewildered me how heavy some people would be breathing, especially early in the race!
Competing in cross country and track field taught me the importance of breath control for performance. By keeping my breathing relaxed during training and racing I was able to obtain peak performance here and there.
After college, when I began learning yoga was when I learned the importance of breath control for relaxation and stress reduction. Breathing does the two primary things we are looking for; peak performance and stress reduction.
Now when I say I go deep with this breathing stuff you might be wondering what exactly that means. How much can one really know about something as simple as breathing? It's a fair question, and a question I am ten years into exploring and feel as though I am just scratching the surface.
In additional to my own breath control and breathing exercises in my personal practice, I have read several, yes several books on breathing. Yes...there are entire books on breathing.
One of my particular favorites is this one:
This is an extremely deep and thorough dive into Pranayama, otherwise known as yoga breathing. If you are a complete beginner to yoga, you might want to hold off on this one. For those who have been practicing for a while and have already studied a bit of yoga this book will take your breathing practice that much deeper.
For Beginners I always recommend the Kripalu Yoga book. Kripalu is where I did my teacher training and I cannot recommend it enough. I like to recommend Kripalu resources whenever possible because I know the people behind them are legit. So if you need an overall introduction into the practice of yoga this is the book I would recommend getting:
Anyone familiar with the sport of competitive running is likely familiar with the concept of high-altitude training for improved performance. In short, high-altitude training involves a combination of training/living at high-altitude which causes the body to adapt in certain ways that boost endurance performance. One of those ways is boosting EPO. Endurance athletes have gone to great lengths to raise their EPO including moving atop mountains to taking illegal and dangerous drugs.
Being that people have risked their careers and their lives to boost their EPO for the sake of a race you can imagine my absolute shock when I came across a book claiming you could boost your EPO with breathing exercises. I was so intrigued I had to dive in.
Being that people have risked their careers and their lives to boost their EPO for the sake of a race you can imagine my absolute shock when I came across a book claiming you could boost your EPO with breathing exercises. I was so intrigued I had to dive in.
I found a lot of the exercises in the book helpful. I also enjoyed getting a different perspective on the breath. There is a lot of overlap with yoga in this book and I found it to be a very helpful addition to my practice. Many people have sworn by this book clearing up their asthma symptoms. I can't speak to that directly, but if you struggle with asthma you might want to check it out.
Putting the information from these books into practice I am able to stay calm pretty much all the time. Many people have asked me how I look so relaxed while running, how I stay so relaxed at work, how I keep my emotions in check. The answer starts right here with breathing. Practice breath control as often as you can and learn as much as possible about the amazing process of breathing!
Putting the information from these books into practice I am able to stay calm pretty much all the time. Many people have asked me how I look so relaxed while running, how I stay so relaxed at work, how I keep my emotions in check. The answer starts right here with breathing. Practice breath control as often as you can and learn as much as possible about the amazing process of breathing!