Breath work or Pranayama is part of a yoga practice, without the work on the breath, yoga would be just a physical practice

In every yoga therapy protocol, there is breath work and most of the time it comes at the beginning of the sequence. As a yoga therapist, I personally start my protocol treatment with learning how to breathe properly, it is essential to our body and mind health.

 

It is important to be conscious of our breath, to understand how we breathe. Some people only use half of their lung capacity because of stress, because they work all day long in front of a computer and end up closing their rib cage without being aware of it.

This does not mean that we have to breathe deeply all the time, hyperventilation is not good either.

We need to be balanced and find the fine line which I call the “not too much” concept.

 

There are many types of breathing but the most efficient, the one that brings instant relaxation and balance into your body is “equal breathing”,

Usually it is done on an equal count of 5 on the inhale and a count of 5 on the exhale.

But the way your breath needs to be slow and mindful either way, you need to feel the breath expand throughout your whole body on the inhale and on the exhale.

Again, when learning how to breathe properly you have to do a simple practice, your lungs and your brain will get used to this new pattern that you can practice for 5 to 10 mn, in bed or when you get up in the morning, or at work…etc…

Remember, the Golden Rule is always the same: do not force anything, start simple, be patient and be conscious of the tiny but efficient changes in your body.

 

Let me know how you feel and I will be feeding you with more pranayama for stress relief.