What is the correct Way to Breathe When Doing Yoga?

How should you breathe when you do yoga? Yoga instructors will often say "breathe" as if you were not already. Breathing is normally a natural process that takes little effort, either physically or mentally. However, there are times when breathing correctly, while enchanting the body through space, is as foremost as knowing how to do the yoga pose. Sometimes yoga students will unintentionally and unconsciously hold their breath while doing a pose. A case in point, is the prowling tiger pose where you are on one knee and the opposite arm with the other leg and arm stretched out in front and back. The prowling tiger is a fairly difficult pose to hold for any distance of time because it requires the use of strong back muscles. A beginning yoga learner will tend to hold their breath when doing this pose because, in the first place, they are unaware of their breath. This is why an experienced yoga trainer will say "breathe."

Being aware of the breath is a learning process that gets easier with practice. Awareness becomes almost instinctive, in that the breath "flows" with the movement, without having to think about it. In the beginning, learning to be aware of the breath is more like watching the breath. When keeping a pose and even while enchanting from one pose to the next, being the observer of the breath is more of an intentional act than an instinctive one. It isn't until the learner finally becomes a yogi that he is aware of the breath. So, the quiz, is, how do you become aware of the breath?

If you are relatively new to yoga, begin by feeling the unlikeness between certain and negative soldiery when you move your body. For example, from a standing position gently squat down and then gently stand back up. The movement down into the squat is a negative force and the act of standing up is a certain force. In weight lifting they call the standing up movement, concentric (positive force) and the going down into the squat, eccentric (negative force). Pressing a barbell up off of your chest in bench pressing is a concentric movement and lowering the barbell is an eccentric movement. It is not principal to know the terminology but what is foremost is to be able to feel the unlikeness between certain (concentric) and negative(eccentric). The normal rule for breathing correctly is to breathe in while performing a negative force movement and breathe out while performing a certain force movement. This is true for 98% of all yoga moves. By intentionally breathing in while doing a negative force movement and breathing out while doing a certain force movement is the first part in learning to be aware of breath. Do a push up and intentionally breathe in while going down and intentionally breathe out while pushing up. This straightforward exercise will demonstrate how breath influences movement.

The act of breathing out engages the abdominal muscles, the diaphragm, and the muscles of the pelvic floor. When these muscles contract, the core of the body is strengthened and the transition between poses becomes easier. By practicing intentional breathing in yoga, the sense of union with body and breath will become apparent. Before long, the union of body and breath will become self-acting and instinctive. When that happens, enchanting through yoga poses will occur plainly without thinking.