© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

PRANAYAMA & THE BREATH

MODULE

1

TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

BREATHING FUNDAMENTALS

PERSPECTIVES & CAUTIONS

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

2

PRANAYAMA TECHNIQUES

BASIC BREATH TRAINING & YOGIC

BREATHING

Pranayama & The Breath Module

HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW

YOU FEEL

CONSTRICTED BREATHING

PATTERNS

NATURAL BREATHING

Chapter Highlights

BREATHING FUNDAMENTALS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BREATH AND

EMOTIONS, CONSTRICTED BREATHING

PATTERNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF

NATURAL BREATHING

Breathing affects your respiratory,

cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal,

muscular, and psychic systems and also has a

general effect on your sleep, your memory,

your energy level, and your concentration.

Everything you do, the pace you keep, the

feelings you have, and the choices you make

are influenced by the rhythmic metronome of

your breath.

— Donna Farhi, The Breathing Book

1 © Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.Version 1.5

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

2

QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE• What is unique about the breath as part of the autonomic nervous system?

• Why is the breath a vital component of a person's overall wellness?

• Describe the research that shows the two-way connection between breath

and emotions.

• In what ways may a student's breath be inhibited?

• What are the characteristics of natural breathing?

• When entering deep states of concentration, how might the breath be

affected?

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

3

• Breathing affects every system in our body.

• Research shows the direct connection between

breathing patterns and emotions.

• Although part of the autonomic nervous

system, breathing can be controlled at will.

• Focusing on the breath is a fundamental tool

for beginning to settle the mind and feel the

body.

• A vital teaching for all levels of students is to

maintain awareness of their breath.BREATHING AND EMOTIONS

KEY POINTS

STRESS

YOGIC BREATHING’S EFFECT ON STRESS & PAIN

HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW YOU FEEL

4

STUDY RESULTS: HOW YOU BREATHE IS HOW YOU FEEL

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

Your body's breathing center is actually in the brainstem, where

many of your autonomic functions are controlled, such as your

heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, and digestive

process. Breathing is the only autonomic function that you can

control at will, kind of like a manual override. Research indicates

that when you manually take control of your breathing, you are

given a little bit of control over your other autonomic functions

as well... Probably the two most important benefits of yoga

breathing are its effectiveness in stress reduction and pain

management... The most phenomenal aspect of yoga breathing is

that you are in control. You can send health-enhancing yoga

breathing messages to your body anytime, anywhere.

– Larry Payne, Yoga RX © 2002 p 34

The two-way connection between how you breathe and how you

feel was elegantly demonstrated in a study that observed how the

breath naturally changes during joy, anger, sadness, and fear...

The researchers induced these four emotions in participants and

measured the changes in breathing... They found that there were

characteristic changes for each emotion. In a second study, the

researchers turned the observations for each emotion into

breathing instructions. They had participants change their

breathing according to those instructions, with no hint that the

breathing patterns were connected to specific emotions. The

study found that the breathing patterns reliably created the

emotions they were associated with, without any other emotion

cue or trigger.

– Kelly McGonigal, PhD, Yoga for Pain Relief

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

5

BREATHING & RELEASE OF

EMOTIONS

From a session of breath-initiated movement, it's likely that

congested emotions will come up and be released from the body. I

must emphasize that this work does not create grief, the grief already

exists and is stored in the body. Breath-initiated movement is what

liberates you from your past. When the grief comes out, something

else comes out with it, and this is the most important of all: answers

come out with it. New understanding of your past, resolution,

reconciliation...these are the things that emerge from your breath

work.

– Max Strom

CONGESTED EMOTIONS MAY COME UP TO BE RELEASED

NATURAL VS. CONSTRICTED BREATHING

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

6

‘I just realized that I don't really know how to breathe.' I hear this often after

students encounter their constricted breath during their first experience of

yoga. Even with clear instructions, it takes many weeks of practice before

some students can actually breathe fully all the way to the bottom of their

lungs, and even longer for some to be able to rapidly pump their bellies

toward their spines in an energizing exercise like Kapalabhati.

– Amy Weintraub, Yoga for Depression

Before attempting to manipulate the breath

with pranayama, it makes sense that we and

our students would have a felt sense of what

unhindered, natural breathing feels like.

Experts tell us that often people's

unconscious breathing is not free but rather

is restricted and incomplete.

REVERSE BREATHING CHEST BREATHINGUNCONSCIOUS

STRESS BREATHING

CONSTRICTED BREATHING PATTERNS

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

7

8

PRIMARY VS. ACCESSORY

BREATHING MUSCLES

REVERSE BREATHING

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

• Some people are "reverse" breathers which means the belly doesn't

swell on the inhale but rather contracts. And on the exhale, it puffs out

(although not likely in a fully relaxed way).

• This type of breathing is associated with chronic tension, digestive

issues, insomnia, and elevated blood pressure.

• The cause may be related to tight clothing, disease or repeated feelings

of fear.

• Mukunda Stiles makes the amazing statement that "about half the

population" breathes in reverse. (Structural Yoga Therapy)

9

PRIMARY VS. ACCESSORY

BREATHING MUSCLES

CHEST BREATHING

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

• In this case, the person chronically holds the abdomen in, inhibiting

the diaphragm from moving fully. This forces the breath to be

experienced only up in the chest.

• This typically results in chronic tension, digestive issues & anxiety.

• The cause can be stress or holding the stomach in to appear thinner.

