How To breathe? Yogic Breathing Is The Right Way

In this article , we are going to explore how to breathe properly. Learning how to breathe better has many benefits. Stress relief, higher metabolism and weight loss ; greater focus ,concentration and clarity ; better sleep etc are just some of the many benefits of yogic breathing or deep breathing.  
 
The rishis of ancient India understood that our breath is interlinked with our mind. How we breathe is how we think - and vice versa, by controlling how we breathe , we control how we think. You may have noticed that when you are emotionally disturbed , your breath becomes uneven and rapid. In a state of deep relaxation , our breath is long, deep and smooth. Therefore , our Rishis devised the methods of Pranayama to still the mind and to strengthen our life force (Prana) .The most basic technique is yogic breathing - it is the right way to breathe.
 
Yogic Breathing Technique
 
Part 1- Abdominal breathing
We can divide our breathe into 3 parts. First , is abdominal breathing. Place your right hand over the stomach and breathe in , feeling your stomach expand.  This is the first part. Many people have a tendency to contact the abdomen and lift the chest while breathing in , this is incorrect. Stomach should expand with the in breath.
 
Part 2 - Chest breathing
Place your left hand over your chest and and keeping your abdomen steady , breathe into your chest- feeling your chest expand. This is the second part of yogic breathing.
 
Part 3 - Clavicular breathing
The last part is subtle - it is the clavicular area, the top most part of your lungs.Keeping your abdomen and chest steady , breathe into your clavicular. You may lift your shoulders very subtly to understand this expansion.
 
Full yogic breath 
Putting the 3 together , we get the 3 part breathing or yogic breathing. Our lungs are like balloons. So we inflate the abdomen first , then the chest and lastly the clavicular and when we exhale , we exhale from the clavicular first , then the chest and lastly the abdomen. It is important to fully exhale pushing all the air out of our body.
 
Duration of breath
Most of us have a tendency not to breathe out fully , thereby retaining air in our body which is toxic and could cause disease. In the yogic tradition , the ratio between in breath and out breathe is 1:2 . Which means that if you inhale 4 second , you have to exhale 8 seconds for it to be an complete and effective breathe.
 
Yogic breathing also helps with high blood pressure, migraine and vertigo. Also helps relieve asthama and is a great preparation of all other pranayama practices.Practice every day with 12 rounds of yogic breathing - increase the frequency till it becomes habit or second nature. I cannot stress enough the benefits of deep breathing!Happy practicising !! ??