Breath Control & Yoga Pranayama Book – Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise – Ch 1
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.
Hey Bri/Marthi,
The general rule of Yoga & Ayurveda (See Intro to Ayurveda for more info on this healing science), is that it is best to rest and relax during menstruation. Yoga can be done, but it should be done in a relaxed way.
Breath of Fire is a stimulating breath and can put strain on the abdominal region. Those are the 2 primary reasons it’s not recommended during this time.
Some quick guidelines for Yoga during menstruation:
1. No inversions
2. No Breath of Fire or other pranayamas that strain the abdominal area or are very stimulating (generate a great deal of inner heat).
3. No exercises which strain the abdominal region or lower back excessively.
I have been requested to put together an article on this topic, hope to get to that in the near future.
Best,
Anmol
I’ve also always wondered about this, (re: bri’s question)are there restrictions when a woman is menstruating and why?
i was just wondering, why should the breath of fire not be done while a woman is menstruating?..
Hey Avedis,
Yup yup agree one hundred percent. I think this was my very first video :-P. I have improved them in the subsequent ones a whole lot, but my wife is tired of me stealing the living room lamp, so I think it’s time to invest in some better lighting to meet your suggestions.
Thanks for your helpful comments.
Cheers,
Anmol
Great instruction! The only thing I would change about the above is to improve the lighting for taping (maybe a soft source face-level both to the right and left of the videographer, by maybe 5 feet) to fix the shadows falling across your face. :)
Hi Key,
First and most important question is if you are doing it correctly. The breath should not be forced into the abdomen, it should be pulsed instead at the tip of the nose. The diaphragm will move on it’s own.
Not sure if you have seen the video, but there I have demonstrated this common error. Here is the video link…
Video of Breath of Fire
If you are doing it right and experiencing pain, then back off and only practice it lightly in shorter bursts, mixing in normal breathing to take breaks. Also, make sure you are sitting up straight so the abdomen is not collapsed.
Let me know if these adjustments help.
Best,
Anmol
Hi Ammol,
I´ve been experiencing some pain/discomfort in the ribcage and diaphragm area while practicing breath of fire, what do you think of this?
thank you,
Key
Hey Chris,
For Kundalini Yoga practice, mastering Breath of Fire is a must. Even otherwise it has so many benefits that is it certainly worth learning.
The most common mistake is to use your diaphragm voluntarily instead of just letting it pulse due to the rapid shallow breath at the tip of the nose. In other words don’t try to breathe in deep into the belly – just do fast sniffing. Let me know how you make out.
Best,
Anmol
It’s harder than I thought it would be! I’ll have to give this one a try more often.
Hi Laura,
This is not uncommon and you should back off a bit when doing Breath of Fire if this happens. Either reduce the power/pace with which you are doing it, or take a break and switch to Long Deep Breathing or Normal Breathing until the cramp/stitch subsides. As you develop your capacity this issue will resolve itself over time.
Best Wishes,
Anmol
Amnol,
I’ve been experiencing a runners type cramp in my side while practicing Breath of Fire. Any thoughts?
Thank You!
Anonymous — You are most welcome :-)
great stuff…thank you!!
Joanna, Much of the Science of Yoga and Meditation is derived from direct perception resulting from refined and subtle awareness that Yogis & Monks develop. Recently, some empirical studies have begun to prove these ageless Truths, but I am not aware of any study on this specific topic.
Here though is a proposed basic experiment that could shed some light on this hypothesis…
Control Group: Brainwaves w/ normal breath
Group A: Advanced meditators Brainwaves w/ suspended breath
Group B: Advanced meditators Brainwaves w/ Breath of Fire
Then to compare the brain waves to see if Group B subjects’ brainwaves match the Control Group or Group A more closely.
I will keep an eye on this topic though and let you know if I come across any more information on it. Thanks for your very interesting question.
Anmol, could you expand a little bit the mysterious “it registers to the brain as only 1 breath”? How come? How do we know that? I’m not worried about the quota of breaths, but this idea interested me immensely.