Bladdergraffitiyoga

Yoga means connection – on many levels – but mostly connecting to yourself and your breath. When the breaths are long and deep the nervous system can stay in parasympathic mode (in rest and digest) away from sympathetic mode (fight, flight or freeze). We can train the breath and our nervous systems and yoga helps us do this.

The deep breathing was the first benefit I noticed from doing yoga reguarly. Despite my cancer diagnosis and my stress, when I began practising again regularly and breathing deeply, I felt peace. It’s become a portable tool to take with me and use whenever I need it.

There are many different breathing techniques (pranayama) let’s start with the most straightforward. How you are breathing now as you read this?

Try and breathe through your nose. Breathing through the nose is something we’re not necessarily used to doing but it has wonderful benefits:

1. Activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
2. Warms, filters and moistens the air making it more lung friendly.
3. Slows the breath so the body can retain a level of carbon dioxide and increase the efficiency of oxygen release.
4. Produces nitric oxide in the nasal passages that dilates blood vessels and also increases the efficiency of oxygen release.

Does your tummy move with your breath? Place your hands there, when you inhale your tummy expands then as you exhale the tummy sinks again. As you start to breathe more deeply you might notice that as you inhale first your tummy expands then your chest, and when you exhale they both sink back down.

On an inhale the diaphram pushes down as the lungs expand as it does this the tummy bulges out a little. On the exhale the lungs deflate and the diaphram rises again and so the tummy sinks again.

Let’s practise together 6 deep breaths takes a couple of minutes.

Thanks for reading and watching!