Imagine if you could live your life without the oppressive feeling of anxiety, nervousness and inner tension and inner tension that literally takes your breath away!
Instead, you are able to control your breath, recharge your body with new energy and keep a clear and cool head. How you can can achieve this, you can find out here.
Why can breathing exercises help you to lead a happy life?
Prana, our breath, is essential for life. Our entire organism is supplied with the elixir of life, oxygen, through our breathing. As a rule, this breathing, controlled by the autonomic nervous system, happens completely automatically and without us being aware of it.
However, precisely because breathing is not a conscious process, we do not notice how it changes when we are tense and stressed. Breathing becomes increasingly shallow and shorter.
As a result, we take in much less oxygen than the body actually needs. The tiredness and concentration problems that you feel when you are stressed, anxious or very angry are caused by this lack of oxygen.
However, with regular breathing exercises, you can learn to influence your breath and find energy and relaxation through conscious and deep breathing.
Liberating breathing exercises from yoga – deep abdominal breathing
In yoga, the breath is used specifically through the regular practice of different pranayamas to bring body, mind and soul into balance. The basic exercise is deep abdominal breathing. Breathing is generally done through the nose. The tongue lies completely relaxed on the upper palate. If you find it difficult to breathe through your nose at first, you can also breathe in through your nose and out through your slightly open mouth.
This is how yoga breathing works:
Find a comfortable sitting or lying position! Make sure that your back is back is upright and straight! Place one hand on your lower stomach and one on your ribs! your ribs!
- now breathe in slowly and consciously and imagine that the air wants to go deep into your abdomen! air wants to go deep into your abdomen! You will recognize that it is working when your stomach belly bulges outwards slightly. Only then will your ribs also rise.
- as you exhale, you will feel the air leave your body completely.
- inhalation and exhalation should be of equal length. There should be a short pause in between. By breathing deeply and evenly, you can lower your blood pressure and heart rate and at the same time relax your muscles.
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Of course, deep abdominal breathing is not the only breathing exercise. Yoga has numerous variations of this basic exercise. Alternate breathing is also recommended for more energy, calmness and concentration. It provides balance on all levels and is therefore an important part of the morning ritual in our yoga retreats.
It works as follows:
- take a deep breath in through your nose!
- then close the right side of your nose with the thumb of your right hand and exhale through the left nostril! Then breathe in deeply and slowly through the left in again through the left nostril!
- now place the ring finger of your right hand on the left side of your nose and close it with it! close it with it! Breathe out through the right nostril and in again!
Use this breathing technique in an alternating rhythm for about five minutes! After halfway through, you can also change hands.
What should you bear in mind when doing breathing exercises?
Under no circumstances should you perform activating pranayama such as alternate breathing in the evening before going to bed, as this can disturb your sleep. Calming exercises with particularly long exhalations are better at night. You can find out even more about this in our yoga retreats, where experienced therapists will help you learn the correct technique and application.
