3 Breathing Techniques To Unite Mind & Body
“The mind is the king of the senses, and the breath is the king of the mind.” -Hatha Yoga Pradipka
It was only until I discovered yoga years ago that I started to learn how to breathe properly. First off, I noticed how much I took my breath for granted. It was years of breathing in second-hand smoke as a child and suffering from depression and weight gain, etc. before I realized there was more to my breath than struggle and strife.
There are so many powerful breathing techniques (Pranayama in Sanskrit) that can treat myriad maladies, from depression to mental clarity, energy levels, and weight loss; the list goes on and on.
3 Pranayama that will help unite you in mind and body:
4-Point Yogic Breath
This breathing technique helps open the channel of the energy of the entire spine (Shushumna) and helps to clear blockages, energy spots along the spine (chakras) and the abdominal region, as well as increasing lung capacity. This technique also aids in weight loss, as you focus on bringing energy into the stomach and lungs.
- Sit up straight in a comfortable seated position
- Place your left hand on your belly and right hand on your chest. Breathe in through the nose, filling the belly first then expanding into the chest second.
- Exhale, starting with the chest and then stomach, creating a rippling wave through the hands as they rise and fall with your breath. The whole torso is breathing belly-chest, chest-belly, creating a 4-pointed yogic breath.
Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)
These breathing techniques calm the mind, bringing you sensations of happiness and peace. A few minutes of pranayama per day is best to destress the mind, releasing tension and fatigue. It’s named Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (NAH-dee sho-DAH-nah prah-nah-YAH-mah), as it helps clear out blocked energy channels in the body, which in turn calms the mind (nadi = subtle energy channel, shodhana = purifications, pranayama = breathing technique).
Sit comfortably with your spine erect and shoulders relaxed. Keep a gentle smile on your face and close your eyes.
- Place your left hand on the left knee, palms open to the sky or in Chin Mudra (thumb and index finger gently touching at the tips).
- Place the tip of the index finger and middle finger of your right hand in between the eyebrows, the ring finger and little finger on the left nostril, and the thumb on the right nostril. We will use the ring finger and little finger to open or close the left nostril and thumb for the right nostril.
- Press your thumb down on the right nostril and breathe out gently through the left nostril.
- Now breathe in from the left nostril and then press the left nostril gently with the ring finger and little finger. Removing the right thumb from the right nostril, breathe out from the right. Start 5 to 5 count inhales to exhales and work towards doubling exhale out.
- Breathe in from the right nostril and exhale from the left. You have now completed one round. Continue inhaling and exhaling from alternate nostrils.
- Complete nine rounds by alternately breathing through both the nostrils. After every exhalation, remember to breathe in from the same nostril from which you exhaled. Keep your eyes closed throughout and continue taking long, deep, smooth breaths without any force or effort.
Skull-shining Breath (Kapalabhati)
Kapalabhati Pranayama (kah-pah-luh-BAH-tee prah-nah-YAH-mah) is an intermediate-to-advanced technique that consists of short, powerful exhales and passive inhales. This exercise is a traditional internal purification practice, or kriya, that tones and cleanses the respiratory system by encouraging the release of toxins and waste matter (Kapala = skull, Bhati = light). It helps to cleanse the lungs, sinuses and respiratory system, which can help to prevent illness and allergies. Regular practice strengthens the diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
To begin, sit in a comfortable position where your spine is straight and your abdomen is not compressed. Some options include sitting upright in easy pose, on your heels in hero’s pose, or seated in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
- Rest your hands on your knees, palms facing down.
- Bring your awareness to your lower belly. To heighten your awareness, you can place your hands, one on top of the other, on your lower belly rather than on your knees.
- Inhale through both nostrils deeply.
- Contract your low belly or use your hands to gently press on this area, forcing out the breath in a short burst.
- As you quickly release the contraction, your inhalation should be automatic and passive — your focus should be on exhaling.
- Begin slowly, aiming for 65-70 contractions per minute. Gradually quicken the pace, aiming for 95-105 exhalation/inhalation cycles per minute. Always go at your own pace and stop if you feel faint or dizzy.
- After one minute of the exercise, inhale deeply through the nostrils, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Depending on your experience level, you may repeat the exercise.
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5 Challenges in Meditation
We hear a lot about the benefits of a regular meditation practice, but life – and our own minds can get in the way. When we do make time for our meditation practice, we can be easily distracted by some of its more common pitfalls. Here are five common challenges we face in meditation:
1. Impatience
Feeling the urge to be doing something else during a meditation session is probably the biggest meditation obstacle out there. Impatience causes us to end meditation sessions early, impedes our concentration and frequently makes us stop our practice altogether.
The key to counteracting impatience is to recognize the very existence of the feeling itself. If we feel the insatiable urge to do something else, it is important to acknowledge the feeling of impatience instead of giving into it. By acknowledging our impatience, we empower ourselves to effectively deal with it versus allowing it to rule us.
After acknowledging the feeling, we must remind ourselves that the benefits from a daily meditation practice will help us be more effective in everything we do afterward, including those activities that are causing our impatience. A calm, effective mind helps with decision making, anxiety and clear thinking.
Secondly, by identifying and isolating the feeling of impatience, we can then practice letting go of it, which gets to the essence of meditation—recognizing unproductive thoughts and letting go of them.
2. Lack of Time
So often we set intentions to meditate regularly, but our practice ends up getting tossed aside for “more important” things. We often feel like there are a million other things we need to do before we have time for our meditation practice.
The key here is prioritizing meditation by working on our perception of it. If we view meditation as a core part of our routine, like brushing our teeth or taking a shower, then missing meditation is no longer an option. We go through a routine to prepare our physical bodies for the day, so why not have one for our minds, as well?
3. Lack of Sleep
It is very, very difficult to meditate without enough sleep. If we begin meditating on little sleep, we often feel drowsy and end up dozing off. Not very productive! Also, a sleep deficit reduces our ability to concentrate and control our thoughts, which makes our meditation sessions far less effective. We are also less likely to meditate in the first place when fatigue undermines our resolve.
What’s the answer? Take a break and get some sleep! It’s okay to let go and allow ourselves the restoration we need to be successful.
4. Feeling “good enough”
Feeling good can be our biggest inspiration and our biggest obstacle. If we are not careful, feeling good can subtlety erode our resolve to continue with our meditation practice. The idea that because we feel good, we don’t need to meditate seems like it makes sense on the surface, but will ultimately undo our progress if we follow it. It can be as simple as waking up in the morning and deciding to lounge around and enjoy the morning instead of meditating because “we feel good, so it’s all good.” If we skip too many times we will regress in our practice and lose the positive mindset we cultivated.
Good is good, but great is even better. We can only reach great if we keep up our meditation. Focus on maintaining and improving the positive experience.
5. Stopping short
This is a very subtle pitfall in our meditation practice which can take a very long time to overcome if we do not realize it is happening. This occurs during a session when our mind finally settles into a place of calm and then we decide to immediately terminate the meditation because we think that we have achieved our goal. By terminating our session early, we are in fact missing out on the enormous benefits from continuing.
We can think of meditation in two steps. Step one is achieving the initial calm during a meditation and step two is sitting with that calm. By residing in a tranquil state we deepen our calm, improve our clarity and strengthen our feeling of relaxation for the post-meditation period.
How to Avoid These Meditation Pitfalls
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