“Breath: The Song of the Soul”

“I find belly breathing to be really challenging[….] Also, I feel like I am often behind the teacher’s cues for breathing. Any suggestions?”

If you have ever watched a baby breathe, you have noticed how her belly will rise when she inhales and that her belly will fall when she exhales. Somehow, though, as we age many of us lose this natural capacity for full, deep breaths. Some hypothesize that we created shallow, upper chest breathing to prevent our bellies from looking too “full”; regardless of the cause, in our yoga practice we have many opportunities to reconnect with this most natural breath. Physiologically, when the belly rises with the inhalation, the diaphragm lowers, thereby allowing more room for incoming air; conversely, when the belly falls with the exhalation, the diaphragm lifts, thereby helping to expel the air from the lungs. It’s a method that facilitates greater depth of breath and calm in body and mind. Belly breathing is a sort of “gateway” breath before embarking on the more challenging, and transformative, pranayama exercises. And it’s arguably the most deceptively simple of the breathing exercises.

When in a yoga class and the instructor calls out a breath with a movement—for example, “Inhale lengthen, exhale twist”—it’s important to follow your own breath to its capacity instead of curbing it to heed the call of the next breath; i.e. finish your inhalation before initiating the exhalation, and vice versa. Honor the currents of your breath and allow yourself to experience its connection to your physical practice. Trust that you won’t fall behind. Trust in your own practice.

I find the very etymology of the word “spirit” to be comforting and highly applicable in yoga: it comes from the Latinate word “spiritus”, which means “breath”. This adds a whole new appreciation to the word breath’s sister word: respiration. That breath and spirit are entwined in the linguistic world is but one reference of their connection: vast Vedic literature regards the breath’s dual identity as a system that is both voluntary and involuntary; i.e. a system that is both physical and spiritual. Borrowing words to put the sentiment simply, and beautifully, “In the breath, the soul finds the opportunity to speak” (Faulds).

--Autumn

Making Space

We all have some awareness that we carry our emotions in our body. When we get stressed we may have a stomach ache or a head ache or tight shoulders and a sore jaw. Is it possible we carry our history in our body? (Unfinished arguments and unneeded baggage weighing our bodies down) Through out my yoga training this had been a focus of mine as I have discovered many of my own old emotional habits in my yoga practice. I find myself struggling to pull my shoulders back, after all, my habit of folding my arms in front of me and protecting myself is ingrained over the years. Doing twists is a great way to ring some of this "stuff" out like a wet towel to make space for new energy! Forward folds are a great way to experiment with letting go and surrendering to what ever it is you have inside. Inversions are a great way to give yourself a new perspective and explore your fears. I invite you to consider your emotional road map in your own body. What are your habits in your yoga practice? Do you struggle with opening the heart in back bends or fears in inversions? Look for the relationship in your physical practice of yoga and your psychological practice of yoga. By all means come to my class and I'll see if I can help.
Peace, love and all things yoga,
Katie