Yoga Breathing

Learn how to breathe all over again

We all know how to breathe. Breathing is something that we do very naturally without even being aware of it. Yet, very few people know how to breathe correctly. The good news is that this can be fixed through the practice of yoga. Yogis believe that when the breath is well controlled, the mind is controlled as well.

Through yoga breathing, muscular force is well controlled at each stage. Yoga breathing teaches natural and optimal breathing techniques in 4 stages:

Puraka is the term for a single inhalation. It's the process of breathing in air smoothly and continuously. A series of Puraka are required in yoga practice. Broken Puraka occurs when you pause more than one time during the process of taking a single breath.

Abhyantara Kumbhaka indicates a "pause after inhaling." Performing Kumbhaka exercises combines the holding of the flow of air and the maintenance of the air in the lungs without any incipient movement in the lungs, muscles or other parts of the body. If you are a yoga beginner, you may need to work on certain forces to keep your Kumbhaka exercises motionless. Sophisticated instructions and techniques have been worked out for this purpose.

Rechake, the third stage of yoga breathing translates to "exhalation." Similar to inhalation, exhalation should be smooth and continuous. The speed of exhalation is different from that of inhaling. While inhaling, the muscular energy is used to relax the tensed muscles. The relaxation releases air from your lungs as they return to their relaxed exhaled condition.

Bahya Kumbhaka refers to the pause after exhaling, also called "empty pause." This is the fourth and final stage of yoga breathing. The stoppage is normally deliberate or prolonged. This stage completes the breathing cycle, which terminates as the pause stops and a new inhalation starts.