• See Diaphragmatic Contraction Bulges Belly But Can Also Expand Rib

Cage for Leslie Kaminoff's important clarification that an expanding

rib cage does not necessarily mean a person is not fully using their

diaphragm.

10

UNCONSCIOUS STRESS

BREATHING

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

• Most practitioners come to find a direct

relationship between mental state and breath. This

translates to certain patterns during stress: holding

the breath, irregular breathing, short breaths and

quick, short exhalations.

• Perhaps the most profound shift we could make in

ourselves and the world is to—upon noticing that

we feel agitated, anxious, depressed or angry—

bring awareness to the breath. It's quite likely we'll

find the unconscious stress breathing patterns. We

can then begin to bring ease to the breath, taking

a gentle breath in and a relaxing breath out,

without hesitation or strain.

• When we engage in such practices, we're working

with the monumental fact that breath is the link

between body and mind. Thoughts and emotions

affect the breath. And the breath affects thoughts

and emotions.

ALLOW RIBS AND

TORSO TO MOVE

ALLOW BREATH TO BE

EFFORTLESSKNOW WHEN TO LET

DEEP BREATHING GO

NATURAL BREATHING

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

11

BREATHE THROUGH

THE NOSE

ALLOW BELLY TO

SWELL

Also known as free breathing, belly breathing, yogic breathing,

diaphragmatic breathing and essential breathing.

BREATHE THROUGH THE NOSE

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

12

• Unless one has a respiratory illness, deviated

septum or other reason, the yogic practice is to

breathe through the nose rather than the mouth.

• Sinuses and nostrils filter, warm and moisturize

air going into the lungs.

• Nose breathing creates more resistance than

mouth breathing, providing the lungs with an

appropriate time for oxygen extraction and

enabling a balanced oxygen-carbon dioxide

exchange.

• There are times, however, when breathing

through the mouth is beneficial. Breath moves

more quickly to the lungs and with greater ease

and quantity through the mouth.

• See also: Respiratory Anatomy

ALLOW BELLY TO SWELL

• Upon inhale, the diaphragm moves down, pressing on the abdominal cavity, causing

the belly to swell.

• Holding any muscles in chronic contraction—including abdominal muscles—weakens

them. To function properly, muscles must relax between contractions. While a strong

abdomen supports the back, chronically contracted abdominal muscles will increase

tension and stiffness, and ultimately weaken. (An example for students is how a bicep

curl involves contraction & release. If we hold a dumbbell in an endless curl, the bicep

will weaken.)

• This is a very important teaching for students who—for a variety of cultural &

personal reasons—have tightness or tension in their belly. With new students and

those under stress, this teaching is fundamental and critical.

• However, this should not be confused with practices for more advanced yogis. The

practice of keeping a slight tone in the belly between the navel and pubic bone is a

practice that has many benefits. With growing awareness, students may learn to keep

low belly tone while allowing the upper belly to expand, thereby still allowing the

diaphragm to move through its full range.

• See Yogic Breathing for distinctions related to beginners and advanced practitioners.

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

13

I'd say that without that relationship

[between the diaphragm and the breath in

yoga class] it's not actually a yoga class. It

may be stretching or calisthenics, but what

makes it yoga is the conscious integration

of movement, mind and breath.

– Leslie Kaminoff, YogaAnatomy.net

ALLOW RIBS AND TORSO TO

MOVE

• Allow the height, width and depth of the whole torso to move out

and move in with the breath. Envision not just the front ribs but the

whole 360° rib cage.

• While beginners are unlikely to expand the rib cage fully, asana

practice (along with awareness and breathing practices) can help to

develop this mobility.

• Feel the breath in the low belly, upper chest and back body.

• Keep the throat soft.

14

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

The inhalation starts with the gentle

swelling forward of the abdomen and then

moves upward to expand the rib cage fully.

The breastbone rises and swells forward as

the shoulder blades slide down your back.

These actions increase the distance between

the top of the thighs and the bottom of the

ribs—the area of your waist— and it is this

increased space that gives the diaphragm

freedom to move.

As you exhale, allow the ribs to relax and

come back to center without losing the

spinal length you achieved with the

inhalation, and then gently pull the

abdomen inward. Breathe like this in all the

poses throughout the practice.

– Erich Schiffman, Yoga: The Spirit and

Practice of Moving into Stillness

ALLOW BREATH TO BE EFFORTLESS

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

15

• Rather than pulling the breath inside with outer muscles of the body,

let yourself be breathed.

• Let the breath expand in all directions, radiating outward.

• Let the breath feel calm & smooth.

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

KNOW WHEN TO LET DEEP BREATHING GO

17

• For many students, teaching them

to maintain a long, full, deep

breath is critical to enable them to

shift restricted breathing patterns

and release the effects of stress.

• For those students (and teachers)

who enter into deep states of

concentration, natural pauses in

the breath and a softer breath

may occur naturally. In these

cases, it is not necessary to

deepen the breath. Mukunda

Stiles explains in the quote to the

right.

• See also: Yogic Breathing

Provided your concentration is

genuine, do not encourage yourself

to breathe deeply during yoga

asana practice. Only if you are

exhibiting holding your breath

should you be encouraged to

breathe fully. Watching carefully

for this distinction can permit you

to move into a deeper connection

with the process of Classical Yoga.

It is often a missing link, a hidden

secret, that practitioners disregard

in learning how to transition from

physical Hatha Yoga to mindful

Raja Yoga practice.

– Mukunda Stiles, Structural Yoga

Therapy

ENDBREATHING FUNDAMENTALS

© Yoga Teacher Central 2016. All rights reserved.

19