PT Health Life – Correct breathing plays a particularly important role in yoga, bringing many benefits to overall health. So what is proper breathing in yoga?
1. The role of breathing in yoga
Yoga is a low-intensity exercise. Usually you can start yoga with breathing exercises . This is one of the methods to help the body regulate and promote better metabolic activity.
Breathing plays an important role in every movement you do in yoga as the level of difficulty increases. Breathing correctly in yoga can bring many benefits to practitioners such as:
– Helps control personal emotions: Emotional problems such as anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, happiness… will be controlled when performing deep breathing. When the brain is supplied with oxygen and the blood reduces CO2, the mind will be clearer and more optimistic.
– Improve strength and increase endurance : Breathing is a psychological therapy that makes practitioners have a more positive spirit. That positivity will send signals from the brain to muscle mass and cell tissue. Thanks to this, the muscle’s ability to function is enhanced. The reduced tension in the muscle will not inhibit or cause pain. Thanks to that, all physical activities are promoted, making you increase your strength and endurance at the same time.
– Feel your breath more clearly in all daily activities: Thanks to that, you will be more focused and more effective in work and life.
2. Recognize incorrect breathing techniques in yoga
Two common incorrect ways of breathing in yoga are mouth breathing and holding your breath. In there:
– Mouth breathing : Breathing through the mouth instead of through the nose is the most common bad habit. People who are anxious and busy often start using their mouth to breathe, causing their mouth to dry out and cause fatigue.
– Holding your breath : Common in people who are mentally stressed or stressed.
Some of the symptoms below are signs that you are not breathing properly:
– Sighing more than usual: By occasionally appearing to sigh because the body is instinctively trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen in people who have the habit of holding their breath.
– Frequent yawning : There are many causes including improper breathing.
– Teeth grinding at night : Improper breathing often accompanied by teeth grinding are symptoms of stress.
– Shoulder and neck pain : If you often feel tightness in this area, your breathing style may be the culprit.
– Always feeling tired: Improper breathing means you don’t get enough oxygen, leading to decreased energy.
3. Recommend correct breathing in yoga
To breathe properly in yoga, note:
– H rarely breathes through the nose: No air will only enter and exit through the nose. Do not inhale through your mouth.
– Breathing with the diaphragm: H enters slightly through the diaphragm, pushing the diaphragm down into the abdomen, the visible sign is that the abdomen bulges. Exhale also through the diaphragm by contracting the abdominal muscle groups to push the diaphragm upward, manifesting as a contracted abdomen. Breathing with the diaphragm is also called belly breathing.
– Breathe rhythmically: Everything in this universe has a rhythm – from the sun, the moon and even our bodies, the hormones in our bodies are naturally produced rhythmically. Breathing is essential too, and when everything finds its rhythm, your body will function better.
– Breathe softly: To create better conditions for the diaphragm to function, sit in a comfortable position. Remember to close your mouth and place your tongue against the roof of your mouth to ensure breathing through your nose. Pay attention to your breath, “observe” its path with a slow inhalation until you feel the breath descend to the navel (3 cm below the navel), stop for a moment (about 5-10 seconds). Then slowly exhale until you feel your stomach sink in, then repeat.
The mechanism of deep breathing can be performed as follows:
– How to inhale deeply: Deep inhalation is an active process. When inhaling, the dome-shaped diaphragm contracts, the abdominal organs are pushed down and forward, and the chest is expanded. The volume of the chest increases in both directions, so the amount of air entering the lungs increases.
How to exhale deeply: Deep exhalation is also an active process, exhaling with all your might. Abdominal muscle groups participate in breathing. When these muscles contract, the abdomen contracts, intra-abdominal pressure increases and the diaphragm is pushed upward. The intercostal muscles also support active exhalation by pulling the ribs downward and inward, reducing thoracic volume and increasing residual air in the lungs.
