Inner World of Yoga – Day 1
Breathe and feel your breath in your body.
By Wendy Kolanz
Many of don’t really breathe properly. Breathing easily and deeply is key for energy, immune system strength, detoxification and oxygenation of all our cells, mental attitude, emotional and psychological well being — it is up there above food and shelter on our survival list, and yet we compromise our breath daily. Breath defines LIFE itself. In YOGA, we call breath and breath of life, Prana.
Practice for Week 1 / Day 1 YOGA challenge: Breathe and feel your breath in your body.
Today’s practice is a guided Breath Awareness and will take about 10 minutes. Practice 2x today. AM and PM are ideal; before your day begins and after work or before bed.
Link to Guided Breath Awareness:
Description of Practice
Breath Awareness: Sit on the floor in sukhasana (simple cross legged), or other seated yoga pose, or on a chair with both feet on the floor (shoes off), with body and face relaxed, spine erect but not rigid, and close your eyes. Watch your breath carefully and breathe normally. Observe the air going in (cool) and coming out (warm) through your nostrils. Feel how the breath expands into the lower belly as lungs fill and diaphragm pushes down. Feel the inhalation fill the torso front, back, sides and length. Relax the eyes, jaw, muscles, but keep the spine long. On exhalation, feel the rise of breath through the length of the body as diaphragm rises to push out the breath, keeping the spine erect (but not rigid) and face and limbs relaxed. Practice 3-5 minutes or longer.
