Powerful Deep Breathing Yoga Exercise

Yoga Pranayama #3

Video of 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise

(From Yoga Pranayama Video Series – Deep Breathing Exercise)

Background of 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

This is the yoga breathing technique that my Kundalini Yoga teacher, Ravi Singh, almost always started our classes with.  This is because despite being a simple breathing exercise, its ability to open up and get one’s energy going is astonishing. 

In addition to awakening one’s energy, this particular yoga pranayama also has other significant benefits which I will detail below.  Whether you are new to Yogic breathing techniques or an expert, this particular breath control exercise should be a permanent member in your goodie bag, which you can pull out anytime you need to fire up and vitalize your pranic body (energetic body).

Benefits of Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

Primary:

• Rapidly oxygenates your blood, thus helping the body heal, detoxify and remove waste more effectively.
• Increases the amount of Prana (life-force) you are bringing into your system.
  
• Improves the elasticity of the lungs and increases respiratory capacity.
• Activates the energy flows in your body.

Cautions for Practicing Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

• If you feel dizzy when practicing this breathing technique, you should stop and substitute normal breathing.  If you suffer from vertigo, you should use caution in practicing this breathing exercise.
• You should be careful practicing this pranayama if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or suffer from stroke or epilepsy.

Step-by-step Instructions for Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

• To practice this breathing exercise sit up in a comfortable position.
• Elongate your spine upwards, lengthen your neck and subtly bring your chin back and in like a soldier at attention.  This will align the spine with the back of your head.
  
• Close your eyes.
  
• Bring the palms of your hands together at sternum level (like when you pray), but have them 2-4 inches away from your chest.  Your elbows should be up such that your forearms are parallel to the ground.
  
• Press the palms of your hands together applying equal pressure to both sides.  The pressure should be firm but not excessive.
  
• Relax your diaphragm and stomach muscles.
• Now inhale in 4 sniffs and exhale in 4 sniffs.  So you are breaking up 1 inhalation into 4 equal parts and breaking up 1 exhalation into 4 equal parts.  By the fourth sniff, during the inhalation, you should have completed filled your lungs with air and by the fourth sniff, during the exhalation, you should have completely expelled all the air.  Completely inhaling and exhaling by the last sniff is a key part of this breathing technique.  That’s it, continue for 1-5 minutes.

Secret of Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

The real benefit of this yoga pranayama is hidden in benefit number three listed above (increases lung capacity).  According to Yoga, your evolution can be triggered simply by the capacity of your respiratory system.  When it reaches a critical threshold relative to your size, you evolve.  By partitioning the breath, this particular breathing technique forces you to maximize the use of your lungs.  Thus, helping them expand and absorb more prana (life-force) from the air. 

Generally, in everyday life we don’t use our full lung capacity and over time this capacity diminishes.  So take a bold step towards your spiritual growth and include the Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise into your daily yoga practice.  It is a great way to start and will go a long way in helping you finish.

This concludes the Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise. 

Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama

Yoga Breathing Exercise #1: The Breath of Fire

Free Online Yoga Video of Breath of Fire

Video is from the article: Breath of Fire Video – Free Online Yoga Videos

What Is The Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

The first Yoga breathing exercise we will explore lies at the heart of Kundalini Yoga practice, it is the  legendary Breath of Fire Yoga Pranayama.

As mentioned above this breathing exercise is absolutely essential to the practice of Kundalini Yoga.  The roots of this pranayama are impossible to trace but I would like to thank my teacher Ravi Singh under whose expert guidance I learned this technique.

Tools Required for Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:   

Just your nose :-D.

Benefits of Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

Primary:

• Quickly oxygenates your blood, thus helping the body detoxify itself and remove waste more effectively.
• Builds lung capacity and helps purify the respiratory system.
• Generates heat and increases your level of energy by activating the energy flows in your body.
• Syncronizes your entire system under one rhythm, thus promoting greater internal harmony and health.

Secondary:

• Balances and strengthens the Nervous System.
• Magnifies the benefits of exercises done in conjunction with this breath.
• When done forcefully, the pulsating of the diaphragm massages the internal organs, thus improving the digestive system.

Cautions for Practicing Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

• If you feel dizzy when practicing Breath of Fire, you should stop and substitute normal breathing.  If you suffer from vertigo, you should use caution in practicing this breathing exercise.
• If you are menstruating you should not practice Breath of Fire, use Long Deep Breathing instead.
• You should be careful practicing Breath of Fire if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or suffer from stroke or epilepsy.  Also, if you have acid or heat related gastric issues such as ulcers you should use caution.

How To Do Basic Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

• To practice this breathing exercise sit up in a comfortable position.
• Elongate your spine upwards, lengthen your neck and subtly bring your chin back and in like a soldier at attention.  This will align the spine with the back of your head.
  
• Close your eyes.
  
• Rest your hands in any comfortable position.
• Relax your stomach muscles.
• Now begin to breathe rapidly through the nose with equal emphasis on the inhalation and exhalation.  It will be like very fast sniffing.  Keep the breath shallow, just at the tip of the nose.  Proceed at a comfortable pace and establish a steady rhythm.  Pay no special attention to the chest or diaphragm other that staying relaxed.  You will find the stomach pulses on its own in rhythm to the breath.  That’s it, continue for 1 minute.

How To Do Intermediate Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

• Perform the breathing at a faster pace.
• Increase the duration of the exercise to 3 minutes

How To Do Advanced Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

• Build up the pace and power with which you do the breathing.
• Build up the time for this pranayama to 11 minutes.

Secret of Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:

So the trick question is, “How many breaths are you taking when doing the breath of fire yoga pranayama”?  This will be of some special concern to those who believe in the idea that each of us is born with a preset number of breaths and once we finish our quota – the fat lady sings.  So for those folks it would be rather alarming to practice this exercise regularly, as they would be drastically reducing their life span – but, thankfully they need not worry.  The beauty of this breathing exercise, aside from its lengthy list of benefits, is that it registers to the brain as only 1 breath.  So put your worries aside and enjoy the practice of this pranayama which I have found to be one of the real gems of Kundalini Yoga.