POTM: Pranayama Deep Breathing

I often think of this dude I knew who always waited until Pranayama was over before he would go in to class: he said it hurt his neck and shoulders. He'd find all kinds of ways to stall: go to the restroom, check his phone, fill his water (again) or change clothes verrrrry sloooooowly...

By skipping this breathing exercise, however, he was missing a bigtime opportunity to warm and prepare for the rest of class precisely (yup!) his neck and shoulders. His hurting was likely due to improper technique, but by avoiding Pranayama he was robbing himself of the chance to ever learn the right way.

Avoiding what challenges you is never the answer.

If Pranayama feels uncomfortable, achy or awkward, chances are you stand to benefit from it greatly! If you do it correctly.

Since none of us came out of the womb with our knuckles glued to our chins performing perfectly synchronized movements coordinated with 6-second inhales and 6-second exhales (ok, maybe Orlo did??) it takes practice and time to learn this technique. Offer yourself patience (which Pranayama will help with, too!) and never give up.

Benefits of Pranayama breathing include:

• Super-oxygenate your muscles to help with stamina
• Begins the moving meditation of class by turning your attention to your breath
• Builds internal heat- so if you’re in a hot studio the temperature difference will feel less significant, and if you’re in a cold house this exercise will warm you up!
• Opens and warms up shoulders, wrists, hands, neck and ribcage.
• Cultivates patience & discipline
• Tones abdominal muscles, thighs, buttocks and pelvic floor
• Improves balance & coordination
• Relieves symptoms of asthma & other respiratory problems
• Massages lymph nodes of throat and neck

Tips:

• Constrict your throat on the inhale as well as the exhale, to create a sound that's somewhat like air rushing through a cracked car window when you're driving on a freeway. The sound should not be coming from your vocal chords. Try this: Do the exhale "haaaa" breath (no vocal cords involved) with mouth open, then while maintaining the same breath simply close your mouth. That's exactly the sensation and sound you should strive for on your inhale! Here's a video of that... *This video provoked a few others on our Facebook community group- be sure to join so you don't miss out on this stuff! (Please note this video is not a demonstration of how to do the Pranayama breathing itself, just a method for discovering what the sound should be.)
  

• Keep your knuckles with your chin like GLUE! If you have a hard time doing this on the inhale, you may be overdoing the shoulder movement- try bringing your elbows less high. If you have trouble on the exhale, you may either be backward bending (don't do that) or (common among bendy-necked people) collapsing or "crunching" the back of your neck- ouch! Keep gentle pressure between the knuckles and chin at all times to avoid overuse of your shoulders or neck. (This is prob what my friend was doing that made him detest Pranayama so!)
• Your elbows on the exhale don't have to be any certain height- just stretch them forward, away from your chest as far as they go, bringing your elbows to touch each other (while keeping your knuckles with your chin like glue, of course!)
• When in doubt, corner a certified Bikram yoga instructor and have one of us check out your form- we love to help you feel better.
• If the heat is a challenge for you, try giving Pranayama your all. When you create heat through the breathing exercise, your body starts sweating, which is its natural cooling mechanism!