Get Curious ... Explore Your Breath

Did you know that breathing is the only physiological process that we can control...or not control? We can just let it be, let the body breathe on its own. Or we can consciously change it and use it to impact our energy levels and our emotions.
 
This is what pranayama is all about.

“Pranayama” is a Sanskrit word that means expanding and controlling our breath to generate more energy within our bodies and minds.  Sometimes called the “yoga of breath”, pranayama, is a powerful way to maximize our life force in order to rejuvenate our body, and as a means of self-study and self-transformation. Pranayama is a vitally important part of the Hatha Yoga tradition.

Pranayama can help us to gain better awareness of our breath so that we can breath more efficiently (there are so many health benefits to efficient breathing).  There are many different pranayama breathing practices that can help us to stay grounded and steady, to warm up or cool down, to calm frazzled emotions or boost our energy. 

The place to start your breathing practice is with breath observation so that you can know and understand your own breathing process.  In pranayama, this is a practice called Anapanasati, mindfulness of breath. It’s about getting curious and exploring every aspect of your breath while you inhale and exhale naturally, without changing anything about it. 

My invitation to you this week is to take a few moments (each day ideally) to sit quietly, breathe naturally, and simply observe your breath.  Notice how it feels today. And if you try this on different days, notice if something feels different.  

Here are some cues to help you get started observing and exploring your breath.

• Are you breathing through your mouth or through your nose?
  
• As you inhale, do you sense your belly filling up (diaphragmatic breathing) or your rib cage expanding (thoracic breathing)? (It helps to place your hands on either side of your torso; or one hand on your abdomen and one on your chest).
  
• Do you feel your chest moving to the front, the back or the sides?  Do you notice your shoulders moving as your breathe?  Do you notice a slight movement in your back?  
  
• Does your breath feel smooth and flowing?  Is it irregular, jerky, choppy, noisy?
  
• Is your breath warm or cool?  And does that temperature change as you breathe?
  
• Is the right or left nostril predominant? (Did you know that the dominance, or clearest path for the breath, is alternated from one nostril to the other every 90 minutes or so?)
  
• Is the inhale longer or shorter than the exhale? (Counting the length of the inhale and exhale helps to explore?)
  
• Is the breathing continuous or is there a pause?  Notice the pauses, the length of them, the placement in your breath cycle, the differences between them.
  
• If you adjust your posture, sit/stand up slightly taller, can you change the amount of oxygen you breathe in?
• Just breathe.  Just notice.  Inhale naturally, exhale, enjoy the pauses, then repeat.  

TIP: Anapanasati is a breath awareness practice that can be done before you do any pranayama practice, sort of as a warmup.  Or it can a mindfulness meditation it’s own.  It’s a good one to do during savasana.