Tip of the Week: Breathing Guide for Standing Series
One of the first things you’ll hear during a typical yoga class is… breathe. Breath is one of the fundamental tools in any yoga or meditation practice. The simple act of focusing on your breath can improve your mental and physical health. Below are some breathing tricks for a few postures that will help improve your
Bikram yoga practice, specifically the standing series, from Lindsay Dahl at lindsaydahl.com.
Eagle Pose
Eagle pose
is one of the easiest postures to restrict or stop breathing all
together. For this posture be extra mindful of maintaining a low,
unrestricted breath throughout the length of the whole posture. Having
your arms twisted across your chest and squatting like you’re in a
public bathroom, no wonder it’s easy to stop breathing.
Since this
posture is at the end of the warm up series, it’s particularly
important to maintain your breath so you can glide into the standing
series without feeling fatigued.
Standing Head to Knee
I
have two thoughts on using the breath in this posture. I learned these
tips from Mary Jarvis, a long time Bikram teacher. She advises students
to inhale deeply when extending your leg out in the second part of the
posture (kicking your leg out). This allows your lungs to fill with
oxygen. Similar to the spine strengthening series, once you have this
full deep breath, breath slowly and normally.
Second, take another
deep relaxed breath before pulling your arms down to the sides of your
legs (the third part of the posture). These two breaths have been the
key to surviving and maintaining my Standing Head to Knee pose.
Standing Bow
Similar to my Mary’s suggestion for Standing Head to Knee, try taking
a big, dramatic breath and stretch your body and chin toward the
ceiling before you start kicking you leg. This large breath will help
sustain you through the posture and will give you the confidence to nail
the pose for the full 60 seconds.
Standing Separate Leg Stretching/Toe Stand
When coming out of Standing Separate Leg Stretching and Toe Stand
pose, I have a tendency to get light headed or dizzy. My teacher and
friend Martha Williams from Bikram Yoga Minneapolis taught me to take a
deep breath as I exit both of those postures. The deep inhale as you
rise both helps you pull in your stomach (necessary for a safe exist) as
well as provides enough oxygen to avoid feeling dizzy.
Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee
Take a deep breath while stretching up to the ceiling before you tuck your chin to your chest and roll up like a sushi roll; this will dramatically help with the execution of Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee
pose. The breath before entering this posture has less to do with
oxygen intake and more to do with setting up the posture correctly. By
taking this deep breath and compressing your lower abdomen, you can
begin the proper compression as you roll down to put your forehead on
the knee. And yes, the extra oxygen helps you glide through the standing
series!
Savasana
Here’s an unconventional breathing tip for savasana:
relax your groin. It’s easy to settle in for a two minute savasana, and
not even think about relaxing your groin and pelvic floor. By relaxing
this area, your breath will naturally relax and slow down.
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