Pranayama Yoga Breathing Exercises
Everything You Need to Know About Yoga and Breathing

Pranayama? What is yoga breathing?

In Sanskrit, the world “prana” means lifeforce or energy, and the world “yama” means control or extension. Therefore, the practice of pranayama means the control or extension of your lifeforce, your breath. This is the poetic definition. On a practical level, yoga breathing exercises allow you to

take manual control over your normally automatic pattern of breathing. We do this for only one reason: to affect your nervous system. Yoga breathing, depending on the practice, either stimulates, soothes, or balances your autonomic nervous system and thus impacts dozens of other systems in the body in a matter of minutes.

Yoga breathing

Many yoga and meditation teachings focus on the esoteric and supernatural. While I respect that approach, I teach science-based yoga, so I’ll focus on the science of breathing and its effects on the body. Here are the science-backed benefits of breathing exercises.

• Reduces stress
• Improves sleep
• Lowers blood pressure
• Lowers your heart rate
• Reduces cortisol
• Balances your nervous system
• Improves digestion
• Promotes a sympathetic ready state for exercises
• Promotes a parasympathetic state for deep work, rest, concentration, and connection
• Balances a destabilized nervous system

What is Ujjyai Breathing (aka Ocean Breath or Whisper Breath)

Imagine a fireman arrives outside a burning building and turns on his hose. The water shoots everywhere, and the poor guy can hardly hold on as the nose snakes left, then right. What does he do next? He uses the attachment on the end of the hose to partially close the opening and focus the water stream. Almost instantly, he has control and can now accurately point and shoot the water where it’s needed.

Let’s do the same with your breath.

You’ll remember that pranayama means breath control, so in most breathing exercises, we’ll add a slight constriction to the back of your throat both on the inhale and the exhale. This is achieved by slightly constricting your glottis and creating a Darth Vader style whisper in the back of your throat.

How Should You Breathe During Yoga Poses?

What makes yoga asana courses unique and powerful compared to other movement practices is the integration of controlled breathing. Without deliberate breath, most hatha yoga classes would be more accurately described as stretching classes or remedial gymnastics.

During Sun Salutes, Tree Pose, or any other flowing or static pose, you should aim for 4-6 breaths per minute using Ujjayi Ocean-Sounding Breath. To accomplish this, count as you inhale 1-2-3-4, pause naturally at the top, and then exhale 4-3-2-1. If your breathing ends up slightly faster or slower than the desired 4-6 breaths per minute, don’t worry. This is the target range and you’ll hit the target soon enough.

When you put your body under physical stress in yoga poses and then breathe in this slow, deep, controlled pattern—using Ujjayi breathing—it trains your nervous system to stay calm. Your brain doesn’t differentiate between physical and mental stress, so in this way, your physical yoga practice trains you to manage stress in all aspects of life.

Common Questions About Yoga Breathing Exercises For Beginners: Should I Always Breathe Through My Nose? All Day Long?

Remember this axiom: “The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating.” This includes breathing through your nose while sleeping, working, walking, cooking, reading, and more. The only time you should breathe through your mouth is during high exertion aerobic or anaerobic exercise. Excessive mouth breathing is a huge health risk and should be treated as such.

Possible negative impacts of mouth breathing:

• Digestive problems
• Sinus problems
• Deformed palette (in childhood)
• Mood disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Hormonal imbalance
• Periodontal disease
• Dry mouth
• Snoring
• Bad breath
• Brain fog / concentration problems

Alternate Nostril Breathing (aka Anuloma Viloma or Nadi Shodhanna Breath)

Alternate nostril breathing, also known as Aunloma Vilom or Nadi Shodhanna, is a commonly taught practice that is much more challenging than you might expect. Since your right nostril is correlated with your sympathetic nervous system and your left with your parasympathetic, this practice works toward balance by alternating between right and left. This practice can be taught at the rate of 4-6 breaths per minute, in which case it’s a balancing practice. More commonly, nostril breathing is taught at a rate of 1-3 breaths per minute. In this case, it becomes a very relaxing, parasympathetic stimulating practice.

Yoga Breathing Exercises for Anxiety

Anxiety is usually caused by a real or imagined fear of future events. Your body is hard-wired for survival, and when anything threatens your survival, your body defaults to a ready state for fight, flight, or freeze. If you’re home alone and you hear someone break in downstairs, your heightened anxiety is adaptive and helpful. If you’re sitting at your desk worried about events in the future that are out of your control, your anxiety is now an unnecessary burden—and yoga breathing can help.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with feelings of worry, the most effective yoga breathing exercises will either balance or calm your nerves. There are lots of different patterns of practices, but what you need to focus on is the rate of the breath. 4-6 breaths per minute will balance your nerves, and anything 3 breaths or slower will have a heavily relaxing effect.

Pranayama Techniques for Beginners

As a beginner, it’s best to start with simple and more accessible breathing exercises such as 4:4 Balanced Breath and Triangle Breathing. If you push too hard too quickly, your breathing can create the opposite effect that you’re looking for. Instead of balancing your nerves, it can leave you stressed and anxious.

How to Practice 4:4 Balanced Breathing:

Sit comfortably with your hands on your knees Inhale with an Ujjayi sound 1-2-3-4 Exhale with an Ujjayi sound 4-3-2-1 Repeat for 10 rounds total Continue breathing, and you’ll find you can lift the book higher and higher

How to Practice Triangle Breathing:

• Sit comfortably with your hands on your knees
• Sit comfortably with your hands on your knees
• Hold at the top, 1-2-3-4
• Exhale with an Ujjayi sound 4-3-2-1
• Repeat for 10 rounds total

Is Yoga Breathing Safe?

Yoga breathing is extremely safe. It’s safer than just about any yoga pose you can imagine. When you hear of the dangers or risks associated with breathwork practices, it’s almost always in reference to extreme hyperventilation or extreme retention practices. These higher risk exercises involve over-breathing for an extended period or holding your breath for extended periods. Both practices can pose very real risks that include headache, anxiety, dizziness, blackout, panic attacks, and tetany. When practiced sensibly and moderately, yoga breathing is one of the safest ways to manage your nervous system and there is no need for concern.

Yoga Breathing Exercises to Increase Lung Capacity

Your average person has a lung capacity of four to six liters usually in direct proportion to their body size. Through physical exercise and breathing exercises, it’s possible to increase your capacity by 5 to 15 percent; however, the goal of most breathing exercises is to strengthen and train the muscles of respiration rather than strive for maximum volume. Your breathing muscles are skeletal muscles, so just like your biceps, they can become larger, stronger, and more coordinated through exercise.

Are you interested in becoming a Certified Breath Coach?